#i could look into reviving the cruise ship project

[pixiedustjellicle]

I have such a difficult time connecting with the Cats community now. Part of me feels like maybe I'm too old for the current fandom(I don't feel old, but I'm certainly not 19 anymore). Or that perhaps it's because I don't much care about ships. Sometimes I worry that I intimidate people, and I'd hate that. Let me introduce myself and how Cats has shaped my life, and maybe I can find my people?

I first saw Cats at a tiny local theatre when I was eight. I fell in love with it, and even though I didn't have the movie yet, I spent months afterwards with just the poem book and highlights album. Eventually I got the 98 VHS too- and then another local theatre put it on when I was ten! I got to see it twice there. And afterwards, I made up my own attempt at a costume, turned our spare room into my attempt at the set, and put some chairs in there to put on the highlights show for some friends of my mother. The CD was worn out, I went on with the show, and they even gave me a card and a new CD afterwards- the London 2 disc set! Looking back, I think how embarrassing it probably was, but I was so happy and proud of myself in the moment. Two more years later, US Tour 5 came through Nashville, and I got to go and stagedoor for the first time. I wore a tail I made and one of the actresses told me I had a perfect Bombalurina tail twirl. For all those years, I worked Cats into school projects, I drew nothing else. My mom put up with it for so long, and I still thank her to this day.

And then I went into middle school. New school, new students, and I started getting bullied for it. I found other musicals I didn't get bullied for- Phantom, Wicked, and Sweeney- to latch onto, and I kinda put Cats in the back of my head. I still loved it, but my hyperfixation had waned thanks to mean kids, and other than occasionally watching the 1998 movie, I didn't think much of it for years.

But the US Tour 6 announced a date in Nashville. I hadn't seen the show in eight years, and I wasn't about to miss it. I had already started taking an interest in cosplay, but I'd never made a costume like that. I remembered admiring the CCDB as a kid though, and I told myself I was totally capable of making my own, just to go see the show in costume. And I did.

And the cast were SO sweet, and I started finding Cats fans on Instagram. I thought I could do better on the costume, so when the show stopped in Chattanooga a couple months later... I did it again.

The pandemic hit and I lost my job. Immediately I started getting work making Cats cosplays for others, and I haven't stopped since. And when the show resumed, I made an overnight trip to Memphis to dress up again!

And then, I saved until I could finally go see the Royal Caribbean production (front row all three performances), and got to cosplay on the cruise and get a picture on stage with the cast! This was absolutely everything to me, especially seeing the original choreography as opposed to the revival. I definitely cried. (I'm in the middle bottom row!)

I've gotten to make some costume pieces for three regional productions of Cats, in the Dominican Republic, Atlanta Georgia, and most recently Georgetown Texas. I've won some local cosplay contest with my costumes, too! And I'm lucky enough to own a few original pieces- though I've had to part with some too.

My love for this show has spanned just over 17 years now. I adore the story, the costumes, the choreography, the sets, and the characters. It's part of how I learned I am autistic. It's given me confidence I didn't know I could find. And every time I get to see it live, I feel like I'm where I belong. The fandom has felt quiet. And I'm not sure if that's just because I don't know where I fit in? So here's hoping I can find my tribe.

Favorite productions: Original Broadway, Moscow, and Mexico 2013/2018

Favorite Cats: Jemima/Sillabub, Bombalurina, Demeter, Munkustrap, Tumblebrutus, Jellylorum

Favorite songs: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats, The Song of the Jellicles and the Jellicle Ball, Macavity

Favorite cats to cosplay: Etcetera and Victoria

[the-firebird69]

It's not very deep in the Pacific Ocean but the water is very deep there it is getting out there though you can't take any of the boats you have here out there or a cruise ships they're not the seaworthy especially these days we're not see where the they were not seaworthy. This area is well known for a strange animals being there odd mutations and there's a pretty high level of radiation and strange mixture of items in the water it's been studied for years to try and make mutations and fought over recently somebody put a storm making device it makes a small tornado shall we say or vortex and it continues for days and weeks and a ship will come by and try and continue it and move it and it does it with electromagnetics and has some effect it is not good anyway you look at it it's a research project it's the way it's cause problems and it is the source of anxiety and the morlock have been trying to fight it and they can't. They go down there and have huge battles and billions of troops die is a horror show usually there's a vortex or two and disappears but down below there is a breach of the cavern and you can see it it's not really a tunnel it's like this very thick crevasse and people want to venture into it and they should to see what's in there they think that these monsters come out of it and I think so too because the attack Cabo and other things that are within range or would be something the creature would follow in if it were attacked it will hunt you down or if it's following a fishing vessel like Godzilla which might even come out of this particular area there is a movie with it in it no it's very sacred place to a lot of people but this week is where trespasser and knife and come from we Believe more shortly

Zues Hera

There's a huge number of people who are curious about this and they're saying we're fighting and we're providing us to have a creatures get revived to attack us and that's not good and it's like Tommy f is trying to sell him being allowed to build Jager and he needs them and they're wondering if you do about it.

Thor Freya

I probably do about it and I have different goals other than to expose the empire but that is going to be a very potent and omnipresent side effect of my program a lot of people don't mind it a lot of people in the west coast too it's a nightmare if these things get out and you have to control them with something and yeagers are pretty capable of it and you beat him up and they go away or hold them off and they go somewhere else so they go back and they eat seafood it's not a massively hard job but the creatures are very mean and they're probably twice as bad as great whites you hit him in the nose and he just are not going to go away and we've encountered a few not that big but yeah they're nuts and he knows about him and he says watch out and it's true too

Tommy f

We have seen these things and they are nasty we've seen big ones but not that big and we are in for a treat we'll probably go down there and fight over the stupid thing and activated and have to deal with it but what he says is this says it's a the Mac proper want to revive these and that they are at places like this down below and they're trying to outfit creatures if you fart small ones please denote where because they're going to be down there and trying to arm ones like this and who knows if they got two of them or not it could be that Tommy f is going to fight the max instead once again and I said f*** small and it's not fart dammit fighting small ones wherever on Earth you are or were found fighting them there's probably more or bigger ones than the maps are down at and they're fighting them too and we don't know where we have to get on it right now

Mac daddy

Olympus

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

For the fic ask, could you do Ralph Domzalski's Guide to Dating a Sorceress?

I’m not sure if I shared this before, but Megan didn’t technically die.  She was dragged into the Shadow Realm, where she’s been ever since.

Although, she (or someone who once was her) has managed to communicate with the Janus Order and started planning on how to get out.

Wait, hang on, I think I have a scene I never shared from the following cruise ship story...

.

Ralph entered the bar and marched over to the person he was looking for.  ���What do you want?”

“This thing you have going with Barbara.  It’s cute.”  James Lake downed his drink in one go.

“If you think for one second, I’m just going to let you waltz in and ruin everything she’s—”

“Shut up and stop the righteous crap.”  James motioned for the bartender to refill his drink.  When the bartender left, he continued, “That’s not why I’m here.  Look, Barb was fun and all, but I’ve got a job to do.”  He looked up at Ralph.  “Your wife sent me.”

“My wife is dead.”  Ralph clenched his hands into fists.

James smirked.  “It’s adorable how she loves you when you’re this dense.”  He took a swig of his drink.  Smacked his lips.  “Nope, your wife is very much alive.  Stuck in the shadow realm sure, but alive.  And you can help get her out.”

“I don’t believe you.”  Ralph snapped.  “Megan would never trust—”

“She doesn’t exactly have a choice.  She’s the closest to the Pale Lady there is.  Since we changelings are forever pledged in to serve Our Lady, we sort of ended up together.”  James laughed.  “Funny how that worked out, isn’t it?  You’re here with my wife and I’m—”

Ralph growled.  “Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”

“Fine, fine be a killjoy.  It doesn’t matter to me.”  James took a parcel out of his pocket and put it down between them.  “Take this.”

