Jay Royston's Blog, page 3
March 25, 2020
Day 10 of Societal Isolation
Current method of Social Isolation.I don't know if I am embarrassed on behalf of humanity or proud. On one hand, our ability to mass implode as a civilization is unprecedented. I had the feeling this shit was getting real when Starbucks started offering only Drive-Thru service. We nearly shut down Starbucks!
Then it got stupid(er) when they shut down our 8 acre neighbourhood dog park, which I've never seen more than 10 people in on a good day, due to the COVID19!!! It's a goddamn 8 acre park that dogs poop in during the winter and kid leagues play soccer and T-Ball in during April and May.
Keep in mind that I live in a community of about 1000 people. There are more people that walk on the streets than go into this park. I mean, if we are following this current thought, why aren't the mailboxes taped off? There's at least 50 boxes that can be infected with COVID19!!!
But that is what this has come to. I'm tired of saying it's the flu, yes, it's highly contagious. It kills off the old and weak, Yes, that sucks. But that's what flus have always done. Yes, I understand that people are dying. That's nature. We don't live forever.
And until the rich and famous start dying off, in other words, those that can afford health care, then I'm not really worried about it.
At least, physically. Mentally, I'm drained. I'm trying to live in a 'Keep Calm and Carry On' world but everyone else is making it tough. We need t-shirts to differentiate us, to help us remind each other that we're not alone in thinking we're over-reacting. We need to Keep on Keepin' On.
Economically, I'm okay with my 2 weeks emergency funds and our 'Essential Services' jobs. I'm not like a lot of others out there. Thankfully, being perpetually poor prepared me really well for doing limited things on limited funds. I even might splurge this weekend and go for a non-essential drive what with gas at 94.9 cents (British Columbia, represent). That represents a savings of nearly 30 cents/litre in less than a month. How are the oil companies surviving?
And let's not talk about the credit card companies, who have been pretty silent on their whole 'we are still charging you 20% interest on any charges you incur.'
I am reminded of the saying "There is nothing to Fear but Fear Itself" and as a society, we are doing a bang-up job of living in fear. It will be a strange world to come back to, especially economically. Will our standard of living go down? Will there be a new iPhone release for this year? Where will ex-Prince Harry and Markie live?
March 17, 2020
Self-quarantine Day 4
Day #4 of the national self-quarantine aka Spring Break 2020.
While I jest, this is where we are at. I don't know if things would be much different for us to be honest. The kids are doing what they are doing; nothing different from their previous school holidays, barring the fact my daughter's Stay At Home class was cancelled and, as of yesterday, so are our weekly firehall practice.
We are still planning to go into town today; my oldest 2 have a bowling date with Grampa, who is willing to risk the chance of infection to spend some time with the kids.
I bought my oldest a bass; today I plan to go into pawn shops to see if I can find a cheap amp. My daughter is missing a sketch book so we will buy another one. My youngest is happy that his leprecaun trap has netted four hats and golden chocolate bar.
Still off Facebook, and now Yahoo is starting to send me emails about it; Greg shared this, Ken shared that...
I'm reading Stephen King's On Writing and Wings of Fire, recommended by my daughter. It's a fairly straight forward dystopian rebellion tale, but with dragon/insects. It's not very subtle. For example, the bad guys are wasps and when the protagonists are deciding where to find the Rebellion, they have a choice between Yellowjacket Hive, Bloodworm Hive or Jewel Hive. Not hard to guess where they're going.
But she's reading and I love her and I will finish it. As per King's On Writing; Reading bad writing makes you more aware of your own bad writing. I'm not saying Wings of Fire is bad; it's meant for a particular audience.
Nobody died last night from CoronaVirus, keeping the Canadian death toll at 4 in a population of 38 million people. We talked a little at the dinner table with the kids. They seem mostly oblivious however the older one isn't saying much.
While I jest, this is where we are at. I don't know if things would be much different for us to be honest. The kids are doing what they are doing; nothing different from their previous school holidays, barring the fact my daughter's Stay At Home class was cancelled and, as of yesterday, so are our weekly firehall practice.
We are still planning to go into town today; my oldest 2 have a bowling date with Grampa, who is willing to risk the chance of infection to spend some time with the kids.
