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State of unBeing 16
Living in such a state taTestaTesTaTe etats a hcus ni gniviL
of mind in which time sTATEsTAtEsTaTeStA emit hcihw ni dnim of
does not pass, space STateSTaTeSTaTeStAtE ecaps ,ssap ton seod
does not exist, and sTATeSt oFOfOfo dna ,tsixe ton seod
idea is not there. STatEst ofoFOFo .ereht ton si aedi
Stuck in a place staTEsT OfOFofo ecalp a ni kcutS
where movements TATeSTa foFofoF stnemevom erehw
are impossible fOFoFOf elbissopmi era
in all forms, UsOFofO ,smrof lla ni
physical and nbEifof dna lacisyhp
or mental - uNBeInO - latnem ro
your mind is UNbeinG si dnim rouy
focusing on a unBEING a no gnisucof
lone thing, or NBeINgu ro ,gniht enol
a lone nothing. bEinGUn .gnihton enol a
You are numb and EiNguNB dna bmun era ouY
unaware to events stneve ot erawanu
taking place - not -iSSuE- ton - ecalp gnikat
knowing how or what 4/27/95 tahw ro woh gniwonk
to think. You are in SiXTEEN ni era uoY .kniht ot
a state of unbeing.... ....gniebnu fo etats a
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
CONTENTS OF THiS iSSUE
=----------------------=
EDiTORiAL Kilgore Trout
STAFF LiSTiNGS
ERRATA
[=- ARTiCLES -=]
AN iNTERViEW WiTH KiLGORE TROUT Mogel
LIES, LIES, LAYS I Wish My Name Were Nathan
POLITICS, FREEDOM, AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT I Wish My Name Were Nathan
A SECOND LETTER NEVER SENT or
ALL i'D SAY iF i BUT HAD THE WORDS Crux Ansata
A CONJECTURAL DiSCOURSE ON HAPPiNESS,
ESPECiALLY AS iT RELATES TO THE ViRTUES
OF APATHY AND iGNORANCE KidKnee
BLOOD ON THE STREETS: EVERYMAN'S
GUiDE TO GUERRiLLA WARFARE (Part III) Captain Moonlight
[=- POETRiE -=]
3 COMMENTARY HAiKUS FOR H.P.B.'s "VOiCE OF THE SiLENCE" Tejas
CRUCiFiXiON Nemo est Sanctus
1 Tejas
[=- FiCTiON -=]
THE BEAST WiTHiN Howler in the Shadows
GRAVEYARD Crux Ansata
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
EDiTORiAL
by Kilgore Trout
Sometimes it's actually worth the hassle of being a zine editor. This
issue is an example of why I wanted to do this in the first place. When you
put an issue together of this caliber, all of those other things that trouble
you go away. Disappearing writers, writers who want to extend deadlines,
finding the time to put the whole thing together AND still writing your own
pieces fade into the background when the realization of what you hold in your
hands is an excellent piece of work. (BTW, all three of those things above
happened this time around, which is the reason we're later than usual).
Some zine editors can only hope to publish stuff like this. I'm lucky
that I am. All the credit goes to my writers. I'm just the bastard that puts
everything together. But enough about my feelings, as they'll probably descend
into the abyss again once I realize I never got a chance to finish my other
story due to many problems in my life, none of which you really need to hear
about. If you wanna know more about me, read the interview. As for the
conclusion to my story, it'll be in the next issue. As for this issue, well,
they'll definitely label us "high-brow" from now on. I don't think I've ever
seen any published work in which an author wrote something and then refuted
it in the very same issue. Ansat provides some more gut-wrentching tales of
love gone bad, and KidKnee writes about happiness, but it isn't exactly a
happy article. As I promised, Captain Moonlight is back with his guerrilla
warfare series, and, as usual, we've got cool poetrie and more fiction.
A few people have remarked to me in passing just what our stances are on
certain issues. The questions probably arose due to the Oklahoma bombing a
week ago and our coverage of certain militant groups and tactics. Frankly,
State of unBeing does not take a position on anything. Each of the views
represents that of the author and the author alone, although some of us may
agree with whatever they say. We want to provide equal coverage for ALL sides
of any story, and positioning the zine on one side or the other would be
detrimental to that cause. The only thing I want to publish is the truth.
And I believe that we've tried pretty hard to do just that and not mislead
anyone. If you don't agree with something, write us. We want to know if
something is wrong. All we ask is that you make sure you're information can
be backed up. If you have questions for the authors, pass them along to me
and I'll get them in contact with you. But don't just sit idly around
complaining about those "weird-ass boys down at SoB". Do something about it.
As for the Oklahoma bombing, I grieve for the families and friends of
those who were lost. It was a terrible tragedy, and one that should have been
avoided. I'd like to make it clear that here in these pages of State of
unBeing, we do not advocate violence as a means to the end if there are other
courses available, and there certainly were in this case. The thing that
scares me the most about this bombing is that Clinton's anti-terrorism bill
will most likely pass without a hitch, and with its ability to deport
*suspected*, not proven terrorists and arrest people who fund overseas
terrorist organizations (such as subscribing to the _Irish People_, the
magazine of the IRA), I fear for our liberties. I also fear BBSs like mine
which carry information on explosives, terrorist organizations and every
other area of the political spectrum under the premise of free speech will be
endangered.
We can only wait and see. Right now is a time for mourning, regrouping
and rebuilding. But let us not allow rage and vengeance become our primary
motivators, or it will lead to our downfall.
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
STAFF LiSTiNG
EDITOR
Kilgore Trout
CONTRIBUTORS
Captain Moonlight
Crux Ansata
Howler in the Shadows
I Wish My Name Were Nathan
KidKnee
Mogel
Nemo est Sanctus
Tejas
MUSiC LiSTENED TO WHiLE PUTTiNG THiS ZiNE TOGETHER
Elastica, ELASTiCA
Psychic TV, HEX SEX and GODSTAR
William S. Burroughs, DEAD CiTY RADiO
Einstrzende Neubauten, STRATEGiES AGAiNST ARCHiTECTURE II
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
ERRATA
In issue #15 of SoB I (adidas) sent in the submission about Patrick
Henry. I had footnote marks, but the footnotes were, in fact, missing.
Sorry for the inconvenience, but here they are.
FootNote 1
----------
Stamp Act - The Stamp Act was one of the several taxes Britian had placed on
the Americas to help pay of the French and Indian War Debts. The Stamp Act
was passed in 1765 by the British Parliament. It required that revenue stamps
by attached to all official documents and printed matter in the American
Colonies. This included Cards, Dice, Marriage Licenses, and several other
things.
FootNote 2
----------
Continental Army - The Continental Army was the army that congress had
appointed George Washington as the General of. The Continental Army was the
army fighting for America in the American Revolution. Desertions were high,
the army had fewer men than the British, the different states men didn't get
along very well, and they had many other problems, but they managed to pull
through, and win America its independence.
[Editor's Note: We won't let it happen again. We promise. We'll be perfect
from now on. But if it did, hypothetically speaking, we will admit we were
mistaken. Unless you don't catch us. ;)]
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
[=- ARTiCLES -=]
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
AN iNTERViEW WiTH KiLGORE TROUT
by Mogel
[Editor's note: This interview appeared in the zine Hogs of Entropy #70. I
have lifted it without Mogel's permission, but I figured you guys who don't
read HoE might like it. Enjoy, learn all about your favorite <ahem> editor,
and then shower me with gifts and prostrate yourself before my awesome
presence. Or you could give me a submission. Your choice.]
1] How the poop did you ever originally get such a spiffy god-damned handle?
Well, I always felt that my writing career would be just like Kilgore
Trout's in various Kurt Vonnegut books. His stories were always published in
porno mags even though they had nothing to do with pornography, and he had
only one fan. But that one fan thought he was the greatest writer in the
world. That's why I picked it. I wanted to name myself after a writer who
could only get stories put between pictures of the "Beaver Sisters" and have
only one fan. Or something like that.
2] How old were you and what was it that got you into this whole shin-dig?
I came out of the womb with a Pilot Precise Rolling Ball (Extra Fine)
pen in my hand (that *is* a plug... simply the finest pens made today).
Anyway, I've always written, as have most of my close friends, and we decided
to do a paper zine. Naturally, this was in high school so we passed it around
the school, most of us got suspended and so some of us decided that we'd try
it again, only doing it electronically. And viola, State of unBeing was born.
3] Why do you continue doing such socially IMPORTANT work?
If I don't, who will? This work means so much to me, it's as if
everytime I see that someone has downloaded a copy, I break out in tears and
weep profusely (that's just the type of guy I am). It makes me feel good to
know that people out there can escape into the fantasies of Dr. Graves, and
more importantly, get out real quick. It makes chills run down my spine to
know that there are people out there who are learning from things that we
publish. I also have an extremely big ego that needs to be fulfilled. ;)
4] Do you have a life? If so, what are some real world interests of yours?
