Terry

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Posts by Terry

• 
  18

  My little Speech on Patriotism

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my july 4, speech on patriotism.

  the last person in my family to serve in the armed forces was my uncle jack during the korean war.

  he suffered a skull injury but fully recovered.. .

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• 

  Terry

  The flag artist is Steven Lester:
  https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/steven-lester/artwork/old-glory-steven-lester
• 
  27

  It was all GREEK to me

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  around 1976 i got the wild idea i'd like to learn greek (for my study of the christian greek scriptures and to 'get to the bottom' of whether i was wasting my time being even a token jehovah's witness.

  ) i would read the actual text and avoid my denomination's opinion commentaries, you see.. .

  i learned the characters in the greek alphabet rather quickly and started reading an interlinear (english/greek) bible aloud - practicing my enunciation.

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  Terry

  I think the fetish JW's have for quoting Greek goes all the way back to Benjamin Willson's Emphatic Diaglott (the WT used to offer it) and the idea that parousia solved the problem of having been WRONG about 1914 (seemingly).
  
  We were like kids dressed in adult clothes pretending to be so smart about the meaning of meaning.
  
  I wonder if current members learn anything at all or if it's just about surviving the Great Tribulation. At least, back in the 50's and 60's we had the "Theocratic Ministry School" to bolster the delusion we actually knew something.
  
  The whole idea of having a conversation with a householder which involved debate may well have disappeared with the advent of the Internet and the ability to Google "Jehovah's Witnesses".
  
  Anybody can pinpoint the errors pretty quickly.
• 
  18

  My little Speech on Patriotism

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my july 4, speech on patriotism.

  the last person in my family to serve in the armed forces was my uncle jack during the korean war.

  he suffered a skull injury but fully recovered.. .

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  Terry

  There's all sorts of ways to look at the phenomenon of Patriotism.
  There is probably a survival instinct at the bottom of it.
  
  MY TRIBE against the WORLD is an eventual problem, however.
  
  "We" are always right - no matter how wrong.
  The logic being: if we don't have our OWN, what do we have?
  
  Animals in Nature certainly maintain solidarity against the "other."
  We are (hidden atavistic-ally within us) animals too.
  
  Family first.
  Friends before strangers.
  Bros before Ho's. (Oh - I think I've gone too far. Sorry.)
• 
  27

  It was all GREEK to me

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  around 1976 i got the wild idea i'd like to learn greek (for my study of the christian greek scriptures and to 'get to the bottom' of whether i was wasting my time being even a token jehovah's witness.

  ) i would read the actual text and avoid my denomination's opinion commentaries, you see.. .

  i learned the characters in the greek alphabet rather quickly and started reading an interlinear (english/greek) bible aloud - practicing my enunciation.

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  Terry

  DID YOU KNOW?

  
  

  Around 1976 I got the wild idea I'd like to learn Greek (for my study of the Christian Greek scriptures and to 'get to the bottom' of whether I was wasting my time being even a token Jehovah's Witness.) I would read the actual text and avoid my denomination's opinion commentaries, you see.

  
  

  I learned the characters in the Greek Alphabet rather quickly and started reading an INTERLINEAR (English/Greek) Bible aloud - practicing my enunciation.

  
  

  Who do I think I was kidding? Myself, I guess.

  I could actually read the text (without a clue in the world what I was saying, of course.)

  
  

  Being myself, naturally I was eager to show off my profound linguistic mastery of Greek.

  
  

  Where else to begin than the local Greek Restaurant in Redondo Beach, California!

  
  

  For my presentation, I had memorized The Lord's Prayer in Greek straight out of The Kingdom Interlinear Bible.

  
  

  I had an audience of 2 flesh and blood Greek restaurant owners, Basil and Nicos.

  
  

  Conversationally I dropped a hint here and there I was a student (self-taught) of Greek. Suddenly, Nicos was profoundly attentive!

  He called his brother over. Apparently Greeks take their language VERY SERIOUSLY - with extraordinary emotional pride!

