Yours Truly

Yours Truly
Janet Fauble at home

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Ask Not by Max Allan Collins

After reading this book called Ask Not by Max Allan Collins, I must read the other books that he had written earlier, Bye Bye Baby, and Target Lancer.  Ask Not is a fictionalized tale of a detective who opens the novel with the recognition that he is likely a target of a killer.  His family may be in danger as well since his son was with him when a car deliberately attempted to hit him.  This threat to his life causes him to try to reach out to the people who may be setting him for a hit to understand that he is not to be considered a loose end.  He is the main detective in the A1 Detective Agency that he owns and supervises.

This is a fascinating story about the Kennedy assassination as seen through the eyes of this master detective who has had a connection to the attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro, a bungled job called Mongoose which failed.  He had recognized two of the Cubans who were in the car that deliberately tried to run him down as those who he had known from the earlier attempt to assassinate Kennedy when in Chicago.  This action takes him to both Dallas, Texas, after the Kennedy assassination and to New Orleans to meet up with organized crime leader Uncle Carlos,  a short squat Italian who is kingpin of crime in Louisiana and Texas.

After meeting with Uncle Carlos and having been given a tour of Uncle Carlos's  properties in the Bayou, Nate Heller has apparently accomplished his mission which was to assure Uncle Carlos that he is not to be feared by the mob.   But that he would do anything to defend himself and his family if necessary.  It would appear that Nate Heller has the full respect of the gangsters who own Lousiana and Texas.

So with that accomplished, we travel with Nate in his analysis and study of the Kennedy assassination, dissecting it with the help of insiders which include strippers, dirty and clean cops,and  CIA and FBI personnel.  Very carefully, and with great skill, Nate destroys the idea that Lee Harvey Oswald could have committed this crime at all.  By the time one finishes this very well researched and carefully plotted novel, one realizes that this author knows a lot about more than just the Kennedy assassination but then after all he is writing about a detective who is a snoop.  Max Allan Collins is a very interesting author who uses his detective as a means for learning and exposing government secrets that frankly I am inclined  to believe should be kept secret.

I will not spoil anyone's interest in this book by giving away the plot and its many secrets.  Suffice it to say that nobody in the USA is ever going to be satisfied with any solution to the Kennedy mystery. Each and every year, another author can take a crack at it...Nobody will ever solve it to anyone's total satisfaction.  

But Nate Heller convinces us quite well that the Warren Commission's findings are pure hooey!

That's government for you!



Talking Oaks and Derby now...

The Kentucky Derby is this weekend, and the Friday before the big Derby is the Kentucky Oaks in which the fillies compete. I have been keeping up with the ongoing drama, and today the post positions were drawn for the Oaks.  The favorite was unlucky to get the last post position, but tonight on Bloodhorse, a video of her working in her stall was shown.  Lucky number 13 is not that bad a post to have, but it means that tomorrow we have to worry about which horse gets which post position for the big one, the Run for the Roses.

The entire game of horse racing is betting against one another.  The owners have their own private game in which naturally, they enter the race to win the big prize and have all the glory of the victory.  The bettors want any horse to win provided that it pays them back for taking the risk to plunk a few dollars down on it.

Now this is the sanity of horse racing...A favorite which will pay little simply because everyone and his brother is betting on it is the rich man's best bet if in fact the horse does win.  The rich man can afford to put a couple grand on the win bet, and even if he does lose, because he is a rich man, he has not felt a thing...but if he wins, he gets a little pocket change no matter how much he wins...that is all that it is to him or to anyone else for that matter.

So in recent times, a few longshot horses have won which has made the entire Derby a bit of a question mark. Why can't a favorite actually win a race in Kentucky on this famous day of days?  Mine that Bird was a 50 to 1 longshot that paid huge, so people have begun to hunger for big wins instead of best wins.

Whenever one of these longshot horses comes in to the money, it changes the entire purpose of the game. The purpose then becomes to win as big a chunk of money that you can get.  Superfectas, trifectas, and even exactas pay huge sums of money if a longshot even places or shows.  So right now, every handicapper in town is trying to sell information to buyers on which horse of the lot can actually hit the board to reward a bet including a big longshot, shooting the payoff to sky-high amounts.

Now for sure, nobody knows which horse is the most likely to do that, so it is a kind of Russian Roulette game to figure out which of the long shots figured at 20-1 and over will hit the board to reward some lucky superfecta, trifecta, or exacta bet.  Whether it will actually happen is anyone's guess.  Theoretically, the best horses really should be at the finish line, and in many races, it just so happens that it works out that the top horses actually do as predicted, and win in the first four positions.

So when betting, some bettors protect themselves by betting not only a favorite with a group of horses that could and should be able to get to the finish line ahead of everyone else but also a few tickets that include some unlikely's just on the chance that maybe a great jockey can actually get an unlikely horse to the finish line before the rest stagger in.

Unfortunately for me, I always stick with a single bet. I usually back out of playing exotics but this year I intend to try. Even if I have to do it all on Kentucky Oaks advance betting for the Derby, and I intend to take a few chances which I have not ever done before.   I always stay too sensible and practical, knowing that to bet too heavily only costs you, but does not ever earn you anything worthwhile.

