OR, COMMUNAL SubGenius Luv-fest? Will the intellectual "Market" dictate the future of our Movement? SubGenius detractors, affected by the unsavory sight of the unappetizing SubGeniuses themselves, allow themselves to forget the literary, poetic and artistic currents comprising the Church's most vigorous and lasting elements. Though it seems to the un-Elect that "all these shows" are of a piece, as it were (which is generally true), they do differ from each other in measurable increments. This show is for those who enjoy reading and writing, which puts its keel close to the true vessel of the Original Church. Just ask our (not-so-) many followers and fellow travelers who listen (semi-) regularly to Our words. Do we mention the Forest Man (Sasquatch, or Gigantopithecus) said (in REVELATION X: THE "BOB"APOCRYPHON and other, more recent tomes) to be the ancestral form itself of the SubGenius in (his, hers, its) most characteristic manifestation? Listen closely...

ARE ALL CALLED UPON during the presentation of various poetical creations. With sermon-lecture at Starwood in 2019: a key to gods and demons (the Inboard System). With: Stan Freberg, Puzzling Evidence, M. Peppe and others in colloquium. A review of the semi-legendary coffee-table book about coffee-table books: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF PICTORIAL HISTORIES. Poems by Lucien Stryk, Coleridge, Poe and Robins, among others.

ON THE EVE OF NYEPI (the Day of Silence) manifests large, handcrafted icons, mis-called idols by some, often representing demons, mythological figures or Bhuta Kala, or negative spirits. Guest David Normal, world-traveling artist at large, recounts his experiences on Bali, both island and propinsi, (or provinsi-- province), one of the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia situated 1 mile east of Java and separated by the narrow Bali Strait. KrOB makes periodic visits. Topics range from POPEYE MEETS SINDBAD to the ranks of the Princes of Hell. We end abruptly.

OR, MEMENTO MORI Part One-- The episode is post-doc and post-op. The Natural Philosopher Democritus trained himself by going into solitude and frequenting mausolea and tombs. And Plato's Phaedo, wherein the death of Socrates is recounted, introduces the idea that the proper practice of Philosophy is "about nothing else but dying and being dead." The Stoics of classical antiquity were notoriously prominent, as it were, in their use of this discipline, and Seneca's letters are full of injunctions to meditate on Death. We hope it helped him, tutor to the uncontrollable Nero, when that emperor later gave the order for his execution. Another Stoic of note, Epictetus, author of the immortal Enchiridion, told his students that when kissing their children, brothers, or friends, they should remind themselves that they themselves are mortal, curbing their pleasure, as do "those who stand behind men in their triumphs and remind them that they are mortal." The Stoic Marcus Aurelius invited the reader (himself) to "consider how ephemeral and mean all mortal things are" in his Meditations. About that character standing behind you in the chariot: In some accounts of the Roman triumph, a companion or public slave would stand behind or near the triumphant general in his garlanded chariot during the procession and remind him, from time to time of his own mortality ("Remember, thou art mortal"), or prompt him to "look behind." You never know Who might be back there.

HAS ALREADY HAD ITS GREAT DAY, BACK WHEN EVERYBODY listened-- the 1930s, say... and this presentation is only a counterfeit of Radio-- or, is it? The expression "Internet Radio" is often in use. And, we are creditably informed, in some esoteric way radio waves are involved somewhere. With: John Zacherley "the Cool Ghoul," G'boagfram, KrOB-- live-- and others, shadowy, wispy ghost essences. The solution to the problem of the Lunar Dust. Bible illustration, as executed by Robert Crumb and Basil Wolverton. The Tower of Babel. From there to the Japanese Space Elevator. We reminisce about the St. Stupid's Day Parade. Where, biologically speaking, is "the brain" actually located in the anatomy? The Great White Throne Judgement. The Willy Loman of Radio. Plenty of gristle to chew on, Rocket Rookies and Etherettes...

