Are you serious? That was Rhonda Fleming's husband's theater?
OMG! Thank you for solving a huge mystery.
Posts by Terry
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15My Hollywood Memory : Sean Connery and Michael Caine
by Terry inthe year is 1983.. two new james bond films are slated for release, one of which will star the one, the only, sean connery, while the other one sports jolly roger moore.. never say never again vs octopussy, and i am one of the original james bond fanatics--so, how can i possibly miss out on the opportunity to attend the world premiere of connery’s flick?
the premiere was to be held at the mann national theater in westwood california.. was i excited or what?!.
tickets were impossible to obtain--unless--you had contacts in “the biz” and fortunately for me, i did.
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Terry
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It was all GREEK to me
by Terry inaround 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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My Hollywood Memory : Sean Connery and Michael Caine
by Terry inthe year is 1983.. two new james bond films are slated for release, one of which will star the one, the only, sean connery, while the other one sports jolly roger moore.. never say never again vs octopussy, and i am one of the original james bond fanatics--so, how can i possibly miss out on the opportunity to attend the world premiere of connery’s flick?
the premiere was to be held at the mann national theater in westwood california.. was i excited or what?!.
tickets were impossible to obtain--unless--you had contacts in “the biz” and fortunately for me, i did.
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Terry
SEAN CONNERY and MICHAEL CAINE
(Hollywood Memory)_________________________
The year is 1983.
Two new James Bond films are slated for release, one of which will star the one, the only, SEAN CONNERY, while the other one sports Jolly Roger Moore.
Never Say Never Again VS Octopussy, and I am one of the original James Bond fanatics--so, how can I possibly miss out on the opportunity to attend the WORLD PREMIERE of Connery’s flick? The premiere was to be held at the Mann National Theater in Westwood California.
Was I excited or what?!
_______
Tickets were impossible to obtain--UNLESS--you had contacts in “the Biz” and fortunately for me, I did. I was friends with a celebrity photographer at the time, Dick Zimmerman, and he owed me a favor. Zimmerman, a Scientologist, shot top celebs for magazine covers and publicity events. He was invited to everything, of course.
Terry: “Dick, let me get right to the point without pretext: I need 2 tickets to Never Say Never. Can you get them for me?”
Zimmerman: “No. Everybody who's anybody will show up. Even people who used to be somebody will show up. Hell, people who nobody has heard of in years will want tickets. So, I’m sorry--I can’t help you. I’m using my tickets for myself.”
Terry: “Dick--do I have to say the magic words?”
Zimmerman: “What--what magic words?”
Terry: “You know.”
Zimmerman: “What the fuck are you talking about? What are these magic words?”
Terry: “Okay. You have left me no choice. YOU OWE ME.”
Zimmerman: (Silence.)
Terry: “So, when can I pick them up?”
Zimmerman: (Pouting) “Tomorrow at noon at my studio. Bastard!”
Terry: “Thank you, Dickie-bird!”
Zimmerman: “Fuck you.”
_______
Now I know you are curious.
So here it is. I was friends with set decorators from MGM Studios and I came up with the idea of putting Zimmerman together with those guys for the purpose of using Zimmerman’s photography studio (a fabulous location) for shooting TV and feature films.
The studio was in close proximity to MGM and Zimmerman would pick up $$ (covertly paid without tax liability) for the use of his location after hours. A sweet deal for both parties.
Favor done. Favor owed.What did I get out of it? Well, if you are paying attention: TICKETS to the world premiere of Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery!
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I was living in Redondo Beach, California at the time in a condominium not all that far from the ocean. I mean, if you step out on the sundeck, squint your eyes, crane your neck around the side of the condo, and the light was j-u-s-t right, you could glimpse into the Pacific Ocean.
Sort of.
Pretty neat, eh?
I told my wife, Jadzia (Yah-jah) “Wear something very ‘Hollywood’ because we’re going to a Premiere!”
She had something slinky and gorgeous, of course, and off we zoomed in the FIAT convertible (top down) for the dream event of my lifetime!______
Zimmerman was right!