“What is it?”  Ralph didn’t touch the parcel.

James glared at him.  “Do you want to save your wife from rotting away in cold, dark agony or not?”

Ralph glanced at the parcel, then back at James.  “What is it?  I won’t ask again.”

“Like I said, your wife is alive.”  James paused to drink.  “Buuuuut she doesn’t have a body.  That’s gone.  Otherwise she’d be back here in your loving arms already or something.  All she needs is a new one, a vessel.  Preferably one with magical abilities.”  He stopped to give Ralph an exasperated look.  “Can you connect the dots from here or do I really have to spell it out for you?”  When Ralph didn’t respond, he groaned.  “Fine.  That.”  He pointed to the parcel.  “Is a necklace.  It has, shall we say, a few special properties.  All you have to do is get a special someone to wear it and presto!  Your wife’s back!  Different body, sure, but hey she’s back.”  James stood.  “I think you can figure the rest out from here.”  He patted Ralph on the shoulder twice, and then walked off.

Ralph stared at the parcel sitting on the bar for the longest minute before picking it up, slipping it in his pocket, and leaving.

When he got back, Barbara stopped her pacing immediately and looked to him.  “Was he there?  Was James there?”  Worry saturated her voice.

“N-No.”  Ralph’s hand clenched around the parcel in his pocket.  “No one was there.  We’re safe.  You’re safe.”

[insanityclause]

Bear with me for a second: I recently returned from a trip that involved several days on a cruise ship. Not having spent much time at sea before, I was surprised to notice the work, minimal yet constant, required to counteract the ship's movement. Simply staying upright and undisturbed required persistent effort, the subtle but meaningful exercising of muscles for extended periods of time. The concept of such invisible effort—of how demanding it is to have every part of you engaged just to maintain the appearance of a resting state—kept coming back to me during the minimalist new production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, directed by Jamie Lloyd and starring Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton, and Charlie Cox (all established actors making their Broadway debuts). And why wouldn't it? Pinter's play, a semi-autobiographical tale of an affair told in reverse across a decade, is deeply focused on the work of maintaining illusions of normalcy in one's own life. But this idea is also relevant to appreciating Lloyd's compelling, stripped-down staging, imported from London's Pinter at the Pinter project last year. In lieu of showy sets, explosive confrontations, or busy staging, Lloyd opts for a less-is-more approach—in some ways contrasting with Betrayal's last star-studded Broadway revival, featuring Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz—that draws as much meaning as possible from silences, subtle glances, and words that say little but mean much more. This understated staging makes it possible to overlook how much work the principal cast members really are doing, though this is hardly a risk when their characters are actually featured in a scene. As Robert, Hiddleston is an outright charm offensive. His comic timing and breezy snark transfigures discomfort into laughter with precision, yet he can jump from flippancy to cutting sincerity with disarming ease. Ashton beguiles as Emma, giving the character a guarded, enigmatic aura without compromising her agency or personality. If the play's construction creates a risk of Emma being reduced to a pawn in a game of sexual chess between two men, Ashton's nuanced performance fiercely resists such a characterization. Although Emma is at the center of the play's relationship Venn diagram, it is Cox's Jerry who feels like the mediating force between the energies of the other two. Cox plays Jerry with such amiable likability that you nearly forget the weight of his role in the titular betrayal. His interactions with Emma and Robert are both marked with a tender sincerity, albeit in very different forms. In Emma's dealings with Robert, by contrast, Ashton and Hiddleston have a chemistry that crackles with tension and the weight of things unsaid. The time the performers spend in the spotlight is only half the story, however. In this production they are themselves constantly engaged, never leaving the stage for the duration of the ninety-minute play. If their character is not in a scene, they fade to the back or side, entering a state that is not quite neutral but almost trance-like. Their faces show distance as well as the subtle impact of the exchange that they are not literally present for but that the staging has inserted them into, sometimes quite directly. This attention to nearly imperceptible physicality is one example of the filmic approach that Lloyd takes to the play. This aesthetic manifests itself physically through a stage that seems to be letterboxed in, with a long, sparse backdrop painting accentuating the "widescreen" feel (scenic design is by Soutra Gilmour), and projections of a title card and transition sequences (the lighting is designed by Jon Clark). Sound also plays an important role. The cinematic soundtrack uses music from artists like Trent Reznor to create a suspenseful atmosphere between scenes (Ben and Max Ringham did the sound design and composition). The action itself is kept exceptionally quiet, allowing even the smallest noises—a clink of glasses, a slap on the back, the jingle of keys (as well as, be warned, any noise from the audience)—to reverberate through the house. One has to wonder if a production so focused on small, minute physical touches, mirroring Pinter's own economical writing, might be better suited to a smaller theater than a Broadway house. Certainly it seems feasible that seeing this production in a black box with greater immediacy could more explosively convey the play's drama. But with that outcome clearly unfathomable for such a high-profile revival, it's remarkable how the staging here helps make the Jacobs theater as small as possible. Anyone who was recently here to see the cavernous household of The Ferryman will barely recognize the stage in its current form, the antithesis of its predecessor in nearly every way. And even though the house is big, Ashton, Cox, and Hiddleston perform at scale, successfully conveying the subtly charged nature of the play. In Pinter's work, what is not spoken can be as important as what is. Lloyd's production is likewise interested in such negative space, resulting in a Betrayal that rewards looking closely. The efforts of the cast, however subtle they may be at times, are constant, rigorous, and, ultimately, brimming with potency.

[watusichris]

“Desolation Center“: Joy at Sea

Tonight I’ll be attending a cast and crew screening of “Desolation Center,” Stuart Swezey’s new documentary about the unusual alfresco punk shows he promoted in the early ‘80s. I am a talking head in the picture. Lo and behold, while doing a little poking around on the web, I discovered that 34 years ago to the day today, I attended the event I talk about in the film, aboard a whale-watching boat in San Pedro Harbor. Here’s what I wrote about for the event in the Los Angeles Reader. **********

         The biggest problem with rock ‘n’ roll performances is the wall socket. The music runs on electricity; hence it must be played in basements, garages, dives, and concert halls in which juice can readily be run. Over the years, the rock ‘n’ roll imagination has become hamstrung by a familiar proscenium-arch setting. It’s a thing of the stage and, no matter how much a band gussies things up with flash pots, fog machines, backdrops, and other theatrical gimcracks, we still know that we’ve been looking at a stage at the end of a forty-five minute set.

           Not everybody in the world is happy with this set-up. Take the folks at the Desolation Center. For the last couple of years, mastermind Bruce Licher (the guiding light of Savage Republic and the most artful of local record packagers) and his cohorts have schlepped people out into the middle of the desert by the busload to witness rock ‘n’ roll in its most radical state, played in its most radical environment. Although I never made the Death Valley trek (must have something to do with having seen Erich von Stroheim’s Greed at an early age), I’ve always admired the idea of a rock ‘n’ roll outing – it limbers up the brain by providing a new imaginative context for the performance.

           Last week, the Desolation Center hit on another original idea for taking rock ‘n’ roll out of the nightclub and into the real world: “Joy at Sea,” a three-hour “sea-going musical expedition” held on board a cruise vessel meandering in a circle from San Pedro to Long Beach through the Port of Los Angeles harbor. Since drowning has always been a more appealing way of dying than expiring of thirst as far as I am concerned, I signed on for the tour.

           I approached the journey with some trepidation. Hell, I thought, this could be some kind of punk Pequod. I envisioned myself floating around San Pedro Harbor on the back of a coffin, as my capsized ship was sucked into a whirlpool and Robert Lloyd*, strapped by harpoon lines to the back of a great white whale, screamed, “Springsteen! Springsteen!” as he was carried to his watery doom. Call me Maurice.

