Perhaps it’s because I have seen so many performers get pushed aside for celebrities who have done nothing but lived in a house with some other people whose only talent is drinking or fighting, people who have a truckload of children and don’t work but aren’t on any kind of public assistance, unless you call getting money for letting cameras follow you around while you change diapers and poorly discipline your offspring or people who have decided to live on an island or some far away place that might really be the inside of a studio to see if they can really survive. These shows really are boring to me so I have to ask others why they watch them. My daughters tell me: “They’re funny. I watch some of them to laugh at the people, that’s how stupid they are.”

Sometimes I look at my youngest daughter when she is home from college for a visit and sitting in front of the tube laughing at the antics of some house of girls who have no taste in men or clothes and spend the nights drinking and fighting each other. Her excuse for watching is to take her mind off of school. Other people tell me they watch to take their minds off of work. Well, I don’t watch because some of these shows remind me that these are the people who want to be in control of our lives and our country. There are guys with more hair gel on their head than in two 8 ounce bottles. There are girls whose clothes are so tight the only way you would know they weren’t painted on is if they took them off. There are subjects discussed so stupid, so inane I ask myself is this really the future of television? I flick the remote to a channel that shows movies older than me and, if I am desperate, I turn to  MASH reruns. Most days the boob tube is off and I am glad to write or read of even do crosswords. Anything but pretending to give a damn that some housewife’s tacky dress line didn’t sell and that she is the laughing stock of more housewives who don’t do anything but lunch for 8 hours a day.

I complain at home when I walk in a room my husband has recently exited and turn the set on to find CNN. But it drives me nuts to walk in after my daughter has left to go back to school and find the tube left on a channel where drunk young people who didn’t even bother to try to get a job or education complaining about how bad the party was the night before. I am so hoping this country gets over these shows soon.

Everyone has the right to watch what they want but it just seems like reality television is pushing the possibility of promising shows aside. Please, somebody, get this crap off the air! And yes, I know I could go listen to music or read a book. I do that. But I like good quality television. There was a time when good writing and good acting made the grade. Now with hundreds of channels to fill we get everything and nothing. So I am hoping that we get over this phase of looking into the lives of others soon because we don’t have one of our own. Television was once an art form. Now it’s just a means to get money without talent. How sad.

Last week, MGM Mirage announced that it would sell its 50 percent stake in Borgata to settle a five year long probe by New Jersey casino regulators into its Macau partnership with Pansy Ho, the daughter of Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho. State investigators deemed the younger Ho an “unsuitable” partner for MGM. In the wake of that finding, MGM chose Macau over Atlantic City and remains in partnership with Pansy Ho, as I wrote in Asia Times.

The kicker is the report from New Jersey investigators skewers MGM for ignoring its own finding about Ho’s family underworld ties and being less than forthright with casino regulators. MGM doesn’t seem to think that shady business matters, even though it runs highly regulated businesses in several other jurisdictions, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and hopes to get another stock listing in Hong Kong. MGM acts as if its settlement with New Jersey puts the issue behind it, but maybe the report should lead investors and regulators ask themselves, “If MGM lied to New Jersey, how can we be sure not lying to us?” Otherwise MGM’s apparent arrogance will pay off.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, financial crisis, and cheap lingerie.

If we want our children to be healthy change the school lunches and give them more recess time outdoors in the form of controlled exercise.

When I was in Catholic grade school we had recess but we didn’t have physical education. In fact the first time I had PE was my junior year in high school. It might sound ridiculous now but back then in grade school we had an hour for recess everyday. We also had an hour where we studied religion but that didn’t stop us from playing outside before, during and after school. We did not have a structured fitness program to speak of . Now and then the nuns and priest would call for a game a baseball or jump-rope competitions. In the spring we were allowed to bring our roller skates to school and wreak havoc in the parking lot as we whizzed about running into each other and falling. I have a few scars to prove it but I enjoyed myself immensely when it was time for recess.

What I did not like was lunch. We were provided with a meal that was not always nutritious. Once they gave us fish eggs- and I am not talking about salmon roe. I am talking about something other than a delicacy that was  shaped like a hot dog and stuck in a bun. Most of the students couldn’t stomach it. The meals were not your basic full of fat southern cuisine. They were just tasteless. But one thing we hardly ever had on our lunch trays was cake of cookies. They were saved for special days and events.

Today the cafeteria meals are not helping our children either. We have to understand that bad nutrition habits start at home. As parents we need to accept that. So what should we do before we send our kids to school? Refuse to give them things that don’t aid in nutrition. We have grown into a country that must have dessert after every meal. Our children believe they are entitled to snacks whenever they want them. We have to stop giving it to them and stop giving it to ourselves. Right now my office is full of treats: nuts, candy, cookies. It is for the staff.  I have learned not to eat what is in the closet in my office and I have learned that I cannot afford to consume useless calories. But I am not a child who has been given everything in the world, including food that I don’t need.

So we start at home and demand the save behavior at school.  Cut back on something in the classroom to make every child have PE at least 3 days a week for 30 minutes. And make the teachers be part of it. I know they can be tired from dealing with students but exercise is good for everyone. And if the teachers participate in the exercise program they can report to the parents on how the child is really doing in school. Exercise should be part of the day at school.

We also need better menus that are healthy but attractive to kids. More fruit, less meat, less carbohydrates. Leave off anything with sugar. Sometimes the only full or decent meal that many students get comes from the school cafeteria because their families can’t afford anything else. Make the food edible and enjoyable. Maybe have a contest with chefs from the Food Network or local cooking schools for the best school lunch ever.

These are my thoughts on working on solving the weight problem with our children. I get tired of watching kids get on the subway in the morning eating a bag of 25 cent chips. Offer them an apple and they might think you are out to poison them since we teach them not to take candy (and anything else) from strangers. There are other ideas for solutions out there but these are my thoughts for solutions, not just to complain.

I’m not here to preach dogma, only to try and articulate how we learn the differences between the two. Perhaps the most influential philosophy in this regards is “The Golden Rule” whereby we are admonished to “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” This is a fundamental part of modern human rights and a philosophy embraced by all religions. Yet, it is something we have moved away from in recent times as people have become more self-centered due to socioeconomic influences; e.g., greed and competition.

In the corporate world, for example, there is more of an inclination to establish “Win-Lose” relationships as opposed to “Win-Win,” as professed by the late quality assurance consultant W. Edwards Deming. Under “Win-Lose,” in order for one party to succeed, another party must fail. Deming challenged this rationale and questioned what is wrong with establishing “Win-Win” relationships whereby both parties succeed. He often cited the story of the project to make NYLON, the well known synthetic polymer, which was developed by two groups working in cooperation, one from New York (NY) and another from London (LON), hence the name. Joining forces, was simply the right thing to do.

Pursuant to Deming’s work, I have learned that the only type of business deal to enter into is a situation where both parties benefit, not just one. If one party prospers at the expense of the other, it is simply not worth it. Consequently, integrity and trust are key elements for “Win-Win,” two important socialization skills that seem to be diminishing. There is nothing wrong with tough negotiations, but when a deal is struck, you must have confidence that the other party if going to uphold their end of the bargain.

Doing the right thing is not always easy; in fact, it can be rather painful which is one reason why some people avoid it and take the most expeditious way out. For example, people would rather find a loophole than pay a creditor what is rightfully due them. Doing what is right isn’t always profitable either, as we discovered when we made the decision to move our business from Cincinnati, Ohio to the Tampa Bay area of Florida. At the time, we had several employees and when we finally made the decision to move the company, we offered them two choices, either we would help them find a new job locally or pay their relocation expenses to Florida. Keep in mind, we were not required to do either, but felt it was the right thing to do. Economically, it would have been cheaper to terminate everyone and recruit new personnel in Florida, but this was not the route we took. From this perspective, doing “right” means accommodating others, not just yourself.

Doing what is right requires moral fiber which comes from learned behavior. In the absence of parenting and formal teachings, it is learned through the social mores of the people we come in contact with, regardless if they are positive or negative role models. In other words, in order to adapt to a social group, be it a vicious gang or a Cub Scout pack, we will gravitate towards and emulate those we perceive as confident leaders or those with particular talents we admire, hence the need for positive role models. This also means the media has a moral responsibility to our culture. If they depict unsavory characters with questionable moral integrity in a favorable light, the actions of these characters will be envied and emulated. Yes, life can definitely imitate art.

So, is doing the right thing “right” for you? That depends on your perceptions and priorities. Understand this though, doing what is right is more than just adhering to the legal laws of the land. It’s also a matter of adhering to the moral values you have personally adopted. Now for the big question, how does your morality compare to what society expects; is it better, worse, or nothing more than the status quo? Hopefully, it is better. Doing “right” requires perseverance and an intolerance for what is “wrong.” Bottom line, can you look yourself in the mirror with any regrets?