I bought my oldest a bass; today I plan to go into pawn shops to see if I can find a cheap amp. My daughter is missing a sketch book so we will buy another one. My youngest is happy that his leprecaun trap has netted four hats and golden chocolate bar.
Still off Facebook, and now Yahoo is starting to send me emails about it; Greg shared this, Ken shared that...
I'm reading Stephen King's On Writing and Wings of Fire, recommended by my daughter. It's a fairly straight forward dystopian rebellion tale, but with dragon/insects. It's not very subtle. For example, the bad guys are wasps and when the protagonists are deciding where to find the Rebellion, they have a choice between Yellowjacket Hive, Bloodworm Hive or Jewel Hive. Not hard to guess where they're going.
But she's reading and I love her and I will finish it. As per King's On Writing; Reading bad writing makes you more aware of your own bad writing. I'm not saying Wings of Fire is bad; it's meant for a particular audience.
Nobody died last night from CoronaVirus, keeping the Canadian death toll at 4 in a population of 38 million people. We talked a little at the dinner table with the kids. They seem mostly oblivious however the older one isn't saying much.
March 15, 2020
Emotion is Contagious (this didn't age well)
So I'm wrong but will keep this up for some humble pie.
Aug 15, update; there are over 174,000 dead in US (#1) and 9000 in Canada (#24)
Conspiracies are all the rage right now, masks are semi-voluntary, the US election is nowhere near the same amount of hype/hysteria as it was 4 years ago so at least we have that going for us.
PANDEMIC!
Coronavirus is all the news nowadays. As far as I'm concerned it's a variation of the flu and I fear that I am the only one who remembers the media panic of SARS, the bird flu, avian flu, ebola and flesh-eating disease that ran their course over the last two decades.
Emotion is contagious; if one of us laughs, others laugh. That is why comedies feel so much funnier in theaters; stand-up comedy is done in front of an audience instead of one by one. Funerals are where people gather to feel sad. We avoid funerals so we don't feel sad(der).
Weddings make us happy. Winning as a group, losing as a group, it makes us feel emotions that are increased by the amount of people we are sharing that emotion with.
This is the basis of mob mentality; our emotions, heightened by others, make us do things that we would not otherwise do as individuals.
And the current emotion running through society is fear, pushed by social media and a large international organization called WHO.
Beware of Coronavirus.
For some reason, this is worse than all the others most of us have lived through before. And because we are now a world that thrives on fear, we relish the opportunity to do what we are told because of flu epidemic that hit a country on the other side of the globe
We are flourishing on fear, our leaders are showing each other what we are made of. And this is what we have shown;
All international travel is highly discouraged.
If you do travel, you are to self-quarantine yourself for two weeks before returning to your employment. Nobody will check up on this - you are to police yourself. WE are counting on you to be honest about your travels.
All events or gatherings of more than 250 people is forbidden.
That means ALL sports, from the NHL to the local ringette end-of-season dinner has been postponed/cancelled.
School districts are shutting down despite no children having been diagnosed.
Churches are closing their doors (read that one again and note the hypocrisy)
St. Paddy day parades cancelled!
There is an increasing push to create work-from-home scenarios so people don't have to go into work.
There is a big public information push to wash your hands.
There is an unfathomable, unexplainable rush on toilet paper.
Athletes are offering to pay the wages of stadium employees who would otherwise be serving over-priced food and beverages to their fans.
Big businesses are spamming emails, declaring how they 'are navigating' this pandemic which has KILLED 62 people in the US (of 331 million) and 1 person in Canada (of 37 million). Yes, it will be more but that's it as of March 15th, 2020.
To date, according to https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ there have been 6000 deaths world-wide. 76,000 have recovered. The breakdwown of the age of fatalities is broken down on this page; https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/ . According to CNN, the average age is 80. No child has died from coronavirus.
There are over 7.7 billion people in the world.
7.7 billion.
Do the math. This is not a pandemic; this is nature. Sickness kills off the old and the weak. It is nothing personal, it's saying your time is up. Time to move over, shuffle off this mortal coil, face the music, pay your tab, check your balance, meet your maker, etc. etc. etc.