--A POEM by Clark Ashton Smith, is presented during this week's episode for the first time. Imagination is used in the sense promulgated by the Romantic poets, particularly in the writings of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. To Coleridge, Imagination is the central numinous faculty of the human spirit, to be readily distinguished from what he called Fancy. This, the lesser imaginative power, is the creation of personal, self-regarding fantasies featuring the dreamer in a powerful, amorous or dominant rôle. Fantasy castle-building, it has been called. But, as has often been noted elsewhere, we are in the Black Iron Prison, a social stratification which characteristically discounts the legitimacy of invention. Also with: the tale related (in 1912) by Lord Dunsany (rhymes with Chaney) of the two feuding Gods, Chu-Bu and Seemish. This latter text comes to us through the forwarding agency of Rev. Onan Canobite in the current number of the DOBBSTOWN MIRROR, Whole Number 124, Vol. VII No.2, April 1st (St. Stupid's Day), 28 AX, or, to the Conspiracy and its enslaved minions/Myrmidons, 2026.

is also known unto us as War on Earth. The Entity of Los is the fallen (earthly or human) form of Urthona, one of the four Zoas, and the embodiment of human creativity and inspiration. He is referred to as the "eternal Prophet" and creates the visionary city of Golgonooza. Los is regularly described as a smith, beating with his Hammer on a forge, which is metaphorically connected to the beating of the human heart. The bellows of his forge are the human lungs. Los's emanation, Enitharmon, represents spiritual beauty and embodies pity, but at the same time creates the spatial aspect of the fallen world, weaving bodies for men and creating sexual strife through her insistence upon chastity. In the Book of Urizen (1794), it is revealed that Los and Enitharmon have a child, Orc, who is the embodiment of the spirit of Revolution.
The name Los is, by common critical acceptance, an anagram of Sol, the Latin word for "sun". Los is also the plural form of the Spanish masculine definite object marker el, and El is a generic name for a god in biblical Hebrew and related languages. Such innovations are common in many of Blake's prophetic poems. We quote (and, sadly from momentary memory lapse) mis-quote from the Prophetic Poem, Milton.

AND OTHERS impinge upon our own during this episode. A little of Sir Thomas Browne in there. Archival gems from the Archival Dungheap. Ulro is the state in which William Blake believed many are trapped. It serves a purpose, but only living in this space is limiting. It’s defined by quantitative information, prioritizing measurement and tangible data while ignoring anything on the other side of the restrictive walls of the material world. When solving logistical problems, this form of imagination leads to rational solutions. However, it doesn’t extend to problems related to questioning the true essence of life or contemplating death. That’s where the next condition of consciousness adds worth. In Blake’s mythology, Urizen, seen in his artwork, was the god of reason and was the architect of Ulro.

--A SHOW FEATURING THE WORDS of William Blake, as well as a welcome visit from KrOB. We touch on exotic Theology. Parade of the Nine-Pound Spiders. David Normal at the Festival of Demons (more spectator than participant, yet to look is to participate). A Friday night when KrOB came by and settled in. Archival Material. "Sometimes a thousand twangling Instruments about mine ears, and sometimes Voices." --St. Caliban

AND DESCRIBES HIS CURRENT WORK with the City of Oakland. This show properly begins at 03:00. Before that there are transient streams of music. Jett, no stranger to long-time listeners to this program, dilates upon his experiences in and expectations of the town of Oakland. We find ourselves in agreement on most topics.

Of all esoteric and forbidden practices, Necromancy is the most spiritually despicable and may condemn the Operator to eternal death of the spirit, or perpetual servitude to the forces of decay and dissolution in the voyages of the animating Nomen. We speak here of the ancient rituals communicating with or summoning the Dead, primarily for divination-- gaining hidden knowledge or foretelling the future-- or manipulating life forces. Historically rooted in Assyrian, Babylonian, and Greek traditions, it is frequently associated with the most reprehensible spectra of Black magic, raising the unwilling dead and abnegating all ordained and just essence. We know of many varieties. There have been Spirit Summoners, like the Biblical Witch of Endor, who specialized in the calling up of the deceased as apparitions or visions to gain information. Others have called themselves Death Knights, who vilely used Necromantic magic vampirically to drain the vital force from others to empower themselves or heal. Still different are the unwholesome Operators we name Liches, undead Lords who have, or are seeking, immortality, often known for commanding legions of revenants or skeletons. These are Soul Manipulators who specialize in moving, storing, or binding souls into objects (like the Golem of Prague) or other bodies. Ritualistic Circles performed in desolate locations, usually graveyards or ruins, to protect the practitioner, may be employed, using parts of corpses as ingredients in charms.
Originating with ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Graeco-Roman practices, universally condemned by major religions as an abomination or blasphemy, this evil science is rightfully disdained by those who are not fatally, spiritually corrupt beyond redemption. And it often appears ineffective, as is sometimes the effort to raise this show from the dead.

