#TheSouth

[allthebiscuitsingeorgia]

There’s beauty in simplicity.

Old grist mill, Berry College campus, Rome, Georgia

[ryanteedy]

The Grit Behind Huntsville’s Art Scene

A reflection of Remnant Framing's studio at Lowe Mill A&E in Huntsville, Alabama November 2024

Huntsville’s art scene isn’t something that just sits quietly on a shelf or hangs politely on a wall. It’s alive. It’s got this raw, gritty energy that hits you the moment you step into a place like Lowe Mill. It’s in the scuff marks on the floors, the paint splatters that didn’t quite make it to the canvas, the buzz of conversations about projects half-finished or dreams half-formed.

I see it every day, and it never gets old. There’s something about this place—this city—that draws in people who are ready to work, to hustle, to throw themselves into something bigger than themselves. Artists here don’t wait for permission or for the perfect circumstances. They show up, day after day, and they make it happen.

You can see it in the brick walls of old warehouses, the ones that hold so much history and now pulse with new energy. There’s grit in the way those spaces feel lived in, like they’ve seen decades of transformation and are now standing as a testament to resilience and reinvention. The same could be said for the people who fill them—artists who’ve spent years refining their craft, musicians who’ve played more empty rooms than full ones, creators who never stop chasing that spark.

It’s not about polish here. It’s not about making something perfect. It’s about making something real.

Josh Macero from Josh & The G.M.O.S performing at Verticle House Records at Lowe Mill A&E in Huntsville Alabama December 2024

I love that about Huntsville. It’s not trying to be something it’s not. The people here are grounded, but that doesn’t mean they don’t dream big. They just know how much work it takes to get there, and they’re willing to do it. That’s rare.

For me, being a part of this scene feels like stepping into something honest and alive. It’s messy in the best way—collaborations that come together at the last minute, experiments that fail and turn into something better, conversations that spark new ideas in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee.

Cup of Coffee, at Remnant Framing December 2024

It’s not glamorous, but that’s what makes it matter. Every piece of art, every mural, every photograph, every frame—it all comes from someone who cared enough to create it, someone who worked through the hard parts to get there.

Huntsville’s art scene isn’t just about making pretty things. It’s about making meaning. And that’s something worth being a part of.

More on evolving Art scene in the Southeast

• • Ryan

[pamirsportfolio]

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 👉 # 𝟯 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗵 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀, 𝗝𝗮𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Golf and Slavery: Its Intersection in the South

Golf is a game with a rich history of class consciousness. A game played by masters and their servants or caddies. Wealthy early golfers did not just have a single caddie to carry their bag and clubs but a forecaddie as well to spot where their golf ball landed. This is where we get the warning cry ‘fore’ from, as caddies and then players loudly announce the impending arrival of a struck golf ball. Golf originated in Scotland and then, England, but soon emigrated, as a pastime, to the new world in America and Australia. Games like golf were, in the 19C and early 20C, for those with the necessary wealth to indulge in recreational activities. The masters of these colonial times were partial to the odd spot of golf. Golf and slavery: Its intersection in the South of the United States of America was not altogether uncommon.

Photo by Clement Eastwood on Pexels.com

Golf Player (1898) print in high by New York Public Library is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

Slavery Did Not Go Away in America

Slavery is pretty hard to get one’s head around in the modern age, as a concept and reality for the human beings enslaved. That white slavers, farmers, and overseers worked dark skinned human beings as animals by beating them with whips and without pay is almost unfathomable in the 21C. However, this kind of disgraceful exploitation continued on in the southern states of America until 1942. Slavery did not end with the Civil War in 1865 and the Emancipation Proclamation. 4 million black slaves were in existence at the conclusion of the Civil War. A number of states in the south brought in the Black Codes immediately after the war. Around 800, 000 African Americans were entrapped by laws especially designed to enslave them in debt for things like vagrancy, street drinking, breaking contracts, contact with a white woman, and whatever the white elite could think up. Large fines and court costs saw them incarcerated before plantation owners and mining bosses offered to pay these fines under peonage arrangements. The black man could work off the debt and thus was enslaved by debt, often, doing the same work he did as a chattel slave prior to emancipation. The difference being that the debt slave was no longer worth the hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars he was when a chattel slave. These debt slaves were treated far worse and many were worked to death in mines and quarries in quick time. These arrangements have laid the foundations for a substantial prison industry, where prisoners, many of them Black work for the state and private enterprise as an economic boon. “a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million – mostly Black and Hispanic – are working for various industries for a pittance. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don’t have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don’t like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells.” - (https://komornlaw.com/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business/#:~:text=Alongwithwarsuppliesprison,and21ofofficefurniture.)   “Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at nearly 5 times the rate of white Americans. Nationally, one in 81 Black adults in the U.S. is serving time in state prison. Wisconsin leads the nation in Black imprisonment rates; one of every 36 Black Wisconsinites is in prison. In 12 states, more than half the prison population is Black: Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.” - (https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/the-color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons-the-sentencing-project/)

