Random Thoughts: Perception

Recently I came across a clip from the following documentary, narrated by Gillian Anderson. Aside from the serious cultural and sociological themes inherent within the piece, the impending destruction of Amazon tribes that have never encountered modern ‘civilization’, and while this is a very serious subject that should not be trivialized, some strange observations popped into my mind while watching it.


I have written frequently about how we can only perceive something, we can’t process, if we have a point of reference. It occurred to me that from the perspective of this indigenous Amazonian tribe, in the same manner with how we view extra-terrestrial crafts, they would see this plane, controlled by human hands, as something extra-terrestrial or ultra-terrestrial.

A giant metal bird with living beings residing inside, how could such indigenous people not regard us as living Gods, from their own point of reference?

Sadly, the outcome of this documentary might have already had a tragic outcome, as militia might have already engaged in cultural euthanasia in this region.

To digress, I was watching the audio comments for the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” recently, a delightful adaptation of Douglas Adams’ book. Adams colleague Sean Salle observed the impact of Adams’ work on other filmmakers, and pointed out how ‘42’ has been referenced by others, citing that Mulder’s apartment number at his Alexandra, VA address is ‘42’. I can’t corroborate, nor confirm, nor deny, that Douglas Adams was an influence on Chris Carter or Frank Spotnitz, but I can’t say it would necessarily be much of a surprise if that was the case.

Douglas Adams’ wonderful brand of philosophical satire, has held a profound impact for many in pop culture, as well as scientists who’s theories on multiple dimensions, and string theory have been enhanced in their own work by Adam’s lop-sided sensibility and willingness to think outside of the box. This clip offers many dense ideas, many of which are the central thrust of the final half to the film. I realize many hard core fans of Douglas Adams had problems with the liberties in the film, but I loved it.

While I must admit to being a casual fan of the book, I love many of the conceits posed in the film. The belief in Ancient Astronaut Theory has become a common meme within esoteric circles. But I love the expansive, and broad approach taken by this material, I love the conceit that extra-terrestrial life could be filled with just as many eccentricities, and foibles, and could be stumbling about as much as us mere mortals. Often the portrayals of aliens in film has been so faceless, and neutral, that Adam’s absurdist sensibilities seemed so truthful to the mere state of existence.

Adams was known to be a stanch atheist, but it is difficult to reconcile that when you consider he was able to produce work that captured such a sense of wonder about the universe and existence.

Many hardcore fans of the books and radio programs had problems with the film adaptation, yet they seem to overlook the fact that Adams developed many of the new ideas in the film, the middle second act was all of his creation, the further development of the romance between Arthur and Trillian, and the ‘point of view’ gun. It should be added, it is a real testament to how elastic his material is that so many incarnations could have been developed, the radio programs, the books, T.V. adaptations, and the film.


While this sequence is dense with ideas, probably what remains a favorite, is also the most subtle, a couple of dialogue exchanges between Arthur Dent and Slartibartfast. The first dialogue cited would be Slartibartfast’s observations:

"Perhaps I’m old and tired, but I think the chances of finding out what’s actually going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is say, "hang the sense of it" and keep yourself busy, I’d much rather be happy than right any day."

When Arthur asks "Are you?”, he has to concede, “No, that’s where it all falls down of course.”

After Slartibartfast reveals that Earth was commissioned, paid for, and run by mice, who were pan-dimensional beings, that Earth is a giant computer, and humans are just programs all designed by an alien computer to answer the riddle about life, the universe, and everything. Arthur’s observation is priceless:

Arthur Dent: Actually this explains a lot, you know, all my life I’ve had this strange feeling that there’s something big and sinister going on the world.

Slartibartfast: No, that’s perfectly normal paranoia, everyone in the Universe get’s that.

In some respects Douglas Adam’s shares a similar world view to H.P. Lovecraft, but it is the inverse…while Lovecraft observes in mortal terror that mankind is a mere spec in the universe, that at best, these alien gods are indifferent to. Douglas Adams acknowledges the same point, but laughs at this realization, and with a dose of humility.