I intend to turn that around, but I admit that I am betting heavily on California Chrome to win this race...I am betting on him because he is honestly the very best horse in here, and I hope that he gets a good post position to prove it. If he does, I will go with him, but if he is really handicapped by a losing post ( 1 or 17 and above) I will have to reconsider the bet...I think he is the only horse who can truly overcome a bad post and still win it, but I will be careful if he is given a really bad post position.

I am praying for him and all his connections that he does win this race because he is a class act, the really super horse  that can and maybe will be able to win the Triple Crown.  Cross my fingers and hope that he does.

But who will come with him?  Who is likely to be second, third, and fourth...that I just do not know...I will wait until tomorrow when the post positions are drawn and the odds are given.  Then I will decide for sure.  I am listening to everyone but in the end, one's own intuition and horse sense is the best factor to use when betting.

It will be all over after Saturday afternoon...time flies!  But Friday is an important day in which the Oaks races will have an influence.  I hope to play a Daily Double and catch it...Oaks and Derby double.  That would be cool.  Untapable is the early favorite but already she has had the luck to draw post 13.  That may be good, or it may not...she is clearly the best of the fillies as well...so what will it be, a favorite to win both Oaks and Derby?  Or upsets?

Oh, how I hope that my post derby entry here will be a WINNING statement.

Roster of Oaks entries are as follows:  1. Please Explain (50-1) 2. Ria Antonia (10-1) 3. Sugar Shock (12-1) 4. Rosalind (8-1) 5. Thank You MaryLou (30-1) 6. Kiss Moon (30-1) 7. Fashion Plate (6-1) 8. Aurelia's Belle (50-1) 9. Unbridled Forever (12-1), 10. Empress of Midway (50-1) 11. My Miss Sophia (8-1)  12. Got Lucky ( 20-1), and 13. Untapable (4-5) clear, easy favorite ridden by Rosie Napravnik.

The racing secretary is who sets the odds and thus actually manages the game.  But most of the odds are sound and reasonable.  The person who is best to listen regarding the outcome of the race is the trainer of the horse who knows the truth about how well his entry can do in the race.

I always study a horse live before he or she goes into the gate. Horses generally give an indication of how they feel about the race.  Now believe it or not, and I know that you won't, but I know for a fact that horses can and do think and speak in the language that I can know and understand...I look for body language, but also for other signs that I believe tell me the truth about which horse will win. I was given the winner of the first at Turf Paradise race that I attended when I first moved here years ago...it came from within...I had it right...It was Strike the Gold trained by Nick Zito.  I can win through internal knowledge better than any other kind if I take advantage of it...Sometimes I figure it out through watching videos, reading stats, studying past performances, but always through the body language of the horse...and horses do know...always, they are who wins or loses the race.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Followup to ByeByeBaby

These are the first books that i have read by Max Allan Collins.  He is a prolific writer with a host of credits to his name.  He lives in Iowa with his wife Barbara, a fellow author, who often corroborates with him.  She is his Marilyn Monroe lookalike wife.  I am more or less betting that because he loves his own wife so much he is able to create a love for Marilyn in the character of Nate Heller.  I do not really believe that any of the men she married or slept with really loved her.  I think they used her.  She was a prize to them, to be able to say that they had made her.

If I were to give men advice on how to treat women, I would say honestly give her a lot of attention, say nice things to her, and treat her with consideration and kindness.  I personally dislike men who put women down, who are insulting, rude, and competitive, and threatening to them.  I do not like physical or emotional abuse in either films, books, or real life attitudes or behavior.

Marilyn in this book takes too many beatings from the men who have used and abused her.  For some stupid reason, men seem to think that women are punching bags, and I do not like it at all.  Never lay a hand on a woman except with a loving and kind touch...do not smash her face, bruise her, or insult her in any way.

Joe DiMaggio hit her, caused her great pain, but pretended that he loved her.  Even Bobby Kennedy in the book is said to have struck her.  Whether he struck her in the face or what, I do not know, but in the storyline he hits her physically as well as screams and rants at her.

Books are powerful tools to use in impacting readers, and even characters whether real life or imaginary do make a difference in a person's intake of the book being read.  An important aspect of this book is the feeling that the author has toward Bobby Kennedy.  Through the study of the attorney general's relationship with Marilyn, we find that he is not the ideal candidate or character that he might have wanted us to believe him to be.  But finally, he seems to gather strength to continue to wage war against the bad guys so that the detective thinks that there is still some hope that Bobby may be a person who could be trusted to keep his word to clean up crime after all.

The gangsters who had helped to put his brother into office through typical Democratic shenanigans did expect to be honored and rewarded when helping the Kennedy family get their desired goal, which is the White House of course, but Bobby who was trying to clean out the very gangs who had helped him to be in his powerful position made enemies...which may have cost his brother his life as a result...it then cost Bobby his job...He could no longer wipe out the Mafia bosses.  It is an irony, and this book makes it clear that Joe Kennedy had worked with the Mafia to build his business, and that Jack had even worked with them to get elected, and used them to try to get Castro.  It is a very strange story which finally sounds realistic and plausible at last.