Photo by Jopwell on Pexels.com

Slavery’s Shadow Over Southern Golf

When we are out on the golf course and it is a lovely day, something like slavery and its aftermath seems a long way away. However, when I watch the Masters on TV and see all those caddies in those white overall jumpsuits I am reminded of golf and slavery: Its intersection in the South. Most of those caddies were African American in the not too distant past. Still today, there are plenty of them performing what used to be a very menial role. Golf at the pointy end may now be big business but its roots are shadowy for sure. Until Tiger Woods came along black golfers were rare on the ground and largely invisible. “It is most unlikely that we shall ever discover the identity of the first African American to swing a golf club on the North American mainland. Regarded by the ruling society as marginal at best, the first blacks to strike a golf ball mattered little to those who introduced the game on the shores of colonial America. They saw no reason to document who those black people were. Nevertheless, there is evidence to suggest that the event probably occurred in the latter half of the eighteenth century on the South Carolina coast. By that time, the city of Charleston was a thriving commercial center with an unusual abundance of social and cultural activities. A large number of the merchant class were transplanted Scotsmen and Englishmen who brought their passion for golf with them when they crossed the Atlantic. By 1786, they were instrumental in establishing the South Carolina Golf Club in Charleston, acknowledged today by many authorities to be the first golf club in the United States.     Hunting was a popular pastime among slave owners during the colonial era and they frequently took their bonded servants with them on hunting trips. The slaves were given the laborious (and sometimes dangerous) task of flushing animals into the open, retrieving downed fowls, and skinning the game that had been killed.(1) In The Carolina Lowcountry Birthplace of American Golf, authors Charles Price and George C. Rogers, Jr. surmise that the slaves were similarly assigned the onerous duties associated with the game of golf. They speculate that slaves were used as caddies by members of the South Carolina Golf Club…..  Over the next few decades, golf enjoyed a fair degree of popularity in both South Carolina and Georgia. At Savannah Golf Club, founded in 1796, as well as at South Carolina GC, slaves probably were used for two main purposes. Since there were no greens as we know of them today, the slaves were used as "finders." In this role they were required to determine the position of the hole and mark it with a suitable object so that an upcoming player would know its location. The South Carolina Golf Club played the game on Harleston Green, a public park in the center of Charleston that was also used by other city inhabitants for horse races, cricket matches, picnicking, and strolling. The second important responsibility entrusted to the slaves was to yell "Fore" to alert other park users of an approaching shot. At the end of the game, these fore caddie/slaves undoubtedly were given the golf clubs to clean, polish, and store while the slave owner rested and enjoyed refreshments. It was an ideal, but probably perilous, opportunity for a slave to secretly test his master's golf equipment. Considering human nature, it would be naive to think otherwise.” - (https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/sinnette-fairways.html#:~:text=(1)InTheCarolinaLowcountry,theSouthCarolinaGolfClub.)

Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels.com I have been reading a slave’s fist hand account of his life on the cotton and sugar plantations in the American south mid- 19C and it is telling. It is hard to imagine a more challenging existence. Worked brutally from dawn to dusk to then return to a shared cabin with no bed, windows, kitchen or creature comforts of any kind. You had to make your own meal from a hunk of bacon, which hung from a nail (often infected with maggots), and cornmeal. You slept on the bare ground or a plank of wood if lucky. You were beaten with the lash if late for work or a hundred different other reasons. Plantation owners would get drunk and rape the female slaves and beat the males for fun. A police state existed, where troops of slave catchers roamed at night to prevent runaways escaping. A Black could not go anywhere without being challenged by a white person. They could not use the postal system or go into a shop without a signed slip from their master. They were the chattel property of their white owners. This set up existed for hundreds of years, with one of the first ships to land in Virginia in 1619, before the Pilgrams, a slaver captured from the Portuguese. The descendants of these slaves, a family called the Tuckers, still lives in Hampton to this day. Americans like to polish their history, as most folks do, by focusing on the more palatable parts. The reality is that slavery was there at the beginning of the story and its influence has been far and wide. You cannot just end slavery and its impact upon a culture like a tap being turned off. We have seen how the South resisted all their slaves being freed and trapped some 800, 000 of them in peonage slavery. The southern economy had and has been heavily dependent upon slave labour. The bigger story is that the North and the rest of the world built their financial wealth on the back of slavery. The industrial revolution was fired by both technology and paid for with the fruits of slavery. The Western economy was pumped up with money from cotton thanks to the cotton gin and slavery in the south. Our modern financial economies have their roots in this time, according to studies by historical economists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1-zI-lwn8M The fact that we are wealthy enough to have the time to play golf in the modern era is built on the back of this economic surge into modernity. Think about the economic value of 4 million slaves as capital. “The economic value of the 4 million slaves in 1860 was, on average, $1,000 per person, or about $4 billion total. That was more than all the banks, railroads and factories in the U.S. were worth at the time.” - (Bloomberg, 2021) Excerpt from Golf Courses & The Wall Of Slavery “But my focus is on the golf course – tree-lined fairways, not links; Scottish pot and hourglass fairway bunkers, seven on one hole; elegant, bent grass greens I can almost read from 3,000 feet in this crisp glancing morning light; and lots of water too, beautiful ponds and streams in which to lose lots of balls. As always, I enjoy this golf course assessment exercise. Golf is a magical pas de deux between the mind and the body, a sport of enormous elegance and technical sensitivity, a pastime with numerous lifestyle metaphors (forget the previous shot, focus on the present shot; don't attempt what you can't do;...), exceedingly more cerebral than the casual fan might think. It is a game without defense. And, it is the most subtle, near fickle, blend of power and finesse – physical and mental – of any sport yet invented. But these days something is different; I mean really different: the palms of my hands are not perspiring! It was 1972, during a similar flight approach, that I became aware of my perspiring palm syndrome. With blacks only recently being allowed to play the public – even municipal – courses in my hometown, I interpreted those moist palms to be evidence of my burgeoning love for the game. During that period, typically after viewing a golf course from the air, I would rotate my face forward, close my eyes, tilt my head back onto the seat's headrest, and imagine a serene fairway, a five iron in hand, an ideal drawing shot into a slightly depressed green, and the enjoyment of every inch of a 170-yard perfect flight of the ball. Sheer pleasure; but always accompanied by perspiring palms.” - (http://web.mit.edu/fnl/vol/133/williams.htm) Golf In Australia In Australia, not many First Nations Aussies play golf. It is getting a bit better with more golf clubs opening their doors to a more diverse clientele. However, this is a fairly recent occurrence, with the history of golfing in Australia being a very white bread state of affairs. Elitist Protestant Australians were the mainstay of golf clubs for decades and decades in the capital cities of Australia. Working class golf clubs eventuated in time but they maintained similar if cheaper standards when it came to who they let play golf on their courses. The truth of the matter is that if you ensure that Black people are economically disadvantaged via institutional racism and its more prosaic cousins then it is highly unlikely they are going to be able to afford to play golf, even if they were allowed to join in. Australia had its own slavery chapter called Blackbirding, where Indigenous Australians and Pacific Islanders were Shanghaied and conned into working under slave-like conditions on the sugarcane plantations in North Queensland. Pastoral Australia had plenty of Aborigines working for next to nothing on their properties for decades and decades through the 19C and 20C as well. Colonial Australia used First Nations people whenever and wherever they could. Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders were not considered Australians until 1962, when a referendum was held about granting them voting and citizen rights. It wasn’t until 1965 that Queensland granted Indigenous Australians the right to vote in their state elections. More and more people don’t know the real history of their countries and think that it matters little. They are happy to focus on their own concerns to the exclusion of anything else. Some even talk about us all being the same and today’s level playing field. The truth is when you and your family are coming from a long way down the wealth ladder it matters. The shadows of slavery and indentured servitude, then economic neglect and institutional racism, don’t disappear quickly, indeed, it takes generations to emerge from the dire poverty caused by these things. ‘I’m alright Jack!’ is not going to cut it in these circumstances. Superficial understandings and neoliberal user pays philosophies will not heal the psychological wounds and repair the economic imbalance within our nations and peoples. Golf has become a more egalitarian pastime but the present cannot mask the effects of generations of discriminatory behaviour on non-white golfers, African Americans, and Indigenous Australians. It is time to big hearted and empower those who have been short changed when the opportunity arises. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer: Finding Inner Peace & Focus on the Fairway. ©GolfDom

