=head2 v5.35.11 - Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, "Fantômas"
L<Announced on 2022-04-20 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2022/04/msg263644.html>
"Fantômas."
"What did you say?"
"I said: Fantômas."
"And what does that mean?"
"Nothing. . . . Everything!"
"But what is it?"
"Nobody. . . . And yet, yes, it is somebody!"
"And what does the somebody do?"
"Spreads terror!"
=head2 v5.35.10 - John Connolly, The Killing Kind
L<Announced on 2022-03-20 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2022/03/msg263388.html>
Tante Marie knew the nature of this world. She roamed through it, saw it
for what it was, and understood her place in it, her responsibility to
those who dwelt within it and beyond. Now, slowly, I too have begun to
understand, to recognize a duty to the rest, to those whom I have never
known as much as to those whom I have loved. The nature of humanity, its
essence, is to feel another's pain as one's own, and to act to take that
pain away. There is a nobility in compassion, a beauty in empathy,
a grace in forgiveness.
=head2 v5.35.9 - Sten Nadolny, The discovery of slowness
L<Announced on 2022-02-20 by Renee Baecker|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2022/02/msg262928.html>
"John's eyes and ears," Dr. Orme wrote to the captain,
"retain every impression for a peculiarly long time. His apparent
slowness of mind and his inertia are nothing but the result of
exaggerated care taken by his brain in contemplating every kind
of detail. His enormous patience..." He crossed out the last phrase.
=head2 v5.35.8 - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote
L<Announced on 2022-01-20 by Nicolas R|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2022/01/msg262478.html>
Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading,
his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.
=head2 v5.35.7 - Charles Dickens, Bleak House
L<Announced on 2021-12-20 by Neil Bowers|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/12/msg262290.html>
There were two classes of charitable people:
one, the people who did a little and made a great deal of noise;
the other, the people who did a great deal and made no noise at all.
=head2 v5.35.6 - Hannu Rajaniemi, The Quantum Thief
L<Announced on 2021-11-22 by Richard Leach|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/11/msg261958.html>
"I have to say you were very clever. The chocolate tasted subtly wrong.
He is in the dress, isn't he? His mind. You used the fabber to put it
there. They had just finished the original: you melted it and made a
copy."
=head2 v5.35.5 - Frank Herbert, Heretics of Dune
L<Announced on 2021-10-21 by Leon Timmermans|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/10/msg261779.html>
Again, she sent the light beam along the mounded melange. Her attention was
drawn to a strip of the wall above the spice. More words! Still in Chakobsa,
written with a cutter in a fine flowing script, there was another message:
"A REVERENT MOTHER WILL READ MY WORDS"
Something cold settled in Odrade's guts. She moved to her right with the light,
plowing through an empire's ransom in melange. There was more to the message.
"I BEQUEATH TO YOU MY FEAR AND LONELINESS. TO YOU I GIVE THE CERTAINTY THAT
THE BODY AND SOUL OF THE BENE GESSERIT WILL MEET THE SAME FATE AS ALL OTHER
BODIES AND ALL OTHER SOULS".
Another paragraph of the message beckoned to the right of this one. She plowed
through the cloying melange and stopped to read.
"WHAT IS SURVIVAL IF YOU DO NOT SURVIVE AS A WHOLE? ASK THE BENE TLEILAX THAT!
WHAT IF YOU NO LONGER HEAR THE MUSIC OF LIFE? MEMORIES ARE NOT ENOUGH UNLESS
THEY CALL YOU TO NOBLE PURPOSE!"
=head2 v5.35.4 - Tom Scharpling, "Comet", from Steven Universe
L<Announced on 2021-09-20 by Matthew Horsfall|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/09/msg261577.html>
Some say I have no direction
That I'm a light-speed distraction
That's a knee-jerk reaction
Still, this is the final frontier
Everything is so clear
To my destiny I steer
This life in the stars is all I've ever known
Stars and stardust in infinite space is my only home
But the moment that I hit the stage
Thousands of voices are calling my name
And I know in my heart it's been worth it all of the while
And as my albums fly off of the shelves
Handing out autographed pics of myself
This life I chose isn't easy but sure is one heck of a ride
At the moment that I hit the stage
I hear the universe calling my name
And I know deep down in my heart I have nothing to fear
And as the solar wind blows through my hair,
Knowing I have so much more left to share
A wandering spirit who's tearing its way through the cold atmosphere
I'll fly like a comet
Soar like a comet
Crash like a comet
I'm just a comet
=head2 v5.35.3 - Logan Pearsall Smith
L<Announced on 2021-08-20 by Karen Etheridge|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/08/msg261393.html>
The test of a vocation is the love of the drudgery it involves.
=head2 v5.35.2 - Freeman Dyson
L<Announced on 2021-07-23 by Neil Bowers|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/07/msg260926.html>
There is a great satisfaction in building good tools for other people to use.
=head2 v5.35.1 - Sam Schube
L<Announced on 2021-06-20 by Max Maischein|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/06/msg260592.html>
His first marriage ended. A new relationship with an old friend
straightened him out. “I realized that I can't live like I was and be
with Naomi,” he said. “I wanted to become a better man for her. At
first. Then it was for myself too.” He started seeing a therapist. There
were limits: He told her he wasn't interested in exploring the part of
him that wanted to do stunts. “I know that needs looking at,” he said.
“But I didn't want to break the machine.”
It wasn't just about jeopardizing his livelihood, he explained. Doing
stunts “was exciting. It's something that I did with my friends. And I
was decent at it.” It wasn't so much about the stunts themselves, which
were terrifying, as about how completing them made him feel. He loved,
he said, “the exhilaration and relief, once you get on the other side of
the stunt. Or when you come to. You wake up, you're like, ‘Oh, was that
good?’ And they're like, ‘That was great.’ You got a good bit when
there's seven people standing over you, snapping their fingers.” When we
spoke, he still hadn't broached the topic in therapy. “I'll talk about
it eventually,” he said. “It's not something I need to know this second.”
=head2 v5.35.0 - Miguel de Unamuno
L<Announced on 2021-05-20 by Ricardo Signes|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/05/msg260116.html>
We should try to be the parents of our future rather than the offspring of our
past.
=head2 v5.34.1 - Edward Lear, ed. Vivien Noakes, "The Complete Nonsense and Other Verse": Limericks published in "More Nonsense"
L<Announced on 2022-03-13 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2022/03/msg263342.html>
There was a Young Lady whose nose,
Continually prospers and grows;
When it grew out of sight, she exclaimed in a fright,
'Oh! Farewell to the end of my nose!'
=head2 v5.34.1-RC2 - Edward Lear, ed. Vivien Noakes, "The Complete Nonsense and Other Verse": Limericks for the 1846 and 1855 editions of "A Book of Nonsense"
L<Announced on 2022-03-06 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2022/03/msg263261.html>
There was an Old Lady whose folly,
Induced her to sit in a holly;
Whereon by a thorn, her dress being torn,
She quickly became melancholy.
=head2 v5.34.1-RC1 - Edward Lear, ed. Vivien Noakes, "The Complete Nonsense and Other Verse": Additional limericks for the 1861 edition of "A Book of Nonsense"
L<Announced on 2022-02-27 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2022/02/msg263129.html>
There was an Old Person whose habits,
Induced him to feed upon Rabbits;
When he'd eaten eighteen, he turned perfectly green,
Upon which he relinquished those habits.
=head2 v5.34.0 - Aberjhani
L<Announced on 2021-05-20 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/05/msg260110.html>
Our greatest power as nations and individuals is not the ability to employ assault weapons, suicide bombers, and drones to destroy each other.
The greater more creative powers with which we may arm ourselves are grace and compassion sufficient enough to love and save each other.
=head2 v5.34.0-RC2 - Nelson Mandela, The Long Walk to Freedom
L<Announced on 2021-05-15 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/05/msg260066.html>
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
=head2 v5.34.0-RC1 - Paul Tremblay, The Cabin at the End of the World
L<Announced on 2021-05-04 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/05/msg260029.html>
He’d irrationally hoped he could somehow put off indefinitely the future day on which she would recognize cruelty, ignorance, and injustice were the struts and pillars of the social order, as unavoidable and inevitable as the weather.
=head2 v5.33.9 - Abraham Lincoln
L<Announced on 2021-04-20 by toddr|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/04/msg259954.html>
Seven minutes ago... we, your forefathers, were brought forth upon a most excellent adventure conceived by our new friends, Bill... and Ted. These two great gentlemen are dedicated to a proposition which was true in my time, just as it's true today. Be excellent to each other!
=head2 v5.33.8 - David Bowie, "Heroes"
L<Announced on 2021-03-20 by atoomic|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/03/msg259358.html>
Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.
=head2 v5.33.7 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther
L<Announced on 2021-02-20 by Renée Bäcker|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/02/msg259169.html>
The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of
their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills
them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.
=head2 v5.33.6 - Edward R. Murrow
L<Announced on 2021-01-20 by Richard Leach|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/01/msg258843.html>
This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even
inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined
to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.
=head2 v5.33.5 - Max Weber, (from "Understanding Administration", by Wolfgang Seibel)
L<Announced on 2020-12-20 by Max Maischein|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/12/msg258683.html>
Authority is primarily: Administration
-- Max Weber
=head2 v5.33.4 - George Eliot, "Adam Bede"
L<Announced on 2020-11-20 by Tom Hukins|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/11/msg258597.html>
It was more than two o'clock in the afternoon when Adam came in sight of
the grey town on the hill-side and looked searchingly towards the green
valley below, for the first glimpse of the old thatched roof near the
ugly red mill.
