tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90915227180096897342024-03-09T18:46:37.097-08:00MediaGlutPersonal thoughts and feelings about things I see and read.
Not necessarily "Reviews".Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-2125509036069419982023-10-13T10:03:00.001-07:002023-10-13T10:03:29.250-07:00MOM<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">How to destroy a young woman's life?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">It's really not so hard.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Be born to her</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was only 19. I understand that she was good in school. She made it all the way through high school. Maybe was in </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> National </span>Honor Society.<span style="font-family: trebuchet;"> Unlike my dad who dropped out and joined the navy. </span></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">How these two got together I'll never know. And even though they went on to <span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 36); color: #202124;">inexplicably, have another kid 6 years later, it seemed like they had no </span></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 36); color: #202124; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;">shared interests. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="color: #202124; font-size: large;">She just seemed so tightened up, a non drinker and ready to go to </span></span><span style="color: #202124; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">church, while he seemed relatively wild. He was kinda more attractive, with black wavy hair, fit from working out in the past, ("I need to get back to the Y." he said for years.), and kind rough in his navy tattoos.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">He looked like Dean Martin, a popular entertainer back then. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="color: #202124; font-size: large;">In<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: large;">fact</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: large;"> they split in their early 40s, after I was </span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: large;">already long gone. My dad later told me that she had a long affair with another married man. She died with that man, John, in a two engine airplane accident. It was not an enormous or challenging trip, they were flying from The Bahamas to Fort Lauderdale. </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">She was 45. I had just turned 26.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">She would be in her 90s if alive today and likely would be since both her sisters are alive. One is 97. (She told me, at least a decade ago, that I am in her will. I think that is a stupid thing to do to people who don't have much money. Isn't it natural to want and wait? Pretty sure she will outlive me. I really would like to pass this money along to the women I have hurt. She's the "rich" aunt.)</span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">Anyway, back 72 years ago there probably wasn't a lot of abortion going on in Ohio, these two kids got married and I was extruded in the normal way. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;">It's probably because I came out A Bad Boy, but the thing is I don't have any feeling of warmth, love, connection, special connection, unconditional love, undying support, or any of these other I-Love-Mommy stuff that I have heard others rattle on endlessly about all my life. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 36); color: #202124;">So this was primary in the set up of my life and caused a lot of problems later.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Ilv7WXGgaJNEjnZYbmCexyMCYGs1QnEGsFCh2N7rWkVj-mqctG5CNNkIjhMIWkW3BQyX-22dd-DKsPLZRddso6tJP_873pNF5z75ueCBQ2yg_2XBBz_Nh7lWI6l_cSTMkPzBL3x6KzKLEcoqnBrzVoxivwpC_4ouVOoCyR_19psdHcaAeYIKJ9qDCxP1/s1119/childhood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1119" data-original-width="1055" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Ilv7WXGgaJNEjnZYbmCexyMCYGs1QnEGsFCh2N7rWkVj-mqctG5CNNkIjhMIWkW3BQyX-22dd-DKsPLZRddso6tJP_873pNF5z75ueCBQ2yg_2XBBz_Nh7lWI6l_cSTMkPzBL3x6KzKLEcoqnBrzVoxivwpC_4ouVOoCyR_19psdHcaAeYIKJ9qDCxP1/s320/childhood.jpg" width="302" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /><span style="caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 36); color: #202124;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-9281192047271813252023-10-12T17:57:00.011-07:002023-10-13T14:37:45.731-07:00Personal issues<p> <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for reading my little blog here.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f2c9f76c-7fff-574a-e5ed-2d14fbe3fcae"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m going to change things up now. I haven’t really been writing reviews anyway. I ended up starting a youtube channel about the books I read.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is going to drastically change to being very personal.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think I’m getting ready to die, FINALLY! </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It will be a relief. Over the past 2 years I have been a very sad broken hearted man.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s not something that has been done TO me. Well, maybe it was just life doing its thing and I was never ever equipped for it.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just want to set the record straight as much as I can, even though the woman most concerned has not indicated that she wants to hear any longer. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been a life long THC addict and that has made things hard for me. Whatever with that, but it has made things hard for the people who were trying to be close to me.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I really regret that and feel all that more now that I am sober, old, and alone.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The THC thing was compelled by a lifelong emotional issues.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just happened to be a teen with these emotional conditions when pot became a cool helpful thing. Non-addicting, It was quite addicting to me, always has been.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Funny think getting off coffee really helped.) </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just wish I hadn’t trashed my connection with T so finally.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was the sweetest person to me. I mess here, her touches.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been thinking a lot about her apartment of Long Island.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was so kind to take me in and I should have relaxed into it. There was a lot of positives about that place.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I miss beautiful Saffie the can.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It made me nervous that her dad was like 12 years younger than I am.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope he is still around too. He really tried with me.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ahamed and lonely. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyway being sober and on my own I think I understand some things better than I did 2 years ago.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I replay scenes that I would like to go back to and repair.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would attached a photo of Saffie but it makes me sad to look though the photos of that period.</span></p></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-88294791083364098982023-09-09T02:55:00.003-07:002023-09-09T02:55:27.712-07:00The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson<p> Here is my rather critical take on the book:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="401" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mAfNPwDJKnI" width="482" youtube-src-id="mAfNPwDJKnI"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-33556380533149428792023-09-04T17:57:00.003-07:002023-09-04T17:57:36.169-07:00Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop<p> Shari Lewis biography by Nat Segaloff and Mallory Lewis</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="403" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rGgcuhOwhZo" width="484" youtube-src-id="rGgcuhOwhZo"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-73761530590611873572023-08-26T07:41:00.003-07:002023-08-26T07:41:47.957-07:004 Short Muriel Spark novels <p> The Driver's Seat:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EXyNSvwBWXA" width="320" youtube-src-id="EXyNSvwBWXA"></iframe></div><br /><p>The Girls of Slender Means</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c0WsffJsX0Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="c0WsffJsX0Q"></iframe></div>The Only Problem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k_iGCrdmqrM" width="320" youtube-src-id="k_iGCrdmqrM"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /><p>The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d2OCFBgNkqs" width="320" youtube-src-id="d2OCFBgNkqs"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-44723255226336794512023-08-22T12:12:00.009-07:002023-08-26T07:30:38.396-07:00To Die Beautiful by Buzzy Jackson<p> <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px;">Everyone is very thin, many have starved to death. </span></p><p style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br />
The people are in rags, clothing that has been patched and patched again. <br />
<br />
Hope, life, laughter is only a memory from BEFORE.<br />
<br />
People who still have bicycles have affixed wooded tires to the rims. All the rubber has gone to them and their war. <br />
<br />
Wood? Most of it has been burned. <br />
The beautiful old elms that lined the streets are long gone, and still there is not enough fuel to do anything but freeze through the winter. <br />
<br />
<br />
Many people from BEFORE who would be seen on the streets or in the businesses they owned have been rounded up and taken away. Some of them are still around, somewhere hidden, locked away for years in rooms, attics, and basements with widows blacked out. Prisoned, never seeing the sun, but safe from capture by the foreign soldiers in the street. <br />
<br />
No this is not a dystopian sci-fi scene of an imagined future. <br />
This is the 1940s during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands as described in To Die Beautiful a new historical novel by Buzzy Jackson.<br />
<br />
This very moving first person narrative is about Hannie Schaft who was a member of The Resistance all though the occupation. Hannie Schaft was a real person, a young law student, at least before the occupying Nazis demanded students sign a loyalty oath to Hitler’s Third Reich. By first volunteering for a cooperative support organization, until that was ravaged and shut down by the Nazi’s, she became connected and part of the underground resistance. <br />
<br />
Buzzy Jackson has given voice to Hannie Schaft and though her character a gripping story of Hannie and her comrades in their fight against the Nazi’s and their fascist collaborators.<br />
Jackson has succeeded in presenting a work that reads like a “page turner” adventure novel. This is historian Buzzy Jackson’s first novel. She has triumphed in fiction with it.<br />
<br />
We go with Hannie and her comrades, Jan, until he is captured, and then Truus and Freddie two young sisters and resistance veterans as they travel by bicycle to their planed out missions to kill Nazis and their fascist collaborators. These collaborators help the occupying German soldiers by ratting out their Jewish and resistance countryman. <br />
<br />
Buzzy Jackson constructs tense suspenseful scenes as Hannie, Jan, and Freddie approach the enemy. The Germans and collaborators have food, they aren’t starving like everyone else, but have a surprise comeuppance when a young woman sticks a pistol in their fat bellies and escape on the bicycles. <br />
<br />
We know through the prologue that Hannie is eventually captured and imprisoned. But that doesn’t prepare us for the details of what goes on in prison at the hands of her Nazi captors. Buzzy Jackson in the ending chapters does not shy away from showing us this horror. <br />
<br />
In an afterword at the end of the book she shares how the novel was constructed including the consulting the memoir Truus Menger-Oversteegen (1923-2016) who is a major character in the book, another very young woman and hero of the resistance.<br />
<br />
Yet this adventure, this novel is about something that is all too real, something that actually happened and sadly still constantly happening in multiple countries all over the world. <br />
<br />
A thoughtful reader in a powerful very military country might even ask, “Is my country doing this to innocent people somewhere NOW? How can I resist? How can I stop this? <span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> <br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLsaxw5TpCAbZQdJPSNwlT0c5NJB848IPVRwvREOPYSLsIghYxSCEdRuaFfLdx5f7YOs830feh7yls-vz25BLTwRlCLafnCuNhwIvHKbiDDY5ZUKTtHnlein1WByjZort0vGoKczIKU06h7OR38K3XBFG4xi_a4jS-tIHmU-v9pRw3LDmCzZNb9NjQWHe/s210/91Akkr32geL._AC_UL210_SR210,210_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="210" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLsaxw5TpCAbZQdJPSNwlT0c5NJB848IPVRwvREOPYSLsIghYxSCEdRuaFfLdx5f7YOs830feh7yls-vz25BLTwRlCLafnCuNhwIvHKbiDDY5ZUKTtHnlein1WByjZort0vGoKczIKU06h7OR38K3XBFG4xi_a4jS-tIHmU-v9pRw3LDmCzZNb9NjQWHe/s1600/91Akkr32geL._AC_UL210_SR210,210_.jpg" width="210" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z_-FF6-1tOw" width="320" youtube-src-id="Z_-FF6-1tOw"></iframe></div><br /></div><br /><p></p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-76720639256234609462023-08-09T14:08:00.003-07:002023-08-26T07:35:15.667-07:00The Big Laugh by John O'Hara<p> <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was my first O'Hara novel. I just finished reading it today.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-16ab95c3-7fff-36b4-c2e8-8a85dc48ed09"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll likely read another soon.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I really liked it. He strips away the glitter shell of Hollywood to reveal the hollow reality within.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The novel is dialogue heavy with a kind of lack of commentary about what the characters are thinking, but ultimately that is fine. It kinda reads like a text screenplay. The dialogue is very good,</span></p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I bought it for $3 at the cheaper book outside rack at The Strand NYC. Good investment.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The movie business is an odd cultural/business/entertainment mashup. Without stating it directly, even back 60 years ago O’Hara sets up the question: Why are these people, this business, so honored and their “entertainment” products given so much attention. Why are the “stars” so revered and the products, more or less all produced to make money, demanding of so much attention? Even now 120 years after the new technological wonder of moving pictures, it is somewhat troubling that this industry is so powerful and central in the minds and hearts of so many of us. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is it part of the tragedy of centralization of big business, viral capitalism? Or just all in fun and don’t we love our “stars”. I kind of hate that moving image so easily became the dominant method of storytelling. I still love the novel over cinema/TV, hence I read this one and I’m on to the next one.</span></span><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eNtgPOpq29E" width="320" youtube-src-id="eNtgPOpq29E"></iframe></div><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-35452230156351265012023-07-11T05:37:00.004-07:002023-07-12T11:13:05.472-07:00Of Bugs & Men<p>The following is from a Facebook discussion of the invasion of lantern Flys in NYC: </p><p><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">Commenter A:</span></p><p><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">I believe they’re an invasive species that lead to the loss of trees as well ??? I remember last summer the population was advised to kill as many as possible (people were doing the ‘one-two-three’ step all over Central Park et al. They are dangerous</span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"> </span><a style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;" tabindex="-1"></a><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">aliens inhabiting pretty bodies to pass as acceptable. Like so many politicians!