  These guys really wanted to hear my recitation.

  Gulp.

  Filled, as I was, with enormous confidence and a bit of swagger, I began reciting ....

  (Mind you - I had never actually HEARD Greek being spoken - I'd only read the dictionary pronunciation guides.)

  
  

  I imagined I'd sound rather scholarly - if not authentically partisan - man- on -the-street in my speechifying.

  
  

  Basil and Nicos listened intently - both slowly nodding ... following closely ... rapt attention all the way through.

  
  

  I finished without a hitch ...and awaited the inevitable applause

  and - likely FREE MEAL!!

  
  

  Basil looked at Nicos.

  Nicos peered back at Basil.

  Straightaway, they burst into laughter ...uproarious guffaws and belly laughs that went on and on ...

  
  

  Finally, panting for air, Basil shook his head and placed a hairy paw on my shoulder.

  "You must never do this again. No my friend, stick with English. If not for Greek's sake - for God's sake!"

  
  

  That pretty much ended my Greek scholarship.

  
  

  EPILOGUE

  
  

  When telephone solicitors and bill collectors catch me with a phone call -- I immediately launch into a recitation of The Lord's Prayer in Greek (yes -mangled Greek).

  
  

  They soon sputter and hang up on me.

  
  

  That is some solace, I think you'll agree!
• 
  18

  My little Speech on Patriotism

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my july 4, speech on patriotism.

  the last person in my family to serve in the armed forces was my uncle jack during the korean war.

  he suffered a skull injury but fully recovered.. .

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• 

  Terry

  My July 4, Speech on Patriotism

  
  

  The last person in my family to serve in the Armed Forces was my Uncle Jack during the Korean War. He suffered a skull injury but fully recovered.

  My Dad's side of the family fled Finland to avoid being compelled to fight for Sweden around 1809. They came to America by 1900.

  My Mom's father was in the Navy during WWI as a telegraph operator (he was the very first in the U.S.).

  Mom and her two sisters joined the Women's Army Corp during WWII.

  My parents were Blue Dog Democrats. (They'd vote for a blue dog before they would a Republican.)

  I was reared with a strong sense of Patriotism, respect for Government, and a sense of "My Country: right or wrong."

  
  

  Guess what?

  
  

  Yeah. You know already.

  
  

  My best friend, Johnny, derailed all that. Johnny was a Jehovah's Witness.

  It was a religious cult - but thought it was about God and teaching my fellow humans how to avoid Armageddon.

  That's on me.

  It was a slow process of gradual indoctrination - and I didn't give in without a fight. But - I became a Conscientious Objector and I did end up in Federal Prison.

  You know that already about me.

  ___

  AFTER WWII ended

  
  

  The fight against Communism "by any means necessary" was the beginning of the end of Patriotism because our Government officials began lying to the American people so as to be able to get into wars (thought necessary) and still appear to be a bright beacon of human decency, a shining city on the hill.

  JFK was persuaded by his military advisers to invade CUBA.

  That was called "The Bay of Pigs" fiasco.

  (Our military double-crossed the Cuban insurgents we were invading with and no Air-Cover was provided.)

  This drove Castro to seek help from the "other" super power, the U.S.S.R. Soviet Union.

  That was called the Cuban Missile Crisis.

  I was in the 9th grade.

  
  

  Simmering on the back burner was VIETNAM.

  America was lied to about that for a long, long time by our top leaders.

  
  

  The "Domino Theory" was behind it all. If you allowed one small Indonesian country to fall to Communism, the whole world would follow.

  
  

  The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war.

  
  

  In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., inscribed with the names of 57,939 members of U.S. armed forces who had died or were missing as a result of the war.

  
  

  America never lost a battle in that war - but - America lost a generation of Patriotic kids.

  
  

  Now here is my point, read it carefully, please.

  IF I HAD NOT MET JOHNNY, I would have gone to Vietnam.

  (several of my class mates in High School served. One close friend perished. Bill Borders, may he rest in peace.)