=head2 v5.33.3 - Ludwig van Beethoven, "Heiligenstadt Testament"; translated and quoted in: Maynard Solomon, "Beethoven"
L<Announced on 2020-10-20 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/10/msg258502.html>
Oh you men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn, or
misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me. You do not know the secret
cause which makes me seem that way to you. From childhood on, my
heart and soul have been full of the tender feeling of goodwill, and I
was ever inclined to accomplish great things. But, think that for six
years now I have been hopelessly afflicted, made worse by senseless
physicians, from year to year deceived with hopes of improvement,
finally compelled to face the prospect of a lasting malady (whose cure
will take years or, perhaps, be impossible). Though born with a
fiery, active temperament, even susceptible to the diversions of
society, I was soon compelled to withdraw myself, to live life alone.
[...] I endured this wretched existence--truly wretched for so
susceptible a body, which can be thrown by a sudden change from the
best condition to the very worst.--Patience, they say, is what I must
now choose for my guide, and I have done so--I hope my determination
will remain firm to endure until it pleases the inexorable Parcae to
break the thread. [...] Recommend virtue to your children; it alone,
not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience; this was
what upheld me in time of misery. [...] Do not wholly forget me when I
am dead; I deserve this from you, for during my lifetime I was
thinking of you often and of ways to make you happy--please be so--
=head2 v5.33.2 - Elizabeth Warren
L<Announced on 2020-09-20 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/09/msg258369.html>
What I've learned is that real change is very, very hard. But I've
also learned that change is possible - if you fight for it.
=head2 v5.33.1 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956 (1973)
L<Announced on 2020-08-20 by Karen Etheridge|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/08/msg258282.html>
If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds,
and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy
them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every
human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
=head2 v5.33.0 - Confucius, "Confucius: The Analects"
L<Announed on 2020-07-17 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/07/msg258033.html>
The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
=head2 v5.32.1 - Mikhail Bulgakov, trans. Michael Glenny, "The Master and Margarita"
L<Announced on 2021-01-23 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/01/msg258868.html>
As the warning bells rang, inquisitive people were peeping into the star
dressing room. Among them were jugglers in bright robes and turbans, a
roller-skater in a knitted cardigan, a comedian with a powdered white
face and a make-up man. The celebrated guest artiste amazed everyone
with his unusually long, superbly cut tail coat and by wearing a black
domino. Even more astounding were the black magician's two companions:
a tall man in checks with an unsteady pince-nez and a fat black cat
which walked into the dressing room on its hind legs and casually sat
down on the divan, blinking in the light of the unshaded lamps round the
make-up mirror.
=head2 v5.32.1-RC1 - Mikhail Bulgakov, trans. Michael Glenny, "The Heart of a Dog"
L<Announced on 2021-01-09 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2021/01/msg258762.html>
Why bother to learn to read when you can smell meat a mile away? If you
live in Moscow, though, and if you've got an ounce of brain in your head
you can't help learning to read - and without going to night-school
either. There are forty-thousand dogs in Moscow and I'll bet there's
not one of them so stupid he can't spell out the word 'sausage'.
=head2 v5.32.0 - Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are A Changing"
L<Announced on 2020-06-20 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/06/msg257547.html>
Come gather 'round, people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
And you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'
=head2 v5.32.0-RC1 - Coretta Scott King
L<Announced on 2020-06-08 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/06/msg257521.html>
Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won,
you earn it and win it in every generation.
=head2 v5.32.0-RC0 - Franz Kafka
L<Announced on 2020-05-30 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/05/msg257486.html>
There are some things one can only achieve by a deliberate leap
in the opposite direction.
=head2 v5.31.11 - John F. Kennedy, National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy
L<Announced on 2020-04-28 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/04/msg257385.html>
Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.
=head2 v5.31.10 - Christina Rossetti, "Remember"
L<Announced on 2020-03-20 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/03/msg257274.html>
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
=head2 v5.31.9 - Sten Nadolny, book The Discovery of Slowness
L<Announced on 2020-02-20 by Renee Bäcker|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/02/msg257144.html>
„When people talk too fast the content becomes as superfluous as the speed.“
=head2 v5.31.8 - Joe Perham, "Joe Perham's Guide to Hunting and Guide to Fishing in Maine"
L<Announced on 2020-01-20 by Matthew Horsfall|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/01/msg256894.html>
Harry used to cut wood for the Brown company over in Stoneham Red
Rock Basin. And of course he was the best shot in camp. One day the
foreman told him to go get some meat.
"Take any gun you want."
Harry says "I'll take the .45-70."
Foreman said "That gun's only got one bullet."
Harry says "I only need one bullet."
Took the .45-70, went out, an hour later he was back with two Moose,
a dozen trout you see, and a fluffy partridge. Went back to work.
Well at supper that night foreman says "Harry, um, something's
bothering me here a little bit. How did you get all that food with
only one bullet. I'm a little confused about the... the partridge,
there ain't a mark on him."
"Well", Harry says, "I'll tell ya. I took that .45-70, went back into
the woods a piece there I come to this brook. And I just uh, got to
the other side when I happen to see two moose in the swamp off
there. I figured I could get both of 'em. So I took out my huntin'
knife and stuck it into the mud, hilt foremost, sharp edge on the
blade towards me of course. I took dead aim on that knife, fired,
split that bullet and killed those two moose. Well you know the
recoil knocked me back into the brook. When I come up out of the
water, my pants were so full of fish that it popped a button off my
fly and killed that bird."
=head2 v5.31.7 - Bernard Werber
L<Announced on 2019-12-20 by Atoomic|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/12/msg256802.html>
Be quiet. Look at the stars and appreciate what you live.
=head2 v5.31.6 - Neal Stephenson, "Quicksilver"
L<Announced on 2019-11-20 by Chris 'BinGOs' Williams|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/11/msg256646.html>
Invocation
State your intentions, Muse. I know you're there.
Dead bards who pined for you have said
You're bright as flame, but fickle as the air.
My pen and I, submerged in liquid shade,
Much dark can spread, on days and over reams
But without you, no radiance can shed.
Why rustle in the dark, when fledged with fire?
Craze the night with flails of light. Reave
Your turbid shroud. Bestow what I require.
But you're not in the dark. I do believe
I swim, like squid, in clouds of my own make,
To you, offensive. To us both, opaque.
What's constituted so, only a pen
Can penetrate. I have one here; let's go.
=head2 v5.31.5 - Edward Lear, ed. Vivien Noakes, "The Complete Nonsense and Other Verse": The Daddy Long-legs and the Fly
L<Announced on 2019-10-20 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/10/msg256478.html>
'O Mr Daddy Long-legs,'
Said Mr Floppy Fly,
'It's true I never go to court,
And I will tell you why.
If I had six long legs like yours,
At once I'd go to court!
But oh! I can't, because my legs
Are so extremely short.
And I'm afraid the King and Queen
(One in red, and one in green)
Would say aloud, "You are not fit,
You Fly, to come to court a bit!"'
=head2 v5.31.4 - Ann Leckie, "The Raven Tower"
L<Announced on 2019-09-20 by Max Maischein|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/09/msg256254.html>
Stories can be risky for someone like me. What I say must be true, or it
will be made true, and if it cannot be made true - if I don't have the
power, or if what I have said is an impossibility - then I will pay the
price. I might more or less safely say, "Once there was a man who rode
home to attend his father's funeral and claim his inheritance, but
matters were not as he expected them to be." I do not doubt that such a
thing has happened more than once in all the time there have been
fathers to die and sons to succeed them. But to go any further, I must
supply more details - the specific actions of specific people, and their
specific consequences - and there I might blunder, all unknowing, into
untruth. It's safer for me to speak of what I know. Or to speak only in
the safest of generalities. Or else to say plainly at the beginning,
"Here is a story I have heard," placing the burden of truth or not on
the teller whose words I am merely accurately reporting.
But what is the story that I am telling? Here is another story I have
heard:
Once there were two brothers, and one of them wanted what the other had.
Bent all his will to obtain what the other had, no matter the cost.
Here is another story: Once there was a prisoner in a tower.
And another:
Once someone risked their life out of duty and loyalty to a friend.
Ah, there's a story that I might tell, and truthfully.
=head2 v5.31.3 - Samantha Harvey, "All Is Song"
L<Announced on 2019-08-20 by Tom Hukins|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/08/msg256012.html>
We are born from unity, we divide into isolation. We winnow ourselves
out from the thing that first made sense of us and then expect to find
meaning, yet a fraction makes no sense without the number of which
it's a fractional part. We see loss, feel grief, give ourselves
illness, we're cells that have over-divided and we call the division
growth; the only real growth is in the return to unity, God, the
unifying principle.
Tired to his core, he turned the video off. The rain still poured as
he went upstairs, and in bed as he tripped down into the deep open
shaft of sleep he kept thinking that to divide by zero was to end up
with infinity, as was to divide by God. To divide by God, to divide
by God, over and over he thought it without sense; to divide by God; I
must tell my students that the way to pass their exams is to divide by
God. Then he must have slept, for it was morning.
=head2 v5.31.2 - Edward Lear, ed. Vivien Noakes, "The Complete Nonsense and Other Verse": The Duck and the Kangaroo
L<Announced on 2019-07-20 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/07/msg255639.html>
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo,
'Good gracious! how you hop!
