#they were talking about this in the talk they did at lincoln center

[lies]

PUPPETS - daniels

[fictionadventurer]

Interesting thing about Lincoln.

As a person and a politician, he was defined by his way with words. He was a lawyer, which involves speaking in courtrooms and appealing to audiences. He rose to national prominence because of how well he did in a series of public debates. He wrote speeches that have lasted through the ages because of their concise yet vivid phrasing.

He understood the world through the lens of storytelling. He had anecdotes for every situation, and constantly used them to provide metaphors explaining his stances or his strategy or his view of an issue.

As president during a Civil War, a huge part of his job was crafting the narrative explaining what they were fighting for. The Gettysburg Address reframed the national narrative so the founding moment of the country wasn't the ratification of the Constitution--as the South claimed--but the Declaration of Independence that listed the ideals that all the states should be held to. Of course, the South was doing the same thing, so that the conflict was not only a battle of muskets and cannons--it was a war of stories.

And he was killed by an actor.

In a theater.

He was struck down by an opposing storyteller in a palace of artifice. An actress made a point of cradling his dying head in her lap so she could have a part in the drama. He lived by stories and died as the center of one, in a place made for telling such stories.

It's poetic and tragic and so shockingly fitting that the war of stories claimed him as its central victim.

[thescarletnargacuga]

TOY BOX

A BUTTONBLOSSOM/RAGAPOM/JESTERDOLL ONESHOT

A/N: I don't know which ship name is the most common, so I'm using all of them lol I may or may not have been drinking while writing this...

WARNING: none

~~~

"Today's adventure is THE TERRIFIC TREASURE TAKEAWAY!" Caine introduced his adventure of the day with the usual display of flare, completely oblivious to the reactions of the unimpressed six in front of him. "You're going on a scavenger hunt! It'll be three teams of two searching the grand Museum for TREASURES! Avoid security! Or they lock you up and your teammate has to get you out! If both of you are caught, you're out of the game! The last team standing, or the team with the most treasures at the end of the time limit, wins!"

Pomni spoke to Ragatha out of the side of her mouth. "Do the adventure titles always have to be illiterate?"

"No." Ragatha covered her mouth and whispered back. "I think that's just a Caine thing."

"Three teams? We ALL have to participate?" Zooble groaned.

"The game is more fun than way! Come on, Zooble! Don't you want to play a game with your friends?" Caine was practically begging. He could not force them to play if they absolutely did not want to, but he REALLY needed an even number of people for the game to work properly.

Zooble rolled their eyes and turned to leave, but then overheard Jax.

"Looks like Zooble is going to be as boring as always. Come on Gangle, you're my partner."

Zooble stopped and turned on their heels. They marched to Jax and shoved him away from Gangle. They crossed their arms and didn't move when Jax got back up and glared.

"Fine. I didn't really want to be stuck dealing with her whining anyway." Jax huffed and stretched his arm out to grab Kinger by the scruff of his robe. "Kinger and I got this."

"Hey, Pomni. Would you like to be my partner? ...for the game! The game." Ragatha awkwardly felt like she needed to clarify.

"Oh! Uhhh, yeah, sure." Pomni was glad Ragatha asked first.

"EXCELLENT!! I do love full party participation!" Caine snapped and a colorful portal opened. "Good luck everyone!"

The group walked through and found themselves in the grand main hall of an enormous museum. Around them the main hall separated into three wings and had three floors. Above them hung a banner that read WELCOME TO ESCHER'S MUSEUM OF ODDITIES. A full T-Rex fossil was having tea with a wax figure of Abraham Lincoln on a display in the center of the room. Various random items were in display cases, many of them only vaguely resembling artifacts and art pieces.

Pomni nervously looks around. "Uh, any ideas as to what these TREASURES look like?"

"No clue. I'm more worried about this SECURITY Caine was talking about. His ideas of enforcement came be a bit...scary. BUT we won't know until we try taking something." Ragatha tapped the glass around a weird mask looking object.

"...it just occurred to me that Caine has literally sent us to rob a museum." Pomni thought out loud as she backed up against a wall, feeling exposed in the large liminal space.

"This is supposed to be a competition right? Outta my way!" Jax pushed Ragatha aside, into Pomni.

Ragatha braced herself against the wall, arm on either side of Pomni.

Pomni flushed, seeing Ragatha up close and personal always made her heart flutter but they've never been this close. She stared up into Ragatha's smiling, apologetic face. Her one eye soft on her.

"Hey..." Ragatha giggled.

"...hey." Pomni delayed in answering, but managed a smile.

Neither of them moved. They just stood their. Awkwardly. Neither wanting to tell the other to move, because what if that was rude?

Jax yeeted the glass case Ragatha had tapped and grabbed the mask. It turned into a cloud of sparkles and a +1 popped up before disappearing. "Ha! I knew it! The WHOLE museum is up for grabs!" He jumped on the platform with the dino and president tea display and tried removing Abe's head.

The whole room went red. INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!

"Oh noooo..." Gangle whimpered.

Massive drones came out of the walls and flew towards Jax. "Oop, time to go." He bugs bunny-ed his ass out the room as fast as he could, three drones on his heels. One drone shot a laser at Kinger and he disappeared. The girls screamed.

"Come on!" Pomni took Ragatha by the hand and ran. The maze like layout of the museum discombobulated those who could get away. Lefts was right, down was up. Every door hit a stairwell and every stairwell looped in on itself. At one point, they were on the ceiling. "What kind of place IS this!?"

Ragatha tried to keep up but Pomni was practically dragging her. "Pomni! The stai-" She tripped, fell over apomni and they both rolled and bounced down a countless flight of stairs. Ragatha wrapped her body around Pomni in an attempt to protect her from the fall, even though it felt like rolling down a bouncy castle.

They eventually stopped when they slammed through a closed door.

Ragatha still had a hold of Pomni, they laid side by side. "Are you alright?"

"Uhhhhh....I think so." Pomni had dizzy swirls in her eyes.

Ragatha couldn't help but snicker. It was a funny look on Pomni. "Good. Because that was actually kind of fun."

Pomni shook the swirls away. "Seriously? Falling down the stairs is your idea of fun?"

"Oh, well, no, not real stairs but it was...uh...never mind. I'm just glad you're okay." Ragatha let go and they both got up.

They saw no way out other than the door they knocked off its hinges. Colorful tiles covered the floor, small tables sat in neat little rows, and there was a large play area.

"Where are we?" Pomni asked, looking around.

"I don't know. A classroom?"

"This place doesn't make any sense."

"It wouldn't be one of Caine's creations if it did." Ragatha said with an irey lilt in her voice. "In fact, this actually isn't the weirdest place I've ever seen. I wouldn't even put it in the top five."

Pomni gaped. "Say what?"

"Yeah, you weren't here for the time he tried to make us all fly like him and Jax ended up on the underside of the sun."

Pomni smiled. "He did?"

"Oh yeah, he had to tap dance the heat off his feet until Caine figured out how to turn gravity back on. Took like an hour."

Pomni started to laugh. "It took him THAT long?"

Ragatha laughed with her. "Yeah! If you ask me, I think he did it on purpose." She loved hearing Pomni laugh, it was so rare.

"Wait, so is that the weirdest?"

"Oh, no. The absolute weirdest had to be Derby Day." Ragatha leaned against an oversized toy box. "Derby Day was when Gangle had to-"

The toy box opened, swallowed Ragatha whole, then slammed shut.

"Ah! Ragatha!" Pomni went to open the box and she too was magically pulled inside. She fell and fell and fell into an endless pit of vibrate color. Ragatha was just below her. "Ragatha!!"

"Pomni!!" She cried out as she tumbled through the air.

Pomni streamlined herself to fall faster and caught up with Ragatha. She tried to get Ragatha's hand but the ragdoll was living up to her namesake and accidentally kicked Pomni in the face. They both spun and free fell into a pile of pillows. They laid there for moment to collect themselves.

"What. The actual. [%$!#]." Pomni mumbled into a plush pillow.

"I take it back. This IS really weird." Ragatha moaned.

"...top five?"

"Top three."

Pomni sat up and didn't bother checking her new surroundings. It didn't matter where they were, they'd probably end up somewhere else in a minute anyway. Ragatha rolled over and stared at the new sky. She couldn't see the top, it was an abyss of kaleidoscopic color. "You know...for all the weirdness...I am grateful for one thing."

"What's that?"

"You."

Pomni jerked her head up. "What?"

"Yeah... I'm probably saying this because it doesn't matter if I do... But I enjoy your company."

"Oh...I...I didn't think anyone would. I'm not exactly...fun. And don't say you don't matter. If there's one thing in this digital scape, that actually does matter, it's our feelings. It's what makes us human." Pomni rolled over to join Ragatha looking at the weird sky. "A-and you've been wonderful to be around, too. I'm sorry I don't really say it. I tend to get lost in my own head."

"I understand. This place will do that to you." Ragatha paused, considering if she should say what she wanted to say next. "I'm... Grateful for one other thing today."

"What's that?"

"I got to hug you."

Pomni turned her head to Ragatha. They smiled at each other.

Ragatha continued. "I- I know you're not the biggest fan of touch so...the fact that you didn't freak out after we fell down the stairs-"

"Ragatha, I wouldn't freak out on you. Not for that. Sure, touch isn't really my thing but...I make a small exception for you."

"Would it be okay...if we hugged again?" Ragatha asked with a deep blush across her cheeks.

Pomni scooted closer. "Yeah."

They locked into a warm embrace. It was the most human thing either one of them had felt in a long time. Pomni felt anchored, her mind focused on only the here and now. No what ifs and maybes. It was bliss.

Ragatha felt a sense of comfort and connection that she thought she'd never get to feel again. In this place...it was getting hard to feel anything but melancholy.

As they hugged the pillows shifted. They tried to get up but they both slipped in the surface vertically against one another. It was like falling into quicksand.

"Great....were are we going now?" Pomni held on around Ragatha's neck.

"I don't know, but we're going together. That's all that matters to me." Ragatha held tight as they sunk further and further into the unknown.

[shippingdragons]

Toby Stephens Returns to the New York Stage to Investigate the Media In ‘Corruption’

Stephens talks about playing Tom Watson, the member of Parliament who pursued the investigation of the UK phone hacking scandal. “We’re still living in the aftermath of all the stuff that came out," he says.

By Harry Haun • 03/25/24 4:55pm

Toby Stephens as Tom Watson in Corruption at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. T Charles Erickson

“I love doing what I do on stage,” declares Toby Stephens, more joyfully than boastfully. Call it a (very) early calling. The gifted offspring of genuine theatrical royalty (Sir Robert Stephens and Dame Maggie Smith), he plies the family trade with distinction on two continents. He can’t help it.

When Broadway first saw Stephens, he was drawing double duty in the 1999 revival of Jean Anouilh’s Ring Round the Moon, playing patrician twins who turn into romantic rivals. A quarter of a century later he has finally returned to New York in Corruption, where he is one of just two actors in a company of 13 who does not play multiple roles.

Stephens portrays Tom Watson, a British Parliament member who helped squeeze a death rattle out of Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World for hacking the phones of thousands of celebrities. Playwright J.T. Rogers adapted Watson and journalist Martin Hickman’s 2012 book Dial M for Murdoch: News Corporation and The Corruption of Britain into Corruption, currently getting a world-premiere staging from Bartlett Sher at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, the site of the duo’s previous Tony winner, 2016’s Oslo.

In the 25 years between his New York stage sojourns Stephens has been busy doing his thing “in an industry that’s becoming more and more precarious,” he tells Observer. That’s meant keeping “a variety going,” trading movie roles like the Bond villain Gustav Graves in Die Another Day with a turn as Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company. “I still try to balance theater with making money. That’s what it comes down to—finding that balance.”

What was the lure that brought Stephens back to New York? “A number of things,” he begins. “Firstly, I worked with Bart and J.T. on Oslo in London and enjoyed the experience. Secondly, Corruption is a new piece. Really interesting new writing is quite rare these days. Lots of revivals are done, but I really want to work on something new.” And then there’s focus of Corruption: the media, privacy, and truth itself. “It’s an important subject because we’re still living in the aftermath of all the stuff that came out. It’s still on-going.”

It’s not been an easy play to bring off. “There’s a point in rehearsals and previews where you suddenly feel like ‘Oh, I’m in control of this. It’s not in control of me,’” he says. “What I hate is when you aren’t quite in control of the material. It’s just beyond your fingertips.” The challenge of Corruption was its complexity. “The play is freighted with information, and you have to get that across and make it all seem naturalistic and real. You must leave the audience believing this narrative.”

Adding to the complexity, the show changed throughout previews, a process Stephens calls “terrifying,” though, “that’s how J.T. and Bart work,” he adds. Some of the changes were subtle, others were major. “By the time we reached the first night, it was a very different piece than what we started with. The skeleton was there, but the way we told the story was different. They tightened it up, cut things, rearranged things, even put new scenes in.” Still, there was enough time to work with the material that by opening night Stephens had found the control he was looking for. “I had fun because I knew it was cemented and this would be the piece we’re doing.”

How deeply did Stephens delve into the character of the man he was playing? “Not very,” the actor admits. “I know of him because I’m aware politically in the U.K. I read the newspaper and follow current affairs. I’ve watched him through the years. In terms of research, I believe the play is the play. That’s my main touchstone. I have to trust J.T. has done thorough research, which he has.”

Tom Watson, Toby Stephens, playwright J.T. Rogers, and director Bartlett Sher on opening of Corruption. Tricia Baron

In fact, Stephens opted not to read the book the play is based on. “I find doing loads of research—beyond what the material is— isn’t helpful. All that does is confuse and muddy what you’re doing,” he says. “My business is to do the play I’m given and make my character dramatic and nuanced enough for audiences to deal with.”

So for Stephens, the research is the script, though he does admit one addition to get Watson’s accent right. “He’s got an accent that’s quite broad when he’s talking as himself, but when he’s in Parliament or talking officially, it’s slightly subtler,” he says. To nail that, he watched “a lot of videos—but up to a point. I don’t want to do an impersonation.”

Tom Watson was a surprise guest at Corruption’s opening. “Thank God, I didn’t know that he was present,” Stephens sighs. “Afterwards, Tom said, ‘If this play was done in London, it would be a lightning rod.’ I think he’s right about that. It’s still very fresh in people’s memory. There’s still legal action against newspapers for hacking.” Though Watson had read the play before seeing it, Stephens thinks he was slightly stunned by the whole thing. “Actually seeing it, seeing somebody else playing you, is a completely different thing. You’ve got someone who has lived the real story, and you’re doing a simplified version of that. But I think that he was very, very impressed by the show. ”

[michaelasworlds-blog]

Daddy’s Girl

(A Hazbin OC Fanfic)

Ch. 3: Donnie’s House