  
  

  I may or may not have died but I would have done so as a true Patriot.

  Unless . . . I became disillusioned by the pointlessness and waste of human life.

  I shall never know.

  
  

  I said all the above to say this:

  You can be a PATRIOT and still mistrust your lying government, forked-tongued National Security Agency, politicians, and partisan News outlets.

  
  

  Yes. How?

  Love your country, the fantastic diversity of traditions and nationalities, and the charitable impulse to care for others.

  
  

  I fully support our young men and women in the armed forces but distinctly disapprove of the wars they are sent to die in.

  
  

  You can call that dysfunctional patriotism, if you like.

  Yemen, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia

  are foreign countries crawling with American C.I.A. "advisers" and a helluva lot of our troops.

  You didn't vote for that and probably know very little that's true about the why and wherefore.

  
  

  BE PATRIOTIC - just don't be gullible.

  End of July 4th speech.
  
  
• 
  4

  Once Upon A Time in Hollywood - a Personal Memoir

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  once upon a time in hollywood (a brief memoir).

  for about two years, 1980-82, i worked for creative galleries in culver city, california which was very close to mgm studios.. creative galleries offered original art at wholesale, retail -- and (thanks to me) rented art to movie studios.. i had become friendly with two set decorators, joe kroesser and his partner, mel johnson.

  one afternoon their car broke down in front of the antique guild nearby and they wandered in looking for a telephone.i chatted with them for over an hour and we quickly became symbiotically chummy.they needed artwork and i needed to sell artwork.. joe and mel suddenly dreamed up a little business scheme.apparently i was being granted an inside glimpse of how hollywood really works.the two guys worked for mgm on the tv show chips, joe and mel set up their "side" business as a kind of 'broker.".

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  Terry

  Helm's bakery! That's it, I remember now.
  ___
  I sort of 'bumped' into Cassandra twice out and about and both times she was a civilian. Only I seemed to recognize her.
  I do remember her in Pee Wee. That first film was terrific.
  She was in Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, I think.
  Jekyll and Hyde Together Again.
  
  Her agent aimed high, huh?
• 
  4

  Once Upon A Time in Hollywood - a Personal Memoir

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  once upon a time in hollywood (a brief memoir).

  for about two years, 1980-82, i worked for creative galleries in culver city, california which was very close to mgm studios.. creative galleries offered original art at wholesale, retail -- and (thanks to me) rented art to movie studios.. i had become friendly with two set decorators, joe kroesser and his partner, mel johnson.

  one afternoon their car broke down in front of the antique guild nearby and they wandered in looking for a telephone.i chatted with them for over an hour and we quickly became symbiotically chummy.they needed artwork and i needed to sell artwork.. joe and mel suddenly dreamed up a little business scheme.apparently i was being granted an inside glimpse of how hollywood really works.the two guys worked for mgm on the tv show chips, joe and mel set up their "side" business as a kind of 'broker.".

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  Terry

  Hey "I quit!"
  I was casual friends with an employee at the Antique Guild.
  She said they specialized in copying one-of-a-kind items with the intent of replicating or cloning the object (too expensive to buy or unavailable) and selling to celebrities (who might well pass them off as authentic :)

  In Culver City there was this vast former Bakery complex which housed the Antique Guild and across the street (same complex) Creative Galleries.
  This turned out to be a terrific location because of foot traffic and clientele.
  
  My understanding is that the Antique Guild eventually moved or closed and Creative Galleries experienced a real shock as foot-traffic vanished.
  
  I was gone by 1983.
  ____
  
  Cassandra Peterson in person is just a tiny thing but with incredible charisma which she can switch "on" or off.
  You'd almost never recognize her out of drag.
  She credits her (at the time) boyfriend for pushing the career which really took off like mad.
  She's the sexy version of Ernest :)
• 

  My encounter with a real life Exorcist

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  location exterior : the patio of starbuckstime: 9 amcast:lou : media / news analyst, religious fundamentalistterry: gadfly, writer /crow apologist, big mouth know-it-alledgar (a crow)________________.

  our scene begins with two men at separate tables working at their laptops.lou is a man of about 60. he recently moved from new york to texas to start his own videography business.

  he is shooing flies away from his laptop screen with a disgusted expression.a few feet away, terry begins waving his arms and scowling.. ____.