Over the fields and the water too,
As if you never would stop!
My life is a bore in this nasty pond,
And I long to go out in the world beyond!
I wish I could hop like you!'
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.
=head2 v5.31.1 - Kurt Vonnegut, _A Man without a Country_
L<Announced on 2019-06-20 by Karen Etheridge|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/06/msg255243.html>
On Tuesday, January 20, 2004, I sent Joel Bleifuss, my editor at _In These
Times_, this fax:
ON ORANGE ALERT HERE.
ECONOMIC TERRORIST ATTACK
EXPECTED AT 8 PM EST. KV
Worried, he called, asking what was up. I said I would tell him when I had
more complete information on the bombs George Bush was set to deliver in his
State of the Union address.
That night I got a call from my friend, the out-of-print-science-fiction
writer Kilgore Trout. He asked me, "Did you watch the State of the Union
address?"
"Yes, and it certainly helped to remember what the great British socialist
playwright George Bernard Shaw said about this planet."
"Which was?"
"He said, 'I don't know if there are men on the moon, but if there are, they
must be using the earth as their lunatic asylum.' And he wasn't talking
about the germs or the elephants. He meant we the people."
"Okay."
"You don't think this is the Lunatic Asylum of the Universe?"
"Kurt, I don't think I expressed an opinion one way of the other."
"We are killing this planet as a life-support system with the poisons from
all the thermodynamic whoopee we're making with atomic energy and fossil
fuels, and everybody knows it, and practically nobody cares. This is how
crazy we are. I think the planet's immune system is trying to get rid of us
with AIDS and new strains of flu and tuberculosis, and so on. I think the
planet should get rid of us. We're really awful animals. I mean, that dumb
Barbra Streisand song, 'People who need people are the luckiest people in
the world' -- she's talking about cannibals. Lots to eat. Yes, the planet is
trying to get rid of us, but I think it's too late."
And I said good-bye to my friend, hung up the phone, sat down and wrote this
epitaph: "The good Earth -- we could have saved it, but we were too damn
cheap and lazy."
=head2 v5.31.0 - Fumiko Enchi, Masks
L<Announced on 2019-05-24 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/05/msg254886.html>
The secrets inside her mind are like flowers in a garden at
nighttime, filling the darkness with perfume.
=head2 v5.30.3 - Ben Aaronovitch, "Rivers of London"
L<Announced on 2020-06-01 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/01/msg257498.html>
Trewsbury Mead [...] According to the Ordnance Survey, this is where the
Thames first rises 130 straight-line kilometres west of London. Just to
the north is the site either of an Iron Age hill fort or a Roman
encampment, the exact nature of which is awaiting an episode of Time
Team. Apparently there is a soggy field, a stone to mark the spot and a
chance, after a particularly wet winter, that you might see some water.
=head2 v5.30.2 - Francesco Maria Piave, trans. Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, "La traviata", Act II, Scene 2
L<Announced on 2020-03-14 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/03/msg257227.html>
FLORA, GASTON, DOCTOR, MARQUIS, CHORUS
(to Violetta)
Yes, you have suffered, but take heart!
Every one of us has shared your pain;
friends are around you to dry the tears
you have shed.
GERMONT
(I alone know the true devotion
this poor girl hides within her breast;
I know her faithful heart,
but I'm vowed so cruelly to silence.)
BARON
(softly to Alfredo)
Your deadly insult to this lady
offends us all, but such an outrage
shall not go unavenged!
I shall find a way to humble your pride!
ALFREDO
(Alas, what have I done? I feel terrible about it.
She will never forgive me.)
VIOLETTA
(coming to herself)
Alfredo, how should you understand
all the love that's in my heart?
How should you know that I have proved it,
even at the price of your contempt?
But the time will come when you will know,
when you'll admit how much I loved you.
God save you then from all remorse!
Even after death I shall still love you.
=head2 v5.30.2-RC1 - Francesco Maria Piave, trans. Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, "La traviata", Act II, Scene 2
L<Announced on 2020-02-29 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2020/02/msg257163.html>
ALFREDO
For me this woman lost
all she possessed.
I was blind, a wretched coward,
I accepted it all.
But it's time now for me to clear
myself from debt.
I call you all to witness here
that I've paid her back!
(Contemptuously, he throws his winnings at Violetta's feet.
She swoons in Flora's arms. Alfredo's father arrives suddenly.)
ALL
What you have done
is shameful!
To strike down
a tender heart that way!
You have insulted
a woman!
Get out of here!
We've no use for the likes of you!
Go!
GERMONT
(dignified in his anger)
A man who offends a woman, even in anger,
deserves nothing but scorn.
Where is my son? I no longer see him
in you, Alfredo.
ALFREDO
(What have I done? Yes, I despise myself!
Jealous madness, love deceived,
ravaged my soul, destroyed my reason.
How can I ever gain her pardon?
I would have left her, but I couldn't;
I came here to vent my anger,
But now I've done that, wretch that I am,
I feel nothing but deep remorse!)
=head2 v5.30.1 - Francesco Maria Piave, trans. Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, "La traviata", Act I: Brindisi
L<Announced on 2019-11-10 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/11/msg256610.html>
VIOLETTA:
With you I would share
my days of happiness;
everything is folly in this world
that does not give us pleasure.
Let us enjoy life,
for the pleasures of love are swift and fleeting
as a flower that lives and dies
and can be enjoyed no more.
Let's take our pleasure while its ardent,
brilliant summons lures us on!
=head2 v5.30.1-RC1 - Francesco Maria Piave, trans. Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, "La traviata", Act I: Brindisi
L<Announced on 2019-10-27 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/10/msg256542.html>
ALFREDO:
Let's drink from the joyous chalice
where beauty flowers...
Let the fleeting hour
to pleasure's intoxication yield.
Let's drink
to love's sweet tremors --
to those eyes
that pierce the heart.
Let's drink to love -- to wine
that warms our kisses.
=head2 v5.30.0 - Morihei Ueshiba
L<Announced on 2019-05-22 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/05/msg254844.html>
Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we
are as good as dead.
=head2 v5.30.0-RC2 - Derek Walcott
L<Announced on 2019-05-17 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/05/msg254824.html>
The truest writers are those who see language not as linguistic process but
as a living element.
-- Derek Walcott
=head2 v5.30.0-RC1 - Marcel Proust
L<Announced on 2019-05-11 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/05/msg254748.html>
If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream
less but to dream more, to dream all the time.
-- Marcel Proust
=head2 v5.29.10 - Maya Angelou, Alone
L<Announced on 2019-04-20 by Sawyer X|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/04/msg254467.html>
Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
=head2 v5.29.9 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Dancing Men
L<Announced on 2019-03-21 by Zak Elep|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/03/msg253978.html>
What one man can invent, another can discover.
=head2 v5.29.8 - Isaac Asimov, Foundation: “Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.”
L<Announced on 2019-02-20 by Atoomic|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/02/msg253750.html>
=head2 v5.29.7 - Edsger W. Dijkstra: "Programming Considered as a Human Activity", IFIP Congress, New York, 1965.
L<Announced on 2019-01-20 by Abigail|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2019/01/msg253444.html>
When I became acquainted with the notion of algorithmic languages I
never challenged the then prevailing notion that the problems of
language design and implementation were mostly a question of
compromises: every new convenience for the user had to be paid for
by the implementation, either in the form of increased trouble
during translation, or during execution or during both. Well, we
are most certainly not living in Heaven and I am not going to deny
the possibility of a conflict between convenience and efficiency,
but now I do protest when this conflict is presented as a complete
summing up of the situation. I am of the opinion that is worth-while
to investigate what extent the needs of Man and Machine go hand in
hand and to see what techniques we can devise of the benefit of all
of us. I trust that this investigation will bear fruits and if this
talk made some of you share this fervent hope, it has achieved its aim.
=head2 v5.29.6 - Rudyard Kipling: "How the Camel Got His Hump"
L<Announced on 2018-12-18 by Abigail|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2018/12/msg253187.html>
The Camel's hump is an ugly lump
Which well you may see at the Zoo;
But uglier yet is the hump we get
From having little to do.
Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo
If we haven't enough to do-oo-oo,
We get the hump -
Cameelious hump -
The hump that is black and blue!
We climb out of bed with a frouzly head
And a snarly-yarly voice.
We shiver and scowl and we grunt and we growl
At our bath and our boots and our toys;
And there ought to be a corner for me
(And I know there is one for you)
When we get the hump -
Cameelious hump -
The hump that is black and blue!
The cure for this ill is to not sit still,
Or frowst with a book by the fire;
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And dig till you gentle perspire;
And then you will find that the sun and the wind,
And the Djinn of the Garden too,
Have lifted the hump -
The horrible hump -
The hump that is black and blue!
I get it as well as you-oo-oo -
If I haven't enough to do-oo-oo!
We all get hump -
Cameelious hump -
Kiddies and grown-ups too!
=head2 v5.29.5 - T. S. Eliot, "The Naming Of Cats"
L<Announced on 2018-11-20 by Karen Etheridge|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2018/11/msg252839.html>
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.
=head2 v5.29.4 - The Mountain Goats, "Oceanographer's Choice"
L<Announced on 2018-10-20 by Aaron Crane|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2018/10/msg252575.html>
Well
Guy in a skeleton costume
Comes up to the guy in the Superman suit
Runs through him with a broadsword
I flipped the television off
Bring all the bright lights up
Turn the radio up loud
I don't know why I'm so persuaded
That if I think things through
Long enough and hard enough
I'll somehow get to you
But then you came in and we locked eyes
You kicked the ashtray over as we came toward each other
Stubbed my cigarette out against the west wall
Quickly lit another
Look at that
Would you look at that?