Yet here we are. Two weeks into March. The Apocalypse is upon us.
I have logged off Facebook. I found it to be part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
I am sure there are sane people among us; plenty in health care. Yet our self-isolation cuts away that sense of group rationality. FB does the same. Funny memes or videos on Toilet paper mobs do nothing buy hype the situation, only help stoke the flames of fear. We have been told to self-quarantine and so most of us will. We are obedient sheep and all it took was a little snowball to create this avalanche of fear. Much like AIDS, SARS, Bird flu, swine flu etc.
I am old enough to remember this situation playing out so many times before. News clips of everyone wearing face masks, nobody in our social circle having any personal experience of said deadly disease and then we continued on as if it never happened.
The difference this time is how influential social media has become; it not only pushes the snowball but creates more of them. It is our most trusted news source.
And this is the Catch 22 of our times; the argument will be that thanks to these restrictions, the pandemic never happened. If we didn't have these restrictions, we'd have deaths in the millions. We can't prove that wouldn't happen as we are not given the opportunity.
It's like saying those day-glow head-to-toe uniforms traffic control people wear keep them safer as opposed to only wearing a day-glow jacket. You can't argue with safety.
Group mentality wins out. Nobody is brave enough to call bullshit because YOU ARE THREATENING SOMEONE'S LIFE!
Yet, if Death is going to happen, it's going to happen. Your time is up; be it from an elderly driver behind the wheel, cardiac arrest, ski jump, or a 7 year old with a runny nose.
Yet here we are. 1 person dead in Canada has ground near everything to a halt except the Internet.
I especially love that the Houses of God are encouraging their parishioners not to gather there. There's a huge irony in that.
Good luck, everyone.
Aug 15, update; there are over 174,000 dead in US (#1) and 9000 in Canada (#24)
Conspiracies are all the rage right now, masks are semi-voluntary, the US election is nowhere near the same amount of hype/hysteria as it was 4 years ago so at least we have that going for us.
PANDEMIC!
Coronavirus is all the news nowadays. As far as I'm concerned it's a variation of the flu and I fear that I am the only one who remembers the media panic of SARS, the bird flu, avian flu, ebola and flesh-eating disease that ran their course over the last two decades.
Emotion is contagious; if one of us laughs, others laugh. That is why comedies feel so much funnier in theaters; stand-up comedy is done in front of an audience instead of one by one. Funerals are where people gather to feel sad. We avoid funerals so we don't feel sad(der).
Weddings make us happy. Winning as a group, losing as a group, it makes us feel emotions that are increased by the amount of people we are sharing that emotion with.
This is the basis of mob mentality; our emotions, heightened by others, make us do things that we would not otherwise do as individuals.
And the current emotion running through society is fear, pushed by social media and a large international organization called WHO.
Beware of Coronavirus.
For some reason, this is worse than all the others most of us have lived through before. And because we are now a world that thrives on fear, we relish the opportunity to do what we are told because of flu epidemic that hit a country on the other side of the globe
We are flourishing on fear, our leaders are showing each other what we are made of. And this is what we have shown;
All international travel is highly discouraged.
If you do travel, you are to self-quarantine yourself for two weeks before returning to your employment. Nobody will check up on this - you are to police yourself. WE are counting on you to be honest about your travels.
All events or gatherings of more than 250 people is forbidden.
That means ALL sports, from the NHL to the local ringette end-of-season dinner has been postponed/cancelled.
School districts are shutting down despite no children having been diagnosed.
Churches are closing their doors (read that one again and note the hypocrisy)
St. Paddy day parades cancelled!
There is an increasing push to create work-from-home scenarios so people don't have to go into work.
There is a big public information push to wash your hands.
There is an unfathomable, unexplainable rush on toilet paper.
Athletes are offering to pay the wages of stadium employees who would otherwise be serving over-priced food and beverages to their fans.
Big businesses are spamming emails, declaring how they 'are navigating' this pandemic which has KILLED 62 people in the US (of 331 million) and 1 person in Canada (of 37 million). Yes, it will be more but that's it as of March 15th, 2020.
To date, according to https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ there have been 6000 deaths world-wide. 76,000 have recovered. The breakdwown of the age of fatalities is broken down on this page; https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/ . According to CNN, the average age is 80. No child has died from coronavirus.