Of course I have a life. Why do you think the zine barely makes it
out on time? I'm basically your average college student, doing all the things
average college students do (such as play guitar, drink lots of coffee, and
discuss the mimickry devices utilized in the classic _Plan 9 from Outer Space_)
except for the fact that I practice Western Ceremonial Magick. Most people
think I'm a crackpot, but that's okay. I'd rather be crazy--it's a lot more
fun.
5] What person in the world is the /<-RaDDeZT eleet guy dat makes you happy?
I'd have to take a split here. Aleister Crowley and Robert Anton
Wilson have provided me with many moments of pure elation and joy. RAW gave
me synchronicity, the number 23, and severely uprooted my belief system; Crowley
taught me about True Will and magick. Seems pretty good to me.
6] Who is the most ANNOYING person you have ever known? oh, and WHY...
Probably George Herbert Walker Bush. If you wanna know why, read
SoB #13 and Clockwork's article (yeah, it's a plug... I'm shameless).
7] What direction do you see your zine heading in? (this one begs for jokes)
Right now the zine seems to be taking a more political viewpoint in
many of it's articles. That's fine with me, but I still plan on keeping the
literary and poetrie beefed up as well. If that doesn't work, I guess we
could always publish death threats or something. Can you get in trouble for
that?
8] Toilet Paper - Folded or Crumpled?
I'm not sure, but I can probably link that to Kevin Bacon.
9] If you were to die tomorrow and wanted to leave one quote that everyone
would remember you by, what would that be? <evil grin action>
<Nixon routine here> "I am not a child molester."
10] What would be the first thing that came to your mind when I say "zine"?
My path to fortune, fame, and a .45 slug in my skull.
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
"Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul."
--Ed Abbey
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
LIES, LIES, LAYS
by I Wish My Name Were Nathan
[ this article should go before my "Politics, Freedom, and the Human
SpIrIt" article, lest the reader gets the wrong idea too early.
this is not a note to the editor.
do not delete this notice lest retribution reign upon them. ]
I fear a grave misjustice has happened in SoB. In this very issue a
completely FAKE, FALSE, and SCANDALANDEROUS article by "I Wish My Name Were
Nathan the Demagogue" appears. This article was not written by me. Recently.
Here goes. That article claims to solve all the mysteries of life,
politics, and humanity that you've all been in such glorious suspense to find
out. Well, I've decided I don't want you to know. So don't believe it.
Please, do _read_ that article but disbelieve everything you read that has the
slightest bit of meaning or significance to you, because it's all a patent lie.
In the course of the past few hours I've realized the real meaning of
life, as was presented to me as I was grazing in the androgynous chocolate
fields.
I
Real life is all in the imagination.
IX
Scream! Dream! Weam! Leam! Feem the grooping deems out of the toilet
of love!
XI
Real life is all in the imagination. Everything that is presented to me
as history or current events is simply fiction; unless I've experienced it, in
which case it was something I did.
IV
I am the only real person in the entire universe. Everyone else is
fiction or a figment of my fig tree imagination. Figs taste good because I
want them to.
XIII
NONE of this philosophy applies to ALL of you. I am only clueing you in
on the world I inhabit and control. I feel it is interesting that I'm telling
you this as it ought to destroy the fabric of my very reality.
Reality is a blooming fig tree.
Reality is a blooming fig tree.
The rest of this refutation essay will prove nothing.
VIII
Four years ago I took place in a slightly illegal magic trick at the Hotel
Hilton in Dallas, Texas. There I was the center of attention after having been
hypnotized into behaving like a manic-depressive wannabe homopederast and being
let loose on the audience. The really amusing part about the trick is that
they only thought they had hypnotized me. You see, the hypnotist and the
audience were a figment of my imagination. I wanted to act hypnotized, so I
did, and I wanted to rub into people in socially unacceptable ways, so I did.
All the things I did in that ten-minute period of maniacal release were assumed
by the audience to be a result of my hypnosis. How they were fooled!
VII
This entire essay is a figment of my imagination, because I did not write
it. A ghost writer stepped in and wrote it while I thought I was writing a
nice story about some overly intelligent fifth-graders overcoming common
political problems in middle school.
VI
Kilgore Trout likes to chain-smoke when the luscious mist of the SU
fountain sprays ever-so-gently in the air on a warm humid night when only the
drunken cries of four-wheel-drive-driven trucks' passengers pierce the moodless
silence of the southern sky.
X
When they interviewed me to be the local demagogue for SoB, I came in
wearing nothing but sandals and some bottomless pajamas. I indeed felt
comfortable and I didn't get the usual jittery teeth that interviews usually
give me.
I indeed wrote fourteen articles for SoB #8, none of which were lost in
the Secret Service raid. Each and every one of them consisted of these seven
words: "There are eight words in this sentence." It was going to probe the
depths of reality, you see. Kilgore thought it was a little too early to
unleash such banal truths on the world and told me to wait.
XII
It is lost forever.
It is lost forever.
It is lost forever.
III
Just a second. My mother has lost her green glass. I am trying to
explain to her that she simply put the green glass back into her mind. Alas,
it is lost forever.
II
Tragedies and horror stories, and even good news, does not faze me. It is
all fake. Nothing I see really happens until I have personally witnessed it.
Everything I see on TV and hear over the radio is an accident of nature. For
sure, no one is out there broadcasting that garbage.
V
Again:
Screw! Drew! Whew! Lew! Few the grooping dews out of the toilet of
love!
XIV
Just wanted to write "xiv" a few times. I fear it is my namesake.
Remember, you're all in my imagination. Cya later, dudes!
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his
soul?"
--Jesus, Matthew 16:26a (NIV)
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
POLITICS, FREEDOM, AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT
by I Wish My Name Were Nathan the Demagogue
Instructions: read forward from sections I to XIX and then stop.
I
Fear has crept into our hearts and paralyzed our will.
II
Ugliness is a virtue! Shitty haircuts rule! Welcomely accept the taboo
and vehemently reject the accepted and the standard! Common sense is banal,
anal, nil, and ill!
III
Our minds are not steel traps, but sponges. Our bodies are the means by
which our mind absorbs information. Our hands, eyes, and ears are the tools
for obtaining information to absorb. Most of us waste these tools, lie
stagnant, and the forces about us -- television, politics, religion, and
advertising -- spoon-feed us, flood our minds, wash away the independent ideas
therein. We must be reminded of free will.
IV
How does thought operate in a capitalistic democracy?
Perversely.
V
Good American citizen: go to school, learn about the real world, get a
job, marry your lover, contribute to society, die happy. This is the tenet of
our country: Schooling gives you the tools, the critical thought, the
experience to become a world citizen. A job develops the work ethic, provides
for you and your family, eliminates the boredom and sloth of spare time. A
full life is enjoyed, your death is paid for.
Bullshit.
A perverse crime against humanity was committed upon wedding the ideas of
democracy and capitalism. Democracy: the institution by which the people rule
themselves; the purest, most idealistic form of human existence. Capitalism:
the institution by which money rules people; the neurotic, paranoid quest for
money as happiness; the fettering away of a life for the goal of working to
live rather than living to work; the destroyer of philosophy; the ill-
conceived mother of spare time.
VI
Anarchy is a pipe dream. Disillusioned citizens look to a world without
freedom-killing laws, mind-numbing standards, and soul-crushing conformity.
That world contains no politics, no judges, no restriction. That world is a
simple conception, born to fruition with the mere act of opening people's
eyes. That world, unfortunately, cannot exist by human nature.
Philosopher A says that humans are inherently evil, and without the
restriction of society, would tear off around the world in a rampage of
selfish, destructive acts. Philosopher B believes that humans are good and
well-meaning, and that the restrictions of society itself influence humans to
do wrong. Philosopher C takes the stand that humans are born tabulas rasas --
blank slates -- and are entirely influenced by the society around them.
Philosophers are humans, living in societies. They are prejudiced by
their own minds.
VII
Take a trip into the animal kingdom. Before the invention of zoos,
animals lived exactly as current supporters of anarchy wish to. Animals roam
free, living off of nature, apparently enjoying life to the fullest. Why
can't humans live like this?
Humans are cursed with consciousness.
Humans are cursed with consciousness.
That sentence was repeated twice. You noticed it. I noticed it.
Notice, as well, that you are reading dots of light shining through a piece of
glass. We take for granted the distinctly human attributes we have. Most
notably, intelligence.
But intelligence is not merely human.
All animals have brains and memories, and can conduct rational thought by
synthesizing memory and instinct. Exactly how these memories and instincts
are formed, no one knows. A squirrel will run across a highway in terror when
a rumbling growling speeding car approaches; the squirrel heads for a tree,
runs to a nice spot, and stops. This is an intelligent act.