</span></p><div aria-label="Comment by Neil Kaplan 14 hours ago" class="x1n2onr6 x1iorvi4 x4uap5 x18d9i69 x1swvt13 x78zum5 x1q0g3np x1a2a7pz" role="article" style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; display: flex; flex-direction: row; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 4px 0px 0px 16px; position: relative;" tabindex="-1"><div class="x1r8uery x1iyjqo2 x6ikm8r x10wlt62 x1pi30zi" style="flex-basis: 0px; flex-grow: 1; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden; padding-right: 16px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="xv55zj0 x1vvkbs x1rg5ohu xxymvpz" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 26px); overflow-wrap: break-word; vertical-align: middle;"><div class="x3nfvp2 x1n2onr6 xxymvpz xh8yej3" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 494px;"><div class="x1ve5b48 x177n6bx x10l6tqk x1ja2u2z xlshs6z" style="bottom: -11px; font-family: inherit; position: absolute; right: 2px; visibility: inherit; z-index: 0;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; justify-content: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;"></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="x1rg5ohu xxymvpz x17z2i9w" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; width: 22px;"><div aria-hidden="false" class="x1hy63sm xg01cxk xhva3ql" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 11px; opacity: 0;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; 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--fds-animation-quick-move-in: cubic-bezier(0.1, 0.9, 0.2, 1); --fds-animation-quick-move-out: cubic-bezier(0.1, 0.9, 0.2, 1); --fds-animation-swap-shuffle-in: cubic-bezier(0.14, 1, 0.34, 1); --fds-animation-swap-shuffle-out: cubic-bezier(0.45, 0.1, 0.2, 1); --fds-black-alpha-05: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); --fds-black-alpha-10: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --fds-black-alpha-15: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15); --fds-black-alpha-20: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); --fds-black-alpha-30: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3); --fds-black-alpha-40: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); --fds-black-alpha-50: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); --fds-black-alpha-60: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); --fds-black-alpha-80: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); --fds-black: #000000; --fds-blue-05: #ECF3FF; --fds-blue-30: #AAC9FF; --fds-blue-40: #77A7FF; --fds-blue-60: #1877F2; --fds-blue-70: #2851A3; --fds-blue-80: #1D3C78; --fds-button-text: #444950; --fds-comment-background: #F2F3F5; --fds-dark-mode-gray-100: #1C1C1C; --fds-dark-mode-gray-35: #CCCCCC; --fds-dark-mode-gray-50: #828282; --fds-dark-mode-gray-70: #4A4A4A; --fds-dark-mode-gray-80: #373737; --fds-dark-mode-gray-90: #282828; --fds-duration-extra-extra-short-in: 100ms; --fds-duration-extra-extra-short-out: 100ms; --fds-duration-extra-long-in: 1000ms; --fds-duration-extra-long-out: 1000ms; --fds-duration-extra-short-in: 200ms; --fds-duration-extra-short-out: 150ms; --fds-duration-long-in: 500ms; --fds-duration-long-out: 350ms; --fds-duration-medium-in: 400ms; --fds-duration-medium-out: 350ms; --fds-duration-none: 0ms; --fds-duration-short-in: 280ms; --fds-duration-short-out: 200ms; --fds-fast: 200ms; --fds-gray-00: #F5F6F7; --fds-gray-05: #F2F3F5; --fds-gray-100: #1C1E21; --fds-gray-10: #EBEDF0; --fds-gray-20: #DADDE1; --fds-gray-25: #CCD0D5; --fds-gray-30: #BEC3C9; --fds-gray-45: #8D949E; --fds-gray-70: #606770; --fds-gray-80: #444950; --fds-gray-90: #303338; --fds-green-55: #00A400; --fds-highlight-cell-background: #ECF3FF; --fds-highlight: #3578E5; --fds-primary-icon: #1C1E21; --fds-primary-text: #1C1E21; --fds-red-55: #FA383E; --fds-slow: 400ms; --fds-soft: cubic-bezier(0.08,0.52,0.52,1); --fds-spectrum-aluminum-tint-70: #E4F0F6; --fds-spectrum-blue-gray-tint-70: #CFD1D5; --fds-spectrum-cherry-tint-70: #FBCCD2; --fds-spectrum-cherry: #F35369; --fds-spectrum-grape-tint-70: #DDD5F0; --fds-spectrum-grape-tint-90: #F4F1FA; --fds-spectrum-lemon-dark-1: #F5C33B; --fds-spectrum-lemon-tint-70: #FEF2D1; --fds-spectrum-lime-tint-70: #E4F0D5; --fds-spectrum-lime: #A3CE71; --fds-spectrum-orange-tint-70: #FCDEC5; --fds-spectrum-orange-tint-90: #FEF4EC; --fds-spectrum-seafoam-tint-70: #CAEEF9; --fds-spectrum-slate-dark-2: #89A1AC; --fds-spectrum-slate-tint-70: #EAEFF2; --fds-spectrum-teal-dark-1: #4DBBA6; --fds-spectrum-teal-dark-2: #31A38D; --fds-spectrum-teal-tint-70: #D2F0EA; --fds-spectrum-teal-tint-90: #F0FAF8; --fds-spectrum-teal: #6BCEBB; --fds-spectrum-tomato-tint-30: #F38E7B; --fds-spectrum-tomato-tint-90: #FDEFED; --fds-spectrum-tomato: #FB724B; --fds-strong: cubic-bezier(0.12,0.8,0.32,1); --fds-white-alpha-05: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.05); --fds-white-alpha-10: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1); --fds-white-alpha-20: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2); --fds-white-alpha-30: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3); --fds-white-alpha-40: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4); --fds-white-alpha-50: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); --fds-white-alpha-60: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6); --fds-white-alpha-80: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8); --fds-white: #FFFFFF; --fds-yellow-20: #FFBA00; --filter-accent: invert(39%) sepia(57%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(147.75%) hue-rotate(202deg) brightness(97%) contrast(96%); --filter-always-white: invert(100%); --filter-blue-link-icon: invert(30%) sepia(98%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(166.5%) hue-rotate(192deg) brightness(91%) contrast(101%); --filter-disabled-icon: invert(80%) sepia(6%) saturate(200%) saturate(120%) hue-rotate(173deg) brightness(98%) contrast(89%); --filter-negative: invert(25%) sepia(33%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(110%) hue-rotate(345deg) brightness(132%) contrast(96%); --filter-placeholder-icon: invert(59%) sepia(11%) saturate(200%) saturate(135%) hue-rotate(176deg) brightness(96%) contrast(94%); --filter-positive: invert(37%) sepia(61%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(115%) hue-rotate(91deg) brightness(97%) contrast(105%); --filter-primary-icon: invert(8%) sepia(10%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(166%) hue-rotate(177deg) brightness(104%) contrast(91%); --filter-secondary-icon: invert(39%) sepia(21%) saturate(200%) saturate(109.5%) hue-rotate(174deg) brightness(94%) contrast(86%); --filter-warning-icon: invert(77%) sepia(29%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(128%) hue-rotate(359deg) brightness(102%) contrast(107%); --font-family-apple: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; --font-family-code: ui-monospace, Menlo, Consolas, Monaco, monospace; --font-family-default: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; --font-family-segoe: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; --glimmer-corner-radius: 8px; --glimmer-spinner-icon: #65676B; --global-panel-width-expanded: 0px; --global-panel-width: 0px; --header-height: 56px; --headline1-font-family: Optimistic Display Bold, system-ui, sans-serif; --headline1-font-size: 1.75rem; --headline1-font-weight: 700; --headline1-line-height: 1.2143; --headline2-font-family: Optimistic Display Bold, system-ui, sans-serif; --headline2-font-size: 1.5rem; --headline2-font-weight: 700; --headline2-line-height: 1.25; --headline3-font-family: Optimistic Display Bold, system-ui, sans-serif; --headline3-font-size: 1.0625rem; --headline3-font-weight: 700; --headline3-line-height: 1.2941; --hero-banner-background: #FFFFFF; --highlight-bg: #E7F3FF; --hosted-view-selected-state: rgba(45, 136, 255, 0.1); --hover-overlay: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); --image-corner-radius: 4px; --input-background-disabled: #F0F2F5; --input-background: #FFFFFF; --input-border-color-hover: var(--placeholder-text); --input-border-color: #CED0D4; --input-border-width: 1px; --input-corner-radius: 6px; --input-label-color-highlighted: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --list-cell-chevron: #65676B; --list-cell-corner-radius: 8px; --list-cell-min-height: 52px; --list-cell-padding-vertical-with-addon: 14px; --list-cell-padding-vertical: 20px; --media-hover: rgba(68, 73, 80, 0.15); --media-inner-border: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --media-outer-border: #FFFFFF; --media-pressed: rgba(68, 73, 80, 0.35); --menu-item-base-margin-horizontal: 8px; --menu-item-base-padding-horizontal: 8px; --messenger-card-background: #FFFFFF; --messenger-reply-background: #F0F2F5; --meta-emphasized-font-family: Placeholder Font; --meta-emphasized-font-size: 0.8125rem; --meta-emphasized-font-weight: 600; --meta-emphasized-line-height: 1.3846; --meta-font-family: Placeholder Font; --meta-font-size: 0.8125rem; --meta-font-weight: 400; --meta-line-height: 1.3846; --nav-bar-background-gradient-wash: linear-gradient(to top, #F0F2F5, rgba(240,242,245.9), rgba(240,242,245,0.7), rgba(240,242,245,0.4), rgba(240,242,245,0)); --nav-bar-background-gradient: linear-gradient(to top, #FFFFFF, rgba(255,255,255.9), rgba(255,255,255,0.7), rgba(255,255,255,0.4), rgba(255,255,255,0)); --nav-bar-background: #FFFFFF; --nav-list-cell-corner-radius: 8px; --nav-list-cell-min-height: 0px; --nav-list-cell-padding-vertical-with-addon: 16px; --nav-list-cell-padding-vertical: 16px; --negative-background: hsl(350, 87%, 55%, 20%); --negative: hsl(350, 87%, 55%); --new-notification-background: #E7F3FF; --non-media-pressed-on-dark: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3); --non-media-pressed: rgba(68, 73, 80, 0.15); --notification-badge: #e41e3f; --overlay-alpha-80: rgba(244, 244, 244, 0.8); --overlay-on-media: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); --page-footer-padding-vertical: 16px; --placeholder-icon: #65676B; --placeholder-image: rgb(164, 167, 171); --placeholder-text-on-media: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); --placeholder-text: #65676B; --popover-background: #FFFFFF; --positive-background: #DEEFE1; --positive: #31A24C; --press-overlay: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --primary-button-background: #1B74E4; --primary-button-icon: #FFFFFF; --primary-button-pressed: #77A7FF; --primary-button-text: #FFFFFF; --primary-deemphasized-button-background: #E7F3FF; --primary-deemphasized-button-pressed-overlay: rgba(25, 110, 255, 0.15); --primary-deemphasized-button-pressed: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); --primary-deemphasized-button-text: #1877F2; --primary-icon: #050505; --primary-label-font-family: Optimistic Display Medium, system-ui, sans-serif; --primary-label-font-size: 1.0625rem; --primary-label-font-weight: 500; --primary-label-line-height: 1.2941; --primary-text-on-media: #FFFFFF; --primary-text: #050505; --primary-web-focus-indicator: #D24294; --progress-ring-blue-background: rgba(24, 119, 242, 0.2); --progress-ring-blue-foreground: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --progress-ring-disabled-background: rgba(190,195,201, 0.2); --progress-ring-disabled-foreground: #BEC3C9; --progress-ring-neutral-background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); --progress-ring-neutral-foreground: #000000; --progress-ring-on-media-background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2); --progress-ring-on-media-foreground: #FFFFFF; --rating-star-active: #EB660D; --scroll-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1), 0 -1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) inset; --scroll-thumb: #BCC0C4; --secondary-button-background-floating: #ffffff; --secondary-button-background-on-dark: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); --secondary-button-background: #E4E6EB; --secondary-button-pressed: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); --secondary-button-stroke: transparent; --secondary-button-text: #050505; --secondary-icon: #65676B; --secondary-label-font-family: Placeholder Font; --secondary-label-font-size: 0.9375rem; --secondary-label-font-weight: 500; --secondary-label-line-height: 1.3333; --secondary-text-on-media: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); --secondary-text: #65676B; --section-header-addonend-button-padding-horizontal: 0px; --section-header-addonend-button-padding-vertical: 0px; --section-header-addonend-margin-horizontal: 8px; --section-header-addonstart-margin-horizontal: 12px; --section-header-padding-vertical: 16px; --section-header-subtitle-margin-vertical: 14px; --section-header-subtitle-with-addonend-margin-vertical: 6px; --section-header-text: #4B4C4F; --shadow-1: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --shadow-2: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); --shadow-5: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); --shadow-8: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); --shadow-elevated: 0 8px 20px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2), 0 2px 4px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --shadow-inset: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); --shadow-persistent: 0px 0px 12px rgba(52, 72, 84, 0.05); --shadow-primary: 0px 5px 12px rgba(52, 72, 84, 0.2); --surface-background: #FFFFFF; --switch-active: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --tertiary-label-font-family: Placeholder Font; --tertiary-label-font-size: 0.6875rem; --tertiary-label-font-weight: 500; --tertiary-label-line-height: 1.4545; --text-badge-attention-background: hsl(40, 89%, 52%); --text-badge-corner-radius: 4px; --text-badge-critical-background: #e41e3f; --text-badge-info-background: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --text-badge-padding-horizontal: 6px; --text-badge-padding-vertical: 6px; --text-badge-success-background: #31A24C; --text-highlight: rgba(24, 119, 242, 0.2); --text-input-caption-margin-top: 10px; --text-input-field-font-family: Placeholder Font; --text-input-field-font-size: 1rem; --text-input-field-font-weight: 500; --text-input-field-line-height: 1.2941; --text-input-label-font-family: Placeholder Font; --text-input-label-font-size-scale-multiplier: 0.75; --text-input-label-font-size: 17px; --text-input-label-font-weight: 400; --text-input-label-line-height: 1.2941; --text-input-label-top: 22px; --text-input-min-height: 64px; --text-input-multi-padding-between-text-scrollbar: 20px; --text-input-multi-padding-scrollbar: 16px; --text-input-outside-label: #000000; --text-input-padding-vertical: 12px; --toast-addon-padding-horizontal: 6px; --toast-addon-padding-vertical: 6px; --toast-background: #FFFFFF; --toast-container-max-width: 100%; --toast-container-min-width: 288px; --toast-container-padding-horizontal: 10px; --toast-container-padding-vertical: 16px; --toast-corner-radius: 8px; --toast-text-link: #216FDB; --toast-text: #1C2B33; --toggle-active-background: #E7F3FF; --toggle-active-icon: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-active-text: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-button-active-background: #E7F3FF; --tooltip-background: rgba(244, 244, 244, 0.8); --tooltip-box-shadow: 0 2px 4px 0 var(--shadow-5); --tooltip-corner-radius: 8px; --typeahead-list-outer-padding-vertical: 2px; --warning: hsl(40, 89%, 52%); --wash: #E4E6EB; --web-wash: #F0F2F5; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; position: static; z-index: auto;"></div></span></div></span></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><div class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xi81zsa x1xlr1w8" role="button" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--secondary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 700; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">Reply</div></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xi81zsa xo1l8bm" href="https://www.facebook.com/SteveC.NYC/posts/pfbid0oJDuQxZaSSPts7LGe8snQQ1TDT4pXkvyYUMmEaKd9WCSbPEU6JVJYRzHxXDT93Mkl?comment_id=661156789203091&__cft__[0]=AZUfV1GHwTR2D85W_Crt8T4Sttk1GNrI_o3GKzxt38xmg6igArWtAcIsmLDcMZM_BT-TDRlvaWDRrTpbWvbuiC5z_tCFhjSL6Z7mPduk2RVbopFiiuB1L1vnLz6PUeO1MTg&__tn__=R]-R" role="link" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--secondary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; justify-content: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;">14h</span></a></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; justify-content: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;"><div class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xi81zsa" role="button" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--secondary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">Edited</div></span></li></ul></div></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif;"><div class="xdj266r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 x46jau6" style="font-family: inherit; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 54px;"><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="font-size: 12px;"><div aria-label="Reply by Steve Carter to Neil Kaplan's comment 13 hours ago" class="x1n2onr6 x1iorvi4 x4uap5 x18d9i69 xurb0ha x78zum5 x1q0g3np x1a2a7pz" role="article" style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; font-family: inherit; outline: currentcolor; padding: 4px 0px 0px 8px; position: relative;" tabindex="-1"><div class="xqcrz7y x14yjl9h xudhj91 x18nykt9 xww2gxu x1lliihq x1w0mnb x1n2onr6 x1k70j0n" style="align-self: flex-start; border-radius: 50%; font-family: inherit; margin-right: 6px; margin-top: 6px; position: relative;"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div class="x1r8uery x1iyjqo2 x6ikm8r x10wlt62 x1pi30zi" style="flex-basis: 0px; flex-grow: 1; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden; padding-right: 16px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="xv55zj0 x1vvkbs x1rg5ohu xxymvpz" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 26px); overflow-wrap: break-word; vertical-align: middle;"><div class="x3nfvp2 x1n2onr6 xxymvpz xh8yej3" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 456px;"><div class="xdl72j9 x1iyjqo2 xs83m0k xeuugli xh8yej3" style="flex: 1 1 auto; font-family: inherit; min-width: 0px; width: 456px;"><div class="xmjcpbm x1tlxs6b x1g8br2z x1gn5b1j x230xth x9f619 xzsf02u x1rg5ohu xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x193iq5w x1mzt3pk x1n2onr6 xeaf4i8 x13faqbe" style="border-radius: 18px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--primary-text); display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; position: relative; word-break: break-word;"><div class="x1y1aw1k xn6708d xwib8y2 x1ye3gou" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 8px 12px;"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><a aria-hidden="false" class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz x1heor9g xt0b8zv" href="https://www.facebook.com/SteveC.NYC?comment_id=Y29tbWVudDoxMDIyMzQ1MDE0ODEzNzAxN182MjQxMTE4Mzk2ODAxMTg%3D&__cft__[0]=AZUfV1GHwTR2D85W_Crt8T4Sttk1GNrI_o3GKzxt38xmg6igArWtAcIsmLDcMZM_BT-TDRlvaWDRrTpbWvbuiC5z_tCFhjSL6Z7mPduk2RVbopFiiuB1L1vnLz6PUeO1MTg&__tn__=R]-R" role="link" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="x3nfvp2" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x676frb x1nxh6w3 x1sibtaa x1s688f xzsf02u" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2308; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">Steve Carter</span></span></a></span><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="font-family: inherit; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 4px;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" lang="en" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"> Or when Stevie was an attractive young man. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I can’t let myself off the hook from the human side of unhealthy behavior that was harmful to others.