Every breathing Hollywood relic appeared for the klieg lights, cameras and Entertainment Tonight stroll by microphone interviews. Some of these old stars, up close, didn’t appear to be human--so much make-up and face-lift engineering had gone into their facade of glamor.
Zsa Zsa Gabor, for example. When the lights hit her cheeks, they gleamed like the leather on a tuck n’ roll seat cover in an old Rolls Royce. She wore a red silk sort of Chinese thingy and her diamond earrings dangled like chandeliers from the Paris Opera.
Dudley Moore appeared bedazzled by the hubbub, standing next to his 6 ft. tall blonde date, Susan Anton (who did all the talking).
The question of the night asked by newsy folks: “When have you said 'Never Again?"
Susan Anton: (Nodding toward little Dudley) “I said I’d never go out with HIM again.”
Zsa Zsa: “I said I’d never again divorce!” (She had 9 husbands!)
Robert Culp: “I said I’d never do I SPY again.” (He later said he would and then changed his mind)
Neil Simon: “I have never said never. Well, just once. No, I never have.”
Larry Hagman: (Gesturing toward his wife, Maj, next to him). “I said I’d never get a divorce and we’ve been married 29 years.”
Michael Caine: “I said I’d never again go to a movie premiere...and here I am.”
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Movie premieres are silly but fantastic fun!
This one was a charity event for the WCIL (Westside Community for Independent Living).
My wife Jadzia and I arrived early so we’d nab great seats.
My coerced Zimmerman tickets were in the V.I.P. section, as it turned out.
We didn’t have to worry about reserving a good spot.
We elected to stand just inside the front entrance rather than outside on the sidewalk with all the chaos and commotion.
A-list celebrities would perforce enter directly in front of us!Co-star Barbara Carrera is the epitome of stunning in her red dress and sleek black hair and flashing eyes.
HOWEVER--my eyes were riveted on Sean and Michael!
As they walk past us, I fell in behind as close as I could without looking like an idiot.I felt a tug at my elbow--my wife had clutched my arm and yanked me backward.
“Don’t abandon me like that--it’s rude!”
Well--oops. I did have a pretty good excuse. How often would I find myself standing next to Sean Connery and Michael Caine?
(The answer to that is contained in the title to this story.)_____
The two of us were starving.
I elected to buy a large container of buttery popcorn. We stood rooted near the entrance, munching away as half of Hollywood's elite traipsed past us--staring at the popcorn with envious eyes, I might add.What happened next, is just plain nuts.
Golden Hollywood era actress and red-haired Rhonda Fleming (carefully preserved at the age of 60) marched up to my wife and with her flouncy out-of-date evening gown and teased hair confronting us directly with hands on hips.
As nutty as it sounds, this lady was acting as a kind of bully. (I can’t tolerate bullies.)Rhonda: “You aren’t allowed to eat down here during the ceremony.”
Terry: “Hi, Rhonda.”
Rhonda: “Did you hear me? Eating is unseemly.”
Terry: “What was that 3-D movie you were in 30 years ago? Those Redheads From Seattle ?”
Rhonda: “You’ve been warned!”
Terry: “Thanks for stopping by.”
No--I don’t have the slightest idea what THAT was all about or who died and made her Empress of the Premiere.
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In no time at all the signal was sounded for the throngs of worshipers and elite to take their seats. Bearing V.I.P. tickets we were shown to our seats. I almost died when I saw who was seated behind us: we were seated directly in front of Mr. and Mrs. Sean Connery and his best buddy, Michael Caine!!
I swear I just about lost it. I’m not a fanboy...not usually. I’ve seen or met plenty of actors and actresses. However--you have to cut me some slack here. This was JAMES BOND!
The lights dimmed. Cue the projector. We’re off to the movies!!
______
About halfway through the film, I needed to pee. I mean BIG TIME!
I held it for as long as I could--then arose and sauntered up to the aisle and out the door searching for a restroom. An usher was standing close by.
“Sir--the V.I.P. restroom is up to the stairs in the private room to the right."
