Keeper of the Clown Bell

My grandmother loved the cinema and in my  adolescence she took me to lots of movies, none of which were G rated pablum served up from Disney or other “child friendly” brain washers but rather adult themed pictures like The Anderson Tapes (1971),  What's Up, Doc? (1972),  The Day of the Jackal (1973)  and Freebee And The Bean (1974). Needless to say, none of the films I just listed could get made under today’s DEI requirements. She loved the magic on the silver screen and taught me to appreciate the wonders rendered on the wall of Plato’s cave. Watching these films as a tween changed my perception of the world and their programming  probably still colors my fundamental views on  cops and robbers ,  transvestites ,  France  and  Babs Streisand . I didn’t know it then but this era was the glory years of independent minded studio backed pictures which came to an abrupt and devastating end with the release of  Star Wars  in 1977. It will take me too long to  explain why the Jedi destru

One of the pleasant oddities located in the central Virginia town of Staunton is a replica of the Blackfiars Playhouse which is where the thespians studying at the American Shakespeare Center practice their craft. It's an authentic experience with open bench seating, "lights on" staging and minimal set design just like they did it in merry old England back in 1608. Even with the rainbow stew anachronism, woke LBGT++ transposition of she for him and he for her casting, and modern day antiseptic slovenliness of the audience these plays still deliver astounding insights due to the physical location of  their performance.  Last week I took in The Taming of the Shrew and was overjoyed to see this play performed straight and, to my mind, incorporate the authentic "sly" twist in the Bards massage that so many contemporary drama critics miss. This years troop at the ASC is great and, as is their custom, the actors perform a few popular music covers that resonate with th

On the subject of English Queens I’m more knowledgable and fascinated by  Elizabeth I from the House of Tudor than I am by Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (AKA Windsor). As a native of Virginia I fully appreciate the majesty and Herstoric importance of Gloriana’s reign and believe the incredible civilization that has shaped the world for the past 500 years was conceived by her (and her wise councilors) and serves as the spiritual progeny of The Virgin Queen. While QEII oversaw the dissolution of the British Empire and its concordant moral degeneracy, it was Good Queen Bess who ruled over “The Golden Age” in which England grew so strong and prosperous that it might rule an empire upon which the sun never sets. That legacy of Elizabeth's reign includes the colonization plans and subsequent

Now that Pride Month has climaxed and its debauched parades and divisive corporate controversy are fully spent I'd like to make a few post coital observations between puffs of an imaginary smoke while lounging upon my all too real daybed. I'm not at liberty to speak too freely on the subject of homosexuality specifically or the alphabet people in general because when I do, as I have done in the past, I inevitably get berated and ostracized by family and friends who hold different opinions than I do. The general consensus being that their opinions are right while mine are wrong (or evil), it serves no purpose restate what has already been said so eloquently in June's of yore: June 2015  Hamburger Hill #LustWins  - Same-Sex Marriage is philosophically impossible. June 2016  Gay Inc.  - Big Business reigns over the Pride Parade.  June 2018  “God made you like this and loves you like this.”  - The Pope, Andrew Sullivan and FBPOTUS gets schooled on sexuality and more. June 2021 

For the first time in 2 years, 7 months and 10 days I tuned into cable news and watched Donald J Trump critique his indictment, arraignment, prosecutors and  the IC psyop  that has been relentlessly deployed against the American people for the past 8 years. Trump's indictment and arrest were no surprise to me -  I predicted it from the day the FBI raided the Mar-a-Lago Club "searching" for classified documents placed in boxes by nefarious actors in the White House during the packing up process  - so, while I was disappointed to see the US Justice system devolve to a Third World, Banana Republic standard of malversation, I wasn't angry. The anger, what anger there was, disintegrated long ago in the 2015/2016 GOP primary contest when all the politicians and thought leaders warned that Donald Trump  Poses an Unprecedented Threat to American Democracy  and because he's  the banana republic candidate  he  may be a threat to global democracy (experts warn) . Present ten

John Henry Durham (great name) dropped his " REPORT ON MATTERS RELATED TO INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES AND INVESTIGATIONS ARISING OUT OF THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL   CAMPAIGNS " and, as the Keeper Of The Clown Bell, I feel compelled to write down my thoughts on this subject which has been the catalyst for so much bell ringing over the past eight (8!) years. I'm going to start with some hard truths, as I see them, and then move into speculative puzzling I've noodled over these long years of Cold Civil War. So don't stop reading even if the bumpy start makes you angry or despondent and be sure to click on the links which serve as footnotes or references for my report. I'm going to start on election night November 8, 2016 and reference a video recording of Government TV's coverage of the big event. The PBS NewsHour panel was populated by establishment left-wing talking heads and GOP squishes preparing to coronate Her as First Woman POTUS and for the first 4 hours of th