I suppose the connecting tissue to these two sources would be a kind of fatalism about mortality, and to a degree, The X-Files explored this same fatalism. Do we just accept this reality, and shriek from without, or do we carry on in spite of it?

While many might be preoccupied with esoteric subjects and the paranormal, and focused on intangibles, perhaps they should remind themselves to onto a sense of wonder about the natural world, there’s some astonishing things that exist if you keep your eyes open for them.

Curse of the Demon: A de-facto X-File?

Stories about Witchcraft and the power of suggestion are nothing new. Such tales have existed for centuries. The entire principle of Voodoo is built around the power of suggestion, and while The X-Files did explore such memes ("Fresh Bones," "Die Hand Die Verletzt," and "Sanguinarium" for example), this tradition as a narrative device can be traced as far back as the ’50s, and before then.



Curse of the Demon was a British production filmed in 1957 and released the following year, directed by Jacques Tourneur, scripted by Charles Bennett, and based on Montague R. James’ short tale, "Casting the Runes." The film also went under the title Night of the Demon. It starred Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, and Niall MacGinnis as Dr. Karswell. The film even featured the Production Design work of Ken Adam (pre James Bond). Director Tourneur had gained a great reputation in the ’40s with the iconic Cat People and I Walked With A Zombie, and this film was nearly on par with his earlier work.

The Story

The film opens with Dr. Harrington racing to the country estate of Dr. Julian Karswell, a self proclaimed Alchemist who heads a cult. Dr. Harrington pleadingly promises to call off an investigation of the cult, if Karswell will call off what he has started. Once Karswell learns that a parchment that had been given to Dr. Harrington has disintegrated, Karswell ushers the man out with false assurances. Afterwards, Dr. Harrington arrives at his own country home and parks his car. A demon materializes in the woods and approaches the doctor. In a panic, he flees to his car and drives into a power line, which falls on his vehicle. The man becomes entangled in the electrical cables, but not before the demon attacks and kills him.



Dr. John Holden, a scientist and skeptic of the occult, arrives in England, and by happenstance, the daughter of Dr. Harrington, Joanna is on the same flight. Dr. Holden learns of the death of Dr. Harrington, and that the only link between his death and Karswell’s cult is an accused murderer, Rand Hobart, a man who has fallen into a catatonic state after witnessing something unexplained. Dr. Holden rejects the speculation of his colleagues that supernatural forces might be at work.

After taking the lead on Harrington’s notes, Dr. Holden visits the British Museum’s library on Witchcraft. One book in particular that Dr. Harrington requested has gone missing, and the doctor is approached by Julian Karswell, who offers to show him his own copy at his mansion. Karswell slips something into Dr. Holden’s notes, then gives him a business card with a message that vanishes, but not before implying Dr. Holden’s demise within two weeks. A strange dizzy spell besets Holden as Karswell is seen walking away.

Later at the funeral for Dr. Harrington, the doctor again meets Joanna Harrington who provides him with her father’s diary. The book reveals Harrington’s increasing fear of Karswell’s occult power. Dr. Holden remains skeptical, but he visits Karswell’s mansion along with Joanna.

Dr. Holden is playing Dana Scully’s role, the classic objective, rational scientist, which was typical of the ’50s. It goes without saying that the genius of Chris Carter was to reverse these traits. Karswell and Dr. Holden have an interesting exchange, in essence mocking their beliefs, and yet it raises the key thrust of the story.

Karswell: You don’t believe in witchcraft?
Holden: Do you?
Karswell: Do I believe in witchcraft? What kind of witchcraft? The legendary witch that rides on the imaginary broom? The hex that tortures the thoughts of the victim? The pin stuck in the image that wastes away the mind and the body of the victim?
Holden: Also imaginary.
Karswell: But where does imagination end and reality begin? What is this twilight? This half world of the mind that you profess to know so much about? How can we differentiate between the powers of darkness and the powers of the mind?