We're throwing off sparks
What will I do when I don't have you
To hold onto in the dark?
=head2 v5.29.3 - Mac Miller, "Senior Skip Day"
L<Announced on 2018-09-20 by John 'genehack' Anderson|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2018/09/msg252255.html>
Enjoy the best things in your life
’Cause you ain’t gonna get to live it twice
They say you waste time asleep
But I’m just tryin’ to dream
=head2 v5.29.2 - Rick Riordan, "The Lightning Thief"
L<Announced on 2018-08-20 by Chris 'BinGOs' Williams|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2018/08/msg251918.html>
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.
If you're reading this because you think you might be one,
my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever
lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try
to lead a normal life.
Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time,
it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.
If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's
fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe
that none of this ever happened.
But if you recognize yourself in these pages - if you feel
L<Announced on 2017-01-14 by Steve Hay|https://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2017/01/msg242258.html>
As one who strives a hill to climb,
Who never climbed before:
Who finds it, in a little time,
Grow every moment less sublime,
And votes the thing a bore:
Yet, having once begun to try,
Dares not desert his quest,
But, climbing, ever keeps his eye
On one small hut against the sky
Wherein he hopes to rest:
Who climbs till nerve and force are spent,
With many a puff and pant:
Who still, as rises the ascent,
In language grows more violent,
Although in breath more scant:
Who, climbing, gains at length the place
That crowns the upward track:
And, entering with unsteady pace,
Receives a buffet in the face
That lands him on his back:
And feels himself, like one in sleep,
Glide swiftly down again,
A helpless weight, from steep to steep,
Till, with a headlong giddy sweep,
He drops upon the plain -
So I, that had resolved to bring
Conviction to a ghost,
And found it quite a different thing
From any human arguing,
Yet dared not quit my post.
=head2 v5.22.3-RC5 - John Milton, ed. Gordon Campbell, "Paradise Regained", Book II
L<Announced on 2017-01-02 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2017/01/msg242017.html>
Thus wore out night; and now the herald lark
Left his ground-nest, high towering to descry
The Morn's approach, and greet her with his song;
As lightly from his grassy couch up rose
Our Saviour, and found all was but a dream;
Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked.
Up to a hill anon his steps he reared,
From whose high top to ken the prospect round,
If cottage were in view, sheep-cote, or herd;
But cottage, herd, or sheep-cote, none he saw --
Only in a bottom saw a pleasant grove,
With chant of tuneful birds resounding loud;
Thither he bent his way, determined there
To rest at noon, and entered soon the shade,
High-roofed and walks beneath, and alleys brown,
That opened in the midst a woody scene;
Nature's own work it seemed (Nature taught Art),
And, to a superstitious eye, the haunt
Of wood-gods and wood-nymphs.
=head2 v5.22.3-RC4 - John Milton, ed. Gordon Campbell, "Paradise Lost", Book II
L<Announced on 2016-10-12 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2016/10/msg240223.html>
Far off from these, a slow and silent stream,
Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls
Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks
Forthwith his former state and being forgets --
Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.
Beyond this flood a frozen continent
Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms
Of Whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land
Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems
Of ancient pile; all else deep snow and ice,
A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog
Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old,
Where armies whole have sunk: the parching air
Burns frore, and cold performs the effect of fire.
Thither, by harpy-footed Furies haled,
At certain revolutions all the damned
Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change
Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce,
From beds of raging fire to starve in ice
Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine
Immovable, infixed, and frozen round
Periods of time -- thence hurried back to fire.
They ferry over this Lethean sound
Both to and fro, their sorrow to augment,
And wish and struggle, as they pass, to reach
The tempting stream, with one small drop to lose
In sweet forgetfulness all pain and woe,
All in one moment, and so near the brink;
But fate withstands, and, to oppose the attempt,
Medusa with Gorgonian terror guards
The ford, and of itself the water flies
All taste of living wight, as once it fled
The lip of Tantalus.
=head2 v5.22.3-RC3 - Dante Alighieri, trans. Dorothy L. Sayers and Barbara Reynolds, "The Divine Comedy", Cantica III: Paradise, Canto IV
L<Announced on 2016-08-11 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2016/08/msg238908.html>
Between two dishes, equally attractive
And near to him, a free man, I suppose,
Would starve to death before his teeth got active;
So would a lamb 'twixt two fierce wolfish foes,
Fearing the fangs both ways, not stir a foot;
So would a deerhound halt between two does;
So I can't blame myself for standing mute,
Nor praise myself: for I must needs so do,
Suspended 'twixt two doubts, alike acute.
=head2 v5.22.3-RC2 - Dante Alighieri, trans. Dorothy L. Sayers, "The Divine Comedy", Cantica II: Purgatory, Canto I
L<Announced on 2016-07-25 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2016/07/msg238270.html>
For better waters heading with the wind
My ship of genius now shakes out her sail
And leaves that ocean of despair behind;
For to the second realm I tune my tale,
Where human spirits purge themselves, and train
To leap up into joy celestial.
Now from the grave wake poetry again,
O sacred Muses I have served so long!
Now let Calliope uplift her strain
And lift my voice up on the mighty song
That smote the miserable Magpies nine
Out of all hope of pardon for their wrong!
=head2 v5.22.3-RC1 - Dante Alighieri, trans. Dorothy L. Sayers, "The Divine Comedy", Cantica I: Hell, Canto XII
L<Announced on 2016-07-17 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2016/07/msg238071.html>
The place we came to, to descend the brink from,
Was sheer crag; and there was a Thing there - making,
All told, a prospect any eye would shrink from.
Like the great landslide that rushed downward, shaking
The bank of Adige on this side Trent,
(Whether through faulty shoring or the earth's quaking)
So that the rock, down from the summit rent
Far as the plain, lies strewn, and one might crawl
From top to bottom by that unsure descent,
Such was the precipice; and there we spied,
Topping the cleft that split the rocky wall,
That which was wombed in the false heifer's side,
The infamy of Crete, stretched out a-sprawl;
And seeing us, he gnawed himself, like one
Inly devoured with spite and burning gall.
=head2 v5.22.2 - Gaston Leroux, trans. Mireille Ribière, "The Phantom of the Opera"
L<Announced on 2016-04-29 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2016/04/msg236120.html>
A silence; and then: 'If, in just two minutes' time by my watch--and a
splendid watch it is--you have not turned the scorpion, mademoiselle, I
shall turn the grasshopper... and the grasshopper, remember, _leaps
straight up into the air!_'
The silence that ensued was terrifying, worse than any we had
experienced before. I knew that when Erik spoke with that quiet,
gentle, slightly weary voice, it meant that he had reached the end of
his tether: that he was capable of the most abominable crimes or the
most selfless devotion; that the slightest irritation might unleash a
storm.
Realizing that our fate was out of our hands, the Viscount fell to his
knees and prayed. As for me, I pressed both hands to my chest, for my
heart was pounding so fiercely that I thought it would burst. We were
intensely aware of the excruciating dilemma Christine Daaé faced in
those final seconds. We understood why she hesitated to turn the
scorpion. What if the scorpion, rather than the grasshopper, were to
set off the explosion? What if Erik was simply intent on destroying
everything, regardless?
At last he spoke: 'The two minutes are up,' he said in a soft, angelic
voice. 'Goodbye, mademoiselle. Off you go, little grasshopper!'
=head2 v5.22.2-RC1 - Gaston Leroux, trans. Mireille Ribière, "The Phantom of the Opera"
L<Announced on 2016-04-10 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2016/04/msg235732.html>
This annual ball was quite a magnificent affair. It was given some time
before Shrovetide to celebrate the birthday of a famous illustrator
whose pencil had immortalized, in the style of Gavarni, the extravagant
carnival parade down La Courtille. As such, the ball was an altogether
merrier, noisier and more Bohemian occasion than was usual for a masked
ball. Many artists had arranged to meet there; they arrived with an
entourage of models and pupils, who, by midnight, had become quite
boisterous.
Raoul climbed the grand staircase at five minutes to midnight. He did
not linger to admire the many-coloured costumes on display all the way
up the marble steps of one of the most luxurious settings in the world;
nor did he allow himself to be drawn into the facetious conversation of
masked guests. He simply ignored all the jesting remarks, and shook off
the attentions of several all too merry couples.
Crossing the big crush-room and escaping from the dancers' farandole
that had encircled him awhile, he at last entered the salon mentioned by
Christine in her letter. The small room was crammed with people either
on their way to supper at the restaurant in the Rotunda or back from
raising a glass of champagne.
In the midst of the gay and lively hubbub, Raoul thought that, for their
mysterious assignation, Christine must have preferred this crowd to some
lonely corner.
He leaned against a door-jamb and waited. He did not have to wait long;
a black domino passed him and deftly touched his hand. He understood
that it was Christine and followed her.
'Is that you, Christine?' he murmured, barely moving his slips.
The black domino promptly looked back and raised her finger to her lips,
no doubt to caution him against uttering her name again. Raoul followed
on in silence.
=head2 v5.22.1 - Wilhelm Müller, trans. Anon., "Courage" (No. 22 in Schubert's song-cycle, "Winterreise")
L<Announced on 2015-12-13 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/12/msg233318.html>
If the snow flies in my face,
Let me shake it off me!