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[gld-dst-wmn]

tornado aftermath - outside of nashville, tennessee 2020

[paintstudi0]

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[thehuntingcompany]

“My house got stuck” 😂 #mobilehome #parkit #minordelay #roadblock #livingonthestrip #roadhouse #backcountrybama #thesouth #backwoods #remodeling #moving #ifitfits #detour #trafficcontrol #hetried #closetohome #wtfmemes #wheninbama #noparkingzone #wtfskills #livingitup #trailerpark #whatnow (at Coffeeville, Alabama) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnfpAeFL0Dm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[selidor]

Pointy Knees by What up everyone! Hope all you guys out there…

[allthebiscuitsingeorgia]

The movement of water can be therapeutic. Whether it’s the roar of the Toccoa, the mist flowing off Amicalola Falls, the meandering of the Ogeechee through Seven Mile Bend, or the slightly less dramatic trickle over the spillway on Berry College’s Mountain Campus, moving water can stimulate multiple senses. The sounds, sight, feel, and even smell stirred by this molecular compound of hydrogen and oxygen can calm, excite, soothe, and even intrigue the human mind. It can take us away from the hustle and bustle of traffic, pollution, and noise of the modern existence of our everyday routines. It can teach us the difference between sound and noise, movement and transportation, action and activity.

And while moving water has the awful capacity for vicious destruction, it has restorative powers as well. Taking time to appreciate what water is doing can return that piece of humanity that our reliance on machinery takes away. Just a moment to hear the rushing stream, feel the damp breeze off a waterfall, or watch the unhurried but powerful flow of a river meeting it’s estuary is a moment well spent.

“I am haunted by waters.” Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It

[christinamac1]

Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) make appeal over Areas of Focus in South Copeland

 The UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities have made an appeal to theSouth Copeland GDF Community Partnership and Nuclear Waste Services toexclude tourist spots, heritage sites and the local prison fromconsideration as Areas of Focus in South Copeland. The Chair of the NFLAs,Councillor Lawrence O’Neill, has written to the Chair of the SouthCopeland GDF Community Partnership and the Head of…

[shyujikl]

MUXIANG Briarwood Hungarian Big Bend Pipe

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ok0xdxOG8ww?feature=share Hungarian/Oom Paul - The OomPaul or Hungarian is a full bent billiard,The Oom Paul name comes from theSouth African general of the Boer Warand later president Paulus Kruger,called Oom (uncle) Paul. Always a full bent, this pipe has alarge tobacco chamber and is rel-atively heavy, but the shape itselfand the way it "hangs" in themouth make it more comfortablethan many lighter straight pipes.A good choice when you needyour hands free. - Shape: Hungarian/Oom Paul Pipe - Model Number: AA70004 - Brand Name: MUXIANG - Material: Wood，Briar - Mouthpiece Material: Cumberland / Vulcanized Rubber - Bent Type - Drilling：3mm Filter - Origin: Mainland China Read the full article

[run-aled]

RED VALLEY: SEASON 2 EPISODE 2‘Premium Dead Forever’

[transcript]

SCENE 1

2020. BRYONY AND GORDON PACETHROUGH RED VALLEY - FROMOUTSIDE, THROUGH THE BASE, TO THEFIRE DOOR TO THE FACILITY.

BRYONY: -Are you recording this as well?