Well awwww ri-i-i-i-ight!
I leaped like a gazelle upward on the stairs skipping two at a time until I found the private door.
I swung it open and found three lovely urinals lined up on the other side of a lavish gold and marble bathroom with subdued lighting.
I took my spot directly in the center urinal and reached for my zipper at just about the exact moment I heard the door behind me opening.
(Cue the magic about to happen)The voices of the 2 men who entered were absolutely unmistakable!
SEAN and MICHAEL!
Here I am, my plumbing in my hand, Sean Connery on my left and Michael Caine on my right--and they are CONVERSING with me in the center!
Not only could I NOT release the contents of my bladder...I was almost losing consciousness!
I haven’t a clue what either of them said to each other or how long I stood there producing nothing but memories!
Yet--there you have it--not only my brush with fame...but my flush with fame.
As Hollywood memories go--this may be my favorite!!
Dazed and confused by the incident, I stood posed like one of those garden fountain statues in Europe with a stream of --well, you get the picture.
The rest of that gala evening is blurred in memory.
I got back to my seat and leaned over and whispered into my wife’s ear:
“I just peed with Sean and Michael.”
My wife gave me her classic strange glance (as one might) and merely replied,
“I hope you washed your hands or no more popcorn for you.”
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Arguing with Still-in best friends : hard heads and broken hearts
by Terry in(re :johnny santa cruz).
i found an old diary entry from 15 years ago.. .
i ended up posting it in 2004.... .
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Terry
Do Jehovah's Witnesses really think the 'witnessing work' they do compares in quality, depth, and
thoroughness compared to the previous generations of JW's?
I doubt they give that any consideration.
They are kept in thrall to fear-mongering. It's all Great Tribulation ballyhoo substituting for
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What would happen IF ...? If the New Light Crowd and the Old Light crowd ...?
by Terry inwhat would happen?
(a thought experiment) what if it were possible to gather bible students from pastor russell's day in a large auditorium with the rutherford era followers, and then bring in the brother knorr (my era) crowd along with present day jw's and get them chatting with each other?all that new light with all that old light (which thought it had new light) would be in for a shock.would they humble themselves and decide present day governing body doctrine changes and tv style begging for money was acceptable?what do you think?i think it would be chaos and denunciation.
i could be wrong, buti don't think so..
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Terry
I have pulled out this old
post of mine from years back...a true incident The Remarkable Sister Pettifog
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This morning I arrived on my bicycle at the local Starbucks early and took up a seat at the outdoor table in the fresh air.
That’s when it happened--a group of 3 older ladies at one of the other tables outside rose to leave and one of them walked over to my table and spoke directly to me.
I was wearing earbuds at that moment and didn’t hear. I popped them out and asked her to repeat herself.“That’s a beautiful bicycle you have there. What a great way to stay healthy!”
I tossed off a few uninteresting statistics about how many days I’ve ridden my bicycle without relying on an automobile.
As I spoke, I could see she was scrutinizing my face like a private investigator rummaging for clues. The analytical part of my brain went on alert at that instant. What was she doing?
“I think I know you. It’s been a long, long time ago when last I saw you. I don’t expect you’d remember me but I remember you because my great grandmother use to tell me how much you reminded her of her favorite movie star, Randolph Scott.”
Straightaway, I put 2+2 together! I knew exactly who she was talking about--after all, nobody else in the whole world had ever said I looked like Randolph Scott but one lady!
“You’re talking about **Mildred Pettifog, aren’t you?”
This lady about fell over when I pulled that rabbit out of the hat!
“How in the world--I mean--that’s impossible you should say that. How--how do you know that?”
I explained the instant connection and invited her to sit. I could see she wanted to talk.
She was probably in her 50’s but who can really tell, right? She was jovial, keen-eyed and pleasant. All the while I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I’m a former Jehovah’s Witness and that is a ticking time bomb in one of these conversations. Until they find out you’re not one of them--they’re friendly.