The film quickly turns into a battle of wills between these two men. The dialogue could have been easily transitioned into many X-File episodes. Based on several reasons that support the following impression, it should become fairly evident that Karswell is modeled after none other than Aleister Crowley. As Holden continues his exchange, Karswell predicts he will die within three days.

Back at his hotel, Holden with his colleagues discuss Karswell, and further plans to study Rand Hobart. While studying Harrington’s diary, which mentions a parchment passed to him by Karswell, Dr. Holden finds a similar parchment with Runic symbols that Karswell secretly passed to him at the library. A gust of wind comes through the window blowing the parchment from his fingers. It’s nearly swept into the fireplace before he manages to rescue, and pocket it.



Holden becomes uneasy after a visit from Hobart’s family, who disown him as not a "true believer," but just as Holden is leaving, the parchment flies out of his hand again, and Hobert’s family becomes fearful, believing the doctor is marked. After a visit to Stonehenge, Holden compares the parchment’s runes to ones inscribed at the stone circle. After some persuasion, Joanna takes Holden to Karswell’s mother who has arranged a séance. The medium begins to channel Harrington, much to Holden’s skepticism, and informs Dr. Holden that Karswell has the key to the problem from his book; he dismissively leaves, but later that night Dr. Holden breaks into Karswell’s mansion to examine the book. In an elaborate mind game, Karswell catches him and permits the doctor to leave through the woods for Holden to be chased by a part of the demon apparition, a living ball of smoke with an incessant chirping sound, only for it to vanish. Joanna persuades Holden to go to the police, but much to the doctor’s embarrassment, they don’t believe him. The doctor fears that he is falling for Karswell’s mind games.



Mrs. Karswell phones Joanna, and implores her that she must tell Holden that Rand Hobart knows the secret of the parchment, which Karswell has managed to overhear. While Holden prepares an experiment to break Hobart from his stupor, Karswell kidnaps Joanna to prevent her reaching Holden with this knowledge, as well as giving Karswell some leverage. While under hypnosis, Hobart reveals that he was ‘chosen’ to die by having a cursed parchment passed to him, but avoided death by passing it to another person. When Holden shows Hobart the parchment he received from Karswell, he goes insane and falls from a window to his death.

Informed that Karswell is leaving London by train, Holden, convinced now that he must return the parchment to Karswell to lift his mark and save himself, races to catch it. He finds Joanna with Karswell, who has been placed in some hypnotic state to make her manageable. Karswell goes to great lengths to avoid direct contact with Dr. Holden to guard against the parchment being passed back to him, and Karswell grows fearful. When the train stops at the next station, Karswell tries to leave, after Dr. Holden has managed to slip the parchment into Karswell’s coat. Just as Karswell realizes this, the parchment flies from his hands and he chases it down the railroad tracks. Just before Karswell can reach it, the parchment burns away into ashes.



While an oncoming train approaches, the demon appears on the adjacent track. Karswell frantically tries to escape but the demon catches up with him, seizes him and tears his body in two. The station crew believe that Karswell’s mangled body was struck by the train. Pondering what they did or did not see, Joanna observes, “Maybe it’s better not to know,” a line that could have been uttered by Mulder or Scully, and then is repeated by Dr. Holden, his beliefs now shaken by the encounter.



Curse of the Demon manages to be fairly intelligent for a "B" genre picture. It’s greatest weakness is in fact that the demon, an obvious puppet, is shown, and the film’s power is diminished by this aspect. Director Jacques Tourneur and writer Charles Bennett intended the depiction of the demon not to be literal, but psychological. Fourteen minutes were cut from the British and American prints of the film, requiring that some of the gaps be filled in with narrative. Fortunately, those minutes were restored in home video editions.