If my heart within me speaks,
I'll sing bright and gaily!
Will not listen what it says,
Have no ears for moaning.
Do not feel what it complains,--
Only fools like groaning!
Jolly brave into the world,
'Gainst all wind and weather,--
If there is no God on earth,
Let 's be gods down nether!
=head2 v5.22.1-RC4 - Wilhelm Müller, trans. Anon., "The Signpost" (No. 20 in Schubert's song-cycle, "Winterreise")
L<Announced on 2015-12-08 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/12/msg233215.html>
Why do I shun all those highways
Which the other wanderer seeks?
Why do I find bridged by-ways
Through snow-covered deep creeks?
For I have no crime committed,
Why I should now run from men,--
What demented heart's desire
Drives me to a desert glen?
Signposts on all highways stationed
Point their signs toward the towns,
Whilst I wonder 'yond moderation,
Without rest, yet seeking rest!
One such signpost I see planted
Of my question unconcerned,
One road must my choice be granted,
Whence no man has yet returned!
=head2 v5.22.1-RC3 - Wilhelm Müller, trans. Anon., "Stormy Morning" (No. 18 in Schubert's song-cycle, "Winterreise")
L<Announced on 2015-12-02 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/12/msg233032.html>
How the storm tore rents
In heavens gray attired!
The rags of cloud are flying
Around, of combat tired.
And flames of fire lambent,
Fly between them and part,
That 's what I call a morning,
A morning after my heart!
My heart sees in the heavens
Its own picture unspoilt--
It's nothing but the Winter,
The Winter, cold and wild.
=head2 v5.22.1-RC2 - Wilhelm Müller, trans. Anon., "The Old Head" (No. 14 in Schubert's song-cycle, "Winterreise")
L<Announced on 2015-11-15 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/11/msg232632.html>
The hoary frost has a white sheen
Strewn all over my hair,
So I thought I was an old man
And thought life dealt me fair.
Yet soon was thawed my old white mane,
And I have my black hair again.
How I abhor my young fair years,
How long to wait for death and biers?
From setting sun to morning's hue
Many a head turns white.
Who'll credit it? My hair did not
In all this lifelong plight!
=head2 v5.22.1-RC1 - Wilhelm Müller, trans. Anon., "Will-o'-the Wisp" (No. 9 in Schubert's song-cycle, "Winterreise")
L<Announced on 2015-10-31 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/10/msg232321.html>
In the deepest rocky crevice
A will-o'-the wisp lured me;
How I could find my way from here,
For me it's easy memory!
For I am used to straying ways,
Every path to th'end a way,
All our joys and all our suffering,--
To a will-o'-the wisp it 's all play!
Through the dried-up bed of torrents
I quite calmly downward stroll;
Every stream its sea will enter,
Every suffering finds its goal!
=head2 v5.22.0 - Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch
L<Announced on 2015-06-01 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/06/msg228300.html>
“You are the advocate of the dead.”
The old man nodded. “I am. People talk about being fair to this one and
that one, but nobody I ever heard talks about doing right by them. We
take everything they had, which is all right. And spit, most often, on
their opinions, which I suppose is all right too. But we ought to
remember now and then how much of what we have we got from them. I
figure while I’m still here I ought to put a word in for them.”
=head2 v5.22.0-RC2 - T.S. Eliot, unpublished work
L<Announced on 2015-05-21 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/05/msg228142.html>
And when thyself with silver foot shall pass
Among the theories scattered on the grass
Take up my good intentions with the rest
=head2 v5.22.0-RC1 - Gene Wolfe, Citadel of the Autarch
L<Announced on 2015-05-19 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/05/msg228059.html>
There is no limit to stupidity. Space itself is said to be bounded by
its own curvature, but stupidity continues beyond infinity.
=head2 v5.21.11 - Algernon Charles Swinburne, "Dolores (Notre-Dame des Sept Douleurs)"
L<Announced on 2015-04-20 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/04/msg227472.html>
They shall pass and their places be taken,
The gods and the priests that are pure.
They shall pass, and shalt thou not be shaken?
They shall perish, and shalt thou endure?
Death laughs, breathing close and relentless
In the nostrils and eyelids of lust,
With a pinch in his fingers of scentless
And delicate dust.
But the worm shall revive thee with kisses;
Thou shalt change and transmute as a god,
As the rod to a serpent that hisses,
As the serpent again to a rod.
Thy life shall not cease though thou doff it;
Thou shalt live until evil be slain,
And good shall die first, said thy prophet,
Our Lady of Pain.
=head2 v5.21.10 - Aldous Huxley, "The Devils of Loudun"
L<Announced on 2015-03-20 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/03/msg226847.html>
The fire burned on, the good fathers continued to sprinkle and intone.
Suddenly a flock of pigeons came swooping down from the church and
started to wheel around the roaring column of flame and smoke. The
crowd shouted, the archers waved their halberds at the birds, Lactance
and Tranquille splashed them on the wing with holy water. In vain. The
pigeons were not to be driven away. Round and round they flew, diving
through the smoke, singeing their feathers in the flames. Both parties
claimed a miracle. For the parson's enemies the birds, quite obviously,
were a troop of devils, come to fetch away his soul. For his friends,
they were emblems of the Holy Ghost and living proof of his innocence.
It never seems to have occurred to anyone that they were just pigeons,
obeying the laws of their own, their blessedly other-than-human nature.
=head2 v5.21.9 - Emily Dickinson, "There is Another Sky"
L<Announced on 2015-02-20 by Sawyer X|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/02/msg226002.html>
There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields -
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!
=head2 v5.21.8 - Bill Watterson, "Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink': A Calvin and Hobbes Collection"
L<Announced on 2015-01-20 by Matthew Horsfall|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/01/msg224869.html>
Calvin: OK Hobbes, press the button and duplicate me.
Hobbes: Are you sure this is such a good idea?
Calvin: Brother! You doubting Thomases get in the way of more scientific advances with your stupid ethical questions! This is a *BRILLIANT* idea! Hit the button, will ya?
Hobbes: I'd hate to be accused of inhibiting scientific progress... Here you go.
[Box]: *BOINK*
Hobbes: Scientific progress goes "BOINK"?
Calvin?: It worked! It worked! I'm a genius!
Cavlin??: No you're not, you liar! *I* invented this!
=head2 v5.21.7 - Robert Heinlein, "The Number of the Beast"
L<Announced on 2014-12-20 by Max Maischein|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/12/msg223774.html>
"Zebadiah, Hilda and I salvaged and put everything into the basket.
Hilda started to put it into our wardrobe-and it was heavy. So
we looked. Packed as tight as when we left Oz. Six bananas-and
everything else. Cross my heart. No, go look."
"Hmmm- Jake, can you write equations for a picnic basket that
refills itself? Will it go on doing so?"
"Zeb, equations can be written to describe anything. The description
would be simpler for a basket that replenishes itself indefinitely
than for one that does it once and stops-I would have to describe
the discontinuity."
=head2 v5.21.6 - Jeff Noon, "Vurt"
L<Announced on 2014-11-20 by Chris 'BinGOs' Williams|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/11/msg222448.html>
GAME CAT
EXCHANGE MECHANISMS. Sometimes we lose precious
things. Friends and colleagues, fellow travellers in the
Vurt, sometimes we lose them; even lovers we sometimes
lose. And get bad things in exchange: aliens, objects,
snakes, and sometimes even death. Things we don't want.
This is part of the deal, part of the game deal;
all things, in all worlds, must be kept in balance.
Kittlings often ask, who decides on the swappings? Now then,
some say it's all accidental; that some poor Vurt thing
finds himself too close to a door, at too critical a time,
just when something real is being lost. Whoosh! Swap time!
Others say that some kind of overseer is working the
MECHANISMS OF EXCHANGE, deciding the fate of innocents.
The Cat can only tease at this, because of the big secrets
involved, and because of the levels between you, the reader,
and me, the Game Cat. Hey, listen; I've struggled to get
where I am today; why should I give you the easy route?
Get working, kittlings! Reach up higher. Work the Vurt.
Aldrin: 40 feet, down 2 1/2. Picking up some dust.
Aldrin: 30 feet, 2 1/2 down. [Garbled] shadow.
Aldrin: 4 forward. 4 forward. Drifting to the right a little. 20 feet,
down a half.
Duke: 30 seconds.
Aldrin: Drifting forward just a little bit; that's good.
Aldrin: Contact Light.
Armstrong: Shutdown.
Aldrin: Okay. Engine Stop.
Aldrin: ACA out of Detent.
Armstrong: Out of Detent. Auto.
Aldrin: Mode Control, both Auto. Descent Engine Command Override, Off.
Engine Arm, Off. 413 is in.
Duke: We copy you down, Eagle.
Armstrong: Engine arm is off.
Armstrong: Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
Duke: Roger, Twan...[correcting himself] Tranquility. We copy you on
the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue.
We're breathing again. Thanks a lot.
Aldrin: Thank you.
=head2 v5.21.1 - Robert Jordan, "The Crossroads of Twilights", Book 10 of "The Wheel of Time"
L<Announced on 2014-06-20 by Matthew Horsfall|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/06/msg217030.html>
We rode on the winds of the rising storm,
We ran to the sounds of the thunder.
We danced among the lightning bolts,
and tore the world asunder.
-- Anonymous fragment of a poem believed
written near the end of the previous Age,
known by some as the Third Age.
