Koan of the week

Time for another koan:

Teaching the Ultimate
In early times in Japan, bamboo-and-paper lanterns were used with candles inside. A blind man, visiting a friend one night, was offered a lantern to carry home with him.
"I do not need a lantern," he said. "Darkness or light is all the same to me."
"I know you do not need a lantern to find your way," his friend replied, "but if you don't have one, someone else may run into you. So you must take it."
The blind man started off with the lantern and before he had walked very far someone ran squarely into him.
"Look out where you are going!" he exclaimed to the stranger. "Can't you see this lantern?"
"Your candle has burned out, brother," replied the stranger.

Horan Fiesta!

Jess and I went to a fiesta Saturday, and as the passive-agressive attendee said to the uninterested reader, "a good time was had by all."

Here are some photos:

If we let artists and marketing guys put little signs on our bridges and buildings, the terrorists have won.

In a surreal bit of overreacting and self-important pomposity, Boston officials have arrested a couple of guys for putting up little blinking LED signs that show a little square character giving passers-by the finger. It’s supposed to be a promotion for “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” a very strange cartoon on the Cartoon Network about a Milkshake, some anthropomorphic fries, and a meatball named “MeatWad.” If you have never watched Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the terrorists have won.

Here is a link to an AP story about it. There are more pics with the story.

While all responsible folks praise the police for the work that they do, and we certainly appreciate the efforts and heroism that they display on a daily basis….can’t we agree that the police got this wrong, that they should be a little embarrassed that they confused an LED sign with a threat to national security, and sweep this under the rug? Why go out and demand that we make an example of the artist—after all, he was hired by the network that is owned by the media conglomerate to promote a niche show in a “guerilla marketing” fashion. The signs were put up in multiple cities, and it looks like they were up in Boston for up to three weeks before the police confused them for a possible explosive device and generally made asses of themselves.

"It's clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location," said Assistant Attorney General John Grossman.

We can all sleep well tonight knowing that we have dedicated finger pointers like Attorney General Grossman on the case, protecting the homeland from little LED guys flipping people off.