           This fantasy proved to be a case of too much Melville. The boat, the S.S. Cormorant, proved to be a sturdy-looking two-tiered cruise vessel; at the stern of the upper deck, a small stage had been erected. Lights and a PA system had been lashed to the sides of the stage. The good-sized boat sat comfortably in the dark, serene water. At the neighboring dock, a group of teenagers sang a loud, drunken rendition of “Happy Birthday” from the back of a small pleasure boat. My nerves calmed, I boarded merrily, washing down two Dramamine with a tap beer, and waited for us to cast off.

           Shortly after 9:30 p.m., the Cormorant glided away from the dock. After a brief interval that allowed the 200-odd passengers to get their sea legs, the South Bay quartet Lawndale started cranking up below decks. They attracted a small group, since most of the assembled crew was jammed together up top, waiting for the Meat Puppets to begin their set. A pity, for Lawndale (in yachting caps and deck shoes) proved to be a completely entertaining neo-surf combo, who tore into their all-instrumental set with a vigor evidently born of the ocean-going setting.

           After Lawndale wound up their brief but refreshing set, I moved upstairs and wedged my way next to the stage. The Meat Puppets were experiencing some technical difficulties, so I had a chance to take in the harbor as we coasted by. The notion of the cruise was plainly anti-romantic: The Port of Los Angeles is the home of heavy industry. One experienced a new sense of scale as the Cormorant sailed past docked oil tankers some three city blocks long; the petroleum refineries glowed an angry yellow in the distance.

          After much fussing and fiddling with their equipment, the Puppets finally got under way again. The set progressed in fits and starts as the overamped trio repeatedly blew out the circuit breakers on the overtaxed vessel, but it proved to be an impressive showing, heightened by the shifting open-air backdrop of the harbor.

           The Meat Puppets are a trio from Arizona fronted by two long-haired, somewhat retarded-looking siblings, guitarist/vocalist Curt Kirkwood and bassist Cris Kirkwood. With drummer Derrick Bostrom, the brothers stir up a fantastic amount of noise; Curt pushed his old gold Les Paul into overdrive. The Puppets have a rep as an on-and-off band, but last Friday they turned in a performance as sharp and bracing as the ocean air.

          The group played a set that alternated between their own microcephalic country material (such as “Split Myself in Two” and the strange Grateful Dead-style instrumental “I’m a Mindless Idiot”) to some bizarre cover tunes. In a wobbly voice that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a sob, Curt Kirkwood essayed Elvis Presley’s “Trouble” and “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie,” and the Foghat arrangement of “I Just Want to Make Love to You.”

           The musical and visual high point of the evening occurred in the middle of the Puppets’ set. The band launched into a ferocious jam announced as “Enchanted Fortress.” As the music reached its peak, with Bostrom slamming his kit and Curt Kirkwood drawing gnarled, agonized lines from his Gibson, the Cormorant passed under the enormous bridge that links the two sides of the harbor. The structure is so high that the cars crossing it looked like planes flying low over the water. The force of the music and the feeling of motion and immense scale all fused to produce a unique sensation – a moment of joy, just as advertised.

           Somebody on the top deck whooped and set off a signal flare in celebration.

          After the Meat Puppets’ set came to a loud and triumphant close, some of the partiers ventured downstairs to score another beer and check out the “psychoactive sound/visuals” of Points of Friction, which proved to be a minimally interesting low-rent light show projected on a sheet/screen. If it had been a normal concert, this would have been the time to hit the lobby for a cigarette; instead, you could head for the outside areas fore and aft, to gaze at the darkened yachts or yell drunkenly at the diners aboard the sea-going restaurant the Princess Louise. The ennui that is so often a given at a rock concert disappeared, blown away in the mild harbor wind.

          By the time the evening’s headliners, the Minutemen, were ready to play, the top deck resembled a seaworthy version of the Cathay de Grande’s basement, with the audience members shoehorned together in a tight, motionless pack. The little stage looked too small and the lighting buttresses too fragile for the peripatetic Minutemen; I wondered to myself if Dennes Boon, the leaping, bounding mountain who plays guitar for the group, wouldn’t send the whole kaboodle over the side with his elephantine dancing.

           My fears again proved boundless; although bassist Mike Watt stood (somewhat nervously, I thought) behind one of the PA columns to give Boon more room, the gargantuan guitarist didn’t jar the stage loose with his galloping. San Pedro’s greatest contribution to Western Civilization played their customarily brilliant set, featuring crowd-pleasing oldies (including the appropriately nautical “The Anchor”), a devilish 20-second cover of Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” a moving slow version of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Don’t Look Now, It Ain’t You Or Me,” and a generous helping of the new, forty-five song two-record set Double Nickels On the Dime.

          Another grand visual moment came late in the evening. As the Minutemen surged through their lightning-like songs, the Cormorant reached the point where the harbor joined the ocean; as the boat made a wide turn to head back into port, a vast expanse of the Pacific loomed up behind the trio as they steamed through a clipped, thrashing tune. The almost-full moon made the water dance into infinity. For a landlocked rock ‘n’ roller, it was a sight and sound to behold.

           The Cormorant nudged up against the dock while the Minutemen were still playing. The show broke up quickly and I weaved down the gangplank, more than a little drunk and thoroughly exhilarated. It had been a surprisingly perfect evening – no fights, no hassles, no boredom. No seasickness. The combination of the fine music and the shifting seascapes had opened a new window in my head by taking rock ‘n’ roll out of dry-dock and into fresh performance terrain.

           Sign me up for the Desolation Center’s 1990 moon shot. It should be worth the long haul.

*Lloyd, now a TV critic at the Los Angeles Times, was the Springsteen-loving music editor of the LA Weekly. (photos: Ann Summa)

[khelinski]

Duval St.

I started this ‘Wastin’ Away’-semi sequel back in 2013. 1,000 words into it - I then got stuck in pesky writer’s block. For whatever reason at the time, I couldn’t get my thinker to keep the story going. I then placed it to the side - and went on to write the \m/ novel (not a bad trade-off).

From time to time, I would pull the story out, dust it off, and attempt to continue with it. Again, for whatever reason - I kept getting stuck with it.

Putting together the stories/pieces of writing for ‘Black Clouds & Silver Linings,’ I played around with the idea of reviving this piece exclusively for the book.

Proud to say, I finally finished it.  8-)

It’s not exactly how I pictured it 4 years ago (then again, my life/head was quite different 4 years ago). And I originally did not have a particular Key West doll featured in the story. I think that might be the missing puzzle piece to why I kept getting stuck.

Anyways - enjoy...

***

Once upon a time, there was a happening place in the Key West Island of Florida called Wastin' Away. It was founded by a rocker name Jim ‘Buffett’ Hill. He had a crazy idea of turning one of his anthem songs into a family restaurant/bar. People thought he was nuts.  But he had the last laugh when Wastin' Away's turned up in every tourist city in the world. Jim Hill's wealth exceeded everyone's expectations, but he knew Wastin' Away would appeal to the masses, up until the day Jim Hill died. Like all great companies founded by revered men/women, Wastin' Away turned into corporate America until there was nothing left but novelty and history. Companies do not thrive on nostalgia, just current profit. So all the Wastin' Away's around the world slowly got bought out by various companies. No one wanted to touch the Wastin' Away brand name, just the restaurants/bars.  

           The pink exterior building, standing tall on good ol' Duval Street in Key West, was the only Wastin' Away left, that was, until the last manager couldn't keep it running anymore. He was devastated, as he found life and love in Wastin' Away years ago.