Sometimes attributed to the Dragon
Reborn.
=head2 v5.21.0 - Friedrich von Schiller, "The Song of the Bell"
L<Announced on 2014-05-27 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/05/msg215826.html>
Walled in fast within the earth
Stands the form burnt out of clay.
This must be the bell’s great birth!
Fellows, lend a hand to-day.
Sweat must trickle now
From the burning brow,
Till the work its master honour.
Blessing comes from Heaven’s Donor.
=head2 v5.20.3 - Elias Lönnrot, trans. Keith Bosley, "The Kalevala", Canto 42: Stealing the Sampo
L<Announced on 2015-09-12 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/09/msg230945.html>
Steady old Väinämöinen
uttered a word and spoke thus:
'No lilting on the waters
and no singing on the waves!
Song keeps you lazy
tales delay rowing.
Precious day would pass and night
would overtake us midway
on these wide waters
upon these vast waves.'
The wanton Lemminkäinen
uttered a word and spoke thus:
'The time will pass anyway
the fair day will flee
and the night will come panting
and the twilight will steal in
if you don't sing while you live
nor hum in this world.'
=head2 v5.20.3-RC2 - Anon., trans. Malcolm C. Lyons, "The Story of Abu Muhammad the Idle and the Marvels He Encountered with the Ape As Well As the Marvels of the Seas and Islands", from "Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange"
L<Announced on 2015-08-29 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/08/msg230544.html>
'I fled from Basra, sad and tearful, with no idea where I was going,
and I was reciting these lines:
The pain of parting makes me melt away,
As lovers do when those they love are harsh.
I wonder at the patience that I showed
When I had lost my love, for that was wonderful.
Beloved, do you know that since you left,
I have remained confused in misery.
I then heard a voice that said: "Damn you, have you no fear of
Almighty God that you hand over a girl to an unbelieving 'ifrit?" I
walked for a time amongst the palm-trees until I caught sight of a
person, whom I approached. When I asked him who he was he said: "I
am one of the jinn who were converted to Islam at the hands of 'Ali
ibn Abi Talib, may God ennoble him." "How can I get to my wife?" I
asked him, and he said: "Wretched fellow, you had a bird which you
allowed to fly away and now you want to fly after it." But he
added: "Follow this road with God's blessing all night until dawn
and then by the shore you will see a huge cave in which there is an
idol made of white stone. You must drink of the water that there is
coming out of the cave and smear your face with its mud. Stay there
and a barge will pass you as you stand opposite the statue. Various
different creatures will emerge, heads without bodies and bodies
without heads, and they will prostrate themselves in adoration to
the idol rather than to Almighty God. When you see that, embark on
the barge and cross to the other bank and walk along it until
sunset. On a high point you will see a castle built of bricks of
gold and silver. That is where your 'ifrit will be. I have now
told you about this, so goodbye."
=head2 v5.20.3-RC1 - Anon., trans. Malcolm C. Lyons, "The Story of Abu Muhammad the Idle and the Marvels He Encountered with the Ape As Well As the Marvels of the Seas and Islands", from "Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange"
L<Announced on 2015-08-22 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/08/msg230359.html>
'On the night of the wedding the ape came to sit in front of me and
asked me what I intended to do. "Whatever you tell me," I replied,
and he said: "Take care not to covet the girl, or I shall come back
and burn you up and leave you as a lesson for those who can learn."
I agreed to this and when evening came I found the world full of
candles and torches burning in holders of gold and silver. There
were servants and serving girls, and everyone who saw me
congratulated me on my good fortune, as there was no girl on the
face of the earth more beautiful than my bride.
[...]
'Next morning I went out to the market, and people went in and asked
her how the night had been. "He never looked up at me," she told
them. Then, when it was afternoon, I went to my house, where the
ape was sitting by the door. "Tell me what you did," it said, and I
told it: "By God, I did not learn and do not know whether this was a
man or a girl." "That's what I want," it said.
[...]
'On the second night my bride was brought to me, after which the
servants left her and went away. She fell asleep, and, while she
was sleeping, I killed the cock, wrapped it in the cloth and put the
four poles from the couch over it. Suddenly there was a huge crash
like a peal of thunder and a fiery 'ifrit swooped on the girl. I
fainted at the sight and when I recovered I heard a voice saying:
"By the Lord of the Ka'ba, the girl has been carried off!" and there
was a sound like the rustling of wind and bitter weeping. At this I
shed tears, struck my head and was filled with regret when it was no
longer of any use, for to me the whole world was worth no more than
a bean.
=head2 v5.20.2 - Jonathan "Jonti" Picking, L<"Magical Trevor"|http://weebls-stuff.com/toons/magical-trevor-episode-01-animated-music-video-mrweebl/>
L<Announced on 2015-02-14 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/02/msg225777.html>
Everyone loves Magical Trevor,
'Cos the tricks that he does are ever so clever;
Look at him now, disappearin' the cow,
Where is the cow hidden right now?
Taking a bow, it's Magical Trevor,
Everybody's seen that the trick is clever;
Look at him there with his leathery, leathery whip!
It's made of magic, and with a little flip--
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the cow is back,
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the cow is back;
Back, back, back from his magical journey,
Yeah!
What did he see in the parallel dimension?
He saw beans, lots of beans, lots of beans, lots of beans;
Oh, beans, lots of beans, lots of beans, lots of beans,
Yeah, yeah!
=head2 v5.20.2-RC1 - Jonathan "Jonti" Picking, L<"Scampi"|http://weebls-stuff.com/toons/ive-seen-things-scampi-animated-music-video-mrweebl/>
L<Announced on 2015-02-01 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2015/02/msg225273.html>
I've seen things,
I've seen them with my eyes;
I've seen things,
They're often in disguise.
Like carrots, handbags, cheese, toilets,
Russians, planets, hamsters, weddings,
Poets, Stalin, Kuala Lumpur!
Pygmies, budgies, Kuala Lumpur!
I've seen things,
I've seen them with my eyes;
I've seen things,
They're often in disguise.
Like carrots, handbags, cheese...
=head2 v5.20.1 - Lorenzo da Ponte, trans. Diana Reed, "Così fan tutte"
L<Announced on 2014-09-14 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/09/msg219789.html>
DORABELLA (as if waking from a daze): Where are they?
DON ALFONSO: They've gone.
FIORDILIGI: Oh, the cruel bitterness of parting!
DON ALFONSO:
Take heart, my dearest children.
Look, in the distance, your lovers are waving to you.
FIORDILIGI: Bon voyage, my darling!
DORABELLA: Bon voyage!
FIORDILIGI:
O heavens! How swiftly the ship is sailing away!
It is disappearing already!
It is no longer in sight!
Oh, may heaven grant it a prosperous voyage!
DORABELLA: May good luck attend it to the battlefield!
DON ALFONSO: And may your sweethearts and my friends be safe!
FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA, DON ALFONSO:
May the wind be gentle,
may the sea be calm,
and may the elements
respond kindly
to our wishes.
=head2 v5.20.1-RC2 - Lorenzo da Ponte, trans. William Weaver, "Così fan tutte"
L<Announced on 2014-09-07 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/09/msg219446.html>
GUGLIELMO:
Oh God, I feel that this foot of mine
is reluctant to come before her.
FERRANDO:
My trembling lip
can utter no word.
DON ALFONSO:
The hero displays his manliness
in the most terrible moments.
FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA:
Now that we have heard the news,
you have the lesser duty:
Take heart, and plunge your swords
into both our hearts.
FERRANDO, GUGLIELMO:
My idol, blame fate
that I must abandon you.
DORABELLA: Ah no, you shall not leave...
FIORDILIGI: No, cruel one, you shall not go...
DORABELLA: First I want to tear out my heart.
FIORDILIGI: First I want to die at your feet.
FERRANDO (softly to Don Alfonso): What do you say to that?
GUGLIELMO (softly to Don Alfonso): You realise?
DON ALFONSO (softly): Steady, friend, finem lauda.
ALL:
Thus destiny defrauds
the hopes of mortals.
Ah, among so many misfortunes,
who can ever love life?
=head2 v5.20.1-RC1 - Lorenzo da Ponte, trans. William Weaver, "Così fan tutte"
L<Announced on 2014-08-25 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/08/msg218975.html>
DON ALFONSO:
I'd like to speak, but I haven't the heart:
my lip stammers.
My voice cannot emerge,
but remains in my throat.
What will you do? What shall I do?
Oh what a great catastrophe!
There can be nothing worse.
I feel pity for you and for them.
FIORDILIGI: Heavens! For mercy's sake, Signor Alfonso, don't make us
die.
DON ALFONSO: My children, you must arm yourselves with constancy.
DORABELLA: Ye Gods! What evil has occurred? What horrible event? Is my
love dead, perhaps?
FIORDILIGI: Is mine dead?
DON ALFONSO: They are not dead, but they are not far from it.
DORABELLA: Wounded?
DON ALFONSO: No.
FIORDILIGI: Ill?
DON ALFONSO: Nor that.
FIORDILIGI: What, then?
DON ALFONSO: A royal command summons them to the field of battle.
FIORDILIGI, DORABELLA: Alas, what do I hear? And they will leave?
DON ALFONSO: Immediately.
DORABELLA: And there is no way of preventing it?
DON ALFONSO: There is none.
FIORDILIGI: And not even a single farewell...
DON ALFONSO: The unhappy men haven't the courage to see you; but if
you wish it, they are ready...