Like I said, when I was a young girl, I heard people tell my mother that she looked like Phyllis McGuire.  So when I saw her name mentioned in this book, it refreshed my memory of those days in Ohio.  My mother was very pretty but I did not see that she looked like Phyllis but we all became aware of her relationship with Sam Giancana after that...Then Phyllis was famous for the diamond that he had given to her.  It was a huge diamond.  What is funny is that people would tell me years later in California that I looked like Nancy Sinatra...Go figure...I never really saw that either but I did see her twice.  I even saw her brother Frank Jr. in Las Vegas, but never Frank, Sr.  I did see Elvis which is where I saw Nancy first time round. I saw her later at the Gold Nugget downtown in the ladies restroom...very interesting  to say the least...

It is a small world, isn't it?






Monday, April 28, 2014

Bye Bye Baby by Max Allan Collins

Bye Bye Baby is a piece of fiction, but it reads as if it is a true story since it is based upon true and real people who we have come to know in these past decades.  I grew up in the era and am probably near the age of the author, probably a wee bit older,  so that this book caught my attention after reading a later book entitled Ask Not.  Ask Not is based upon the same body of people who are prominent in this story which examines the death of famous movie actress and star, Marilyn Monroe.

I have a deep personal interest in this story which I will explain as I review and discuss this fascinating book.  I was so taken in by its seedy plot as to stay up all night to finish reading it.

I have always been the type who can get so absorbed in a book that I let everything else around me fade away as I lose myself into the storyline if it captivates me that much.

Inititally, I found the opening chapter boring since Marilyn Monroe has frankly never appealed to me very much.  She has too often represented the kind of female whose lifestyle honestly bores me no end.  I find nothing appealing about women's tits and ass, so that right away you know that this is a man's book written for men more than for women.  All men seem to be gaga over the scintillating tits and ass that Marilyn wore so well on her way to the top.

However, her naked swim scene did end with a line so funny that I laughed out loud and was thereafter taken in to like this book.  I found this man's frankness about his love for this sex queen to be very funny and amusing to me.

I grew up on Mickey Spillane books. I loved and adored his detective stories in which men lust after women openly and wantonly.  My family was very honest and open about sexuality early in my childhood so I had no inhibitions about reading sex based stories.  They did not arouse my libido but they did satisfy my curiosity.  I was very virginal in my youth but I loved reading about adult male sexual interests, so I was prepared for this kind of continuation by Max Allan Collins.  He corroborated with Mickey Spillane on several of his books so the style is very similar and reminiscent.  I liked being taken back to the days of my youth.

Since I was also a big fan of JFK, I found this piece of history regarding his history to be very interesting.  Time has revealed that John F. Kennedy has had many enemies who have seen fit to publish every bit of gossip imagined about him, and naturally, one of the most interesting is his ties to Marilyn Monroe.  Until I read this book, I had no idea that he had had an early first marriage before that to Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, but it turns out that he had married a woman and had had to have had it annulled. The fictional detective in this story was used to help terminate and annul that first marriage since it was nothing but a brief fling...A story is told about his naval days in which he was quite a hero, and which is the cause for which he is said to have become such a famous womanizer...live every day as though it could be your last...from this we get the idea that women are key to making Jack's final days happy days.

So who but Marilyn Monroe, the reigning sex queen of Hollywood, could make Jack happy at his birthday party when she sang her famous song to him....

Soon after this birthday celebration, Marilyn's life turns into a nightmare as she struggles to save her fading career with Twentieth Century Fox, as well as the studio's future itself.

The book examines very carefully in a fictional story the last months of Marilyn's life.  Collins has created a detective who actually loves Marilyn enough to be her body guard and friend when  she calls for him to help her in her distress.  Nate Heller, own of A-1 Detective agency, flies from Chicago to help the ailing actress who is trying to salvage her career from the mean, nasty bosses at Twentieth Century Fox Studios.

In the meantime, we meet up with all the underworld gangsters and mobsters who surround Hollywood types, especially Frank Sinatra, and Peter Lawford, all the cops, FBI, and CIA personnel who are likewise involved in not only protecting the President and his brother, the Attorney General, but also the journalists and gossip columnists who are studying the life out of Marilyn.  This parade of the high and mighty in Hollywood land reads like a VIP list as the Kennedy family is very big and noisy and highly influential in all its dealings.

The insights into the government, into Hollywood secrets, and the number of people involved in simply one stars life is incredibly fascinating and interesting through this fictionalized tale.  He does end up solving the case, identifying a murderer, and justice wins out to some extent, but again this is all a piece of fantasy more than reality so that the real question will always remain...how and why did Marilyn Monroe really die?  Is it suicide? Is it murder? Or was it accidental?  If, and the author maintains that the story is based upon a lot of fantastic research, all that is reported in this book is true, then it does look like murder she wrote....but because of the ties to the Kennedy family, all this becomes very hush hush and totally dismissed for security's sake.