Keep the Faith!

Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com

For Tim’s columns, see:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/timbryce.htm

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

There are places in this world where rape is used as a method of coercion, as a punishment for joining the other, as a method of power. Women who escape these countries, and I am talking about women who have been brutally raped and repeatedly raped by gangs, by troops, always by more than one individual, and come to the United States illegally can be deported back to their native lands because fear of rape is not considered a means for asylum. If not here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, where can a woman go or hide from injustice that has created a lower class of citizens from the sex that gives birth to those men, and often women, who rule the world?

It is sometimes frightening walking down the street in broad daylight to think that at any moment a car might stop, a man might jump out and drag you in an violate you. The biggest violation comes next as you have to prove that you were the victim of a crime to the whole world. Although it may be illegal to put the past of rape victims on trial it always ends up being viewed. This is the reason so many women don’t report rapes. This is the reason the NYPD may want to downplay the number of rapes last year.

I am sure more than 5 women I know about through the news media were raped in Harlem last year. Reported rapes attached to domestic violence and child molestation may not be counted into these statistics to prove to the world that NY is a safer place to live. It is still a world where rape is a crime of power and domination and it should not be downplayed. My friends carry mace, some carry knives. The reason is sad and simple- even in this country where we brag about our freedoms it is still not a safe palce for a woman. And this is a major crime.

Sometimes – one might even argue “always” – wisdom and truth are found in the most basic statements. One of the simplest, yet most empowering comments I have heard is from Dr. Sue Morter. Aside from being a powerhouse speaker, she’s extremely inspirational, a dynamo on the stage, and outstandingly wise.

“So, what did liberating life-altering observation did she lay pass unto you?” You ask, breathless with anticipation.

“It’s difficult until it isn’t.”

“Huh? That’s it?”

Yep; five words; seven if you don’t count contractions. But, consider the message in that unvarnished declaration. Most of what we want for ourselves is really not difficult to obtain. We possess the tools (or know where to get them) and we know what we desire; all we have to do is go get it. The hitch in the giddy up is how we assemble the plan, making it complex and complicated. We smother it with all makeup of parameters to which we really cannot – or do not want to – abide. We spend so much energy building the golden pathway that we’re too exhausted to walk upon it.

As case in point, how ’bout we look at losing weight? (Wow, who would think I’d choose that as an example?) The bottom line of weight loss is brilliantly clear: Eat less; move more. Period. No pills, no programs, no late-night TV promises. See? That’s not difficult, is it? If I regularly shut my mouth a few minutes earlier and move my feet a couple of steps further, the pounds “magically” falls away. We all know that. Yet, because we’re in such a hurry to “get there,” we go overboard in the implementation and develop barriers to actually achieving what we want.

Boldly, I stand tall, placing my fists upon my hips, puffing out my chest, and proclaiming to anyone who cares (and many who don’t). “I am now on a diet! (Insert trumpets…) Therefore, until I lose 30 pounds, I shall not be able to go with my friends, family, or business associates to any eating establishment. While imprisoned in my barren, spartan, kitchen, I will consume only unprocessed, all-natural, organic, high-fiber, sugar-free, mostly tasteless, foodstuffs. Furthermore, I will rise two hours earlier each and every day and spend that time meditating, journaling, and exercising. I have calculated that this plan will shall allow me to lose three pounds a week, which I will do this day forth until I have achieved my goals.” After my pronouncement, I twirl spectacularly on my heels, place nose firmly in the air and stomp dramatically into my self-established sensory-deprivation chamber, where I shall remain in exclusion until I have achieved a smaller waistline.

Hey Tinkerbell, can we put down the fairy-wand and step out from fantasy-land for a moment?

What began as extremely unfussy and obtainable intention – eating better and moving more – has erupted into a full-scale mega-production requiring learning how to cook differently, shopping with new eyes, rearranging schedules, altering relationships, and devising self-inflicting intimidating goals. Building such blockades makes the procedure ridiculously difficult and horribly unpleasant.

After ramming one’s head against the wall enough, we will look for doors, finally “letting go” and releasing as unproductive the artificial rules and limiting beliefs; which allows us to get down to basics. We find something we will actually do and take one small, simple, easy, baby step; which we repeat until we get actually get what we want.

It was difficult. Then it wasn’t. It is up to each of us to determine when we want that to change.

Two years later I was in charge of the dorm I had lived in since I had been a freshman. Girls seldom came to me with serious problems. But the Deans came to me with a few. One female student was kicked out for having sex with several basketball players although none of them had the same fate. It was rumored that she was living in my dorm. I found the dual standards ridiculous and voiced my objection to kicking the girl out even though none of the other female head residents said a thing. It was the sexual revolution, what did they think was going to happen to some girls who had never even been on a date before? I knew she was living in my dorm, waiting for spring break when she could go home and explain things to her parents. My residents and I had an unwritten policy. If I couldn’t see it I couldn’t act on it. Shortly before exam week the woman in question came to me because one of the girls she was staying with was a bit suicidal. The expelled girl went to stay elsewhere while I found the girl that concerned her scared to death she was going to fail and disappoint her parents. I didn’t just send her to counseling, I walked her there. After that I checked on her daily to see how she was doing. I didn’t always get in her face. I contacted her roommate and her friends. She didn’t pass most of her courses and she did not return after spring break but she didn’t try to kill herself.

Right now students are under stress to take exams and then take part in the ever popular spring break routines. Spring break is supposed to alleviate the stress of school, exams and difficult classes. Many students can’t afford to go anywhere and they claim that puts stress on them. If they are realistic they can separate what they need from what they want. They need to relax and it can be in front of the television set or sleeping for hours in their room at home. If they are having trouble making tuition payments spring break in warmer climates is not an option. We all, students and parents alike, want a vacation someplace nice. But if we cannot have it that is no reason to feel suicidal.

On my watch in the spring of 1972 a guy came to me because his girlfriend was acting strange. Her mother had attempted suicide- again- and the girl didn’t have the money to go home and see her. Her mother also said she didn’t want her there. This depressed  her more than anything else and her boyfriend was afraid that she would try to do herself in just to get her mother’s love. We sat and talked with her until dawn while she coped with the tragedy. I told my mom about it and she reminded me that she loved me and that if I needed to leave school and come home for any reason, she and my dad would not feel that I had failed them. They would help me in any way they could.

A Japanese classmate of one of my daughters dropped out of business school when her father committed suicide. Her mother told her that she had never approved of the father’s forcing the daughter to study business and that she could do what she wanted to now. Sad that this had to happen after the father’s death but the girl told my daughter for the first time in her life she did not feel the extra pressure that her dad kept putting on her. Happily, after a year off, she has found another school and is studying heart’s desire which is art.

The need to succeed in college does go beyond parents. It has to do with competing for the better jobs and the better partners in life. So, in the end, the competitive society we live in is to blame. Students understand this and try to get as many options for relaxation as possible. But forever in the back of their mind is the fear of failure and for many of them that fear will not allow them to go home and regroup. Parents and professors must be away that while we stress with less pay and higher bills we have adjusted to this way of life, even though some adults kill themselves when they can’t cope. Young people need to be taught how to handle the departure from carefree student to harassed adult. It should not be a college course, it should be something they learn at home. Not everybody is going to succeed in life the same way and we have to accept that. We need to start the acceptance with our kids so they will call us when they are failing instead of jumping off of roofs.

As someone who has written on the “Adverse Effects of Technology,” my interests were recently piqued by a new book entitled, “The Digital Pandemic” by Mack R. Hicks, Ph.D. (New Horizon Press), a fascinating thesis on the effect of technology on our youth. So much so, I believe it should be considered mandatory reading for everyone involved with PTA and school SAC programs. The premise behind Dr. Hicks’ book is that technology has an addictive quality to it which will have long-term adverse effects on our culture.

The book includes statistics demonstrating the pervasiveness of technology. For example, he points out 97% of twelve to 17 year-olds play video games, a third of which play adult games. This may not be startling to those of us who already guessed it but, as a noted psychologist and educator, he goes on to describe how it physically affects human thinking patterns. There have been plenty of such studies to indicate the adverse affect of technology, such as the King’s College London University study by Dr. Glenn Wilson which found that workers distracted by technology suffer a greater loss of IQ than if they’d smoked marijuana, but Hicks’ work goes further to demonstrate how technology alters the minds of impressionable youth. Further, they begin to exhibit the same robotic mannerisms of the technology they use which is not conducive for grooming socialization skills. Hicks basically argues that technology is a genuine threat to the human spirit. Such a claim should sound warning bells to parents as well as business people who will have to deal with these youngsters in the years ahead. He writes:

“This whole electronic revolution, with its emphasis on generational differences, is reminiscent of the 1960s and 70s, but this time the goal isn’t peace and love as much as unfettered, self-directed pleasure (and learning?). Well, if you’re a kid and you don’t trust adults, it’s likely you’re headed for trouble, big time.”