           Even though Duval Street's history pre-dates Jim Hill's Wastin' Away, the closing of the beloved restaurant took a big hit for locals on Key West (not to mention all the hurricanes that kept rockin’ the port). Sure enough, other businesses started closing down until there was nothing left but one lousy hole-in-the-wall bar. Soon that closed down, which then resulted to the port; Key West was known for, to close down.  

           The Key West Island turned into a ghost town, Duval Street being in the middle of its desertion.    

Our adventure began years later...

The Doll

The palm trees chhh in the breezy air as the sun sets toward the ocean water. A perfect evening for an audience to awe at, except, there was none. No one witnessed the beautiful sunset, except a male doll, that was sitting against a palm tree nearby. The doll was out of place in the designated spot, but was a resident of Key West. His original residency was 534 Eaton Street. At some point in time, 3501 South Roosevelt Boulevard became his home. Now, the doll’s home was all of Key West. No one knew how the doll got around, for the doll was just a doll, dressed as a sailor. And no one was around to wonder how the doll got around.

           Only three noises filled the air: the sound of the ocean waves splashing in the water, chirping of birds, and the palm trees chhh in the air.

           The doll looked on to the spectacle in front of him. He had a smirk on his face. The doll was 40 inches tall and stuffed with wood wool. His skin, though faded for the doll is an old doll, was beige.  

           A bird flew by and landed near the doll. The doll didn’t move. The bird did, chirping to the doll, to the air, to anyone. A naked eye would’ve missed it entirely, but the doll’s head moved ever so slightly. That spooked the bird enough to fly away. The doll’s smirk doesn’t leave his face. The smirk never leaves his face.  

Remember That Place?

No one had walked along Duval Street in quite some time. There was never any reason to. Everyone migrated north without a proper send off to the island. It was as if a zombie apocalypse occurred and nothing survived except a few obscure wild animals and birds. The island itself had not been closed off from the public. The public just had zero interest in the island, except wanderers every now and then; people who will try to scrape whatever quick buck they could find.

           Not too far away, a car approached the deserted street. An old and rugged Pontiac Vibe (the last of the line of Vibe’s, before GM folded Pontiac) stopped mid-half toward the empty docks. A faded ‘UNHURRY’ bumper sticker is proudly placed bottom right corner back window. Underneath the back window resided a Michigan license plate. A couple (male/female) sat in the car and was in complete glory with what they were seeing. A CD of Ellie Goulding was heard from the stereo speakers in the car.  

           They didn't say anything for quite a while. They just sat there, eye-balling what once was Duval Street. Finally, after what seemed like the duration of a movie running time, the girl spoke:

           "This is exactly what my dad had described to me. The layout. And the feeling. Can't you feel it? He used to tell me all the time, 'it's not just a street - it's a state of mind.' I used to think he was crazy. But now I can sense it."

           "Yeah.  It's a shame the party didn't last," the fellow sitting next to the girl said.  

           "Hey man, its 5 somewhere!"

           The girl sitting in the driver's side, tapping her fingers to “Dead in the Water” with all sorts of excitement built up, went by the name Hope Martin. She has her own television show on the TLC network called, Remember That Place?, a reality TV program that rediscovered old business's and landmarks that once existed.  

           Her cameraman/fiancé, Guy Perry, who traveled with Hope wherever Hope wandered off to, sat next to her in the Vibe.

It was Guy’s idea of visiting the joyful EYS Theater in Buena Heights, MI, which was the location of the mass murderer Norm Loomis. Loomis was infamous for killing random people and stuffing their body parts in theater seats.

           The EYS episode earned Remember That Place? ratings and an Emmy (TLC was smart to save that EYS episode for a season finale). Since then, Remember That Place? had been a top rated show on TLC, upstaging Here Comes Honey Boo Boo in her 20s,  49 Kids and Counting, and Say Yes to the Dress in the Ghetto.  

           Hope Martin gained the power to travel wherever she wanted to go. All expense covered by TLC, of course. She had 4 delightful seasons on the air, and was finishing up her fifth season finale with a place she had been saving: Duval Street. Ever since she was a little girl and had heard her dad ramble and rave about the Key West Island/Duval Street/and Wastin' Away, her intentions of launching the show was to cover Duval Street.

Hope turned off the car's ignition and got out of the car. Guy followed suit. He walked around the car and grabbed Hope around his arms. They stood still, Guy cuddling Hope, and watch the tail end of a picture-perfect sunset that you would see featured in a tropical calendar.  

           "So we sleep in the car tonight?" Guy asked.  

           "No. We will drive back to the motel. I just wanted to see the sunset. Tomorrow, we will explore the street. My priority is the dock, lighthouse, and Wastin' Away. We will shoot the day after. I know we usually shoot as we explore, but this is special to me, you know."

Guy knew alright. He had been hearing about Wastin' Away ever since they met seven years ago as they both were finishing their Journalism degrees at Columbia College in Chicago. At first, they both despised each other (annoyance started with the classes they unintentionally took together). But then they realized their chemistry when they both had to do a project together. Romance blossomed soon after.

           Hope ended up getting an internship one summer, following the My Strange Addiction crew around (Hope suggested to TLC that Guy could freelance as a camera man, TLC took her suggestion). Hope then turned the My Strange Addiction ratings around by having an entire season focused on people's strange addictions to fads (the Stuck in the Twilight Saga episode earned TLC an Emmy). TLC was quite impressed by Hope's natural (and journalistic) approach, they gave her freedom to create her own show.  Remember That Place? was born.  

           Guy never wanted to be involved with the reality TV mishmash. His dream was to be part of the camera magic over at CNN. But when things started to move quickly for Hope and her success at TLC, he felt obligated to stay with Hope. They both got paid very well and he still was able to at least experience part of his dream of traveling the globe. After the success of the first season of Remember That Place?, Guy proposed to Hope. They were still undecided when to get married. Hope's mom kept pushing the matter, but neither Hope/Guy was ready just yet. There were still lots to see/do before they tie the knot. 

Once the night skies emerged after the sun made its final bow to the two audience members, the couple got back into the car and drove to their motel, which was located ten miles away from the island.  

           Neither of them noticed the out of place doll that sat against the palm tree near where their car was parked. Had they noticed the doll, they would have also noticed the doll had moved on its own from one palm tree to another.  

           Hope and Guy got into their cheap motel room, fooled around for a bit, took a shower, and fooled around once again (young love). The TV was on (but muted) with a bold Breaking News banner to the bottom right of the TV screen. A caption read:

           "PIRATES ATTACKS AGAIN IN CARIBBEAN SEA.”

           Footage of a recently attacked Disney Magic cruise ship and sound bites of the latest attack filled the TV screen. But Hope/Guy doesn't pay attention to the TV. They continued to fool around until they both fell asleep in each other's arms. The muted news broadcast continued until late at night, when an informational kicked in, selling the latest and greatest unnecessary Universal Migrate products to the gullible American masses. 

Wastin' Away

The pink exterior was not so pink anymore. The color faded to an ugly brownish-vomit color. Hurricanes over the years took the beauty away from Wastin' Away, giving the name of what once was a popular hot spot, new meaning.  

           The plane across Wastin' Away was mostly disassembled...

           Hope and Guy stood in front of Wastin' Away, holding hands.  

           "Soooo, do you want to go in, or admire the run-down place some more," Guy asked.

           "My dad never took me to see where he met my mom, where they fell in love, where he worked most of his life. He always talked about this place, and had plenty of pictures to show me. Seriously, this is the first time I've been here, Guy. Understand?"

           He nodded his head in agreement.

           "There's something I want to check out first. Follow me," Hope said as she tugged Guy's hand she was holding. 

They backtracked to a lighthouse, which hasn't been in operation since the island was vacated. If there were no boats to dock, there was no point in a lighthouse. Who was going to maintain it anyhow, if there was no one on the island?