There are over 7.7 billion people in the world.
7.7 billion.
Do the math. This is not a pandemic; this is nature. Sickness kills off the old and the weak. It is nothing personal, it's saying your time is up. Time to move over, shuffle off this mortal coil, face the music, pay your tab, check your balance, meet your maker, etc. etc. etc.
Yet here we are. Two weeks into March. The Apocalypse is upon us.
I have logged off Facebook. I found it to be part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
I am sure there are sane people among us; plenty in health care. Yet our self-isolation cuts away that sense of group rationality. FB does the same. Funny memes or videos on Toilet paper mobs do nothing buy hype the situation, only help stoke the flames of fear. We have been told to self-quarantine and so most of us will. We are obedient sheep and all it took was a little snowball to create this avalanche of fear. Much like AIDS, SARS, Bird flu, swine flu etc.
I am old enough to remember this situation playing out so many times before. News clips of everyone wearing face masks, nobody in our social circle having any personal experience of said deadly disease and then we continued on as if it never happened.
The difference this time is how influential social media has become; it not only pushes the snowball but creates more of them. It is our most trusted news source.
And this is the Catch 22 of our times; the argument will be that thanks to these restrictions, the pandemic never happened. If we didn't have these restrictions, we'd have deaths in the millions. We can't prove that wouldn't happen as we are not given the opportunity.
It's like saying those day-glow head-to-toe uniforms traffic control people wear keep them safer as opposed to only wearing a day-glow jacket. You can't argue with safety.
Group mentality wins out. Nobody is brave enough to call bullshit because YOU ARE THREATENING SOMEONE'S LIFE!
Yet, if Death is going to happen, it's going to happen. Your time is up; be it from an elderly driver behind the wheel, cardiac arrest, ski jump, or a 7 year old with a runny nose.
Yet here we are. 1 person dead in Canada has ground near everything to a halt except the Internet.
I especially love that the Houses of God are encouraging their parishioners not to gather there. There's a huge irony in that.
Good luck, everyone.
Emotion is Contagious
Coronavirus is all the news nowadays. As far as I'm concerned it's a variation of the flu and I fear that I am the only one who remembers the media panic of SARS, the bird flu, avian flu, ebola and flesh-eating disease that ran their course over the last two decades.
Emotion is contagious; if one of us laughs, others laugh. That is why comedies feel so much funnier in theaters; stand-up comedy is done in front of an audience instead of one by one. Funerals are where people gather to feel sad. We avoid funerals so we don't feel sad(der).
Weddings make us happy. Winning as a group, losing as a group, it makes us feel emotions that are increased by the amount of people we are sharing that emotion with.
This is the basis of mob mentality; our emotions, heightened by others, make us do things that we would not otherwise do as individuals.
And the current emotion running through society is fear, pushed by social media and a large international organization called WHO.
Beware of Coronavirus.
For some reason, this is worse than all the others most of us have lived through before. And because we are now a world that thrives on fear, we relish the opportunity to do what we are told because of flu epidemic that hit a country on the other side of the globe
We are flourishing on fear, our leaders are showing each other what we are made of. And this is what we have shown;
All international travel is highly discouraged.
If you do travel, you are to self-quarantine yourself for two weeks before returning to your employment. Nobody will check up on this - you are to police yourself. WE are counting on you to be honest about your travels.
All events or gatherings of more than 250 people is forbidden.
That means ALL sports, from the NHL to the local ringette end-of-season dinner has been postponed/cancelled.
School districts are shutting down despite no children having been diagnosed.
Churches are closing their doors (read that one again and note the hypocrisy)
St. Paddy day parades cancelled!
There is an increasing push to create work-from-home scenarios so people don't have to go into work.
There is a big public information push to wash your hands.
There is an unfathomable, unexplainable rush on toilet paper.
Athletes are offering to pay the wages of stadium employees who would otherwise be serving over-priced food and beverages to their fans.
Big businesses are spamming emails, declaring how they 'are navigating' this pandemic which has KILLED 62 people in the US (of 331 million) and 1 person in Canada (of 37 million). Yes, it will be more but that's it as of March 15th, 2020.
To date, according to https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ there have been 6000 deaths world-wide. 76,000 have recovered. The breakdwown of the age of fatalities is broken down on this page; https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/ . According to CNN, the average age is 80. No child has died from coronavirus.
There are over 7.7 billion people in the world.
7.7 billion.
Do the math. This is not a pandemic; this is nature. Sickness kills off the old and the weak. It is nothing personal, it's saying your time is up. Time to move over, shuffle off this mortal coil, face the music, pay your tab, check your balance, meet your maker, etc. etc. etc.
Yet here we are. Two weeks into March. The Apocalypse is upon us.
I have logged off Facebook. I found it to be part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
I am sure there are sane people among us; plenty in health care. Yet our self-isolation cuts away that sense of group rationality. FB does the same. Funny memes or videos on Toilet paper mobs do nothing buy hype the situation, only help stoke the flames of fear. We have been told to self-quarantine and so most of us will. We are obedient sheep and all it took was a little snowball to create this avalanche of fear. Much like AIDS, SARS, Bird flu, swine flu etc.
I am old enough to remember this situation playing out so many times before. News clips of everyone wearing face masks, nobody in our social circle having any personal experience of said deadly disease and then we continued on as if it never happened.
The difference this time is how influential social media has become; it not only pushes the snowball but creates more of them. It is our most trusted news source.
And this is the Catch 22 of our times; the argument will be that thanks to these restrictions, the pandemic never happened. If we didn't have these restrictions, we'd have deaths in the millions. We can't prove that wouldn't happen as we are not given the opportunity.
It's like saying those day-glow head-to-toe uniforms traffic control people wear keep them safer as opposed to only wearing a day-glow jacket. You can't argue with safety.
Group mentality wins out. Nobody is brave enough to call bullshit because YOU ARE THREATENING SOMEONE'S LIFE!
Yet, if Death is going to happen, it's going to happen. Your time is up; be it from an elderly driver behind the wheel, cardiac arrest, ski jump, or a 7 year old with a runny nose.
Yet here we are. 1 person dead in Canada has ground near everything to a halt except the Internet.
I especially love that the Houses of God are encouraging their parishioners not to gather there. There's a huge irony in that.
Good luck, everyone.
November 3, 2019
Returning to the Past.
The other night I was walking to the local fireworks display and I heard a man's voice behind me, stating something to the effect of "There goes our local celebrity author.".
I didn't know what to do. I had not written anything in months,had not posted anything on my author page in months as Facebook kept reminding me. And while I was curious as to who it was, I was unsure if I should turn around. Were they being cynical? Sarcastic? Or simply an attempt at good-natured community relations?
I felt apprehensive, and conflicted. I felt ashamed about my abandonment of my literary dream. Days previous, my daughter had asked what I would do if money was not an object after I explained the finer details of how my credit card debt works against me buying a new truck to replace our current one that is, but for lack of better words, gradually expiring. I successfully evaded the question.
Yet, I do still want to be known as a celebrity author. I do want people to come up to me and say 'Hey, I enjoyed your book.' leaving me red-faced and proud while trying to scope out the nearest exit strategy as they say 'would you mind signing my copy?'
"Hey, celebrity author..."
But I'm a long way from that. I've stalled out on self-marketing, put my chips into getting an education so I can have a piece of paper that officially agrees that I am good at something I have been doing for years, therefore giving me more earning power. That is how this world works.
And then I got a little push from, of all things, a book on letters. Specifically, the letters of Kurt Vonnegut, a man I admire and who transcended literary genres. I found out it took nearly a decade from the publication of his first novel to his second, as life and bills got in the way.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) he was also able to start his career in the last great days of short story publishing - his first story earned him $750 (The Barnstable Effect) in 1950. It was roughly 15,000 words. It was bought by a magazine named Collier's.
$750 for 15,000 words! In today's dollars that would be equal to nearly $8000 US dollars!
Such was the value of written stories in those days.
With that financial success, and a few others under his belt, he felt confident enough to quit his desk job at G.E, and concentrate on the writing of his first full novel, Player Piano. His next novel, Sirens of Titan, wasn't published until 1959.
Because Television came along.
In the following years, as magazines went out of business, the value of a Kurt Vonnegut story, as well as all others, dropped to $100-$200, depending on length, as the publishing world imploded, shrinking as the Golden Age of Television decimated the value of the written word as visual content became the opium of the masses.
It took seven years for him to return to where he thought he was going to be after Player Piano, making excuses, mental confusion and exhaustion trying to provide for his growing household in any way he could. His dream took a back seat to his reality.
And here I am, bemoaning somebody at least knew I am an author and expressed it out loud, either cynically or respectfully.
I should have turned around and said 'Thank you for reminding me.'
I should have immediately returned to believing that one day I will become more than a local neighbourhood celebrity author.
I didn't that night but I am here now, for the first time in months, writing about myself and my works so thank you, stranger, for the push.
So here is a link to my last book, Karmageddon. It is a collection of short stories based around a nuclear Armageddon created by the events in Enter a Fistful of Marijuana. It was entered into the Stephen Leacock Awards for Canadian humour but didn't make the cut. I'd be lying if I said that didn't hurt a little. It is funny and sad and makes a commentary on our priorities when disaster strikes.
It is available on Lulu.com, a Canadian version of Amazon so if you want to shop national, here is where you can start.
They even provided me this fancy link to my book:
Enter a Fistful of Marijuana, the basis of Karmageddon and based very loosely on Kentucky Fried Movie's A Fistful of Yen, can be found here.
Stoner, Unincorporated, my attempt at an existential love story of sorts, can be found here.
These books, along with my novellas are all available electronically here.
One day I may eat my humble pie and convert all my works to Kindle, to join the masses such as myself on Amazon. I will continue to submit and be rejected, one by one, by big and little publishing houses that continue to raise the bar in terms of acceptance.
And I understand. For their investments are gambles and the more name recognition, the lesser the gamble. Anyone can google me and they can also review me by what my readers say. It might help, it might not. If you have read anything of mine, please add your thoughts to Goodreads, Amazon, Smashwords etc.
I chose Smashwords, Createspace and Lulu because I wanted to promote choice and patriotism: Lulu being Canadian, Smashwords and Createspace not being Amazon. Createspace has since been bought by Amazon and converted my works to Kindle as well. That is the way the world works.
Every sale either makes a difference or prolongs the inevitable.
Thank you for reading, in all manners of the word.
Jay Royston
August 23, 2019
short story start 2076 circa 2013
In 2074;
In what could be considered the greatest tragedy or the greatest victory for the human race depending on one's pragmatic views 3 nuclear bombs were detonated, destroying Jerusalem (death toll; in the millions), Vatican City (388 dead) and the Cayman Islands, which created a mass economic murder as corporations, banks throughout the world lost the 'paper trail' of assets that were sequestered there.
There was much bible thumping and Quran throwing however with each side indicting the other for the mass genocide neither could put up a strong case as to the organization responsible.
Most blamed the United States, except for the United States who blamed secular terrorist organizations in 48 different countries who all had links to Al Quaeda which was interesting as the last known Al Quada member had died of natural causesIt was the grandparents, long spurned as expendable and over-nostalgic that tried to remind people of the collective internet-based group Anonymous. But their postings were drowned out in reruns of the latest editions of 'So You Think You Are A Thinker' and 'Extreme Bat Fights' on the wall screens of most nation's homes and public supermarkets.
Anonymous was prepared for the backlash. The years of planning, the conspiracy theories started decades ago, the revenue from their shares in duct-tape was more than adequate to fund the operation.
Yet even they weren't prepared for the general apathy that most of civilization displayed after the discovery that the holy trinity of religions was annihilated to nothing more than radioactive decay. There was a short burst of general disorder and chaos throughout most nations that again, thanks to the proliferation of corporate news agencies was summarily censored and (word to describe mass flaunting) in different parts of the world so that while Californians were aware of the mass killings of French tourists by sharks off the coast of Normandy they were blissfully unaware that over 19 million fellow Californians had disappeared from government data banks.
Everyone knew someone who had been killed, yet nobody knew anybody who made the news, barring a quick one-line throwaway story placed between the search for the Holy Land Destroyers and another cute story about a dog and a cat who were best pals.