GORDON: Oh, um, yeah, if that's okay-

BRYONY: Yes, it's fine. Can you carry this?

GORDON: Oh, sure, sure. Bryony, is it just you?

BRYONY: Yes.

GORDON: Oh right, I just thought– well, maybe it was time-

BRYONY: It is time. Grace and Pamela are following ontomorrow.

GORDON: Oh, ah, great! So, we… I mean y… -you're goingto - to wake him up-

BRYONY: If he's still in one solid piece, yes, that's the plan.

GORDON: Great.

BRYONY: Is my room made up?

GORDON: The quarters in the base, yes, unless you'd like thefarmhouse-

BRYONY: Are you still staying in the farmhouse?

GORDON: Um, yes-

BRYONY: My quarters will be fine.

THEY WALK IN SILENCE FOR A TIME.

BRYONY: So. How have you been?

GORDON: Um. Fine. Had a lot to learn, and a lot of time to thi-

BRYONY: Everything's up and running I assume.

GORDON: Yes, yes, yes, I have a rota I made, making sure Igo through each area systematically every otherday.

BRYONY: And the archiving? How is that going?

GORDON: It's a mammoth task, there's so much and it's sodisorganised, every time I think I've found astarting point something else terrifying and horriblepops up! I mean, fascinating. Fascinating and ve-

BRYONY: I'm sure a lot of it is terrifying and horrible to theuninitiated, Gordon. However, you are initiated,aren't you?

GORDON: I suppose I am.

BRYONY: So, you're not having any problems with it? Thesuffering and the viscera and the blood and so on?

GORDON: No. No.

BRYONY COMES TO A STOP.

BRYONY: Excellent. Look, you've been working hard and I'vehad a long trip so I thought we might do somethingfun tonight.

GORDON: I'm sorry?

BRYONY: Fun. Something I think you'll enjoy.

GORDON: Oh, umm. Sure?

BRYONY: Great. I'm going to unpack and get changed and I'llsee you in the cryosuite at 7, shall I?

GORDON: The cryosuite?

BRYONY WALKS AWAY. SHE CALLSBACK TO HIM.

BRYONY: Wear something comfortable.

GORDON: Oh.

CUT.

SCENE 2

2020. BRYONY AND GORDON ARE INTHE CRYO SUITE, AT THE VERY END OFTHE FACILITY.

BRYONY: - and then just leave it there, you'll need yourhands.

GORDON: Okay, yep.

BRYONY: Blue Sky, are you recording this?

THE TINKLE OF THE BLUE SKY IDENT.

BLUE SKY: Recording.

BRYONY: Good. Help me with this. It'll need a bit of welly.

SOME SHUFFLING AND THE CLANGINGOF METAL LATCHES BEING RELEASED.

BRYONY: Right. I think we're ready.

GORDON: Sorry, I... erm… what's...what are we doing?

BRYONY: Do you know the name Lord Conrad Havershire?Of course you don't. He was the founder of theHavershire dairy empire in Devon and Cornwall.Mainly famed for yoghurt. The Yoghurt Lord of thesouth west.

GORDON: Right.

BRYONY: Anyway, in his later years he cultivated ahandsome tumour the size of a cherry in histemporal lobe and promptly made arrangementswith an American cryonics company called ColdState, a ghastly name, no wonder it didn't last.Cold State was hoovered up by Wheelhouse, andwas absorbed into Overhead in 1998. And soOverhead took responsibility for Cold State'sremaining residents, including the Yoghurt Lord.

GORDON: And he's in here.

BRYONY: Shrewdly observed.

GORDON: But we can't just...open him up... surely we haveto...there must be processes, you need yourteam...

BRYONY: We're not waking him up, Gordon.

GORDON: We're not?

BRYONY: He's very dead.

GORDON: But you'll be exposing him to the elements, you'llcompromise his cryostatic field...

A CREAK AND SNAPPING OF CRUSTEDICE AS BRYONY LIFTS THE LID ON THEPOD.

GORDON: Or not, that's fine I suppose.

BRYONY: You'll not have heard of the Havershire dairyempire in recent years because ConradHavershire was simultaneously one of the world'sleading optimists and narcissistic bastards. Soconvinced was he that medical breakthroughs thatcould return him to health and prosperity were justaround the corner, he had his mind and bodycryonically frozen after his demise and refused toname an heir to his company and fortune.Obviously, that sat rather poorly with both hisshareholders and customers, and the companyduly tanked. I believe they still make rocket lollies.

GORDON: Okay.

BRYONY: Jeremy Havershire is the long-suffering eldest sonof Lord Conrad and as you might imagine hasgrown somewhat… impatient for his father'sresurrection. He approached us recently after hislawyers spotted a little addendum to Conrad'scontract with Cold State - that every 15 years thecompany was obliged to carry out a checkup. Tomake sure the body was still perfectly preservedand that nothing had gone wrong with the storageprocess. The date of that 15-year checkup is?

GORDON: Today.

BRYONY: Correct.

GORDON: But… I've read how you would survey a cryonicpatient's body, they would need to be constantlyimmersed in liquid nitrogen

BRYONY: Yes, yes, yes.

GORDON: while you exposed parts of the body for theabsolute minimum time necessary, we've justexposed his whole body, we've increased the riskof crystallisation on the re-freeze by anunacceptable amount-

BRYONY: Gordon, your study is admirable but your concernis quite misplaced. His son has paid mydepartment a considerable amount to ensure theresults of this analysis are...decisive.