• 

  Terry

  Location Exterior : The patio of Starbucks
  Time: 9 am
  Cast:
  Lou : Media / News analyst, religious fundamentalist
  Terry: Gadfly, writer /Crow apologist, big mouth know-it-all
  Edgar (a Crow)
  ________________

  Our scene begins with two men at separate tables working at their laptops.
  Lou is a man of about 60. He recently moved from New York to Texas to start his own Videography business.
  He is shooing flies away from his laptop screen with a disgusted expression.
  A few feet away, Terry begins waving his arms and scowling.

  ____

  Terry: Thanks a lot. Your refugees have crossed my border.

  Lou: Oh, Sorry. Starbucks needs to provide flyswatters for people who sit out here.

  Terry: You’re obviously not a Republican Conservative!

  Lou: Um Actually--I am. Why you'd say that?

  Terry: Conservatives preach personal responsibility and not getting others to provide for them.

  Lou: Ahhh, I see. I see. That’s funny. Are you a Republican?

  Terry: You don’t want to know. Trust me.

  Lou: What--why not?

  Terry: It’s like asking Jack Nicholson to tell the truth on the witness stand.

  Lou: I’m sorry--I don’t understand.

  Terry: What did Nicholson answer when Tom Cruise asked him to tell the truth?

  Lou: (Blank expression)

  Terry: (Quoting Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men) “You want the truth? You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!

  Lou: (Face brightening. He ‘gets it’)
  Okaaay. Why though? I’m serious. Are you a Liberal?

  Terry: Two things civilized people don’t discuss are Politics and the other is --”

  Lou: (Jumping in) Religion!
  Haha, I produce religious videos and I’m a Website owner who provides commentary on political events with a biblical Christian viewpoint.

  Terry: I’m sorry to hear that. No civilized discussions are possible with the likes of yer kind.

  Lou: You’re a pretty funny guy. What do you do?

  Terry: Writer. I write analyses debunking religious & political commentary.

  Lou: Sure. Sure. No really. Do you write books or what?

  Terry: Books, blog essays, CD liner notes, Short stories, poems, bathroom graffiti, ransom notes...

  Lou: I don’t know when to take you seriously.

  Terry: The day after March 31st is a good bet.
  _________________

  From offstage, Edgar, a crow flaps down on to the patio and begins foraging near our two characters. Terry opens his backpack and removes a bag of corn chips. He proceeds to toss them at the Crow with deadly accuracy.

  Lou: You two know each other?

  Terry: Let’s just say If I don’t feed him, there are consequences.

  Lou: Sounds like the Mafia!

  Terry: (Glancing furtively left & right) These are things about which we must not speak.

  Lou: Ha! What kind of consequences?

  Terry: (Relates two blood-curdling tales of Crow payback.)

  Lou: Are you being serious?

  Terry: Keyser Soze with feathers--that’s what we’re dealing with here.

  Lou: (Clueless) I’m sorry?

  Terry: (Quoting Verbal Kint in the Usual Suspects) The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
  _______

  Lou: (Pivoting out of context) I have performed actual EXORCISMS on people!

  Terry: Of course you have. I'd have bet money on it. What about Crows?

  Lou: You can hear another person’s voice coming out of the possessed. And when you finally liberate them, their voice changes and a great relief comes over their body.

  Terry: I frequently meet people who talk out of their ass.

  Lou: (Ignoring the remark) It’s the person’s vocal chords--but a foreign voice. Very frightening unless the power of Jesus Christ is there to protect you.

  Terry: (Triggered by forces more powerful than personal restraint) Okaaay. I have a question about Demons.

  Lou: Sure, go ahead.

  Terry: How large are they? About the size of an amoeba?

  Lou: Beg your pardon?