An unintelligent being, such as a robot which has precise audio circuits,
mechanical limbs, touch sensors, and a video camera, could be created by adept
human engineers. This robot, however, would run off the end of a high tree
branch to its demise -- actually, it would run into the base of the tree --
realistically, it would sit in the middle of the road and be run over -- all
without an artificially intelligent brain.
Animals, insects, sea creatures, all have intelligence, and in varying
amounts, to be sure. Humans themselves only use 10%-15% of the brain for
active thought. Perhaps the same percentages exist in other beings. The
human's larger brain is only useful for more refined instinct, behavior, and
communication; and a more comprehensive memory. As well:
Humans are cursed with consciousness.
The remaining portion of the human brain is a center of consciousness.
We are aware that we exist. For this sole reason, we are human.
VIII
Why do humans have language? Why do these 256,000 pixels shining on a
VGA monitor make you think, scan your eyes from left to right and top to
bottom? Humans have no more radical a language than animals. A cat's meows
and cries convey curiosity, greeting, and fear. Why do we not simply utter
grunts to convey philosophy and economics?
Humans are cursed with consciousness.
Humans realize, through conscious thought, that separate sounds can
convey separate ideas. A cat only meows because it is not aware that it is
being so vague.
From the womb of a primitive hominid, the first human emerged with a non-
spectacular genetic mutation which gave it consciousness. This human,
however, did not know a thing about passive participles or oblique cases of
pronouns. Language evolved slowly over thousands of years.
A newborn baby does not know a thing about passive participles or oblique
cases of pronouns. Language evolves slowly over several years. The
difference lies in the fact that the baby's parents consciously decide to
teach it everything they know, in hopes of providing a necessary advantage
over the animals.
IX
The human mind acts much as Freud describes, with the three levels of the
id, the ego, and the superego. The id is simply inherited from the animal
kingdom, providing the instinct to survive. The ego and the superego are
shaped by consciousness, providing respectively the drives for personal and
selfish desires, and moral and communal needs.
Animals have subsets of the human ego and superego, such as in the
concept of marking territory and following the herd, respectively.
Humans are cursed with consciousness.
How, how, how are we so cursed? Consciousness gives us the ability to
actively learn, invent, and synthesize. Without consciousness, we wouldn't
have the selfish or communal need to do such things. Why is this a curse?
The human is torn between the ego and the superego. These otherwise
primitive facets of the mind are blown up into opposing and continuously
compromising forces by the means of consciousness, which suddenly makes them
very important.
X
An idealistic anarchy is impossible due to the superego. Anarchy is an
all-ego condition, where everyone is independent, free-thinking, selfish, and
loving it. The superego is what forces people to form governments, organize
themselves, maintain order.
A true communism is impossible due to the ego. This government is an
all-superego condition, where people live together and provide for each other,
no one has power, and everyone loves it. The ego is what causes leaders to
see themselves as individuals, and independent, powerful ones at that, and
which leads to corruption. As well, the ego causes subjects to react against
their superconformist society and rebel.
The basic power struggle is the result of the war between the ego and the
superego. If an anarchy were established, someone would want to control
someone else. If a true communism were established, someone would want
independence, and would want to control someone else.
Our current government, a republican representative democracy, provides
the means for a well-nourished ego and superego. The ego is appeased by
freedom, and the superego is contented with fair law and the right to vote.
But...
XI
Capitalism fucks us over.
Money fucks us over.
Our current American political system provides us with two major parties,
Republican and Democratic. No matter how these parties were created, they are
now mainly the representatives of money. Main planks of the parties'
platforms, such as abortion, national defense, civil rights, are actually, in
a large part, money issues.
Abortion is most often a way to prevent the high costs of raising a
child. The sheer idiocy of having a cost of living itself is a direct result
of money.
National defense is unnecessary, but the Defense continues. The United
States has not been directly attacked as a means of takeover in nearly two
hundred years. Defense spending is an excuse both to protect our financial
interests in other nations, and to give people jobs to enhance the technology
which allows us to do so.
Civil rights on the surface is purely social. Groups of oppressed people
seek dignity and self-worth. But people are guaranteed these things, as well
as freedom and legal power, by the Constitution. Only a money-based society
forces civil rights to exist. Affirmative action is the current topic of
debate. This is clearly related to money. There is a need for civil rights
legislation only for discrimination leading to financial complications.
Otherwise, as mentioned before, we're inherently guaranteed civil rights by
the Constitution. Of course, an ideal vision and real life often clash.
In America, where slavery and dictatorship are illegal, the basic human
struggle for power is satisfied by the Dollar. Economic class provides a
gauge of power over one's fellow citizens. Rising to the top of the money
ladder, whether it be through entrepreneurship or pure crime, is the power
goal.
Intellectual power and conscious thought are useless to an American.
Intellectual power and conscious thought are useless to an American.
Unless these tools can be used to make money flow.
XII
An aside before moving on:
Stuff caused by money:
o education, giving the tools to make money (20th century bent)
o much crime
o materialism
o greed
o social stratification
o taxes
o gambling
o social security
o corruption
Stuff fucked over by money:
o obtaining an education
o fashion
o art
o law
o health
o living o happiness
XIII
A thinking person will often ponder the eternal question: "What is the
purpose of life?" The purpose of life is to make money. Money is power.
Money is happiness.
This is the capitalist form of happiness.
There are alternatives.
XIV
Humans are cursed with consciousness. Consciousness brought us politics,
prejudice, lust for power.
Be idealistic, though. Imagine a society without any of the bad things
associated with current and past world governments. No politics. No kings or
queens. No power struggle. No corruption. No ingrained spoonfed
philosophies about life's purpose, death, creation, or the bell curve. What
is there left?
Certainly we'll see human equality if all this hierarchy were destroyed.
Right?
No.
Humans are animals.
The male is stronger than the female. Females bear children, limiting
their productivity for nine months at a time, in the name of life. The male
is free to run about and impregnate females, with only a fifteen-minute period
of down time between conceptions. There you have it: males and females
cannot be equal on a physical or gender basis.
Humans are cursed with consciousness.
People have various levels of intelligence. Smarter people come up with
new ideas. These ideas serve the community. People are grateful. The
smarter people are elevated to a position of power. There you have it:
humans cannot be equal on an intellectual basis.
Humans are animals.
Concentrated groups of humans evolved over time in different areas around
the world. In these groups of people, skin color, physical ability, and
mental ability evolved in different ways. Groups of people who sense some
difference in themselves will take advantage of these differences. There you
have it: different races cannot be equal on an intellectual or physical
basis.
Humans are cursed with consciousness.
If I were to continue like this forever, I would eventually demonstrate a
simple fact: everyone is completely different and inherently unequal. The
categories mentioned above are by far the most obvious, and therefore take on
the most importance.
People can pretend to treat everyone color-blindly, gender-blindly,
brains-blindly. But people notice differences. Ignoring them is only a game.
It is a complex game consisting of extensive compromise. No human institution
can play the game perfectly.
XV
In America, we have numerous cultural groups, differentiated by the
groups' native homelands, economic status, race, gender, religion, and
beliefs: New Orleans jazz musicians, inner-city gangs, golf-playing
richbitches, struggling fiction writers, Congressional fatcats, God-fearing
Christians. One often finds that once a person has found his group, he tends
to substitute his group's self-image for his own. Amidst wildly-varying
diversity, there is rank conformity.
Most people today attempt to individualize themselves, certainly.
Unfortunately, their steps away from conformity are small, insignificant, and
bland. Picking from a small variety of popular music, selecting a favorite
hack writer, picking out a unique wardrobe from a Sears catalog, making
oneself look like a glamorous movie star, watching a personal combination of
prime-time networked shows -- this is the American's idea of nonconformity.
Oh, and hobbies as well -- maintaining the fastest and most expensive personal
computer setup in the neighborhood, collecting low-priced stamps, reading
romance novels, buying new fast sports cars, masturbating to the latest
pornography -- are an American's attempt to individualize himself from his
peers.
These steps toward individuality conform to the popular standards of
acceptable nonconformist deviations.
In a free society, we are afraid to truly be free. We are too self-
conscious of our actions. We are embarrassed by _other people's_ actions. We
wholeheartedly condone individuality, but deride or condemn actions which are
truly individual.
In schools, where children are taught the virtues of the American way of
life, dress codes are enforced, long hair is disallowed, earrings for males
are still taboo, and free speech is a joke. Standardized tests and routine
multiple-choice tests numb students' minds into blind subservience. Schools
attempt to destroy the very basis for a happy, individualistic life.
After a decade or two of schooling, where conformity is promoted, the
American citizen is usually left in one of two states. One, as a happily
brainwashed follower. After schooling he looks around him for his direction
in life, leeching off the leeched-off lives of others. Or two, as a
disillusioned angry individualist. This person either keeps his rage to
himself, going insane, numbly becoming conformist, or expressing his rage and
finding a quick trip to jail or Congress.