</div></div></span></div></div></div></div><div class="x1ve5b48 x177n6bx x10l6tqk x1ja2u2z xlshs6z" style="bottom: -11px; font-family: inherit; position: absolute; right: 2px; visibility: inherit; z-index: 0;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; 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--shadow-elevated: 0 8px 20px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2), 0 2px 4px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --shadow-inset: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); --shadow-persistent: 0px 0px 12px rgba(52, 72, 84, 0.05); --shadow-primary: 0px 5px 12px rgba(52, 72, 84, 0.2); --surface-background: #FFFFFF; --switch-active: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --tertiary-label-font-family: Placeholder Font; --tertiary-label-font-size: 0.6875rem; --tertiary-label-font-weight: 500; --tertiary-label-line-height: 1.4545; --text-badge-attention-background: hsl(40, 89%, 52%); --text-badge-corner-radius: 4px; --text-badge-critical-background: #e41e3f; --text-badge-info-background: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --text-badge-padding-horizontal: 6px; --text-badge-padding-vertical: 6px; --text-badge-success-background: #31A24C; --text-highlight: rgba(24, 119, 242, 0.2); --text-input-caption-margin-top: 10px; --text-input-field-font-family: Placeholder Font; --text-input-field-font-size: 1rem; --text-input-field-font-weight: 500; --text-input-field-line-height: 1.2941; --text-input-label-font-family: Placeholder Font; --text-input-label-font-size-scale-multiplier: 0.75; --text-input-label-font-size: 17px; --text-input-label-font-weight: 400; --text-input-label-line-height: 1.2941; --text-input-label-top: 22px; --text-input-min-height: 64px; --text-input-multi-padding-between-text-scrollbar: 20px; --text-input-multi-padding-scrollbar: 16px; --text-input-outside-label: #000000; --text-input-padding-vertical: 12px; --toast-addon-padding-horizontal: 6px; --toast-addon-padding-vertical: 6px; --toast-background: #FFFFFF; --toast-container-max-width: 100%; --toast-container-min-width: 288px; --toast-container-padding-horizontal: 10px; --toast-container-padding-vertical: 16px; --toast-corner-radius: 8px; --toast-text-link: #216FDB; --toast-text: #1C2B33; --toggle-active-background: #E7F3FF; --toggle-active-icon: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-active-text: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-button-active-background: #E7F3FF; --tooltip-background: rgba(244, 244, 244, 0.8); --tooltip-box-shadow: 0 2px 4px 0 var(--shadow-5); --tooltip-corner-radius: 8px; --typeahead-list-outer-padding-vertical: 2px; --warning: hsl(40, 89%, 52%); --wash: #E4E6EB; --web-wash: #F0F2F5; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; position: static; z-index: auto;"></div></span></div></span></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><div class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xi81zsa x1xlr1w8" role="button" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--secondary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 700; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">Reply</div></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xi81zsa xo1l8bm" href="https://www.facebook.com/SteveC.NYC/posts/pfbid0oJDuQxZaSSPts7LGe8snQQ1TDT4pXkvyYUMmEaKd9WCSbPEU6JVJYRzHxXDT93Mkl?comment_id=661156789203091&reply_comment_id=624111839680118&__cft__[0]=AZUfV1GHwTR2D85W_Crt8T4Sttk1GNrI_o3GKzxt38xmg6igArWtAcIsmLDcMZM_BT-TDRlvaWDRrTpbWvbuiC5z_tCFhjSL6Z7mPduk2RVbopFiiuB1L1vnLz6PUeO1MTg&__tn__=R]-R" role="link" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--secondary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; justify-content: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;">13h</span></a></li></ul></div></div></li><li><div aria-label="Reply by Stephen Lack to Steve Carter's comment 13 hours ago" class="x1n2onr6 x1iorvi4 x4uap5 x18d9i69 xurb0ha x78zum5 x1q0g3np x1a2a7pz" role="article" style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; font-family: inherit; outline: currentcolor; padding: 4px 0px 0px 8px; position: relative;" tabindex="-1"><div class="xqcrz7y x14yjl9h xudhj91 x18nykt9 xww2gxu x1lliihq x1w0mnb x1n2onr6 x1k70j0n" style="align-self: flex-start; border-radius: 50%; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; margin-right: 6px; margin-top: 6px; position: relative;"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div class="x1r8uery x1iyjqo2 x6ikm8r x10wlt62 x1pi30zi" style="flex-basis: 0px; flex-grow: 1; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden; padding-right: 16px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="xv55zj0 x1vvkbs x1rg5ohu xxymvpz" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 26px); overflow-wrap: break-word; vertical-align: middle;"><div class="x3nfvp2 x1n2onr6 xxymvpz xh8yej3" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 218.1875px;"><div class="xdl72j9 x1iyjqo2 xs83m0k xeuugli xh8yej3" style="flex: 1 1 auto; font-family: inherit; min-width: 0px; width: 218.1875px;"><div class="xmjcpbm x1tlxs6b x1g8br2z x1gn5b1j x230xth x9f619 xzsf02u x1rg5ohu xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x193iq5w x1mzt3pk x1n2onr6 xeaf4i8 x13faqbe" style="border-radius: 18px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--primary-text); display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; position: relative; word-break: break-word;"><div class="x1y1aw1k xn6708d xwib8y2 x1ye3gou" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 8px 12px;"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><span class="x3nfvp2" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x676frb x1nxh6w3 x1sibtaa x1s688f xzsf02u" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2308; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><br /></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x676frb x1nxh6w3 x1sibtaa x1s688f xzsf02u" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2308; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;">Commenter B</span></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x676frb x1nxh6w3 x1sibtaa x1s688f xzsf02u" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2308; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><br /></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x676frb x1nxh6w3 x1sibtaa x1s688f xzsf02u" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2308; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;"><a aria-hidden="false" class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz x1heor9g xt0b8zv" href="https://www.facebook.com/stephen.lack.16?comment_id=Y29tbWVudDoxMDIyMzQ1MDE0ODEzNzAxN18xMjk3MjE3NzY4MjY5MzQ%3D&__cft__[0]=AZUfV1GHwTR2D85W_Crt8T4Sttk1GNrI_o3GKzxt38xmg6igArWtAcIsmLDcMZM_BT-TDRlvaWDRrTpbWvbuiC5z_tCFhjSL6Z7mPduk2RVbopFiiuB1L1vnLz6PUeO1MTg&__tn__=R]-R" role="link" style="font-size: 0.8125rem;" tabindex="0">forgive yourself</a></span></span></span></span></div></div></div><div class="x1ve5b48 x177n6bx x10l6tqk x1ja2u2z xlshs6z" style="bottom: -11px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; position: absolute; right: 2px; visibility: inherit; z-index: 0;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; justify-content: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;"></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="x1rg5ohu xxymvpz x17z2i9w" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: middle; width: 22px;"><div aria-hidden="false" class="x1hy63sm xg01cxk xhva3ql" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 11px; opacity: 0;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; justify-content: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;"></span></div></div></div><ul aria-hidden="false" class="x1n0m28w x1rg5ohu x1wfe3co xat24cr xsgj6o6 x1o1nzlu xyqdw3p" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px -8px 0px 4px; min-height: 15px; padding: 3px 0px 0px;"><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><span class="x1rg5ohu" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit;"><div class="x1n2onr6 x1rg5ohu" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="__fb-light-mode x1afcbsf x1uhb9sk x1swf91x" style="--accent: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --alert-banner-corner-radius: 8px; --always-black: black; 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--fds-animation-passive-move-out: cubic-bezier(0.5, 0, 0.1, 1); --fds-animation-quick-move-in: cubic-bezier(0.1, 0.9, 0.2, 1); --fds-animation-quick-move-out: cubic-bezier(0.1, 0.9, 0.2, 1); --fds-animation-swap-shuffle-in: cubic-bezier(0.14, 1, 0.34, 1); --fds-animation-swap-shuffle-out: cubic-bezier(0.45, 0.1, 0.2, 1); --fds-black-alpha-05: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); --fds-black-alpha-10: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --fds-black-alpha-15: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15); --fds-black-alpha-20: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); --fds-black-alpha-30: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3); --fds-black-alpha-40: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); --fds-black-alpha-50: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); --fds-black-alpha-60: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); --fds-black-alpha-80: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); --fds-black: #000000; --fds-blue-05: #ECF3FF; --fds-blue-30: #AAC9FF; --fds-blue-40: #77A7FF; --fds-blue-60: #1877F2; --fds-blue-70: #2851A3; --fds-blue-80: #1D3C78; --fds-button-text: #444950; --fds-comment-background: #F2F3F5; --fds-dark-mode-gray-100: #1C1C1C; --fds-dark-mode-gray-35: #CCCCCC; --fds-dark-mode-gray-50: #828282; --fds-dark-mode-gray-70: #4A4A4A; --fds-dark-mode-gray-80: #373737; --fds-dark-mode-gray-90: #282828; --fds-duration-extra-extra-short-in: 100ms; --fds-duration-extra-extra-short-out: 100ms; --fds-duration-extra-long-in: 1000ms; --fds-duration-extra-long-out: 1000ms; --fds-duration-extra-short-in: 200ms; --fds-duration-extra-short-out: 150ms; --fds-duration-long-in: 500ms; --fds-duration-long-out: 350ms; --fds-duration-medium-in: 400ms; --fds-duration-medium-out: 350ms; --fds-duration-none: 0ms; --fds-duration-short-in: 280ms; --fds-duration-short-out: 200ms; --fds-fast: 200ms; --fds-gray-00: #F5F6F7; --fds-gray-05: #F2F3F5; --fds-gray-100: #1C1E21; --fds-gray-10: #EBEDF0; --fds-gray-20: #DADDE1; --fds-gray-25: #CCD0D5; --fds-gray-30: #BEC3C9; --fds-gray-45: #8D949E; --fds-gray-70: #606770; --fds-gray-80: #444950; --fds-gray-90: #303338; --fds-green-55: #00A400; --fds-highlight-cell-background: #ECF3FF; --fds-highlight: #3578E5; --fds-primary-icon: #1C1E21; --fds-primary-text: #1C1E21; --fds-red-55: #FA383E; --fds-slow: 400ms; --fds-soft: cubic-bezier(0.08,0.52,0.52,1); --fds-spectrum-aluminum-tint-70: #E4F0F6; --fds-spectrum-blue-gray-tint-70: #CFD1D5; --fds-spectrum-cherry-tint-70: #FBCCD2; --fds-spectrum-cherry: #F35369; --fds-spectrum-grape-tint-70: #DDD5F0; --fds-spectrum-grape-tint-90: #F4F1FA; --fds-spectrum-lemon-dark-1: #F5C33B; --fds-spectrum-lemon-tint-70: #FEF2D1; --fds-spectrum-lime-tint-70: #E4F0D5; --fds-spectrum-lime: #A3CE71; --fds-spectrum-orange-tint-70: #FCDEC5; --fds-spectrum-orange-tint-90: #FEF4EC; --fds-spectrum-seafoam-tint-70: #CAEEF9; --fds-spectrum-slate-dark-2: #89A1AC; --fds-spectrum-slate-tint-70: #EAEFF2; --fds-spectrum-teal-dark-1: #4DBBA6; --fds-spectrum-teal-dark-2: #31A38D; --fds-spectrum-teal-tint-70: #D2F0EA; --fds-spectrum-teal-tint-90: #F0FAF8; --fds-spectrum-teal: #6BCEBB; --fds-spectrum-tomato-tint-30: #F38E7B; --fds-spectrum-tomato-tint-90: #FDEFED; --fds-spectrum-tomato: #FB724B; --fds-strong: cubic-bezier(0.12,0.8,0.32,1); --fds-white-alpha-05: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.05); --fds-white-alpha-10: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1); --fds-white-alpha-20: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2); --fds-white-alpha-30: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3); --fds-white-alpha-40: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4); --fds-white-alpha-50: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); --fds-white-alpha-60: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6); --fds-white-alpha-80: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8); --fds-white: #FFFFFF; --fds-yellow-20: #FFBA00; --filter-accent: invert(39%) sepia(57%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(147.75%) hue-rotate(202deg) brightness(97%) contrast(96%); --filter-always-white: invert(100%); --filter-blue-link-icon: invert(30%) sepia(98%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(166.5%) hue-rotate(192deg) brightness(91%) contrast(101%); --filter-disabled-icon: invert(80%) sepia(6%) saturate(200%) saturate(120%) hue-rotate(173deg) brightness(98%) contrast(89%); --filter-negative: invert(25%) sepia(33%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(110%) hue-rotate(345deg) brightness(132%) contrast(96%); --filter-placeholder-icon: invert(59%) sepia(11%) saturate(200%) saturate(135%) hue-rotate(176deg) brightness(96%) contrast(94%); --filter-positive: invert(37%) sepia(61%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(115%) hue-rotate(91deg) brightness(97%) contrast(105%); --filter-primary-icon: invert(8%) sepia(10%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(166%) hue-rotate(177deg) brightness(104%) contrast(91%); --filter-secondary-icon: invert(39%) sepia(21%) saturate(200%) saturate(109.5%) hue-rotate(174deg) brightness(94%) contrast(86%); --filter-warning-icon: invert(77%) sepia(29%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(200%) saturate(128%) hue-rotate(359deg) brightness(102%) contrast(107%); --font-family-apple: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; --font-family-code: ui-monospace, Menlo, Consolas, Monaco, monospace; --font-family-default: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; --font-family-segoe: Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; --glimmer-corner-radius: 8px; --glimmer-spinner-icon: #65676B; --global-panel-width-expanded: 0px; --global-panel-width: 0px; --header-height: 56px; --headline1-font-family: Optimistic Display Bold, system-ui, sans-serif; --headline1-font-size: 1.75rem; --headline1-font-weight: 700; --headline1-line-height: 1.2143; --headline2-font-family: Optimistic Display Bold, system-ui, sans-serif; --headline2-font-size: 1.5rem; --headline2-font-weight: 700; --headline2-line-height: 1.25; --headline3-font-family: Optimistic Display Bold, system-ui, sans-serif; --headline3-font-size: 1.0625rem; --headline3-font-weight: 700; --headline3-line-height: 1.2941; --hero-banner-background: #FFFFFF; --highlight-bg: #E7F3FF; --hosted-view-selected-state: rgba(45, 136, 255, 0.1); --hover-overlay: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); --image-corner-radius: 4px; --input-background-disabled: #F0F2F5; --input-background: #FFFFFF; --input-border-color-hover: var(--placeholder-text); --input-border-color: #CED0D4; --input-border-width: 1px; --input-corner-radius: 6px; --input-label-color-highlighted: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --list-cell-chevron: #65676B; --list-cell-corner-radius: 8px; --list-cell-min-height: 52px; --list-cell-padding-vertical-with-addon: 14px; --list-cell-padding-vertical: 20px; --media-hover: rgba(68, 73, 80, 0.15); --media-inner-border: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --media-outer-border: #FFFFFF; --media-pressed: rgba(68, 73, 80, 0.35); --menu-item-base-margin-horizontal: 8px; --menu-item-base-padding-horizontal: 8px; --messenger-card-background: #FFFFFF; --messenger-reply-background: #F0F2F5; --meta-emphasized-font-family: Placeholder Font; --meta-emphasized-font-size: 0.8125rem; --meta-emphasized-font-weight: 600; --meta-emphasized-line-height: 1.3846; --meta-font-family: Placeholder Font; --meta-font-size: 0.8125rem; --meta-font-weight: 400; --meta-line-height: 1.3846; --nav-bar-background-gradient-wash: linear-gradient(to top, #F0F2F5, rgba(240,242,245.9), rgba(240,242,245,0.7), rgba(240,242,245,0.4), rgba(240,242,245,0)); --nav-bar-background-gradient: linear-gradient(to top, #FFFFFF, rgba(255,255,255.9), rgba(255,255,255,0.7), rgba(255,255,255,0.4), rgba(255,255,255,0)); --nav-bar-background: #FFFFFF; --nav-list-cell-corner-radius: 8px; --nav-list-cell-min-height: 0px; --nav-list-cell-padding-vertical-with-addon: 16px; --nav-list-cell-padding-vertical: 16px; --negative-background: hsl(350, 87%, 55%, 20%); --negative: hsl(350, 87%, 55%); --new-notification-background: #E7F3FF; --non-media-pressed-on-dark: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3); --non-media-pressed: rgba(68, 73, 80, 0.15); --notification-badge: #e41e3f; --overlay-alpha-80: rgba(244, 244, 244, 0.8); --overlay-on-media: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); --page-footer-padding-vertical: 16px; --placeholder-icon: #65676B; --placeholder-image: rgb(164, 167, 171); --placeholder-text-on-media: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); --placeholder-text: #65676B; --popover-background: #FFFFFF; --positive-background: #DEEFE1; --positive: #31A24C; --press-overlay: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --primary-button-background: #1B74E4; --primary-button-icon: #FFFFFF; --primary-button-pressed: #77A7FF; --primary-button-text: #FFFFFF; --primary-deemphasized-button-background: #E7F3FF; --primary-deemphasized-button-pressed-overlay: rgba(25, 110, 255, 0.15); --primary-deemphasized-button-pressed: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); --primary-deemphasized-button-text: #1877F2; --primary-icon: #050505; --primary-label-font-family: Optimistic Display Medium, system-ui, sans-serif; --primary-label-font-size: 1.0625rem; --primary-label-font-weight: 500; --primary-label-line-height: 1.2941; --primary-text-on-media: #FFFFFF; --primary-text: #050505; --primary-web-focus-indicator: #D24294; --progress-ring-blue-background: rgba(24, 119, 242, 0.2); --progress-ring-blue-foreground: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --progress-ring-disabled-background: rgba(190,195,201, 0.2); --progress-ring-disabled-foreground: #BEC3C9; --progress-ring-neutral-background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); --progress-ring-neutral-foreground: #000000; --progress-ring-on-media-background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2); --progress-ring-on-media-foreground: #FFFFFF; --rating-star-active: #EB660D; --scroll-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1), 0 -1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) inset; --scroll-thumb: #BCC0C4; --secondary-button-background-floating: #ffffff; --secondary-button-background-on-dark: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); --secondary-button-background: #E4E6EB; --secondary-button-pressed: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05); --secondary-button-stroke: transparent; --secondary-button-text: #050505; --secondary-icon: #65676B; --secondary-label-font-family: Placeholder Font; --secondary-label-font-size: 0.9375rem; --secondary-label-font-weight: 500; --secondary-label-line-height: 1.3333; --secondary-text-on-media: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); --secondary-text: #65676B; --section-header-addonend-button-padding-horizontal: 0px; --section-header-addonend-button-padding-vertical: 0px; --section-header-addonend-margin-horizontal: 