           Hope spotted what she was looking for, a palm tree on the beach near the lighthouse. She walked toward it. She still was holding Guy's hand. She lets go and examined the bark on the tree. She saw what she wanted to see. She pointed at it. Guy leaned forward and saw what appeared to be a carving that read:

K.M. ♥ L.F.

           Guy noticed Hope crying. He wrapped his arms around Hope. He knew how important this trip/episode was for Hope, but didn't realize how hard it would be for her. She had been so gung-ho about doing the Wastin' Away episode, but this wasn't just a random place to film.

Once she controlled her emotions, they walked slowly into what used to be Wastin’ Away. It was nothing at all as Hope’s dad described it to be. It didn’t even represent a restaurant/bar.    

           There was a big open space that occupied the inside of the ruined building. There was no sea salt scent that Hope could tell. Instead, there was a mixture of mold and nature. Hope still was crying, but her tears were controlled with some minor sniffles. Guy kept asking Hope if she was all right. She shook off her emotions and turned on her investigative work mode.

           They walked through room after room. Much like the front house of the restaurant, there was no representation of what her dad kept romanticizing about. It was a wonder how and why Hope’s parents even fell in love with each other at the same place Hope was currently looking at.

Hope strolled into the back office. Even the desk, file cabinets, the safe – everything was raided. There were a few framed newspaper articles that were hung on the wall. Hope glanced at each one. The first article was an old article about the grand opening of Wastin’ Away, with a few quotes from Jim Hill. The second article was a travel review about Wastin’ Away. The third article had nothing to do with Wastin’ Away. It was an exposé about a fellow that quit his job in Orlando and walked across America.

“Random,” Hope said to herself.

           She didn’t notice that while she was looking at the framed newspaper clippings, there was a century old doll sitting against the wall across from her. The doll slowly tilted its head from the left to the right. The dolls eyes were always staring with interest wherever the doll was staring at. In this case, the doll was staring at Hope with great interest. The doll hadn’t seen company around in years, with the exception of wild life. Hope was a lot more interesting to look at than wildlife.

           Hope turned around without looking at the doll, and walked out of the office. She found Guy, whom found a beat up menu from the restaurants former years. Guy kept chuckling over the prices. Whenever you go out to eat, just remember that prices will always be cheaper years ago.

           Guy handed the menu to Hope. She grabbed it out of his hands and looked it over without commentary. She nodded her head, and placed the menu back on the ground. She then sighed and said:

           “This is harder than I thought.”

           “We’ve…you’ve…this show has built up to this moment here. The whole show is about forgotten places. Most of the places we filmed at were in ruins already. It just so happens, Wastin’ Away has a more personal touch. That will make this episode extra special.”

She nodded her head in agreement. She knew all this. She prepared herself mentally for this. But emotionally, she was a wreck. She has been a wreck for years. If her dad hadn’t died from a heart-attack during the filming of the second season of the show, she would have covered Wastin’ Away sooner. But then she stalled. And stalled. And stalled.

           They tackled a dozen places. Freestyle Music Park aka Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Land of Oz in Beech Mountain, North Carolina. Rosewell, New Mexico. 112 Ocean Avenue - Amityville, NY 1170. Castle Rock, Maine. They roamed wherever they could – leaving Wastin’ Away for yet another episode, season, year. Once the inevitable came, that Hope couldn’t avoid Key West any longer – she woman’ed up – putting on her big girl pants, and pressed on. But she knew deep down inside her sappy emotions – this would be a hard one for her. 

They walked back to the car, got in, and drove off. Guy had Outsider’s Vengeance Untitled blaring in the stereo, an oldie but a goldie. They both took turns with each other’s music choices – an arrangement most couples make that have contrasting music tastes. Hope enjoyed pop. Guy preferred rock ‘n’ roll. They sometimes argued which was better (and those arguments can get brutal), but they often compromise after make-up sex.

As they drove off, they didn’t notice a worn out ship porting near the docks. They also didn’t notice the doll, sitting next to the pink exterior Wastin’ Away building, eyeing the incoming ship. A naked eye might’ve noticed that the doll’s smirk widens. If the doll had any thoughts, its current thought would be, “things are about to get more interesting around here.” But dolls don’t have thoughts. Dolls were just dolls. Right?

Guy and Hope, in their ‘unhurry’ Vibe, drove to a near-by Publix, bought some unhealthy array of snackies and wine-coolers. Once they arrived at their motel room, they partied down and fooled around. Hope’s nerves calmed down during the angst and young love exploit. Neither one of them knew (or could predict) that this would be the last time they would be having sex together. Had they grasped the tragic realization that one of them would be dead the next day, they would have gotten in their car and drove away – far, far away.

           Unlucky fate had other plans under its fateful sleeve.

While they were cuddling each other in bed (for the last time), some miles away, the doll that doesn’t have thoughts because the doll was just a doll, walked toward the ship, getting a closer look. The doll that dressed as a sailor might’ve looked out of place given the circumstances. Normal circumstances of a doll walking upright by itself are not normal by normal standards. Abnormality was the new norm here. The doll’s thoughts, if the doll had thoughts, kept going back to the question of why the ship was here, who was on the ship, and when will the nice looking couple come back. Of course, dolls don’t have thoughts.

           This doll did.

Sloppy Joe’s

Residing on 201 Duval Street was Sloppy Joe’s. Was, being the operative word. Other than Wastin’ Away - Sloppy Joe’s was the happenin’ place of Key West. It was founded on December 5, 1933. One of the most famous patrons of Sloppy Joe’s was writer Ernest Hemingway. The old man loved the sight of the sea, to have and have not the sun rise over the water as he had a couple of cold one’s at good ol’ Sloppy Joe’s. Fast forward many years later, Sloppy Joe’s installed a live webcam feed 24/7 – so anyone that needed a Key West fix – they could go online and watch weird lookin’ peeps hover around the happenin’ place called Sloppy Joe’s. Fast forward many years later, Sloppy Joe’s was just an abandoned worn out building.

Hope wanted to film there first, to capture what used to be a place with a heavy amount of traffic, turned into a ghost town. Guy aimed his camera at his fiancée, and filmed her walking through the remains of Sloppy Joe’s. Like Wastin’ Away, the establishment was hardly recognizable – with looters taking whatever they could get their hands on through the years it was abandoned. Hope doesn’t add any commentary. Usually the sound bites were added on during post-production/editing.  

           They walked into Sloppy Joe’s while filming, they didn’t notice a group of men with guns that were following them. The group of men with guns surrounded the ruined Sloppy Joe’s. While surrounding the building that was once named Sloppy Joe’s, the group of men with guns didn’t notice a doll that was following them. Though the doll was just a doll, the doll had discovered that these men with guns were not a friendly bunch. The doll that was just a doll dressed as a sailor witnessed a rape and a killing aboard the ship the night before. The doll that was just a doll had seen a lot of spooky moments in its long history of its existence, but nothing as gruesome as a rape and a killing. The doll that was just a doll didn’t like the sight of such sick perversion. The doll that was just a doll didn’t know what the word, perversion, meant. But the doll that was just a doll knew these men with guns were bad news. The doll that was just a doll wasn’t too far off from the truth. These men were bad news, right down to their very bones. They were pirates.

           They had no affiliation to any particular nation, for they were a forgotten band of men. They had no ties to any political agenda, for they were equal opportunists: they hated everyone. Some of them were white. Some of them were black. They didn’t speak of any distinct language; for their tongues were a mixed-match of English, Spanish, and Creole (they understood each other very well as they communicated in different languages in a single sentence). A few years back, they stole a ship and continuously attacked cruise ships. The Navy and the Coastguard haven’t been able to catch them, for they attack quickly, kill swiftly, pillage efficiently, and select one or two unlucky souls that they rape (and kill) later onboard their own ship. They’ve successfully used the Key West port as their harbor, since there hasn’t been any activity in the area for years.