~~~~

Chicago, Illinois 1978

“I can’t believe so many people showed up,” Donnie looked around the room, so many people showed up to see his parent’s memorial.

“Yes, one of the richest people in Illinois died, and their son; a famous pianist, decided to invest his inheritance in an art gallery instead of Lincoln Center,” Eugenia rolled her eyes. “I’m uber shocked,” she said sarcastically.

“Wasn’t really interested in playing Carnegie Hall,” he shrugged. “Where’s my baby?” Eugenia turned around revealing a five year old Bean in a baby carrier, “Gigi! She is too big for that,” he struggled to take her out.

“Well she’s dramatic and has random days where she refuses to walk, she’s quiet cause she knows she’s in trouble.”

“Awe.. you’re not in trouble,” He kissed his daughter’s forehead as she hugged him. “Stefan!”Donnie noticed his best friend across the room, “I’ll be back,” he walked off with Bean.

“Donnie my baby!” Eugenia called after him, but he couldn’t hear her. She rolled her eyes looking at the sculptures in the middle of the room Donnie named it “Hollowed Out”. It was what looked like his parents, but it was perhaps paper mache to look like skin. He used poles and dressed them in his parent’s clothes, there was empty space where the eyes and mouths should’ve been. This made her smile, his parents were the most disgusting people she’d ever met, they’d threatened Eugenia’s life at one point telling her she’d make a beautiful Christmas ornament. She was honestly surprised that his parents changed their minds about the inheritance; the plaque below read:

What remains of Ethel and Cornelius Matten, the demons had finally eaten away at the last of their cold dead souls, Their only son cleaned up the mess.

Eugenia giggled a bit, she looked over to see Donnie and Stefan still talking, she looked back at the sculpture and gently touched Ethel’s paper Mâché hand. However, it didn’t feel like paper Mâché; it was strange but she remembered shaking his mother’s hand, it was soft; she knows that because Eugenia had asked Ethel if she used anything special she said “American products” in a passive aggressive manner. Eugenia touched Cornelius’ sculpture, her eyes widened, “Oh my god…” He wouldn’t do that, he wouldn’t have murdered his parents, there was an accident, a huge fire. Donnie said their bodies were unrecognizable, but the next day the police had told him..No bodies were found. She looked back at Donnie horrified.

“Oh my god.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present day, Hell

Eugenia stared up at the sculpture, it was a bunch of severed heads in the shape of a cake, it was named, “Let Them Eat Cake”.

“A weird but creative take on Marie Antoinette,” Alastor looked at the piece amused. Maybe he would bring Voe here, well of course when it wasn’t weird to be around her. How would he explain that the lack of trust is keeping him from opening up but he DID trust her but at the same time he didn’t.. it was complicated for one man to put into words how does she expect him to just talk?

“It’s sick,” Eugenia crossed her arms glaring.

“I can think of sicker,” he mumbled. “Why are we here?” Alastor had better things to do than be here, he didn’t want Voe to think he was avoiding her, he wasn’t but- it was complicated, far too complicated to talk about.

“I don’t know, I guess I wanted to see him or something..I don’t know,” Eugenia sighed. “We can just go.”

The sinners walked out of the art gallery, Donnie turned from guests he was talking to, watching as the Radio Demon left,

Left with his Gigi…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bean spit the mouthwash out into the sink, “Bleh”. She was about to take another capful but decided it would be best just to drink the whole bottle. Apparently Val didn’t want to fuck her, he needed someone with no gag reflex for his three hour film, “So Many Hot Dogs, So Little Time”. Long story short, they had just finished filming 30 minutes ago, it was 8 in the morning and one of the guys slammed into her mouth so hard that it knocked one of your her teeth down her throat. She was so tired of being used, it wasn’t about being used for sex or drugs. It was being taken advantage of, lied to and disrespected; she was not gonna be-

There was a knock on the door, “Sugar baby.. you aren’t done for the day, if you’re a good girl the next five maybe it. Maybe.

“Coming!” Bean smiled, in a perky voice before groaning.

Baby steps.

Finally after five and a half films Bean managed to convince Val to let her leave, if he wanted her to get to the others on his list she’d have to have time to do it. Bean wasn’t doing that, she was going somewhere she didn’t know; it was easier having multiple places to stay. V-Tower didn’t feel like the right place to stay but she stayed for the money, and it felt weird being at the hotel; the activities consisted of what they thought and Bean didn’t know what to think so she usually helped around the hotel.

Bean made her way to the exit, trying to squeeze past the press.

“Mr. Vox! Over here!” A reporter yelled.

“Oh shit,” Bean mumbled. She was not counting on seeing him today.

“One at a time! Ahh.. just kidding, I can take it all at once,” the TV Demon laughed.

“How does it feel being back in business?” A female sinner asked.

“Back? No no my dear, even if the Vees are erased from Hell all together, we’ll always be in business!” Vox smiled as the reporters continued to shove and push each other.

“What do you think of Voe the Beau rising so fast to fame after your defeat?!” A reporter pushed Bean on the ground.

“I’d say I’m pretty disappointed, not one thank you from her, after we helped her rise to the top”.

Bean stood up and everyone turned to her, she realized she was in front of the crowd, “Hey.” She smiled nervously, blushing as Vox stared at her. The crowd started up again, asking questions at the same time.

“Mr. Vox! Is that your daughter?!” One asked.

“Are you fucking your daughter?” Another reporter asked.

Settle down! Settle down!” He laughed. “No more questions,” he started using his hypnotic powers on the crowd. Bean immediately covered her eyes, “You can uncover them now.” She did as she was told, the lobby was now empty.

“Well that was fast,” Bean said.

“What are you doing here?” Vox crossed his arms.

“I was working,” she struggled to look at him but it was also hard to not look.

“Oh, so you decided to come back and stop being a traitor?” He raised an eyebrow.

Bean pouted, “How am I a traitor?”

“That bitch killed me!” Vox’s voice became distorted, startling Bean. “I didn’t hear from you until a few days ago! When you undermined me!”

“You really expected me to stay after you basically said to my FACE that Voe was better than me?!” She took a step towards him. “I am not gonna allow you to blame me for shit you got yourself into! You got your screen bashed in because you deserved it flat face!”

“Flat face?” Vox looked smug. “Is that all you got in you?”

“Nope,” she lied.

Vox laughed, “Well when you do, call me.”

“Can’t call someone who’s blocked,” she shrugged.

“Yes you- whatever,” he rolled his eyes.

Bean looked at the ground, sighing; “You don’t have to take back what you said but, are you at least sorry? Kind of sorry? A little sorry?” She hoped that he’d at least give an excuse for his actions.

Vox looked away from her, “I have things to do, so if you don’t mind..”

She felt as if she was gonna die all over again, “Right, I have to be somewhere so..bye,” she rushed over to the door, opening it.

“Hey!” He called for her. She looked back at him, “Yes, I am- but only a little sorry,” the overlord rolled his eyes.

She smiled before leaving.

“Unblock me!” He yelled after her before smiling warmly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Bullshit!” Angel laughed.

“I’m serious! That’s what he said,” Bean pouted.

“Look toots, I’m not sayin’ I don’t believe ya, I’m just sayin’ he’s full of shit,” He shrugged.

“But he said he was sorry, look he texted me,” she showed the phone to Angel but Cherri Bomb snatched it. “Hey!”

“What the fuck is ‘GHS’?” She looked at the phone confused.

Bean tried reaching for her phone but then Angel took it, “It means ‘Get Home Safe’ gimme my phone!”

Angel pushed the blue demon off the bed, “Ain’t no dick pics in here, what’s that about?” He tossed the phone back to Cherri, who was immediately tackled by Bean.