GORDON: You're killing him?

BRYONY: Gordon.

GORDON: No, I know, he's dead, but... any chance in thefuture that...

BRYONY: Let's disabuse ourselves of some notionsregarding cryonic preservation, and far morerelevantly, death. Here's the thing about death. It'sdeath. You can read every clickbait fluff piece fromNew Scientist about the incremental stages of it,cell death, brain death, and how we might slowthose down; theories of how you could one daystop them altogether. Some of them might evenmake some sense. But not to the Yoghurt Lord. Hehad a grade 4 inoperable hand grenade go off inhis head the same year Last of the Mohicanscame out and the process he paid so much for…left quite a bit to be desired. Look at his eyes. Goon.

GORDON: Oh, they're...not even closed...

BRYONY: You can see the buildup of ice on his corneas.They're done. Look at his skin.

GORDON: Oh! Crumbs.

BRYONY: Crumbs, flakes, chips, lumps. Uh… He's a mess.But go back to the tumour. The mind-and-bodydestroying cancer. We have to keep himimmaculately preserved, bring him back to life,cure cancer, and then? Rebuild his rotten brain?His spine, his nervous system, everything else thatturned black and killed him? You might as well tryto rebuild a tree after you've lit a bonfire from itsbranches. It's farce. I can't see the future. But I cantell you this - every person that has so far beencryonically preserved is never, ever, ever comingback in any form whatsoever. They're just a higherclass of dead. Premium dead, if you will. Andthey'll be premium dead forever.

GORDON: Except for Warren.

BRYONY: Except for Warren. Would you like to cut his headoff?

GORDON: I'm sorry?

BRYONY TURNS AROUND ANDPRODUCES A CIRCULAR SAW, A BONESAW. WITH A SWITCH IT WHIRRS TOLOUD, VIOLENT LIFE FOR A SHORTMOMENT.

BRYONY: Well, not his whole head. I never like to waste anopportunity to look at someone's brain and JeremyHaverhshire seems to harbour a medieval resentment for old Conrad so he made a requestfor a little piece of evidence. Not his whole head ofcourse, just the brain. So, would you like to helpme scalp him? Trepan him, maybe. Let's see whatbad spirits come out, shall we?

GORDON: Um...

BRYONY: You can't hurt him, Gordon. He was dead beforeTom Hanks won his first Oscar. And by allaccounts an utter prick. The saw is fun.

GORDON: O-kay.

BRYONY: Just...there.

THE SAW REVS TO LIFE.CUT TO: TIME HAS PASSED. THE SAWIS OFF. THE SOUND OF METALINSTRUMENTS ON A METAL COUNTERAND SOME SQUISHY SOUNDS OFTHOSE INSTRUMENTS ON TISSUE.

BRYONY: And there's an ice crystal.

GORDON: Oh yeah.

BRYONY: You can reach it with those forceps. There.

GORDON: Ack. Oop

BRYONY: Slippery, aren't they?

GORDON: Oop.

BRYONY: Automatic lock in. You won't make it to the crystaldome.

GORDON: Aha!

BRYONY: Success!

GORDON: Yeah. Oh… A bit of a puddle forming now isn'tthere.

BRYONY: Yes. It thaws quicker than you might expect.

A PAUSE AS SHE CONSIDERS GORDONCONSIDERING THE BRAIN.

BRYONY: Not everyone can look at a real human brain,much less dissect one. It's why we're out here inthe middle of nowhere. Why so many greatdiscoveries are made in rooms without windows.Because of everyone else's 'boundaries.'

SHE DISCARDS HER GLOVES ANDMOVES AWAY TO A NEARBY SINK TOWASH HER HANDS.

BRYONY: It's why Clive and I differ so much on how to usethe technology once I've perfected it. He wouldwrap it in a bow and present it to the elites, sell itas a luxury, the ultimate lifestyle choice.

GORDON: Do You Want To Continue.

BRYONY: But people won't buy it. Because people can't takeit. If they could we wouldn't be sent to the edge ofthe world, we'd be at Overhead New York in aglistening research resort designed by NormanFoster.

SHE PACES THE ROOM.

BRYONY: You have to be gentle. That's why I want itintroduced through the penal system.Revolutionise the incarceration process. Save anindustry billions, and the tech is proven aseconomically viable. That viability is crucial ofcourse but not where the true value lies. It'sacceptance that we need. Start at the bottom ofthe societal ladder and you'll catch everyone onthe way up. Once the technology is commonplaceit'll take on a life of its own, everyone will want theirpiece. Clive will get his luxury hypersleep cryopodrange with tinted glass and go faster stripes andcan take all the glory he wants, I don't care.

GORDON: You don't want the glory?

BRYONY: People like us will be the only the place we'rewelcome. Back in the basement.

SILENCE.

BRYONY: Ah. You still object to the 'us', don't you?

GORDON: You...and Clive and whoever else...you're killingpeople...

BRYONY: Speak up, Gordon.

GORDON: People are dying in this place.

BRYONY: No, you said 'you're killing people'. And you'reright, yes I am. I'm killing people. Everyone whohas died in this facility on my watch has had thesituation and the risks explained to them in explicitdetail. And they consented.

GORDON: I know, I've listened to the tapes, that's becausethey were criminals carrying out enormoussentences and you offered them things you surelycouldn't deliver, pardons, appeals, early release, ifthe experiments were successful. You went to thehopeless and the desperate-

BRYONY: And the evil, and the sadistic and malicious-

GORDON: And the mentally unwell or incapacitated ordisadvantaged. You knew the likely outcome-

BRYONY: And the homicidal, and the deviant, and thedisgusting and despicable.