           Until now…

Duval St. Dead

Guy had his camera aimed at Hope. Guy walked backwards out of Sloppy Joe’s as he was filming Hope. Neither of them noticed the pirates surrounding the building. Neither of them noticed the gun aimed at Guy’s head. Neither of them noticed the gun that was aimed at Guy’s head, blasted a bullet. Hope didn’t notice a bullet that went through the back of Guy’s head, and into the camera that aimed at her direction. But she noticed the loud BANG, and a near-second later, Guy falling down. Guy’s camera dropped to the ground as he plopped, headfirst. Blood was gushing out of the back of his head like lava out of a volcano.

Crying. A universal human emotion. Every human being at certain points in their life, cried. And every child cried often. A baby cried, on average, two hours a day. That decreased as the baby grew from infant, to child, to teen, to adult. Still. Every human being has cried. And the crying often looked the same, sounded the same, and felt the same. A deep heavy feeling overcame you. Mostly out of pain (physically or emotionally). Tears started dripping from your eyelids. Your facial expression changed. Your body was about to pour out an outburst. Your nose produced a yucky liquidly substance. Your mouth exploded with an ear-piercing wailing.

           Hope started going through the motions (and emotions) of crying, but her body jolted to sheer shock as a loud explosion erupted from the docks half a mile away. The pirates, that would take such pleasure out of a single, lonely, abandoned female in the middle of nowhere, ignored such prospects and they all took off toward the location of the loud noise.

           Hope knew her chances of survival were slim to none if she stuck around and mourned the loss of her fiancé. She glanced at him one last time, tears (and sweat) coming down her face in equal measure. She bolted, running as fast as she could to her Vibe. Once she got inside, she put the key in the ignition, turned on the motor, and slammed on the gas pedal. Her wheels squealed as her car quickly vanished away from the Duval St. Dead. Her ‘unhurry’ Vibe was in a real damn hurry.

Lady Gaga “Hey Girl” was blasting in the stereo. Hope didn’t react to the music at first. Then as she approached the bridge leading out of Key West, she turned off the radio. Tears were still pouring down her face.

           The music was off, but she could still hear the song with imaginary lyrics in her head. Lady Gaga was singing:

           “HEY GIRL, GUY MET LEAD!”

           Florence Welch was singing:

           “HEY GIRL, HE GOT SHOT IN THE HEAD!”

           They both were singing the chorus together:

           “HEY GIRL, NOW YOUR MAN IS DEAD!”

Hope parked at a near-by gas station, and cried. The vibe in her Vibe was somber, grief, and the added bonus of WTF on the side. As Hope’s hopeless feelings poured out, she didn’t notice that she had a passenger in the back seat of the car. The passenger was just a doll. But clearly, this was not just any doll. No doll in the sad history of dolls was capable of the things this doll had accomplished. Well, with the exception of Annabelle, or Mandy, or Sheriff Woody, or Chucky.

           The doll that was just a doll caused the pirates’ ship to explode. No explanation to how, since no one was around to see such an occurrence (and the doll was just a doll, after all).

Robert

Myths and legends surrounded the existence of the doll that was just a doll. Some of it was true. Some of it wasn’t true. The doll itself never knew how it came to be. One day, the doll was enjoying a nice, grey day in Germany at the turn of the century. The next day, the doll traveled all the way to the Sunshine State (not by choice) – which looked quite grey between the months of May to August.

           The doll had been coined with the name, ‘Robert,’ because it was owned by a man that were, you guessed it, coined with the name, ‘Robert,’ but the doll that was just a doll never considered itself Robert. In fact, the doll never took it upon itself to be referred to as anything other than a doll.

           There may have been a few alleged casualties around the doll’s presence – but the doll didn’t have anything to do with such tragic circumstances. It was all circumstantial, and after all – the doll was just a doll!

           After the man that was coined the name, ‘Robert,’ passed on (not by the doll’s hands, if one pondered such sick thoughts), the doll had been housed (and showcased) in a glass case for all the public to see. The doll never understood the appeal of its own existence. Sure, it moved its head ever so often, and did things no doll could do (with the exception of Amanda, or Harold, or Joliet, or Buzz Lightyear, or André Toulon’s Blade).

           The doll was never truly evil, just misunderstood. He was a misfit toy in the scheme of things. Okay, so he could move, and walk, and widen its smirk, and giggle, and occasionally wreck havoc if a picture was taken of the doll without the doll’s permission.

The doll leaped out of the seat of Hope’s Vibe and crawled underneath the passenger seat. Wherever Hope was going, the doll wanted to partake. He had been a Key West resident longer than most, and longed to get away. But a doll that was just a doll can’t go wastin’ away, can it?

           This doll could.

Hope

At first, Hope’s hopeful future seemed hopeless. Once she got her nerves together, she called the police and reported a murder in Key West. The police arrived at the scene, arrested the group of pirates that was loitering in the area. They had no identity on them. The news media tried to find dirt on them, but there was none. Prior to their piracy, they had no backstory of any kind to fulfill the ‘whys’ and the ‘hows.’ There was just the ‘whens’ and the ‘wheres,’ which made it quite a spectacle when they went on trial for their crimes. Hope was invited to the trial, but declined.

Hope drove all the way back to her hometown in Michigan. She arrived at her childhood home in Buena Heights, got inside to greet her mom, hugged her, and cried for 3 solid hours with no intermission.

           The next day, she had quit TLC. Her show was canceled soon after. Guy’s body was shipped back to his hometown: Shermer, Illinois. There was a funeral for him a week later. Hope was too much of a wreck to attend.

Hope never quite recovered since her trip to Key West. All her father’s tall-tales of margaritas, palm trees wastin’ away

chhhhhhhh

in the wind, and cheeseburgers in paradise contrasted to the bloodshed she witnessed firsthand. Not even therapy could get the sight of Guy getting shot in the back of the head, and watching his lifeless body collapsed into the ground, with his camera falling out of his hands first; out of her mind. There was some shit seen so fucked up to fathom, it cannot be unseen. She would sometimes wake herself up in the middle of the night, screaming after the repetitive nightmare, only to see Guy with a bullet in his head, standing near her bed.

           After some time, she did get better. She took a job at WDIV channel 4 local news in Detroit. She did grunt work reporting, at first. Behind the scenes stuff. Then she got brave enough to ask if she could do some on-the-scene reporting. Her credentials were enough for the station to agree with no protest.

           Hope’s first on-camera (and on-location) reporting: a bizarre zombie incident at the Dime-a-Dozen retail store in her hometown. But that’s a bloody fun adventure for another time and place.

The Doll

The doll got out of Hope’s Vibe as soon as she arrived in Buena Heights. She never noticed a strange doll walking upright with a sailor getup down her neighborhood. Nobody, in fact, noticed the doll strolling along the street.

           The doll looked on to the many wastin’ away tales it was about to partake in. And oh yes, that doll had many fun times – with some causalities on the side (not by the doll, of course – because, well, the doll was just a doll).

           But that’s also a bloody fun adventure, for another time and place.

February 1, 2013 – June 26, 2018.

[robertmcangusgroup]

The Daily Thistle

The Daily Thistle – News From Scotland

Monday 24th July 2017

"Madainn Mhath” .…Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you…. Today we drive back to Estepona Spain.. Home in other words.. I have to admit that I have enjoyed the small area of the Algarve we visited and will certainly return soon, from the Faro area which has been our base for the past three days we drive east to Spain, and Huelva then Seville then south all the way to Gibraltar then east to Estepona and Bella….