8px; --section-header-addonstart-margin-horizontal: 12px; --section-header-padding-vertical: 16px; --section-header-subtitle-margin-vertical: 14px; --section-header-subtitle-with-addonend-margin-vertical: 6px; --section-header-text: #4B4C4F; --shadow-1: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --shadow-2: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); --shadow-5: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); --shadow-8: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); --shadow-elevated: 0 8px 20px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2), 0 2px 4px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); --shadow-inset: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); --shadow-persistent: 0px 0px 12px rgba(52, 72, 84, 0.05); --shadow-primary: 0px 5px 12px rgba(52, 72, 84, 0.2); --surface-background: #FFFFFF; --switch-active: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --tertiary-label-font-family: Placeholder Font; --tertiary-label-font-size: 0.6875rem; --tertiary-label-font-weight: 500; --tertiary-label-line-height: 1.4545; --text-badge-attention-background: hsl(40, 89%, 52%); --text-badge-corner-radius: 4px; --text-badge-critical-background: #e41e3f; --text-badge-info-background: hsl(214, 89%, 52%); --text-badge-padding-horizontal: 6px; --text-badge-padding-vertical: 6px; --text-badge-success-background: #31A24C; --text-highlight: rgba(24, 119, 242, 0.2); --text-input-caption-margin-top: 10px; --text-input-field-font-family: Placeholder Font; --text-input-field-font-size: 1rem; --text-input-field-font-weight: 500; --text-input-field-line-height: 1.2941; --text-input-label-font-family: Placeholder Font; --text-input-label-font-size-scale-multiplier: 0.75; --text-input-label-font-size: 17px; --text-input-label-font-weight: 400; --text-input-label-line-height: 1.2941; --text-input-label-top: 22px; --text-input-min-height: 64px; --text-input-multi-padding-between-text-scrollbar: 20px; --text-input-multi-padding-scrollbar: 16px; --text-input-outside-label: #000000; --text-input-padding-vertical: 12px; --toast-addon-padding-horizontal: 6px; --toast-addon-padding-vertical: 6px; --toast-background: #FFFFFF; --toast-container-max-width: 100%; --toast-container-min-width: 288px; --toast-container-padding-horizontal: 10px; --toast-container-padding-vertical: 16px; --toast-corner-radius: 8px; --toast-text-link: #216FDB; --toast-text: #1C2B33; --toggle-active-background: #E7F3FF; --toggle-active-icon: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-active-text: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-button-active-background: #E7F3FF; --tooltip-background: rgba(244, 244, 244, 0.8); --tooltip-box-shadow: 0 2px 4px 0 var(--shadow-5); --tooltip-corner-radius: 8px; --typeahead-list-outer-padding-vertical: 2px; --warning: hsl(40, 89%, 52%); --wash: #E4E6EB; --web-wash: #F0F2F5; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; position: static; z-index: auto;"></div></span></div></span></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><div class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xi81zsa x1xlr1w8" role="button" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--secondary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 700; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">Reply</div></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xi81zsa xo1l8bm" href="https://www.facebook.com/SteveC.NYC/posts/pfbid0oJDuQxZaSSPts7LGe8snQQ1TDT4pXkvyYUMmEaKd9WCSbPEU6JVJYRzHxXDT93Mkl?comment_id=661156789203091&reply_comment_id=129721776826934&__cft__[0]=AZUfV1GHwTR2D85W_Crt8T4Sttk1GNrI_o3GKzxt38xmg6igArWtAcIsmLDcMZM_BT-TDRlvaWDRrTpbWvbuiC5z_tCFhjSL6Z7mPduk2RVbopFiiuB1L1vnLz6PUeO1MTg&__tn__=R]-R" role="link" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--secondary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; justify-content: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;">13h</span></a></li></ul></div></div></li><li><div aria-label="Reply by Neil Kaplan to Steve Carter's comment 10 hours ago" class="x1n2onr6 x1iorvi4 x4uap5 x18d9i69 xurb0ha x78zum5 x1q0g3np x1a2a7pz" role="article" style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; font-family: inherit; outline: currentcolor; padding: 4px 0px 0px 8px; position: relative;" tabindex="-1"><div class="xqcrz7y x14yjl9h xudhj91 x18nykt9 xww2gxu x1lliihq x1w0mnb x1n2onr6 x1k70j0n" style="align-self: flex-start; border-radius: 50%; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; margin-right: 6px; margin-top: 6px; position: relative;"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div class="x1r8uery x1iyjqo2 x6ikm8r x10wlt62 x1pi30zi" style="flex-basis: 0px; flex-grow: 1; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden; padding-right: 16px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="xv55zj0 x1vvkbs x1rg5ohu xxymvpz" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 26px); overflow-wrap: break-word; vertical-align: middle;"><div class="x3nfvp2 x1n2onr6 xxymvpz xh8yej3" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 362.162506px;"><div class="xdl72j9 x1iyjqo2 xs83m0k xeuugli xh8yej3" style="flex: 1 1 auto; font-family: inherit; min-width: 0px; width: 362.162506px;"><div class="xmjcpbm x1tlxs6b x1g8br2z x1gn5b1j x230xth x9f619 xzsf02u x1rg5ohu xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x193iq5w x1mzt3pk x1n2onr6 xeaf4i8 x13faqbe" style="border-radius: 18px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--primary-text); display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; position: relative; word-break: break-word;"><div class="x1y1aw1k xn6708d xwib8y2 x1ye3gou" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 8px 12px;"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><span class="x3nfvp2" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x676frb x1nxh6w3 x1sibtaa x1s688f xzsf02u" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2308; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span class="xt0psk2" color="var(--primary-text)" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Commenter A </span><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xzsf02u x1s688f" href="https://www.facebook.com/SteveC.NYC?__cft__[0]=AZUfV1GHwTR2D85W_Crt8T4Sttk1GNrI_o3GKzxt38xmg6igArWtAcIsmLDcMZM_BT-TDRlvaWDRrTpbWvbuiC5z_tCFhjSL6Z7mPduk2RVbopFiiuB1L1vnLz6PUeO1MTg&__tn__=R]-R" role="link" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--primary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">Steve Carter</a></span><a aria-hidden="false" class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz x1heor9g xt0b8zv" href="https://www.facebook.com/neil.kaplan.395?comment_id=Y29tbWVudDoxMDIyMzQ1MDE0ODEzNzAxN18xMDIyMDkzNDAyMjgyOTU3&__cft__[0]=AZUfV1GHwTR2D85W_Crt8T4Sttk1GNrI_o3GKzxt38xmg6igArWtAcIsmLDcMZM_BT-TDRlvaWDRrTpbWvbuiC5z_tCFhjSL6Z7mPduk2RVbopFiiuB1L1vnLz6PUeO1MTg&__tn__=R]-R" role="link" style="font-size: 0.8125rem;" tabindex="0"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;"> </span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;">I forgive you. . . for what I don't know.</span></a></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="x1rg5ohu xxymvpz x17z2i9w" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: middle; width: 22px;"><div aria-hidden="false" class="x1hy63sm xg01cxk xhva3ql" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 11px; opacity: 0;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; 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--toggle-active-icon: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-active-text: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-button-active-background: #E7F3FF; --tooltip-background: rgba(244, 244, 244, 0.8); --tooltip-box-shadow: 0 2px 4px 0 var(--shadow-5); --tooltip-corner-radius: 8px; --typeahead-list-outer-padding-vertical: 2px; --warning: hsl(40, 89%, 52%); --wash: #E4E6EB; --web-wash: #F0F2F5; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; position: static; z-index: auto;"></div></span></div></span></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><div class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xi81zsa x1xlr1w8" role="button" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--secondary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-weight: 700; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">Reply</div></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xi81zsa xo1l8bm" href="https://www.facebook.com/SteveC.NYC/posts/pfbid0oJDuQxZaSSPts7LGe8snQQ1TDT4pXkvyYUMmEaKd9WCSbPEU6JVJYRzHxXDT93Mkl?comment_id=661156789203091&reply_comment_id=1022093402282957&__cft__[0]=AZUfV1GHwTR2D85W_Crt8T4Sttk1GNrI_o3GKzxt38xmg6igArWtAcIsmLDcMZM_BT-TDRlvaWDRrTpbWvbuiC5z_tCFhjSL6Z7mPduk2RVbopFiiuB1L1vnLz6PUeO1MTg&__tn__=R]-R" role="link" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--secondary-text); cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; justify-content: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;">10h</span></a></li></ul></div></div></li><li style="font-size: 12px;"><div aria-label="Reply by Steve Carter to Neil Kaplan's comment 2 hours ago" class="x1n2onr6 x1iorvi4 x4uap5 x18d9i69 xurb0ha x78zum5 x1q0g3np x1a2a7pz" role="article" style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; font-family: inherit; outline: currentcolor; padding: 4px 0px 0px 8px; position: relative;" tabindex="-1"><div class="xqcrz7y x14yjl9h xudhj91 x18nykt9 xww2gxu x1lliihq x1w0mnb x1n2onr6 x1k70j0n" style="align-self: flex-start; border-radius: 50%; font-family: inherit; margin-right: 6px; margin-top: 6px; position: relative;"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div class="x1r8uery x1iyjqo2 x6ikm8r x10wlt62 x1pi30zi" style="flex-basis: 0px; flex-grow: 1; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden; padding-right: 16px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="xv55zj0 x1vvkbs x1rg5ohu xxymvpz" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 26px); overflow-wrap: break-word; vertical-align: middle;"><div class="x3nfvp2 x1n2onr6 xxymvpz xh8yej3" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 456px;"><div class="xdl72j9 x1iyjqo2 xs83m0k xeuugli xh8yej3" style="flex: 1 1 auto; font-family: inherit; min-width: 0px; width: 456px;"><div class="xmjcpbm x1tlxs6b x1g8br2z x1gn5b1j x230xth x9f619 xzsf02u x1rg5ohu xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x193iq5w x1mzt3pk x1n2onr6 xeaf4i8 x13faqbe" style="border-radius: 18px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--primary-text); display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; position: relative; word-break: break-word;"><div class="x1y1aw1k xn6708d xwib8y2 x1ye3gou" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 8px 12px;"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><a aria-hidden="false" class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz x1heor9g xt0b8zv" href="https://www.facebook.com/SteveC.NYC?comment_id=Y29tbWVudDoxMDIyMzQ1MDE0ODEzNzAxN182NTczNzk2NDYzMDQ5MzA%3D&__cft__[0]=AZUfV1GHwTR2D85W_Crt8T4Sttk1GNrI_o3GKzxt38xmg6igArWtAcIsmLDcMZM_BT-TDRlvaWDRrTpbWvbuiC5z_tCFhjSL6Z7mPduk2RVbopFiiuB1L1vnLz6PUeO1MTg&__tn__=R]-R" role="link" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="x3nfvp2" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x676frb x1nxh6w3 x1sibtaa x1s688f xzsf02u" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2308; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;">Steve Carter</span></span></a></span><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="font-family: inherit; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 4px;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x4zkp8e x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" lang="en" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"> it’s not like I was violent or anything. I just never learned how to sustain intimacy that can be available to people who are physically attractive. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">It’s not even as if I wanted more, but actually less. I found it hard to feel equipped, and <a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a>therefore, was frightened, and disinclined to follow through with the challenges of the emotional/economic structures of nuclear family, which is continually viewed as a safe and supportive unit within a rather hardcore and unforgiving society that holds individualism, survival of the fittest, and personal wealth as a basics on a healthy way of living. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Ha! I guess I couldn’t find a position of neutrality in what feels to me like a world of dominance and submission. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">“I would prefer not to.” participate and just want to be alone. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Trained as an individualist I guess I know nothing else. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">There is something really wrong with this place, top to bottom; a world at war with so much thrown into “defense”weaponry down to the individuals swallowing prescription and off-the-shelf remedies for depression. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s" style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">It’s confusing and scary. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">“All you need is love!”- </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">So said some stoned kids after obtaining a mind boggling amount of wealth and power. And that notion is distributed by massive media and somehow taken as the gospel truth.</div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="x1rg5ohu xxymvpz x17z2i9w" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle; width: 22px;"><div aria-hidden="false" class="x1hy63sm x1hc1fzr xhva3ql" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 11px; opacity: 1;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="align-content: inherit; align-items: inherit; align-self: inherit; display: inherit; flex-direction: inherit; flex: inherit; font-family: inherit; height: inherit; justify-content: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;"></span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aDibkFltGPh2ZpsaLwP7IarvuOjXzJdREYLCzIUN158_M6GdVbkd-BPhc_WtZrTYq9rnpBGgyJ5cqBCUnGDx9UKU6Vwcpq8z8b-4hK61uzHGobtoVpbjbIjPiYxbfMX4UwbR2744z45mAq7q-I_LDXelAEgJEiCU6slHxU4xRB3MEw0tSycjUG3cCbXu/s960/358651816_10223450142016864_4415111860072172188_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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--toggle-active-icon: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-active-text: rgb(24, 119, 242); --toggle-button-active-background: #E7F3FF; --tooltip-background: rgba(244, 244, 244, 0.8); --tooltip-box-shadow: 0 2px 4px 0 var(--shadow-5); --tooltip-corner-radius: 8px; --typeahead-list-outer-padding-vertical: 2px; --warning: hsl(40, 89%, 52%); --wash: #E4E6EB; --web-wash: #F0F2F5; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; position: static; z-index: auto;"></div></span></div></span></li><li class="x1rg5ohu x1emribx x1i64zmx" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;"></li></ul></div></div></li></ul></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-59173542955469672232023-03-31T06:57:00.002-07:002023-03-31T06:57:45.385-07:00B Traven<p> New video about how much I love his work:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bnY1O8H11Bs" width="320" youtube-src-id="bnY1O8H11Bs"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-38842021484869004762023-02-06T03:56:00.001-08:002023-02-06T03:56:24.781-08:00Nightcrawling vlog<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S9XMn6SVpDk" width="320" youtube-src-id="S9XMn6SVpDk"></iframe></div><br /> <p></p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-40019076267391497962023-01-30T04:46:00.001-08:002023-01-30T04:46:07.842-08:00The Acrobat: Foregone Books review<p> https://youtu.be/y3sRXzGPJjg</p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-33033927842611325352023-01-16T05:04:00.001-08:002023-01-16T05:04:28.060-08:00The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0ec05f66-7fff-0c1d-213c-c8f6aabb9dbe"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a science fiction novel about our inner space, the fantastic and unknowable parts of our existence here on earth. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is not a spoiler to say that it is about octopus intelligence. It is a science fiction speculation based on things people have observed about the behavior of octopuses.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But there is so much more going on in this novel.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It is set sometime in the future. It doesn’t feel like a remote future, it could be 50 years from now. Ray Naylar doesn’t so much create a type of 360 complete world in this dystopian future, his is more of a chamber novel with few locations and characters, and about half of the characters are AI machines. But this does not diminish the scope of the book. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a palpable feeling of loneliness in the tone of the novel. This loneliness is amplified by the vast forces of power that the human characters must deal with. The scientists in the book are shown to have lonely childhoods. The main character, Ha, was frustrated by a love object that treated her coldly when she was a girl. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is an AI humanoid, it has passed the Turing Test, but is also lonely and exiled being the only one and presumed dangerous. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a sort of remote viewer specialist, who can hack into AI minds without technological tools, just his brain. He is on a lonely mission in a type of work in which one must be suspicious of all others. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The loneliest sections involve a young man who went from the provinces to the big city, complete with the bulk of his parents savings in money and hope only to be captured and enslaved. This part of the story evoked the Death Ship is B Traven fine novel about forced labor of a ship. These parts don’t not top Traven’s horror voyage but in this novel the ship is on automatic. It is run by an AI brain that is encased in an impenetrable ship wheelhouse room. The only humans are the slave workers and the armed guards to keep them in line. The ship goes where it feels it will be able to pull more “protein” out of the depleted seas that it continues to roam. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The seas have been mostly depleted when we enter this world, and giant corporations with their AI technology are in control of the world. Most of the story takes place on an island in the Pacific that one of the corporations has set aside as a protected area of sea life, free from factory farming or the AI ships.