Hicks stresses the need for effective mentoring and parenting, something which may sound reminiscent of a bygone era. Aside from simply describing the problem, he goes on to offer pragmatic suggestions for parents, kids, and schools to help curb technology addiction. He devotes a whole chapter (17) to “Suggestions for Inoculating the Family,” as well as “Suggestions for Schools” in the Appendix.

The adverse effects of technology is a bona fide problem, and I, for one, applaud Dr. Hicks’ initiative for bringing this to the attention for all of us. As he writes, “If the growing epidemic of machines infests us all, I believe we’ll lose our humanity.”

Hicks’ work basically confirms one of our Bryce’s Laws, whereas: “As the use of technology increases, social skills decrease.”

“Digital Pandemic” by Mack R. Hicks, Ph.D.
List: $14.95
Printed 2010
http://digitalpandemic.info/
ISBN-13: 978-0-88282-315-7
ISBN-10: 0-88282-315-9
New Horizon Press Books
Available at:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
BordersKeep the Faith!

Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com

For Tim’s columns, see: http://www.phmainstreet.com/timbryce.htm

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

The theme — friendship between two different kinds of “people” — is something I have always believed in. I must have been thinking about it, because that’s right where the old monkey, Yukitaro, led me.

The result is one of my favorite stories.

Published by Night Publishing, http://www.nightpublishing.com/id23.html

As a young fan of the sci-fi series “The Twilight Zone” long before the United States had the Sci-Fi channel, I remember Burgess Meredith playing an unforgettable near sighted last man on earth, happy to be alone with all the books his nagging wife would not let him read. He did not mind the loneliness or the battered landscape as long as he had his beloved books. Life was fine for him until he broke his glasses with the thick lenses. It was the joy of reading that kept him alive. And that is a joy that is hard to surpass. Once a relative came to visit me and noted that the master bedroom in our house was like his, books in every corner. I was traveling for work in San Francisco once while one of my sisters was attending an educational conference in Berkeley. We met for wine, dinner and a two hour trip to a bookstore where she bought so many books she had to have them shipped back to Atlanta. I never go to the movies without taking a book to look at while waiting for my comrades who are guaranteed to be late or making a trip to a nearby bookstore. Two shelves in my office have books that I don’t need for work but for the pleasure of reading. After the earthquake hit Haiti one afternoon I turned to the shelves one afternoon, saw a tome by Haitian American writer Edwidge Danticat and was prompted to look up what her reactions were to the disaster.

It was something wonderful to read.

There is a lot out to read there but not all of it is good. There are books that get made into movies that I wonder why they got made into books. There are writers who should not publish because they have not completely learned how to write. And then are tales told so poorly that they will be lost forever because no one can follow what the author is trying to say.

Then there are the censors, those who would destroy books as well as those who try to decide what we should read. They are not always critics, but most of the time they are ignorant of a good piece of writing. The categorize writings by social aspects, not literature. Books and websites, blogs and papers are Christian or not, patriotic or not, etc. Why can’t we just read what is enjoyable?

I enjoy reading that is written on Speak Without Interruption more than I do the editorials in most newspapers. I am sure we will soon get someone who likes to review movies and give us feedback-as a person who watches movies not a critic. Soon there will be articles about Easter, Passover, religion and food. We will not all agree with them but we will read them.

Then we will find other things to read. Tim Roux’s vision for Night Read is exciting. Putting up a site that showcases first chapters is brilliant marketing and makes for great reading. I learned in 9th grade history that a person should be able to tell if a book is any good by the first page. Here we have tons and tons of first chapters. Already I have people asking me “Where is the rest of the book?” for my novels and some others.  People like the idea of not having to go to a store to sit down and read through something they may not like. They have sites to go to now for that.  And when people get to preview what is being offered, they make better choices of what to read. For them the reading is that good.

There is a lot to read and I am glad. Some of the voices that you have on these sites have been silenced for years because they have not been picked up by someone who wants to publish their works. Lots of people are starting to publish on their own- that means more to choose from. If I have a lot out there, as do many of the writers here, it is because it is time to expose the authors that kept creating even when no one wanted to publish them. That never meant no one wanted to read them. It just meant there was no place where they could be read.

Thank heavens there is now. And thank heavens for those of us who like to travel the literary universe that is part of the Internet firmament, there is a lot out there.

Although it has been assumed by many authorities that the Magnificat sponsored the development of the hand-held Spritulizer, it was in fact first developed and utilized much earlier during the time of Gencorp and the first expansion period.

Originally, the device that eventually became the Spiritulizer, the BeHavMod (BHM) was developed by zoological psychologists for the Playcor corporate entity. Playcor, responsible for developing entertainment for the employees of earth-based Gencorp, had determined that significant attractive value could be developed at zoological garden facilities (ZooGars) if the various attractions were more interactive. At that time the live exhibits, while absorbing a great deal of corporate resources, returned little entertainment value.

Whereas an early trip to a ZooGar would hope to entertain visitors with animals that were merely caged and docile, Playcor executives envisioned ZooGars with animals and exhibits that were much more effective. For example, the corporation’s population of African lions were limited to pacing back and forth behind the bars of a cage or enclosure with only infrequent acts of dominance as their primary activities and much of the rest of their time was spent sleeping. These limited activities presented a very low level of E-Val (the Playcor value index of efficiency of entertainment and distraction).

To resolve this inefficiency the Zoological section, under Playcor’s AdVen directorate, was assigned to develop behavior modification techniques to enhance the attractiveness of live exhibits in general. Although records show that many older methods of training were attempted, it was not until the testing by the phycological veterinary medicine unit (PsyVetMed) of early BHM prototypes that any real progress was made. These early devices were crude and had to be configured for each brain type after exhaustive analysis of that particular cranial configuration.

However, using the newly developed BHMs allowed AdVen directors and producers to choreograph the activities of the exhibits in the ZooGars to provide entertainment and actively seek the attention of visitors. As with the refined Spiritulizer, the BHM linked downloaded behavior patterns with pleasurable sensations and emotions. Some of the most notable examples are the juggling cobras of ParDeux ZooGar and the monkey choir of MetroCit ZooGar, some records of which still survive. Although these are just the most famous examples, there were actually thousands of exhibits produced by competing Playcor E-teams all over Earth and associated Gencor systems.

The first applications to human subjects followed soon after. The BHM gained popularity as a motivation enhancer, most notably as part of an InProDev (the information processing and delivery subsidiary of Gencorp)career development program for under-achieving employees. It also found use as a passive restraint for several forms of violent mental illness, as a palliative care tool for the aged and in some notable cases as a sentence for violent crime. It is interesting to note that a great deal of knowledge and information from that time survived the destructive foundation of the Magnificat due to efforts of “Enhanced” InProDev employees. It was a group of these employees that developed and dispersed the Universal Compendium throughout the Gencorp systems, some copies of which escaped the best efforts of the Examiners of the Magnificat and are still in existence today.

As many historians have shown it was the use of later versions of the BHM as a teaching device that contributed to the violence of the Magnificatum Mutatio and the religious dynasty that followed. Under the Magnificat the BHM was further refined and re-named the Spiritulizer.

Although lacking the true flexibility of the original models of the BHM, the common Spiritulizer was much smaller and could be carried by the first line troops, the so-called “Hands of God.” Resembling a light handgun of the time, the Spritulizer was held to the temple of a human subject (later the thorax cleft of a Syman or the seventh vertebral plate of a Mandan) and activated by a trigger switch. There was no configuration or individual programming necessary on the part of the wielder. Spritulizers were pre-configured (later with multiple racial configurations) and contained enough rudimentary processing power to correctly deal with any small anomalies. Toastings, the unsuccessful modification of a subject resulting in cerebral damage, were rare. Successful modification was indicated by the subject’s immediate recitation of the First Catechism against Blasphemy (FiCABla) and display of a physical orgasm.

While the effect of the Spritulizer and it’s predecessor the BHM were extensive and absolute, it’s a mistake to attribute the subsequent displays of loyalty and deference to “the will of the Magnificat” to that device. These devices were not nearly complex enough to fully program these behaviors; they merely provided a rough framework for them to develop. These behaviors were an outgrowth of a subject’s interaction with the pleasure activation programs instituted by the modification process. In effect the processed individuals programed themselves to attain, and retain, the most pleasurable sensations possible.