To find a happy individualist is rare. It also makes you nervous and
embarrassed to be around him.
This is sick. It's got to stop.
XVI
Once again: What is the meaning of life? What is our purpose? For the
modern American, life is usually spent working for a living instead of living
to work, hating politicians and not voting them out of office, watching
television continuously with a vague sense of resentment, and wishing it all
weren't so.
Most likely, the general course of life will follow as such for most
citizens of this era, who will spend it waiting for Jesus to come back, for
another war to spice things up, for a comet to smash into earth, for a
revolution, or for sweet death.
I am doubtful that anything much will change for a while. Don't be
depressed by this. I'm simply telling you the facts as I see them.
So, WHAT is the meaning of life, once all these restrictions are
considered and accepted?
The purpose of life is to be as individual as possible, while you can
muster up the energy, strength, courage, and humor to do so. One person
cannot change the world -- but one person can change himself
XVII
Life is not a drudge. Life is not an inevitable sequence of
disappointments. Life is not written in stone. You have the power and the
freedom in most cases to live as you want.
In order to see this, briefly detach yourself from your immediate world.
Forget your family, your friends, your obligations, your money, your hatred of
politics. What is life? It's about eighty years. What is life? It's about
you.
XVIII
Again:
Ugliness is a virtue! Shitty haircuts rule! Welcomely accept the taboo
and vehemently reject the accepted and the standard! Common sense is banal,
anal, nil, and ill!
XIX
Our will has not been paralyzed. We have simply forgotten that it
exists.
--
This essay commissioned and financed by the benevolent Exxon Corporation.
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
"If we can't be friends we can at least be lovers."
-- Black 47
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
A SECOND LETTER NEVER SENT or ALL i'D SAY iF i BUT HAD THE WORDS
by Crux Ansata
Dear A--,
You asked me if we could still talk; if I would talk if you called me.
By the end we weren't even talking when we were going together. I don't
really see as we will ever again have much of anything to say to each other.
But now there are a few things I should say:
First, I forgive you. Or, at least, I am trying as hard as I can. I
forgive you for concealing the truth from me. I forgive you for permitting
the spread of rumors. I forgive you for using me, for telling me that you
still loved me, so that I wouldn't catch on until you had decided I was second
best. I forgive you for looking for and finding a replacement for me. I
forgive you for things better left unsaid, and even for those things better
left unknown that I know have hurt me but that I am afraid to confess even to
myself. I realize you have no need nor care for my forgiveness, but I have
need to give it to you.
You have killed me in ways you can not even begin to know, but I accepted
this and all with joy because I really thought we were something special. I
think I loved you -- I know that whatever I felt I feel it now as much as ever
-- but I know now, seventeen months later, that you never loved me. If you
had, you could never have ended it the way you did.
Now that it is over, and I am forced to admit it was never perfect, I
have to wonder whether I could have loved you, too. All I can say for certain
is: if I have ever felt love, you were its object.
I despise myself for not being good enough to make you happy. The last
time I was this close to suicide was a fortnight before we met, and a knife to
the belly was never so appealing as in a hari kari in recognition of my
failure. Through the time we were together we had our ups and we had our
downs -- towards the ends it was more of the latter -- but the whole time I
had a purpose: to please you. I have failed, and there is no other purpose
to compare. I despise myself for being unable to fulfill the one task that
was truly important to me. I despise myself for hurting you, and I despise
myself for forcing you to hurt me. I no longer bear any animosity towards
you, for I know you are not at fault. My miasma is eternal. If I can now
make you even a little more happy by disappearing from your life forever,
perhaps my existence has not been entirely wasted.
I hope M-- pleases your grandmother more than I ever could. I know I
have never brought anything but pain to you and your family. I hope that your
new love can repair the damage I have done to your family and friends.
I'm sorry we cannot ever "just be friends", but I could never be "just
friends" with someone I love so much. Would you want to be friends with
someone who was shooting you in the face? someone who was kicking you in the
stomach? Why then should it be different with someone who has destroyed my
heart? ("You'll be killing my heart when you go away.") No, the pain and the
guilt will never go away, and it will be no small amount of time before I
could ever be around you in any way that would not simply be too painful. I
am truly sorry, and I truly believe I love you.
May M-- bring you less tears than I,
Crux Ansata
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
"I'll rave and I'll ramble; I'll do everything but make you stay.
But you'll be killing my heart when you go away."
-- The Waterboys
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
A CONJECTURAL DiSCOURSE ON HAPPiNESS, ESPECiALLY AS iT RELATES TO THE
ViRTUES OF APATHY AND iGNORANCE
by Lord Low KidKnee, fifth male daughter of Eris,
seeker of stuff, pillar of the universe, ILSCY
member, SSOPWXOTH founder, title inventor.
In my estimation, there are but 2 ways to achieve happiness. The first
of these is ignorance. The second is apathy. I furthermore conjecture that
a majority of the world systematically passes from the former state to the
latter. Those unable to make this transition become disillusioned youth, the
mainstay, rank and file members of Generation X.
1. Happiness through ignorance.
If you don't know of anything that is wrong, everything seems right.
This simple axiom is the basis for happiness through ignorance. Take the
people who invented the principles that made the nuclear bomb possible. When
they though they had invented a source of nearly inexhaustible power and were
ignorant of the destructive capabilities therein contained, they were very
happy. Only when they _learned_ that nuclear power was bad did they become
unhappy. The same phenomenon is repeated in childhood. Children are generally
very happy people. Children are also inherently ignorant. By the same token,
when a child is unhappy, it usually takes very little to make them happy
(although the exact nature of what it takes is often elusive). Cancer (and
AIDS) patients are further examples. As long as one is ignorant of one's
imminent death, it doesn't trouble the mind. It is when somebody knows that
they have a severely limited lifespan that the experience becomes traumatic.
In short, what you don't know can hurt you, but you can't worry about what you
know about. From there it becomes a question of which is more important,
survival or happiness.
2. Happiness through apathy.
Most of us have lost our ignorance, but still desire happiness. This is
the purpose of apathy. Extending the example of terminal illness, after one
knows of their imminent demise, they tend to either let ruin their lives,
driving them into despair, or go on with their lives in a mostly normal state.
'Yes, I'm going to die, but i don't care.' This is the joy of apathy. This
principle can also be applied to any source of impending doom. Nuclear war,
environmental destruction, slime-monsters from outer space (there could be,
we have no proof there isn't). We simply say, 'So what if there are slime-
monsters, there could be, but until I see one, I don't really care.' Apathy
is especially effective when applied to the past. This is mostly because the
past is inherently unchangable, and as such deserves little concern.
3. The Worldwide Transition.
Everyone is born a child. Everyone is born ignorant. Everybody learns
and loses some of that ignorance. I believe that apathy is the most commonly
used defence to ensure happiness. 'I love you ____, you make everything else
go away.' 'Everything just seems right when I'm with you.' Love is a means
to achieve apathy, and therein happiness. Drugs and alcohol are similarly a
means to more directly achieve apathy. Here lies why you CANNOT ban alcohol,
those who don't have love depend on it for their shot of happiness. Families
are also vehicles of apathy. 'Bad times may come, but I am secure in that my
family can work it out' Self-confidence is also very similar. 'Bad times
may come, but I am secure in that I can work it out, whatever it is.' Further
examples can be made as necessary.
And this is my conjectural discourse on happiness.
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
" . . . if one man has not enough to eat three times a day and another man has
$25 million, that last man has something that belongs to the first."
-- Mary E. Lease
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
BLOOD ON THE STREETS: EVERYMAN'S GUiDE TO GUERRiLLA WARFARE (Part III)
by Captain Moonlight
I would like to take this time to join with the majority of the Constitu-
tional Militia leaders in the United States and decry the Oklahoma City bomb-
ing of April 1995 and to mourn its victims. Among its victims can be found
Freedom, as well as support for the Revolutionary Movement. I realize that
many reading this article will disagree with me (in fact I imagine that there
will be articles to be shortly published praising the bombing; articles which
I look forward to reading), but disagreement is a good thing: It leads to the
evolution of the Movement. I can understand why the bombers would wish to
bomb a government building, but these were no mere attention getters: These
bombers were looking for the maximum number of casualties, and went against
the rules of honorable warfare by not identifying their targets. Even guer-
rillas should identify their targets -- from Castro to the Zapatistas to the
IRA the targets have been identified and, in the case of bombings, warning was
often given. Even the extremist Red Army Fraction of Germany has begun non-
fatal bombings, as have the Revolutionary Workers in Japan. The killing of
the children could have been accidental; but had there been a better casing
job it was avoidable. This bombing will only act as a catalyst to pass the
Omnibus Counter-Terrorism Bill and other bills to end all resistance to the
government, both political and military. Military solutions are last-ditch
efforts to end repression; simple shoot-'em-up tactics will not work in a
society which does not relish violence. These issues will be discussed in
more detail in future issues of this serialization, namely the chapters on
tactics and the forthcoming chapter "The Case for Non-Violence."