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lonely characters need connection and this is a novel about communication. It considers communication beyond talking and gestures of the moment. It looks at stored communications, like this text, that can carry knowledge or just data into future generations. It looks into how these communications can create a culture, as the humans have done with all the books, movies, machines, wars, variations in social structures that arise when communication can be recorded out of the moments of our lives and turned into systems of collective empowerment.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The question remains: what are all those other creatures doing? </span></span><div><span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VDHxrMvNiM8" width="320" youtube-src-id="VDHxrMvNiM8"></iframe></div><br /> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-79178208028144677382023-01-10T14:31:00.011-08:002023-01-10T14:34:54.607-08:00Foregone Books<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> I did a video about the Russell Banks novels I have read.<p></p><p>He died on Jan 7, 2023</p><p><br /></p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4CcNY-5y2IE" width="320" youtube-src-id="4CcNY-5y2IE"></iframe></p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-85562300657249567012022-12-28T04:20:00.017-08:002022-12-28T10:34:58.264-08:00The Coldest Warmest Night (Fiction)<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The beautiful old apartment had windows on the east and west side of the room. This is an unusual feature for the city. To the cat sitter this was an enviable breezy luxury escape from the hot close humidity of Manhattan summers, but on this, coldest windiest night of the year, it wasn’t the greatest. The wind seemed to pass right through the windows. Nothing stops the wind. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-62f289d1-7fff-e402-f950-975846877846"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cat sitter looked for any available spare blankets as the wind howled outside. He put on his microfiber long underwear, his knit hat, his socks, till finally, with piles of double bed sized blankets folded two layers for his single sleeping, he drifted to dreamland.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She is getting into bed with him, she really is, she was here. She came for the warmth. He needed warmth. She needed warmth. His warm heart welcomed her. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(The same heart that had hardened itself when he had thought he needed to walk away, save her from the aging depleted self he had become. He couldn’t save his 19 year old mother from himself, but make up for it here.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It pained her to be saved. He couldn’t communicate these things to her. It was his worst mistake, a deeply regretful one after she had shown him what it feels like to have a lonely broken heart by cutting off all communication, freezing him out from his only real human contact. No she wouldn’t still be “friends”. It was a lesson he needed. It felt like a final, most important lesson that showed him what he was to women and what he had done to so many before her.) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But now here she was. Open again, forgiving, willing to share their warmth. The freeze in the world more unbearable than that of their fears. This was the real, living creature reality. The need more powerful than the abstract self hating cold fear of his ultimate impoverished death that he had let drive him to separate. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She enters the bed to the warmth of the moment and that is all that is necessary. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is all they need. No performance toward physical ecstasy, or possession, is necessary or welcome. Touch, tenderness, and warmth is all that is. All that is ever really wanted, all that is really needed, all that is beyond the fear and the culturally confining notions of what a man and a woman are, ought to be, or want. Nothing that had separated them is there, and never is it to return. There is no time for it to return. There is no time. They are one. He doesn’t understand, but at the same time, completely understands, and knows why she is here.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He woke as usual alone, the blankets were too warm and sliding off the side of the bed. The old man used the bathroom as he did it more than once each night he returned to the bed cuddling within himself. It wasn’t sad.</span></p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She is here in his forever, warm within him. Somehow he knew she knows miles away, connected. He was not a man to keep anything other than to keep moving. He hardly wanted to keep any memories. He would hold this dream of the dream that she was as long as he could. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He wanted o more human touch in his life. They had shown one another that touch only really causes mutual pain. He has turned away from all the complications of making dreams of connection a wholesome reality in a world that has imploded. His final movements, attempts do escape that black hole. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The memory of soft skin, this dream reality is all he would ever dare to want again. </span></span><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.666667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.666667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">------</span></span><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-c5165acc-7fff-327f-7e90-57979ae5689f"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Hearts shaped like valentines aren't at all the fashion. What is more in demand are hearts with a bit of iron and a twist to the iron at that. A streamlined heart, say, with a claw like a hammer's claw, better used for ripping than for tapping at old repairs that's what's needed to get by these days. It's the new style in hearts. The non-corrugated kind don't wear well any longer."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nelson Algren from his 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm</span></p></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.666667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjoXAJTCBl5tYUzS2ptokt7fKq--mCaIHJqFbOUle08FEh1VLpuf6SvHkzK5GYXWZHZP3yNM_e1XN938R9RekXxSDssGV1Q94bZ1sTj6-YfcOzWcCnRaJgcNc2rqsicNMj2X_1xgnKR_gDlZrcHAFZmEhH43w14PQJSC0rQvife73T_s3DpZ0O1o6zMw/s3842/IMG_0514.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2784" data-original-width="3842" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjoXAJTCBl5tYUzS2ptokt7fKq--mCaIHJqFbOUle08FEh1VLpuf6SvHkzK5GYXWZHZP3yNM_e1XN938R9RekXxSDssGV1Q94bZ1sTj6-YfcOzWcCnRaJgcNc2rqsicNMj2X_1xgnKR_gDlZrcHAFZmEhH43w14PQJSC0rQvife73T_s3DpZ0O1o6zMw/s320/IMG_0514.heic" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 14.666667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><div><span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-10973187236286439192022-12-23T14:46:00.001-08:002022-12-23T14:46:26.902-08:00The Magic Kingdom by Russell Banks<p> <span style="caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">The new Russell Banks novel is an epic history of our times. Our times move fast. So an epic novel need not cover a multi-generational timeline of slow change.</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"> </span></p><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">In The Magic Kingdom the sweeping change of times and physical landscape is shown in the environment of a single lifetime of one man. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">The character and first person narrator of the story is Harley Mann, an 82 years old resident of St. Cloud Florida. He was born in 1890. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">The set up of the novel is that in 1972 he recorded, on reel to reel tapes, the story of the first 20 or so years of his life. It is a very unusual story and life. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">He is the child of a family who lived in the Ruskin Colony in Tennessee and later in Waycross Georgia. These were designed to be utopian examples of how we could live in a more cooperative socialist structure. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">After the death of his father, child Harley moves with his mother, his twin brother, his other set of twin brothers, and baby sister to a dismal sort of plantation that is more or less a prison including overseers with bullwhips. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">It’s the system of indentured slavery where one can never work off the debt owed to the master of the place, a strange little rich man who lives in a mansion on the grounds. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">This family is rescued by a man who is the head of a Shaker community in the Florida Everglades. Elder John buys off the family debt and takes them to the New Bethany colony when Harley is around 11 and the story moves on from there. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">Early on in the novel Banks shows us a part of the history of the USA which is little known and actually not the kind of thing that our mainstream goes out of it way to show us, being more inclined to celebrate capitalism over socialist cooperative systems as if capitalism and the business community is really the only American Way. The bulk of the story takes place in New Betheny and the nearby city of St Cloud. Although a mere 110 or so years ago the area was almost pioneer territory for these white oddball utopian Christian characters, the seminole people having been killed off or otherwise removed not that long before. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">Harley and family, coming from the Ruskin experience, are secular whereas the Shakers are very religious, although both the secular and neo-Christians want to live in a cooperative economic system. This is another instructive aspect of this fine novel. The reader gets a certain amount of information about what the Shakers were all about. We learn that the Shakers believed in Christ but also a woman who was an 18th Century founder of the sect and brought them from England to New York State. She established the Shaker celibacy. Though long dead she, Mother Ann Lee, is worshiped along with Christ. In The Magic Kingdom the Shakers colony can only survive via recruitment, being unable to reproduce new Shakers via bringing their own children into the religion. Although not clearly stated, that is the reason that Elder John rescued Harley and family from the plantation. These five children learn to become Shakers. They are free to accept the doctrine when they come of age, confess to the elder or woman elder. and then be Shakers and continue the colony. Or go elsewhere, live in The World. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">The Shakers reject profit from usury. But people are surrounded by economic challenges which can make their Biblical moral foundations sometimes on ground with sinkholes. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">The emotional heart of the story is an odd love that Harley finds and comes to cherish. The Magic Kingdom is a love story. A story of what humans will do for love, be it something justifiable or not, as a young man follows his heart. </span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">The core of the novel is this love and shame in a restrictive community. It is not at all a didactic slog about religious and cooperative communities.</span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">It’s an involving page turner, a gripping story of a young man’s love.</span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">All in the land of the corporate Magic Kingdom of Disney World only a few decades later.</span><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><br style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;" /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;">Russell Banks remains one of our greatest novelist.</span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZlWDZI9mxZ-TL_Lc3k92FpHfPbbDsGiiczsne1GIzQWeka5BlCHC8eN8gj9iV_a57Jq1gahz5lTzMjQPiu-0ij5QJWTwvQoVQQYDGqdachjmQwe5oTPJPEY48CckrLLIEsDeTvbJnHR7Z9RuzdKnH6QpekaKoGy1_n-UU1HfS0UF1m3vbard2MhlDg/s3276/IMG_0405.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3276" data-original-width="2219" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKZlWDZI9mxZ-TL_Lc3k92FpHfPbbDsGiiczsne1GIzQWeka5BlCHC8eN8gj9iV_a57Jq1gahz5lTzMjQPiu-0ij5QJWTwvQoVQQYDGqdachjmQwe5oTPJPEY48CckrLLIEsDeTvbJnHR7Z9RuzdKnH6QpekaKoGy1_n-UU1HfS0UF1m3vbard2MhlDg/s320/IMG_0405.heic" width="217" /></a></div><br /><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); color: #404040; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></div>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-17126449106345308662022-12-06T05:26:00.003-08:002022-12-06T05:26:48.473-08:00Groupies by Sarah Priscus <p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are we all groupies one way or another?</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b713bb9f-7fff-4b96-8ab2-037e6c5704ce"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With Groupies, Sarah Priscus has produced a fine first novel with an engaging story and a handful of believably human characters.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It is a period piece set in the late 1970s mostly in Los Angeles. This is the world of young women orbiting around the male power center of a famous, very successful, rock band. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How successful? There is a scene in which the band, Holiday Sun, flies to NYC to appear on a TV show modeled after Saturday Night Live, so THAT successful and high profile. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The story is told in first person by Faun, a young woman from Massachusetts who has just arrived in LA to live with a childhood friend. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This old friend has been out there for a while and has become the girlfriend of the lead guy in Holiday Sun, a British musician Cal. Faun is a photographer who shoots polaroid instant image film. She intends to use the association with the band to help launch herself into a successful photography career. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Given the time/place setting in high profile showbiz the novel could attract readers interested in the music business and this LA period in particular. In that way, it could find readers who look at the story closely, search for clues, and speculate on historic models of the characters and band. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps the novel is better viewed in the wide angle of American culture beyond the music biz; seeing it as a story of people attracted to power and attempting to get something for themselves from it. This gives the whole story and greater meaning and a significance beyond a rock or showbiz novel.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much of the dynamics of the theme could be shifted to a story about cults or political power. In the story the rock dudes find themselves in power. That offers them via female fans. In this way the novel looks into the world of male stars who feel entitled to “grab them by the pussy”. Priscus tells us that the women, the groupies are primarily there for a type of supportive loyalty that can be assumed and relied upon by the power males. They pump the boys up.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The men/boys are at core needy, insecure in their precarious power positions. They need the backup of these attractive young women. The women are expected to be “true fans”, sincere and loyal. They need them in a way similar to a Keith Raniere, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, or back to the LA music scene, Phil Specter, who was so needy he would repeatedly, for decades, put a pistol to the heads of women who wanted to leave to make them stay with the ultimate result of that. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a way it is a crime fiction novel. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who is the perp? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">USA cultural and political life as we have it and must deal with it. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The time setting of 45 years ago is not more innocent, merely less equipped. The technology of social media and continuing media business consolidation/centralization with algorithmic personalized diffraction and separation, empowers marketing, powermen and corporations. The boys in the band are not all that bright and don’t have the power of certain tools of control. No one in the novel is super villain sinister and about to build a multl-level marketing system of branded sex slaves, but at core is all sadly the same. None of this takes anything away from this interesting and entertaining novel and story. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is this a hero's journey type of tale? It’s better than that. Maybe a more realistic anti-hero novel. The groupies provide support for the band but every one of them has their own angle, their own wish for transcendence and immortality by their sucking up to glory. If they do THIS, they can maneuver themselves to THAT. The novel provides a clear view of a culture gone wild with need, greed, and lust for some kind of meaningful life within the atmospheric chaos of the marketplace. . </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Are we all groupies one way or another?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Page 348</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It was a study in groupiedom. In pain. In joy. In good. In evil.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In life.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajvdIE5pwAGlWripyWBrhajlzBsodpTZtlPwSorAq38eNpDIpRG3qyxByYwFO-sIo2yD8Ty6ojYy9Lo0Rm5ZLiSflgimrq3tWM0a3w_occdeXGxBww5yEZ939sEeRLo9uv0Af9Vx91QF3Dp0GobWP0ZPoB-oroRDrLvM0qSDa050OoqayZaVwI3Fetg/s3504/IMG_0387.