  Terry: A Roman Legion was from three thousand to five thousand soldiers. That’s a lot of Demons to cram into a person! Like the fella Jesus exorcised in the book of Luke.

  Lou: Uh--well. . . Nobody ever asked that before. You do realize they are Spirits, right?

  Terry: For something to be real it must have a size.

  Lou: Well. Um. There are things called spirits. God is a Spirit. They are real but. . .
  Terry: I’m just asking why cram inside a person like clowns in a Volkswagon?

  Lou: (Lost) Uh. Well. That's the nature of demons.

  Terry: The history of knowledge passed through superstition, religion, philosophy, and mythology before it got to Science.
  I'm more of a Post Enlightenment science kind of guy. I'd say you're more comfortable Pre-Enlightenment belief sort of fellow.

  Lou: Where’d you get that idea?

  Terry: A Dictionary. Opinions without evidence are called FAITH. Science calls for evidence, not wishful thinking.

  Lou: I’m not talking about human opinions. I’m talking about in the Bible. God's revealed truth.

  Terry: Spirits without a size who cram into human beings by the thousands so Louis can get them to crawl back out again--right?

  Lou: Yes. I have performed exorcisms.

  Terry: Like the LEGION story in Luke?

  Lou: (Wheels turning) I uh lost you there?

  Terry: Nevermind. It’s non-testable in any scientific sense.

  Lou: Well--you can measure the effects. You can prove Spirits by their effects.

  Terry: That’s like me saying to a Comedian--I’m not laughing, so you aren’t a Comedian. If I don't laugh he doesn't exist?

  Lou: (Suddenly chuckling) That is funny. You are a funny guy.

  Terry: It is a Philosophical question--not an existential one.

  Lou: You’ve lost me.

  Terry: Logical Fallacy called Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
  Trying to prove something by saying, whatever happened BEFORE an event was the CAUSE. I was describing your argument in terms of that Logical Fallacy.

  Lou: Whew! You are hard work to talk to!

  Terry: Quoting you: "You can PROVE Spirits by their effects."

  Lou: Um, haha, okay--okay.

  Terry: Let me tell you a little story about a cowpoke who was known throughout the Badlands as the most accurate marksman in all the west. Okay?

  Lou: I’m all ears.

  Terry: DeadEye Dick had the reputation as a fantastic marksman. Why? Reasonable people figured it out by looking at the tiny chalk circles on the side of the Blacksmith's shop where Dick fired his weapon whenever he rode by on horseback. Inside those tiny chalk circles, dead center were Dick's bullets.

  Lou: That’s pretty good shooting. But, so what?

  Terry: What those people didn't know was that the Blacksmith was the fellow drawing chalk-marks around the bullet holes each time Dick rode by and shot at his wall so he'd have an accurate count when he dragged him before the circuit Judge and sued him for repairs.

  Lou: (Thinking. Thinking.) Oh. OH, ha-ha-ha, that’s good. That’s good.

  Terry: Assuming the result was caused by the thing before or, in this case, the other way around, was logical but dead wrong.
  _________

  The Crow appears again. This time, closer to Lou.

  Lou: I guess I better not feed him or I’ll end up like you.

  Terry: If only. If only.

  Lou: So, do you believe those Crow stories you tell or not?

  Terry: I believe what I’ve seen. The other stuff is opinion and hearsay. Sometimes reasonable stories are wrong and sometimes unreasonable stories are true.

  Lou: The Bible is an infallible source of truth.

  Terry: Did God create Eve by taking Adam’s rib from his side or is that a legend?

  Lou: Fact.

  Terry: Then it was really Adam’s actual rib?

  Lou: That’s what the Bible says. Yes. It is a fact.

  Terry: That would mean Eve was created by cloning and factually a Clone of Adam--and therefore, a man!

  Lou: No wait a minute--no it doesn’t?

  Terry: That’s okay. You can’t expect ancient writers and storytellers to know about DNA. But--if it is the infallible word of God--you’ve got a problem!