If they are still JW, the second you tell them they’ll flee in terror at the prospect an “Apostate” might be talking to them.It came as a huge relief when she took the initiative to tell me she had escaped from the clutches of the Organization ( the main autocrats in charge.)
We swapped horror stories and gossipy tidbits for awhile until she was just about ready to leave. Then she stopped and gazed out into the middle distance and dredged up a memory to relate to me. After I heard it, I sort of sat dumb with my jaw hanging open. This nice former JW told me a little story about Sister **Pettifog, her great grandmother.
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The first time I encountered Mildred Pettifog she was a full time Pioneer knocking on stranger’s doors. (“Pioneer” means is she engaged in a door to door neighborhood ministry to achieve one hundred hours each month as a required ministerial quota.)
Yes, she was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and had been brought up as a Bible Student since the late 19th century.
In case that means nothing to you, think of it this way, the Civil War was fought 15 years before Mildred was born.
To gain a perspective, just think about the day airplanes flew into the World Trade Center in your own lifetime. That was 15 years before I’m writing this today.By the time I was introduced to her (1960), this interesting little bundle of dynamite was already 80.
In today’s world, older women chase after eternal youth cosmetically in ways which hide or disguise the aging process. Hardly anyone actually knows what an old person would look like without this lavish attention to diet, exercise, Botox, facelifts, and youthful stylishness. However, back in 1960, when I first attended the Fort Worth Kingdom Hall as a guest, old ladies looked like old ladies.
For example . . .
Sister Pettifog sported a funny little purple hat riveted to the back of her head by a long hat pin with an improbably large pearl on its end about the size of a Robin’s egg. Her hair was mostly silver-white tinged with an incomprehensible blue tint.
What a face this lady had!
This elderly Sister flashed a crinkled smile and possessed large brown eyes like a puppy in a pet store window eager for adoption. Her skin was quite pale and her cheeks radiated a pinkish orange circle of something she said was “rooj” (rouge) a proper style back in the olden days. Once seen, Sister Pettifog was not soon forgotten!
Her dresses appeared to be handmade on her old Singer sewing machine using striped or polka dot patterns prudently selected at the local fabric shop. The steel rimmed bifocals framed her wide-set eyes perfectly and bestowed an impression of quiet intelligence and wisdom.
Sister Mildred always wore so much perfume you could tell if she was within a half mile of where you stood. Her favorite scent, Jungle Gardenia, had replaced her previous all-time passion, Chanel No. 5. I was told all this on the spot, of course, by the lady herself within 5 minutes of meeting her.
Although everybody who met Sister Mildred loved her instantly, the effect of that powerful perfume was devastating! It was like taking a large stone and tossing it in a small still pool of water--the splash and waves and ripples seemed to reach out in all directions tossing people’s nostrils hither and thither in pandemonium!
The most remarkable aspect of Mildred Pettifog’s persona was the fact she was one of the elite anointed members at our Kingdom Hall.
(At the time, it was special - very special. In recent years, the ruling Governing Body has taken all that special cachet for themselves alone.)What did it actually mean to be “anointed” by holy spirit as a JW?
Sister Pettifog had what was known as “a heavenly calling.”
Rank and file Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t set their hopes on going to heaven when they die.
No, not at all!
The vast majority aim for an “Earthly hope.” Life everlasting in a new Eden.
Scant few possess the interior tingle of a self-aware frisson. (A special self-awareness)
If you’ve never been a Jehovah’s Witness, you’ll be scratching your head about now wondering aloud just how cuckoo this denomination really is.Don’t worry about that right now, suffice it to say Mildred Pettifog was a rare individual viewed with almost “magical” special-ness (although no JW would ever employ the word “magic.”)
Until fairly recently, the eight million of Jehovah’s Witnesses all over the world were under the impression the “anointed” got direct messages from the heavenly realm tipping them off about sacred secrets and advance prophetic divinations. These whisperings were better than stock market tips! (Although none has ever paid off).
Certainly this was the case when I was introduced.