“Gimme my shit!” She screamed, grabbing her phone. The two sinners laughed at her.

“But seriously Latte,” Angel holds Bean’s shoulders. “Be careful, remember how last time went; the Vees don’t want anything but to have one of their little slaves back, ya gotta be strong like me; I haven’t texted or called Val,” he looked proud of himself.

Cherri looked at him with a straight face, “Uh huh,” she put her hands on her hips.

There was a knock at Angel’s door, “Hotel meeting guys!” Vaggie’s voice came from the other side. The three demons groaned.

Bean trudged behind Angel and Cherri, meetings were whatever but they were usually for the staff which made them boring; she kept mistaking activity time for staff meetings. Damn it! It was a staff meeting! She sighed seeing Charlie introducing the Gigi woman to the staff of the hotel.

“Well well,” a voice came from behind her. It was Alastor standing behind her with his usual creepy grin.

“Hi Alastor,” She said nonchalantly.

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow. “That’s all you have to say after you skipped out on our last game of Numbers?”

Was he serious? Did these overlords go through memory loss? Bean rolled her eyes, “No..that’s all I have to say after you accused me of doing something that Voe did, because she couldn’t have possibly done it of her own free will,” she smiled sarcastically at him. Why were all these men trying to pry into her life? It was only two but still! She was trying to be a self made woman! “Also, Voe is over there! Why do you keep hanging around me?”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic! I hang around tons of lovely sinners,” he leaned on his cane.

“Right. Your ‘friends’” she put up air quotes.

“Have you met Gigi? She’ll be at the front desk,” He changed the subject.

“Yes-”

“There she is!” Eric came up behind Bean hugging her.

Bean silently groaned, why was he touching her? “Well, I did promise to come back so..”

“Awe look at you keeping your promises, how sweet,” Alastor smirked before shadowing across the room.

“We got more information!” Zeke sat next to Bean.

“Well more like I remembered something, I had a dream!” Erin smiled.

“What was it?” Bean asked.

“I remember art, like it looked like an art museum. The art was moving, it was so funny,” the siren giggled.

Bean’s eyes darted around the room and back to her, “Was that it?” Erin nodded.

“Guys! Come on over!” Charlie called to the sinners on the couch.

Everyone gathered in the parlor surrounding Charlie and Vaggie, “First off, the number of guests here has increased tremendously! But however, we need to start working on redemption, so I propose a field trip!” Charlie clapped but other sinners said nothing. “Anyway, it’d be a trip going to the new art gallery across town ‘Donnie’s House’, it’s an opportunity to talk about art, people’s similar interests and a day on the town; won’t that be fun?”

“Uh no,” Angel snickered before getting glared at by Vaggie.

Charlie clears her throat, “Secondly, there’s two people I want you to meet, this is Gigi; she’ll be working the front desk so Husk can only work the bar. It was Alastor’s idea,” she smiled.

Bean rolled her eyes, how many times was she gonna be introduced to this lady?

“Of course it was,” Voe mumbled, crossing her arms.

“And this is Wynter,” a siren with pale blue skin and micro braids stood next to Charlie. “ She’s a new guest at the hotel.”

“It’s a pleasure and I hope I get to know you all,” Wynter smiled at everyone.

“We know her!” Erin gasped. “Hey!!” She waved at Wynter and she waved back.

Wynter walked over to them as Charlie continued to talk, “Hey guys,” she smiled at the trio then turned to Bean, “What’s your name?”

“Bean,” Bean smiled back at her

“Are you guys going to the art gallery?”

“Hell Yes! We are gonna go track down the killer, even if it kills us.Again.” Eric took out his tape recorder, “Is it a coincidence that Erin has a dream about art before we go to one? Will finding the killer change her path to redemption? And why is Wynter, the sassy siren all of a sudden here at the hotel?” He spoke into it.

“Excuse me?” Wynter put her hands on her hips.

“All this comin up on..”

“Rave’s unsolved mysteries.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eugenia was organizing her desk, wondering if the name plaque should go in the middle, left or right of her; she settled in the middle to keep everything symmetrical. Almost all the sinners, both guests and workers had left for Donnie’s sick gallery, she had gotten here a few days ago and she wanted to explore or at least make some friends or something; she hadn’t gotten the chance to make any friends at ‘Ruby’s’ because Ruby told everyone she had every STD that ever existed. Now Eugenia was confined to this desk with her name plaque, a stress ball in the shape of an apple, and a small radio that only played Alastor’s station.

She turned it on for the heck of it. Alastor’s voice was heard

“Ladies and gentlemen! This message is brought to you by The Radio Demon! Enjoy!”

“AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

A loud scream came from the radio, Eugenia covered her ears before turning it off.

“Ow! Ugh!” A female sinner walked by, with red curly hair and large ears.

“Sorry,” Eugenia put the small device under her desk.

“Uh..yea,” the woman rubbed her temples.

“Oh! Right!” Eugenia sat up straight, to seem more professional; “How may I help you?”

“Uh.. you can not play that noise again,” She crossed her arms.

“Right.”

It was silent for a few minutes until the woman broke the silence.

“What do you think of this?” The woman showed Eugenia a picture of what she guessed was an ad

It read:

The Beau Theatre! Coming soon! 🎭

“Well..maybe you could add some pictures of you know actors that are gonna be performing in the show,” Eugenia suggested.

“Damn it! Right! I don’t have a show! Shit!” The woman groaned, leaning against the desk.

“Maybe focus on what show you’re gonna do first,” Eugenia tried making the guest feel better, she worked as a hotel attendant while she was alive as a summer job, so she knew the right things to say.

“Any ideas?” The woman looked at her.

“Uh..Phantom of the Opera?”

“Ugh never mind,” she rolled her eyes.

“Well if you need any help with the theater, I’m free, I’m- well Gigi,” Eugenia shows her the plaque.

“I’m Voe, Voe the Beau; I don’t know if you follow me,” Voe waved.

“No sorry, I don’t even have a phone; I literally got here a few days ago so..” She smiled, she didn’t want to ruin this; they could be friends or at least acquaintances.

“Really? I just-” Voe was interrupted by Alastor appearing behind her. “Oh shit!” She jumped back.

“My my So much talking I couldn’t help but see what was going on,” he grinned at Eugenia.

“Well if you must know, I was talking to Gigi about my theater, she wants to help,” Voe smirked at him.

“Does she now,” he narrowed his eyes. “Gigi, may I have a word with you?” He gestured to follow him. Eugenia did as she was told, leaving the desk.

“Um..we were talking,” Voe raised an eyebrow.

“And now you aren’t,” Alastor looked at her before leaving for the kitchen.

Eugenia walked into the kitchen, “What, I can't have friends now?”

“I don’t care who you’re friends with, however you will NOT speak to her,” he walks up to Eugenia, towering over her. “Are we at an understanding?”

“But-” Eugenia wanted to say something but decided it wasn’t smart to piss off someone that owns her soul. “Fine.”

“Good,” Alastor pats her on the head. “Now, back to work.” He shadows away leaving her alone.

She smirks, “Talking and helping someone were two very different things.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Here we are at ‘Donnie’s House’, we don’t know exactly where this Donnie is-” Wynter grabs the tape recorder while Eric is talking into it. “Hey!”

“Why don’t you enjoy your surroundings, take a break, and help me figure out what this sculpture means,” Wynter pointed to a sculpture called “Stare.”

Eric looked at the plaque, “What do you see? Something good? Something bad? The past?” He read it. “Were you staring or just looking at it?”

“I guess I was just looking,” she shrugged. “It’s just a pile of junk.”

“Because you’re just glancing at it, you have to stare at it; if you blink you’ll miss the best part,” He smiled at her. Wynter stared at him, “Whatcha lookin at?”

“Whatever you’re looking at.”

“Oh.”

They both blushed at each other before going back to the sculpture, Eric inched closer to Wynter.

Bean looked at a sculpture, it was literally just the New Year’s Eve ball on the Times Square building, it was named “The Best Day to Be Alive” there wasn’t even a description. Wasn’t this crap supposed to mean something? The only thing she could think of was her birthday, she always celebrated it when the clock struck midnight on New Year’s; she’d stay up all night and all day then would go to bed when the clock struck midnight on January 2nd.

“This one is my favorite,” a voice caused her to turn around. It was a sinner wearing a white mask with a smiling face over half his face, while his actual face had a solemn expression on it.

“Why? It doesn’t mean anything,” Bean crossed her arms.

“The best kind of art has no meaning,” the mask talked, it seemed as though he was doing ventriloquism.

“Seems like an excuse to me,” She shrugged, still looking at the sculpture.

“That’s my daughter’s birthday,” the man sighed.

Bean was shocked, holy shit; it was his gallery, “So you’re-”

“Donahue Matten,” he kissed her hand. “But the friends I don’t have call me Donnie.”

She laughed, “I’m Bean.”

“My my what a strange name,” Donnie tilted his head.

“Do you wanna know a secret, it’s actually kind of cute,” she stepped up to him. Donnie leaned down. “My name is actually Beatrice, but when I was like 5 I could never say my name right; I kept saying Bean so people just called me that. I don’t know, I like it.”

Donnie looked shocked, it couldn’t be. This couldn’t be her, he had to be sure, “When did you say your birthday was?”

“I didn’t, but it’s January 1st like your daughter, are you ok?” She looked concerned.

“Yeah I -”

Her phone went off, “Hold that thought,” she took her phone from her pocket, the caller id read “Vox”. She picked up the phone before walking away.

Donnie glared.

It was time he paid his “friends” a visit.

[cartrunkent]

Favorite Musicals #7: Titanic

Titanic- As stated with my first favorite, Assassins, my birthday is around the anniversaries of the Lincoln assassination and the sinking of the Titanic so these two events hold a deep rooted fascination for me.  When I learned there was going to be a musical for the Titanic (at about the same time there was a movie coming out,) my teenage heart was a pounding. While I appreciated the movie for what it did, I felt it missed the goal of actually being about the Titanic in a way the musical nailed.

Photos: Playbills from the original run. Not from my collection.

I assume I saw a clip of the show on Rosie or something, most likely the “Godspeed Titanic” bit from the opening, and from there it wasn’t a stretch for me to get the recording quickly.  I loved the score immediately, but knew I wasn’t going to get a chance to see it. The budget was massive for a Broadway show and success was simply not in the cards. It wasn’t going to be around long enough for me to get to see it.  

Overtime I realized it wasn’t going to be something anyone around me was going to do. It would be a massive undertaking for any local organization primarily because so many people try to adhere more strictly to what Broadway did. Replicating that experience is usually the first decade of a musical’s post professional life, and after the decade mark it diverges some towards major revivals and still mostly towards what people remember from the Broadway or national tour (whether seen or through whatever means predated slime tutorials.)

Photo Below: From the recent UK Tour.

Back to this show, my golly… the trios, the music, the harmonies, the orchestra. It sounded so full, so beautiful and the lyrics told a story. They actually told THE STORY in way that James Cameron only kind of did. I listened to it a lot, but then over time it fell out of heavy rotation.

Then a few years back there was an anniversary concert that assembled a lot of the original cast. I tried to go, but failed.

