listen!
starring Dr. Hal !
THE ?@#%&?!! MACHINE ACTUALLY WORKED! NO MALFUNCTION...
April 12, 2024 10:00pm

 

Ask Dr Hal
THE ?@#%&?!! MACHINE ACTUALLY WORKED! NO MALFUNCTION...
...NO TRICK of wiring or cross-connection-- no Technical Difficulties at all... this time... It was not needed, for once, for KrOB to swoop in and with his supernal skill and understanding undo whatever complication happens to be blocking the inception and regular performance of this feature. All was ship-shape and squared away. Eventually, herein, we come to a nearly complete recitation of John Milton's apostrophe to Melancholy, IL PENSEROSO. This poem explores the theme of contemplative philosophical solitude, contrasting it with typically fleeting and delusive joys. The poet here rejects shallow pleasures in favor of "divinest Melancholy," an introspective state of heightened intellection, and describes the qualities of Melancholy as wise, holy, and descended from "bright-haired Vesta," daughter of "Solitary Saturn." He invites Melancholia to join him in ascetic ratiocination, accompanied by "Calm, Peace and Quiet," "spare Fast," "retired Leisure," and, presiding over all, guiding "the fiery-wheeled Throne," the "cherub, Contemplation." Seeking solace in Nature, music, and the pursuit of knowledge, an experience of recondite rapture is suggested-- and then reached. The whole megilla aligns, they say, with a literary trend popular during the 17th century, highlighting the exploration of inner emotions and search for meaning in solitudinous transcendence. And there's more stuff, including some zippy musical selections. Just as long as the gizmo, which is to say the dingfutzer, whatchamacallit, contraption or doohickey at this soi-disant station continues to function, this... this can all go on.


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