The person introducing me spoke in a sudden and respectful hushed tone of awe in their voice as Mildred’s name was intoned. This created a funny feeling inside of me too. The psychology of awe is quite contagious! Sort of like, “Ya wanna meet Elvis?”Now you may be wondering why I’m telling you all this about one little old lady, right? In the grand scheme of things, it means nothing to you, of course.
Well, don’t be so sure. Give me a couple of more minutes to relate my story and you might just change your mind. Fair enough?Let’s begin . . .
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Before I met him, my future best friend Johnny had gone through a sudden ‘conversion experience’ after a conversation with Mildred Pettifog. He was only 9 years old at that time.
Sister Pettifog had knocked on his door and his mother Jenny had answered. Much to his surprise and horror, Jenny started cussing out the old lady and slammed the door in her face after only a few moments of discussion of the Bible.
Johnny felt his world crash about him. After all, his mom Jenny was NOT that kind of person. She was a charming, affable, and a genuinely kind woman. Why had she been so vulgar and rude to the old lady?
Johnny told me the whole story many decades afterward.
Johnny’s parents moved to Fort Worth from South Texas and had dressed up special to go to the nearby Baptist Church for the first time taking all their kids with them (Johnny, Judy, JoAnn, Vicki).
Upon arrival, the Pastor of the all white church pulled them aside and not-too-politely instructed them to go to the “Mexican” Baptist Church three miles distant.
Why?
“You folks will feel more comfortable there.”Johnny’s father was from a Spanish family and his skin was deep hued in an era in which race relations in the South were testy, judgmental, and volatile.
Following this stinging and hurtful embarrassing rejection, Jenny and Steve disavowed church in a fit of righteous indignation, nursing their tender feelings self-isolated from fellowship of any sort.
The arrival of Sister Pettifog at the door that day was ill-timed at the “worst possible” moment for raw emotions triggering an unfortunate outburst from Jenny Santa Cruz.
9-year-old Johnny ran after the old lady and apologized to her for his mother’s tantrum and insults.
Sister Pettifog was jovial and forgiving. She invited Johnny to sit with her once a week for a private Bible study. He leapt at the offer being of an especially open and intelligent frame of mind given to a natural curiosity about the Divine.
So powerful was the teaching and personality of Sister Pettifog, in no time at all she was studying with the rest of Johnny’s family, overcoming all objections, answering questions and amazing them with her uncanny grasp of all the spiritual secrets of the Almighty Jehovah!The upshot of this incident will now make more sense to you with this background in place.
For, you see, Johnny became my best friend some 3 years after that incident and he began bombarding me with religious conversation from day one. A kind of apostle of Pettifoggery.
When I attended the local Kingdom Hall with him my first time, it was fated to be my first meeting with Johnny’s favorite person in all the world of Jehovah and anointing: Sister Pettifog!
It was Johnny’s tone of hushed awe which made my spine tingle when Sister Pettifog took my hand and told me, “You remind me of my favorite movie actor, Randolph Scott!”We’ve now squared the circle on all the background, haven’t we?
Yes, I think so.
I became a Jehovah’s Witness 3 years later. Within 20 years I’d be an Ex-JW while Johnny remained entrenched and immovable for the rest of his life.
(He died at age 69. We had not spoken for years because of JW religious shunning practices when a member stops being a member.)___________
Back to the great granddaughter’s story related to me this morning!
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At this point, I’ll try my best to give you the story as told to me by the great granddaughter. . .
“The first time my great grandmother said one bad thing about the WatchTower organization I thought I was going to have a heart attack! It was like a bomb went off in my head! Granny Mildred is the one person most able to turn a Bible study into a Baptism. She had a way about her. She was not just the best; she was the best of the best. But, as you well know, the Truth, so-called, of the WatchTower organization has a way of changing infrequently with a strange anonymity to the process. Granny Mildred noticed it and used the word, “Sneaky.”
This shocked me. I didn’t believe my ears. I asked her to explain. When I heard what she had to say, I wished I hadn’t! She stood there in the kitchen helping me wash dishes like she always insisted on doing and at the same time started ticking off a long list of horrible things she claimed the Organization had done over the years to prove they were NOT the true religion! I kept telling her not to continue. I was panicking! I immediately thought of rushing her to the hospital. It was obvious to me--or so I thought--she had suffered a stroke and wasn’t responsible for her words!”