Then a few years ago I heard about the outdoor production in Georgia?...the one that cause a lot of issues. I can’t remember the details.  It came back on my radar. Then last year, the UK tour was filmed and released through a Fathom Events booking at a movie theater near me. I went. Took a day off work and went to see this musical…and I cried. Legitimate tears of joy. That production is available on BroadwayHD and I recommend it if you can afford it for a month or so. Great production. It scaled it back and was just beautifully done. The voices were excellent, and it was a meaningfully paced and situated show.

More photos from the recent UK Tour.

I still assumed I wouldn’t get to see it live, then I heard about the City Center’s Encores Production in June. I found a way and I went. It was glorious. Sounded beautiful. I loved the way they handled the orchestra. While the production and performance aspect were minimal and not as good as I would have liked, it sounded great, and it did show me a few choices that I could mull over for the possible future. A blend of this and the UK production feels workable in one or two of my spaces…maybe.

Photos from the City Center Encores production.

The music is so majestic, impressive and beautiful. I want more people to experience and that’s my hope whenever I talk about it, maybe someone else gets inspired to try it.

There’s a future where this is something I can direct, but it’s down the road. The show is too male heavy in the current climate… but someday. It’s possible.

Favorite Song: "We'll Meet Tomorrow"...or "The Proposal/The Night Was Alive"... or...lol. sorry.

Photo Below: My friend Maddy and I at the City Center Encores Production.

Favorite #7: Titanic

Favorite #6: Seussical: The Musical

Favorite #5: Man of La Mancha

Favorite #4: Jekyll and Hyde

Favorite #3: Jane Eyre

Favorite #2: A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder

Favorite #1: Assassins

[wooodyguthrie]

Phil Ochs : Interview on the Democratic National Convention

When Phil Ochs returned to New York from the chaotic 1968 Democratic National Convention he gave an interview to Izzy Young of the folklore center in Greenwich village.

Transcript by Mitch Abidor under the cut.

IZZY: This is the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 4, 1968, In Izzy Young’s apartment and I’m talking to Phil Ochs who has just come back from Chicago.

PHIL: Don’t shoot! Don’t hit me! I’ll talk, I’ll talk! We’re not in Lincoln Park.

IZZY: It seems you were about the only folksinger in Chicago. I mean, Judy Collins didn’t and Pete Seeger didn’t show up, and -

Phil: Peter and Mary showed up __

IZZY: Do you think there’s a good reason why a lot of singers didn’t show up?

PHIL: I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. I’m sure everybody was afraid. I was afraid. And it was sort of vogueish – the folk crowd has always been very much an in-vogue crowd, and it became very vogueish to attack the Yippie festival of life as a festival of death, and it gave them a good reason to stay away. It was almost a cycle: first the underground press ballyhooed the Yippie thing and then there was all this publicity and everybody put their name on the list. And then second thoughts cam in and people started to think, well, this is an exploitation of youth and they’re leading them to a slaughter, and besides they really didn’t want to go anyway. So everybody sort of mutually decide over a two month period – the underground press and the performers – that the whole thing was a shuck.

IZZY: You mean they decided not to go out of fear?

PHIL: I don’t know. That’s pretty strong language. They probably really thought it wasn’t a worthwhile project in terms of confrontation. There really hasn’t been that much involvement of folk people and rock people in the movement since the Civil Rights period except that one period where the anti-war action became in vogue and safe – you know, large numbers of people and all that publicity, and then they showed up.

IZZY: Do you think things are really becoming serious and the singers are afraid to face up to it?

PHIL: I think it’s become more and more like that, yeah. America is in desperate trouble, you know.

IZZY: well, how important is the underground press in all this?

PHIL: The underground press is a vital link. It’s a way to break the censorship of the establishment press, and that is very important. But the underground press is very skittish, too, very immature. But it’s a good thing.

IZZY: I heard there was a tremendous reaction to your singing in Chicago, that it went over very big.

PHIL: Yeah. (Laughs)

IZZY: They really wanted to hear music. But they didn’t have much of a chance. I heard that, in terms of rock music, that was impossible altogether. That was really squelched from the start.

PHIL: There was so much intimidation. On Sunday they tried to get a sound truck through, just for some local bands, and they couldn’t. Police blocked that. Some people were beat up; a guy I know was hit on the back of the head with handcuffs and they cut his head wide open. Anyway the songs I wrote, the political songs, are coming into vogue – I’ll use that word again. I think in ‘63 especially, at the Civil Rights apex, musical esthetics came together with politics, and it was good to be involved with both. And I think now the same thing is happening.

IZZY: where do you find politics mixing with esthetics now? What music groups?

PHIL: I mean just that certain historical movements come more to the fore than mere love of music, and they start to merge. And music becomes very important.

IZZY: can you give me some examples of groups that are that way today? How about Country Joe and the Fish

PHIL: Country Joe and the Fish is a definite example of that.

IZZY: Did you hear about them? I just saw in the Times that they were beaten up in a hotel.

PHIL: Yes, they were beaten up.

IZY: And they didn’t appear anywhere?

PHIL: No, and I understand Joe McDonald gave an interview to the press charging that the Yippies were irresponsible, which I thought very irresponsible on Joe’s part. It’s the kid of stuff that could be used by the Establishment. If people had been killed they would have used stuff like that against the protestors. It was a dangerous thing to do.

IZZY: About how many people were on the march altogether, would you say? The papers said about 15,000.

PHIL: It’s hard to gauge. But that’s a good count. A lot of the bravest people showed up. I mean they were people from around the country who really went through a major personal dilemma. Daley’s pre-convention terror tactics were a success in keeping out large numbers of people. For instance, his threats to set up large scale concentration camps. Daley issued many statements like that, very threatening statements, and these and come succeeded in keeping a lot of people away. But the people who did show up were the toughest, really, and the most dedicated. And a lot of great things happened in the middle of the terror of the police attacks. There was a definite spirit, a good spirit, unleashed in the streets. There was more coming together with Blacks, more than on any other march I���ve seen. A joining of Blacks and whites to resist mutual oppression. Especially in Lincoln Park.

IZZY: On television they kept calling these people – - they kept calling these people outsiders. You know, they’re Americans. How can you call somebody an outsider in his own country?

PHIL: yeah, well, the Chicagoans were unable to recognize that this was a national convention. They literally, psychologically couldn’t. They kept thinking, “This is our city, our convention. “ When it’s a national election they’re talking about. I’m really beginning to question the basic sanity of the American public. I think the public itself is just -- I think more and more politicians are really becoming pathological liars, and I think many members of the public are. I think the Daily News, Tribune poisoning that comes out is literally creating – and television, all the media are creating a really mentally ill, unbalanced public. And it’s significant. I think what happened in Chicago was the final death of democracy in America as we know it: the total, final takeover of the fascist military state – in one city, at least.

IZZY: Most people have no contact with the politicians who are selecting the nominees.

PHIL: well, in that sense, it was a major victory for the street people in terms of unmasking the facts. But still, basically, there’s been opportunities to deal with the convention system and come up with decent candidates; you know, the conventions did produce Adlai Stevenson and John Kennedy. But now, I can’t accept this election. I can’t see myself being loyal to a Nixon or a Humphrey administration. I don’t think there’s any choice. I think the final corruption has com home, the final – the ugliness and corruption of a South Vietnamese election which is a non-election has come to America, and now Americans are faced with a South Vietnamese election.

IZZY: Do you think there’ll be any results from this unmasking, from this education of the American people, so to speak? I mean, are they going to be more radical, eventually, because of it – the way some of the kids feel?

PHIL: I’m not sure; it’s definitely one process of radicalization and definitely another process of reaction against it.

IZZY: And the reaction against it is stronger.

PHIL: Yes, I’m afraid the reaction is stronger than the radicalization. And it seriously makes me wonder about the country. How much does this country have a right to exist at all, especially with the kind of power it has?

IZZY: I think the question always boils down to: can you change the country, or do you have to destroy the country?

PHIL: Yeah, right. I’ve always tried to hang onto the idea of saving the country, but at this point I could be persuaded to destroy it. For the first time I feel this way.

IZZY: I was with some girls from Germany yesterday, and they said, “You can talk to the Establishment people, you can be nice to these people.” And I said, “You can be nice to Jacqueline Kennedy all day long and present beautiful arguments to her, and then she’ll say no at the end of the day in very cultured language.” What I mean is that the people in control are not going to give up their mode of income, and that’s the only way the system can be changed. Did you come across any of that in the delegates there? I mean were there any delegates who showed an active support for the Yippies, the kids who want to change things?

PHIL: By the end some delegates were marching with the kids in the streets.

IZZY: You mean the Wisconsin delegation?

PHIL: Yes, and some New York people too.

IZZY: What about in the beginning?

PHIL: I’m sure there was mutual sympathy at the beginning. But they couldn’t show it. Chicago was just a total, absolute police state. A police state from top to bottom. I mean it was totally controlled and vicious.

IZZY: The police beat up about forty news people, and yet the news people on the radio and on television were on the side of Daley almost uniformly. In New York most of them later would say, “Well, Daley was just doing his job, taking orders from Johnson and Humphrey.” I heard your voice just for a moment one the radio. And you were the only person quoted among the folk singers. You said: “This was not Daley, this was Daley doing a job for Johnson and Humphrey.” Do you think McCarthy could have said more than he did?

PHIL: Yeah, you have to fault McCarthy for lack of dynamics and not being more outspoken. I mean it should have been summed up. There should have been a very literate and clear-cut case made against the police right there by a man of McCarthy’s stature.

IZZY: That didn’t happen.

PHIL: It happened in little bits. He and McGovern at different times spoke out. But there was nothing sustained, nothing up to the occasion. There was a defijnite lack of leadership on McCarthy’s part.

IZZY: Ted Kennedy could have said something.

PHIL: All these so-called liberals kept their mouths shut. They’re all still being good Germans, even up to today. I believe this election should be boycotted. It shouldn’t be taken seriously. That section of the middle class who went for McCarthy and Kennedy should somehow organize themselves and break away from loyalty to the present government. But it could be that the country is so diseased that it just can’t function on any kind of a decent level. T may be that the country has to be destroyed from without. That seems as likely as anything. All we’re getting is more and more repression.

IZZY: Wallace will get a lot of votes.

PHIL: Yeah, I think Wallace will get a huge amount of votes in this election.

IZZY: I think the liberal people will accept that too, now.

PHIL: probably, and when they do that’s the end. I really don’t know what to say. At a certain point, I’m going to become an enemy of the state. I’m not going to be an American any longer. I’m going to be an enemy of the Americans.

IZZY: Yeah. But how can you be an enemy of America in America? What can you do? Sabotage?

PHIL: No, not that. I might leave the country.

IZZY: I can’t see a guerrilla movement in America, actually, because the guerrilla movement, I think, would be destroyed. What other country could you go to?

PHIL: I might go back to Scotland.

IZZY: How can that help things in America?

PHIL: At a certain point you start losing interest in helping things in America.

IZZY: I’m also faced with the choice of leaving. I just got a letter from Africa and the writer says, “Gee, Izzy, I’m always thinking about what you’re saying, that the people who go to Canada aren’t helping people in America.” Phil, if you leave America, you’re making it harder for thousands of people that believe in you. You’re already more than an individual. You stand for an idea already, and you can’t just leave your followers behind.

