True to my non-sequitur trend, I have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to point out that the Canadian Parliament is now the promoter of your work.
I was tickled (to use one of your terms) to hear this remark in the official debate. Skip right to the end if it's TLDR :)
Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, if they have known about it for 13 years, why have they never done anything about it?
Ten years ago, the dictatorship in Beijing gave the Trudeau Foundation $200,000. It then interfered in two elections to help keep the Liberals in power. It even helped campaign for certain Liberal candidates.
What is the solution now? The Prime Minister proposes a secret committee that will do a secret investigation with secret outcomes. This committee will follow the rule of Fight Club. The first rule is that no one talks about the committee.
It's an estate auction house in Portland called O'Gallerie. Chelsea Cain and I went and bid. My father was an auction junky and bought the weirdest stuff -- once he bought every old gum ball vending machine he could find.
Mamaw bought all things owl at the local junk auctions. She literally had thousands of owl things. Clothes, knick knacks, kitsch, furnishings, furniture, dishware, and the top prize... a gigantic, taxidermied golden barn owl in a big glass hutch.
All I asked for were a few owl trivets when she passed. Then my crazy uncle threw them away while I had some things stored on the farm.
All one piece. The auction featured six or seven similar busts, all marble. All incredibly heavy. Glad I only bid on the one. Estate auctions are a little tragic. A friend once pointed out that they only include five basic items: Oriental rugs, china dishware, Tiffany-style lamps, taxidermied animals, oil paintings. (I'll include fur coats under the taxidermy)
Those five items make up 90% of most auction catalogues. "The things you own end up owning you..."
I'm on chapter 27 of Fight Club. I'm always taken aback when I read work with a different voice. It opens a whole new road. I'm thinking, "Wait, you can actually write like this??" It's sorta liberating.
And you know how you talk about making the reader feel good by making them right? I don't know if this relates but whenever I read repeated lines in Fight Club: I know this because Tyler knows this, and the line about downsizing, the space monkeys (which was a neat way to describe Fight Club members), push a lever, pull a button, you always hurt the ones you love, and of course the rules. Lines like that. The feeling I get is same when I answer a Jeopardy question right. It feels like I get the inside joke, so to speak. Like seeing a familiar face.
And also my favorite chapter was with Raymond K. Hessel.
I’ve seen a theory that posits Marla as being a third split personality. If that were the case, I can only guess that at some point the Narrator/Tyler/Marla was told by someone to “go fuck themself” and it was taken as a challenge.
Egg really ties the room together. Along with the Roman soldier bust, I feel like the setting needs a White Russian, and Lacrimosa playing in the background.
Why do you have the Greco Roman statue bust Chuck? I mean all the cool kids I know have Bruce Hansing sculpted Iron Man Mark III fiberglass replicas that they stick Christmas lights on and stuffed animals. Maybe a life-size Queen Alien busting through a wall in your house is more your style. Just saying a white statue bust is kinda stodgy. I mean they painted those back at the time they were made so I think even having a painted one would look more interesting than what you have but to each their own. I figured the Chuck P style of interior decorating would be a little more stylish. Maybe you are just living in the boring room because it is comfy.
( Spoiler alert) Seen you mention it more than anything, Had to watch it last night. The opening is so good. I loved how it starts with a bang, then releases all of its energy with that gorgeous sunset shot. Seriously the first quarter is as good as anything I've seen. Also, the way it tells the story visually, on the body, like showing John aging when he's looking at the mirror. Among many other examples. bad, or sometimes just box office driven writing would have flooded viewers with dialog heavy exposition.
Curious to know your interpretation. Is it really about Vampires? Or the whole thing stand for toxic relationships? There's a sinister drive some have where they wanna keep others who are romantically interested, hooked on a spider web, forever. It's dangerous to want to be loved by any means necessary. That's just my take. Great movie.
Buster needs some cool guy shades
True to my non-sequitur trend, I have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to point out that the Canadian Parliament is now the promoter of your work.
I was tickled (to use one of your terms) to hear this remark in the official debate. Skip right to the end if it's TLDR :)
Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, if they have known about it for 13 years, why have they never done anything about it?
Ten years ago, the dictatorship in Beijing gave the Trudeau Foundation $200,000. It then interfered in two elections to help keep the Liberals in power. It even helped campaign for certain Liberal candidates.
What is the solution now? The Prime Minister proposes a secret committee that will do a secret investigation with secret outcomes. This committee will follow the rule of Fight Club. The first rule is that no one talks about the committee.
Randy Newman - Tickle Me
https://youtu.be/FIBbFrRSri8
Is the bust wearing a hat? Like a Caulfield hat?
It's a plumed helmet. Yeah, all stone.
Ah, yes. Now I see it. Maybe Caulfield should’ve worn a plumed helmet, instead.
Anything 500 pounds automatically has a story attached to it - even if it's just a pulled back or bruised foot.
It looked like the antiquities used on the film 'The Hunger' and the bidding was very low. Not even a David Bowie vampire could lift that thing.
