THE ADVENTURES OF MARILYN (Part 23)

In which Marilyn – finally abandoned by D-Corps, and with only Nembutal to defend herself – has no choice. As Yancey Slide previously advised, she quickly replicates as the attack ships of Zeta Reticuli warp from orbit into her neural subspace.

THEY DON'T STAGE SHOWS LIKE THIS ANY MORE #2

Thanks to Valerie (who sent this image for the bloody VP hockey mom) a new series seems to be evolving.

DEATH STAR BY THE BAY

Click here for an inconsequential-but-fun video clip that seems like the sci-fi thing to do as Hurricane Gustav grows and advances on both the Gulf Coast and McCain’s convention, and we wait to see what happens next and wonder if God was really on our side all along. (But which God?)

The secret word is Tuesday

THIS IS A JOKE, RIGHT?

Vice President? And, no, this isn't sexism. Just stunned amazement.

The secret words are Beauty Queen

BUT THIS ISN'T...

The Interior Department has announced a plan that would dramatically undercut the Endangered Species Act -- our nation's safety net for animals and plants on the brink of extinction. If finalized, the plan would allow government agencies with no formal wildlife expertise to decide the fate of imperiled species like the polar bear, the gray wolf and whales. Even worse, those agencies may have a pro-polluter or pro-development agenda that is directly at odds with the well-being of wildlife. Click to help.

“When do we launch the full assault, sensei?”

NOTES ON WORLD CONQUEST

Having read all the comments and digested all that was said – and boy is my stomach tired – I figure that we are doing just fine with the comments being used as they are right now, and a forum would probably be more trouble than it’s worth, plus, with Doc40’s high levels of philosophical permissiveness, it might become a troll magnet and time would be wasted punishing idiots. Having said that, I would never object if anyone wanted to erect a forum under the Doc40 logo on their own dime. They’d have links and my blessing, but not much more.

I think I’ve said before that the current way Doc40 is organized stretches my resources about as far as they can be stretched for a labor of love, propaganda, and high amusement. (I’ve yet to find the time to build a new Doctube post.) I would, however, be even more amused by a Doc40 shop. Way cool. Except it would be a portal to the real world of dread business where I flounder and tend to find the daunting complexities of commerce about as amusing as a minefield. I have no talent for the transactional. A clue to why I’m always broke, I guess. I never had any concept of Doc40 ever being a commercial proposition. Putting aside all altruism, the interwebs defy business models, and I absolutely don’t want to post advertising. On the other hand, if the endeavor could provide the odd bottle of scotch and pay the media bill now and again, I’d far from object. It also seems a good idea at time when the number of visitors to the blog is on a definite growth curve.

To organize a shop would really require my acquiring a partner-in-retail who could organize the damned place – someone who could compare the advantages of Café Press v Zazzle, ramrod artwork, and generally take command, while I have lots of really good ideas for items that would irritate squares and Republicans. Any rewards would, of course be shared. I fear that is the only way we will have our hoodies and t-shirts. Wanna be the Doc40 entrepreneur? Write me at byron4d@msn.com . The rest of you just leave comments.

The secret words are Reader’s Control

CUT TO COMMERCIAL

Jettboy is selling buttons as pictured here. If you want some, email him at jettboy@bellsouth.net. (It occurs to me that Doc 40 could also be a market place for reader-generated stuff.)

CRYPTIQUE – While Obama speaks, the Irish add apostrophes.

The Dems have a had a pretty Dem good convention so far, but don’t let’s get carried away. Remembr our true leader.

GRATUITOUS PICTURE #1

This is a nuclear explosion. (Supplied by catmoderne)

GRATUITOUS PICTURE #2

And this is Brigitte Bardot in a bikini. (Lifted from Tom Sutpen.)
You decide.

The secret words are Life and Death

After all the discussion on the “comments” of a forum, a Doc40 shop, etc., I’ve pretty much marshaled my thoughts as best and as seriously as I can in an LA August heat wave, but have been too busy to jot them down. Maybe tomorrow. (As Billy Fury once remarked.)

