Gloria Naylor, R.I.P. (1950-2016)

Gloria Naylor, author of many critically acclaimed novels such The Women of Brewster Place (1982) and Mama Day (1988), passed away on September 28th at the age of 66.  It's important to point out that her final book, 1996, is a semi-autobiographical novel about her harrowing experiences being gangstalked by agents of the United States government.  Since no mainstream publisher in New York would dare to touch the manuscript, 1996 was eventually released in 2005 by an independent publisher, Third World Press.  Naylor's obituary in today's edition of the New York Times makes absolutely no mention of 1996, despite the fact that it's undoubtedly her most significant novel from both a historical and literary perspective.  If you wish to read an interview with Naylor in which she discusses the genesis of 1996 and the circumstances of her harassment, then click HERE.

 

Quote of the Day (or) Ode to Autumn

"The autumn months are never a calm time in America. Back to Work, Back to Football Practice, etc.... Autumn is a very Traditional period, a time of strong Rituals and the celebrating of strange annual holidays like Halloween and Satanism and the fateful Harvest Moon, which can have ominous implications for some people. 

"Autumn is always a time of Fear and Greed and Hoarding for the winter coming on. Debt collectors are active on old people and fleece the weak and helpless. They want to lay in enough cash to weather the known horrors of January and February. There is always a rash of kidnapping and abductions of schoolchildren in the football months. Preteens of both sexes are traditionally seized and grabbed off the streets by gangs of organized perverts who traditionally give them as Christmas gifts to each other to be personal sex slaves and playthings. 

"Most of these things are obviously Wrong and Evil and Ugly — but at least they are Traditional. They will happen. Your driveway will ice over, your furnace will blow up, and you will be rammed in traffic by an uninsured driver in a stolen car. 

"But what the hell? That's why we have Insurance, eh? And the Inevitability of these nightmares is what makes them so reassuring. Life will go on, for good or ill. But some things are forever, right? The structure may be a little Crooked, but the foundations are still strong and unshakable. 

"Ho ho. Think again, buster. Look around you. There is an eerie sense of Panic in the air, a silent Fear and uncertainty that comes with once-reliable faiths and truths and solid Institutions that are no longer safe to believe in.... There is a Presidential Election, right on schedule, but somehow there is no President. A new Congress is elected, like always, but somehow there is no real Congress at all — not as we knew it, anyway, and whatever passes for Congress will be as helpless and weak as whoever has to pass for the 'New President.'" 

--Hunter S. Thompson, Hey Rube, 11-20-00

Mysterious Murder of a Camp Pendleton Marine

While bombs are alternately being detonated and defused in New York, and chaos reigns in North Carolina in the wake of the police shooting of Keith L. Scott (Note:  I recommend reading Tracy Twyman's autumnal equinox blog post regarding the hermetic symbolism exhibited in the media coverage of the July 2016 police shooting of Philando Castile), no one is paying attention to the mysterious murder of a Camp Pendleton marine that occurred only three days ago in Los Angeles.

Here are relevant excerpts from Matt Hamilton and Richard Winton's 9-19-16 Los Angeles Times article entitled "A Mystery for Police After 19-year-old Marine Is Shot in South L.A.:  'He's Fighting for His Life'":

"A 19-year-old Marine from Camp Pendleton has been hospitalized in grave condition after he was shot this weekend in South Los Angeles, authorities said.

"The teen, identified by his family as Carlos Segovia, was found about 11:35 p.m. Friday slumped over and unconscious in a Dodge Charger in the 2100 block of 31^st Street, according to Capt. Peter Whittingham of the Los Angeles Police Department.

"Segovia left the military base near San Diego on Friday and was visiting friends and family for the weekend in South L.A., according to Claudia Perez, a family friend who said she treats him like her child.

"Segovia wrapped up visiting his girlfriend Friday and was about to drive to Perez’s home, where he usually stays, when he was struck by gunfire, she said.

"'He was on his way to my house,' Perez said via telephone from Segovia’s room at California Hospital Medical Center. 'He texted my son that he was bringing pizza home. He never made it.'

"Police notified the U.S. Marine Corps, which in turn notified Segovia’s family about the shooting. Whittingham said he is unlikely to survive and has little to no brain function [...].

"No suspect has been identified in the shooting. Police said Segovia has no connections to gangs or other activity that would seem to make him a likely target of gun violence.