GORDON: And where was Warren? On that list?

BRYONY: You've seen his record, you must've seeneverything we have on him. What do you think?

PAUSE.

BRYONY: You haven't, have you?

GORDON: I didn't think it was right to look when he doesn'tseem to know himself.

BRYONY: Or because you were scared of what you mightsee? What you might learn about your friend?

GORDON STANDS UP, MOVES HISCHAIR BACK.

GORDON: What do you want me to do with this guy's brain?

BRYONY: What's that Godby family motto that's been floatingaround these tapes? 'You should only do what youknow you can live with'. What a bizarre concept.How on Earth would anyone find out what they'recapable of if they only did what made themcomfortable?

GORDON: It's about living to a code.

BRYONY: You just cut a man's head in two with a buzzsawand spooned out his mind, if you'd known that thismorning how would that have sat with your code?

GORDON: I...I don't know…

BRYONY: You just did something extraordinary. Somethingyou never would've done of your own volition. Allyou needed was the push. Yes, we're in an uglyplace doing ugly work but we're creatingsomething. Something real, something worthwhile. I think you know that and all I'm trying to tell you isthat that's okay. That there is a place for theGordon Porlocks of this world. And you managedto find it.

PAUSE.

GORDON: There's a pretty big difference between performingan autopsy on a cadaver and the things you'vedone. You must see that.

BRYONY: Is that what you believe or what you've been toldto believe?

GORDON: I don't even know what that means. So, I shouldonly listen to you?

BRYONY: No, Gordon. The worst thing about Red Valley isalso the best. Here, the only person you have tolisten to is yourself. There's nobody else around.

GORDON: You should do a TED talk. Did this work on Grace and Pamela? And Aubrey Wood, and Ben Thomas?

BRYONY'S TONE CHANGES. SHE HASN'T WON HIM OVER THE WAY SHE USUALLY DOES WITH SUBORDINATES.

BRYONY: For the most part. Well then. Let's do another,shall we?

BRYONY STEPS A FEW PACES ACROSS THE ROOM TO ANOTHER CAPSULE.

GORDON: I think I'm done for the night.

BRYONY: I insist.

HISSING AND THE SOUND OF METALON METAL AND SHE BEGINS REMOVING THE CLAMPS AND SEALSON THIS POD.

GORDON: No really, I-

BRYONY: Just a peek, then.

WITH A WRENCH AND A GRUNT OFEFFORT SHE LIFTS THE LID OFFHERSELF. GORDON STEPS BACK INHORROR AND CLATTERS INTO THE INSTRUMENT TROLLEY.

GORDON: Oh… Jesus Christ.

BRYONY: Yes, funny you should mention Ben Thomas. Youmay remember him from such incidents as 'it's onthe floor oh God it's in my shoes', general lecheryand ultimately the misguided breaking of certaincontractual agreements. Did you ever meet himface to face?

GORDON: Did- I?

BRYONY: In your years of skullduggery around thebasements of Overhead. Ben must have been oneof your greatest sources.

GORDON: I… I never met - anyone – I... I found everything myself-

BRYONY: In places where they were left to be found,Gordon. I just wondered if either of them everreached out personally.

GORDON: Either of them?

A COUPLE OF FOOTSTEPS, THE CLUNKOF SOMETHING HEAVY BEING LIFTED. THE ROAR OF THE BUZZSAW, FOR JUST A MOMENT.

BRYONY: Where is Aubrey Wood?

GORDON: I... I don't know!

BRYONY: Calm down, you knew we would ask where yougot all your information at some point. It wasn't allfrom a Buzzfeed article I assume.

THE SAW AGAIN.

GORDON: I've never met her, or him, I only know what theylook like cos I saw CCTV footage, everything wasanonymous, we used aliases, it was all online orthings left for me in storage units-

THE SAW DIES OFF.

BRYONY: Yes, I thought as much. You see, the board of directors live in cheerful ignorance of what happens at Red Valley, and they go to great measures to make sure the rest of the world is justas blissfully unaware. Given the chance I would've liked to ask Ben here what he did with all ourinformation, what his intentions were, but it was Clive who found him in the end. It was a shortexchange I hear. He thought I could make someuse of him though. What do you think Porlock? Has he been useful?

GORDON: Yes.

BRYONY: Oh good. I cannot abide waste.

PAUSE.

BRYONY: Blue Sky, what's the time?

BLUE SKY: The time is 12.17, am.

BRYONY: It is late I suppose. Off you go.

GORDON: Thank you.

GORDON QUICKLY WALKS AWAY, COLLECTING HIS RECORDER AS HE GOES. AS HE REACHES THE DOOR,BRYONY CALLS BACK TO HIM.

BRYONY: No one is useless Gordon. They just need to findtheir place.

IN THE DISTANCE, BRYONY PICKS UPTHE SAW, ACTIVATES IT AND BEGINSTO WORK ON BEN THOMAS' FROZENSKULL.

CUT.

SCENE 3

2020. THE CRYOSUITE. GORDON TURNS ON HIS RECORDER AS GRACEAND PAMELA CARRY OUT SOME FINALTESTS ON WARREN'S POD. GORDON ISA LITTLE DISTANCE BACK FROM THE OTHERS.

GORDON: Hi Pam-

PAMELA: Gordon- stand behind the door, unless you want you sperm to be vaporised.

GRACE: Doubt there's much to risk there.

PAMELA: Screening.