A GOON SHOW VIDEO

Click here you silly twisted persons. (Americans should maybe Google “The Goon Show.”)

ANNALS OF MIND CONTROL

This comes from Elf Hellion

"The Army has given a team of University of California researchers a $4 million grant to study the foundations of "synthetic telepathy." But unlike old-school mind-melds, this seemingly psychic communication would be computer-mediated. The University of California, Irvine explains: The brain-computer interface would use a noninvasive brain imaging technology like electroencephalography to let people communicate thoughts to each other. For example, a soldier would "think" a message to be transmitted and a computer-based speech recognition system would decode the EEG signals. The decoded thoughts, in essence translated brain waves, are transmitted using a system that points in the direction of the intended target.
All across the military, there's interest in translating thoughts into computer code, and vice versa. Darpa-funded researchers have taught monkeys how to control robotic limbs with their thoughts. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman is building binoculars that tap the unconscious mind. Honeywell has built a system that monitors pre-conscious nueral firings, to help pick out targets in satellite imagery. The JASONs, the Pentagon's premiere scientific advisory board, has warned of the dangers of enemies implanted with brain-computer interfaces. And the Defense Intelligence Agency just released a report, saying the military needs to spend more on neuroscience - up to and including "mak[ing] the enemy obey our commands."

CRYPTIQUE – “The consciousness of the people diverges from the power structure's hypnosis and con job.”

“I don’t know why I’m still playing this damned piano. What’s God done for me lately?”

THIS BLOG IS STILL PROTECTED BY...

REMEMBRANCES OF CONVENTIONS PAST

As the Democractic Convention rocks on in Denver (with the magnificent Ted Kennedy) we recall conventions of yesteryear. Tom Sutpen has posted a magnificent sequence of shots from Chicago in 1968.

TALES OF THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (Part 4)

Today, in our shameless denigrating of John McCain, and hammering home the point that he might actually be a worse president than the loathsome GWB, we turn to Maureen Dowd and Faux Smoke.

“My mom did not approve of men who cheated on their wives. She called them “long-tailed rats.”
During the 2000 race, she listened to news reports about John McCain confessing to dalliances that caused his first marriage to fall apart after he came back from his stint as a P.O.W. in Vietnam.
I figured, given her stringent moral standards, that her great affection for McCain would be dimmed.
“So,” I asked her, “what do you think of that?”
“A man who lives in a box for five years can do whatever he wants,” she replied matter-of-factly.
I was startled, but it brought home to me what a powerful get-out-of-jail-free card McCain had earned by not getting out of jail free." Click here for more

Plus stories on his flip-flops and other policy reversals (from Faux Smoke)

And Pat Buchanan cries treason. (Sent by Iggy.)

“We never lost a battle in Vietnam. It was American public opinion that made us lose.” – John McCain

The secret word is maybe Senile

DO WE WANT A DOC40 FORUM?

Hola Señor Farren,
I'm really getting a kick out of the whole back-and-forth happening on the ol' Doc 40 blog, but you really need to get yourself a forum set up, Mick. I have space and the script (whatever thae fuck that means) for one that came with my website, but I have no idea how to set it up. If you know a good web guy, I'd be happy to donate the space.
Jett

The above letter comes from our pal Jett. I very much like the idea of expanding Doc40 in any way that we can. I subscribe the shark metaphor of swim forward or die, but I also have to be realistic that, in terms of time, cash, and ingenuity, I can’t put too much more into the project no matter how much I value it as a means of communication and a work of art. Already I find myself failing to find the time to update Doctube, and the quest for a decoder ring is not going well. (More about this, maybe tomorrow.) On the other hand, I don’t want to include Google ads, and I even feel uncomfortable putting out a PayPal tip jar or anything like that. This I presenting this idea to our regular readers. Would you like a forum? Is their a “good web guy” out there who could set this up in five minutes.

And, having said all that, I return to watching the Dems convent.

The secret word is Growth

CRYPTIQUE -- Deuterium + Tritium > Alpha + n ...