AGAIN WE outline the cause for hope that for SubGeniuses the blessed X-Day may still be on its way. The help of THE VAULT OF SLACK is offered and gratefully acknowledged. We go for a time into the Election frenzy during the madcap campaign for the coveted office of ShowBoss. All this and much, much more. Featuring a perfect plethora of previous voices. But we hope in future to dodge or deflect the Fellow in the Bright Nightgown. How successful does anyone suppose this will be? All regard to the persisting inhabitants of the Old Chatterbox...

THOU RISEST in the East and fill'st ev'ry Land with thy beauty-- Thou art Beautiful! Splendid and Glorious, Great and Exalted over ev'ry Land. O living Aton, Thou who wert first to live, how beautiful art Thou! An appreciation of our Star, Sol (or Arbol, in the first [Angelic] language), with a discourse on His anatomy and destiny. We speak of the Supernova phenomenon and of the life of the stars in general. A discussion about punctuation follows, including Dr. Philo Drummond expressing orthographic prejudices and practices. Julius Caesar's prose style. The cat, already a miniature. The domestication of Felis Catus in Ancient China. On the Stegosaurus and its dietary habits. The sea-dragon who menaced Andromeda, daughter of Casseopiea. Lines from Sir Thomas Browne's Hydriotaphia, or Urn-Buriall. The death of Herakles from the treachery of the dying Centaur, Nessus. Eventually KrOB visits. With: Puzzling Evidence, Michael Peppe et alia.

--THE THOUGHTFUL, MELANCHOLY MAN. The quieter pleasures of intellectual contemplation get a shot. Melancholy, goddess personified, is outfitted in black. Why? It is "staid Wisdom's hue." So when you graduate from school or University you wear a black robe. Because supposedly, now you know something, you have knowledge. Why does Hamlet wear black? That was the color of Prince Memnon's sister, and also of Memnon, king of Ethiopia, son of Tithonus by Aurora, who during the extended Graeco-Trojan controversy advanced with a great host to the relief of Priam, King of Troy. He (Memnon) was among the many slain by Achilles. Or how about "that starr'd Ethiop queen--" Cassiopeia, wife of Cepheus, another ruler of Ethiopia, after having triumphed over all the beauties of her age, dared to compare herself to the Nereids-- some say to their grand representative the Sea-Nymph Thetis herself, which proved to be a bad move. To demonstrate Divine displeasure, an enormous sea monster or ocean dragon was prompted to make an appearance to throw the result of their indignation against Cassiopeia into relief. The mis-spoken Queen was commanded by the Delphic Oracle to atone for her unfortunate blurted solecism by exposing her daughter, Andromeda, naked and chained to a rock to be devoured by the monster; but you will recall that Perseus delivered Andromeda from the giant creature, and then even worked successfully behind the scenes to get Cassiopeia to be taken into Heaven, now appearing nightly among the constellations. That's why Milton calls her "that starr'd Ethiop queen." So there you have it: Memnon, his sister, their father Tithonus, Cassiopeia, the beautiful Andromeda herself-- all persons of color, as they say. Black, staid Wisdom's hue.