  Lou: Eve was a Woman--not a man. That’s proof she wasn’t a Clone.

  Terry: The Bible is literally correct?

  Lou: Infallibly correct. Yes.

  Terry: Then it looks like it was Adam and Steve and the "St" got lost in translation.

  Lou: Ha-ha-ha. You’re pretty funny. I enjoy talking to you. I have to go now--I’ve got an appointment. Here’s my business card. I’m sure I’ll see you around.

  Terry: Please perform an exorcism before you leave and TAKE THIS DAMN CROW!

  _______

  End Scene
• 
  4

  Once Upon A Time in Hollywood - a Personal Memoir

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  once upon a time in hollywood (a brief memoir).

  for about two years, 1980-82, i worked for creative galleries in culver city, california which was very close to mgm studios.. creative galleries offered original art at wholesale, retail -- and (thanks to me) rented art to movie studios.. i had become friendly with two set decorators, joe kroesser and his partner, mel johnson.

  one afternoon their car broke down in front of the antique guild nearby and they wandered in looking for a telephone.i chatted with them for over an hour and we quickly became symbiotically chummy.they needed artwork and i needed to sell artwork.. joe and mel suddenly dreamed up a little business scheme.apparently i was being granted an inside glimpse of how hollywood really works.the two guys worked for mgm on the tv show chips, joe and mel set up their "side" business as a kind of 'broker.".

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• 

  Terry

  ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (A brief memoir)

  For about two years, 1980-82, I worked for Creative Galleries in Culver City, California which was very close to MGM Studios.

  Creative Galleries offered original art at wholesale, retail -- and (thanks to me) rented art to movie studios.

  I had become friendly with two set decorators, Joe Kroesser and his partner, Mel Johnson. One afternoon their car broke down in front of the Antique Guild nearby and they wandered in looking for a telephone.
  I chatted with them for over an hour and we quickly became symbiotically chummy.
  They needed artwork and I needed to sell artwork.

  Joe and Mel suddenly dreamed up a little business scheme.
  Apparently I was being granted an inside glimpse of how Hollywood really works.
  The two guys worked for MGM on the TV show CHiPS,
  Joe and Mel set up their "side" business as a kind of 'broker."

  The studio needed art for scenes in movies and TV shows.
  Sometimes a one-time shot but more often, ongoing TV series.

  Set decorators had long ago figured out how to enrich themselves by setting up for themselves a dummy corporation (WESTCOAST WHOLESALE ART) which they'd use to buy art wholesale from me / Creative Galleries, and turn around and "rent" from their dummy Corp at an inflated cost to the studio.
  A successful TV series flowed green with cash budgets, you see.

  They did this not only with art but just about everything else.
  They paid themselves and kept everything.
  This scheme, I was told, was originated by actor Hugh O'Brien from the 1950's TV series, WYATT EARP.
  O'Brien set a business renting pistols for Westerns.
  ______
  It was none of my business. As long as I sold art I received my commission. What the Set Decorators did on their end was their business.
  As a result of being friendly with Joe and Mel, I began to meet and work with other Hollywood people.
  I've told you those stories, so I'll move on with this one.
  For my 33rd birthday, Joe Kroesser sprung a surprise for me.
  _____
  
  

  On my birthday, Joe arranged for me to be picked up by a long stretch limousine and chauffeured to MGM to watch an episode of CHiPS being filmed.

  I was going to visit the set of CHiPS to watch the way-in-advance shooting of a Halloween episode with ELVIRA, MISTRESS of the DARK and directed by Addam's Family actor, John Astin.

  Joe provided me with a V.I.P. pass and a LIMO!

  We drove up to the gate to the guard shack and I flashed my pass. The guard gave me the once-over and nodded. We drove on down between the various shooting stages in very large barn-shaped metal buildings.
  I was cautioned by Joe (who arranged it),
  "Whatever you do--don't acknowledge anything said to you. Especially if you are told to get out."

  He was a set decorator and he knew how things were done.