THE ADVENTURES OF MARILYN (Part 17)

In which Marilyn, accompanied by the French homosexual, peers into the subway tunnel seeking the King of The Lizardmen from the Hollow Earth.

The secret acronym is C.H.U.D.S

I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY

I mean, what could be added?

LIZ TAYLOR AND ROPE TRICKS FOR THE WEEKEND

Moments come when I wonder why I am driven to classic images of beauty like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Is there some golden age effect here that endows these retro stars with a certain unique class, or is it just that these are the images of my formative years – fetishized and totemized – and I have simply become so old that I’m more comfortable with yesteryear? But, then again, who could equate Liz Taylor with Lindsay Lohan?

AN INSPIRATION FOR SATURDAY

The artwork is by Shepard Fairey and sent by Valerie.

SO THIS IS THE TICKET?

My computer has just told me that Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware is Barack Obama's pick as vice presidential running mate. On the conventional surface it seems a smart move, but I gotta think this one through. I guess it's better than Lyndon Johnson.

The secret word is not Utopia

EGO, NOSTALGIA, AND THE YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY

They tell me that I could be a quite persuasive public speaker back in the 20th century. I don’t know how true this is. I recall I did spend probably too much of my time fretting the ethical problems of self promotion and the paradox of the rock star as revolutionary and the revolutionary as rock star. A few antique video clips do seem to confirm that I used to be able to turn a phrase, and thus the discovery of this old photo created both regret and nostalgia that, where once I ranted, I now merely blog. I’d was also pleased to see the young image of our contemporary Doc40 pal, London Steve, looking into the camera. Steve was White Panther Minister of Pranks and Explosions, and also a master at the noble art of poker, which I figure he still is today. Ah but it takes me back.

CRYPTIQUE – If you lose hope, you can always find it again.

THE EVIL THAT IS McCAIN -- PART 3 (Tales of the Manchurian Candidate)

“John McCain is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.”

The dirt on McCain continues to blow in. This is an excellent piece by Frank Rich on the man from The New York Times. This is a Robert Greenwald video of McCain in action (from Faux Smoke) and this is another.

The secret name is Abraham Simpson

THE EVIL THAT IS McCAIN -- PART 2

I have to apologize to all of my non-US readers. I thought I wouldn’t have to confront the horror of the upcoming Presidential election until September, but John McCain is making that difficult. And this election really does impact the world. Today, at some televised “town hall” meeting, he was asked where he was going to find the troops for all the wars he wants to fight. Would he have to reinstitute the draft? McCain gave a totally non-committal answer that seemed to indicate he didn’t rule it out as an option.

Meanwhile our pal Iggy has sent us three evil McCain stories. The first is how he’s accused of plagiarizing Wikipedia for his speeches. The second is a link to Greg Palast on McCain and nuke power, and the third is a more general resume of McCain double dealing.

Keep the dirt a’coming and, in the meantime, click here for a free Obama button.

MARMITE!

The name of Marmite has been invoked.
You are warned.

The secret word is Yeast

(Thank you leftcoastcat)

DOC40 LOVES RACHEL

"Although in this picture I look more like Buddy Holly."

Rachel Maddow – liberal commentator and Air America host, adored by Doc40 -- now has her own show on MSNBC in the 9.00PM Eastern/6.00PM Pacific slot following Keith Olbermann and Countdown, starting on Monday Sept. 8, and, with it, she breaks into what had been criticized as the MSNBC “boys club” led by Olbermann and Chris Matthews. Maddow, who has that media lesbian, Elvis look, lives with her girlfriend Susan Mikula in Manhattan and Northampton, Mass, may also be the first openly gay woman to host a prime-time TV news show. (And I wish I lived in Manhattan and Northampton, Mass.)