Although unable to impart complex knowledge or behaviors, the Spiritulizer allowed the forces of the Magnificat to expend less resources while maintaining sufficient momentum to capture and hold a far greater stellar expanse then their Gencor forebears. Although converted, subjects retained their full intellectual capacity and after an initial period of ecstatic torpor began to quickly become willing supplicants to Magnificat and it’s minions. Beyond the initial programming, trigger words and so-called “special devotions” allowed handlers to invoke additional waves of pleasure in the modified at will. This system allowed the secondary effects of modification to become a reward and punishment system of extreme effectiveness. Individuals and populations too apathetic or confused to fight off the initial assault all too often became the first line defenders and suppliers of the Magnificat. The psychological impact of a never-ending supply of ecstasy in the hands of an occupying force cannot be understated.

The Magnificat’s almost complete control of three spacefaring races and over 3000 lightyears of planetary systems can well be attributed to the effects of this simple device, as would almost complete responsibility for that dynasty’s eventual demise. Prior to the catastrophic introduction of the Mandan Loki virus, the Spiritulizer held sway over our entire arm of the galaxy.

Copyright Prentiss Gray 2010

Prentiss Gray is a writer and columnist and currently writes the Domesti-Tech Blog for Gannett. He can be reached through his website at www.prentissgray.com

I remember waking up to the phone in my apartment ringing that morning and my brother’s voice saying, “Mommy died.”  Those two words just reverberated in my very soul for hours.  It just didn’t seem possible.  How could she be gone when I’d just seen her the night before.  Her breathing was labored since the cancer had apparently spread to her lungs.  The nurse was trying to convince her to do some breathing exercise to help her.  She just gave her an extremely dirty look and the nurse then asked me to try and get her to do just a little.

I pleaded, although I could see she was in so much pain.  She gave me a look not unlike the one she graced the nurse with.  But she did try to blow into this gadget a few times to pacify me.  I told her I was sorry to ask her to do it but it was only because I loved her and wanted to help her.

She stopped breathing into that little machine and looked me straight in the eye and said, “You know I love you, right?”  I said I did.  She was struggling so much to breathe that I talked for the both of us.  I stayed a few more hours and then kissed her and said I’d see her in the morning.

Those were the last words she said to me – to any of us.  My dad was working nights and saw her earlier and my brother has also come before me.  So I was the last one.  Those words are precious to me to this very day.  I don’t have many cards or letters that she wrote to me.  She only made a few notes in a (very!) old baby book of mine.  I so wanted something written in her handwriting that said what she felt about me.  That may seem silly, but I don’t think we ever outgrow wanting our parent’s love.

 I promised myself that if I ever had children I’d keep a book of letters I’d write to them and I have.  Even though I tell them how much I love them and how proud I am of them all the time, I also have written them a letter on each birthday and on any other day I wanted to share something about what they were doing or what I was thinking about them.  They each actually now have several books each.  I think it’s wonderful to hear your mother (or father) tell you how great they think you are and it’s even better to have it in writing to look at whenever you want!

 That was an unintentional gift my mother gave me and my children.  Even though she’s been gone so many years and my life is so incredibly different now, I still miss her.  That never changes, does it?  I wish she could’ve been here to enjoy her grandchildren but I have no doubt she will anyway.

Basements were full of water. Two men walking home in New Jersey were killed by a falling tree, roads were impassable. Rivers crested to the point where people feared for their homes, but not for their lives. Roofs lost shingles and a crane was in danger of toppling over and destroying everything in its path. Yet, it was just wind and rain.

Sometimes I wonder why we are spared the torments of nature at its best. I remind myself often that I live on an island and when the wind howls like it did Saturday, sending a nightmarish chill up my spine, I am reminded of a time years ago when I was in Jamaica in the high rainy season for two weeks. For five days it rained every afternoon at the same time. Not a little shower that you would dance in, but blinding sheets of rain that forced you to remain where you were for at least an hour as the storm passed over and the sand and streets dried out under the hot sun. One of the natives told me that after powerful storms and hurricanes the heat is unbearable due to the loss of trees and fresh water. Then the vacation spot that so many Americans and Europeans flock to becomes a hell hole instead of a tropical paradise.

We got none of that on our little island. Manhattan had branches down, limbs and puddles everywhere and crews desperately trying to clean up behind Mother Nature’s wrath. Had it been colder we would have gotten 3 feet of snow. Had it been warmer the humidity would have caused the overzealous use of air conditioners and several more power failures.

Still people complain that this was a lost weekend. I stayed indoors and edited, wrote and watched movies. My plans had included a trip to the movies but it will be there next weekend. We can’t complain because we have tomorrow. We have stores with plenty of food, transportation that is still running and water that is drinkable. This is the time we didn’t have a flood and we must be grateful.

We are the haves in this world and we want to have everything perfect. What we need to do right now is be glad that we only have a little flooding and a few repairs to make. Be glad that we have funding to help us repair the damages. Be glad that we had no major buildings collapse, no tidal waves, no loss of life in the thousands.

This was not a weekend for complaints. This was a weekend to be grateful for the place we live. Three days of rain and wind is nothing compared to months of starvation. This was just another weekend when we were lucky and there was no flood. What more could we ask for?

It was with great interest that I watched a news channel who had despatched a reporter down to the Adelphi Theatre in London to interview the exiting audiences for their reactions to what they had just seen. Surprise, surprise the people said that it was fantastic, they loved it and recommended that everyone in the land should go and see it!

What a turn up then, and what of the ‘panning’ critics?

It was in fact the camera that panned and returned to the studio where a guest there made some very interesting comments, he said that we (the people) were fed up with critics and watching  what they say we should or should not watch at the theatre, picture house and, most importantly for me, Editors dictating what we read. He went on to say that Editors in large publishing houses no longer held the high ground in deciding what should be published and what should not be published for the masses. The power of the Arts was with social networkers and bloggers. The world will now make up their own minds based on the blogs and reviews made by people on the web.

This thought process is what was  behind Night Reading in that we saw so many great stories that would never see the light of day because they did not fit with what the editors wanted to see ‘out there’.

More power to the bloggers the book reviewers and the social networks I say!

Consider some of our more inspirational icons for a moment. Do the presidential figures carved on Mt. Rushmore truly depict the current sense of our national strength, wisdom and vision? Does the Statue of Liberty embody our current policies of immigration and hope? Do we still enjoy the same freedoms and independence as represented by the Liberty Bell? Are we still as united as the American Flag is supposed to represent? Not by a long shot. Our character has quietly changed over the years.

Character is typically defined by such things as pride, integrity, honor, spirit and resolve. It is shaped by socioeconomic conditions, leadership, and management. Unfortunately, the 21st century is off to a bad start, plus we have elected lawyers to lead us and allowed the media to guide us, and when it comes to management, is anyone truly happy with the state of our government? It is no small wonder the character of the country has changed.

I think we all know deep-down we are an imperfect society and have our own unique set of problems. Regrettably, people, both internally and externally, no longer see America in the same light as before. Now we are characterized as greedy and self-centered. We are also recognized as the world’s policeman, a burden we assumed following World War II, a position previously held by other civilizations, such as ancient Rome and Great Britain. In addition, America is regarded as the land of civil rights and political correctness. Unfortunately, we are perceived as the land of facade as opposed to substance. For example, we are now better known for the glamour and glitz of Hollywood as opposed to being captains of industry. Our credibility has been decimated by such things as the near collapse of our banking and auto industries, an eroding infrastructure, and our transportation systems which seem archaic when compared to their counterparts elsewhere in the world.

More disturbing, America is now seen as a battleground for class warfare between the have’s and have-not’s, thereby being forced to make an ideological choice between socialism and capitalism. Consequently, the government suffers from polarization and gridlock due to political wrangling, and the demeanor of the citizens, in turn, grows impatient.

Finally, America is perceived as a Godless and immoral country being strangled by too many rights and laws. Do we really need to legislate everything? When we have to put labels on packs of hot dogs to warn people they might cause choking, maybe we have gone too far. I, for one, am tired of the dumbing down of America.

Perhaps the best adjective to describe America today is “enigma” -

* On the one hand, when havoc strikes in a foreign land, the first country they call on for help is America. Yet, the USA seems to have trouble accommodating the needs of its own citizens. It seems rather odd America can rebuild roads and bridges in Iraq and Haiti faster than within its own borders.

