Past Postings

Previous William Thomas Sherman Info Page postings, quotes, observations, etc.

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After posting "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" here last night, I was browsing Youtube for the selections pertaining to one of Longfellow's other more familiar masterpieces, "The Song of Hiawatha;" in the course of which I came across this home-made music video of the song "Coyote Dance" by Robbie Robertson with concomitant clips from the 1997 film "The Song of Hiawatha" (starring Adam Beach from "Squanto.") There's not really any story to follow here in the visuals as such (as one might at first be led to assume); but they do, allowing for their being excerpts from a feature length film, serve as a pleasant backdrop to the music.

["Song of Hiawatha" - Litefoot (Hiawatha) and Adam Beach (Chibiabos) In "Song of Hiawatha" Music: Robbie Robertson "Coyote Dance"]

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Since we're having licorice and rock candy -- the very first poem I remember reading in all my life.

["Michael Maglaras reads Longfellow's poem Paul Revere's Ride_0002.wmv"]

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It is imprudent and less than wise to take offense at someone's believing that they know it all, or at least to let on to others that you do; for most people do think they know everything, at least everything that really matters.

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["Hammond Spinet - After The Ball The Band Played On Sidewalks of New York"]

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Speaking of Theophilus_of_Antioch (?--c.184 A.D.), whose philosophical reasoning is perhaps and comparatively more fair and his anti-Greek bias less fervid than Justin's or Tatian's, though not without his own fair share of error and distortion, we find the following Sibylline oracle reproduced in his Theophilus to Autolycus, Book II, ch. XXXVI.
It is not stated which pre-Christian era prophetess (there were a number of them) this passage comes from, but some scholars infer it was the Erythraean_Sibyl.

"And the Sibyl, who was a prophetess among the Greeks and the other nations, in the beginning of her prophecy, reproaches the race of men, saying:-

"How are ye still so quickly lifted up,
And how so thoughtless of the end of life,
Ye mortal men of flesh, who are but naught?
Do ye not tremble, nor fear God most high?
Your Overseer, the Knower, Seer of all,
Who ever keeps those whom His hand first made,
Puts His sweet Spirit into all His works,
And gives Him for a guide to mortal men.
There is one only uncreated God,
Who reigns alone, all-powerful very great,
From whom is nothing hid.
He sees all things, Himself unseen by any mortal eye.
Can mortal man see the immortal God,
Or fleshly eyes, which shun the noontide beams,
Look upon Him who dwells beyond the heavens?
Worship Him then, the self-existent God,
The unbegotten Ruler of the world,
Who only was from everlasting time,
And shall to everlasting still abide.
Of evil counsels ye shall reap the fruit,
Because ye have not honoured the true God,
Nor offered to Him sacred hecatombs.
To those who dwell in Hades ye make gifts,
And unto demons offer sacrifice.
In madness and in pride ye have your walk;
And leaving the right way, ye wander wide,
And lose yourselves in pitfalls and in thorns.
Why do ye wander thus, O foolish men?
Cease your vain wanderings in the black, dark night;
Why follow darkness and perpetual gloom
When, see, there shines for you the blessed light?
Lo, He is clear--in Him there is no spot.
Turn, then, from darkness, and behold the day;
Be wise, and treasure wisdom in your breasts.
There is one God who sends the winds and rains,
The earthquakes, and the lightnings, and the plagues,
The famines, and the snow-storms, and the ice,
And all the woes that visit our sad race.
Nor these alone, but all things else He gives,
Ruling omnipotent in heaven and earth,
And self-existent from eternity."

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As if enduring a brain torture radio isn't enough, it just kills me. You go to the post office and now (and for some time now) it's like USPS-Pixar-Disney.

How could things be and have gotten to be this way?

1. Over the years, they assassinate or sideline our real leadership.
2. A bunch of Spielberg-like knuckleheads are put in power in their place, and who are (unlike real leadership) willing to appease and come to an arrangement with the evil one.
3. Other people are invited to join in on "Project Prosperity," while those who refuse this generous offer are, in lieu of which, guaranteed a "Heavenly Reward" (all rights reserved) in the next life.
4. Then everyone is led to understand things are normal, on the up and up, and just about everyone, or so it seems, believes them.

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The spirit of lies and murder has been his guiding star for many ages now, i.e., "the spirit of lies and murder his guiding star..."

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Of course it doesn't work and doesn't seem any good! It only works and is what it's supposed to be when the ingredients are all there. Therefore don't blame what it is if, properly speaking, it isn't.

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