Flying Machine

I found an octopus, and some other items, and then as if by magic when they fitted together a flying machine was created!

The Women On Level Six

I was doing the mail run on Level Six and all the women were mine. I didn't recognise any from real life except G. One of these women seemed really low at her desk, but I soon realised it was because she was naked (or at least topless). She asked me to come around for some "touching", and I said something like, "Oh! That sounds very agreeable!" Then she popped up and jiggled her small breasts and giggled. I lunged at her.
Later, when I got outside in the hall, there was a man following me. He gave a disgusted jerk, bit his knuckles and growled, then dashed away. It was clear to me that he was infuriated and mystified that I had all these girlfriends.

She Reads Books

Now that I have had my bicycle stolen, I am riding the bus again every day and can once again focus my attention on trying to find out what books people are reading.
When a man is reading a book on the bus I am interested, but in a different way to when I see a woman reading a book. When I see a man reading a book, perhaps I manage to see the cover and find out what it is. That is interesting to me because I like to know what people are reading. But when I see a woman reading a book and try to see the cover, I am also paying attention to how the woman looks. Naturally I am soon aware if I feel some attraction to her. I might be attracted to a woman on the bus or anywhere, but if they are reading a book and there is some attraction, this attraction is amplified by the simple act of their reading a book. What is it that makes this attraction burn so much brighter? Yes, maybe it occurs to me that I could have a conversation with her about books, because she likes books and I like books. That is something we would have in common. But I don't consciously think about all that, I just see the woman reading a book and must know what that book is, then if she inadvertently flips the book at such an angle that allows me to read the cover, I can find out what the book is. It doesn't even matter if I have never heard of the author because I will write it down on the spot and look it up on Amazon as soon as I get to a computer. I will have a burning and irresistible impulse to find out more about that book, that writer, as soon as possible, then proceed to wonder a million things about why that woman was reading that particular book. Is it by her favourite writer? The first time she read him? Does she only read historical romance fantasy, or whatever it is? Does she fantasise about a book-loving man interrupting her fervent reading to ask her what that book is, by any chance? Would she tell him to leave her alone and that it is none of his business anyway? God, I hope not. If a woman did that, it would break my heart into a million pieces.

The Night

'Why did God make this? Since the night is destined for sleep, unconsciousness, repose, forgetfulness of everything, why make it more charming than day, softer than dawn or evening? And why does this seductive planet, more poetic than the sun, that seems destined, so discreet is it, to illuminate things too delicate and mysterious for the light of day, make the darkness so transparent?
Why does not the greatest of feathered songsters* sleep like the others? Why does it pour forth its voice in the mysterious night?
Why this half-veil cast over the world? Why these tremblings of the heart, this emotion of the spirit, this enervation of the body? Why this display of enchantments that human beings do not see, since they are lying in their beds? For whom is destined this sublime spectacle, this abundance of poetry cast from Heaven to earth?'

- from the short story 'Clair de Lune' by Guy de Maupassant.

* the nightingale

Protocols of Zion

I just finished watching an excellent documentary called The Protocols of Zion. It was made by a guy called Mark Levin and he got the idea for it after the 9/11 attack. He heard that there was a rumour going around that no Jews died in that attack on the World Trade Centre towers, and in fact the rumour went that *the Jews* knew it was going to happen, so none of them went to work. Well, this theory is crazy because hundreds of Jews died there. The really crazy thing however is that there are many people who still believe it.
The title of the doco refers to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fictional account of Jewish plans for world domination that was created in the late 19th century in Russia, and even though it has been exposed as fiction many times, it is still being distributed by groups like the National Alliance (a white supremacist organisation) and extremist black and Arab groups.
One of the most fascinating sections of the documentary was when Levin visited the National Alliance headquarters in West Virginia to interview the leader, an enormous guy whose eyes flashed like a maniac when Levin suggested that Hitler was part Jew himself, but recovered enough to show Levin some big black boots with swastikas on the soles, along with metal SS studs. This was in the National Alliance headquarters warehouse and they sell these boots online from their website, along with Nazi flags and copies of the Protocols of Zion book and Mein Kampf, and stuff like that.
The documentary also covered such things as Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ, and the hatred of Jews resulting from the belief that they were responsible for killing Jesus Christ.
There was another scene where Levin was interviewing some black dudes on the streets of New Jersey. They were carrying anti-Jewish signs, and the leader was telling him that the Jews controlled everything and he used the current mayor Bloomberg as an example, so Levin said Well what about Mayor Guiliani before him? What about him then, eh? So the guy shouts Aha! You said it yourself! What is his name? JEW-liani! JEW-liani!
Anyway, it was a very good documentary and I'm glad I saw it because I had heard about this conspiracy theory that the Jews warned each other not to go to work on September 11, and I had also heard of the Protocols of Zion when I was investigating the white supremacist movement a few years ago.