-- Captain Moonlight
_______________________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER III: LATER ORGANiZATiON OF THE GUERRiLLA BAND
"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of
tyranny over the mind of man."
-- Thomas Jefferson
As the cells begin to consolidate, organization becomes more important.
The earliest traces of a guerrilla army in the bands will be loose alliances
between bands who will fight together in order to maximize their efficiency.
This will eventually evolve into a Liberation Front, which will here mean a
united confederation which, though each group remains autonomous, band togeth-
er to fight the common oppressor. These Liberation Fronts are by far one of
the most common form of resistance before a single government form has been
decided. The Liberation Front is probably one of the most useful forms of
resistance as well. This, however, is not to say that the members of the
guerrilla bands have no political focus; indeed, they must me all the more
focused to avoid being absorbed into other groups.
Using the Liberation Front form, a Council would be made which would
decide the actions of the guerrilla army, based somewhat on a parliamentary
system. This Council would have within it both a Political Branch, which for
the sake of simplicity would contain the Legislative and Judicial Branches,
and a Military Branch. (See Figure 1.) The Council would be formed of offi-
cials elected from the guerrilla bands by the warriors themselves, based on
the size of the band. Each guerrilla band would be allied with a political
group, and each would elect a representative to the Council. The Political
Branch of the Council would act as a provisional government until an elected
government could be instated. This provisional government would pass laws
which would be enforced by the guerrilla bands and (preferably) citizens'
police forces, and judged, whenever possible, by a Judicial Branch of the
Political Branch, in the liberated zones. Needless to say, many times the
guerrilla bands must act on their best judgment on the revolutionary laws
while on the field.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FiGURE 1: COMPOSiTiON OF THE REVOLUTiONARY COUNCiL |
| |
| Revolutionary Council |
| | |
| +---------------+----------------------+ |
| | | |
| Military Branch Political Branch |
| | | |
| +------+------+ +-----+-----+ |
| | | | | |
| Guerrilla Guerrilla Legislative Judicial |
| Band Band Branch Branch |
| | |
| +-----+-------+----------------+ |
| | | | |
| Column Column Column |
| | (approx. |
| +---------+---------+ 3-4 Tricells) |
| | | | |
| Tricell Tricell Tricell |
| Group Group Group |
| | |
| +-----+-----+ |
| | | | |
| Cell Cell Cell |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
During the Black and Tan War, the Irish War for Independence, Sinn Fein
set up a provisional government to take the place of the British government.
A Judicial Branch was formed which, while on the run from the British Govern-
ment and unable to detain people for any period of time, offered various
sentences, such as those of deportation. During this time the Republican
police arrested three men who robbed a bank of 20,000 British pounds. All the
money was recovered, and the men were sentenced to deportation. By replacing
the defeated government with the provisional government, the people are still
protected despite the warfare. For this reason the guerrilla army must have a
stable Political Branch, for without the political leadership, the interests
of the people will be forgotten, and anyone can take control -- including
parties even more against the people than the overthrown government.
As Michigan Militia Commander Norman Olson said, "Brutality will breed
more brutality if justice is left out of the equation." The guerrilla bands,
the citizens' police forces, and the provisional government and laws *must be
just*, for if they are unjust, or do not apply themselves to the needs of the
people, the people will go to the former government to relieve them. The
average person will go to security over freedom, and so the provisional gov-
ernment must offer both.
The Military Branch of the Council would plan the major operations of the
guerrilla bands. Like the Political Council, this group would consist of
members of the various guerrilla bands selected by the bands for their strate-
gic and martial abilities. This Branch of the Council would ensure that the
groups did not work against each other, and that the actions worked with the
aims of the guerrilla bands, both political and martial, and will work with
the Political Branch to make sure that the bands do not break with the needs
of the people. This Branch of the Council will plan out the assaults and
assign the bands their parts in such an assault, and they can take the plans
back to their cells.
Each Council member will know only the people in his band and on the
Council so that, if he is captured, he cannot reveal the identities of other
members of the bands. However, each cell should know the immediate successor
to their leader, as well as where to contact the rest of their band so that,
in the case of their Council-seat's death or disappearance, the cell will not
be cut off from the Council.
The Council will consist of a number of guerrilla bands. Each guerrilla
band is a group of cells which, having the same political views, have banded
together to form their own group in the army. The bands each have their
faction of the Political Branch which they support, and have representation on
the Council based on the number of cells within their band.
When a guerrilla band begins to get too unwieldy, it is best to divide
that band into columns. An example of column structure, taken from Che Gueva-
ra's book on _Guerrilla Warfare_ is given in Figure 2. Che uses the term
'squad' where I have used 'cell', but this is merely a matter of personal
preference, as are the title of the ranks used. Using this structure the
Column Commander would have a special seat on the Military Council along with
the representatives from each cell. The Column Commander will also be respon-
sible for instating successors to the cell leaders when a cell leader is
captured or killed. Also, when faster decisions are needed that do not re-
quire all the cell leaders, Column Commanders can call a meeting to decide
such issues.
Each Column will be divided into several Tricell Groups, each Tricell
Group having one seat on the council. When a guerrilla band has an uneven
number of cells, or circumstances require division into larger groups, each
Tricell group may contain more than three cells -- the Tricell is merely a
model. Each guerrilla band will contain any number of Tricells, depending on
the number of people following that political ideology.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FiGURE 2: COLUMN STRUCTURE iN FAVORABLE GROUND ACCORDiNG TO GUEVARA |
| (Based on Ernesto "Che" Guevara's _Guerrilla Warfare_, section three: |
| "Organization a Guerrilla Band.") |
| |
| Column |
| Commander |
| (100-150 men) |
| | |
| +----------------+-------+-------+---------------+ |
| | | | | |
| Captain Captain Captain Captain |
| (30-40 men) (30-40 men) (30-40 men) (30-40 men) |
| | |
| +-----------+-----------+ |
| | | | |
| Squad Squad Squad |
| Lieutenant Lieutenant Lieutenant |
| (8-12 men) (8-12 men) (8-12 men) |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
The cell is the basic unit of the guerrilla band, each cell being as-
signed a certain task, sometimes to join with other cells, during the assault.
If the cell sees that the guerrilla band is working against the good of the
people it is its duty to break off and form its own band or join another band
which has its ideology. Likewise, if the Council works against the good of
the people or the ideologies of the guerrilla band, it is the duty of the
guerrilla band to break away and form its own army and Council. The army is
then made up of several guerrilla bands, each with slightly different politi-
cal views. However, it cannot wait until after the revolution to solve all
ideological differences. All members of the guerrilla army must have the
basic will to help the people. The Council should not allow a band to join
which is working at counter-purposes to join the guerrilla army lest the band
take over the entire guerrilla army, or defeat the guerrilla army after the
fall of the oppressive government. Guerrilla bands which work against the
good of the people should be considered just as much an enemy as the oppres-
sive government. In order to keep these regressive elements from the guerril-
la army it is best to require a two-thirds majority vote from the Council
before the band is permitted entrance into the army. A two-thirds ratifica-
tion by the individual cells should follow this vote. Then any bands who
disagree with the new band and are unable to resolve their disagreements can
break off and form new armies.
Each cell contains a different make-up depending on the area which is
being fought in. When in favorable ground, ground which is largely in a
remote area and almost inaccessible to the enemy army, each cell can be as
large as twelve men, marching with their column. However, the guerrillas must
often go into more unfavorable ground in order to combat the enemy army, and
in these unfavorable grounds the numbers in the cells should be reduced so as
to add to the elements upon which the guerrilla fighters must rely: surprise
and speed. In urban areas, where there is often a large enemy population and
police response is quick, the cell should range from about four to five men in
size, the number which can fit in an automobile with the least amount of
notice possible. As members of a cell are killed, wounded, or captured,
members of other cells can be transferred into other cells within their guer-
rilla band. New cells, and eventually new columns, are formed with new re-
cruits. In the end, the size of the cell is left to the discretion of those
fighting in it based on the speed needed. Cells may band together, or may be
divided, based on the difficulty of a mission and the need for secrecy and
speed.
The guerrilla bands must each contain a small number of suicide cells.
These cells are those with the highest honor in the guerrilla army: They are
the vanguard force which takes on the hardest tasks of the guerrilla army,
which often prove fatal. Membership in the suicide cells must rely on volun-
teer basis, just as should membership in any other cell. It must always be
remembered that conscription into any cell leads only to security leaks and
shoddy military actions; each man must fully want to be a member of his cell
and must feel a comradeship with the other members of his cell.