PHIL: It’s not fair. (Laughs)

IZZY: Dylan doesn’t care. Judy Collins doesn’t care. Or they’d speak out openly. But you do care. And you do speak out openly.

PHIL: You can’t presume to say that Dylan and Collins don’t care. I’m sure they care.

IZZY: well, I feel that when a person has access to mass media and they keep quiet that means they don’t give a damn what’s happening to the people. In other words, getting Judy Collins on a TV spectacular doesn’t help the cause of freedom or peace or anything.

PHIL: it’s just that at this point America is an uncontrolled death machine. And since she failed in electoral politics to check that, it has to be checked in other ways. And one way would be a mass denial of manpower to its corporations. The extension of draft resistance: keep your body out of the Army; a” right, keep your body out of the college and out of the university. That is just preparing you for the corrupt corporation. Keep pulling people away from the establishment until it collapses.

IZZY: I don’t think it would collapse. If the intelligent people pull out the corporations would be happy.

PHIL: I’m not talking about intellectuals only. I’m talking about all the people who work for corporations.

IZZY: Well, they’re not leaving.

PHIL: No. I’m only looking for a way to get them to quit.

IZZY: I don’t think there is a way. These guys are getting their $15,000, their $20,000; they’ve got a taste of the honey and they want more.

PHIL: All right, then America I the rule of the devil. The devil has won.

IZZY: Is there any country where you see a possibility of human advancement?

PHIL: I think Mao could be the most important man in the world right now.

IZZY: Mao’s is one of the few Communist nations to criticize the Soviet Union for Czechoslovakia, whereas Castro went along with it.

PHIL: Which provided an incredible psychological blow to the left in America, which romantically almost equates Cuba and China. Which I still do. What is happening is that America is forcing the world into this kind of military protection. It’s the same thing; what the Chicago police did, and the kind of attitude that Mayor Daley has, is the same kind of thinking that was going on with John Foster Dulles. That policy forced Russia, more and more, into this protective position – this over-defensive position – which led to Czechoslovakia. You can trace Czechoslovakia to John Foster Dulles. And you can trace Mayor Daley and the Chicago police to the same kind of reaction.

IZZY: So Dubcek didn’t have a chance from the start, then?

PHIL: He had much less of a chance with a crazy America running around. You know, from the Russian point of view, America is a mad dog loose around the world. What it will lead to is lots more assassination; terror will start in Europe against American business. I mean America is buying Europe, America is completely buying Europe. Economic brutality, you know, comes before police brutality.

IZZY: I agree with you completely on that. I’ve been saying for two years – my friends say I’m crazy – that America is going to be destroyed from the outside, not from the inside.

PHIL: From both.

IZZY: When Bob Kennedy is killed by an Arab that shows how American imperialism has pervaded the whole world. Christian Arabs are one of the smallest minorities in the world; there are only a few hundred thousand of them – but if they get angry they can kill a Kennedy. That means almost anybody no could kill an American and get away with it.

PHIL: We’re helping every government towards hell. Maybe America is the final end of the Biblical prophecy: we’re all going to end up in fire this time. America represents the absolute rule of money, just absolute money controlling everything to the total detriment of humanity and morals. It’s not so much the rule of America as it is the rule of money. And the money happens to be in America. And that combination is eating away at everybody. It destroys the souls of everybody that it touches, beginning with the people in power.

IZZY: There’s one man, Mao, who is trying to change all that. He’s trying to change the character of the Chinese people in one generation; do you think he’ll succeed?

PHIL: It’s going to be very difficult. More importantly, Mao has rally succeeded in spreading an international revolutionary feeling. In his lifetime he physically transformed China and set the basis for a sensible world revolution. And in the years when he’s supposed to be retired or dead, he had managed to mentally psych out the world. You can trace a lot of what happened in Paris and what happened in Chicago to Mao Tse Tung and the Red Guards; the whole idea of transfer of power to youth and thereby salvaging the militancy of the Revolution. Which I happen to think is a very noble effort.

IZZY: Phil, while you’re saying all this I’m thinking of folk music ad how that can possibly fit into the way the future is going to be.

PHIL: well, by the use of brute force by America internally and on the world, resistance will have to be formed step by step. In music, things like the Newport Folk Festival will have to be radicalized.

IZZY: Yeah, but there was no radicalization in Newport this year.

PHIL: No, there wasn’t; there should have been.

IZZY: I man zero, and you had some supposedly left-wing people trying to run it as directors. This year they ran amuk with country-western singers who are for the war. When Roy Acuff got the humanitarian award they gave it to him for his many appearances for the troops overseas.

PHIL: yeah, well... As a middle-aged Jewish merchant in America, you are in trouble, Izzy. That’s all I can say.

IZZY: I hear that from other people.

PHIL: We’re all in trouble.

IZZY: How do you stay sane? How do you stay sane in America? That’s the problem I have; how can you actually stay sane?

PHIL: I don’t know. That’s what I think about right now. I’ve always felt a contact with political reality from 1960 to 1968. But after Chicago I’m totally disoriented. I’m disoriented because the time has come for guns, and I’m not personally ready for guns. America’s such a violent country. The American revolution is going to be ridiculously bloody.

IZZY: Do you see a resistance growing in America? Is that possible?

PHIL: I’m just not sure.

IZZY: I think other things are happening which illustrate what you’re talking about. There is a tremendous discontent among the workers, even though they’re getting supposedly higher salaries. They’re not happy at all. And the next step would be for the workers to try and understand why they are not happy. It’s not so much that they have bad working hours or low wages. It’s just that they are not part of anything. I think the worker knows it but he hasn’t formulated what to do about it. In other words the workers hate the Kennedys and they hate the Melons [sic] and the Rockefellers, but they’re still afraid even to say it openly. They see the advertisements on TV and in the subway: travel to beautiful Bermuda. But now they’re beginning to realize they can’t go to Bermuda, you know – fly to Hawaii and all that stuff.

PHIL: I disagree with you. Part of the problem is that a lot of them can vacation in Bermuda. This part of the problem is the entrenching of the working class’s right wing by the bosses giving them an extra amount of money, which is what Hitler did, and what’s going on in America right now. And that’s the most dangerous aspect.

IZZY: Do you see any rebellion among the managerial class?

PHIL: I do see more sign of discontent from the managerial class -much more.

IZZY: How do you see it? How is it showing? What’s the visible form of it?

PHIL: The visible form was people like me participating in the McCarthy/Kennedy drive. I saw how elements of the middle class and the upper-middle class could be brought out in large numbers and contribute large sums of money to try to get a basic change in American policy. That’s the major fact that was overlooked in the Chicago convention. It had already been clearly shown that the American public would get behind decent candidates. Most of those people who came out were from the managerial class.

IZZY: Do you think they could force McCarthy to go on a fourth ticket?

PHIL: If McCarthy had the right personality, yes. But I think he’s too much a member of the democratic Establishment himself to make that break. We still need a Kennedy.

IZZY: I’ve always disagreed with you on a Kennedy.

PHIL: I know you have. But I still think that way.

IZZY: I don’t, because I feel that a man like that can’t help the people unless he changes the mode of his own income. He has to give the example. He can’t keep taking a dollar from every bottle of whiskey coming from England to America. He has to work for his living, and until he does I don’t believe a man like that can possibly change anything. I mean, I wonder why they kill only the Kennedys. Many of the rulers of this country lounge around on inherited wealth.

PHIL: The Kennedys went out of their way to flirt with the American public, and the American public is totally infatuated with death. Anybody who flirts with the American public is taking a chance with their life...

IZZY: Do you feel that wiping out McCarthy wiped you out, too?

PHIL: It wiped out that part of me that was interested in electoral politics. But I do feel frustrated all around.

IZZY: Yeah, we still have the same problem.

PHIL: Yes. And that problem is can America be saved. And for the first time in eight years I question whether it can. I think it’s quite possible the country is so far gone and decayed that there may be no way left to save it, and that the only logical course for the progress of mankind is the destruction of America.

IZZY: America has pushed everybody to the edge of the cliff. It’s forcing people to make this kind of decision: shall I enjoy what’s left of my life and forget everyone else, or should I devote myself to working for a better world. If you can’t do either then you just have to leave. And if you leave, you get the inevitable feeling that you’re copping out.

PHIL: Well, I may cop out. But the basic thing I feel is that there’s going to be death and destruction as far ahead as one can see now. That’s all I can possibly see.

IZZY: I can see that if I continue my radio program and give concerts and put out my newsletter then I’m going to be shot, or I’ll have to shoot somebody else. But I still can’t imagine coming to that point.

PHIL: I can see it happening to you. Our only hope is the emergence of a politically tempered international youth movement which will involve itself in international revolution.

IZZY: How do you feel that writing songs can help such a movement?

PHIL: I’m not so sure that they can. The radical German students think that it’s past that stage. The songs themselves aren’t enough obviously. The songs are an adjunct to the movement, essentially, which is why the Chicago experience was really interesting for me. Let me explain: there the songs were being used in a totally non-professional, non-show business, non-paying, non-staged situation. It was an integral part of the movement while things were happening, and therefore the words and music had their greatest possible effect...

I’ve got to go. Thanks a lot, Izzy. It was nice being here on this September day, in this rotting country.

IZZY: One more question, Phil. Do you think Dylan is a secret revolutionary? In other words, he’s reaching more people and changing their minds without them realizing it. A sort of subliminal revolutionary.

PHIL: I think it’s possible. It’s possible for any writer, depending on the quality of his work, to function in that way. Brecht faced it as a responsibility. He said to himself, here I am, a writer, and I can write things that can change peoples’ minds therefore do I belong in the street getting my skull cracked which may damage my writing, or should I stay out of the way of the charging police and create my plays? Where is the primary responsibility? To me, Phil Ochs, the answer is obvious.

IZZY: Anyone who has any control in the mass media has a responsibility to speak out, both as an artist doing his or her work, and separately as an individual. Definitely, the case now is that most people won’t speak out anymore.

PHIL: But there are always those artists that function outside the active realm of politics.

IZZY: I prefer the example of William Blake, who dreamt of Jerusalem and heaven and hell; but when Tom Paine was in England and I was dangerous to harbour him, William Blake was hiding him in his own home. So William Blake knew what was going on politically even though he had his own private world as a mystic poet.

PHIL: If you’d been around at that time, you’d probably have condemned Blake for not issuing a statement to the London Times about what was wrong with the King’s politics.

IZZY: Oh, no. That wouldn’t have been necessary. Blake went on one of the few marches of the century against the King. And that was a very dangerous thing to do. But it was his way of speaking out. He believed in his vision and the only way he could protect his vision was by fighting for it.

[best-movie-ever-tournament]

1917 was described as follow:

A beautiful movie that is made so that it is (or looks like it is) in only one take. It's about two British soldiers during WW1 who have to cross into enemy territory to give a message to a group of 1600 men that they are going into a trap.