* When hostilities arise between countries, America is summoned to quell the problem either through diplomacy or military intervention. Regardless of the outcome though, we are criticized by the world community for either doing too little or too much. Our enemies understand with perfect clarity that we are restrained by our rights and laws and plays the game accordingly. Consequently, America has to always fight with one hand tied behind its back.

* Regardless of our politics, America is still the place people want to come to, not run away from. Interestingly, we allow people to abuse the system even if they enter the country illegally.

I am always encouraged when I listen to some of our younger people, particularly those in uniform who have been abroad, and understand how great America once was and could be again, but they are also aware of its frailties. They adamantly do not want to see it fail during their watch, yet are at a loss as to how to prevent it.

Years ago, Laurence M. Gould, the President Emeritus of Carleton College said in a commencement address, “I do not believe the greatest threat to our future is from bombs or guided missiles. I don’t think our civilization will die that way. I think it will die when we no longer care. Arnold Toynbee has pointed out that 19 of 21 civilizations have died from within and not from without. There were no bands playing and flags waving when these civilizations decayed. It happened slowly, in the quiet and the dark when no one was aware.”

America gives the impression of being as confused as a punch-drunk fighter staggering around the ring, bobbing and ducking at shadows, swinging at things that do not exist, tired and confused. It hardly looks like the fresh boxer who entered the ring over 200 years ago. It’s either time for some smelling salts and attitude readjustment, or face the consequences.

I, for one, would like to believe we can do better.

Keep the Faith!

Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com

For Tim’s columns, see:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/timbryce.htm

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

“Sara asked to interview me about Experimental Fiction Writing as I prepare to teach the new about the new online class. A very edited version was released on the UCLA Extension site, but here is the whole thing, for you!“

Sara is Creative Writing (Online) and Events Program Assistant at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program www.uclaextension.edu/writers and she is asking questions of Tantra as she prepares to unveil her online Experimental Fiction Writing Class.

SB: So, I’m sure many students are wondering: what is experimental fiction? What are some of the differences between mainstream writing and this genre?

TB: Experimental Fiction is Literary, with a goal towards an artistic presentation of the subject in a unique way. And in any innovative literature, especially the more experimental it is, a big part of the “subject” actually IS the presentation. The WAY it is conveyed can be exciting, and the structure itself, for example, can imply something about the nature of reality, communication, the self, so many things. . . .

To read something like that can make you feel you are in on a secret, have a special understanding of the writer’s intellectual constructs he is enamored of releasing to the world, as you grasp what he’s doing with the use of voice, perspective, format of words on the page, or whatever he choses to do that breaks out of the routine.

Sometimes, mainstream writing may leave you with a similarly enthused feeling but based on the plot. For example, you may feel, “yes, I know who killed that man, and I have put the reasons for it together, and it’s that secret society business, with those clues adding up. Life really was like that, I know it, and I’m learning more about it as I go! This author and I think alike!”

Experimental Fiction may create that fascination with the plot, of course, and reading it can therefore combine that feeling of excitement with both plot AND the form which portrays an intellectual construct. Double your pleasure!

Mainstream writing is more straightforward storytelling, using good writing rules such as Show Don’t Tell, believable characters you care about, tension, a hook that draws in the reader. Those kinds of rules are very commonly taught in writing classes, and are very useful. The way it is told does matter in that kind of way. But those things can be just taken for granted by the reader, who doesn’t notice them, other than maybe to appreciate the power of certain images, or noticing how caught up he may be in the suspense.

When the reader is noticing how the writer put the story together in a way that rebelliously breaks some rules for a purpose, whimsically plays around with writing conventions, or stomps on tradition with combat boots, he is reading Experimental Fiction.

The history of literature is made up of Experimental Fiction, because at the time of each novel, there were conventions that became broken by new styles of writing. For example, realism may not seem experimental at all to us now, but when it began, it was! Now, it’s the norm of mainstream writing, but the first realistic novels were controversial.

Post-Modernist style writing could all be considered experimental, even though it’s been around for decades, and even Laurence Sterne, in his book Tristram Shandy, employed those techniques in the 17 hundreds. Avant-garde is another term commonly used for writing that pushes beyond what has been done before, is on the cutting edge. There are a lot of different types of Literary writing that are not mainstream, nor genre, such as Absurdism, Anti-Stories, and cut-up. These can be examples of Experimental Fiction, particularly if the author does something unique within those subsets. Some beginning writers do make the mistake of categorizing their work as Experimental, but there isn’t anything about it that is. I think once writers start looking into this type of writing, they can suddenly greatly expand their horizons, not only for literature, but for life.

It allows people to think in different patterns about daily life, or outside patterns at all. It can be like opening the door and going outside, outside what seemed like necessary rules being actually chosen, and sometimes possible to be done completely differently for good reason, which can be freeing. It can be freeing to know it’s possible, if a writer has something he wants to express and now knows he can use new and different techniques. And if he is taking a class, for example, he can learn to come up with new ideas by imagining how he could break the rules, and why he in particular, might want to.

SB: How does someone know if they are an experimental writer?

TB: Some people might be even if they have hardly read any literature at all. It could be a kind of Art Brut, Outsider Art style that they discovered on their own, maybe partly because they don’t know the rules. The thoughts in their head may make them not the best choices for Sororities, bank owners, professional football players, or Avon representatives. More often, people are unsatisfied by mainstream literature, and are drawn to famous authors like Donald Barthleme, Borges, John Barth, Julio Cortizar, who have high reputations for really making their mark on the historical progression of literature. Many people who have not been to liberal arts colleges, or read much literary criticism, or lived in a city with book stores that carry sophisticated magazines, may not even know the choice of Experimental Writing exists. The usual list of such writers that are solidly in the center of what is considered Literature, that are most respected as being the most important, may have escaped them entirely, and they may think that mainstream is all that there is. They may therefore have little interest in reading. But once they stumble across even one author who gets them excited by their style, like Richard Braughtigan, they may then become intensely interested in anyone else who tells tales beyond the usual requirements for best selling fiction.

Anyone who reads that kind of work avidly probably begins to think that way, and at least in their minds, maybe their emails, or journal entries, and conversations, they are probably already Experimental. Also Modernist poetry, avant-garde dance, like Merce Cunningham, or music like John Cage, or film like those by Paradjanov, Jodorowsky, Guy Madden, the Brothers Quay, Jan Svankmajer, art such as by Mark Rothko, or Rauschenberg, can be just as influential, and as good an indicator if the writer is prepared to jump fully into the fray. I’d be prepared to look at art that isn’t straightforward realism, certainly not Thomas Kincaid, in order to get a sense of how the mind can be structured. If people only see portraits, landscapes, and still lives, and have never looked at what is taken seriously in the art world, they will see the equivalent of Experimental Fiction in serious art, and that can be a good inspiration.

People may be familiar with the books of William Faulkner, looking at the story from many viewpoints one after another. Some authors may tell the story from different viewpoints and it never adds up, never corresponds. Well, if you have relatives like mine, that may be a great portrayal of how life feels on a regular basis. In a mainstream book, the author will most likely stick to one narrator, and everything will tie up at the end, be explained. Some Experimental writing leaves it untied, mimicking life, and making the reader feel as if he’s just run through a fun-house. Lost in the Fun House by John Barth, is a perfect one to read, in fact.

Time and plot are very often jumbled, juxtaposed, characters are flat and actions unbelievable, the structure convoluted, and the author obviously intruding into the narrative. If you write simple stories instead with characters that are always people, with tension building that is based on conflict, stories that make rational sense, and are tied up in a bow, you are most likely writing traditional fiction. There
is certainly a lot of great traditional work out there. And you can always branch out. Once you start Experimental Fiction, you don’t get contaminated. You can always go back. Trust me. You’ll be fine. Just fine.

SB: You promote a particular type of Experimental Fiction called Lucid Fiction. Can you tell us more about this?

TB: Yes, thank you for asking! I certainly can. I do have some articles about this, most of which have already been published, so people can read those, which they’d find at http://experimentalwriting.weebly.com/about-experimental-writing.html. It’s not an easy genre to sum up quickly, so I don’t know if I’d do it justice here, but in its most strict form, it’s fiction of the new paradigm of our age that reflects the dream of our reality being made more lucid. In other words, the majority of society has been living under illusions for quite some time which have been reflected in the requirements for what is considered fiction. As the illusions are being lifted to some degree, you could look at that as the dream being made more conscious. The illusions I’m referring to have been often put in place by the government/mass media/military-industrial complex in order to manipulate, dampen down. The Bush regime did a lot inadvertently to lift the illusions/dreams. Most people now know by now that 911 was in inside job and the elections were rigged.