OR EXTRATERRESTRIAL personal auditor-- the liability that the concept will intermittently become plausible is not an unlikely predicament for the Natural Philosopher. Not questioning the legitimacy of invention, we prefer to approach emotionally conflicting, rational examination-deflecting tropes in this arena with our flapadoodle detectors at full strength. We tend to believe that this intrusive, inquisitive alien is best viewed as another imaginative personification of the active but clandestine subconscious mind, or God, if you like your Bible story. This being done, we may revel in the vitality and value of speculative projection, a procedure which invariably adds recognizable true worth, not mere uncertainty. Besides, maybe it actually is an alien after all. Well, here we present a solo excursion, one which is considerably augmented by a wealth of archival material. Like participating in a dissociative chain of vaguely related thoughts, the ends of Typhon's tentacles may be followed toward His center-- a pleasurable exercise, and it is our hope that the offering will refresh. Another time we will bring up the curious fact that Bettie Page worshiped seven gods. With: poetry of Coleridge, Clark Ashton Smith and, somewhat messed up in this rendition in the second stanza, Dylan Thomas.

COMPRISE ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS among other things. Here, we fish a few out of Time's Abyss. The year ends here with a little lag. Time is precious, as we know. It’s the one resource we all appear to have in equal measure, yet it is reported that many feel as though they never have enough of it. Despite the fact that studies like the American Time Use Survey show that the average American, that guy, has at least four and a half hours of leisure time a day, many of us find ourselves constantly saying, “I don’t have time to do the things that are important to me.” So, it is not unreasonable to ask-- what’s really going on here? Why, with all this free time at our disposal, do humans struggle to use it in ways that bring a mere modicum of joy, full-blooded satisfaction and fulfillment? Beware: without chronometric self-discipline, we let Time slip away through our fingers. The truth is that without the proper focus we can’t begin to control time. It’s a finite resource, and once it passes, it’s beyond retrieval. But what we can control is what activities we are involved in-- Slackless or Slackful-- Sakkak or Sallack --as time runs through the hourglass...

AND TRAVEL, which they say broadens one. Just another thing They say. They say this, They say that. Chrysopoeia and argyropoeia, the turning of base metals, such as lead or copper, into gold and silver, They now say may actually be accomplished. Physics now (reluctantly) acknowledges that Dimensional Transmutation, a physical mechanism providing a linkage between a dimensionless parameter and a dimensional parameter, may, under the appropriate conditions, be subject to evocation.
Nuclear transmutation, the conversion of a chemical element or isotope into another chemical element or isotope, is simply a matter of altering or exchanging subatomic particles via directed bombardment.
We have returned from our travails, but ill from exposure to unknown pathogens. Time may heal the body, but the sorrows of the spirit can linger to the grave, and, according to religious people, beyond. Well, we're back in harness. Home is the sailor, home from sea, and the hunter home from the hill.

THAT KILLED THE POPPYCOCKALORUM and the Cockahoopatrice-- beware these. We see some value, that's the ticket, in persisting strongly against such croaking, compromising entities. "If the fool will persist in his folly, he will become wise." --Blake. Of course, one must remind oneself to acknowledge responsibility for the potentially maladaptive general effects of your un-deflected folly's persistence... When I Lay Dead in Thessaly, by Clark Ashton Smith. We feature an article from THE VAULT OF SLACK, current issue; the topic is recalculating the advent of true X-Day in accordance with the recent prophetic analysis espoused by Rev. Trixie von Mothersbaugh. Giant Spiders in Louisiana, again. KrOB appears and we talk shop. Dr. H. Owll also dilated upon that famous Arizona renegade outlaw, the Apache Kid. The lore of Arizona is always of interest. It includes accounts of "Indian massacres," or, as we call them today, Native American Direct Actions.

--A STORY by Charles G. Finney, read and interpreted by Dr. H. Owll, gives us our title for this episode. Providing this presentation, we ask sympathy for one Crotalus atrox, a creature rarely accorded any by the bulk of the population. And, archival material used in the "palimpsest" show collation method supports this original narrative. With: Mobius Rex, Chicken John, KrOB. Jeff Robins. Michael Peppe, Clark Ashton Smith, VJ Pussycat, William Ernest Henley, Stan Freberg and the late Dr. Ralph Fielding Snell.

AS PROFILED in Top-Secret SubGenius Mandatory Memoranda --is the subject of our sermon. We particularly dilate upon the efficacy of the three-by-five card in putting these SubGenius Church/Cult Principles into magnum motion. Poetry of Clark Ashton Smith. And then KrOB comes in. Monologue becomes dialogue. We close at 1:00 AM as usual, but KrOB takes command and continues...