Marilyn is history now...and she continues to be exploited year after year as if there were no other piece of flesh in town in which to make bread.  Norma Jean may rest in peace for she is clearly forgotten, but the icon Marilyn will reign forever as Hollywood's major sex goddess!!  A fascinating read...I recommend it to anyone who likes tits and ass.  I did see that I said that I have a deep and personal interest in this story...I will explain...

Sam Giancana is the notorious gangster who is a close friend to Sinatra...he is known for his association with one of the famous McGuire sisters.  He dated Phyllis McGuire who was his main squeeze.  When I was a teenager, people would always tell my mother that she looked like Phyllis McGuire...

Giancana makes a personal appearance in this novel which is quite surprising and unexpected...It is easy to make mobsters and gangsters the fall guys, but it is always a possibility that he had had some influence...I frankly doubt it...but then who is to know?  That is why it is a mystery.

My other interest naturally  is that my students at GHS would tell me that I was their MM, the poor man's version of course...So I have always managed to care about her in MY WAY.

Enjoy the book if you decide to read it...It is one of the better reads on the topic!  And I know that Max Allen Collins is careful in his research since he lists a bibliography so extensive it would make you choke!



Saturday, April 26, 2014

The Shadow Queen by Sandra Gulland

In Sandra Gulland's latest release, The Shadow Queen, our young heroine is Claude des Oillettes, an attendant and confidante to Louis XIV's mistress Madame de Montespan.  Through this carefully researched novel on the Ancien Regime and its theatrical companies, we come to meet with the actors , actresses, and playwrights of the 17th century as well as a few members of the Sun King's court.

The novel is divided into five acts, in which we follow Claude and her family through tumultuous times in the life of the theatre and the court.  Claude was born into a theatrical family so that early on she is trained in the skills of the dramatist, the art of  set designs, and the tricks and secrets of the actors and actresses.  Her mother is a gifted actress whose early successes enable her to continue her craft long after her husband is deceased.  She is the "star" of the family upon whose talents they manage to survive.  However, unfortunately for the family, the Catholic church considers the world of theatre to be a tool of the devil so that they do not gain respect or recognition from the clerical world.  They are shunned and despised as if they are evil participants against the rules and laws of the Church and its interpretation of a Christian life.  That meant that when her father had passed, he was not given a proper Christian burial. In order to receive such an honor, one had to renounce his trade and his work as an artist.

During the travels of the theatrical group, Claude meets a young woman by the name of Tonnay-Charente, a young aristocratic woman who is desiring to kill her governess with a spell of some kind. She asks Claude to help her by giving her a spell or enchantment, and Claude due to her poverty and her station in life, quickly offers to help her.  Naturally, the spell does not work, but the two women have met so that when chance brings them again later due to the theatre, they pick up where they left off and become friends of a kind.  This begins an entirely new chapter in Claude's life in which she must give up living with her mother and younger brother to move to live with Tonnay-Charente who has adopted the name of Athenais.

Athenais has quite an influence on the young Claude who has skills and talents that Athenais can use to her benefit, and soon when Athenais's own star has risen high enough, Claude is taken with her as her confidante and attendant to cover for her when she is acting as mistress to the King.

Claude has become a captive of the temperamental, dominating Athenais so that she does everything as she is told since she is being rewarded and paid so well that Claude can pay all past debts, and provide sustenance and aid for her family.

We are taken through the world of theatre, the world of witches and witchcraft, potions and poisons, and we even meet the famous Sun King who in this situation is seen only as a power symbol for Athenais who desires to be Queen.  Unfortunately for Athenais, she is married to another, and thus is committing adultery, a grave sin in the Catholic faith, and as the King is likewise married, both are committing the sin of double adultery.  Because the church fathers are opposed to their relationship, they must end their relationship so that a house (Clagny) is built for Athenais. She must leave the court.  Claude follows her, but Athenais is greedy and goes a step too far, and loses Claude forever.

The business of poisons being used is soon discovered which rocks the boat of the court, and both Claude and Athenais are implicated but a trial ensues that sets them both free.  Claude is taken to a jail where she is said to be identified as having bought poisons from the witch but she denies her role in the affair as she had always gone disguised and had used a false name. How could anyone know her or identify her is what she is left to wonder.  A motive is a supposed vendetta against Athenais.

Because she had earlier had an impromptu forced relationship with the King, she has become pregnant and has borne a child, a girl who is said to look like the father.  She threatens to expose this if she is forced to go to trial to tell her story to the court.  She has a friend who delivers this message to the king so that she is sent from the court never to return with a payoff, a bribe, or just a gift, and is freed from any possible scandal involving her and Athenais.  The King thus learns of his bastard daughter and that may be the cause for the huge sums of money paid to her.  At any rate, she is able to pay off all debts, buy herself a house, and be free and independent to live her life as she chooses.