The secret word is Starquake

THE EVIL THAT IS McCAIN

“What if there was a vote to decide if $13.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies should go into oil alternatives, like solar and wind? What would you want your Senator to do?
Well, as you probably guessed, there was such a vote. We needed 60 votes to prevail, and 59 of them were in. But John McCain ducked the vote. As a result, instead of powering millions of homes with clean energy and building next-generation solar technology, we're giving ExxonMobil and other companies billions in tax breaks at a time when they're already making record profits.”

This comes from MoveOn.org but it could well be the start of a new irregular series. Send negative McCain stories – true or false – to Byron4d@msn.com

CRYPTIQUE – Resistance is never futile.

LUCK BE A LADY

This is “Lady Luck” by the artist Kirtsen Easthope. (Sent by Valerie – and more of Ms Easthope’s work can be seen by clicking.) I post it not only to cover the fact that it’s been a long day and waxing too profound tonight seems too much like hard work, but also because I fear we’re going to need all the luck we can get in the next couple of months to get through the tedium of the Olympics, the party conventions, the deepening recession, and the bloody election, all without this country becoming an oil cartel police state. I need to get a bet down. Obama don’t fail us now.

CRYTIQUE – John McCain kicks dogs.

LIKE A CAT'S BREAKFAST

Last Sunday, my fantasy nostalgia Brit breakfast caused a few comments. The cat also has his fantasies. And the ones about food are quite grandiose although not as greasy.

The secret word is Tuna

A THOUGHT FROM CHIEF SITTING BULL

(Again supplied by Munz)

"Hear me, people: We have now to deal with another race – small and feeble when our fathers first met them, but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough they have a mind to till the soil and the love of possession is a disease with them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break but the poor may not. They take their tithes from the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule." -- Chief Sitting Bull, speaking at the Powder River Conference in 1877

The secret move is Ghost Dance

POSTSCRIPT ON ELVIS

How the mighty have been abused.

AND NOW FOR BREAKFAST...

"Egg, bacon, beans, and chips please, miss."

ELVIS PRESLEY DIED THIRTY ONE YEARS AGO TODAY

Like Edna O’Brien already told us, August is a wicked month. It killed Elvis Presley, 31 years ago. And today he is a one dollar coin, and a Barbie doll, and maybe an ancient, 20th century fertility symbol. Maybe. We have long since mourned. Now all we have to do is remember. And I still think we owe the man. I do. His was my very first revolution. The linear precursor of the one in which I still struggle today. Not I hope with the last of my strength.

The night Elvis died I was in a converted church hall in South London with Larry Wallis. We had been writing the song “Half Price Drinks” but a massive thunderstorm had broken out, complete with thunder, lightning, and the beating of torrential rain on a tin roof. A Sony TV was playing something unwatched, and then a still picture of Elvis flashed up. Oh shit! I though, he’s dead. (This is recounted at greater length in the book Give The Anarchist A Cigarette.)

CRYPTIQUE – I shoulda been given the chair of Elvis Presley studies at Princeton, Charlie.

Commercial break

Forty bucks for a painted dollar?

REMEMBER HIM LIKE THIS...

The active remembrance of Elvis past has schismed into two distinct camps. The more positive remember the young Elvis and celebrate him on his January 8th birthday, and then there is the gloom of aging ladies who go to Memphis on this day in August to assemble for his death. And who I personally find exceedingly depressing. (In Memphis today it is 90F and 90% humidity.)

...NOT LIKE THIS

The secret word is Entropy

A THOUGHT FROM CHAIRMAN PATTI

Patti Smith delivered the following during a recent performance of Rock and Roll Nigger in San Francisco. (Sent by Munz)

'To be outside of society is a lot of responsibility. To be a sacred bum of art, a sacred bum of the earth, we can't stumble like some disconnected abstract telephone. We have to wire up, we have to look each other in the face, we have to let our numbers be known, we have to find our brothers and sisters, we have to strengthen our numbers, we have to rise up, and a new generation, they will rise up. Which way will they rise up? With an air of positivity? If we don't give it to them, every fucking thing will burn! We have got to give them something. We have got to give them some hope. We have got to give them some recognition, that they are alive, that they matter, that they're not just a bunch of mindless consumers. We have to give them love, we have to give them an example, we have to get clean, we have to get tough, we have to get ready, because if the revolution comes, man, we're going to be there and ready! AWAKE! AWAKE! Outside of society…”

We the people, we must be a thorn in the side of the Bush administration...'