Literary Origin

The Montague R. James tale, “Casting the Runes” had a few notable differences from the Charles Bennett script. The central protagonist’s name was not John Holden, but Edward Dunning, and the demise of Karswell, though far more mundane, was more realistic. The story’s structure uses tactics similar to Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” a series of journal entries that build into a lengthy narrative. The demise of Dr. Harrington might have planted the seed for Tourneur’s intent, the power of suggestion, as evidenced by this conversational narrative:

"...What’s equally to the point, I knew the most incisive of the lot. So did you: you must remember John Harrington; he was at John's in our time."

"Oh, very well indeed, though I don't think I saw or heard anything of him between the time I went down and the day I read the account of the inquest on him."

"Inquest?” said one of the ladies. "What has happened to him?"

"Why, what happened was that he fell out of a tree and broke his neck. But the puzzle was, what could have induced him to get up there. It was a mysterious business, I must say. Here was this man--not an athletic fellow, was he? and with no eccentric twist about him that was ever noticed--walking home along a country road late in the evening--no tramps about--well known and liked in the place--and he suddenly begins to run like mad, loses his hat and stick, and finally shins up a tree--quite a difficult tree--growing in the hedgerow: a dead branch gives way, and he comes down with it and breaks his neck, and there he's found next morning with the most dreadful face of fear on him that could be imagined. It was pretty evident, of course, that he had been chased by something, and people talked of savage dogs, and beasts escaped out of menageries; but there was nothing to be made of that."

The other notable difference is the introduction of Henry Harrington, John’s brother, who plays a role in finding out the truth of his brother’s death. The introduction of Karswell is conversational, and supports some suspicions that the character was modeled after Crowley, but Mr. James’ impression of Crowley might have been built around the impressions created by the British press:

"Oh no, my dear: only a neighbour of ours in the country who bought Lufford Abbey a few years ago. His real name is Karswell."

"Is he a friend of yours?" asked Mr. Secretary, with a private wink to his wife. The question let loose a torrent of declamation. There was really nothing to be said for Mr. Karswell. Nobody knew what he did with himself: his servants were a horrible set of people; he had invented a new religion for himself, and practised no one could tell what appalling rites; he was very easily offended, and never forgave anybody: he had a dreadful face (so the lady insisted, her husband somewhat demurring); he never did a kind action, and whatever influence he did exert was mischievous.

The story, "Casting The Runes" was first published in More Ghost Stories (1911), but the tale might have been written circa between 1904-1911. H.P. Lovecraft was a great admirer of Montague R. James and cited him in his essay, "Supernatural Horror In Literature" Aleister Crowley had already begun to gain notoriety from the period between 1906 through 1909, during the period of the foundation of A.*.A.*. and so it is plausible that M.R. James might have already been aware of Crowley.

The Aleister Crowley connection

One of the puzzling plot elements of Curse of the Demon was the Stonehenge sequence. There’s no evidence of rune symbols to be found at the site, but a lot of focus has been placed on the mathematics of Stonehenge. The ancient order of the druids--or druid order--was founded in 1781, and they were known for their annual summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge. There seems to be a longstanding relationship between Druidry and Masonry. The Druid order studied Freemasonry. Three members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, a project not dissimilar to the Druid Order, founded the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an organization that would introduce Crowley to the Occult.

There is no evidence that Tourneur and Bennett had much extensive knowledge of Aleister Crowley, Freemasons, or Druid rituals; these connections might have been happenstance, but there’s a general rule with writing: everything should be there for a reason. Crowley was a known provocateur of Christian and Catholic orthodoxy, and shared the sentiments of Friedrich Nietzsche-- that all Men are Gods, which probably explains the antagonistic characterizations of Crowley by the press.



