Berniegourley

LATEST ARTICLES ( 3743 )

• Sharing Stories of the Plaguepocalypse

  

  [I'm recycling this from a Figment competition that I once entered--and lost.] Day 100, Post-Apocalypse JB and I worked tediously to find and repair damaged... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• The Budō Fishbowl

  

  I posted this on my martial arts blog, Jissen Budōka, but decided to re-post here. I’ve read and heard many quotes about the degree to which martial arts... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• TODAY’S RANT: Puny Machines

  

  When the machines rise up against humanity, I will be high on their list of Homo sapiens to put through the chipper-shredder. You may be asking, “How can such a... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2013 RANTS N' RAVES, SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• DAILY PHOTO: Toccoa Falls, Georgia

  

  About an 18 story drop In 1977, there was a flood here when a dam gave way, killing almost forty people. Tags: dam break, flood, Georgia,... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2013 TRAVEL

• POEM: Twisted Time

  

  Six months a year the river flows away from the sea. Entropy’s fall? No. The fits and starts of progress are not rooted in twisted time. Here, blacksmiths exist. Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• Tulip 7

  

  Night falls on Bangkok I’m speed-walking down the sidewalk off Sukhumvit Road like one of those elderly mall-walkers. Like the mall-walkers, there’s an irony... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• DAILY PHOTO: Shark Ray Alley in Belize

  

  A Disciplined School This was taken with a cheap underwater camera while snorkeling off Ambergris Caye in Belize. The fish align themselves in the shadows of... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• Your Life is Hard? Try Working with Ninjas,Pirates, and Smugglers!

  

  Ninjas, pirates, and smugglers aren’t exactly chatty. They burn, or shred, their correspondence. They sow seeds of disinformation to confuse the authorities. Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• BOOK REVIEW: Smile When You’re Lying by Chuck Thompson

  

  Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer by Chuck Thompson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Amazon page Smile When You’re Lying gives the reader an... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• DAILY PHOTO: Graffiti Comedian, Suomenlinna

  

  This is Sparta! A couple years ago I saw this sign on Suomenlinna, a fortress island offshore from Helsinki. While it may not have been original, it made me... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• TODAY’S RANT: Ambiguous Signage

  

  Everyone sends an email or leaves a note on occasion that makes perfect sense to the writer, but which could mean any of a dozen things to the reader. That’s th... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2013 RANTS N' RAVES, SOCIETY

• BOOK REVIEW: 101 Great American Poems Ed. The American Poetry and Literacy...

  

  101 Great American Poems by The American Poetry and Literacy ProjectMy rating: 5 of 5 starsAmazon pageThis is a collection of 101 poems by 39 different... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• DAILY PHOTO: Temple of Heaven Grounds in Beijing

  

  The pointy-topped building is the Hall of Prayer for Good HarvestsThe Temple of Heaven is a complex of buildings used for Heaven worship. Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• BOOK REVIEW: Classic Haiku Ed. by Yuzuru Miura

  

  Classic Haiku: A Master’s Selection by Yuzuru MiuraMy rating: 5 of 5 starsClassic Haiku is a collection of 106 poems by masters such as Matsuo Bashō,... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• BOOK REVIEW: Unbelievable by Stacy Horn

  

  Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and Other Unseen Phenomena from the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory by Stacy HornMy rating: 3... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• My Humble Narcissistic Opinion on Organizations

  Whenever an organization is built around an idea or set of values, that idea or set of values shrinks dwarf-like into the background. What looms large is the... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• TODAY’S RANT: The War on Rhyming Verse

  

  A fine Hungarian poet who Wrote with and without rhyme it’s my cross, my curse this rhyme in my verse rhymers aren’t taken seriously and are berated... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• BOOK REVIEW: The Bridge at Andau by James Michener

  

  The Bridge at Andau by James A. MichenerMy rating: 5 of 5 starsIn the fall of 1956, there was a revolt in Hungary against the Soviet-puppet leadership. Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• TODAY’S PHOTO: Roadside Cambodia

  

  This is Cambodia Traveling cross-country through Cambodia at the end of the wet season, the road seems to be just the Mac-daddy paddy dike, and the rest of the... Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2013 SOCIETY, TRAVEL

• BOOK REVIEW: Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

  

  Solaris by Stanisław LemMy rating: 4 of 5 starsSolaris is the best known work of the Polish sci-fi writer Stanislaw Lem. It’s the story of the planet... Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE