Full Cup

Happiness is in a full coffee cup—

“I fell into you,

 now I’m in a rut,”

Malignant, crucial crutch

Ash and dust, dissolves into specks as the river rushes;

Apathetic end-scene collapse,

Inward crushing calamity,

Gravity surpassing Atlas’ strength—

Wits extend on cut wavelength…

Happiness: I’ll-brought social trend;

Innate emotion with artificially induced elevation

Demons of the Mind: Shakespearean, Freudian Frankenstein

 

Demons of the Mind is a 1972 film which in its essence is a Shakespearean drama and Freudian Frankenstein. The attacked and crippled man from A Clockwork Orange plays a medieval man of medicine, science and the occult study variety— called a charlatan, among other things by many— is hired to aid a Duke in curing some hereditary ailment; or as the balding Gandalf-esque character deemed it, a disorder which drives unsavory tendencies amongst the specific, familial gene pool. 

Namely and central to the plot are incestuous lacings where the Duke’s two children, Emil and Elizabeth, are shown to have quite a deep and seemingly very sensual attachment to one another. As it would seem and be realized through the course of his looking for an aid to the intergenerational malaise reported to him by the Duke, what disorder existed largely sprung of the Duke’s own devising and willing it to occur— in a mix of both unconscious and conscious course of doing so. Transpiring apparently as a result of grief due to witnessing his wife commit suicide and eventually developed attraction to his daughter. 

Ultimately he decides his bloodline can no longer continue, and sets out to end his ‘genetic curse’ and in the process shoots the hired wizard with his rifle on a mission to eliminate his two remaining kin and offspring. Following in close pursuit he manages to succeed in shooting Emil his son; but before he could then do away with an increasingly distraught Elizabeth, is engulfed by an angry mob of peasants and workers under his jurisdiction. Already agitated but then stirred up into a religious frenzy by a wandering, raving preacher they witness his familial transgression, and in quick action pin him to the ground to hack a hand off the Duke then finish the execution via planting a flaming crucifix into his torso with his daughter onlooking. 

Like Hamlet, the film focuses on the decay and ‘depravity’ of what those in the Marxist lineage would call the bourgeois’, or ruling class— as observed by the incoming attacking peasants. In that it resolves in a minor familial bloodbath as a result of its psychological decay beginning when Emil winds up killing his Aunt in order to get to his beloved sister after being induced into a psychotic episode where he also killed another girl— believing it was Elizabeth then resulting in aforementioned murder of his aunt. Similar to separated star-crossed lovers in Romeo & Juliet intentionally separated by familial disputes; nonetheless ending like Macbeth in masterminding oligarchs murder in a Frankenstein flash-mob fashion. 

Coming from the 1970s and the innate overtones of incest and projected pedophilic wishes from the Duke, I have to wonder how much takes inspiration from or in connection to a movement in the same decade— namely in France— of prominent intellectuals and figures moving to a more open consideration of the tendency. The French Petition against age of consent laws however did not come to until 1977 while the movie hit theaters in 1972. 

ÆGO

“Hang from the chandelier from a long, long time ago,”

All closed, open ticket with nowhere to go;

Thrill long since shrill churning on,

Regardless of correlation—

Sitting, lamenting till well after cold and still,

Wasted, untasted capsule of pills 

i

Anemic aesthetic

Monochromatic chic

Theatric, dull eccentric;

Gilded dress, 

Nines into wallowing, manic—

Messy distress

Intoxicating, seamless shredded garment 

Torn leg-wear adornment,

Netted torment;

Incorrect mirror indent

Mismatched imagined assessment 

Slippery Suicide

River rushes before me; it swells white mixed into turbulent, translucent blue-green. Walking past informational signs detailing about some 1889 fire— a tragedy. Combined with passing over the running water across various bridges with sight of where the old ones were; I began to wonder about a specific type of what is considered a tragedy in association, that being suicide by taking a jump. 

Researching into the topic, it would come up rather short in surprise. While in 2024 the city exceeded the norm of the entire state with 120 recorded successful acts committed with an average of 21 per 100,000 residents whereas the average for Washington state itself stands at only about 14.8 per 100,00 people. Then sizing down to solely Spokane statistics, the data shows most attempts occurring on the Monroe Bridge with around 400 since 2005 and a majority talked down with only an average of 2.5 deaths a year; making up only about 4% of the actual suicide cases out of roughly 300 hospitalizations a year. Ebbing and flowing with consistency, whereas the vast majority of suicides are enacted by self-inflicted gunshots, followed by hanging, and with more rising rates, overdoses. 

Unto Profundity

Nobody, twice underlooked

Odd, insistent—

—lost and unfound,

nowhere bound;

I’ll not be gone for too long

Exempt disheveled tinge;

Precarious-pretend profund—

“complicating, circulating,”

Nonstop daydreaming away out of Midway 

What’s it, new nightmare on high-brow lowlife,

Long-lost unnerved underdog

Lunar obscured limelight

Cloud covered memories

Pale-white light in black sky,

Grey spots and silver dots

Red-blinking planes, drones and satellites above

Crisp, clean— six hours from volcanic catastrophe 

Natural, off-topic setting

Wooded similarities to desert tendencies;

Roving gambler wandering about,

Less a game— more hyper-aware

reflective, grinning glare

Slight shiver in temperature,

Quick flick, spark and flame lonesomely quivers:

Odd-hour coffee endeavors

Evolving Dragons & Entropic Romance

While listening to the audiobook of The Hobbit, narrated by the wonderful Andy Serkis my mind keeps coming back to,“…incineration?” Bilbo Baggins questioned, reading his contract aloud with a shift to a higher vocal octave (as it gets portrayed in the film adaptation). Seemingly fitting, incineration, “and poof, you’re nothing but a pile of ash,” as the dwarves then explained. From ashes spring new forests and ages— like the woods around Mount St. Helens or rebuilt Chicago after massive inferno— then grown up to burn again and again and again.  Included in this imagining is scenes of incinerating planetary energy like aforementioned volcano; a quick burst of breathed flame from the breast of a dragon such as Smaug; or the mushroom shaped plume obliterating and charring bodies into shadowy outlines like ash-sculpted hollow ghosts in Pompeii— a singe of incredible pain then cut to black in the detonation of an atomic bomb. 

Although it was written prior to the race for the weapon even began, not even being published in the United States until 1938, that Smaug in Erebor could be a metaphor to nuclear power would be an iffy choice of posit. Nonetheless the general principle of Tolkien’s writings in an attempt at creating a new mythology for Europe is a high emphasis on food and cheer— delightful, vital revelry in simple, worked but plentiful existence— has more of an enriching value than feuding Lords and Lieutenants over hordes of gold and shiny superficial minerals. Simultaneously however those simplicities would also be the drive for even such conflicts: the three F’s being motivation for almost any action taken by any entity of any hominid species; taken individually and in broad, long-term combat, coming down to the brass tax bare minimum of Feasting and Fucking, leading to said Fighting. 

Hobbits coming about in their own way but ultimately their docile nature comes down to being a form of mini-men who self-domesticated to such a comfortable extent and leisure any feud is tantamount to any average neighborly or familial dispute. While there is importance placed on objects like forks and doilies it’s in the sense of family heirlooms still practically useful. Objects with an aesthetic attractiveness to them then are imbued with the instinct made to suit them— stand ins for those tendencies, keys to the castle… simplistically. 

Grandiosely the more gold the more food and whores to continue; riches accessing anything anytime anywhere. As can be seen with cases like the Epstein class, those like Thror amass unimaginable quantities of wealth and become bored. Tolkien called it ‘dragon sicknes,’ and I would, personally, attach the real-world terms of nihilism in hedonistic excess. Some might threaten nuclear Armageddon over the gold like Smaug laying waste to Lake Town or Dale or recently with the American Commander in Chief gave heavy implication of using atomic weaponry in annihilating an the civilization of Iran… Dragon as allegory to that developed destructive technology as time goes on could be taken in with added information from the Silmarillion where like Trinity test building up to the Tsar Bomba and Morgoth’s continent-obliterating Ancalagon in comparison to the younger one under the Lonely Mountain…

[…]            […]              […]

Another Noir Bites The Dust as the Heaven’s Fall

Analysis and written thoughts on Season 5 Episode 6 of The Boys

Latest episode of Amazon Prime’s hit comic book adaptation series The Boys released today, ending the consecutive and somewhat experimental ‘filler’ episodes of pure plot thickening— letting the situation set in for both viewers and presented world on screen. 

With this third to last installment the conflict between Deep and Black Noir II reaches a point of no return after the latter returns the favor for a death in the episode prior by busting a hole in an oil line near Alaska, resulting in the death of billions of sea creatures; giddily admitting this to Deep who then strangles New Noir with a coil and stabs him in the throat/chin… Dun, dun, dun, another Noir bites the dust! Will they bring out a New Noir or scrap the character entirely? Could such play into the miracle of Homelander idea being now fully committed to?

Bringing back to the series after his last appearance in Herogasm, the caricature of Stan Lee called ‘The Legend’ makes a fallen from grace debut, however then goes onto being one of- if not the only non-supe beside Stan Edgar (who is, presumably, still locked up alive in Vought tower) whom Homelander doesn’t instantly execute for calling him a wack job to his face— living up to his nickname as one can see. An unexpected moment, which initially seemed like one which would be like the scene in Schindler’s List wherein the depicted Amon Goth tries out Oskar Schindler’s explanation on the balanced nature of power to him over drinks; attempting to hold restraint in rage he lets his (fetishized) indentured servant leave without harm, but then reconsiders and flies into a harsher rage against her nonetheless… and as seen in nearly every episode of The Boys, such a killing is an average happening in the life of the worlds strongest superhero. 

During the scenes of their brief interaction, exploring the abandoned school serving as the protagonist crew’s lair in an attempt to find them, only to find the now opposing Sister Sage’s Taco Bell receipt. Realizing then much of what is going on was on her contrived basis. Not all according to her scheming however and countering all of her thoroughly thought out, planned and prepared expectations however. While not quite a surprise in his acquiring of the last loaded syringe of V1 to inject as it was glimpsed in the season trailer; but Soldier Boy unblinkingly handing it out for Homelander when only two episodes before he was out to destroy such a possibility of happening. Forming this for him being that of honoring Clara Vought— Stormfront, or as the older supe knew her, Liberty— and their mutually experienced sensually intimate relationships with her. Homelander then taking it in hand and lazering his wrist through his leather gloves so as to inject the substance. Eyes instantly filling with flare and like a stuffed black hole, bursts out uncontrollably in dual beams of death and destruction. But, how much of this acquirement of godchild is in mere vain? Bombsight had V1 as well as Soldier Boy and now Homelander does, and Soldier Boy was able to depower Bomight just a few moments before giving the last V1 vial to his son.

Closing the sixth episode: Homelander is now the god he envisioned; the Gen V characters have yet to appear; the Seven drops down to four as no replacement for Firecracker, Noir II or the now seditious Sister Sage have appeared, if any will at this point. Terror is off somewhere humping the shit out of his Homelander fuck-toy. 

Ruminating on Realism

Going through a book called A Brief History of Realism by KJ Smith, I wrote this poem as form of notes. A quick text to quickly delve into and out of, it’s unarguably exactly what its title suggests. Nicely done is this audiobook of it here as well. As per given description by the book it seems the movement is an embodiment of what I refer to as Mundane Extremes. 

Objective observation over antithetical fantasy-

Everyday, ordinary contemporary experience;

Mundanely mutilated myths:

Rejected grandiosity, shifted focus,

Firsthand detail:

Freeze-frame portrayal—

Pressure shifted depiction;

textural, unrefined scenes

acting for articulate memory