I enjoyed reading this book because there is so much loving, tender care demonstrated towards certain key characters in the book.  Sandra takes on a high moral tone in the telling of the story so that one can only sympathize with the theatrical players, with Claude herself, and even with the playwrights who are competing with one another.  The character of the young "simple" half wit brother whose name is Gaston is very intriguing and encouraging since he is a loving, gentle child who gets himself into trouble without really knowing why.  Claude is portrayed as a practical and responsible young woman who has sacrificed everything in life for the well being of her family, and one can only admire and like her for that.  Her family is very endearing as is the old playwright  Pierre Corneille who is being replaced by the young Moliere and Jean Racine.

The character who is most intriguing is Athenais, the great Madame de Montespan, herself.  She is drawn very carefully and well by the author.  Athenais is a difficult woman to understand, but in this novel which appears to follow history well, she is crafty, cunning, intelligent, wise, charming, and very human in her fits of temper and haughty attitude.  She is a strange woman who believes in herself so much that she is reduced to using potions and amulets to get her own way...which belies her so called confidence and self assurance.  But her character is very likable despite doing some very despicable things.  

The Sun King is portrayed in a very poor light as seen through the eyes of Claude.  Claude has been forced to substitute herself for the King's "relief", a sex session at an appointed time, since Athenais has reason to abstain from her usual entertainment.  The King does not appear to be very pleased with the fact that he has to use Claude instead of Athenais but the union is so successful that Claude eventually realizes that she has become pregnant with his child.   Twice Claude has to do the bidding of the formidable Athenais when Athenais is unable to perform her royal function for the King's pleasure.  We only meet with the king again on another occasion when Athenais insults and humiliates him in front of Louvois, his military general but the King behaves in a gentlemanly way while giving in to both the offended mistress and the stricken general as well.  This incident may be the reason that Louvois later singles out both Athenais and Claude in the scandalous poisons business.

During all this time spent, Claude has made many friends.  At her mother's funeral service, all the world of theatre pays homage to her, demonstrating their admiration and love for her and her family.  Claude finds help for her brother Gaston through a Christian monastery that is truly behaving in the way of Christ and thus hope wins in this novel of great contrasts.  The rotten soiled dirty side of Paris is as vivid as the luxurious, opulent splendor of chandeliers, gold gilt ceilings, and sparkling diamonds scattered about on gowns and jackets.

It is a charming book, well written with vivid descriptions of countryside, riverside, and newly constructed chateaux.  Through the use of Claude as narrator, we see Louvois as looking like a pig with his beady eyes,  Athenais as a blue-eyed blonde with hanging curls,  and the tall Claude with big feet and small breasts dressed to look like a man in disguise.  Neither the Widow Scarron or the small Spanish Queen appear but simply to be mentioned in this novel.  It is all about the world of theatre, of witches and poisons, and of the luxurious Athenais and her confidante held captive, Claude.  Claude who had once played the role of a dog at last finds her own freedom and her own home.  For her, there is peace in the valley.

I recommend The Shadow Queen as the best book that Sandra has written to date.  I liked it the best.  It has a lot of heart, and tender loving care.  It is a touching and warm read.




Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Reincarnation

I have not worked on my novel ever since I learned the truth about who I believe to have been Parmenio and Phlotas.  It really got to me to learn their identities for many reasons.  One, it seems so true as to be reasonable to me, considering that I believe me to have been Alexander and my mother to have been Philip.  These two women have been very close friends to us over the years, and it woke me up to the entire concept of reincarnation and its reality.  Because of that revelation to me, I have had an entirely different attitude about life, rebirth, and successive generations.  I realize that we do live in both spirit and flesh, and our flesh life is caught somehow in  a spiritual way that it remains intact for me to have discovered this many years after the fact of having lived those many lives previous to this one.  All of matter has that spiritual counterpart which keeps it intact for me to have discovered, even the gold in King Darius's tent.

So, for that reason, my entire intent and purpose of a novel about Alexander has changed so completely that I am taking my time in how to present it...A novel of any value has to be well written.  So I am rethinking the entire process.

Easter Weekend

Another Easter Sunday has come and gone...adult Easters without children are quite different from childhood Easters.  Easter baskets loaded with candy and Easter bunny are no longer part of the adult's means of celebrating the season of redemption through the story of Jesus Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.  The fact that Jesus is an innocent condemned to death by his own brethren is a disturbing tale when one considers all the centuries that have followed in the telling and retelling of this passion for life.  The story of Jesus is probably often believed in the same way that the story of Adam and Eve is believed, with a certain amount of incredulity.  More amazing than either story whether true or false is the fact that each is followed so blindly in its continuation to this generation of believers and nonbelievers.  The stories continue to be played and replayed over time.  I watched a passion play Saturday night which took us back to the book of genesis with Adam and Eve falling into temptation to justify the need for Jesus to be born to put mankind back on the path of obedience to the Holy Father who had decreed that mankind remain deaf, dumb, and blind to the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Alas and alack, temptation in  the form of the serpent won the battle over mankind so that disobedience is the cause for Jesus to have to redeem mankind from Adam's original sin.

Watching the passion play reminded me again of all the stories that I had been told as a youngster, and of my own personal journey to learn the truth for myself. I had like most everyone also believed the story of Jesus Christ and his miracles which testified to his godliness so that I came to love this wonderful shepherd who cares so much for his flock that he dies for us and our own sins, however minor or major that they may be.