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2478" data-original-width="3504" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajvdIE5pwAGlWripyWBrhajlzBsodpTZtlPwSorAq38eNpDIpRG3qyxByYwFO-sIo2yD8Ty6ojYy9Lo0Rm5ZLiSflgimrq3tWM0a3w_occdeXGxBww5yEZ939sEeRLo9uv0Af9Vx91QF3Dp0GobWP0ZPoB-oroRDrLvM0qSDa050OoqayZaVwI3Fetg/s320/IMG_0387.heic" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-86113590762789011532022-11-24T04:46:00.002-08:002022-11-24T04:46:48.660-08:00The Acrobat by Edward J. Delaney<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Acrobat by Edward J. Delaney</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b630b685-7fff-b3aa-9f91-246621ca2d64"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a fictional biography of a fictional person. It includes the contemplations of the real person who transformed into a celebrity and what he makes of the happenstance of this bizarre international movie stardom. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The real person fictionalized here is Archibald Leach, the son of, not even a tailor, but a pressor born and raised in Bristol, England. The fictional person fictionalized is Cary Grant. The novel deftly time travels through the early years of the acrobatic vaudevillian, gently bouncing us to the mind of the 50 to 60 year old star as he looks back at what was that all about while deciding what to do next. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Acrobat, published in late 2022, is also timely in that it explores the LSD psychological therapy he undertook. There is a 21st Century resurgence into the idea of using psychedelics as a powerful tool for personal growth and renewed understanding of oneself. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The novel fits in with the work of popular best selling author Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind about his late in life explorations of various psychedelics. A follow up book This is Your Mind on Plants expands that study. How to Change Your Mind has been adapted into a four part Netflix documentary series which is bound to reach far more people than the diminishing number of book readers in the moving image age. The series serves as almost a commercial for psychedelics in that it is a far more positive view of this stuff than mainstream commercial entertainment did the first time around when it ping ponged from ridiculous and ineffective propaganda such as Art Linkletter’s unfortunate daughter, this is your mind egg in a frying pan PSA TV ads. All this after an extremely confusing introduction of the substances via hit new music, Are Your Experienced, rock star Beatles, and Leary evangelical promotion. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Another art LSD project played NYC last year. This one oddly enough was a Broadway musical Flying Over Sunset (</span><a href="https://youtu.be/x6N6wWDLvlw" style="text-decoration: none;"><span data-rich-links="{"fple-t":"FLYING OVER SUNSET - Montage","fple-u":"https://youtu.be/x6N6wWDLvlw","fple-mt":null,"type":"first-party-link"}" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FLYING OVER SUNSET - Montage</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). This musical is by James Lapine, a hit show maker with Stephen Sondhiem in the past and played at Lincoln Center. It is about the psychedelic explorations of Aldous Huxley, Clare Boothe Luce, and Cary Grant. (This writer has not seen or read this show's book.) </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This reader tries to stay clear of celebrity, movie, rock star biographies. The notion being that after the early wannabe years in which bio info of stars might be practical and instructional, there is little point at gazing up at the kings and queens of our culture. Their lives are so extreme and odd they provide little useful info to the common person. We are all complicated and human, it is really more interesting what the simple complicated folk do to get by than the rags to riches freaks among us. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So why read The Acrobat? This reader was interested in the popularization of LSD, the new interest in it and how it was going to be shown in the novel. It was not new information that Cary Grant was an advocate and participant in LSD therapy. This reader in fact asked the star about this in a Q&A segment of a traveling live show Grant did 38 years ago at Proctor’s Theater in </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schenectady,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> NY in 1984. The question was about LSD and he didn’t back off in the slightest. The battle shaming him over this was almost 25 years in the past. He said it was a significant experience for him. </span><a href="https://www.carygrant.net/articles/schenectady.htm" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.carygrant.net/articles/schenectady.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cary Grant oddly enough was one of the first high profile personalities to talk publicly about LSD therapy and how he felt it benefitted his life. There was Huxley of course but not a movie star and not the biggest of movie stars at the top of the heap like Cary Grant. In this novel it involves a situation of mentioning it off hand and off the record to a showbiz reporter, but Grant thought this could harm the business of two movies he had in the can: Operation Petticoat and North By Northwest. So he denied ever having spoken to the reporter which couldn’t work out for him since the reporter had recorded an audio tape and also had photos. The reporter sued the star for defamation and they settled in a way that involved a wider distribution of the LSD story. Ultimately it was not a problem and had no effect on his career. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grant was introduced to the therapy through one of his marriages, to Betsy Drake. They had met on her very first movie Every Girl Should Get Married. So naturally he married his co-star who should get married and did. They were married from 1948 until 1962, his longest marriage and her one. Betsy Drake never remarried and eventually got a Masters of Education from Harvard and became a child therapist while having no children herself. With the two of them hings had gone bad when he had an affair with Sophia Loren while they were making a movie together and wanted to go off with her except she then married Carlo Ponti. So Drake went to Dr Mortimer Hartman as part of dealing with the upset in their marriage and suggested that Cary do as well. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The novel handles the LSD experience quite well. This is done by staying away from dealing with it directly. The chapters tend to begin with an italicized page of two of dream like scenes, These could be interpreted as compilations during the blindfolded LSD sessions, but Delaney doesn’t tell us directly that it is a function of the LSD. This is the safe route. LSD, psychedelic experience is not easily or at all explainable through text and speech, and it’s the type of thing that one cannot assume is like alcohol or some other drug or cannabis. From reading the novel it is impossible to tell if the author himself is experienced and that is just fine. The focus of the novel is the turning point of an aging man in a very odd position in life that he doesn’t entirely understand since his life had become the role of Cary Grant. This gives the novel the appeal of a story that the average reader can get something from. Aren’t we all in masks, playing a type of role that is us but also oddly not? The novel is good in that it focuses on the point of the therapy, not the tools used in exploration or the razmataz special effects that the tool is famous for.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This fine, entertaining, short novel (267 pages) is packed with info on the early years of Archibald Leach through to the early 60s when he is pushing 60 himself and then stops. If the reader is already aware of the biography of this man, they might still get an interesting take on the star from Delaney’s point of view. Others will get an adequate amount of bio information to suffice and a good story about the inner workings of an aging and somewhat alienated man. It also shows how a difficult situation of a boy child and his mother, a confusing separation, can cause the man to perhaps have a hard time staying and trusting a long term relationship with a woman, a marriage or facsimile. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recommended </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book was a New York Public Library brand new paperback. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Free ride. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HJh1VaSRvYTY4knwP10Aw9GEW5ql54cC3JSMYXGImY5QkSi3xK6C83oCxKnXHrgLPRKB1gRidiq3M0Lp6dP0ddGUAEGfFciw8vF23mSzG9UOuV9OzOwzvPWNYoDxICpLnf0jA56JUnqgK-VbzOeysH0Is9BrTfLWAE2MtymWw02bTbCVzr59AmnQQA/s2147/IMG_0246.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2030" data-original-width="2147" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HJh1VaSRvYTY4knwP10Aw9GEW5ql54cC3JSMYXGImY5QkSi3xK6C83oCxKnXHrgLPRKB1gRidiq3M0Lp6dP0ddGUAEGfFciw8vF23mSzG9UOuV9OzOwzvPWNYoDxICpLnf0jA56JUnqgK-VbzOeysH0Is9BrTfLWAE2MtymWw02bTbCVzr59AmnQQA/s320/IMG_0246.heic" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></span>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-79976563238231465012022-07-22T08:10:00.000-07:002022-07-22T08:10:01.500-07:00Dead, insane, or in Jail by Zack Bonnie<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a story of someone on the powerless side of family conflict. Nothing particularly rare just another one of the common products of our social system, the “Troubled Youth”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They go with the “Concerned Parents”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is Zack Bonnie’s memoir of his time in the family role of “Troubled Youth” even if he didn’t feel like he fit the role at the time and wondered why he was being sent to a horrible concentration camp out in the middle of nowhere. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zack is a child of so-called “privilege”, There can be countless benefits to a youth from parents with money, but Zack is on the receiving end of the horror ignorant and distracted wealth can hire in an attempt to correct relationship and discipline problems in children. The acknowledged experts of a given era may not be as enlightened as they are perceived to be. These things seem to flow with the fashion of the times and 14 year old Zack finds himself in the late 1980s before light was shed on some of these businesses.</span></p><p><b id="docs-internal-guid-77817107-7fff-369c-0775-c9dfbce79322" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zack gets shipped off to deep rural Idaho to a correctional boarding school experience. Much of the treatment there involves abusive language and group therapy or more like regurgitations of traumatic situations in the past that are said to have brought the child there. The methods are an evolution of the Synamon program and launched by one of Synanon’s graduates. </span></p><p><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much of the early and middle part of the book involves scenes from these hardcore, kind of like, Basic Training, marathon group sessions. This makes for an unpleasant time for the reader with pages of bickering and abuse from leaders that is intended to break down the youth who will be rebuilt via hard work and proper thinking, or something like that. Be that as it was, it filled me with doubt that Zack Bonnie could actually deliver a readable story version of his life rather than a therapeutic purging.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe the writer should be considered courageous for daring to present us with a reading experience that evokes the tedium, boredom, and the “get me out of here” claustrophobia of the remembrance. </span></p><p><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are other books that continue the story. I think I have all I need for now since it is not a pleasant place to be and the resolution seems to be books ahead.. </span></p><p><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can hear Zack Bonnie tell part of his story on the <a href=" https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/indoctrination/id1373939526?i=1000568110527" target="_blank">IndoctriNation podcast</a>. </span></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2xyyaToM0RAfbiF6oieFElJNtb23hwN1EtRO5gQ4ElWFcuqdcXzRhRufcla_SJpkuIqd4ZibzM2l1xNxDuGk4LzZxFWd-GTjzJ-SrTzphTlxVu8fkrMPwMSc9wEs_uu0oQ4tONLGxZGjuAWzpTYx2g2ILXliMoCyhhrwrlf6ihvdmbJYMRjpZLMHtA/s1540/5ece5ca4-e3d7-4997-a135-4e66a0fbacd3_1125x1540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1540" data-original-width="1125" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2xyyaToM0RAfbiF6oieFElJNtb23hwN1EtRO5gQ4ElWFcuqdcXzRhRufcla_SJpkuIqd4ZibzM2l1xNxDuGk4LzZxFWd-GTjzJ-SrTzphTlxVu8fkrMPwMSc9wEs_uu0oQ4tONLGxZGjuAWzpTYx2g2ILXliMoCyhhrwrlf6ihvdmbJYMRjpZLMHtA/s320/5ece5ca4-e3d7-4997-a135-4e66a0fbacd3_1125x1540.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-43855950525832161582022-07-10T15:40:00.002-07:002022-07-10T15:40:42.147-07:00Glass People by Gail Godwin<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I’m alway reading a book. It’s a bit of a habit. I’m not about to claim that it is some lofty habit or more wholesome than others, but to me it is a form of entertainment that is generally, almost always, a deeper consumption experience than some others, such as moving pictures. Due to this habit, a certain feeling of immediacy comes over me when I finish a book and I want another ASAP. Some things I plan to read, others are picked up as they come my way.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5b22d7d2-7fff-731e-2854-00c6b386249a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Last week I was on the way to work and had time for a book exchange at the big new public library of 42nd St and 5th Ave. Sometimes I know what I want and where it is. This time I just grabbed Glass People on the shelf. The thoughts into this>browse fiction>want to read something by a woman (I like to mix it up)>Hmmm?!?Gail Godwin>heard name, never read>this one is paperback>thin 200 pages>I’ll just read this.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Glass People was published in 1972, 50 years ago. With focus on the woman partner, It tells the story of the early days of a marriage. Francesca is a pampered beautiful young wife of an ambitious city prosecutor who is running for state attorney general. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">About a third of the way in Godwin delivers this little character study of the husband:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “He sat eating his breakfast, sipping the freshly ground</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">coffee, wiping his lips with a napkin, thinking. He was not</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a villain, no. Unless your definition of a villain was that of</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a person who spent his whole life being disappointed in</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">people. Whose fault was it if people entered his life disguised </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as more than they were and, once inside, flung of</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">their masks with relief and revealed their paltry selves?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They then blamed him for not approving of them any</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">more. They called him "inhuman, "unable to love, "'sadis-</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tic. By human they usually meant mixed up, a mess of</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">unthought-out reactions. By love they usually meant need</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or fear. And his sadism was simply a matter of letting</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">them stew in their own juice while he looked on, arms</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">folded over his chest, a curious wonderment in his eyes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that they could not see, could not really see, that they</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">had jumped into their dreary mess all by themselves.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Your standards are too rigid, Cameron, acquaintances</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">had said to him for years.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> But I don't ask anything of anyone that I wouldn't ask</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of myself twice over, he would reply, meaning it. He knew</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he had more will, more energy, more patience to wait for</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">what he wanted, more intelligence than most people.”</span></p><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Apparently the husband is not troubled with doubt and its companion self consciousness. He is kept remote and mysterious in the story. There is the above which gives the most insight, beyond that we only see him through his actions and how they affect Francesca. He is presented as one who is unruffled by his wife’s ennui in the new marriage. He is entitled to propose a cure. He suggests that she travel across the country to see her mother.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This happens and she is off to see mom who is with a new man, her third and gone, sort of, back to the land under his influence.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> On the way home she meets a man who influences her more. Now that I’m writing about it it becomes clear that the book has this gender power dynamic going on. She is influenced by her powerful husband, her mom has changed because of this new man and Francesca is following the notions of the man she met who represents himself as a helper, when he might just be placing her where she is accessible to him. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This novel is very 1972. The novel is influenced by what has been called Second Wave Feminism, roughly the 1960- 70. It is not at all preachy or agitprop. It is questioning the patriarchy by showing it to us in the story. The characters are all trapped in it. Francesca is on a journey to remedy her discontent with her life. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a resolution, but since she is still very young, the reader can imagine a future when she will be fed up enough to get out into SOMETHING ELSE. She was just not ready yet, she doesn’t have to change. And besides, the 1972 culture might not be ready yet either. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Oddly there is a familiarity about this novel. It is somewhat like Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell.That is also a story of rebellion from an unpleasant situation with little control. In that the main character wants to be free of his work, to be a poet and live for art. He leaves his job writing advertisement copy to do this but soon finds himself in another form of misery; a life of poverty. His life spins out with worry and scarcity. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Both these novels are too realistic to give us that fantasy happy breaking away of a newly autonomous contented individual. They both end in the same fashion. The stakes were not high enough for either of these protagonists to follow though. They are middle class people accustomed to the shelter of that bubble. It's easier to go back to what was known, available, and good enough in its way. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Glass People is a successful novel in that it artfully shows a true moment. I like books like this. There are too many heroic or anti-heroic stories, melodramas, influencing us. This is down to earth, low key, and real. </span></span><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkrjIAjods4BmXUT0RGFmtmgzqyZxlCrHq4fctXP3BZXNRqVW8OvfRVjrvAay-z65ynPQeuXvxXdNM5R-cFrCDkZQGwIqG2MS4QiUuIDEJahzEk0C0RTZ23qfDn5ZOfUoTe35C9Pm5Gr9S6BCAdCR8bXdJIWxkZNhGmxM9aeKbvtrKfkoZsdxUWv-FA/s2457/unnamed-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2457" data-original-width="2404" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkrjIAjods4BmXUT0RGFmtmgzqyZxlCrHq4fctXP3BZXNRqVW8OvfRVjrvAay-z65ynPQeuXvxXdNM5R-cFrCDkZQGwIqG2MS4QiUuIDEJahzEk0C0RTZ23qfDn5ZOfUoTe35C9Pm5Gr9S6BCAdCR8bXdJIWxkZNhGmxM9aeKbvtrKfkoZsdxUWv-FA/s320/unnamed-2.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-15812983911375297342022-06-29T11:17:00.003-07:002022-06-29T11:45:54.091-07:00Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a crime genre novel that is also an entertaining satire of a Donald Trump type in the inexplicable role of president of the USA.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carl Hiassen, born and raised in South Florida, sets the story in Palm Beach and fills it with ridiculously frivolous older-rich-women, Trump fans. They have named themselves in reference to the “pussy grab” line from tape that was released while he was running the first time. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is also a mirror image of the Trump Palm Beach place, Mal y Loco, or whatever it is called in real life. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rich in plot and events, the book is quite up to the minute on trends in the media. There is an LSD microdosing element to the story that goes to a surprising and comic dosing. You have to read it to find out who was dosed. (No, not HIM.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squeeze Me refers to pythons, invasive creatures not native to Florida. They are sold as pets and kept until unmanageably large which gets them dumped into the Everglades to thrive or die. In the story, some grow to 25 feet in length. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cast of characters, along with the Trumpish cartoon, include, local cops, Secret Service agents (not above getting close to their work), a swamp hermit, and a freelance animal control woman, who is one of the main players in the dramcom. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had a good time with this one. </span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-dd1cae10-7fff-8940-4bbf-65f401f6c565"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7e-ZuVh-K8AhHsDUIFKT-a4hvCYvZ5auYYxUbVjWYVCo1pjn3P-9d8vIWGuvI3gbq2UP5O_o2g8ctjsliltn4-wSmknWAlN_lum-esDaTC_xhS4lZcJbzEKgr-02Mg3ecTUGjtGSeaLQpw4yz_RVXSpsGc04bFvFB7WLB9n74dbqvcfESdQl9OQdPw/s450/9781524733452.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7e-ZuVh-K8AhHsDUIFKT-a4hvCYvZ5auYYxUbVjWYVCo1pjn3P-9d8vIWGuvI3gbq2UP5O_o2g8ctjsliltn4-wSmknWAlN_lum-esDaTC_xhS4lZcJbzEKgr-02Mg3ecTUGjtGSeaLQpw4yz_RVXSpsGc04bFvFB7WLB9n74dbqvcfESdQl9OQdPw/s320/9781524733452.jpeg" width="219" /></a></div><br />Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-8593367020592730532022-05-24T14:10:00.001-07:002022-05-24T14:10:23.740-07:00The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cinema fans will know this property as the second feature Orson Welles shot at RKO. Then the studio tested the movie in a preview somewhere and decided to rework the ending and trash what Welles shot. Did they really not think it worked or was that part of the "comeuppance" that the old guard had in waiting for golden boy Welles? What remains certainly is worth watching, it's really good in fact, but likely would have been better and a bit edgier. Actually they have been hunting around in Brazil or somewhere in South America for the lost footage. The idea being that Welles was sent to South America on a wartime goodwill mission at the same time that RKO was trashing his footage and he might have had a print with him down there (or some such, I haven't really been following this recovery search story).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not about the movie but the novel. The novel is quite good. I gave it 5 stars on my Goodreads. Published in 1918 it has some kinship to other novelists on the period, Theodore Dreiser (From Indiana, like Tarkington, but working class immigrant stock), Frank Norris and some others, sweeping realistic work that emerged from the social and political changes of the new century. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the second novel in Tarkington's Growth Series, which chronicled some of the enormous changes that hit the USA with technological development and the rise of factories and industrial work. It deals with the life of a rich pampered child George Anderson Minafer. In fact the earliest movie version of the novel was called Pampered Youth (1925) of which only an excerpt survives. (One can watch this on youtube presently. May 2022. Typical Hollywood product that changes many things, little things like names, then they add a horserace and a big fire, cinema action, that takes us to the happy ending absolutely different from the events in the book.) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have seen the movie you know what the plot basically is. This brat George is the town rich kid and people are waiting for him to get his "comeuppance". His bratty attachment to his mother ends up disabling him, throwing himself, his mother, and Lucy Morgan and her father Eugene into lives of longing and lovelessness. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The novel spends a good deal of time looking at these rapid changes to the fictional "Midland" city. It shows how the car culture made the old town sprawl out from the suddenly old city center into the burbs. It explains how the impulse to get out was propelled by industrial pollution from the new factories and all the coal fired furnaces in town, industrial and domestic. He talks about the soot covering everything so that people painted their sooty dirty white houses some darker color so as not to show the dirt. I remember when I was a child in the mid 1950s in Ohio. We lived for a time with my great grandmother who had a coal fired furnace in the basement. There was a very small ground level door and coal chute to the outside for deliveries. Yes, Canton center was more or less abandoned by the time I was around but reading this and connecting it to coal soot and general industrial pollution was a bit of a revelation of a further cause for sprawl. I suppose there is something to that.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I like these artists that are critical of the automobile. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jacques Tati with Traffic is another beloved auto critical artist.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Negative issues about automobiles are stated in the book, mostly from the brat George, but these are kind of left for the reader to finally judge. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What did I expect based on what I knew before? I expected a portrait of a narcissist. And I expected to be able to look down on him and his ancient ideas of class and "what will others think?". </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I got instead was a rather disturbing portrait of myself in the form of this brat George Minafer. Except I turned out a good deal worse. I didn't even get the mother love part like George had. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The strange thing is that I didn’t have the class background of George. I was not the son of the city’s rich man. But entitlement of a different, more ignorant, sort can arise. In the mid-20th century the working class could shelter their own children from the realities of the marketplace that is our world. TV helps. I lived in a magical world of TV stories. There seemed to be money. I had what I wanted, if I ever really wanted anything. My parents were able to buy a 1964 Chevy Impala brand new. I remember being in the showroom looking at the SS, Super Sport, models. This became the car I learned to drive about 4 years later, with driver’s ed at public school. Then my parents built a big new split level house on a wooded lot on a hill. Where did all this supposed wealth come from? They both worked at jobs for wages. The jobs were off stage from my life. I never saw what either of them did or where they worked. They just went away every day and came back able to buy a house, a car, lots of Sinatra LPs, a color TV. I was sheltered from what they did. I knew my dad worked swing shifts but what sort of hellhole Republic Steel was I didn’t experience. A high school dropout, his union wages allowed me to think I was middle-class. In the novel George refers to new people as “RiffRaff”, but the alienated suburban youth can transform his very own worker parents into the riffraff in his life. They are the ones kids desire to get away from and who we look down on for their lack of sophistication. </span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-db92be10-7fff-cd6c-a02c-12704efda2ed"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like George I didn’t really have a clue about what it really took to get on in life. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">George intends to live without a profession.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wanted to live without a job. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">George is worried about what other people think. That an old fashioned notion isn’t it; caring about what the community thinks? I have done that a number of times mostly out of my own shame. Last year I ended a long love relationship with a younger woman because I was worried that since we worked at the same place people would look down on her as a daddy chaser and me as a little girl chaser. That grew out of a comment by a friend who was prejudiced because he was into the daddy dom thing himself and projected his thing on to us. Based on that I saved someone who I really loved and who loved me by getting her out of the situation of relationship to me. This was a disaster for her and me. Terrible, unforgivable. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not exactly sure how the mechanics operate. But I think it was something in mass media that cut me off from my parents and the world around me. Of course my parents were very young and didn’t really know how to inform me what I needed to get through life, other than mom wanting me to do good in school which I was just afraid of and failed to do anything other than squeeze by.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not unique. I feel kind of secure in stating that we are a Brat Nation. There is something in our nasty culture that makes people this way and it is not something that is fading and lessening. It is advancing. We are turning out brats. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That Capitol Building Jan 6th thing can be seen at a Brat Attack, distorted insane white people. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I didn’t expect this old novel to take me into my own life and current events as it did. I regret that the country and culture did not change fundamentally and become more healthy in the 104 years since the publication of the novel. Are we locked into this self destructive path? Apparently.</span></span></p><p><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdaOF4UYXkYtq5EUui5i_vx7zhk_gNScLpdKohKXM8K7NVBoMtk1PCJZhMi04WdD6VOJNl6iyWaeILC9PqB-yNhMGCNO4DoJGAtHnWrWH50sohEN-0X2-ynkuJmu747LKp8qhzh32PQCowG3y56iYgJPVicxVO72ZstvTE9VIhTBc5_DPjwyPvvxcjg/s700/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirdaOF4UYXkYtq5EUui5i_vx7zhk_gNScLpdKohKXM8K7NVBoMtk1PCJZhMi04WdD6VOJNl6iyWaeILC9PqB-yNhMGCNO4DoJGAtHnWrWH50sohEN-0X2-ynkuJmu747LKp8qhzh32PQCowG3y56iYgJPVicxVO72ZstvTE9VIhTBc5_DPjwyPvvxcjg/s320/cover.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-38342244111480616402022-05-16T17:44:00.000-07:002022-05-16T17:44:00.578-07:00Yippie Girl by Judy Gumbo<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling in late, comes this 1960s movement memoir. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-722838e7-7fff-fd07-89d8-7cabb65a9242"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Late because we are deep into the 21st Century now and embedded into someone's World Order in a way that can feel not much more than. . .hopeless.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This memoir could be a joyous read had the movement it is about not been a total failure. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 1960’s Anti-war and black liberation movements could not build the class solidarity of the temporarily successful labor movement of the early 20th century. That type of massive solidarity was what was necessary to bring change when the power system was vulnerable after the 1929 economic collapse. The 60s movement never had that solidarity or collapse. It was a time of general prosperity, and no matter how nostalgically some of us feel about the youthful exuberance of the “revolution is just around the corner” things are far far worse today than they were in 1970. The movement for economic justice is a failure.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book is an example of this collapse of common cause solidarity since much of it is really an old comrade saying that she was there and part of it but being a woman was kept on the margins. I have no doubt that this was true and Judy Gumbo has every right to toot her horn and ask for acknowledgement. OK, but now what? And what happened after? She mentions being a very good fundraiser in later life but we hear no more about that. The story kind of ends with the 60s events and the VietNam war. Being a successful fundraiser for Planned Parenthood might be a more heroic story to leave behind than memories of a flashy youthful failure of a movement. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But then I probably wouldn’t have read Fundraiser Woman so the circle is complete I guess and sensation sells.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She comes into the yippie movement directly out of the old movement. She is a Canadian Red Diaper Baby, her father a lifelong career Communiest Party type who built a successful livelihood out of it as a promoter of Soviet Union concert performers in Canada. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This transition from Red Diaper Baby to yippsterville is not really explained. She wasn’t particularly a hippy or acid head, she was a divorcee who dumped her hubby really quickly when she discovered him in bed with another woman. (No hippie Free Love for Gumbo. Later in the story, polyamory was considered and rejected for monogamy.) It seems that she became a Yippee because she became the girlfriend of one of the three main OG yippies, Stew Albert.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From this origin information one could conclude that she went from old school commie daddy to cutting edge for-the-hell-of-it Yippie daddy. But telling it that way kind of derails the neo-feminist train and so it’’s best to not look at it that way. We all have to do what we have to do and times are different than walking a mile in anyone else's one toe loop authentic Indian sandals. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why does she repeatedly mention the infidelity of her first husband? It seems a sore point even now 60 years, or whatever, later.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t know, for decades it all seemed so recent and immediate, but now just very remote, far away. That movement now seems like an echo of an after shock, of the big somewhat successful movement before it. But we all will remember the hit, rather than the spin off with the kids in charge every week jumping the shark to get attention while sinking to the bottom of the what matters chain in the neo-liberal world that dominates and gained power in the last 60 or so years. The hit movement being the early 20th century movement that brought us SS, The kids movement, the Yippies 30 years later making a splash then passing on while I still have the benefit from the earlier movement. Monthly Social Security. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The movement that pushed the government into Social Security was a great movement.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Its gains have been attacked by those always opposed and now they are winning. Finally destroying what was left in the New Deal era, the legitimately helpful Big Government. Meanwhile the corporate welfare and military goverment is growing and giving out even more power to those already in control. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So yeah, we boomers can look back at the glory days of the Chicago 8 show or whatever but we failed to even protect The New Deal.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most of us have been well placed enough to ride out whatever insanity the USA comes up with. We survived Reagan, the Bushes. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No problem, we are still here if we can set our tolerance for the unacceptable ever higher. We have to tolerate the USA for 20 years tearing apart Afghanistan for really no good reason at all and now leaving them starving. We have to tolerate that voting rights are being taken away in favor of Republicanism. We have to tolerate the loss of abortion rights.