A few examples of the illusions: we are limited beings who don’t influence our environment with our minds at all, who aren’t psychic, and plants have no consciousness; 911 was actually as the official conspiracy theory presented on TV said it was, Swine Flu vaccine is actually beneficial and necessary, the FBI is perfect for investigating crimes committed by the government, the war on drugs isn’t actually the war OF drugs, aliens don’t exist, people who talk about secret underground military bases must be crazy. Anyone who remembers past lives is of the devil, even though a large number of Messiahs had the dozens of the same details of their life story as Jesus, his is the only one that is real, anyone who complains about hearing voices in his head must have a mental illness, ritual Satanic child sacrifice has been proven to always be a false memory, and 33rd level Masons are fine, upstanding citizens. There is no cure for cancer, AIDS was not man made, perfume is poison, yes, but very sexy anyway, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is malingering, crop circles are all fakes, cattle mutilations are done by animals, fluoride is good for us, chemtrails are clouds, the president is elected, anyone who sees Reptilian shape-shifters is fooled by David Icke, the food pyramid is healthy, fluorescent lights are just fine, vanillin is vanilla…….The mass media with mainstream fiction in tow tries to keep people from talking about those things, in order to maintain the status quo of control: Anyone who talks about them should be automatically laughed at.

This is super simplified but: Fiction that is based on conflict and drama as plot requirements perpetuates the sense that war and violence and adrenalin are normal and what makes for excitement. Characters that are always acting from the beta brain-wave perspective of linear, analytical separateness from everything around them creates a sense of isolation from the surroundings that leads to the kind of environmental issues we see today. Subjects that are not allowed to be talked about seriously by mass media have been avoided by fiction so the writer’s don’t feel they are stepping on toes, or going to be made fun of, or lose their jobs.

But the more writers are able to put a toe in and talk about reality behind the veil, the more the topics become acceptable for discussion at large. The more characters can be, say, the flow of consciousness in a room, or a person including his aura, higher self, subconscious, cells; the more we can learn to think outside our skin and remember who we are. The more plot can be more like the stories we tell each other that are highly entertaining and suspenseful but not always based on problems, the more we can ease into a world in which the adrenal function stays on an even keel and we won’t have to stimulate it over and over with addictions to sugar, cigarettes, coffee, video games, cheating, drugs, food additives, horror movies. The powers that be would prefer to keep us addicted to their products, including drugs, legal and illegal. I hope you don’t mind me stating my opinion, as I feel it’s a valid one based on a lifetime of careful research. This just isn’t the place to try to back it all up, in this interview.

In a way, traditional stories can be looked at as addictive, and while I certainly have great respect for them, if someone reads one story after another, on a horizontal sine wave of desire, drama, conclusion, desire, drama, conclusion, maybe not as much is accomplished as if at times, he reads a Lucid Fiction story too. Those can be vertical instead of horizontal. The story can carry the reader out of the horizontal plane that keeps him in the same state of mind more or less, and fountains his consciousness up into the higher reaches of himself, free, and out of the story. If life is a dramatic sine wave story of emotional tension, what about those meditative moments of ecstatic perspective in which we are free of all that, and can look around from above? While those who control our society may not want us to escape and look around from a higher perspective, our spirits do want to fly free from the trap of pretending we are such little, helpless creatures who really don’t know much at all. Part of us does!

Lucid Fiction can break the spell, and as we get into the wiser part of ourselves, we can maybe look at some of the illusions that are even more basic to the condition of being human, and go beyond those.

Later, I’d like to teach a class in Lucid Fiction specifically as well, and we’d use some LucidPlay exercises to get into that freer state of mind in order to write from it, yogic and spontaneous movement, breathing, toning. www.LucidPlay.com. In the meantime, if students in my class write that type, that’s fine, but I don’t have a bias as to what kind of fiction they write. It can be nothing like that at all, and it won’t affect how I see it. I find many kinds of fiction very interesting.

SB: You give students the option to send you a photo of themselves of an experimental form for your upcoming course, Experimental Fiction. What’s the connection between the experimental writer’s photo and their writing?

TB: I also ask students to write creative bios to accompany stories. While mainstream magazines look for a list of publications and awards and a mug shot, magazines that publish more eccentric work often like more quirky bios and photos that give the flavor of the piece. So the photo is to prepare for sending something to a magazine, and also to express to the other students what sort of style of writing to look for from that writer. Each writer will have his own goals, and we’re critiquing the stories based on that, rather than on our own or traditional ideas of what is required to make a story. So at the beginning, students might have a harder time keeping it all straight without some visual to help anchor it. Just a plain photo isn’t as much help as a photo that is creatively done to represent the voice of the writer. Writer’s voice is part of what we cover in the class.

The students can do something quick, but also may be inspired to take a long time to think about and create an image of themselves, which could be not even a photo, or not even a face. For students who are interested visually at all, the more time they take, the more they delve into what mood exactly they are trying to create through their writing. Creating a mood for the reader is key. A story can be more about the mood created through how it’s told than about the plot itself.

SB: When did you decide to become a writer? What influenced you? And why experimental writing?

TB: I always wanted to be a writer. They were my best examples of brilliance that made a real difference to me. I was precocious, and was consistently tested as reading at graduate level when in elementary school. I was reading the famous great writers and their biographies even then. I didn’t relate so much to regular consumerist society, TV, popularity requirements, pop music, class rings, and clothes bought at Walmart, or books at the drug store. So my writing became more and more experimental, and even in high school, I wrote an experimental novel manuscript inspired by William Faulkner. I was influenced by the biographies of not only the great writers, but biographies of innovative artists, composers, dancers, and filmmakers, scientists, and spiritual masters. My goal was to add great things to this world. I get inspired by my own creative endeavors, as I have gotten involved in all the arts. I find both my art and my writing to be informed by great filmmakers like those I mentioned earlier, whose work is non-linear, mysterious, poetic, full of motifs rather than plots. I wrote a lot of poetry, have three manuscripts sitting around and most all the poems in all three have been published.

I think very poetically, so motifs and symbolic patterns, moods, depths, beauty, and non story like stories come naturally to me and I don’t see why stories can’t go by those rules to a large degree. I was married for a long time to a poet, and lived the scholarly life, from my first years as a college student, my social scene being receptions for the visiting writers, all graduate students, professors, and me. My (ex) husband and I helped each other with our work, and that was very helpful to me in my progress, as well as being privileged to study and teach writing for so long, our fun times being going to used book stores, getting literary criticism books in dusty shelves.

My fiction and poetry and non-fiction is influenced by my love for the world, by the flow of love itself, and it is often mystical. I’m also inspired by politics, and by my Lucid Fiction desires to use stories to go beyond stories. Life itself doesn’t fit traditional story telling, as far as I can tell, unless I’m missing something. For example, I was writing each day a bit about what was going on with me, in a story. I was writing from the viewpoint of the area under the house and pipes, which had absorbed some of the human element aura. I was writing from the viewpoint of the pots and pans as the characters played music on them. I was writing from various character’s standpoints. Then, the story got out of hand, as it was impossible to keep up with it daily, because living the story was taking too much time. Rather than go back and try to pretend I’m writing each day, I prefer to allow the break in time to be there, and changing the tempo of the story. I want to sum up a long period of time in a short description that may include a list, a one sentence chapter, a black and white image, an exercise to tell the reader to do to experience what it must feel like and to let it go. It seems more realistic, and it becomes more experimental, because the more the flow of the story is broken up, and whisked around, the more it takes our thinking out of the routine flow through the synapses in the brain.

I’ve lived through many stories that I IMAGINE writing, and don’t write because the story, which would be fantastic, takes up too much time. But I imagine it as Lucid FIction stories, and I think a lot of potential Experimental Writers out there are doing the same thing, are outsiders, with really interesting lives and minds, writing stories on the inside of their heads. They just need to find the time, say if they are laid off, and want to just get into their depths, their vivid colors, their dreamy existence, before they just die, and all that conceptual potential and brilliance is snuffed out, to commit to actually writing. The assistance of my class can help them break into something that could enrich their lives tremendously. Even if they never write again, though, the experimental fiction in their heads will most likely keep them entertained through their lives more than simply thinking in terms of straightforward plot.

SB: Any advice for new writers out there?

TB: Don’t quit your day job. But if you’re interested in making money with literature down the road, when your writing is ready, enter some inexpensive contests you feel you have a chance to win, taking a loss overall from entry fees in series, but adding more importantly to your resume. And submit to magazines that have editor’s picks, as you don’t have to pay a fee for those, and which send select published stories to the Pushcart Prize. Apply for residencies, send out to magazines regularly, keeping good track in an organized fashion, use Duotrope.com for some assistance with finding magazines suitable, and thus build a resume, in case you want to teach. Keep up with writers and teachers, like me, to give you references even years later. Teaching is a good way to make money with writing that can possibly give you a tenure track position with some security, long vacations, benefits. Always think of building your brand, so don’t do things off-track that compromise your image to the world. And don’t get impatient, as it takes a long time.