I do not dwell on the topic of sin too much.  If we knew all the sins that people commit daily, we would not want to live long on this planet.  News stories often discourage me from believing in people when I learn of the depravities that men commit.  Fortunately, I try to stay removed from those occasions which prompt such evil behavior so that i remain in my own little narrow world.  I tend to become very violent when confronted with knowledge of other people's cruelties and evil deeds.

I literally want to eradicate all such sick people from the earth.  Like weeds in a garden, i honestly believe that we should eliminate them before they destroy us.

For that reason  alone, I wonder that God has commanded us to love our enemy.  I wonder that Jesus would die to save such an evil person who would inflict great harm on others, but that is the story of Jesus's love for mankind.  It also only seems to work for the guilty once they admit their guilt, confess it, and then renounce it.  Change is the desired goal and apparently the objective of the true Christian.

Would that it would work.  But unfortunately, men's minds are constructed so that each religious body which is accepted into a community's life seems to teach that any other than themselves is an infidel or outsider who cannot be redeemed or accepted into Heaven.  Even Christians are taught that the door to Heaven is Jesus and no other.  Like Muslims, Christians believe that others are not fit for the kingdom of Heaven.

I have learned of Heaven myself, in a personal encounter so that I am a true believer in the Perfect Love which is that state of being known as Heaven. I know that it exists for one and within one's self.  Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within, and I can testify to that faith myself. It is both within and without when one finally comes into its Perfect state. I have been there and I know of it. It is all that one hopes for and lives for and ultimately dies for....It is whole.

Another celebration of the victory of Jesus's obedience to God's will has passed.  Jesus lives! Heaven is truly the fullness of Perfect Love.  Love one another.


Thursday, April 17, 2014

Personal Meanderings in Thought

The mystery of the Malaysian Airliner continues to puzzle.  Flight 370 has not yet been found at this time but pings from what is perceived to be the black box has been heard so that a given area in the Indian Ocean have been sectioned off to explore.  An expensive device that is able to be manipulated in the water is being used to scour the area to find evidence of either the black box or any other wreckage that may be buried in this location.  So far only pings and a recent oil slick have given hope to the possible discovery of the vanished airliner.

In the meantime, numerous ships and planes continue to search for any signs of wreckage.  Since a cyclone had passed over this very region, it is likely that if there had been any loose floating debris, that it has since been carried miles away from the site.

It continues to be discussed at CNN with many authorities to keep the interested and curious satisfied.

Tonight a ferry which carried high school students aboard has turned over on the coast of South Korea, in which now over 300 young persons appear to be missing.  Many were caught indoors unable to get out to escape, while many others were told to stay where they were but some escaped and found safety when water began to rise, frightening them to run for their lives.  Their stories are being told on CNN as well.  Bad weather further complicates the rescue efforts.

Further north, Russia and the Ukraine are creating a disturbance which is causing the President of the USA and other European leaders to react forcibly to the threats that appear to be focused against the Ukraine by the Russians.  Sanctions against Russia are already being enacted against the Putin organized action.

So many things are happening at this time that ordinary everyday problems disappear against the enormity of the international scene.

On the positive side, the Kentucky Derby is about to feature horses who have accumulated points through winning at preparatory races.  The horse who has the best record and appears to be the outstanding horse is California Chrome, a horse that many call a freak due to his excessive speed and winning ways.  Another undefeated horse which won the Florida Derby has been taken out of the game due to a hairline fracture so his trainer announced. It is always good for a trainer to care about the future prospects of his horse rather than the glory of winning,  since this horse called Constitution demonstrated the promise of possibly winning the race for the Roses.

In the world of horses we are waiting for Zenyatta to foal her third baby.  She appears to be overdue or it may be that people are just overanxious for her to deliver soon.  At any rate, horse lovers are waiting to learn the good news that she has delivered a healthy young foal.

I am studying all the characters involved in my novel on Alexander, and the general plot line begins to change again and again as I realize further and more interesting details about this story of a god driven military leader.  Yes, I have a first draft written about the early years of his life but I am expanding it and am studying a different method of presenting my story about Alexander and his military family and friends.

I have to renew my rental lease so have been studying the new lease agreement...will take me a little while to reread it so that i understand it all. It is not a problem for me per se but there are a few things that need to be discussed with the management. I wonder if she can ever enforce any of this well.

That is all I want to meander about tonight...Just getting my thoughts in line.






Thursday, April 10, 2014

Back to Alexander my novel

I have resumed my research into the characters to be developed in my novel on Alexander.  While it would be nice to visit Greece, Turkey, and all the other places that Alexander conquered, it is not necessary to write a book about him...You see I am writing this based upon my own personal ability to go back in time to see the places that were evident in that time period, not in this time period...It does take some time to realize all the truth about visits like that because as time passes, everything on the planet does change...some fixed landmarks would remain the same in many respects, but in fact, time does create changes even in natural landmarks as well as manmade landmarks.