So this is where the story begins, at the end of religion.
he fell to his death after he was headbutted off of a rocky crag in Afghanistan by a unruly mountain goat.
In what could be considered the greatest tragedy or the greatest victory for the human race depending on one's pragmatic views 3 nuclear bombs were detonated, destroying Jerusalem (death toll; in the millions), Vatican City (388 dead) and the Cayman Islands, which created a mass economic murder as corporations, banks throughout the world lost the 'paper trail' of assets that were sequestered there.
There was much bible thumping and Quran throwing however with each side indicting the other for the mass genocide neither could put up a strong case as to the organization responsible.
Most blamed the United States, except for the United States who blamed secular terrorist organizations in 48 different countries who all had links to Al Quaeda which was interesting as the last known Al Quada member had died of natural causesIt was the grandparents, long spurned as expendable and over-nostalgic that tried to remind people of the collective internet-based group Anonymous. But their postings were drowned out in reruns of the latest editions of 'So You Think You Are A Thinker' and 'Extreme Bat Fights' on the wall screens of most nation's homes and public supermarkets.
Anonymous was prepared for the backlash. The years of planning, the conspiracy theories started decades ago, the revenue from their shares in duct-tape was more than adequate to fund the operation.
Yet even they weren't prepared for the general apathy that most of civilization displayed after the discovery that the holy trinity of religions was annihilated to nothing more than radioactive decay. There was a short burst of general disorder and chaos throughout most nations that again, thanks to the proliferation of corporate news agencies was summarily censored and (word to describe mass flaunting) in different parts of the world so that while Californians were aware of the mass killings of French tourists by sharks off the coast of Normandy they were blissfully unaware that over 19 million fellow Californians had disappeared from government data banks.
Everyone knew someone who had been killed, yet nobody knew anybody who made the news, barring a quick one-line throwaway story placed between the search for the Holy Land Destroyers and another cute story about a dog and a cat who were best pals.
So this is where the story begins, at the end of religion.
he fell to his death after he was headbutted off of a rocky crag in Afghanistan by a unruly mountain goat.
Kurt Vonnegut rules
Kurt VonnegutEight rules for writing fiction:1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.5. Start as close to the end as possible.6. Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.-- Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons 1999), 9-10.Kurt Vonnegut: How to Write with Style
Big BOoTY List #15 - Monstrous Regiment
#15
Needing to slip back into something a little more comfortable, I went for my go-to; Terry Pratchett.
Monstrous Regiment is the story of a country ravaged by war, and the last troop of soldiers to be recruited to head to the front. It has all the stereotypes; the headstrong tougher than nails sergeant, the weaselly, never-seen-action, lieutenant. The troll, the vampire, the Igor, you know, usual Pratchett.
The main protagonist is a bar-girl and shades of Mulan, pretends to be a man to join the army. The ragtag group of Missfits head towards the front lines where a certain Commander Vimes is waiting to welcome them and hopefully bring some peace to the area. Commander Vimes and his Night Watch feature very little in the book, which is a shame because we all could use a little Nobby.
Needing to slip back into something a little more comfortable, I went for my go-to; Terry Pratchett.
Monstrous Regiment is the story of a country ravaged by war, and the last troop of soldiers to be recruited to head to the front. It has all the stereotypes; the headstrong tougher than nails sergeant, the weaselly, never-seen-action, lieutenant. The troll, the vampire, the Igor, you know, usual Pratchett.
The main protagonist is a bar-girl and shades of Mulan, pretends to be a man to join the army. The ragtag group of Missfits head towards the front lines where a certain Commander Vimes is waiting to welcome them and hopefully bring some peace to the area. Commander Vimes and his Night Watch feature very little in the book, which is a shame because we all could use a little Nobby.
Big BOoTY List #14 Galagapos
#14 Galagapos
I went for a third book of KV's, something I had yet to read. This one is a bit strange in narrative style, and reading his bibliography, it came out about 5 years before Hocus Pocus, which is similar in style but better executed.
Another 'end of the world' type thing, written 1 million years in the future, looking back at the moments that lead to an evolved human race, which through subtle clues are some type of seal/people. The narrator of the story is a ghost, the son of Kilgore Trout, whom most Vonnegut fans will be familiar with. I would have preferred to know that earlier in the story, which is why maybe that comes as a bit of a spoiler alert but whatever... the book was written in 1985.