It's an estate auction house in Portland called O'Gallerie. Chelsea Cain and I went and bid. My father was an auction junky and bought the weirdest stuff -- once he bought every old gum ball vending machine he could find.
Mamaw bought all things owl at the local junk auctions. She literally had thousands of owl things. Clothes, knick knacks, kitsch, furnishings, furniture, dishware, and the top prize... a gigantic, taxidermied golden barn owl in a big glass hutch.
All I asked for were a few owl trivets when she passed. Then my crazy uncle threw them away while I had some things stored on the farm.
Love it! Egg looks so comfy 🥰
Did the hat come with the bust - or did you add it after the fact?
All one piece. The auction featured six or seven similar busts, all marble. All incredibly heavy. Glad I only bid on the one. Estate auctions are a little tragic. A friend once pointed out that they only include five basic items: Oriental rugs, china dishware, Tiffany-style lamps, taxidermied animals, oil paintings. (I'll include fur coats under the taxidermy)
Those five items make up 90% of most auction catalogues. "The things you own end up owning you..."
That is such an interesting observation. If busts could talk...
Could that make for an interesting story? Something told from the POV of a marble bust, or a taxidermied animal, or an oil painting... ?
I think that ship sailed with the singing Big Mouth Billy Bass plaques.
But... a demon-possessed Billy Big Mouth Bass would be wonderful.
"Upon taking possession of Billy Big Mouth Bass, the demon found itself fighting the overwhelming urge to sing..."
Hmmm... don't tell it from the demon's POV. That gives too much away.
Who is the bust of? Has a look of 'I wish Caligula hadn't invited me to this party' to it in that light. Handsome looking chap though.
It's female, I think. The breastplate seems to have breasts inside.
Wow, I thought it was the God Mercury, go figure....
Egg knows the good life, alright! ♥️🥰
One week away from Midwest Story Night!! Hope to see some more Substack folks!
Can we assume you've tried lifting the head to discover whether there's a button to some kind of flying mammal cave in there?
Is that really 500 pounds? How did you get it in there? It looks like a Roman emperor too.
Dang 😍 she's a tank
I'm on chapter 27 of Fight Club. I'm always taken aback when I read work with a different voice. It opens a whole new road. I'm thinking, "Wait, you can actually write like this??" It's sorta liberating.
And you know how you talk about making the reader feel good by making them right? I don't know if this relates but whenever I read repeated lines in Fight Club: I know this because Tyler knows this, and the line about downsizing, the space monkeys (which was a neat way to describe Fight Club members), push a lever, pull a button, you always hurt the ones you love, and of course the rules. Lines like that. The feeling I get is same when I answer a Jeopardy question right. It feels like I get the inside joke, so to speak. Like seeing a familiar face.
And also my favorite chapter was with Raymond K. Hessel.
I believe you mean Raymond K. K. K. K. K. K. K. Hessel
It all goes back to Bill Withers and 'Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone."
How long can you sustain the tension of "I, know, I know, I know, I know..."?
How long can I sustain that type of tension? Hmm. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know.
A word in support of ambiguity...
Got my car serviced today and the service writer at the garage took me aside and asked, "Was Marla a real person or just a hallucination?"
I’ve seen a theory that posits Marla as being a third split personality. If that were the case, I can only guess that at some point the Narrator/Tyler/Marla was told by someone to “go fuck themself” and it was taken as a challenge.
There's also the long-lived Calvin & Hobbes theory.
Service writer ❤
Egg really ties the room together. Along with the Roman soldier bust, I feel like the setting needs a White Russian, and Lacrimosa playing in the background.
Why do you have the Greco Roman statue bust Chuck? I mean all the cool kids I know have Bruce Hansing sculpted Iron Man Mark III fiberglass replicas that they stick Christmas lights on and stuffed animals. Maybe a life-size Queen Alien busting through a wall in your house is more your style. Just saying a white statue bust is kinda stodgy. I mean they painted those back at the time they were made so I think even having a painted one would look more interesting than what you have but to each their own. I figured the Chuck P style of interior decorating would be a little more stylish. Maybe you are just living in the boring room because it is comfy.
Forever scarred by 'The Hunger.' Everything changed for me in 1983.
( Spoiler alert) Seen you mention it more than anything, Had to watch it last night. The opening is so good. I loved how it starts with a bang, then releases all of its energy with that gorgeous sunset shot. Seriously the first quarter is as good as anything I've seen. Also, the way it tells the story visually, on the body, like showing John aging when he's looking at the mirror. Among many other examples. bad, or sometimes just box office driven writing would have flooded viewers with dialog heavy exposition.
Curious to know your interpretation. Is it really about Vampires? Or the whole thing stand for toxic relationships? There's a sinister drive some have where they wanna keep others who are romantically interested, hooked on a spider web, forever. It's dangerous to want to be loved by any means necessary. That's just my take. Great movie.
Did you really purchase and move a 500lb bust of some woman just to cover up that nightlight? You know you can just unplug them right?
Awww Egg ❤️
“And what madness was seen in those raging flames was known only to those who looked. It is, perhaps, best left that way.”
Maggie says "Woof"