The nature of a book of fiction is that it is driven by a plot, and plumped up with important characters.  In a historical based book, one can decide to stay true to the historical record or to play with it to suit one's own intent.   My first draft is basically Alexander from birth to 20 years old because i had it end at the time his father is killed so that he is crowned the king...but I have since decided perhaps to go a different route, so I am still simply determining which angle to attack...my second plot goes to the time period of when Alexander must put his top general on trial for treason...I am really quite convinced that the  trial of Philotas is a turning point in Alexander's life and journey.

So essentially I am changing perspectives in terms of time, as the first is pretty much linear from birth to becoming king...the Philotas plot seems to be all looking back at all that has happened since Alexander assumed his role as king and leader of the Macedonian army.

However, another character has become very interesting to me along with Philotas and that is the character of Craterus, who turns out to be probably the most important person in Alexander's army.  In my returns to times past, I have met up with Hephaestion many times, but I do not think that I ever met up with Craterus at all.  I also did not meet up with Philotas or Pamenio, but I did meet up with Black Clitus...It is always interesting to know that when one goes back in time, one does meet up with people who seem to be very important to me when under and in trance...So when researching and learning of how important someone such as Craterus is to Alexander, I am surprised that I did not meet up with him when I went back in time...but I honestly can say that I did not find him in any of my memories about the time period.

What does all that mean?  I honestly cannot say, except that I took it all as it happened because it goes so fast that it is a wonder that I remember all of it when awakened but I did remember it very well as it turns out...it is still in my memory bank.  I can flash back very quickly when a stimulus does make me think of it.

While I had many memories of Hephaestion, I notice that in the history books that I am reading that he is not mentioned very often in comparison to how often Craterus is mentioned.  That has truly impacted me now...I am wondering about it...

Well, that is all for now...


Update on Malaysia Airline

So soon after I wrote my previous post regarding this missing Malaysian Airliner, we have news about the pings which seems to indicate that the black box has been found...and that without any sign of debris or wreckage, but simply due to calculations and knowledge probably gleaned from satellites that we are not yet privy to.

Thus, everyone is relatively assured that the airliner may be found in forthcoming days.  It is yet to be seen whether any physical evidence will be found but the pings have been studied and determined to be those that are likely to be coming from a black box.

Finally, the news is covering other stories besides just that of the missing airliner...It has taught the world that the ocean floor is still a great unknown in many respects.

Until wreckage is discovered, it is still a waiting game.  On the surface of the ocean, nothing has been found that pertains to the airliner, but with a recent cyclone it could have all been redistributed most anyplace in the depths of the ocean.

Nothing seems to have been quite so baffling as this airliner which went off its regular course...Will the truth ever be known?

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Mystery of Missing Plane continues to puzzle

I have been watching all the discussions about the flight MH370 which took off from Kuala Lumpur to go to Beijing on March 8.  It never arrived at its destination, and supposedly new leads suggest that it is in the Indian Ocean.

For the families of the victims of this flight this has been an excruciating series of events that have had talk shows filling hours with a constant parade of guests trying to provide answers to the many questions.  Some family members have been asked to appear on t.v.  I wonder if that is good for them to do.

Nothing in this story makes any sense.  But comments that appear on the Facebook pages which discuss this event are often very diabolically fascinating.  Many seem to think that the military took this commercial airline out for one reason or another, and some sound very plausible...some accuse the USA and Israel as if working together to prevent information or a special load which was being secreted to China.  Supposedly, a drone had been shot down in Pakistan, and China eventually bought the drone to have it shipped back to Beijing using this commercial airliner to avoid detection so that when the news of it got out, the Israeli's and the USA set out to abort the flight somehow or other.

Many think it was kidnapped to be used as a terrorist weapon, and others seem to think that it was kidnapped to learn the design of the plane.

One thing is very clear...the public is not privy to all the information that the governments hold, and so we are being spoon fed whatever it is thought will pacify us.

However, the government officials in many countries are proving to be too dull witted to understand the need to work together as a single community to solve this single problem...for in the end, it does affect all of us worldwide.

The fact that a Chinese ship first found the signals created a furor in what someone called "one-upmanship"  Fie on that idea but it was thought that the Australians should break the story instead of the Chinese.  But a Chinese reporter on board the ship told of the find so that the Chinese broadcast it and it offended the Australians who wanted to control all the news about the operation...things are being worked out so that the Chinese and the Australians can work together after all.  How petty and stupid if you ask me.

Regardless, soon after that find by a Chinese ship, an Australian found an acoustic sound some 300 miles distant from the area where the Chinese found the sounds that they recorded. However, some reporters question how truly well done the Chinese operation had been...reducing it to a science experiment in a classroom...Miles O'Brien of CNN made that astute remark this afternoon in some discussion.

Then there is the fact that it appears that the aircraft deliberately routed itself to avoid being detected by radar, and there is evidence to support that claim being discussed now.