This movie was absolutely amazing!! Takes place during WW1 and centers on two British soldiers delivering a message to stop a British battalion from attacking and falling into a German trap. Historically accurate and filmed to look like it's all just one continuous shot (which was super cool to watch). Great cast and crew and it did a really good job capturing the horrors of trench warfare. Full of action and also some really sad and touching moments. HIGHLY recommend it if you haven't seen it

Was edited to look like it was filmed as one continuous take

Saving Private Ryan was described as follow:

So this was the first movie that really said, we are going to show you exactly how brutal D-Day was. Sure there were other D-Day movies and other movies about WWII, but this one was like, put the camera down in there so you get the pov of the soldiers and then show the people in the front of the boats getting picked off. Show just how devastating war actually is. That is the normal way that war is depicted in film and television now, but it was very much so not that then.[...] You needed to experience that for the thematic elements to make sense. The whole movie is about saving one guy. Why are they saving him? Because the president read the letter that Abraham Lincoln sent to a mother whose 5 sons died during the American Civil War and didn’t want to send a letter like that to another mother. This one guy gets a pass because all of his brothers are dead. [the] problem is that D-Day was so chaotic that no one knows where he is, so your standard WWII mishmash of soldiers goes off to find him. We see them connecting and joking. We grow to love them. They all die. Pvt. Ryan lives. The last thing Tom Hanks’s character tells Ryan before he dies is that he better earn this. He better be worth it. Did he? We don’t know. He raised a family and had grandchildren. Was that making his life worth the sacrifices? The movie ends with him visiting the American cemetery in Normandy and talking to Tom Hanks’s grave. It’s a brutal film that gets how devastating war is. It wants people to understand that. We can respect the soldiers who lived through it or died during it, but we should know how bad it is

[apalooka]

It Lives Within | Chapter 20: No Way Home | Choices

It Lives Within Home Page

Choices may vary based on if Noah or ILITW MC survived.

For convenience sake, ILITW MC will be referred to as "Devon". ILB MC will be referred to as “Harper”.

Choice 1

Duck! (🠘 Correct)

Dodge! (MC Nerve -2)

Block! (Didn't get Amalia's chapter 13 self-defense scene, MC Nerve -2)

Block, grab, attack! (🠘 Correct, Got Amalia's chapter 13 scene, MC Nerve +2)

Choice 2 This Choice is timed!

Shoot! (SHADOW +1)

Dodge! (BLOOD +1)

Freeze! (MC Nerve -3)

If time runs out, you Freeze!

JOCELYN Nerve +5, if she got the Whip.

MC Nerve +5, if you got the Bone Dog.

If you get the Shield: ABEL Nerve +5, MC Nerve +3

AMALIA Nerve +5

Choice 3 - if Amalia came back in Chapter 18 This Choice is timed!

Duck and roll! (🠘 Correct)

Rock and roll! (No effect)

Bread roll! (MC Nerve -2)

If time runs out, you choose Bread roll!

AMALIA Nerve Check! AMALIA Nerve +3 if passed.

Choice 4 - If Amalia did NOT come back in Chapter 18

Left! (No effect)

Center! (No effect)

Right! (No effect)

JOCELYN Nerve Check! If she passes, go to Choice 6. If not, go to Choice 5.

Choice 5 - If Jocelyn failed her Nerve Check.

Let Jocelyn handle it. (JOCELYN Nerve -5)

Stop Nate right now. (No effect)

Choice 6

Hell yeah. (MC Nerve +5, JOCELYN Nerve +5)

How about no? (No effect)

Choice 7

I promise. (AMALIA Nerve +3)

I can’t promise that. (AMALIA Nerve -1)

If Amalia or Jocelyn were heavily romanced and someone else was picked in Chapter 19, you will lose relationship points with them.

Choice 8

Offer to patch it up for her. (If your relationship is over 50, +JOCELYN, otherwise, No effect)

Let her do it yourself. (No effect)

Choice 9 Choice loops. You talk to everyone who is alive/present.

Amalia, “Harper”, and Danni. (No effect)

Jocelyn, Andy, and Tom. (Choice 10)

Abel, Parker, and Imogen. (No effect)

Lincoln, Ava, and Dan. (Choice 11)

Choice 10

We should kill them. (No effect)

I feel the same. (No effect)

Choice 11 - You only get this option if NOT romancing Lincoln AND your relationship is 80 or above.

Hug him. (+LINCOLN)

Tease him about being besties. (+LINCOLN)

Nod. (No effect)

If Amalia or Jocelyn were heavily romanced and someone else was picked in Chapter 19, you will lose relationship points with them.

If Jocelyn's relationship with you is 50 or higher, she will come clean about working with Matthias.

If Jocelyn's relationship with you is lower than 50, she will lead you into a trap. (Go to Choice 14)

Choice 12 - No Betrayal You only get this Choice if you chose Jocelyn as your LI in Chapter 19.

Kiss her. ❤️ (No effect)

Step away from her. (No effect)

Choice 13 - No Betrayal You only get this Choice if Amalia or Lincoln is your LI.

Break it up. (No effect)

Step aside. (No effect)

Choice 14 - If you got all the Collectibles

Of course! (MC Nerve +5)

No thanks. (No effect)

If he has the Shield, (ABEL Nerve +5)

If you accepted Matthias's feelings in Chapter 17, continue to Choice 15. Otherwise, skip to Choice 18.

Choice 15 - Matthias Romance

First show me your real face. (Matthias will turn into his younger form.)

Go on. (No effect)

Choice 16 - Matthias Romance

Yes. (No effect)

No. (You join Matthias)

Choice 17 - Matthias Romance If you answered “Yes” in Choice 16.

With you. (You join Matthias.)

Against you. (You fight Matthias. Chapter End)

Choice 18

Agree to take Loha’s place. (No effect)

Refuse. (No effect)

Choice 19

Go to hell. (No effect)

You won’t get away with this. (No effect)

I’ll find another way. (No effect)

JOCELYN Nerve +5, if you do NOT join Matthias and she has the whip.

AMALIA Nerve +3, if Jocelyn warned you of the trap.

Chapter 20 Complete

6 out of 6 Collectibles Found 9 out of 9 Lore Docs Found

&lt;;< It Lives Within Choices: Index

&lt; Chapter 19: Three, Two, One, Fun

> Chapter 21: Vertigo Cave

[xtrablak674]

I've Never Been Stopped by a Cop

I’m a Black man living in New York City and I’ve never been stopped by the police. I suppose I should be more specific, I’ve never been stopped and frisked by the police. And for absolute transparency I have gotten summons, two for riding my bike on the sidewalk and one for trespassing which I deliberately did fully aware that a patrol car was watching but that isn’t this story.

I was participating in a discussion amongst Black men and a scenario where police pulled guns on me and my family in our car as we pulled up to our home. Umm first I’m a bachelor and haven’t any children, so this scenario is dead in the water. A college friend that was in my breakout group prodded an adjustment to the scenario and I stated something equivalent of the first sentence in this piece. The bigger question was why hadn’t they? And for purposes of discussion I’m a dark-skinned Black person with locs that reach to tip of my spine. You would think that this would make me a prime candidate for getting swooped up in some mistaken identity situation but that has never happened.

As a child my interaction with police was negligible if not totally non-existent. I want to be careful not to get into respectability politics, but I was a good kid and a fair teenager. I can recall an incident in high school where a couple of my friends had gotten pinched by Tower Records security for shop lifting some CD’s, and I was with the ladies one who was clearly of European descent the other Latina, we called ourselves 3-2-1 Contact because of our natural diversity. Our understanding of the law seemed to differ greater than our ethnic backgrounds.

I have always been a sensible person even as a child, I was never prone to peer pressure ever, I had a clear understanding of my mind and what I would do and what I wouldn’t do. It didn’t seem particularly sensible to me as a young Black male to be participating in petty theft especially in a neighborhood adjacent to Lincoln Center, where we went to school. Furthermore I was being raised in a very Christian home by my grandparents who would be disappointed in me for not using good sense.

My mother had always encouraged me to use ‘common sense’ it seemed to be the most important thing in the world and even though she had passed, her lesson had not. Common sense ruled my decisions in a way that made me a pariah amongst my peers. I had no interest in drinking having witnessed drunken family members be abusive to others, I also hadn’t the slightest desire to try that wacky tobacco that seems so intertwined with adolescence. My father and mother both partook of the herb and as a boy I had said not for me to all of the vices and even within the last decade sex, but that is another story.

In all attempts to disseminate all pertinent details I think it’s also good to know I’m a pedestrian, and most of my peer group is probably tired of me talking about how this is a multi-generational trait going back as far as my great grandfather. But like myself and his other son my father never had a drivers license, which is and isn’t peculiar to me because like him I was raised for a time in a two car home and hadn’t the slightest bit of interest in learning to drive still don’t. I haven’t been invited to that century old club of Driving While Black because well I don’t drive.

I do walk though and ever since my dad dragged me all over New York City on subways and buses, I have always walked with a clear destination and purpose. I’m not a lingerer I’m a fast paced impeccable dressed New Yorker. I’m not sure if my pace has made me seem less suspect or the fact that my fashion lends itself to a very non-traditional urban style. This too was a choice I made in my formative years when my peers were running around trying to follow the latest fad in clothing I made a clear attempt to distinguish myself with my unique choices.

Some of these decisions were made because I thought my grandparents had a fixed income, my grandmother was the No Frills Queen, this was a generic store brand often found at Pathmark. I wouldn’t learn till way into my adulthood that I was being raised in a two income middle class household. This is important because my clothes were purchased by my grandmother usually at the Macy’s discount outlet or Burlington Coat Factory.

Due to my mother’s passing and my separation from my siblings, I was a bit withdrawn as a pre-adolescent and teenager. I would stay in the house making my own toys, reading comic books and creating my own worlds which I never really left unless I had to go to school or church on Sundays. Once again I’m not attempting to justify the behavior of the white supremacist tendencies of the NYPD, but I wasn’t a typical child and I grew into an atypical adult.

A queer adult who currently identifies as non-binary transgender. But when I was still gay and had a penchant for wearing Daisy Dukes and thigh high moccasins I still never fell under the purview of the boys in blue, I even dated a couple of cops who in my opinion had a bit more baggage than your average date.

I’m left with the question what about me makes me worthy or unworthy of being stopped and frisked? Does my non-traditional performance of masculinity factor in the equation or is in my private college education? I didn’t even know I was being raised in an upper middle class household but I did know that I wasn’t living at the poverty level anymore not that I even knew that because my life was so full of abundance. My dark chocolate complexion which had faced all kinds of colorism, didn’t seem to rate.

What makes some Black people suspects and others not?

[Photo by Brown Estate]

[handypolymath]

MAD LARRY DISEASE BED-IN FOR DEMOCRACY - Feathered Bangs Edition

In a thread about Ronnie Raygun the other day I referenced this Bloom County strip from 1982:

I read this strip the week it was published, catching up on Bloom County at my grandpa's. My dad and I were about the same ages as Binkley and his dad above, I was ten, and already reading the newspapers and a couple local libraries and Generating Opinions.

I'm Binkley up there, though it always bummed me I could never get my hair to do that. This thruline in my life is why I have the tag #the worst thing about being genx is that I'm living through the fruition of so much evil.