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
[=- POETRiE -=]
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
3 COMMENTARY HAiKUS FOR H.P.B.'s "VOiCE OF THE SiLENCE"
by Tejas
1
Inner Quietude
The Eloquence of Silence
Listen, so you may hear
The Urge to Be Still
2
Words casting ripples
Thoughts travelling out in waves
To the shores of This Pond
Then to return to the Source
3
Shhhh...The Void calls,
Calling out for an answer
Calling out for an answer
What can the Question Be?
[Editor's note: H.P.B. refers to Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, founder of the
Theosophical Society in 1875, the first time where the study of occultism
became serious and organized. She published two huge works in the late
1800's, _Isis Unveiled_ and _The Secret Doctrine_, two classics on occultism.
They are very interesting and useful sources, but take heed of the words of
Aleister Crowley:
"The best of the serious attempts to systematise the results
of comparative religion is made by Blavatsky, but though she
had an immense genius for acqu
iring facts, she had none what-
ever for sorting and selecting essentials."
Both of these can be found at your local bookstore, and aside from Crowley's
remarks, which I agree with, they are both a great read, albeit very dense.
I recommend them highly.]
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
"There is no religion higher than the truth."
--motto of the Theosophical Society
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
CRUCiFiXiON
by Nemo est Sanctus
If I seen him bearing down on me now under whitespread
wings like he'd come from Arkangels, I sink I'd die down
over his feet, humbly dumbly, only to washup.
-- James Joyce
I dreamed I was watching the climax of Jesus Christ Superstar -- "The
Crucifixion." The stage was completely black as the nails were hammered in,
and then a harsh, blood red light came up and a cross dropped down, suspended
on chains. Christ was jarred against his bonds as the cross danced against
the chains with the sound of the laughter of a child of seven days. The
Savior glowed like an Adonis.
"God forgive them; they don't know what they are doing," He prayed as an
immense rose rose from the stage below him, blossoming below the cross. The
rose was ivory; the blood red light made a right red rose.
I thought I saw a flicker of orange flame dance across the rose as He
descended towards it, bearing His cross and calling for His mother,
and when the cross crucified the rose, a woman's voice cried out.
The theater echoed with a woman's cries, and a woman moaned, and then I
noticed the orange flames were there. They reflected on the white rose, but
then engulfed the Magdalene, kneeling at the foot of the cross frozen in a
rhapsody of amber light.
Coming in under the radar, at first only in my mind but gradually in
reality, I could hear an undercurrent of voices, male and female, chanting
"Eloi, Eloi." One woman cried and moaned in ecstasy at the cross, and the
voices chanted "Eloi, Eloi." One woman gasped and panted, gloria in ekstasis,
and the voices chanted "Eloi, Eloi."
And the voices chanted "Eloi, Eloi," and the Christ descended. On His
cross, He sank towards the rose. From Golgotha He passed to Hell, and the
Magdalene's flames licked Him as He broke her from her chains.
And the voices chanted "Eloi, Eloi," and the Christ descended. From
Golgotha He came, cross body and Christ soul. He cried for thirst as the
flames licked His feet. "O God, I'm thirsty."
And the voices chanted "Eloi, Eloi," and the Christ descended. He passed
through the purifying flames, and the blood of Christ mingled with nothing but
our own red blood; we, the body of Christ. "Into your hands I commend my
spirit," and into the rose I saw descend the Logos. His final "Not My will
but Thine be done" echoed as the cross touched the rose; I could see before I
could hear His last "You have murdered Me."
And the voices cried out with Christ "Eloi, Eloi" -- "My God, My God" --
and the Christ descended into the rose, tensed, and cried out "lama
sabacthani?" -- "Why hast thou forsaken me?" -- as the veil was rent and
Christ gave up His spirit.
And there was a scream. The Magdalene fell down as dead, though only to
rise up.
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
"There's always a conspiracy somewhere, the only problem lies in finding it."
--Anonymous
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
1
by Tejas
from something
to nothing
in anything flat
as these buddha faces
fill the void
that grips us on this planet
but there are other buddha faces
friendly bubbha spaces
places to share our pain
when existential malaise seeks us out
so this is nothing
but a something
in anything flat
to share the void in my soul
with someone else with a hole
where humanity should dwell
to rise up from that hell
to aetherial spaces
where buddha faces
fill the void
where i was once annoyed
(to share is the essence of being human)
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
[=- FiCTiON -=]
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
THE BEAST WiTHiN
by Howler in the Shadows
He sat on his roof staring at the sky. It was a hot, humid, cloudless
night. His eyes were drawn to the moon, full and swollen in the starless sky.
His thoughts drifted back over the past three hours and he shuddered. The
police were probably already on their way, David's mom had recognized him, he
was sure of it.
He should leave, run away, the last thing he wanted was to be arrested.
His mind recoiled from his earlier actions. Then it was back. It. That
shadowy haze that hovered over his mind sometimes. He could feel it watching.
What had he become? How could he have....? He shuddered again.
It was not a part of him. It. The shadow thing. He had lived with it
for ten of his seventeen years, long enough for him to *know*.
Always before it had been contained, leashed, by his morals, his fear,
his strength of will. Always before he had held it at bay, suffered its
malicious laughter, but no more. Something had changed. He controlled it no
more.
He silently cursed himself, for being so weak.
Cursed the shadow thing for its evil.
Cursed God for allowing this to happen.
It made him remember. It feasted upon his anger and his grief. The
shadow thing rejoiced.
* * * * *
The day had begun normal enough. He went to school, talked to his
friends, publicly announced that algebra was the work of the devil; an average
day. He arrived home, watched t.v. for a couple of hours, and began his home-
work.
The trouble began just after seven. He was the only one home. His
parents were working late.... again. The phone began to ring while he was in
the shower. At the seventh ring he became anxious. By the tenth he was
scared. He bolted out of the bathroom to the living room and snatched up the
phone.
"Hello?" he asked.
There was only sobbing on the other end.
"Hello?" he asked again.
"Alex..." began a wavering voice.
He recognized that voice, Jessica, his neighbor and best friend since the
second grade. She hadn't been in school that day.
"Jesse? What's the matter?"
"Alex, I need to talk... my parents... can I come over?"
"Sure, Jesse..."
The phone clicked.
Alex walked back to the bathroom and began toweling off. There was a
knock on the door. He wrapped the towel around his waist and answered the
door. Jessica was standing outside. She was a petite brunette with short,
curly hair. Always pretty, but never beautiful. He noticed that she was
wearing the same clothes she had yesterday, they looked slept in and cried on.
She wandered in past him and collapsed onto the couch. She stared out the
window for a moment before bursting into tears. He was immediately by her
side.
"Jesse, tell me what's wrong."
She hesitated a moment before latching onto his shoulder and bursting
into tears again. They sat like that for several minutes before she began.
"Last night, me and David went on a date." Alex nodded. "We went to his
house, to watch that movie that was on t.v. You know, the one with Harrison
Ford? His mother wasn't home and he had been drinking. I shouldn't have been
there.... I knew it was a mistake... It's my fault...
"We were making out when he began to get rough..." Alex's stomach began
to knot up. He could foresee what she was going to say next, and he dreaded
it. The shadow thing crept near, hovering at the edge of consciousness. She
composed herself before continuing.
"He pushed me down.... I tried to stop him... I couldn't..."
The shadow thing howled with joy. Its leash stretched. Between sobs she
forced out, "I couldn't stop him..." Something inside him shattered. The
walls of the shadow thing's pen crumbled, falling to dust in the confines of
his mind. Its laughter filled his skull.
"Why come to me? Why not your parents?"
"Go to my father? He thinks that I'm a slut as it is! He would just
slap me and call me a worthless bitch!" She sobbed again. "What should I do,
Alex?"
"Don't worry," he soothed her, "I'll take care of it. You just need to
get some rest."
He led her back to his parent's bedroom and sat her down on his parent's
bed.
"Take these," he said, pushing two sleeping pills into her hand. His mom
used those pills when she had nightmares. Nightmares of the night Alex's
brother died in that fire. The night the shadow thing had been born.
He wandered back into the living room and sat down. He had to think.
What should he do?
He knew David, he liked him, was David really capable....?
Yes, he was.
How could he....
HOW DARE HE TOUCH HER!
That was not his thought. That was the shadow thing, now running loose
in his brain.
HE MUST PAY!
But how?
HE MUST DIE!
No, he would not kill anyone. Alex stopped moving. His hands dropped
from his head to his lap. His lips twitched. Cold hatred flooded him. It
overloaded his system.
Yes that is what must happen he thought.
The will of God...
The will of the shadow thing.
Thy will be done...
The world must be purged of his presence.
He must be punished.