“It took her almost a year to deprogram me! We moved to Oklahoma and started going to a new Kingdom Hall. All the while, she kept going to all the meetings and out in Field Service, (door to door,) like nothing inside her had changed. I asked her how she could stand it. How could she pretend this was still “The Truth”?
“Granny smiled and explained she could do a whole lot more good ‘undercover’ than as an Apostate, because nobody was allowed to listen to an ex-member. But everybody would listen to her as one of the anointed remnant!”
At this point in her story, I was laughing out loud. This was amazing me! I begged for details. The granddaughter glanced at her watch. She had to go shortly but she said she’d tell me this one thing Granny always did when she was around young Witnesses.
Sister Mildred Pettifog would wait until she was in the car with a trapped audience who couldn’t flee. Then she’d start talking about her life as a Jehovah’s Witness. . . .
“I was born the year after the WatchTower was first published. My parents were among the first Bible Students to subscribe. Pastor Russell taught the Time of the End had begun in 1799 when Napoleon took the Pope hostage. You don’t know that, naturally. The organization finds that embarrassing. Pastor Russell taught Jesus returned in 1874 invisibly. You don’t know that either, of course. Pastor Russell used measurements on the Great Pyramid to predict 1914. The Pastor assured all of us, 1914 was Armageddon! Until the 1930’s, Pastor Russell’s successor, Judge Rutherford, continued the Pyramid nonsense! Guess what? We were all surprised when everything we had been taught--everything we had been teaching our friends and neighbors was sudden changed overnight--and no longer the Truth anymore!
By that I mean this.
Judge Rutherford finally changed everything by moving dates forward just like it was nothing--game pieces on a board! Lots of Brothers and Sisters fell away over the years because they were more loyal to the Bible than to the changes the WatchTower kept on springing! Can you imagine that? Just think how I felt as a young girl and then as a teenage woman to have to erase everything I was told was true and just pretend it never happened! But let me tell you--I was not faithful to the Bible--no sir! I stayed faithful to the Organization! I knew I was going to heaven no matter what the Governing Body decided was true! I didn’t graduate from High School or go to college. You know why? Because Armageddon was coming in 1914--what good would a worldly education do for me?
But it never happened!
Then, when I was 45 years old, Armageddon came again. By that I mean this--it did NOT. It was ‘supposed to’.
But, once again, we remained loyal to Jehovah’s Organization--never mind the Bible. The Bible says “No man knows the day and hour.” Well, that didn’t seem to faze Brother Fred Franz! Franz was like an Old Testament prophet. If he said it--it was considered true.
He came up with 1975 as the End of six-thousand years of human existence . That’s what he called it. That’s code for: Armageddon.
We all knew time was short by the time I was in my 90’s because we, the anointed, were dying off. We, the anointed Generation of 1914, had to still be alive to SEE the end. Our life was the Countdown Clock. Each year, more of us anointed would die and that proved Armageddon was getting closer and closer. I’m 98 years old. I was 95 the last time Armageddon didn’t come. You understand? That was 3 years ago we were taught the world was ending because of Earthquakes, famine, wars, and I suppose the heartbreak of psoriasis too--except IT DIDN’T HAPPEN. So many have gone away now. They lost faith in Jehovah’s Organization. But, not me! I’m faithful and loyal to the bitter end.”The granddaughter shook her head in wonderment at the words she related to me and added, “How she got away with that--I just don’t know. You could see the young kids’ faces. They didn’t know if she had lost her mind or what! If a young person were of college age, she went out of her way to talk to them. She’d get them off by themselves and say: I never got a proper education because the world was ending. It ended over and over and over. (With a wink.)