So today I'm watching a link from the spouse, a legal commentator guy contrasting the speeches from the Minority Leader and the House Speaker:

And 2 things hit me in a "politics is also ritual language and charismatic interplay and aggression channeled into improv theater" way:

1. Jeffries lays out a bold mission statement: these are our shared values as a group, and how you should judge our work here. The content is elegant like a theorem yet chockablock with intersectional antiracist prosocial concepts from the evidence-based reality community. It did not unite -- because it was delivered and received as a quick pep talk to a tightly-knit squad going into action.

2. Is...is McCarthy daring them to murk him? "...here's where I hang out alone at night, in the building we keep bringing our guns into like it earns us CamelCash," and "my door's always open, lemme mention Lincoln yet again in what certainly won't be further darkly comic irony when the kayfabe hits the fan," o_O

This McCarthy clip is fascinating all on its own, and I admit it's all I've seen. I don't even wanna know how or why crossing the Delaware is relevant when your rubes crossed the Rubicon years ago, my guy. Anyway,

Let's set aside his sentimental centering of the locus of power away from not only the room and the body meeting in it, but also away from everyone that body is representing; shifting it to a gallery of statues more representive of the bloodthirsty base, 'where we gathered before, when the cameras didn't see'. We know what that's about agenda-wise, and he knows he doesn't own the room yet. Yet, he thinks. Bluffing like a Ted Knight character. Anyway,

Which Lincoln is he invoking?

"Obscure senator becomes kintsugi of riven nation" Lincoln?

'You don't understand the Aikido of my leadership style" Lincoln?

"Chekhov's Wilkes Santos come at me bro!" Lincoln?

As a notary public sworn to defend the Constitution, and a former Marching Railspiltter, my money is on lucky number three.

[your-krazy-uncle-bob]

An Ex-Leftist Reacts to Biden’s Speech About 'Democracy'

BY LINCOLN BROWN

Dear Mr. President,

First of all, the United States of America is not a democracy. Dear God, that is Civics 101. America is a republic. It was designed as a republic because the framers knew that democracies could easily descend into mob rule. That includes mobs you like. More on that later.

Secondly, the man who attacked Paul Pelosi is a mentally ill drug addict whose interests and intentions were all over the map. I don’t see you shedding any tears for the people who face these lunatics every single day on city streets. But your people found enough to get back on the MAGA horse.

Speaking of that, and mobs…

Third, no one is buying ”MAGA Republicans” anymore. You’ve ridden said horse into the ground. It’s dead. Leave it be. It was not the vast majority of Republicans who stormed the Capitol on January 6. It wasn’t even the majority of people at the rally. But you just can’t leave it alone. Americans, sir, have been struggling with increasing crime under the watch of you and your counterparts, and they have very few tears left to shed for the protected class who, for a few hours out of one day, felt threatened. And frankly, sir, you and your party have trotted out the routine so many times that any dramatic value it may have had is lost on everyone but yourselves and your pet media. Nary a word from you about the sieges in cities by anarchists or the threats against a Supreme Court justice. You cry crocodile tears over J6 and talk about unifying a nation while finding any reason to raid the homes of abortion opponents and ignore the destruction of pregnancy centers.

Democracy versus autocracy, you say? Who but an autocrat would weaponize the Department of Justice to terrorize his political opponents, cast concerned parents as domestic terrorists, and even try to find ways to criminalize election rhetoric he doesn’t like? Who but an autocrat would freeze energy production in his own country, raid the reserves, and flirt with nationalizing the oil industry?

We won’t know the results until a few days after the election? I’ve been voting since 1985. Going back as far as I can remember (Al Gore aside), most elections have been finished on Election Day. It is patently obvious to anyone with half a brain at their disposal that your handlers, speech writers, and members of the Democratic upper echelon are setting the scene to buy time. After all, Big Tech needs to sow the seeds of doubt, and hell, you might just skeeve your way out of this one, if the vote is close enough.

Related: Biden Goes Full Steve Martin, Has His ‘I Was Born a Poor Black Child’ Moment

You want your fellow Americans to help you meet this day? Maybe your fellow Americans are worried about putting gas in the tank, heating their homes, or making their rent or mortgage. Maybe they are reeling from the fact that you and your media lied to them about a drug that did nothing to prevent the spread of a disease, and watched their businesses and livelihoods evaporate. And you and the people who profited from it could not have cared less. Maybe the voters are hearing about the supply chain being interrupted by a lack of diesel fuel or an impending railroad strike, which, despite your crowing about fixing it, may occur after the election after all. Maybe they are worried about getting attacked on the street or having their stores or boutiques cleaned out. They know how your allies are trying to divide and judge their children on the color of their skin, and mutilate their growing bodies. Some don’t feel safe outside their homes and barely feel safe inside them. Some still remember the Afghanistan debacle. Some of them are even worried about nuclear war. I wasn’t even alive the last time that concern was on the table.

Maybe they understand that you want them to help you meet this day so that you and your people can stay in office. These people don’t even know what the next day will bring for them, and they do not have the financial cushion of you and your party leaders and mouthpieces.

Back during the earliest stages of the 2008 election, I believed in you. I backed you and hell, I even liked you. And yes, I probably owe every reader at PJ Media an apology for that. Of course, Obama came along and all of us donkeys got the vapors for him, but that just goes to show you how easily Democrats can be emotionally manipulated. Had I only known then what I know now. Not that it would have mattered, but at least I wouldn’t have to admit to having supported you.

But people aren’t being manipulated now. And that has nothing to do with “election deniers.” It has nothing to do with MAGA Republicans. They can see what you and your party have done to them. The kitty or perhaps the donkey is out of the proverbial burlap. You and your party failed us, just like you failed me twelve years ago. But instead of apologizing and maybe listening, you doubled down, you dug in. And the rest of us paid for it.

People have figured out something about you and the rest of your ruling class, sir. You are everything you accuse conservatives of being. And you were able to hide that. Until now.

[bookoformon]

"Remember." Moroni, Chapter 10. Conclusion to the Book of Mormon.

I was walking down the street six years ago when I had this unswering need to figure out what was up with those kooky Mormons, and I started reading their Book. It was the worst mistake in my life. I have suffered greatly, long and long at the hands of these very strange immoral persons for long and long in every possible way. They put on a good show with their freckle faced, apple cheeked, coiffed dudes in starched white shirts with name tags on them, and very formal church services, but underneath, they are the most vile, evil, polluted, and diseased sub-species of humanity one could ever hope not to meet.

One day, I was not precisely where I was supposed to be and met a man who trafficked in drugs and underage porn for the Mormons, some of whom were very prominent in world government, like Josh Hawley, Mitt Romney, Karl Rove, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Mike Pence, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump, King Charles, and others of their ilk. Washington DC is a small town. I spoke to the police several times about this but nothing prevented their activities from proceeding. A shame for the many hundreds of little boys and girls they filmed, raped, even killed waiting for an appropriate federal if not global response to what I discovered.

When they learned I turned them into the authorities, the Mormons, who were invited by Donald Trump, attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Once again they were not properly prosecuted or apprehended and again, I was sexually assaulted, including by the President himself hundreds of times and left for dead in mid-December at a hotel on Vermont, Avenue NW. As I have said under separate cover, in their employ and company were members of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian Republican Guard, indicating a much deeper agenda that just gay kiddie porn, about which the Mormons are positively obssessed, along with the extraction of repurposing of male boy semen.

They talk about and lagabout doing nothing else but extracting and inserting the stuff in the strangest of places and manners, all the while fueled by enough crystal method, porn, bondage gear, and boy buttholes to fill a circus big top the size of at least two Wal Mart Super Centers. This they do when they aren't fucking around with global geopolitics, elections, picketing, yelling, screaming or defiling the ground every where they step foot.

At first I thought they were just weird, but I did not suspect how dangerous or how widespread their religious fervor actually was. I thought they were just defending their turf, the prevalence of their practices of incest, child abuse, and drug abuse, but as it turns out they were planning to attack Israel, kill every Jew, Muslim, and every typically developed adult living there. Then along with their friends in Russia, China, North Korea and elsewhere, try to conquer the world. Thanks to our negligence of the crimes of Donald Trump they almost got away with it.

They attacked Israel on October 7 and thousands of innocent people are dead, but at least the secret is out and the world can respond. The sight of some of the very same cunts that raped me running towards the settlements in Israel and beating drums in front of universities within the guises of freedom fighters enraged me in ways I cannot explain. Especially after the body count was tallied, is tallied now all the time.

I too lost everyone I love and everything I own trying to survive the filth called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but I survived, and just as I planned, discovered the long lost secret of the Book of Mormon, lost since Abraham Lincoln, the last great Mormon Prophet was assassinated in 1865.

The Book of Mormon is as I have said the greatest American artifact and one of the most significant in human history itself. The authoring of the Book did one thing that has never been done since time began- it aroused an entire nation against the horror of slavery and genocide of the black man without hesitation and the effort was successful. Not before nor since has the world witnessed such Christian activism.

If we believe God would send for Moses to free the Israelites from Pharaoh in a work of fiction, surely we now we know he would do it for real to soothe the cries of the black man in America and this, He and His Prophet did indeed do.

How we must wish the real Mormons were still with us today instead of the ones that are the seminal residue of the losers that were left behind after the real saints of the faith were hosed off by anti-abolitionist forces out of revenge for Emancipation Day. All 6,000 original Mormons were killed, their identities lost, all but one, the most famous American to have ever lived.

The final chapter of the Book, like all good religious texts is hooked to the first. After the chapter concludes we will unveil the final mystery contained in the Book of Mormon and send everyone on their way.

I remain determined to end the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and bury every member, Donald Trump in particular, and end the Republican Party out of vengeance for what they did to this country and its allies. I believe the Book of Mormon can help all of us heal and make of ourselves a better people after this revenge is complete.

CHAPTER 10

A testimony of the Book of Mormon comes by the power of the Holy Ghost—The gifts of the Spirit are dispensed to the faithful—Spiritual gifts always accompany faith—Moroni’s words speak from the dust—Come unto Christ, be perfected in Him, and sanctify your souls. About A.D. 421.

1 Now I, Moroni, write somewhat as seemeth me good; and I write unto my brethren, the Lamanites; and I would that they should know that more than four hundred and twenty years have passed away since the sign was given of the coming of Christ.

2 And I seal up these records, after I have spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you.

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

6 And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.

7 And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever.

8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.

9 For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;

10 And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

11 And to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

12 And again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles;

13 And again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things;

14 And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;

15 And again, to another, all kinds of tongues;

16 And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.

17 And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.

18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ.

19 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the unbelief of the children of men.

20 Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.

21 And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope.

22 And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in despair; and despair cometh because of iniquity.

23 And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me.

24 And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief.

25 And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God.

26 And wo unto them who shall do these things away and die, for they die in their sins, and they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God; and I speak it according to the words of Christ; and I lie not.

27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?

28 I declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the everlasting God; and his word shall hiss forth from generation to generation.

29 And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true.

30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.

31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

THE END

The Values in Gematria are:

1 Nephi 1: 1- I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

The Number is 11412, יא‎דא‎ב ‎"I will love it."

Moroni 10: 1: 1 Now I, Moroni, write somewhat as seemeth me good; and I write unto my brethren, the Lamanites; and I would that they should know that more than four hundred and twenty years have passed away since the sign was given of the coming of Christ.

The Number is 15914, י״הטאד, Y'Hatad "Pin in place what is at stake..."