  Looky - loo's annoy the hell out of everybody. They hate 'em.
  EXCEPTION: Studio Execs and Producers.
  My task was to "look" too important to roust.

  Joe emphasized:

  "When the assistant Director kicks everybody out--just stand there looking very important and you won't be bothered."

  Damned if it didn't work!
  The A.D. (Assistant Director) was a tough, no-nonsense woman with a utility belt and a clipboard, who sounded like the Drill Sergeant in Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET.

  I was wearing a suit.
  I had my hands behind my back with my eyebrows arched and an insolent Elvis sneer on my lips. I stared at the A.D. and looked straight through her. She went up to all the non-essential personnel and barked at them.
  Finally, she headed my way.
  I feigned boredom and malevolence, but--I'll tell you straight out--my widdle heart was pounding away like a blacksmith with a hot hammer!

  The A.D. eyeballed me like a wolverine sniffs fresh meat, but she never said a word and passed me by within a comfortable zone of deference.
  I WAS IN!!

  The guest Director, John Astin (Gomez) of Addams Family fame was blocking a huge shot of the entire cast at a party.
  
  (Episode: ROCK DEVIL ROCK)
  
  It was a Halloween episode being filmed in January!! One of the guest stars was Cassandra Peterson (Elvira Mistress of the Dark) and the sound stage was filled with the weirdest assortment of actors and supernumeraries you could imagine! I don't know what any of that had to do with California Highway Patrol!

  The A.D. blew her whistle like a volleyball coach. John Astin nodded and the whistle blew again. he signal for "ACTION!"

  The sound stage came alive with clamor, movement, and a tiny Indian Runner motorcycle ridden by a "little person" in a CHiPS uniform. My eyes widened as big as UFO's.

  That was among my favorite all-time memories. It was a wonderful birthday present.

  I was invited by Set Decorator Joe Kroesser one other time, to
  location shooting in Agoura.
  This is where Joe himself lived.
  Agoura was very flat and sprawling, so it had been used a lot in Westerns in the past. Among the TV shows shot there had been a favorite of mine as a kid, SKY KING.

  On this day, a small airport was the scene.

  Evil Knievel JR. (Robbie) was filming a wild stunt by jumping his cycle over a WWI biplane (flown by legendary stunt flyer, Frank Tallman).
  
  Say what, Terry?
  The biplane would swoop low and the motorcycle was ramped to fly OVER the biplane!
  There had to have been at least 200 people standing around waiting to shoot this scene.
  Why weren't they shooting already?

  Joe told me.

  Eric Estrada was holding production up!
  He had a really big ego by this time. He acted like King of the World. All because of Saturday Night Fever's popularity.
  The show's writers saw the extraordinary interest in Disco becoming a national sensation. So, they wrote a silly episode around Estrada in a similar disco dance routine as had made John Travolta a superstar.

  It worked like dynamite!
  Overnight, Eric Estrada was launched as the superstar and the CHiPS budget was quadrupled!
  More money for CHiPS meant more for Joe and Mel (and subsequently ME.)

  Since Estrada knew he was responsible for all that money flooding into the production, he took full advantage.
  That's Hollywood.
  You're Nobody until you're Somebody.
  Somebody can get away with anything.
  Until . . . they become Nobody again.

  On this particular day, about 45 minutes late, a limousine pulled up in the muddy ruts of the airfield. While hundreds of crew members stood with their jaws agape, Estrada and a very, very Bimbo-esque (worse for wear) blonde stumbled out as "Ponch" marched her in front of all the men's envious eyes. She was wearing high heels in the grass and mud and each time she pulled her heel unstuck she would--um--bounce a little. (Or a lot!)

  Finally, make-up department ran over and seized Ponch and dragged him into a trailer. About half an hour later, he emerged looking exactly the same--but--in uniform.

  Frank Tallman's biplane's engines roared to a start.
  Evel Junior (Robbie) revved his engine on the motorbike.

  A practice run-through commenced.
  The timing and coordination were choreographed to the half-second! Every single element was planned out for the jump to work.