I went for a third book of KV's, something I had yet to read. This one is a bit strange in narrative style, and reading his bibliography, it came out about 5 years before Hocus Pocus, which is similar in style but better executed.
Another 'end of the world' type thing, written 1 million years in the future, looking back at the moments that lead to an evolved human race, which through subtle clues are some type of seal/people. The narrator of the story is a ghost, the son of Kilgore Trout, whom most Vonnegut fans will be familiar with. I would have preferred to know that earlier in the story, which is why maybe that comes as a bit of a spoiler alert but whatever... the book was written in 1985.
Big BOoty List #12 and #13 Sirens of Titan/Mother Night
Sirens of Titan
Wow. Started strong this year and then Spring happened and all the chores/kids/lawn care/school practicum and things caught up with me, leaving little 'me' time to read anything other than skimming through social media posts.
But I did re-read this great piece of sarcasm from Kurt Vonnegut; one of his earlier works which generated enough interest for him to continue writing. It also made me want to brush off another work of his I own, Mother Night, and re-read that as well. Two different styles, two great books.
Sirens of Titan is about a series of events which answer the philosophical question as to 'Why are we here?' It delves into religions, civilizations, space travel, inter-dimensional travel, capitalism and the need for people to believe we are here for some purpose. It turns out we are, but it's not what you might expect.
#13 Mother Night
After Sirens, I needed more Vonnegut so I went to the bookshelf and pulled out this one, a little find from Parry Sound, childhood home of my wife and little-known hockey legend, Bobby Orr.
Mother Night is a first person account of Howard Campbell, an American who is awaiting trial in Israel for Crimes Against Humanity and treason sometime in the late 50s. He was a German radio propagandist, working with the German High Command to promote hatred towards Jews and is beloved by American racists and finds himself outed by a white supremacist group which leads to his arrest. He claims he was a spy, working for America in sending secret messages through his broadcasts but the only problem is, he doesn't know who the man was that recruited him.
The book talks of his life in Germany, the loss of his love and the moments of civility he saw in a time of lunacy. In a brief conversation, his character answers the age-old wannabe writer's question of 'inspiration or dedication?' - does one wait for inspiration to write or simply write every day, no matter what the output may be? I think Vonnegut answers for himself, a hint into his writing style when he says it is dedication, not inspiration.
Sadly, I have not had that dedication lately.
Wow. Started strong this year and then Spring happened and all the chores/kids/lawn care/school practicum and things caught up with me, leaving little 'me' time to read anything other than skimming through social media posts.
But I did re-read this great piece of sarcasm from Kurt Vonnegut; one of his earlier works which generated enough interest for him to continue writing. It also made me want to brush off another work of his I own, Mother Night, and re-read that as well. Two different styles, two great books.
Sirens of Titan is about a series of events which answer the philosophical question as to 'Why are we here?' It delves into religions, civilizations, space travel, inter-dimensional travel, capitalism and the need for people to believe we are here for some purpose. It turns out we are, but it's not what you might expect.
#13 Mother NightAfter Sirens, I needed more Vonnegut so I went to the bookshelf and pulled out this one, a little find from Parry Sound, childhood home of my wife and little-known hockey legend, Bobby Orr.
Mother Night is a first person account of Howard Campbell, an American who is awaiting trial in Israel for Crimes Against Humanity and treason sometime in the late 50s. He was a German radio propagandist, working with the German High Command to promote hatred towards Jews and is beloved by American racists and finds himself outed by a white supremacist group which leads to his arrest. He claims he was a spy, working for America in sending secret messages through his broadcasts but the only problem is, he doesn't know who the man was that recruited him.
The book talks of his life in Germany, the loss of his love and the moments of civility he saw in a time of lunacy. In a brief conversation, his character answers the age-old wannabe writer's question of 'inspiration or dedication?' - does one wait for inspiration to write or simply write every day, no matter what the output may be? I think Vonnegut answers for himself, a hint into his writing style when he says it is dedication, not inspiration.
Sadly, I have not had that dedication lately.