10:34: And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

The Number is 9408, ט‎דאֶפֶס‎ח, tdafesah, "The place where people who love one another gather to celebrate the Passover."

Here ends the forum called Time and Spirit, a splendid Midrash on the scripture known as the Book of Mormon entitled an Additional Testament of Jesus Christ.

"You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. "Don't abuse or take advantage of strangers; you, remember, were once strangers in Egypt."

-Exodus 22:21.

The Book of Mormon begins in 600 BCE in Jerusalem in Nephi 1, and ends at 421 AD in the Book of Mormon its namesake in the very same place. The final Gematria "600 BC to 421 AD" is 160, אס‎ ‎"The Ace". Who completes the Book of Mormon and celebrates the Passover is verily of the potential to be a King of Israel.

[shippingdragons]

Interview: Unpacking Corruption, With Stars Saffron Burrows and Toby Stephens

Stephens and Burrows star in the latest play from dramatist J.T. Rogers and director Bartlett Sher at Lincoln Center Theater.

David Gordon Off-Broadway March 25, 2024

Following up on the massive, international success of Oslo, playwright J.T. Rogers and longtime director Bartlett Sher have turned to another socio-political subject for their newest theatrical collaboration at Lincoln Center Theater. Corruption, running through April 14 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, tells the story behind the 2011 phone-hacking scandal that upended British politics and almost brought Rupert Murdoch’s media empire down.

The David-and-Goliath story, which Rogers presents in customarily epic form, follows Parliament member Tom Watson as he takes on News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, not only risking his career, but also his life, to expose the nefarious goings on. Taking on these two roles are esteemed actors Toby Stephens (who last collaborated with Rogers and Sher in the National Theatre production of Oslo) and Saffron Burrows, a film and tv regular making her New York stage debut.

Both Burrows and Stephens recognize the importance of this particular story — they lived it in their native England, after all — and also the controversy that could come with it. Here are excerpts from a recent coversation we had with them.

Toby Stephens and Saffron Burrows © Tricia Baron

Having lived through this case in real time, what was it like when you first read the play? At times it felt like watching a Shakespearean history play.

Toby Stephens: Bart and J.T. kept on comparing it to Shakespeare plays, and I always slightly wince when things are compared to Shakespeare. It’s like the history plays because it moves around so much; you’re suddenly in all these different locations and following different characters with disparate interests, and they’re politically and morally complex. In that regard, it’s true. We’re dealing with an incredibly complex story and the morality is very interesting. Tom Watson is slightly ambiguous in a sense: he’s done bad things in the past, but he is obsessed by bringing down this woman because he has been hurt by that machine.

Personally, I think it’s about time somebody wrote about this. It was such a massive story and there are so many different parts of this thing, and they were getting away with it. But everyone was so terrified of attacking them because then they would become a target themselves. So, it’s about time somebody wrote a play, but you understand the fear. An American writer can do this, but if you were a British playwright, you’d probably think twice, because they’re still very influential and powerful.

Tom Watson and Toby Stephens © Tricia Baron

Saffron, your character, Rebekah Brooks, is obviously the “villain” of the piece. How did you find your way into that?

Saffron Burrows: It’s tricky terrain to navigate. Clearly, there are about four white cis men running the world right now, and I didn’t want it to just be that the woman’s the demon, you know? Because there’s a whole mechanism at play. In rehearsals, we talked about how this is a story about what happens when capitalism starts to eat itself and ravages society. The writing became more and more nuanced. J.T. refined and refined it, so there’s now a scene where it becomes evident that Rebekah, too, is part of an order of things. There’s some subtle stuff at play between her and her superior now, which helped me a lot because she too has her adversaries that she has to tackle.

Bart and J.T. have obviously worked together for decades now. As actors, what is it like to be welcomed into their collaboration? I know, Toby, you did Oslo in the West End.

Saffron: I was struck by how truly collaborative Bart and J.T. are. It’s a new play and it was evolving throughout the rehearsal period, and I loved that part of the process. They’ve got huge creative confidence about their own skills, which made it all the more collaborative. Members of our company would bring in stories and things they read, so it was evolving daily. It’s a lovely, exciting way to work.

Toby: Oslo, in a way, was an inherited play. The great people who did it in the Mitzi Newhouse handed it onto us and we got that script and did our own thing with it. One of the reasons I wanted to do Corruption was because it’s a new play, not yet another revival, and it’s about something that’s really important. It was very collaborative. It’s really exciting when you’re working on something that is still finding where it wants to go, as they figured out how to tell this incredibly complicated story in a way that not only an American audience will follow, but will draw their own parallels with. The Oslo experience was different because we got something they knew works. The interesting thing about this is that it’s not a particularly optimistic play. There are optimistic parts about it, in that it’s about people who are fighting against the system and care about that, but at the moment, the system is winning.

What do you think audiences in England would make of this play?

Toby: I really don’t know. I think it would be hugely controversial. There’s a huge amount of vested interest there in people who were part of that system and who are part of the story. Doing it here is almost safe, in a way, because you’re doing it in a different country.

Saffron: I had a friend come to opening who, not to name names, but she’d been hacked, and then she reminded me that I’d had someone go through my bins in the early 2000s, and then went to my grandmother’s house when my mom was walking my five-year-old brother to school. That was a bad period, but when my friend reminded me of the details I thought “Jesus.” I’m sure it happened to Toby, too. It’s absurd how low the bar was in terms of what you’d expect from “journalists” — journalists in quotes. So I agree, Toby, I think it would be very close to the bone in London. Some people who are in power now are depicted in the play, so it’s present-day, relevant, and powerful. It would be quite electric having it there.

Toby: I had a friend, he’s not even famous, he was just going out with somebody moderately successful and she was going through a divorce, and his father, who was 80, found these so-called journalists on their doorsteps saying “What do you say about your son?” It was deeply upsetting for him because dad was so confused by the whole thing. He didn’t understand why it was happening. That’s just a minor, minor case. This is a discussion that’s still going on. Doing it in London, in the heart of this whole system, I would imagine would be really, really chilling and scary, to some degree.

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Article in N Y Times: Estimate that only forty four per cent of those elegible to vote bother to do so.

Errands. Huge promotion for release of movie at Lincoln Center. "Dune Two." Big stars and gawking crowds there at the plaza.

Talk to Skip Lane. Sort of get caught up with him. News from the South. More about the backwardness of Tennessee government. An embarrassment. The former mayor of Knoxville especially egregious. Skip unfailingly mentions our "downward spiral." (How to reverse this?)

Note: Odd scene in elevator. Larry the Super cleaning up. (I don't know how he manges to take care of two buildings.) He tells me someone spit in the elevator. I am guessing it was a delivery person. Perhaps someone was rude to him (?). It brought to my mind the defiling of the Capitol Building by Trump's insurrectionists. That sort of disrespect.

There is a camera in the lobby. Larry says he doesn't want to replay the tape. He doesn't want to know who did this.

Later: A TV show on Las Vegas and the slow desegregation that took place in the early Sixties. Sammy Davis Jr, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, et al. The show at the Moulin Rouge, etc.

Many memories of Vegas. Never performed there but stopped off many times.

Monday, February 26, 2024

More Trump trial news this week. Every effort will be made to damage the reputation of Fani Willis, causing the Georgia "unpleasantness" to go away. Trump's lawyers say he should not be responsible for a bond re that money he is to play Ms. Carroll. If he doesn't have it on hand there is always that flow of "dark money." Some Saudi pals might come up with it. We shall see.

The weather is a bit warmer. And that dreaded cough that's been hanging on is beginning to let up. (About time.)

Evening: Breaking with routine I go to the Turner channel and watch some of Fellini's "8 1/2." Not easy to watch... During the college years we all went to the movies when a new Fellini film came out. Some of them were headscratchers. Marcello Mastoianni always brought to mind Elliott Richardson (part of the Nixon cabinet; axed in the famous "Saturday Night Massacre"). Too good looking, I always thought, to be in that gnarly Nixon bunch.

Nino Rota's music always added so much to Fellini movies. The soundtrack that persists in memory is "La Strada." First rate, lately made into a ballet.

to be continued

[sagevalleymusings]

Do Not Give Away Personal Information

Hopefully folks see this even though I'm a very small blog, but I have an important safety PSA for the zoomers on tumblr. Story time (Names and Locations have been changed for privacy).

Yesterday, I was waiting for the bus. There was a fashionable young man sitting on the bench with me. It wound up being kind of a long and boring wait, and so inevitably, this young man and I started making small talk. We found out we had a bit of a six degrees of separation connection - we were both doing events at the same venue, though on different days. We got into it a little bit more, and he explained that he got this venue spot through his dad, then gave me his dad's first name.

So that's personal information number one and number two: his dad's first name is Lincoln and he's associated with the Crowe Community Center.

We were chatting more, about the weather this time, and he mentioned how much more he liked the weather than in North Dakota. This stranger, unprompted, gave me three pieces of personal information. I would like to defend myself a little bit by saying that initially when I Googled "Lincoln Crowe Community Center" it was because I wondered if I knew who this was. After all, I was doing an event there too, so maybe our connection was a little closer than I thought. However, it became immediately apparent that this young man's zoomer inclination to not safeguard his information combined with his parents' boomer inclination to overshare meant that almost immediately I had a massive amount of personal information at my disposal. The "young man" I met isn't a man at all - he's a minor. His name is Gus Johnson and he goes to school and West Side High School, which is a little bit odd, considering he lives at 45 East Brewer Ave, on the other side of town. But turns out his dad Lincoln Johnson and mom Rebecca Johnson are fundamentalists - in fact, Lincoln was a minister at Living Promise, which is a tiny evangelical church he founded that was running out of someone's basement for a while. They were so fundamentalist in fact that they pulled their four kids (Gus, Jeremy, Abigail, and Saul) out of school, but couldn't manage it with schedules and finances for very long, and so sent them to West Side instead of East Side (probably because East Side was too liberal, but that's an extrapolation on my part). I found the social media pages of every single one of his immediate family, his parents' jobs, the city where he grew up, the high school his dad went to, his date of birth and year in school, along with several important life events, all within about 20 minutes. At some point I started to get morbidly curious, and just kept kicking over rocks, and then out scurried a bunch of driver's licenses and library cards as fast as they could. I want to emphasize again that I had a fifteen minute conversation with a random child at a bus stop, and that child revealed enough information that I was able to get his home address and the address of his school, and where his dad works, along with 6 separate social media accounts, without any tools beyond searching publicly available information. Most people are good people. I'm not going to do anything nefarious with this information, and probably won't even remember the details tomorrow. The problem is that the kind of person who would do something nefarious would have been even friendlier than I was, making up lies and asking prompting questions until the kid had given up even more private information than he did. Do. Not. Give. Strangers. Private. Information. And if you are going to say something personal and private, don't make it worse by saying more than one. Knowing his dad's name and home state wouldn't have pulled up the right Lincoln. Knowing his dad's name and association with the community center would have pulled up the right guy, but then I would have had to spend extra time confirming that it was him. And most of the time, people aren't going to take the extra step. Knowing his dad's name and association with the community center, and that he was from North Dakota, meant that the very first search result I got (a bio from the center) meant I knew in five seconds that I'd found the right Lincoln Johnson.