What I know is this and I will put it on this record so as not to forget it...I had read some idea about how planes can avoid radar detection and as there was a group of Chinese aboard the flight who were actually working on this kind of electronic weaponry an article on Facebook discussed this matter of flying low to avoid radar detection...So I opened my mouth and said audibly aloud that it could be that they were trying an experiment with radar detection (since I had just been reading about it) and my solar plexus suddenly responded with the news that said essentially, "You are right!  You got it correctly...you know where we are."  and they sounded so excited...it was a group that seemed to be very happy that I had discovered this...I let it pass after that...having heard no more from them, and not really knowing where they are, unless they meant some spiritual dwelling place...but i remember that detail very well, as well as seeing a plane being blown apart in the air with all parts flying every which way and all about...again, like the pings, not knowing if it was the MH370 or not but it was high in the air when it exploded...

The things that caught my attention was the Boeing 777 which number I use in a password but changed it as soon as I realized it...in my opinion, there is some diabolical cyber war going on and I did think that it was possible to remote control this plane which is turning out to be true....I think all the computer genius group are well aware of this.  So in fact tonight i just read a most interesting comment again by a Chinese that sounded exactly like something that I had said in the privacy of my four walls about how it is that the Chinese could be at the exact spot where the pings are found...luck, or some calculation, or some satellite information...so tonight a Chinaman turns it around letting us know that both the USA and Rolls Royce probably know more about this than are telling...talk about quick and echo like...my thoughts exactly that the Chinese probably know a lot more than they will share and tell also.

I suspect that there is satellite evidence to prove that several nations could and probably do know exactly where this plane was at all times.

In the meantime, story telling time is interesting to contemplate what life would have been like aboard that plane if you were a passenger on it.  If any communicate with me, I will let you know.

Which reminds me....there is to be a special weekend conference for people interested in communing with the hereafter coming up...James Pragh and others I think are going to be offering a special session to learn how to communicate with the dead...

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Anticipated Concert

Last Friday night I finally achieved one of my bucket list goals, and that was to see a live performance of the quartet Il Divo. I have been a fan of their music for years, but had only a dvd, and some you tube videos to use to entertain myself with their concert music performances...I was quite surprised when I finally saw them in person to realize how different they are on stage than in these many previous musical events...Seb and Urs are so much better in person that I was truly impressed with how strong and vital they are because always it seemed that Carlos and David out performed them on stage. Not so in this performance because both the two who seem like lightweights turned out to be the stars of this particular show.

I liked that as I have always liked Seb from the start when he first began...he and I share in a common problem and I often called him my soul child so I was interested in his performance and appearance. He is a very likable and natural personality, goofing around a lot if you ask me, wearing a baseball cap, and being one of the guys...Urs is outstanding as well in his voice projection and very equally friendly and warm to the audience..for some reason or other, both David and Carlos were less dynamic than usual since they appear to dominate most of the time.

Lea Solanga is a beautiful woman with a high soprano voice that is exquisite to hear...I really enjoyed her taking on the boys as she did, having to endure their madcap ways in this very LONG tour she told us...

Carlos did tell us that he admired Mario Lanza and that is a great proof of his credibility as an opera star turned classical pop and opera combo, and David likewise shared his many years of musical talent in both opera and pop music....Each of these men has voices that are vibrant and amazingly beautiful to hear so that as I said previously they appear to dominate the stage with their lung power....I love each one of their voices so much and as it seems that Seb stays a bit more subdued, it was a surprise to learn that he can belt it out and hold his own so well as he did on this particular night...I really appreciated seeing that both Seb and Urs had more than their share of chances to show their talent so well....it was a great start in my humble opinion.

I am so happy that they love America as they do, and are touring in the states now...Seb has bought a home in California which I am sure he will love...California is an easy state for anyone to enjoy forever and a day...I have always loved it myself, but all that love from so many is gradually turning it into a death trap in the Los Angeles basin...Arizona is totally different from California in its desert life despite the fact that southern California is all desert as well....The rolling hills of California are boom land too much and now instead of nice clean pastures and country, they have become housing tracts that rob the state of so much needed scenic beauty and valued countryside.  When will California ever stop being a magnet for visitors to become permanent residents?

At any rate, the long anticipated wait is over and I have seen and enjoyed the four men who are the success story of pop/opera combination that Simon Cowell envisioned ten years ago.  I am reminded of all that I have gone through since 2004 to 2014 also...Actually, most of this started long before this group was founded but ten years have been quite a change for me in my lifestyle also...Too bad that I have not yet fulfilled my end goal but hopefully, it is never too late.

I would like to see another concert sometime when they come up with a different program. I loved the songs and the set designs.  One reminded me of the rare books at Burton Barr as I recalled the night that Louis XIV married Madame de Maintenon in a clandestine marriage...The candelabra from the Phantom of the Opera was a visual stimuli for me to recall that memory I once had of the king and his secret wife...What a story that one is!

I suppose now I will always associate The Musical Affair and il Divo with that recollection...it struck my funny bone since I had just gone to the library to make a change of clothes and found a musical program right next door there as well.  Tents were all set up and the music was loud and great to hear...then I spied a poster advertising a special walk through the rare book section the following day...it made me recall when I went there to read Hillaire Belloc's book about the King and his strong Will.  I loved that...My will is what is always one of the strongest aspects of my character.

So it goes.