MUNRO-BAGGING WOMEN RAISE CASH FOR CYSTIC FIBROSIS CHARITY…. A HARDY team of five ladies completed an epic adventure by climbing seven Munros in less than 24 hours - all in aid of cystic fibrosis charity The Leanne Fund. The team – Chrisetta Mitchell, Jimina MacLeod, Chrisell MacLeod, Mina Nicolson and Donna Barden – say it was worth every step as they have now raised more than £2,000 for the charity which supports young people affected by cystic fibrosis and their families.

GLASGOW ‘LEAST AFFORDABLE CITY IN THE UK’ FOR STUDENTS…. Glasgow is the least-affordable city in the UK for students while Aberdeen is among the most cost-effective, a new study has suggested. The Royal Bank of Scotland student living index found students in Glasgow had the lowest term-time income at £786.60 a month despite working above the average number of hours in part-time jobs. Students in the city also paid above average household bills and received the lowest amount of bursaries and scholarships in Scotland, but had the highest spend of all Scottish students on going out. The survey of almost 3,500 students across the UK found Aberdeen was the second most-affordable student city after Cardiff.

NORTH SEA COD CERTIFIED SUSTAINABLE ONE DECADE ON…. British-caught cod is back on the menu for shoppers and diners who care if their fish is sustainable, a decade after stocks came close to collapse. North Sea cod has been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), allowing fish sold in supermarkets and restaurants to carry the “blue tick” eco-label that shows seafood is sustainable and fully traceable. The certification is a turnaround for the North Sea cod fishery, which saw stocks plummet from 270,000 tonnes in the 1970s to just 44,000 tonnes in 2006, prompting some consumers to avoid the popular fish amid concerns about overfishing. Work to revive stocks and ensure the fishery is sustainable means consumers - who eat nearly 70,000 tonnes of the fish a year - can now enjoy home-caught cod “with a clear conscience”, the industry said.

KILTED YOGA INSTRUCTOR TO RELEASE SCOTLAND PICTURE BOOK…. The Scot credited with inventing the ‘kilted yoga’ craze has announced plans to release a picture book marrying yoga and Scotland’s beautiful landscape. Finlay Wilson, 30, from Dundee, shot to fame after publishing a number of videos demonstrating yoga techniques while sporting a kilt.  And Wilson, who founded Heart Space Yoga and Bodyworks in his hometown, is set to release a picture book titled ‘Kilted Yoga: Yoga Laid Bare’, which will demonstrate numerous yoga positions and sequences with a backgrounds of Scotland’s stunning and rugged landscape. Among the locations Wilson visited for the book are Glencoe and the cliffs at Arbroath. And he told The Courier that the decision to publish the book came as a result of a desire to help those interested in learning more about yoga. He added: “I decided to produce something which explains yoga from a beginner’s perspective and shows introductory sequences that build up in levels.

ABERDEEN HARBOUR GIVEN £350 MILLION BOOST…. Public cash towards the £350 million cost of harbour expansion plans in Aberdeen will help open up “significant opportunities”, Nicola Sturgeon said today. The First Minister visited Aberdeen harbour as it was announced that Scottish Enterprise is to contribute £11.7m towards the redevelopment. The project, which is due to be finished in 2020, will improve facilities at the site, benefiting the oil industry as well as the renewables market and growing numbers of visiting cruise ships. The expansion of the harbour could help create 2,300 jobs in the period up to 2026, according to the Scottish Government. As well as the cash from Scottish Enterprise, the work is being funded with a loan of up to £175m from the European Investment Bank, together with £11m from Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils, as part of the area’s city region deal. Sturgeon said: “Aberdeen Harbour is Scotland’s main oil and gas port and one of Europe’s leading marine support centres for offshore energy. “This funding will open up significant opportunities to diversify and exploit the rapid growth in cruise tourism and the renewables markets in Scotland.

On that note I will say that I hope you have enjoyed the news from Scotland today,

Our look at Scotland today was to be the Kilted Yoga folk, but I thought the ladies would prefer the kilted wrestlers …..

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Monday 24th July 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus

[bloggmylyf]

Volkswagen, pretty much everyone on the planet knows that name, but the thing is this company is a bit of a dark horse – they actually own a lot of car brands which you’ve heard of, in fact every fourth car sold in Europe is from the Volkswagen group. In this Post we’ll know about the intriguing origins, size and some Interesting facts about VW.

  Volkswagen translated from German to English means “The People’s Car” and that’s exactly what the company was created for – back in 1937, To make a car for the people of Germany. In order to understand and really appreciate the history of VW, we must know where it all started, with a man named Ferdinand and a car called the Beetle. The beetle was the brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche, who was the son of a master panel beater. Porsche was born in 1875 in Northern bohemian or modern-day Czech Republic. From a young age he was a nonconformist and a free thinker, but possessed a brilliant mind for design. In 1900 as a teenager he designed the world’s first front-wheel drive car, the Lohner-Porsche. His unorthodox front-wheel drive concept won him many design awards and even got accepted into the high echelon of society. Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand owned one of Porsches’ early cars. over the next decade, the acclaimed designer would leave his mark in automotive racing, civilian cars, and even aircraft engines, which he designed for Austrian during World War I. it doesn’t stop there though, during this time he even created the first gasoline-electric hybrid car. while this would be a lifetime’s work for most, his real passion lay in the vehicle for the common man. you see.. at the time in the early 1900s cars in Europe was seen as a toy for the very rich, but Ferdinand had seen what Henry Ford had done in America with the “Ford Model T” and he thought he could do the same for Europe. With this idea he tried to convince a number of European companies to take on his idea of a small rear-engined affordable car, but he was let down each and every time. From this he decided to just start his own company. Now, he was free to do as he pleased. Ferdinand noted that the cars of the day were too tall and not aerodynamic enough. He wanted to build a car that was slick, yet affordable. While trying to get financial backing for this new project Porsche was once again let down numerous times, this was until 1933, It was in this year that a friend in the industry brought him into contact with a man named Adolf Hitler, he was the freshly elected Chancellor of Germany and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, otherwise known as the Nazi Party. For some context, in the early 1930’s Hitler was seen as a man who could lift Germany out of a terrible economic situation and restore strength to a demoralized population, of course as history tells us he turned out to be something quite different in the end. At this time, Hitler was looking to show how advanced Nazism was – to the world. One way of showing this superiority was through engineering. Hitler proposed that “any German company that could build a Race car for the upcoming Grand Pre-season, would win 250,000 rush marks. Ferdinand Porsches’ engineering designs dominated the 1934 racing season, and because of this he was contracted to make three Prototype cars – by the German government. In part, these new cars were to be designed for sustained high speeds on the newly revived Autobahn project the outcome of this contract would be the Volkswagen Beetle.

First Beetle

 strangely the beetle was originally going to be called the “strength through joy car”, strength through joy, that’s a bit of a strange name you might be thinking. Well strength through joy was the title of the leisure branch within the Nazi Party. this branch was in charge of making the middle class leisure activities affordable and available to the masses after the brutal economic slump of the 1920’s. These state sponsored activities included concerts, plays, libraries, day trips, and Holidays. They also built large cruise ships and wanted to encourage tourism to Germany. The people’s car was just a small part of this vision. The beetle wasn’t to be built for speed or beauty with a top speed not far above 100 km/hr and a market price of 390 US dollars {$6,000 today}. It was built to do just one thing – move people reliably and economically. The car was to be built by a new firm created by the German labor front in 1937, Volkswagen.

  If you want to see something interesting take a look at this photo  from 1938. This is Adolf Hitler laying the cornerstone for the original VW factory the unassuming sullen character to the far right is Ferdinand Porsche. it’s moments like this, in history that could be called simultaneously fascinating and frightening.