DOC40 WISHES DOC HOLLIDAY A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today is Doc Holliday’s birthday. Had he lived, John Henry Holliday would have been 157. Doc was my favorite western gunfighter. The Thomas De Quincy of shootists and pistoleers, he had consumption, a laudanum habit, a dandy’s taste in threads, and covered a bad attitude with exquisite Dixie manners. When asked if he had a conscience, he reportedly replied, “I coughed that up with my lungs years ago.”

A poem. My take on what Coleridge might have done had he written a western...
IS THERE A CHINAMAN IN TOWN?

Is there a Chinaman in town?
Doc always asked the same question
As the room fell silent
At the ponderous tread of his bootheels
Down the length of the hardwood floor
And the slight creak of his damaged lungs
Every eye covertly upon him
And there wasn’t a saloon in the territory
Where at least one barfly asshole
Didn’t recognize him for who he was
And whisper it to the others

Is there a Chinaman in town?
Doc always asked the same question
A slow survey of the interior
Never turning his back
On the sunlight leaking through the door
And the gawkers would avert their eyes
Through three fast shots of bourbon
Like his life depended on them
His hands shook slightly
As he pulled off his gloves
But then he’d fix the bartender
With a stare that could freeze gin

Is there a Chinaman in town?
They all knew what Doc meant
They all knew what Doc needed
Was there a room with a secret door
That led through the Portal of Time
To the Palace of Mirrors?
Was there a hidden place
Behind the laundry
Knock three times and say
That Woo sent me?

Is there a Chinaman in town?
Is there a place where men
Racked and inert
Could dream the dream?
Is there a place
Of sweet smoke and glowing coals?
A long pipe and a cooling fan?
Is there a place of silent safety
Where the tail of the dragon
Will finally come to rest?

Is there a Chinaman in town?
Can anyone direct me
To the solitude of divine night
To the chamber of shadows
Where legend can be laid to rest
Along with all the reproaching ghosts
Is there an enclosure
Of small death and brilliant images
Where memory stills
With the flask of laudanum
Beyond the reach of the bodies and the old perfume
And I am no longer required to listen
To the echoes of dead men’s pistol shots

Is there a Chinaman in town?
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Thomas de Quincy
Doc Holliday
Please tell me, gentlemen
Is there a Chinaman in town?

ALSO...

Doc Holliday is one of the primary characters in Jim Morrison’s Adventures In The After Life, one my best and favorite pieces of fiction, and a book that, although woefully out of print, should not only be read by all but made into a major motion picture.

THE DESTRUCTION IS BY THE DETAILS

Maybe worse than the fear of possible FEMA helltrains and high apocalyptic totalitarian paranoia is the ongoing reality of being nickeled and dimed to death by a constant hard radiation of petty details. The email that follows arrived this morning, I signed the petition and went about my business, but continued to fume at the audacity of these Republican bastards, and the time and resources that have to be expended by the good guys to stop this arrant crap.

“Can you imagine living in a place where birth control is considered an "abortion" and health insurers won't cover it? Where even rape victims are denied emergency contraception?
It seems unbelievable, but the Bush Administration is quietly trying to redefine "abortion" to include birth control. The Houston Chronicle says this could wipe out dozens of state laws that protect women's reproductive freedom and protect rape victims.1 Access to basic health care for millions of women would be jeopardized. And it's being pushed as a "rule change"-meaning, it doesn't need congressional approval.
Can you sign an emergency message to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, whose department is considering this rule change right now? Tell him: "Contraception is NOT abortion. The Bush Administration's proposal to change the definition of abortion and reduce women's access to birth control must be stopped."

Click here to sign and click here for the full story

CRYPTIQUE – My time ain’t long enough to be wasted, pilgrim.

This blog offers no explanations