Alex silently got up, dressed and left. Jessica slept soundly. David
lived on the other side of the neighborhood. A short walk. He and his mother
lived in a two story brick house, one of the nicest in the area. Alex stood
at the end of the street, watching. The lights were on. Someone was moving
in the living room. The mother. He advanced to the door. Nothing existed
but that door, and what was behind it.
He paused on the doorstep, fighting the shadow thing, but he had little
strength left. His vision flooded crimson as new powerful rage flooded his
system. He kicked the door open and rushed in. David's mother whirled round
and recognition filled her eyes. Alex caught her with a vicious back hand to
the temple. She spun half round before collapsing on the floor, unconscious.
Alex held no malice towards her. He moved around the inert body and headed
upstairs.
Down the hall, up the stairs, third door to the right. He'd been here
many times. 'Always before as a friend...' His own thought or that of the
shadow thing? It was getting harder to tell. He paused before the door. It
was hard. Something fighting him. Or was he fighting the shadow thing? It
was the final step, a line, a barrier.
OPEN THE DOOR, YOU SPINELESS PIECE OF SHIT!
He found himself academically puzzled. This was the first time It had
actually addressed him. He watched his hand move toward the knob. It was
locked. He smiled, somehow it was better if he was resisted. His adrenaline
was pumping. This was the most fun he had had in a long time. It was better
than... better than life itself. He paused, savoring the moment, inhaled and
kicked the door open. David had been on his bed watching t.v., he was on his
feet now. Alex's rage doubled at the sight of David. It was almost impossi-
ble to tell the shadow thing from Alex's own thoughts.
There was understanding in David's eyes, and fear. David was much larger
than Alex. Tall, muscular, a football player, all the things Alex was not.
None of that would matter, Alex knew that. Perhaps David did too.
The fight itself was a haze of blood and breaking bones. He remembered
beating David with his fists with psychotic fury. He remembered ripping
David's throat out with his teeth. He remembered the pure joy he felt kicking
David's skull in.
David's mother was stirring as he left. He ignored her. He was still
numb when he reached home. The shadow thing was quiet now. Satisfied with
the bloodshed it seemed. He crept into the house, his parents were still not
home. He entered the bedroom where Jessica was sleeping and watched her for a
few minutes. He left her a note on the dresser where she would find it:
Dear Jesse,
I'm afraid that I've done something horrible. I would ask for
your forgiveness, but I know that it is unforgivable. I sincerely
apologize for any pain that I have caused you.
* * * * *
He could hear the sirens now. Getting closer. He would not run. He
should be punished for what he had done. He was a monster.
The shadow thing laughed.
He must be punished.
The shadow thing was closer than it had ever been. He could feel it
creeping in. It embedded itself into his mind. It saw through his eyes, felt
through his hands. His blood pumped through it, becoming its blood. Its
thoughts pumped through him, becoming his thoughts.
He must die. It would die with him, he was sure of it.
The shadow thing laughed.
He laughed.
The police would be here soon. He would wait for them. It had him now.
He despaired. What had he done to deserve this? He pleaded to God, but God
was not there. He would wait for the police.
He must be punished.
He must Die.
Alex was gone long before the police arrived.
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
"There is no art form in the world which is not outweighed by a pinprick, a
beggar's lamenting cry, a drop of blood from a suckling child's little finger,
no art form in the world, and the least of all ours!"
-- Sven Delblanc
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
GRAVEYARD
by Crux Ansata
[Kind readers, strange readers, the story you are about to
read is true. Only the facts have been changed to protect
the innocent. Yes, I have taken liberties with the facts,
but the truth remains untouched. This is a tale of
justice served. As an imperfect pot is cast aside by the
potter, so is the imperfect here cast aside. But this
hollow vessel has a voice. It asks merely that it be
heard out, though its fate is predestined.]
Reflecting despite the agony, I can say I am glad of one thing: that she
told me to fuck off to my face. Those six words -- "I think we should break
up" -- may have caused me more pain than anything else in my life, but I would
rather take the blow from her then have it blunted by phone or mail or --
worst of all -- proxy.
With the pain so acute I had but two options available. I could absent
myself, or I could lash out with the hopes of hurting her back, though knowing
I could never cut so deep as she just had. Over the course of our nearly
seventeen month relationship I have learned that the first option the girl
interprets as coldness or disinterest. Nothing could be farther from the
truth. I absent myself not because I do not care, but rather because I care
only too much. She may have found someone better, but I have never found
anyone to compare to her. Despite the pain, and even if my apparent coldness
seems to hurt her, I could not make an effort to cause her pain, and if I had
stayed I would have said something we both would have regretted.
My answer to her six word barrage: Fine, then let's leave. I walked in
apparent disinterest to my car, and with squealing tires absented myself.
* * * * *
There could be only one destination. Nowhere was as appropriate for my
retreat -- strategic withdrawal -- as the graveyard. Our graveyard. It was
in the graveyard that we spent our first date, her body and mine amid the
headstones, and it is in the graveyard that many of my fondest memories of our
relationship are set. I remember grabbing a half hour before her rehearsals
to sit in the graveyard and gaze into each others' eyes. I remember
"kidnaping" her in the middle of the night and spiriting her away to the
graveyard to lie on our backs and gaze at the stars, making the angels
themselves jealous of the flames of our passions. "We made love like mad
angels," and those in heaven were left to wonder whether those in hell had
broken free before Armageddon; such was the intensity of our passion.
As I walked amidst the graves in the Saturday dark, I should have been
expected to feel alone. I didn't. Rather, I felt like a half-person. I had
been gutted; I could not feel alone. There was -- is -- not enough of me left
to even call it "being".
The force of my sobs frightened me.
* * * * *
I sat and made a list. She had talked about staying in touch. Again I
probably sounded cold, but I was simply being honest. I do not think we would
have anything to say to each other. I had made similar agreements to stay in
touch with every other girl I've dated, and with every one it has lasted less
than a month, and that on the outside. With her though there is an added
element. One can only dance so close to the flame. Moths can go so far as to
destroy themselves in the fires, but a candle has never openly spurned a moth.
For the rest of us, we are doomed to be put in the oven, and taken out, and
put in...
But could we have managed it? We shall never know.
Anyway, my list, in part, runs as follows:
How long were you seeing him before you told me?
How long were your claims of love lies, that I would not suspect?
Is he good in bed?
("... take your songs and your Stratocaster," as the poet has said.
"See if they're half as good in bed as me".)
How did I fail?
Did you ever love me?
How could I have changed myself so it wouldn't have had to end
this way?
Would it help if I killed him?
Reflecting on the list, it is quite clear what my mind was thinking. It
was trapped in a Manichaean war between my child-soul -- hurt and wanting to
hurt back -- and my adult soul -- mature enough to recognize my failures and
to know the only question worth asking is "why?" As well as mature enough to
realize that this is the one question even the most well meaning can never
answer.
* * * * *
The next day (after a church service where I cried publicly, if as non-
obviously as possible) I set about cleaning. I took down many things I'd had
on my walls, including a gift or two from her. "All the things she gave me,"
as the song goes, although I didn't put them in a big brown box. I could
never cast away the things she'd given me; they are like a saint's relics.
Having touched the ineffable they retain an almost tangible holiness, as
ineffaceable as my miasma.
When one lies in a graveyard as much as I, one learns to respect the
bodies of the dead. The gifts are the corpse of our relationship. I stored
them carefully in my wardrobe beside her photographs and every letter, card,
and scrap of paper she had ever given me. "All the things she gave me."
All except one.
Over Spring Break she was out of town. This is true of both Spring
Breaks we were together; it seems that we had very few vacations together and
she undoubtedly vacationed more with other guys than with the one she was
theoretically dating. She sent me a card that read, simply, "I love you."
(The torturer in my psyche never tires of asking me whether she was lying or
mistaken. The speed of events indicates that it is more than likely she'd
considered leaving me before she even wrote the card, and I have worshiped at
the idols of the Romantics so long that if love can end I have difficulty
believing it was ever there.) The card came with a little pin with a
reproduction of the painting on the card impressed upon it and a letter
indicating that I'd likely never wear the pin. She was right; she cast me off
before I'd worn it around her. She never discovered -- nor inquired -- what
became of it.
I'd put it in my shrine.
Beside my bed I have a small shrine with the icons and jewelry too
valuable for casual wear. The card -- the last time she wrote "I love you";
to me, at least -- and the pin stand beside my St. Patrick icon, my Sts.
Patrick and Christopher medals, and my golden and wooden crosses, beneath my
crucifix and rosaries. When I packaged away her other gifts I left this out.
The other gifts represented her favor, in which I no longer am. This
represents my devotion, and she will ever be my goddess.
* * * * *
Looking back -- and that is all I can do, as she took whatever future I
may have looked forward to -- I think I may have been mistaken in forcing the
decision. Still, it feels better to pull the blade from one's breast, even if
it does disturb the wound. With a wound such as this I would rather die empty
than violated.