"'At this point, it’s absolutely a mystery,' Whittingham said. 'Like so many cases in South L.A., we have nothing to go on at this point.'

"Born in El Salvador, Segovia came to the U.S. with his mother. Both are U.S. citizens, Perez said.
After finishing high school, Segovia joined the Marines about six months ago.

"He was known around his community for his volunteering and service work. Perez said he led a youth group called Teen Project, which aimed to motivate high school students to finish school and 'go the right way in life.' He also worked at LA on Cloud 9, a nonprofit run by Perez that she said provides services to homeless people and to animals [...].

"[Perez] pleaded with members of the public to come forward with information about the killing.

"'They shot a Marine. They shot a community leader,' Perez said. 'It was not gang-on-gang violence like you normally see on South L.A. streets. He left a base to see his family and was murdered in the streets.'"

To read Hamilton and Winton's entire article, click HERE. 

What follow are brief excerpts from a 9-21-16 update on the Segovia shooting from NBCLosAngeles.com:

"Lance Cpl. Carlos Segovia Lopez died at a hospital Monday night, according to the coroner's office. The Marine had been on life support since he was found Friday night slumped over in the driver's seat of his car in South Los Angeles.

"The Los Angeles Police Department announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

"No suspects were identified, but now investigators think the motive may have been a result of Lopez witnessing potentially illegal activity."

  

Was the "potentially illegal activity" mentioned above witnessed in the streets of South L.A. or on the base at Camp Pendleton?  Which scenario is more likely?  Readers of Chameleo will know that the proper answer to that question is counter-intuitive....

Transcending Reality

Despite suffering from a debilitating head cold, I successfully completed my first television interview yesterday.  I once saw an interview with Patton Oswalt in which the comedian commented on a paranormal phenomenon he calls "stage health."  "Stage health" is the exact opposite of stage fright.  Despite being sick, one's symptoms inexplicably vanish during the small window required to get the job done, whatever the job happens to be.  In this case I managed to tape an hour-long episode of a new television show called Transcending Reality (produced by Ivolve TV).  Imagine if The View revolved around Weird Shit/High Strangeness and you would have Transcending Reality.  The show is hosted by Lorien Fenton, Melinda Leslie (who plays an important role in my book Chameleo), Miesha Johnston, and Skye.  I'm told the first episode will debut early in November.  Watch for it!

Here I am in the Green Room waiting for the interview to begin...

And here's my McLuhanesque simulacrum....  

"What's At the End of Main Street?" in NEW DAWN #158

The most recent issue of New Dawn Magazine (No. 158, September/October 2016) includes Part One of my epic three-part series entitled "What's At the End of Main Street?:  The Struggle Between the Artificial and the Real in Recent Gnostic Cinema," in which I analyze key examples of "Gnostic Cinema" (i.e., films that explore the illusory nature of reality within a fictional framework) ranging from Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. in 1924 to Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook in 2014.  New Dawn, of course, is available from any well-stocked newsstand NEAR YOU; however, if you wish to summon a copy through the aether, feel free to order the latest issue by clicking HERE.  

By the way, this particular issue also includes an illuminating article by Richard Smoley (author of the recent book, How God Became God) entitled "The Mystery of the Seven Seals:  Seven Spheres, Planetary Archons, & Corruption on High," which begins as follows:

"The New Testament is probably the most widely read book in the world.  And yet it is also a book that is mysterious, and, at best, not fully understood.  In some cases, this is because what the churches teach today no longer corresponds with what the New Testament says.  This is the case with the nature and person of Jesus.  

"In other instances, it is not so much that the teaching has been changed, but lost completely.

"This is true of the early Christian view of cosmology.  It is peppered throughout the New Testament but has been completely overlooked or forgotten.  The result is that many parts of the text are baffling or incomprehensible today."
 
Smoley's article is also worth the price of admission....

IN OTHER NEWS Radio Archives

Heads up:  In case you missed my recent appearance on WBAI in New York (on Geoff Brady's In Other News), you can listen to the broadcast in its entirety by clicking HERE. 

IN OTHER NEWS

Attention, New York!  I will be appearing on Geoff Brady's radio show, In Other News, on WBAI in New York on Monday, September 12th from 11:00 P.M. to midnight (EST).  If you're in the area, please pass the word along to any fellow Chameleo readers... or anyone who might be interested in hearing about this strange but true story of invisible spies, heroin addiction, and Homeland Security.  Mahalo!