A SMALL WOMP AS A SCAN PASSES THROUGH THE POD. A HEAVY PIECE OF MACHINERY IS WHEELED BACKWARDS AWAY FROM IT.

PAMELA: Okay, I'm saving that. Dumping the rest. You cancome in now.

GORDON: Oh… Sorry. Morning. I made teas and coffees. There's biscuits too, I know it's early but, big dayand everyth-

HE SETS DOWN A TRAY NEARBY. GRACE CALLS FROM ACROSS THE ROOM, HAVING NOT HEARD A WORD.

GRACE: There's a dirty filter light flashing on the wall overthere. Is everything okay with the ventilation inhere?

GORDON: Oh… Um… I... I think so.

GRACE: Then why is it flashing?

GORDON: Oh no, I'm not - that's not my-

GRACE: Well, go and look.

PAMELA: It's not his job Grace, he wouldn't know what hewas looking at.

GRACE: He's a caretaker. He is supposed to take care.

PAMELA: Thank you for the coffee, Gordon.

GRACE: Is it fresh or instant?

GORDON: It's instant.

GRACE: I brought fresh with me, it’s on the counter in the kitchen, go and make some up, please.

PAMELA: He's not your bloody manservant!

GRACE: He's like Igor from the Frankenstein book. I bet hes wings an oil lamp around these corridors at night talking to himself.

GORDON: Igor isn't in the book.

GRACE: What did you say to me?

GORDON: Igor. He was invented for the film adaptations, he wasn't in the novel.

GRACE: Are you stupid? Why don't you spend less time talking shit about monster books and more time making my fucking coffee? Igor?

PAMELA: You know he's recording this right?

GRACE IS ALARMED AT THIS.

GRACE: You're not, are you?

GORDON PICKS UP HIS DICTAPHONETO SHOW HIM.

GORDON: Yeah!

GRACE: Why didn't you tell me?

PAMELA: That's literally his job? Bryony asked him to do it!

GRACE: But I didn't think he would be recording already!

PAMELA: We're in the middle of Emergence Prep, if anything he's late! If you're worried about sounding like an idiot on record, there’s an easy way to solve it isn'there!

GRACE: It's like working under the bloody Stasi.

PAMELA: Well now that's on the tape as well isn't it!

BRYONY APPEARS AT THE DOORWAY, NEXT TO GORDON.

BRYONY: Morning everyone.

PAMELA AND GRACE IMMEDIATELYREVERT TO A PROFESSIONAL AND SLIGHTLY FEARFUL MANNER.

GRACE & PAMELA: Morning Dr Halbech.

BRYONY: Ah you made drinks. How kind of you.

SHE POURS HER SELF A DRINK AND FIDDLES WITH MILK AND SUGAR.

GORDON: Have you been to bed?

BRYONY: No, there's always too much to do before an emergence. Particularly one that might actually work. Aubrey Wood said something in one of her incredibly earnest diaries, didn't she- how can you sleep when all you're thinking about is waking someone up? Pam, where's the Echo?

PAMELA: Echo or ECMO?

BRYONY: Echo. The T.O.E. The ECMO is right in front ofme. It's 4 feet long and nearly as big as the suitcase you brought with you this morning, it would be disturbing if I couldn't see that, wouldn'tit?

PAMELA: I didn't think we needed it now...

BRYONY: I want it checked and set up now.

PAMELA: Yes, Dr Halbech.

BRYONY: Thank you Dr Jennings. Grace.

GRACE: Ah… Yes?

BRYONY: Do you have the read out? From the particle generator?

GRACE: Oh, I thought you were happy with the last results-

BRYONY: I was. I'd like to maintain that happiness with acurrent readout.

GRACE: Uh - yes. I can - yes.

PAMELA IS WHEELING IN THE ECHOMACHINE.

BRYONY: We're working on the first successfully revived subject of cryonic preservation, I'm not the headchef at the local carvery and grill.

GRACE & PAMELA: Yes, Dr Halbech.

BRYONY: Yes, chef.

BRYONY SIPS HER DRINK.

BRYONY: I can feel your questions radiating through your cardigan.

GORDON: What's a particle generator do?

BRYONY: We have to infuse each of Warren's IV lines with nano particles. It's what I spent most of the night doing actually.

GORDON: What on earth do nano particles do?

BRYONY: Once we activate the particle generator a magneticfield will be created within the cryopod and the particles will start to warm up. And eventually we'llhave a nice warm human marinading in a fine cryonic jus.

GORDON: Does it get boring putting 'cryo' in front ofeverything you invent?

BRYONY: Like you wouldn't cryobelieve.

GORDON: What's an ECMO do?

BRYONY: Reoxygenate the body.

GORDON: What's a T.O.E.?

BRYONY: A probe that goes down the oesophagus to mapthe heart.

GORDON: What's that in the corner?

BRYONY: That's a dehumidifier, there's damp on the ceiling.Are we going to go round the room pointing at everything you don't understand?

GORDON: Oh no… That's probably fine for now. Thanks.

BRYONY: What do you think of them? Grace and Pam?

GORDON: Oh, Um. They seem very...slick.

BRYONY: Not my choice. Either of them. Clive picked them,with his vast knowledge of cryonic biology and emergency medicine. Rather more...aesthetic choices, both of them.

GORDON: Aesthetic?

BRYONY: Degracious Melé has a name like a finishing move in Street Fighter, he's very tall, he's very young, he looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model.Pamela Jennings has two PhDs and looks like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They are adequate in their fields but not exceptional. Clive believes the hard work is over and he wants the right faces to get on the front of Time magazine.

SHE ADDRESSES THE ROOM.