“I have friends who never married because of that, too. They have no kids or grandkids because we were assured we’d all be in heaven or Paradise. Many people now are old, bitter and unhealthy thinking they never lived a real life just waiting around for Armageddon. But, I went ahead and married and I had beautiful kids and grandkids. Do you suppose I’m sorry? Well, I am sorry I didn’t go to college. I could have earned enough money to give my children and grandchildren a start in life. But don’t listen to me. I’m just a grumpy old lady and my mind isn’t as clear as it used to be.”
Then Granny would walk away leaving those young JW’s with a dazzled expression of pure horror and puzzlement behind.
I asked if any Elders ever gave her a good stern talking to.
“Oh for heaven’s sakes! Are you serious? Granny was too slick for that!
She knew her scriptures and she’d start quoting them one after another until the busybody would shrug and give up. You see, she knew they had too much respect for her to get mean--like they do with most members who have loose tongues.”I asked what happened to Sister Pettifog.
“Granny died peacefully in her sleep 10 days before her hundredth birthday. She had written a long letter to be read to the congregation at her funeral. She mailed it to the Presiding Elder and a copy to WatchTower headquarters a few days before she died. Do I need to tell you, that letter disappeared and was never read or mentioned by anybody. I was asked if I knew anything I needed to tell--about Sister Pettifog’s state of mind. I told them she had only grown more loving, kind, cheerful and open hearted the older she got. I told them what she had said about loyalty to Jehovah’s Organization, too. They didn’t catch the telltale irony.”
Then, the granddaughter had to leave. I thanked her for stopping to talk to me.
“How long after your grandmother died did you start to fade?”
She turned to go and stopped. Her tongue flicked out to lick her lower lip reflectively.
“It was probably the day after her funeral.”
_________________
She really made my day
I sat and shook my head for awhile.
Her great grandmother was directly responsible for my best friend Johnny’s captivation with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Johnny, in turn, was responsible for my indoctrination leading to eventual imprisonment later on during the Vietnam War.
I, in turn, was a Pioneer who held many Bible studies and had several baptisms occur. The chain-of-abuse was finally broken, of course.I became an Activist writing books whistleblowing the inside story of WatchTower deceit.
Yet--I really have to hand it to the lady who thought I looked like Randolph Scott. She takes the cake! She was a secret agent activist for the last years of her life and she got away with it. I’d love to know how many young people she spoke to whose minds were changed or jarred or awakened by her cunning testimony?
She really and truly was the Remarkable Sister Pettifog!
_________________
**Note: I have changed the lady's name at the request of her granddaughter. I told her I wanted to write about her. She is still 'estranged' as an ex-JW fader. I've honored her request.
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Surviving Idiots
by Terry insurviving idiots.
there is in every species a "best" at surviving.. .
99.99 % of every species which has ever existed has perished.. .
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Terry
Nevil Shute's book ON THE BEACH is a stunning film and wonderful book.
I'd like to direct you to another film (with Jimmy Stewart) made from Nevil Shute's books.
NO HIGHWAY (IN THE SKY)
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Surviving Idiots
by Terry insurviving idiots.
there is in every species a "best" at surviving.. .
99.99 % of every species which has ever existed has perished.. .
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Terry
I don't know the we, as a species, are doomed.
I do think our ways of governing, our stability, our economies are heading toward total disruption.
Historically, opportunists rush to fill the void.
Latter day carpetbaggers.
That bulge in the middle will quickly sort into Big Losers and not so lucky winners.
The super-wealthy apparently already know this. I've watched YouTube tours of underground living spaces which look like shopping centers where our present day elite are ready to scale down their above ground freedom and confine themselves in secure subterranean shelters.
T.S.Eliot The Hollow MenWe are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other kingdom
Remember us - if at all - not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.
II
Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.
Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer -
Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom
III
This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.
Is it like this
In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.
IV
The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms
In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of this tumid river
Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.
V
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but with a whimper. -
15
Surviving Idiots
by Terry insurviving idiots.
there is in every species a "best" at surviving.. .
99.99 % of every species which has ever existed has perished.. .