DORABELLA: Where are they?
DON ALFONSO: Come in, friends.
=head2 v5.20.0 - William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18
L<Announced on 2014-05-27 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/05/msg215815.html>
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
=head2 v5.20.0-RC1 - Lindsey Buckingham, "Second Hand News"
L<Announced on 2014-05-17 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/05/msg215479.html>
When times go bad
when times go rough
Won't you lay me down in tall grass
And let me do my stuff
=head2 v5.19.11 - Isidore-Lucien Ducasse [as "Comte de Lautréamont"], trans. Paul Knight, "Les Chants de Maldoror"
L<Announced on 2014-04-20 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/04/msg214580.html>
O rigorous mathematics, I have not forgotten you since your wise lessons,
sweeter than honey, filtered into my heart like a refreshing wave.
Instinctively, from the cradle, I had longed to drink from your source, older
than the sun, and I continue to tread the sacred sanctuary of your solemn
temple, I, the most faithful of your devotees. There was a vagueness in my
mind, something thick as smoke; but I managed to mount the steps which lead to
your altar, and you drove away this dark veil, as the wind blows the
draught-board. You replaced it with excessive coldness, consummate prudence and
implacable logic. With the aid of your fortifying milk, my intellect developed
rapidly and took on immense proportions amid the ravishing lucidity which you
bestow as a gift on all those who sincerely love you. Arithmetic! Algebra!
Geometry! Awe-inspiring trinity! Luminous triangle! He who has not known you
is a fool!
=head2 v5.19.10 - John Chadwick, "The Decipherment of Linear B"
L<Announced on 2014-03-20 by Aaron Crane|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/03/msg213851.html>
The urge to discover secrets is deeply ingrained in human nature; even
the least curious mind is roused by the promise of sharing knowledge
withheld from others. Some are fortunate enough to find a job which
consists in the solution of mysteries, whether it be the physicist who
tracks down a hitherto unknown nuclear particle or the policeman who
detects a criminal. But most of us are driven to sublimate this urge
by the solving of artificial puzzles devised for our entertainment.
=head2 v5.19.9 - R. A. MacAvoy, "Tea with the Black Dragon"
L<Announced on 2014-02-20 by Tony Cook|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/02/msg213047.html>
Old hands. The smell of rain--the smell of Ch'an. Quiet words in
rough Cantonese. "I am not to be your master. Your master has to be
stronger than you are--has to tell you you are a fool and make you
know it. And make you feel content in being a fool. How could I do
that for you? I'm old. You are too strong for me; you are full of
chi." The old man has paused then, huddled against the wind while
clouds thickened above them.
"I will tell you this, Long," he continued, "Before you find yourself
you will lose your chi. Also you will leave behind you all pride of
body, pride of mind. You will be reduced. Like me." The old man
closed his eyes, and rain began to beat against his gray, crew-cut
hair. He pulled his coat closer. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and
he looked Long in the face.
"You must leave China. Go across the ocean. There you will meet your
master." He set down his teacup with a palsied hand. His voice rose,
grew fierce.
"I tell you this, most honored and impressive visitor. You are a
fool, yes, but you will find the very thing you seek. You will find
truth!"
=head2 v5.19.8 - Joseph Heller, "Catch-22"
L<Announced on 2014-01-20 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/01/msg211729.html>
“I used to get a big kick out of saving people’s lives. Now I wonder what the
hell’s the point, since they all have to die anyway.”
“Oh, there’s a point, all right,” Dunbar assured him.
“Is there? What is the point?”
“The point is to keep them from dying for as long as you can.”
“Yeah, but what’s the point, since they all have to die anyway?”
“The trick is not to think about that.”
“Never mind the trick. What the hell’s the point?”
Dunbar pondered in silence for a few moments. “Who the hell knows?”
=head2 v5.19.7 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Slaughterhouse-Five"
L<Announced on 2013-12-20 by Abigail|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/12/msg210882.html>
And somewhere in there was springtime. The corpse mines were closed
down. The soldiers all left to fight the Russians. In the suburbs,
the women and children dug rifle pits. Billy and the rest of his group
were locked up in the stable in the suburbs. And then, one morning,
they got up to discover that the door was unlocked. World War Two in
Europe was over.
Billy and the rest wandered out onto the shady street. The trees were
leafing out. There was nothing going on out there, no traffic of any
kind. There was only one vehicle, an abandoned wagon drawn by two
Waitress: Shut up. Shut up! Shut up! You can't have egg, bacon, spam and sausage without the spam.
Mrs. Bun: Why not?
Waitress: No, it wouldn't be egg, bacon, spam and sausage, would it?
Mrs. Bun: I don't like spam!
=head2 v5.19.5 - Charles Baudelaire, trans. James McGowan, "The Flowers of Evil", 51. The Cat
L<Announced on 2013-10-20 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/10/msg208752.html>
I
A cat is strolling through my mind
Acting as though he owned the place,
A lovely cat -- strong, charming, sweet.
When he meows, one scarcely hears,
So tender and discreet his tone;
But whether he should growl or purr
His voice is always rich and deep.
That is the secret of his charm.
This purling voice that filters down
Into my darkest depths of soul
Fulfils me like a balanced verse,
Delights me as a potion would.
It puts to sleep the cruellest ills
And keeps a rein on ecstasies --
Without the need for any words
It can pronounce the longest phrase.
Oh no, there is no bow that draws
Across my heart, fine instrument,
And makes to sing so royally
The strongest and the purest chord,
More than your voice, mysterious cat,
Exotic cat, seraphic cat,
In whom all is, angelically,
As subtle as harmonious.
II
From his soft fur, golden and brown,
Goes out so sweet a scent, one night
I might have been embalmed in it
By giving him one little pet.
He is my household's guardian soul;
He judges, he presides, inspires
All matters in hos royal realm;
Might he be fairy? or a god?
When my eyes, to this cat I love
Drawn as by a magnet's force,
Turn tamely back from that appeal,
And when I look within myself,
I notice with astonishment
The fire of his opal eyes,
Clear beacons glowing, living jewels,
Taking my measure, steadily.
=head2 v5.19.4 - Washington Irving, "The Widow and Her Son"
L<Announced on 2013-09-20 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/09/msg207969.html>
There is something in sickness that breaks down the pride of manhood;
that softens the heart and brings it back to the feelings of infancy.
Who that has languished, even in advanced life, in sickness and
despondency — who that has pined on a weary bed in the neglect and
loneliness of a foreign land — but has thought on the mother "that
looked on his childhood," that smoothed his pillow and administered to
his helplessness. — Oh! there is an enduring tenderness in the love
of a mother to her son that transcends all other affections of the
heart. It is neither to be chilled by selfishness — nor daunted by
danger — nor weakened by worthlessness — nor stifled by ingratitude.
She will sacrifice every comfort to his convenience — she will
surrender every pleasure to his enjoyment — she will glory in his fame
and exult in his prosperity. And if misfortune overtake him he will
be the dearer to her from misfortune — and if disgrace settle upon his
name, she will still love and cherish him in spite of his disgrace —
and if all the world beside cast him off, she will be all the world to
him.
=head2 v5.19.3 - Andrew Hodges, "Alan Turing: The Enigma"
L<Announced on 2013-08-20 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/08/msg206318.html>
E.M. Forster, outdoing the King's heresy with grand bravura, had
written in 1938 that if he were faced with the choice between
betraying his country and betraying his friends, he hoped he would
have the courage to betray his country. He would always put the
personal above the political. But for Alan Turing, unlike Forster, or
Wittgenstein, or G.H. Hardy, it was more than a theoretical question.
For him not only had the personal become the political, but the
political was the personal. He had chosen and promised for himself in
working for the government. The choice for him therefore was that
between betraying one part of himself and betraying another part. And
however much he wavered between these alternatives, there was a solid
logic to the mind of security, one that could not be expected to take
an interest in notions of freedom and development. He had no rights
to such things, as he would have had to admit. He might have
outwitted the Home Guard, but when it came to questions that mattered,
there was no doubt that he had placed himself under military law.
There was a war on; there was always a war on now.
=head2 v5.19.2 - Fred Brooks, "The Mythical Man-Month"
L<Announced on 2013-07-22 by Aristotle Pagaltzis|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/07/msg204905.html>
The magic of myth and legend has come true in our time. One types the
correct incantation on a keyboard, and a display screen comes to life,
showing things that never were nor could be. [...] Not all is delight,
however [...] One must perform perfectly. The computer resembles the
magic of legend in this respect, too. If one character, one pause, of
the incantation is not strictly in proper form, the magic doesn't work.
=head2 v5.19.1 - William Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
L<Announced on 2013-06-21 by David Golden|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/06/msg203449.html>
Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough briar,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats, spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In their freckles live our savours.
I must go seek some dew-drops here,
And hang a perl in every cowslip's ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits, I'll be gone;
My queen and all her elves come here anon!
=head2 v5.19.0 - Batman, of the Joker, in "The Dark Knight Returns"
L<Announced on 2013-05-20 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/05/msg201980.html>
From the beginning, I knew…
…that there was nothing wrong with you…
…that I can't fix…
…with my hands…
=head2 v5.18.4 - Robert W. Chambers, Cassilda's Song in "The King in Yellow," Act I, Scene 2
L<Announced on 2014-10-01 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/10/msg220770.html>
Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink beneath the lake,
The shadows lengthen
In Carcosa.