Tourneur’s theme of the psychological power of suggestion implied a belief that Carl Jung and Aleister Crowley both shared–that consciousness was multidimensional. Or to offer another perspective as Crowley defined his definition of Magick: “The science and art of causing change in conformity with will.” A practice that one could argue is illustrated by Karswell’s actions, but it’s also a double-edged sword; perhaps Karswell’s personal convictions in such Magick drove him to delusional self destruction. Perhaps he was killed by the oncoming train, or perhaps something else. Karswell and Crowley share a similar belief in the theatrical power of occult rituals. Crowley once remarked:

"There is no more potent means than the art of calling forth true gods to visible appearance."

Should we accept occult rituals at face value, or are they a means to an end?

In this sense, Karswell’s entire actions in Curse of the Demon, could be seen as an artisitc performance to invoke gods, either psychologically, or metaphorically. Karswell goes through great pains with Holden to set up the climate for paranormal events. In fairness, it should be pointed out, in spite of his infamy within the Christian and catholic power elite, Crowley was not invoking gods for the destruction of others, but for enlightenment.

In the first chapter of his tomb, "Magick," Crowley defined the principle of rituals as "the object of all magical ritual" as "the uniting of Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel." Crowley was personally convinced that human perfection required liberating the self from restriction and entering a state of child like energy, and that such perfected energy was at its essence ecstatic and artistic.

Crowley's history is rich and complex enough that it should be personally explored by the reader, it is simply too difficult to distill his work with generalizations.

To digress, when one ponders the séance sequence of Curse of the Demon, one is left with ambiguity. Was the séance a ruse? Or was Dr. Harrington legitimately communicating to Joanne? It reminded me of Mulder and Scully’s exchange at the end of “The Truth” from season nine:

Mulder: I want to believe that the dead are not lost to us. That they speak to us as part of something greater than us–greater than any alien force. And if you and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we listen to what’s speaking, it can give us the power to save ourselves.
Scully: Then we believe the same thing.

Ultimately, perhaps evocation is self empowerment.

You can find M.R. James short story, "Casting the Runes", here.

Special thanks to Xscribe for editorial input.

Next: The Mole People (1958)

"One's Constant, one's touchstone."

Book review for "We Want To Believe: Faith and Gospel in The X-Files"



In 2008, a die was cast when Chris Carter publicly admitted that The X-Files was about the search for God. While the comment might have seemed a revelation for some Philes, in hindsight it shouldn’t have been, when you consider that a running theme throughout the series was a general exploration on spirituality and faith. A meditation on the meaning of faith itself. It is hard to access how the Christian / Catholic / Hebrew community views The X-Files. If it is seen as a proponent of the necessity for spirituality. For the most part, to the shows credit, it never seemed to reveal a preference for a certain denomination of faith, nor did it fall into the trappings of prophesy or feeding into the cultural warrior contingent. It also didn’t argue that one had to choose between science or religion. It maintained impartiality in the understanding that both fields were seeking the same objectives, finding truth, but coming at them from different ends. That one could strike a balance between science and religion.

There have been arguments that a lack of spiritual faith leads to a kind of emotional and intellectual bankruptcy. Still, one can’t fault the sentiments of agnostics and atheists when you consider how religious texts have been inverted and perverted to reflect the personal view of the prophesier over a religious text’s actual meaning. Many people might have the impression that many Philes share a agnostic or atheist perspective. Most religious texts aren’t intended to offer up easy answers, beyond the universal truth of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. Or the Buddhist sentiment on Karma, or the basic law of physics that for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. In the case of the scriptures, the Bible is said to offer universal moral guideposts and examples with how one could strengthen one’s faith.

Books have been written about the Science of The X-Files (Anne Simon), and the Philosophy of The X-Files (Dean Kowalski), but a full rendering on the spiritual aspects of The X-Files had not been explored until recently, which is rather stunning to consider.

One could draw a parallel to the initial reaction to the Harry Potter books in the late 90s by the evangelical movement that had dismissed the books as promoters of witchcraft, with few hardly noticing that R.K. Rowling was following in the tradition of such Inkling writers as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, an assumption that wasn’t contested until scholar John Granger bravely and correctly pointed that out, in what have should have been self-evident.