BRYONY: And how do I feel about Time magazine,everyone?

THEY ANSWER SIMULTANEOUSLY.

GRACE: You do not care for it.

PAMELA: Print media is basically dead anyway.

BRYONY: Yes chef, yes chef.

SHE PUTS DOWN HER DRINK.

BRYONY: This is making you uncomfortable isn't it, Gordon.

GORDON: Everything here makes me uncomfortable.

BRYONY: Keep telling yourself that, champ.

BRYONY STEPS FORWARD TOADDRESS THE ROOM AGAIN.

BRYONY: Right, everyone. It's the day you've all been waiting for. Before we push the big red button, I'dlike to thank you all for your hard work so far.You're all committed, and whatever else might besaid about any of you, commitment is the attributeI require the most. You may think due to our previous success that our subject's survival is some how more of a sure thing. Let’s remind ourselves of the mortality rate up until this point.It's 100%. Do we know for certain exactly why Warren Godby is the only survivor of our treatment? We do not. So, whatever we scoop out of that pod, alive or dead, the work is just beginning. That said, there is champagne in the fridge, and we will be drinking it tonight what ever happens, I'm not a monster.

NERVOUS LAUGHTER.

BRYONY: Alright beautiful people. And you Gordon. Get To

yota places, final checks. Particle generator?

GRACE: Check.

BRYONY: ECMO?

PAMELA: Check.

BRYONY: Resus?

PAMELA: Check.

BRYONY: Transfer?

GRACE: Check.BRYONY: Okay.

BRYONY PACES ROUND TO THE CONTROL PANEL OF THE PARTICLE GENERATOR. SHE FLICKS ONE BIGSWITCH. A BEEP, AND A DEEP MECHANICAL CHUGGING AS THE MACHINE COMES TO LIFE.

BRYONY: Hot… dog.

SHE FLICKS A SECOND SWITCH. ADIFFERENT BEEP, AND A LOW HUMSOUNDS, SLOWLY BUILDING IN PITCHAND VOLUME. THE CHUGGING BEGINSTO ACCELERATE.

BRYONY: Jumping frog.

A FINAL SWITCH. A SUPER GOOD SCI FINOISE ADDS TO THE MIX.

BRYONY: Albuquerque.

CUT.

SCENE 4

2064. AUBREY AND GORD IN THE RECORDS ROOM.

AUBREY: Stop.

GORD: Would you like me to play the next entry, Aubrey?

AUBREY PAUSES FOR A MOMENT,DEEP IN THOUGHT.

AUBREY: I remember that. She would say that a lot, the Albuquerque line. It was probably the most human thing I ever witnessed her doing.

GORD: Would you like me to play the next entry, Aubrey?

AUBREY: It's surprising. To get that on record, her facadecoming down like that, even… even just a little. Ionly saw it once or twice. And never for long. But she just couldn't help herself. Under all the cloaksand daggers and bluster and put downs, she couldn't hide her excitement about the work. It was magnetic. I wanted to be like her.

GORD: Well, you are also waking Warren Godby from hypersleep.

AUBREY: Yeah, thank you Gord. We'll stop drawing comparisons there, shall we?

GORD: Her reasons for waking him could not be further from your intentions. You want to help him.

AUBREY: Well, that's...that's a kind thing for you to say.

GORD: It's nice to be nice.

AUBREY: What's everyone done today. Is it still today? Or isit tomorrow?

GORD: You'd like a progress report?

AUBREY: Yes.

GORD: Vig and Robyn have completed and log ged the supply inventory. Hester worked beyond the end of her shift on the ward due to Jacob having adisagreement with Malcolm. Malcolm required sedation.

AUBREY: Shit, really?

GORD: And Jade has been putting together a playlist for her party.

AUBREY: She's really going through with it.

GORD: Grace has been carrying on with-

A TONE FROM HIS UNIT.

GORD: In coming from the Quarantine Suite. Patching.

HESTER IS CALLING THROUGH THE BLUE SKY SYSTEM. THERE IS SOME COMMOTION IN THE BACKGROUND.

HESTER: Hey, are you still up?

AUBREY: I'm here, Hester.

HESTER: Of course, you are. Well, if you insist on livingnocturnally, could you at least come down hereand help me. Warren's pulled out his drip again.

AUBREY: Put another one in.

HESTER: I had actually thought of that sir, he hasn't got any bloody veins left. No, don't, Stevie watch out, he's going to pull out - yep. Well, that's what happens.Put some gloves on next time.

WARREN GRUNTS IN PAIN WHILE ANOTHER MAN MISERABLY CURSES GETTING COVERED IN URINE.

AUBREY: He pulled out his catheter again didn't he.

HESTER: You're going to be able to kick a football down hisurethra if he carries on like this.

AUBREY: I'll be there in a sec.

THE TONE SIGNALS THE END OF THE CONVERSATION.

AUBREY: Gord, you're meant to be in all places at all times,why didn't you tell me they were struggling down there?

GORD: You were having a valuable moment of reflection.

AUBREY: I swear to God, people only ever pull out their own IV lines cos they see people do it in movies. It's soannoying.

GORD: Is that why he pulls out his catheter?

AUBREY: Shut up.

GORD: I can find no motion pictures that feature the forced removal of catheters?

AUBREY: Shut up!

END.

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[jeremiahjahi]

An easy Sunday evening writing and reading from The Vermont Plays of playwright Annie Baker. Anyway....have a good one folks. Aa always Keep Moving!

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[omiwole97]

Mississippi Boi 🤠

📸 @fortyacre.visions, @kail_soul

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