My Bicycle Was Stolen

After work today I rode up to the pub on Broadway and chained my bike to a pole outside the pub and went inside. A bit later Chris came in and we had some beers and talked and caught up since I hadn't seen him for months. We had a good time drinking beer and talking about all kinds of stuff, then it was time to go. We walked outside and Chris was going up to get the bus and I said well I got my bike it's just here, but when I looked over at the pole I chained it to there was just the pole there and no bike. Some scoundrel had made off with my bicycle! I made a joke about it to Chris, saying did I really put it here? Yes this was the very spot, no doubt about it! and pointed dramatically. Maybe I should have been upset, but I wasn't very upset at all. My bike was stolen, that was all. So what. It was kind of funny even. And it was surprising because I thought the worst that would happen would be that somebody may have knocked it over and it would be on the ground, but still chained to the pole, like I see bikes in the city all the time. But gone it was, really not there any more, completely vanished, and disappeared. There was nothing to be done but walk to the bus stop and wait for the bus. At least I still had my silver helmet. I can get another bike, but I don't think I could find another helmet like this one.

Bloodshot Stars

Wow, look at this photo with Nicole Kidman! She has got bloodshot eyes! That is so great! I feel much better knowing that the st*rs get bloodshot eyes too!
*falls to floor flapping around in paroxysm of great joy and relief*

The Hills Have Eyes

I was totally revved up to see this movie, but from what I had read here and there it seemed like I was in for another sickening experience, similar to other recent horror movies like Wolf Creek and Hostel. I've always loved horror movies, but there were scenes in those that made even me feel sick. I guess that's what horror is all about, but it seems that the latest wave of horror on film is really pushing torture elements to a degree never before seen, and to a level of realism that can be hard to take, even for seasoned horror fans. But this one wasn't nearly as 'bad' as some people made out.
The movie starts off with quotes that during the fifties (or whenever it was) the government conducted nuclear tests in the New Mexico desert. Footage of nuclear blasts are intercut with photographs of horribly deformed babies and small children.
In the present day, a family are travelling through this desert, it's Bob and Ethel's wedding anniversary and Bob wants to drive through the nice picturesque desert, but none of the family seems to think it's a very good idea and they won't stop grumbling about it. Not only that but the eldest daughter Lynne has brought her husband Doug along, and there is some tension between Bob and Doug because Bob is a gun-lovin' Republican while Doug is a gun-hatin' Democrat. There are two other teenage kids, Brenda and Bobby.
They stop at a gas station and the filthy, surly, cigar-chomping attendant tells them about a shortcut that will take two hours off their trip. Ho ho! A shortcut, eh? A shortcut to HORROR, no doubt!
The shortcut through the hills turns out to pass right through the area where the mutants live. They were miners during the nuclear testing and refused to leave like the governemnt advised them to, instead they went down their mines and still ended up mutated anyway by the radiation.
Pretty soon one of the mutants throws onto the road one of those spiked things that cops use to stop car chases, and the family crashes into a big rock. The axle is broken and they can't go anywhere. Pretty soon after that the mutants begin tormenting them. They are a nasty bunch, and it seems that they have been doing nasty things to non-mutated folk for a long time, as we learn when Doug comes across a crater while he is going for help. There are dozens of abandoned cars in the crater.
The mutants terrorise the family, really making their lives a living hell. At one point we hear the classic line, You made us what we are! Boo hoo! You idiots should have got out of there when you were told about the nuclear bomb testing. Everybody else did. Why the hell didn't you, ya dumb retards? Plus they got superpowers anyway. When Doug shoves a baseball bat in the stomach of one of them, he pulls it out like it was nothing and continues beating Doug senseless.
But the cool thing about this movie that is different to a lot of other recent horror movies is that the victims fight back, and turn the tables. The transformation of Doug from a gun-hating hippy into a pickaxe-wielding, blood-soaked Viking of violent retribution was celebrated with loud cheering from the audience, and one of the highlights of the movie. OK, it's not very realistic. Wolf Creek was realistic, but Wolf Creek was also very depressing.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed the movie. It was much better than the lame original. The acting was fine, the soundtrack was very good, there was real tension created, and most of all the bad mutants really got what they deserved after killing so many nice people who were only driving through the desert trying to look at the nice scenery.
I had a 'first time' audience experience: There were two goth girls sitting behind me and to one side and they must have brought something in to eat which had a strong smell. At first the smell repulsed me, but by the end of the movie I liked that smell, and even when I got home and was lying down reading my book I could still smell it. Even now I'm still wondering what it was they were eating.