Scholar and author Amy Donaldson has just tackled the very subject of religion with her first book, "We Want To Believe: Faith and Gospel in The X-Files", published by Cascade books. It is a book that should satisfy those who have held a curiosity about the religious aspects of the series, and the origins of material cited in various episodes. In fairness, for those Philes who were expecting an across-the-board overview of all of the religions cited in the series, they may be disappointed to some degree. Still, the scholarship of the book should make it engrossing for all interested parties.

The entire thesis of the book is spelled out within the introduction, and it is made fairly clear that the focus will be on Christian and Hebrew writings. The issue becomes, does she build a compelling case with her arguments, and is she able to effectively expand on this thesis? I would have to qualify that answer as a ‘yes’. After the major points are spelled out in the introduction, they are expanded in the following chapters: I Want to Believe - Faith: The Evidence if Things Not Seen - Hope: "I Can’t Give Up" – Love: "My Constant, My Touchstone" – The Truth Is Out There – The Way of the Cross: Temptation, Death, and Resurrection. Amy is an excellent writer and there’s a real academic flare to the work that remains fairly accessible. There’s an in-depth appendix of episodes cited with basic production information, as well three indices related to episodes, scripture, and subject.

My only real criticism, and personal disappointment with the book was the absence of any real analysis of Buddhism or Native American shamanism, spiritual venues which were indeed addressed within the context of The X-Files. Then again, the objective of the focus on the memes explored might be to target the Christian publishing market; it’s inconclusive to speculate if that is the case either way.

Amy’s in-depth understanding of the series already places her book ahead of other publications that deal with the spiritual themes of The X-Files. Recommended.

Please check out the Lexicon's exclusive interview with Amy Donaldson, as well as details on an exclusive 30% discount on the book via the Lexicon.

Travel Log for LAX-Files Event

A number of unfolding events had prompted a change of pace with the blog sequence. The hustle and bustle of preparations involved for the Lexicon’s coverage of the LAX-Files Book signing event in Los Angeles on May 7th, had thrown aside other priorities. While this blog ended up not being used to promote the event, it would have been remiss not to address one of the single most significant fan events to come along in 2011. But, while other sites, including ours, will feature plenty of coverage about it, I felt it might be more interesting to read between the lines and look at the entire experience as a whole. This entry fits more in line with a typical ‘blog’.

I have often been preoccupied with narrative arcs and mythologies, and while it might be difficult to see a narrative in the mundane of day-to-day life, the truth is, we wake up, breathe, and deal with a narrative arc each and every day. Of course the earliest and most potent arc was the Hero’s Journey, as broken down by Joseph Campbell. The origin of all story-telling began with individuals speaking about their travels. Motion and travel can be a great soothing balm, and can often allow for great introspection, when circumstances allow. One idea that spontaneously struck me was to write on my laptop computer on my way to and from Los Angeles, with various thoughts, observations, and armchair altruistic philosophies.

I would argue that you can find a narrative arc in something as commonplace as a road trip, and perhaps, in the most subtle of ways, you can capture a few fleeting moments of something metaphysical as well.

On Friday, May 6th, I was out the door an on my way by 4:30 AM. It seems to shock people that I am willing to travel to Los Angeles from the Bay Area at such an early hour, but I am able to avoid traffic by using this tactic, and it insures that I can arrive in LA at a reasonable hour. I had made arrangements to stay with my cousin and his wife in Santa Monica for that evening. I was on my way...

6:20 AM

Out of the bay area, another wonderful sunrise. The air is crisp and clean. A cavalcade of birds chirp at the first rest stop. There’s a group of insects that look like fire ants on the pavement, but I doubt they are. I managed to wake up by 3:20 AM. Seal is on the CD player as I continue...