Strange is the night where black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies
But stranger still is
Lost Carcosa.
Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in
Dim Carcosa.
Song of my soul, my voice is dead;
Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa.
=head2 v5.18.3 - (no epigraph)
(no epigraph)
=head2 v5.18.3-RC2 - Robert W. Chambers, "The King in Yellow", Act I, Scene 2
L<Announced on 2014-09-27 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/09/msg220613.html>
"Ah! I see it now!" I shrieked. "You have seized the throne and the
empire. Woe! woe to you who are crowned with the crown of the King in
Yellow!"
=head2 v5.18.3-RC1 - Robert W. Chambers, "The King in Yellow", Act I, Scene 2
L<Announced on 2014-09-17 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/09/msg220072.html>
CAMILLA: You, sir, should unmask.
STRANGER: Indeed?
CASSILDA: Indeed it's time. We all have laid aside disguise but you.
STRANGER: I wear no mask.
CAMILLA: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!
=head2 v5.18.2 - Miss Manners
L<Announced on 2014-01-06 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2014/01/msg211224.html>
One of the major mistakes people make is that they think manners are
only the expression of happy ideas. There's a whole range of behavior
that can be expressed in a mannerly way. That's what civilization is all
about – doing it in a mannerly and not an antagonistic way. One of the
places we went wrong was the naturalistic Rousseauean movement of the
Sixties in which people said, "Why can't you just say what's on your
mind?" In civilization there have to be some restraints. If we followed
every impulse, we'd be killing one another.
=head2 v5.18.1 - Chuck Moore
L<Announced on 2013-08-12 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/08/msg205897.html>
The operating system is another concept that is curious. Operating
systems are dauntingly complex and totally unnecessary. It’s a brilliant
thing that Bill Gates has done in selling the world on the notion of
operating systems. It’s probably the greatest con game the world has
ever seen.
An operating system does absolutely nothing for you. As long as you had
something — a subroutine called disk driver, a subroutine called some
kind of communication support, in the modern world, it doesn’t do
anything else. In fact, Windows spends a lot of time with overlays and
disk management all stuff like that which are irrelevant. You’ve got
gigabyte disks; you’ve got megabyte RAMs. The world has changed in a way
that renders the operating system unnecessary.
=head2 v5.18.1-RC1 - Chuck Moore
L<Announced on 2013-08-02 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/08/msg205445.html>
Compilers are probably the worst code ever written. They are written by
someone who has never written a compiler before and will never do so
again. The more elaborate the language, the more complex, bug-ridden,
and unusable is the compiler. But a simple compiler for a simple
language is an essential tool—if only for documentation.
=head2 v5.18.0 - Yevgeny Zamyatin
L<Announced on 2013-05-18 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/05/msg201940.html>
It is an error to divide people into the living and the dead: there are people
who are dead-alive, and people who are alive-alive. The dead-alive also write,
walk, speak, act. But they make no mistakes; only machines make no mistakes,
and they produce only dead things. The alive-alive are constantly in error, in
search, in questions, in torment.
=head2 v5.18.0-RC4 - Joseph Heller, "Catch-22"
L<Announced on 2013-05-16 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/05/msg201889.html>
Clevinger was dead. That was the basic flaw in his philosophy.
=head2 v5.18.0-RC3 - Tom Waits, "The Ocean Doesn't Want Me"
L<Announced on 2013-05-14 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/05/msg201823.html>
I'd love to go drowning
And to stay and to stay
But the ocean doesn't want me today
I'll go in up to here
It can't possibly hurt
All they will find is my beer
And my shirt
=head2 v5.18.0-RC2 - Tom Waits, "Earth Died Screaming"
L<Announced on 2013-05-12 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/05/msg201723.html>
And the great day of wrath has come
And here's mud in your big red eye
The poker's in the fire
And the locusts take the sky
And the earth died screaming
While I lay dreaming of you
=head2 v5.18.0-RC1 - Tom Waits, "What's He Building in There?"
L<Announced on 2013-05-11 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/05/msg201651.html>
What's he building in there?
We have a right to know…
=head2 v5.17.11 - Nigel Tufnel in "This is Spın̈al Tap"
L<Announced on 2013-04-20 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/04/msg201056.html>
It's very special because, if you can see, the numbers all go to…
eleven! Look, right across the board: eleven, eleven, eleven, eleven!
=head2 v5.17.10 - Vernor Vinge, "A Fire Upon The Deep"
L<Announced on 2013-03-23 by Max Maischein|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/03/msg200504.html>
The archive informed the automation. Data structures were built, recipes
followed. A local network was built, faster than anything on Straum, but surely
safe. Nodes were added, modified by other recipes. The archive was a friendly
place, with hierarchies of translation keys that led them along. Straum itself
would be famous for this.
Six months passed. A year.
The omniscient view. Not self-aware really. Self-awareness is much over-rated.
Most automation works far better as a part of a whole, and even if human-
powerful, it does not need to self-know.
=head2 v5.17.9 - Douglas Adams, "The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy"
L<Announced on 2013-02-20 by Chris 'BinGOs' Williams|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/02/msg199115.html>
Vogon poetry is of course, the third worst in the universe.
The second worst is that of the Azgoths of Kria. During a
recitation by their poet master Grunthos the Flatulent of
his poem 'Ode To A Small Lump of Green Putty I Found In My
Armpit One Midsummer Morning' four of his audience died
of internal haemorrhaging and the president of the
Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived by gnawing one
of his own legs off. Grunthos is reported to have been
'disappointed' by the poem's reception, and was about to
embark on a reading of his twelve-book epic entitled
'My Favourite Bathtime Gurgles' when his own major intestine,
in a desperate attempt to save life and civilisation,
leapt straight up through his neck and throttled his brain.
The very worst poetry of all perished along with its creator
Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Greenbridge, Essex, England,
in the destruction of the planet Earth.
=head2 v5.17.8 - Iain Pears, "An Instance of the Fingerpost"
L<Announced on 2013-01-20 by Aaron Crane|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2013/01/msg197571.html>
I must here declare myself as someone who does not for a moment subscribe to
the general view that a willingness to perform oneself is detrimental to the
dignity of experimental philosophy. There is, after all, a clear distinction
between labour carried out for financial reward, and that done for the
improvement of mankind: to put it another way, Lower as a philosopher was
fully my equal even if he fell away when he became the practising physician.
I think ridiculous of certain professors of anatomy, who find it beneath
them to pick up the knife themselves, but merely comment while hired hands
do the cutting. Sylvius would never have dreamt of sitting on a dais reading
from an authority while others cut — when he taught, the knife was
in his hand and the blood spattered his coat. Boyle also did not scruple to
perform his own experiments and, on one occasion in my presence, even showed
himself willing to anatomise a rat with his very own hands. Nor was he less
a gentleman when he had finished. Indeed, in my opinion, his stature was all
the greater, for in Boyle wealth, humility and curiosity mingled, and the
world is richer for it.
=head2 v5.17.7 - R. Scott Bakker, "The Darkness That Comes Before"
L<Announced on 2012-12-18 by Dave Rolsky|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/12/msg196707.html>
No thought.
The boy extinguished. Only a place.
This place.
Motionless, the Pragma sat facing him, the bare soles of his feet flat against each other, his dark frock scored by the shadows of deep folds, his eyes as empty as the child they watched.
A place without breath or sound. A place of sight alone. A place without before or after . . . almost.
For the first lances of sunlight careered over the glacier, as ponderous as great tree limbs in the wind. Shadows hardened and light gleamed across the Pragma’s ancient skull.
The old man’s left hand forsook his right sleeve, bearing a watery knife. And like a rope in water, his arm pitched outward, fingertips trailing across the blade as the knife swung languidly into the air, the sun skating and the dark shrine plunging across its mirror back . . .
And the place where Kellhus had once existed extended an open hand—the blond hairs like luminous filaments against tanned skin—and grasped the knife from stunned space.
The slap of pommel against palm triggered the collapse of place into little boy. The pale stench of his body. Breath, sound, and lurching thoughts.
I have been legion . . .
In his periphery, he could see the spike of the sun ease from the mountain. He felt drunk with exhaustion. In the recoil of his trance, it seemed all he could hear were the twigs arching and bobbing in the wind, pulled by leaves like a million sails no bigger than his hand. Cause everywhere, but amid countless minute happenings—diffuse, useless.
Now I understand.
=head2 v5.17.6 - Kurt Vonnegut, "The Sirens of Titan"
L<Announced on 2012-11-20 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/11/msg195659.html>
Beatrice, looking like a gypsy queen, smoldered at the foot of a statue
of a young physical student. At first glance, the laboratory-gowned
scientist seemed to be a perfect servant of nothing but truth. At first
glance, one was convinced that nothing but truth could please him as he
beamed at his test tube. At first glance, one thought that he was as
much above the beastly concerns of mankind as the harmoniums in the
caves of Mercury. There, at first glance, was a young man without
vanity, without lust — and one accepted at its face value the title Salo
had engraved on the statue, "Discovery of Atomic Power."
=head2 v5.17.5 - Charles Stross, "Singularity Sky"
L<Announced on 2012-10-20 by Florian Ragwitz|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/10/msg194349.html>
Neither of them noticed the pair of polka-dotted knickers hiding
behind the ventilation duct overhead, listening patiently and
recording everything.
=head2 v5.17.4 - Roald Dahl, "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf"
L<Announced on 2012-09-19 by Florian Ragwitz|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/09/msg192635.html>