The strength through joy prototype car was on track for 300,000 orders. but at that moment the world was about to be shocked by the biggest conflict in world history up to that day. In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and world war II break out. At this stage only a handful of cars were complete and none were delivered to customers. Germany went into full crisis mode and diverted all attention towards the war effort. The Volkswagen factory began manufacturing military vehicles including an amphibious version of the beetle prototype and the infamous v1 flying bomb. This manufacturing of military equipment made the factory a major bombing target. In 1945, when the war ended and peace enveloped the world like most of Europe the VW factory lay in ruined. In an extremely strange twist of fate, an undetonated bomb was found lodged between the factory’s main power generators. If it had exploded, that would have marked the end of Volkswagen. Meanwhile, Ferdinand Porsche was imprisoned in France for working for Hitler. At 72 years old, it was looking like Porsche’s dream of the small car for the masses may not come to reality. But he didn’t give up. Upon his release from prison he spent countless hours on the manufacturing floor listening to what workers had to say and absorbing their ideas. At this time the situation in Germany was dire and some citizens were even on the brink of starvation. There needed to be a revival of jobs for the middle class. Enter major Ivan Hirst of the British Army. He took control of the bombed VW factory and restarted production. Now finally the first Beatles began to roll off the production line. These first Beatles were made for the German Postal Service. interestingly around this same time, the Ford Company was given the opportunity to have VW free of charge. But they declined because they thought the company was worthless. By 1948, Ferdinand was no longer directly involved in the beetle but went on to work on another project, the Porsche 356. It was the car that began the Porsche legacy!

In 1950 Ferdinand took one last tour of the factory and was happy to finally see his vision being realized. He would die one year later at the age of 75. the early success of the beetle was limited only to Europe, In America the car was a hard sell. Large powerful cars were the state of what 1950’s America stood for.

The bigness of the fast-moving modern America, The Americans used top-end cars, with Large space to store luggages, with pull down make-up mirror for women, and so on,.

how would you convince the Americans to buy such a small under-powered trundle mobile. clever honest advertising would prove to be a charm! but the initial gateway was made through a deal where US car retailers had to buy three Beatles for every Jaguar, A car which was very much in demand at the time. As it turns out, after the Americans got a taste for the beetle they actually ended up loving it. And the Jaguar became a sideshow.

The Rise Of a Global Volkswagen

As the river of production increased, The Beetle began gaining worldwide recognition for its reliability due to a higher standard of engineering and quality control. By 1955, Volkswagen had produced 1 million Beetles. The late 1950’s and early 60’s saw the peak of the Beatles popularity with some customers having to wait 12 to 18 months to receive their order. It was even becoming an icon of the counter-cultural revolution happening in 1960’s America. The success of the Beetle allowed VW to acquire Audi in 1965. Always looking bright for Volkswagen at this time, but the beetle fever wouldn’t last forever and sales began to decline in 1973. As a reaction to this, VW came out with an all new generation of cars, out of the decision came the Passat, Golf and polo. In the 1980s they would acquire a 75% stake in the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT. In 1998 VW would add Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti to its portfolio. two years later, they would also take Skoda on board. 2010 saw VW acquire the Italian automotive design house Italdesign Giugiaro. This was a pretty big deal as a tail design is credited with the aesthetic creations of a wide variety of cars for various companies including Alfa Romeo,  Aston martin,  BMW,  Chevrolet,  Fiat,  Ford,  Ferrari,  Hyundai,  Lexus,  Lotus,  Mitsubishi and several others. their designs always stood out as classically futuristic. The most famous of them is the DeLorean DMC-12 in 1981. It was of course the car used in ‘the Back to the Future’ series. In 2012, VW subsidiary Audi would purchase Italian motorbike maker Ducati. Further increasing VW stature in the automotive industry.

Present Day

Today VW has turned into one of the largest and most valuable companies. It is ranked 7th in the 2016 fortune global 500 list. It has maintained the largest market share in Europe’s automotive market for the last two years. VW is responsible for producing thirteen percent of all passenger cars globally. In 2015 it produced 9.93 million motor vehicles, this translates roughly to 19 cars every minute! this is the second largest number of any manufacturer on the planet behind Toyota. In addition to the other car brands mentioned earlier, VW also owns man trucks and Porsche. In total they have approximately 340 subsidiaries. The company has over 610,000 employees. For perspective, Ford and General Motors have combined workforce of 448,000 and VW s biggest competitor toyota has about 346,000 nearly half the amount that Volkswagen has. Volkswagen’s employee force is a figure larger than the armed forces of Australia, Italy, Croatia and Norway combined. The company has a 121 production facilities, in twenty European countries, and a further 11 in the Americas, Asia and Africa. VW operates in a total of 150 countries. They do more than just manufacture cars though. Volkswagen Financial Service operates in 51 countries and specialized in loans, investment, insurance, for both private and business enterprises. Ok so we’re nearing the end of this post, but first let’s take a look at a few fun facts about Volkswagen:

Number 6: The classic VW Beetle was built from 1938 to 2003. During this period 21,529,464 Beatles were built. It is the longest-running production model of any car and VW claims that it is the best-selling car in history since it did not change substantially during its production run.

Number 5: On 18th September 2015, VW was caught cheating on a machine test, via a software code that detected when a machine tests were being conducted and altered machine controls for better results. Affected car’s machines were 35 to 40 times the legal levels. This incident known as diesel gate, led to a drop in the market value of Volkswagen by 30 billion dollars. it was a shameful period for the VW Group. But the fallout from this incident has mostly passed.

Number 4: Volkswagen name some of its cars after wind currents across the world. For example: The Polo is named after the northern polar wind. The Passat is named after a German trade wind. The Jetta is named after the jet stream in subtropic to middle latitudes.

Number 3: Three Volkswagen cars were named in the list of the top 10 best-selling cars ever, the Volkswagen Passat, Golf and Beetle.

Number 2: an entire town was built to accommodate for the workers of the first VW cars, it would become Wolfsburg the 5th largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony. The local football team is owned by VW and is ranked 30th just behind Liverpool in the UEFA league standings. The wolfsburg VW plant is still the largest car factory under a single roof in the world.

Number 1: in 1932 Stalin invited Ferdinand Porsche to the Soviet Union. Stalin wanted to advance industrial development in the Soviet Union with the help of experts from capitalist countries. He offered Ferdinand the position of general director of development for the Soviet auto industry. According to Porsche’s son, after much consideration Porsche refused; the reason: not the fact that it was the Soviet Union, but more say the language barrier. How could he manage such a colossal engineering task if he couldn’t even communicate in the native tongue. so in a quirk of history, if Porsche accepted the beetle could have been a symbol of the Soviet Union.

so with that-that brings us to the end of this Post, but there’s one question remaining: so without a doubt Porsche was a genius engineer and designer, the one in a lifetime kind but the shadow of the night see legacy still hangs over his work. so the question is and historians still debate was Porsche purely into the technical details of building a car for the masses and like many people of the day didn’t comprehend the political climate? or was the actually fond of Hitler? some even say that he had no choice in the matter and would have been put to death by Hitler if he had refused his offer. Regardless, everybody can currently appreciate the engineering prowess VW Group has under its belt today.

okay so that’s enough for me, hope you enjoyed this post about the history, size and some fun facts about the VW Group. If you want to see more posts like this or other cool stuff, feel free to Follow Us.

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Related: Ferdinand Porsche  – Lohner Porsche – 2016 fortune global 500 list

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Volkswagen – How Big?! {They own Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche..} Volkswagen, pretty much everyone on the planet knows that name, but the thing is this company is a bit of a dark horse - they actually own a lot of car brands which you've heard of, in fact every fourth car sold in Europe is from the Volkswagen group.