Remember that generally between .1 to 1 percent of work submitted to magazines is accepted, so don’t take rejection personally.

A lot of online magazines get started enthusiastically, but then disappear, so get a sense if it will stick around, and keep track of where you work is published, and what it is, and don’t expect to be able to go back at any time to an online magazine to see it, because it may have gone off the face of the earth. Keep careful records of what you send where and when, how long it’s expected to take before you hear, if you sent it by email or snail mail. The more careful records you keep, the less likely you’ll get overwhelmed later and give up, or submit to two places that require exclusivity at once. Be sure not to put your story someplace online that anyone can see if you think you might want to submit it, because most magazines want work that is not accessible like that at all.

SB: What should people go out and read today?

TB: I feel you! Yes, they should get to it! First off, they can reference my website, Experimental Writing, http://experimentalwriting.weebly.com/, which has a lot of links to articles, books, websites, and more, and it’s growing, and I want people who have links to share, quotes to share, anything at all, to send me something. If they have stories they’ve published they want me link to specifically, for example, if they do seem to fit that genre, I’ll put them in.

Thomas Pynchon, Paul Auster, Claude Simone, John Barth, Manuel Puig, Harlan Wilson, Raymond Federman, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Raymond Queneau, Carlos Fuentes, Julio Cortazar, John Crowley, Italo
Calvino, Jorge Borges, Gunter Grass, Robert Coover, Tom Robins if they really want to enjoy themselves, Richard Braughtigan, John Fowels, Garcia Marquez, John Gardiner, yeah, I know, men, men men. These are all Post-Modernist Experimental Writers they would do well to be familiar with. Their names will come up all the time once they start getting serious with this. Oh, heck, and me, why not? Like, my forthcoming book of short stories, Lucid Windows. www.freewebs.com/TantraBensko.

Interested in signing up? Go to https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?reg=V6226

At the computer at home where I teach the online class from

Want to watch my invitation video, complete with my little friend?

Click here to view the embedded video.

I spent nearly five days rambling around her big house alone, taking care of a lot of loose ends and minutiae that led me to see her home and her life in a way I never had. For many years, all we children felt her home was filled with too much “stuff.” Now I began to see how she had surrounded herself with art because, in truth, she saw her life and artistic expression as one. The paintings, pottery, jewelry, interior decoration – it was all, as the French say,  l’art pour l’art. She was all of, by and for art. She made a passionate decision when she and my father separated to devote herself to creating art and living the life of an artist, to be a complete embodiment of all means of artistic expression. And she did.

And while she disdained many things – you could fairly have called her a snob – she was also an incredible entrepreneur and businesswoman. She didn’t just paint or sculpt or design clothing and cards, she sold them. She made a handsome living at it, even though the galleries took fifty percent of a painting’s price as their cut.

I had to write my mom’s obituary for her two hometown newspapers, and searched through many boxes filled with photographs to find one to use. We children always thought mom had a big ego – and she did – but strangely, I had a great deal of trouble finding many useful photos of her. One was her favorite, and it’s reproduced here. It captures for me the essence of the artist and the confident entrepreneur. She painted thousands of works in her lifetime. An early work [1950s] was a mural of a naked woman [think "The Naked Maja" by Goya] on the wall of a supper club. She did many commissioned portraits. She went through a French Impressionism period, painted Lakota Indians, native to South Dakota, and developed a Southwest style using gold and silver leaf. Her last period was whimsical canvases with goats, dogs, cats, children, little girl’s clothing, and poetry or sayings written in pencil. The one hanging in my office [below] is of a little girl’s pinafore and several mice. It reads, “I gave away the four little mice and got a brown one named Pippin who lives with Thigamagig. They are very good friends.” I said whimsical, right?

Perhaps of most lasting interest is this: I came to realize how little I knew my mother, and really, how little she knew me. My mother didn’t have good personal boundaries, and over time I began to resent her intrusiveness and shrouded myself and my life from her. I grew angry and impatient with phone calls that were all her talking about herself, her health, her latest Big Problem or accomplishments. She didn’t have much interest in my life, so I didn’t tell her much.  On the few occasions I showed her a book I’d written, she would say she wasn’t much interested in computers. If I showed her a short story or poem, she would say something like “Not your best work.” I didn’t care for the man she married, so I was disinclined to visit her. I don’t think we ever found a common ground to walk together.

But for all that, over these past few years we’d grown closer, and in many ways more honest and frank with one another. One time she accused me of lacking appreciation for her art, and I told her to stop behaving as if I were her father. I encouraged her to tell me all about her life, for I wanted to write a biography to publish for the family; she replied her life wouldn’t be interesting to others.

But in those last days in her home I found a file folder with her own writings, mostly from the 1950s and 60s. I recalled she’d mentioned writing so stuff, and had mostly forgotten about it. Mostly articles about her views, ideas, and experiences and some local journalism. It’s interesting to see how hard she worked at it. I’m going to collect it into that book she and I never wrote together, along with those few photos I found. It’s how my art wants to express her art – mon art pour son art.

In my first post about my mother a month ago, I mentioned how “Abbey Road” continually played in my head. The day after I returned from Phoenix, after more than three weeks had passed, it finally stopped.

John Armor, Esq.
Box 243, 421 Kettle Rock Road
Highlands, NC  28741
828.200-0320
John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
www.TheseAreTheTimes.us

And he’s on a horse.

When I first saw it I couldn’t believe the creativity Old Spice allowed the guys that wrote this to have. It is a marketing dream, appealing to both men and women. He is the man you want your man to smell like. Because, let’s face it, most men are not going to ever look like Isaiah Mustafa (the actor in the commercial). It is the point of the commercial. This very stuck -up character is actually trying to help couples out by telling them: “Pay close attention to this African King-like torso, regal manner, sexy voice and perfect diction. You cannot have me or anyone like me. You man cannot be me or anyone like me. But if he washes with the same thing I wash with, he can smell like me and doesn’t that wet your fantasies just enough to go out and purchase what could make him close to me?”

He’s in a shower, then on a boat, then riding backwards on a horse. A real horse! Does he look good? Damn right! Does he smell good? How the hell do I know. But he made his point and he made it well. You can’t have this chocolate wonder but maybe you can have someone who smells like it.

Did some women rush out and buy Old Spice Body Wash for men after they saw that commercia? Of course they did. Men are always looking at  lingerie ads with gorgeous women and then on birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, even Mother’s Day, guys will show up with the pink bag from you-know-who and give it as a gift. It is usually filled with tiny lingerie that is impossible for women of any size to get in or out off, but they are not looking at the woman they are with when they buy it or even when she puts it on. They are looking at the girl in the ad. They are buying a part of a fantasy. Doesn’t matter to them if you like it or not, they didn’t really buy it for you. They bought it for a pleasure of the mind. It’s the only time they are going to actual get the woman they want and can’t have, and, for the most part probably can’t afford.

So in comes the guy on a horse to rescue men from usuing their ladies sweet scented soaps and body washes and women from the tedious commercials that hint that men smell more like socks worn for a month than the once enticing pheromones that captured your interest. The last line in the commercial is “I’m on a horse” and that is so important. Sexually it eludes to all kind of fantasies for women. Comparisons in proportions, f or those of you not paying attention. In the romance department it works as well. How many romance novels have a damsel being rescued by a handsome man on a horse? Sure a horse is a means of transportation. So is the boat. But the boat symbolizes the money your man probably doesn’t have to buy you the tickets to things you want but they can’t remember or the jewels you were hoping to get from him before old age set in and you couldn’t test them with your real teeth or wear them without riding around in your wheel chair. The commercial gives a woman every fantasy she could hope for in a man: clean, well built, rich and well hung. At least that’s my less the prurient view of it.

Cause he is on a horse.

Hey, I congratulate Old Spice for a real winner. And Mr. Mustafa (wasn’t that the name of the father in “The Lion King?” I rest my case!) is a great find for the screen. It’s a funny commercial but it makes a lot of points. In the end the truth is, ladies, do we really care how that guy smells when he rides into our lives on a horse?