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Terry
SURVIVING IDIOTSThere is in every species a "best" at surviving.99.99 % of every species which has ever existed has perished.ONE PER CENT of all who every lived = is us right now.___Is that fair?If you have just $4,210 to your name, you’re better off than half of people around the globe right now.Among our 1% there is another 1% in a continuousfiltering process from weak to strongest, poor to richest.Each 1% produces yet another 1% becauseeverything is always sorted from least to most.Sorting this out is maddening.Societies which have experimented with equality, fairness, and altruism have been surprised at their own downfall when inevitably it arrives.(The Golden Age of Pericles : 495 to 429 B.C.E. Pericles transformed his city’s alliances into an empire and graced its Acropolis with the famous Parthenon. His policies and strategies also set the stage for the devastating Peloponnesian War, which would embroil all Greece in the decades following his death.)___Are there reasons for no EQUALITY?Yes.We all want the BEST and that instantly creates a hierarchyform "least" to "best" from which we choose.Colleges, Employers, the Military, Sport teams, Businesses, all wantthe BEST among the field and that automatically meansWinners and Losers.The famous Bell Curve
In the bell curve, the highest point is the one that has the highest probability of occurring, and the probability of occurrences goes down on either side of the curve.Call the Left hand side: LOSERSCall the Right Hand side: WINNERSCall the Middle : Struggling to move to the Winner side.Human differences are REAL.None of us gets to start even.The game is IN PROGRESS when we arrive.Everyone and every thing can be subdivided into BEST to WORST. Everything collapses otherwise into a chaos of incompetency and idiocracy.Sound familiar?
Idiocracy is rule by elite idiots who cheat the system by pretending to be the best of the best.We ignore this at our own peril.POLITICS is two wolves and a sheep voting on "What's for lunch?"Who will cry "Unfair?"___The bulge in the Bell Curve is the voter pool. It thinks it is selecting
from among the right hand side and not the left hand side.
Wrong.Developed countries have politicians at local levels all the way up to ruling executive levels.Should we be surprised at the (lack of) quality of these elected officials?Developed countries are in chaotic turmoil even with carefully selected leaders who are "the best of an extracted group of exceptional people."But voters exist on a scale of competence / incompetence as well.Switching from Republican to Democrat and Democrat to Republican over and over solves nothing becausewe have NO COMPETENCY.Our incompetent leaders have produced escalating chaosthrough an ILLUSION that we are voting between a field of highly competent people.We are not.We are shooting in the dark and hitting each other.Mortal wounds abound._____ -
14
What would happen IF ...? If the New Light Crowd and the Old Light crowd ...?
by Terry inwhat would happen?
(a thought experiment) what if it were possible to gather bible students from pastor russell's day in a large auditorium with the rutherford era followers, and then bring in the brother knorr (my era) crowd along with present day jw's and get them chatting with each other?all that new light with all that old light (which thought it had new light) would be in for a shock.would they humble themselves and decide present day governing body doctrine changes and tv style begging for money was acceptable?what do you think?i think it would be chaos and denunciation.
i could be wrong, buti don't think so..
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Terry
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN?
(A thought experiment)
What if it were possible to gather Bible Students from Pastor Russell's day in a large auditorium with the Rutherford Era followers, and then bring in the Brother Knorr (my era) crowd along with Present Day JW's and get them chatting with each other?
All that New Light with all that Old Light (which thought it had New Light) would be in for a shock.
Would they humble themselves and decide Present Day Governing Body doctrine changes and TV style begging for money was acceptable?
WHAT DO YOU think?
I think it would be chaos and denunciation. I could be wrong, but
I don't think so. -
13
Arguing with Still-in best friends : hard heads and broken hearts
by Terry in(re :johnny santa cruz).
i found an old diary entry from 15 years ago.. .
i ended up posting it in 2004.... .
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Terry
I used to say, "Wouldn't it be interesting to get the Bible Students from Pastor Russell's day in a large auditorium with Rutherford's followers, and then bring in the Brother Knorr (my era) crowd along with Present Day JW's and get them chatting with each other.
My contention is this. They'd be arguing and fighting in less than fifteen minutes!