But to whom can I plead my case? She has found a better man. Had I
simply fallen from out her favor than I would cast myself at her feet like a
troubadour to a noblewoman whom he knows he does not deserve any attention
from but whom he petitions because even the notice of her casting him away is
better than the oblivion of never having been acknowledged at all. The
opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is indifference. But I
will not interfere with her relationship, as I have already been replaced.
Indeed, I had been replaced before I'd even been cast off. I'll not try to
take her from him, and I'll certainly not interfere if she believes she can
derive more joy from him than from me. My happiness is nothing compared to
hers.
With this testament, then, I plead my case to the ladies and gentlemen of
a jury of my peers -- the dead.
The day before, she had graced me with a kiss much too intimate for its
antecedent. ("Judas, must you betray me with a kiss?" A cry not of surprise,
not of anger, but of a loathing for one who is so deserving of betrayal that
even His most intimates recognized it -- and were forced to oblige.) At the
time it was the brush of Ishtar on my lips. (Astarte was in no wise the
primary divinity in this touch.) In retrospect it was a slap on the very face
that bent to accept it with all the childlike pleasure -- and dogged trust --
that I accepted everything she ever saw fit to cast down to me. "All the
things she gave me...."
Our lips had barely parted, our breaths still mingled, and she breathed:
I have a crush on someone; I think I like him as more than a friend.
(God, how I hate that pattern of half truths. "I have a crush on..." as
if she were some jittery junior high girl. My jading is deep. I
subconsciously interpret such a phrase as "I want him to fuck me." It may not
be as dainty, it may not even be true. At least, however, it means something,
and has the courage to let its true meaning be known, stains and all. "More
than a friend." A totally meaningless statement. Would she come up to me and
tell me he is her comrade? I think not, but that at least would mean what
she said. One's lover is not "more than a friend". "If we can't be friends,
we can at least be lovers.")
A few inquiries revealed that she and he were already "a thing" (another
damn nicety that the Nemo est Sanctus in me translates as "fucking", though
even the Nemo dares not believe it where I can see him; even in my own mind I
care more for her honor than for my own happiness) and more than one person
suspected that I had been given a false time to arrive at her competition that
day so I would miss it and not interfere with their affair. I watched her
that day from a distance and, true to form, they were beside each other almost
the whole time I was watching.
But whether she had given me disinformation or I had misunderstood: such
questions may never be answerable. I do not know -- God knows.
* * * * *
I have a great uncle who fought with the French Resistance during the
Second World War. His life was saved once because a bullet hit his religious
medal. His chest was black and blue and he was flung across the room
unconscious, but it saved his life.
If I'd lived to see the Revolution, I'd hoped to wear the pin she gave me
over my heart as my own charm. But I no longer have any life worth saving.
* * * * *
[The following appears to be a fragment from a letter
attempted by the author transcribed into his testament.
We can only assume it was never sent.]
How could you and he have been "a thing", how could "everyone [have seen]
it coming" if this situation does not have to do with him? You say yourself,
though, "I would never give up our relationship for someone less perfect than
you." What can that mean but that he is more perfect?
Indeed, positive though you may be, this undoubtedly did have to do with
him. How can I be so certain? Because he was the reason I forced the
question. You want him, he wants you, and everyone and their pet goat knew.
I could not stand by and be ridiculed like that. I can accept you and him if
it makes you happy -- I can be with Joyce in the largest fraternal
organization in the civilized world: the cuckolds -- but I will not be
ridiculed. I had planned to say you had to either lose him, me, or the
rumors. You had a different decision in mind, and I deferred to your wishes
as it was that important to you that I be cast off. As you say, you "had no
choice."
But I leave you now, and if you choose to ignore this letter, perhaps you
will finally be rid of me; I perhaps will have been cast off. I go back to my
tears of blood, as I did Saturday, that flow from my burst heart.
* * * * *
But, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I deceive you. Or, rather, I
deceive myself. The facts have been changed to protect the indecent. Nothing
hurts so much as the truth. I fear this makes no sense, though, as I care not
what an impartial jury may think of me. The State need make no case: I am
guilty. I plead innocent only that I may get my proverbial day in court. I
am judge and I am executioner. As for a jury, I wanted someone who would
listen impartially. Ironically, only the jury will not judge me, but only
judge my actions.
It was different with her, though. The truth hurts. It is the little
lies that keep a relationship together. Each one of us trusts the other most
of all not to try to see behind the masks until midnight, when all will be
revealed. A relationship that was not based on deception could never be
happy. At times I could not bring myself to tell her the truth when there was
a problem. I was aware it was my fault, and I would not burden her with it:
I have no apologies for that. But then I would not confess my failings to
her, and for that I have no excuse. Why could I not tell her the times I was
dissatisfied? Why could I not tell her I, too, could feel the pain of the
distance that had grown between us? Why could I not tell her that a factor in
this distance was the minor stimulants -- caffeine, ginseng, etc. -- that I
would take in major doses? Why could I not confess that when I saw her pain
at this distance I was afraid to admit the pattern and instead took greater
doses and greater potions so I would deaden myself and feel less of
everything, including her pain? Why? The one question even the most well
meaning cannot answer. Mea culpa.
Why could I not confess that, at times, I would say something I don't
believe, not just to make the person I'm talking to think, but sometimes so I
could hear my doubts proven wrong; so I could hear someone else confirm that
my pessimistic worldview is wrong? Why could I not confess that my idea of
conversation is often not far from argument, and the conflict I dwell on is
sometimes hard to tell from hatefulness? How often our conversations dried up
not because I had nothing to say but rather because I could not see how you
could take an interest in my thoughts. And then you, thinking I didn't care,
then stopped speaking yourself.
Why could I not confess that I, too, seem to need stability in a
relationship? But that is simple. Stability is too frightening.
And with me it is something different. I lie to myself to keep the dwarf
in check, the Nemo. I lie to myself because sometimes I cannot face the
truth. Sometimes the truth entails too much pain, even for I who am used to
being hurt.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: She did not leave me for another man.
This is a lie I and the State have been perpetuating. Is it aesthetically
pleasing to claim she did, or do I deceive myself (protect myself) again? Is
the real reason I make this claim that I really have only two options: to
believe she found someone better or to believe I, alone, was entirely
unsatisfying? When one is left for another man, one may make the case that
one can improve or that one may have pleased the girl once upon a time.
When one is left on one's own "merits", what solace is there to be had?
So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, boys and girls, I confess. I
deliver my mea culpas now, on the record, as I will never have another chance.
She left me. I, alone, failed her.
* * * * *
I was thinking this morning of a very different Saturday night, long,
long ago. Almost yesterday. When we'd first been going out.
We were on the way to the graveyard, on a kind of double date, and had
stopped under a streetlight to wait for more people to join us.
The next day my friend, who'd been with us, told me I'd scared him. He'd
never seen me running and horseplaying like that. In short, he'd never seen
me as happy as I obviously was with her.
What happened, Bananas? Sometimes I miss you so much.
* * * * *
And now I lie here once again, for the last time. This manuscript can
act as a note; as adequate an answer to "Why?" as possible. I lie here with
paper and pencil as tomorrow's dew is just beginning to condense on the blades
of grass, and with the blade Harlequin gave me for Christmas; the black dagger
that thirsts for blood.
A smile steals across my lips at another memory of this graveyard, that
of when the police caught us in a compromising position -- when the girl is
under seventeen as she was anything is compromising after dark, even I am sure
the most chaste of caresses -- and in the course of searching my car found
this blade on the dashboard. Felony possession of an illegal weapon.
I'm glad he didn't show up until after I'd removed it from my boot.
And now, O Lord, I harbor no hopes of salvation, but before I am damned I
ask that you answer my last prayer: If I have not the strength to stab myself
twice, may my blade land home the first time, and may I be dead before anyone
misses me.
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
State of unBeing is copyrighted (c) 1995 by Kilgore Trout and Apocalypse
Culture Publications. All rights are reserved to cover, format, editorials,
and all incidental material. All individual items are copyrighted (c) 1995 by
the individual author, unless otherwise stated. This file may be disseminated
without restriction for nonprofit purposes so long as it is preserved complete
and unmodified. Quotes and ideas not already in the public domain may be
freely used so long as due recognition is provided. State of unBeing is
available at the following places:
iSiS UNVEiLED 512.930.5259 14.4 (Home of SoB)
THE LiONS' DEN 512.259.9546 24oo
TEENAGE RiOt 418.833.4213 14.4 NUP: COSMIC_JOKE
MOGEL-LAND 215-732-3413 14.4
ftp to io.com /pub/SoB
World Wide Web http://io.com/~hagbard/sob.html
Submissions may also be sent to Kilgore Trout at <kilgore@bga.com>. Thank you.
--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--