Things like this happen to me every now and then. I believe there is another level of reality and it is often privy to us only in dreams. In the daylight hours we let our minds concentrate on things that we can see. Those who walk around in the sun with their minds open to the voices from another level are called crazy. Perhaps some of them are, but many of them are just unable to grasp the difference between the seen and unseen world. They can’t separate the two or interpret the strangeness of the second reality. Once my head hits the pillow I can barely grasp it myself. I have awakened to phones not ringing, voices not calling and, my all time favorite, a dog not standing next to my bed barking. These things were so real to me that I had to wake up but what they mean I don’t always take the time to figure out.

In sleep I let my mind relax to see other realities. Sometimes those realities lead me to creativity. Other times they lead me to a dream dictionary I picked up years ago that helps explain things. I wonder who decided that dreaming about fish means someone close to you is going to give birth. Do these interpretations go all the way back to the Joseph of the Old Testament who was famous for how he explained dreams, especially the dreams of the Pharaoh?. If I think about a person before I go to sleep, especially someone I haven’t seen in a long time, that person might end up in my dreams. Other times there is just a mass of confusion that I cannot explain.

Last night I dreamt I was in the subway waiting for an hour to get on a train stuck in the station. It’s a nightmare that does happen in real New York rather too often. The doors of the train I wanted to board were closed so I couldn’t get in. But the car was packed and I didn’t want to be another sardine. Another train connected to the first one and still no movement. Finally I decided that I could take the A train home and left that area.

I assume I was in the 59^th Street Columbus Circle station where you can catch a few different subway lines that go uptown to Harlem. I had been waiting on the number 1 and all I would have to do in the real world to get to the A was go up a couple of sets of stairs. The problem was the dream station was being worked on and I couldn’t get where I wanted to go. In my struggle to get to the A train I went to several Transit workers who allowed me to go in secret passages and tunnels. I went through storage areas, had to go outside and come back in, and finally ended up in an attractive underground restaurant that had a wine cellar connected to the A line. Along the way I had picked up a woman in her 30’s and her 12 year old son. How did I know their ages? Hey, it was a dream. However she refused to go with me through the wine cellar. I finally got to the right platform and missed the train. I turned and there was another one coming but it wasn’t going to stop and then. . .

The phone rang for real. Someone in Africa calling my husband who slept through the whole thing.

I didn’t think about what this dream could mean until I was on the bus this morning. The bus I almost missed that I had to run to catch it.

Hummmm

While getting settled the MTA made an announcement that there would be service interruptions on the A train from Friday midnight to 4:45am Monday. The A train, the same train in my dream.

Hummmmmmmm

I started thinking about the pieces of my dream again. What would possess my unconscious mind to think I had to go through a restaurant to get to a train? Then I connected the dots. Earlier that evening, my hairdresser told me there had once been a really good Chinese take out place underground where the A train stops on 145^th St.. Another piece of the puzzle solved.

But why was I so lost and why the mother and the 12 year old boy?

It was only when I started writing this that I realized what was going on in my dream. I have been trying to find a way to publish my novels for many years. I have had agent approval but it didn’t seem to be the time for my style or my story with big publishing houses. So, after a long period of debate, I decided to self publish. Yesterday I finished the edits and this weekend.  I can complete the rest of the paperwork. I had to go through a lot to get here but I think I have found my way.

The mother and son? Well that represents a few family issues that I recently learned about and they all involve mothers and sons. Funny how they couldn’t come with me on my dream journey to the A train but then it wasn’t a trip they needed to make.

So I have become Joseph and I have interpreted my dream. When we allow the mind to wander on its own it reveals a lot to us. Sometimes it isn’t what we want to know and we can even create dream barriers. But if we rest, close our eyes and let the other reality happen, it might solve a mystery. Perhaps something special will be revealed.

For a long time I kept track of these statistics manually and learned to classify the various HSA’s by their nuances, such as their driving habits, behavior in group settings, language, dress, and general deportment in public. As a systems man, it occurred to me I could create a device to detect and statistically track the number of HSA’s I encountered, hence I introduce you to…

“THE ASSHOLEMETER” ™ (pronounced “ass-hall-au-met-er”) – a powerful new tool for detecting HSA’s. It’s modeled after today’s handheld radar devices as used by law enforcement personnel and baseball scouts, except it can be used by anyone. Perhaps the best way to think of it is as a sort of “gaydar” on steroids. However, it doesn’t judge people by race, age, gender, or social standing; only if the person is an asshole.

At the heart of the Assholemeter is a powerful preprogrammed microprocessor linked to special sensors to detect such things as motion, sound, temperature, and surrounding technology. It is programmed to detect erroneous perceptions, sensory deprivation, changes in noise levels, wavering speech patterns and slang, brain wave activity, heart rates and the active use of technological devices such as cell phones, portable media players, and computers. In addition, there is a module included for statistical analysis. A handy USB port is also provided to download data for use in spreadsheets. The unit sits comfortably in a handsome holster making it convenient for use in supermarkets, on the road, airports, or anywhere.

A small statistical display is included in the handset. The unit also makes a pulsating high frequency squeal, audible to ordinary people and canines, thereby alerting everyone to the presence of a HSA.

The Assholemeter impressed me in field tests. For example,

* I discovered sharp increases in HSA behavior during commuter rush hour traffic as opposed to the open road. It also detected increases in people driving while talking on cell phones or having an excessive number of bumper stickers on their car.

* It clearly delineated HSA behavior in large crowd settings, such as at stadiums, arenas and outdoor events. As an aside, it went bananas at flea markets and monster truck rallies. It also distinguished HSA’s at airports, and on virtually any kind of public transportation, including subways, trains and buses.

* In office settings, it detected innocuous meetings, slimy salesmen, time wasters, and overbearing bosses. It includes a “Peter Principle” function to detect people rising above their level of competency. There is also a special detection setting for bankers, lawyers, realtors, and insurance agents.

* The device seems to peak late at night or on weekends after people had a few drinks. I had no problem finding drinking establishments featuring “Ladies Nights” and two-for-one specials.

* Interestingly, its “spin detector” feature works on the news media where I used it to scan newspapers and television programs.

* Last, but certainly not least, it went off the Richter Scale when I pointed it in the direction of Washington, DC or any local government building.

I see this as a useful tool for preventing personal injuries from obnoxious HSA’s. It won’t fight your battles for you, but you will see your nemesis coming from a mile away. Airport and airline personnel will find it invaluable in terms of detecting terrorists and annoying passengers. Imagine the orders from truck drivers alone where they can now easily traverse the highways and make their deliveries on schedule. It should also be considered mandatory at voting precincts, political party rallies, press conferences, and for watching television news. Quite frankly, the potential is limitless.

So, be the first on your block to order the new Assholemeter and impress your friends. We are also working on two new smaller models to either fit in your pocket or clip on to your glasses or hat. It’s a great gift idea for National HSA Day (which seems to be celebrated everyday now). Patent pending.

Keep the Faith!

Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com

For Tim’s columns, see:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/timbryce.htm

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

This week, here in South Carolina, a Columbia city council member who has held office representing the same district (The City of Columbia’s District 2) for 27 years, resigned after pleading guilty to federal tax evasion. According to reports, the man failed to pay more than $25,000 in federal income taxes in 2004. Before this revelation we learned that two convicted felons were trying to run for mayor of the city of Columbia and we have a governor that was hiking the Appalachian Trail in Argentina.

Last week we learned that New York’s elder statesman is being investigated for having filed a misleading financial disclosure report for 2007, he allegedly failing to report at least half a million dollars in assets. Before that, New York’s most recent (2) governors and one of her congressmen (who, by-the-way is a native South Carolinian) have fallen to scandal. Detroit’s former mayor was convicted while in office as was Chicago’s former governor and, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development resigned while under investigation by the FBI for revoking the contract of a vendor who said he did not like President G.W. The list goes on and on and on and on.

While these people plot and plan ways to line their pockets, cheat on their spouses, payback, pay up, find their soul mates, date prostitutes, dance in water fountains, look for nonexistent weapons, come out of the closet, hike trails, and take their children and friends to the World Series with free tickets that were allegedly solicited valued at $425 a piece and evade taxes our children are being robbed of an education, families are being foreclosed out of their homes while standing on unemployment lines and in food pantries while struggling to get adequate health care and affordable health insurance.
Our country is broken, our government is broken.

These egotistical men and women sitting in high and lofty offices care only about what they want, what they (think they) need, what they think they should be entitled to, and how they can remain in power. You and I don’t count, our children don’t count, our elderly and our infirmed don’t. These people blatantly and continually lie, cheat, steal, cover up, profile, stall, threaten to filibuster, fabricate, procrastinate and pontificate yet, we continue to be in awe of them, reelect them, throw tea parties for them, forgive them and make excuses for them.

Is it just me or, is there something wrong with this picture?