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have to tolerate the trickle down of death from the military-industral-news/entertainment complex that is in control of most of the national money, power, and consciousness. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have to tolerate this or else die in our isolated social distant despair. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we tolerate it. We are physically comfortable enough to not let it all get to us too much, plus that is that interesting new cutting edge series we are all streaming. And weed is sort of legal here and there. All is more or less well for the aging white baby-boomers. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe there were a million deaths in our name in the past 20 years but it doesn’t affect us enough to really do something about it. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m really complaining about our time through looking back at what we may have wanted it to be. There is nothing wrong with the book. It just hits me at a particular moment of hopelessness about The Revolution. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stew Albert, the eventual spouse and babydaddy, was close to Jerry Rubin so there is more of the Jerry angle of things than the Abbie Hoffman side. They were often at odds and took their personal followers with them. Albert was also friends with Elldridge Cleaver, Black Panther leader. The stories about him are perhaps the most interesting in the book. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back then I was a Abbie Hoffman Yippie, or identified as such. I even met him for a moment at a big MayDay rally on New Haven Green 1970. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was brought into the movement, as much as I ended up participating, which wasn’t a lot, by seeing Abbie Hoffman in the mass media when I was still in high school (Merv!) and wanted to be a hippy, now Yippee! But we still had hair length rules in high school, Bummer. Abbie was always very funny. He organized me. Brought me into the movement still as a kind in Ohio.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Later, after high school, I took LSD as soon as I was offered and loved it. I still love it and use it occasionally. In the book Judy Gumbo says she tripped only three times and the last years ago. Time for a booster granny! </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book has one very sad story about insane Phil Ochs who at the end of his life visited them for a day, part of the time as his evil alter ego John Train. But nothing about Phil in his prime of any of the other movement performance people reviewed. Phil Ochs was particularly dear to me in my youth, he was a suicide at 35 and I kept on singing his songs for years. So, yes, a sad story in the book.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Phil and Abbie much later, both suicides.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fine addition to some ancient history herein, although not really searching or personally deep and revealing. </span></span><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZGKYRikx9gW5yUJrMt3A45A37VBAjvrasjzFgptmv4O9eaPOS4kyub3X3N1gjiUD-Ql623G5ar3DCNZXnhG3FnvBUzpIgp3w5T96RyjrBWncwI2J-IG1KsnYiOdU7XOTSMolFHaais2KPGMVHNgmBGbadE0NVqCCy0XOuP-kN42yY2eD1a2Fd4Eo6g/s1714/9781953103185_FC-3D.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1714" data-original-width="1294" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ZGKYRikx9gW5yUJrMt3A45A37VBAjvrasjzFgptmv4O9eaPOS4kyub3X3N1gjiUD-Ql623G5ar3DCNZXnhG3FnvBUzpIgp3w5T96RyjrBWncwI2J-IG1KsnYiOdU7XOTSMolFHaais2KPGMVHNgmBGbadE0NVqCCy0XOuP-kN42yY2eD1a2Fd4Eo6g/s320/9781953103185_FC-3D.png" width="242" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUAXR3BYgIIKolfaDRf4wSYp4aUuhadIEK0tQGnqUo1HT6P-4hAOR781lqSK_ahisQkDdZYcl1qY__sLrzP8w2kpdwSt19vrUpnoK9DYwQG7aFzoq25yTNDgK_7kaNGcF3ZirtNMMsDM7b4xTUrC6M7PWYi1urIYVPczZHG5W34UWfLjjCwy5B2vedzQ/s1127/280655355_7321407727934140_3998848046527210935_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1127" data-original-width="1009" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUAXR3BYgIIKolfaDRf4wSYp4aUuhadIEK0tQGnqUo1HT6P-4hAOR781lqSK_ahisQkDdZYcl1qY__sLrzP8w2kpdwSt19vrUpnoK9DYwQG7aFzoq25yTNDgK_7kaNGcF3ZirtNMMsDM7b4xTUrC6M7PWYi1urIYVPczZHG5W34UWfLjjCwy5B2vedzQ/s320/280655355_7321407727934140_3998848046527210935_n.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-1500054645701266662022-05-03T13:52:00.001-07:002022-05-03T13:52:23.959-07:00Getaway by Lisa Brackmann<span id="docs-internal-guid-613ad824-7fff-bf27-47bc-d5b08c02d058"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Getaway by Lisa Brackmann</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I read this because of the CrimeReads website and Goodreads. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CrimeReads mentioned another Lisa Brackmann novel, Go-Between, that I thought sounded interesting. Looking that up on Goodreads had me reading others saying “. . .read Getaway first so you know about Gary. . .”</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Getaway is set in Mexico and coincidentally I sit in Mexico. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The novel is set in a beach town </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Puerto Vallarta, I’m in a completely different place in a small mountain city.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michelle Mason is there after her husband’s death. They were going to go together except that he died. So she went on her own. We get pieces of her backstory throughout. It is basically that she was a married woman with a businessman husband. He had difficulties and left them broke right before he died. She trusted him and didn’t know.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That is kind of an unstated but shown message of the novel: “These men want women to trust them and go along, but they put a woman in danger with their big secret schemes.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michelle meets a gringo man and they hook up, but on that very night something happens and ultimately she is caught in the precarious middle of a conflict between two gringo men.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Drug smugglers? CIA? Michelle is kept out of the loop of what is really going on yet risking her life in the meantime. So like her days with hubby in LA this is Big Important Business that the men are involved with and “you don’t need to know right now. It will be OK.” Will it? </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Getaway is an excellent crime novel. It’s a genuine page-turner.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lisa Brackman is a writer who knows what is going on. That is clear because there are some passages about the Drug War and Iran-Contra. She states the facts in passing, in case someone doesn’t know, without preaching. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So now I know about “Fucking Gary” and can read Go-Between. I hope is it as </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">good. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0RX2clre6hy5OHP8W7HmCjMy0hgeMgFtz2553oDcJ4VRfTscHcR-sIPIXc_3RnHg9HKdjfF2bFJtZyuRUJVJRAlyn0hVyYxJP3jWSPqB_GpTj1bNuWSYpX7R-RQzYS1-iot-eYcVz3UOof9gmf3LsEkXwHP_P6pMfAbABjT67QAs45XLWCnQ3R99lg/s475/12900433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0RX2clre6hy5OHP8W7HmCjMy0hgeMgFtz2553oDcJ4VRfTscHcR-sIPIXc_3RnHg9HKdjfF2bFJtZyuRUJVJRAlyn0hVyYxJP3jWSPqB_GpTj1bNuWSYpX7R-RQzYS1-iot-eYcVz3UOof9gmf3LsEkXwHP_P6pMfAbABjT67QAs45XLWCnQ3R99lg/s320/12900433.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br /> </span><p></p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-7767179470513248412022-04-30T17:47:00.001-07:002022-04-30T17:47:14.966-07:00Girl 27 (2007)<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This documentary film by David Stenn tells the story of a 1937 Hollywood rape of a girl, only 17, who worked as a movie chorus dancer.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8d571cd8-7fff-aeea-895c-8969ef819d92"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David Stenn is a movie star biographer and he was finishing up a book on Jean Harlow when he came across newspaper clippings about this rape at a convention of MGM national salesmen brought to Hollywood in celebration of a very successful profit year for MGM products in the middle of The Great Depression. But the old-time Hollywood writer and MGM expert was clueless about this particular case. He made this movie that chronicles his investigation and what he finds.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The result is a document that presents a rape victim still dealing with the horror of the attack 60 years after the fact. It is a film that clearly shows what trauma does to someone. Stenn tracks this victim down and Patricia Douglas (age 85) is interviewed on-camera eventually after he gently made her feel safe enough to let him in to talk. She had stopped letting people in because of the rape. She didn’t trust people after what happened to her so long ago. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She had a sort of a life after that. She even had a daughter, but was too traumatized to properly raise her and farmed her out to grandma. We see the daughter too, maybe it was better that she didn’t live with Patricia who spent her days in bed. Maybe by exiling the daughter she helped save her from the trauma getting passed on to her. (The daughter seems to have it together with a stylish appearance and a horse ranch in northern California. But looks can be deceiving and this movie is not about her.) </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stenn’s film also reveals the cover-up of the rape. Patricia Douglas attempted to get justice. But this was LA in the 30's it was a movie industry town and MGM was the big cat on the screens of the world. The more info I get on Louis B Mayer the more of a scum he turns out to be. I mean one only has to see Girl 27 and Mank with Mayer shown as a powerful negative Republican businessman.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we are back to the tight headshot of the elderly Patricia Douglas video interview when she reveals all 60 years later. Her daughter has never heard about this at all. Her mother was just a little off all those years. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So in the year before she dies Patricia Douglas finally speaks, is heard, listened to, and believed. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">60 years later. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Imagine all the Hollywood girls raped and silent. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A cast of THOUSANDS! </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">----------------</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The documentary uses some 30s Hollywood movie scenes to illustrate the depiction of the treatment of women on the screen then in rape scenes in which of course the rape never occurs. Then he shows scene from a suppressed 1933 melodrama called The Story of Temple Drake in which a rape does happen and it is part of the drama. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This movie was, according to the documentary, unavailable in 2007 but it is available now and bootlegged on Youtube. It’s a pretty good movie. Miriam Hopkins is good as Temple and Jack La Rue at his sleaziest as the rapist thug. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s the 30s so the rapist is a gangster thug not the guy next door, but an interesting little movie anyway.</span></span><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEKfdLFDwyrGMkYoAzZL1qVnoo1VO7T5JX4GgD2BJODb8x3LOX6DYrHaN7mBA7EOccDfxwq2TsYr-7i29mE9jzuGYpjgXuq5AfW51Ux8D-SWfOw0I7djU2oge4fCtq_2vBQz26cKWERFJQsmQUfOqZBUyML7LDWNkJq2wiJg2W7qyVvMQgwVbBs0b-wQ/s4032/IMG-5222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEKfdLFDwyrGMkYoAzZL1qVnoo1VO7T5JX4GgD2BJODb8x3LOX6DYrHaN7mBA7EOccDfxwq2TsYr-7i29mE9jzuGYpjgXuq5AfW51Ux8D-SWfOw0I7djU2oge4fCtq_2vBQz26cKWERFJQsmQUfOqZBUyML7LDWNkJq2wiJg2W7qyVvMQgwVbBs0b-wQ/s320/IMG-5222.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9091522718009689734.post-45792527825767173152022-04-29T14:46:00.004-07:002022-04-29T14:46:57.643-07:00Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This is kind of a two for one; it’s an investigation into the Manson Family case as well as a memoir of the 20 years of work, the ups and downs, of the writer Tom O’Neill (co-author </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dan Piepenbring is never mentioned) put into this project.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8df1ca83-7fff-e2d0-07eb-6eee9fdbdfcd"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It does have a happy ending. It started as a featured article for Premiere magazine. After delays and extensions, since O’Neill needed more time, the magazine ended up folding and the project was orphaned for a while with the investigator living on savings and family loans. About a year later it was picked up by a book publisher, eventually dropped and then adopted by another producing the published book.That’s the happy ending of the personal memoir part of the book, not that he solved the case.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The investigation and what it revealed is of course more complicated and still muddy, smeared with intentional official cover-up by various parties for each their own reasons that range from cops just covering their own tracks to the secrecy of CIA MK-ULTRA mind control experimentation connected to it all. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s the CIA MK-ULTRA stuff that I find most interesting. I’m kind of a buff for mind control info as well as The Red Scare, strange and troubling mid-20th Century USA big world happenings and reactions that I think we are still feeling the ripples from. This was their search for truth serums, mind control assassins, and a lot of just dosing people with LSD and other brain altering chemicals just to see what happened or how suggestable the subject would then become. I assume I am saying “kind of a buff” to distinguish from a full-on “conspiracy theorist”. I’m not entirely sure that there is some ultimate truth that can be acquired with a lot of this murky stuff and it might not lead to a very productive life. There are probably countless Tom O’Neill’s out there without official paper publication, guys, and probably mostly guys, who have thrown a lot of their energy and time into finding out the truth of this or that in a long or meandering trail that eventually takes us to Qannon and “Stop the Steal!”. One can picture “The Truth” as a shining city in the distance, but the long dirt road leading there is littered with bones and corpses of varying decay, some still being picked over by the buzzards. With certain ones I just decide what I want to believe. Like; I want to believe that the CIA murdered JFK because the story is very dramatic and makes sense, fits, with some things that have gone on since. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> All this is part of the Manson story because he spent some time while on parole in LA, in San Francisco in the Haight-Ashbury, maybe acquiring the mind control abilities and forming the family. The MK-ULTRA connection here might be David Smith who ran the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic. In the book it comes off as an interesting place. First, it did provide a real service, a needed one free health care in a non-judgemental hip atmosphere. But it was free like FaceBook is free. We give them data for the service. We get the benefit and then sometimes wonder if we are giving up too much of ourselves in the bargain. The man who created and ran the free clinic was funded by MK-ULTRA to study group dynamics with drugs involved, speed. According to the book, The Family was more into speed than LSD at the time of the murders. Speed, we can assume, is a much better substance to do ones murdering with.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The implication is that Manson was kind of sent there, being on parole in LA it was odd that his parole officer also named Smith (Roger Smith) would let him move like that. Could Manson have been a mind control subject that went berserk or even one that did exactly as planned to make the communal hippies look like potentially a homicidal gang instead of their day-glow flower power free love image?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is also murky stuff going on with Terry Melcher and prosecutor Vincent Bugliosii. Did Melcher lie on the witness stand and did he visit Manson and the family three times AFTER the Tate murders out at Spahn and Baker ranches?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is this crazy story about Vincent Bugliosi harassing the family of a milkman because he thought the guy was the father of Bugliosii’s own child. This was even before the famous trial. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #686868; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Chaos is multi-layered, well written, with the data not as confusing as it could be, a true crime, memoir, and conspiracy book.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is rather satisfying if one is looking for that sort of thing. Not that I’m anything other than an occasional reader of the genre. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I liked it. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do I have conclusions on the Manson case? Not really, other than not believing the official story and feeling that something was definitely going on there beyond what we were told. Glad that they were not murdering acidheads, but speed users instead, because I like to think that psychedelics are more helpful than harmful because I think they have been for me. </span></span><div><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDK5fJHsr9eaSYdnZDswzWKWfAt6203hngA2-m3B0nycaqpfjxS90C4NnTCqqYdhg8XbaK1sfnkef7HqPDTx0tBs3QzK2LrbShOoRIsAYbvsDOE4Y_dpIcRFi7CO5EtNiP1d9rGnL-wkXOOMW5JWw4xtoi1ZHEnBkCb1LOLP5Smv5mFIE79oH58LOG-w/s2560/91JXA2AtgzL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1664" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDK5fJHsr9eaSYdnZDswzWKWfAt6203hngA2-m3B0nycaqpfjxS90C4NnTCqqYdhg8XbaK1sfnkef7HqPDTx0tBs3QzK2LrbShOoRIsAYbvsDOE4Y_dpIcRFi7CO5EtNiP1d9rGnL-wkXOOMW5JWw4xtoi1ZHEnBkCb1LOLP5Smv5mFIE79oH58LOG-w/s320/91JXA2AtgzL.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.999999999999998pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>Media gluthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07338948037718606190noreply@blogger.com0