  The cycle had to hit the ramp at the precise instant to gain altitude enough to clear the overshoot. The cycle would go over the top of the biplane exactly as it crossed low enough to the ground to allow it to pass.

  Let me cut to the chase!
  The signal to begin was a loud starter pistol. At the "Bang!" the clockwork stunt commenced, worked the miracle and ended before you could say, "Bob's yer Uncle."

  Estrada had a single line on camera. A Brandoesque grunt or something. (I couldn't hear.)

  Then, he and his bimbo-du-jour paraded once again back to their limo and zipped off to--each of us had our own imagined destination in mind.

  When I watched the scene play out on TV some years later, it looked like nothing. In fact, it looked easily as though it could be faked. But--it wasn't!
  A fortune was spent on all that nonsense.
  Big Budget = waste, graft, and fun for the kids.

  From 1977-83 Joe made a great living with his double-dealing "props for sale" side business.
  It was great fun knowing him.
  He invited me to his house; quite lavish.
  He was a lonely divorced man alone in a sprawling ranch house.

  He threw parties and invited attractive women, endeavoring to live the Hollywood life and trade on his "fame."

  Well, it didn't seem to do him much good with the ladies.
  We all know what happened to Estrada when his stardom turned to cow plop.
  He became a self-joke.
  He'd pop up in TV commercials as a parody of his CHiPS character. He was about 50 pounds heavier.

  Well, this many years later now. I'm 50 pounds heavier!
  Fun memories to share with my friends.
  _____
  
  
• 
  12

  Its been 2000 years now since Jesus Christianity was Established and now today we have 40000 + Christian sects ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  emperor constantine might have got the message 17 centuries ago but surely god must by now realize that the mission has failed .?.

  surely he should as he has on past experience in the old testament now approach a world leader of either the usa ,england ,russia ,china ,or the united nations or even israel and make his judgement`s known .?.

  why has he been so quiet all of these years ?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  Many folks fail to see a rather elemental test case caused by the Protestant Reformation. A test case utterly failed.
  What the hell you talkin' bout, Willis?
  
  For one and a half thousand years, "Christianity" was solely/officially the Catholic Church with a Christ-stand-in: Pope who 'channeled' Truth.
  The Pope said it, you did it. When you failed, you confessed and were forgiven.
  You celebrated the 'Memorial' as often as you were moved to do so (communion).
  
  So what?
  
  So...
  The Protestant Reformation addressed the dirty little problem of corruption in the sacred institution, the "Organization" of Truth.
  Martin Luther faced two rather dodgy issue requiring immediate action.
  Can you guess?
  
  Without a Pope and without a Priest granting forgiveness how would Christians now:
  
  1. Know the Truth (which sets men free)?
  2. Be forgiven for sins
  
  Martin Luther and John Calvin created a sleeker, faster, more personal solution (which is our Test Case).
  1. Sola Scriptura : each Christian approached God individually in prayer and asked Holy Spirit to "reveal" Truth. No clergy needed. Fellowship? Sure, just no Priests.
  2. Grace alone : Grace refers to God’s ability to place favor upon any individual. As the creator of humankind, God, according to Christian doctrine, remains unbound by rules. It is thus within God’s purview to grant salvation upon any person he so deems.
  _____
  
  WHY CALL THIS A TEST CASE?
  
  Here it is / was:
  a chance for Holy Spirit to reveal one unified Truth to all Christians and what resulted? History now reveals the result has been thousands of very *different* ideas, rituals, truths, practices, doctrines abounding in sects, congregations, churches, et al claiming equally to be the ONLY Truth. (Jehovah's Witnesses anyone?)
  
  The verdict is: FAIL!
  Holy Spirit is as corrupt as the Catholic Church.

  Or, if that's a bit too harsh; we are ALL just making shit up and passing it off as Organization, Truth, holy spirit, anointed elders, etc.
  
  The sniff test revealeth a stench to high heaven.
  
  Go to the buffet of choice and slide your tray past the made-up shit and
  enjoy your meal.