7:45 AM

You know, it’s understandable why primitive man viewed sunrises to sunsets as commensurate to a life cycle. Seal’s Dreaming in Metaphors remains one of his best songs, “Trying to hold to something we couldn’t understand.” It becomes hard to define the distinctions between reality and metaphysics. I don’t mean psychosis, or hallucinations, I mean perhaps our dreams are a kind of parallel universe. Anyway, to continue, Amiee Mann on the player next…

There’s an owl hooting in a tree. I couldn’t find it, but could hear it. I wonder if that signifies anything?

If God exists, I suspect God expects us to appreciate the little things...

11:05 AM

It’s amazing, as a species, how we’re supposed to compartmentalize everything, put ourselves into different modes of thinking, depending upon the situations in which we find ourselves. In some respects, how we put on different masks, or personas to fit into a situation.

I had a bite to eat at a place that featured a novelty shop, most of which was junk, but they did have some nice dream catchers.

I’m feeling dazed after a long stretch on I5. There’s one part that is brutal.

I’m fairly certain X-Files fans could Identify with this idea: Have you ever seen an innocuous location and imagined it held a military secret? There’s my first X-Files contemplation of the day. As photographed.



I'm on my way again...

2:20 PM

I’m in Valencia, near an Art College I wanted to attend ages ago...The paths not taken. I got through the second stretch of I5.

While writing my previous blog entry at a rest stop (11:05), a woman passed me and made a snide joke. “Just can’t leave that computer alone.” It just amazes me how people presume. I could understand the comment on some level; I have been in enough Starbucks to see people on laptops just to surf the net, and not really work. I don’t have internet access on my laptop; I use it strictly for writing.

There’s a rumor that the special guest attending at the X-Files Book signing event is a male actor, last time I checked, everyone was speculating it was Nick Lea or David Duchovny. We shall see. The weather is what I expected. Hot. I’m recovering from the daze of the drive. Valencia is a lovely little town; if you’ve never passed through it, recommended.

Thirty-six miles to go. I’ll be on my way soon...

About an hour later, I arrived at my cousin’s place. Waited in the car for them to come home, got coffee, just relaxed. Friday evening, after settling, we went to a nice Italian/Americana restaurant. Had breakfast Saturday morning, at a 50s-flavored greasy spoon with them and then I was on my way to the AFI campus. Details of that can be found on the Lexicon. David nor Nick Lea ever made it.

For the site, the outcome was a resounding success. I felt a little like a knight that vanquishes a dragon. I had another dinner with my cousin that evening, then we all crashed early. I got up about 6:00 AM, Sunday morning, and was on my way by 7:30.

May 8th, 9:05 AM

Back in Valencia again. Yesterday was a resounding success. In the mythos of the hero’s journey, he has to survive the skirmish, and that is how it feels today.

There’s the adage, Hope for the best, expect the worst. It seems to be second nature for me, but I was priming myself for several disappointments that never transpired. That mindset has become a reflex for me, the way I prime myself.

10:00 AM

The Misty Mountains of Gorman.





Green Day is on the play list, they seem to get a lot of flack about their street creed, but I have to give them credit, their last two albums captured the feelings of a percentage of disaffected youth, this sense of America in a slow decline, and the fact that many institutions are breaking down at this point, as well as the problem of being bound to religious dogma. I keep thinking about that verse from ‘See the Light’.

I crossed the River, fell into the sea,
Where the non-believers, go beyond belief
Then I scratched the surface, in the mouth of hell,
Running out of service, in the Blood I fell.

Perhaps that’s the best ideal, to be spiritual, and to go beyond belief…

12:43 PM

I’ve been pondering. Is one of the goals in life to become altruistic? What happens when you live in a society that doesn’t value altruism?

I write this at a rest stop, facing an orchard of apple trees. It’s cooled off on I5, and it’s been an overcast Sunday.

3:15 PM

I had a bite to eat earlier. Could this be any more bucolic? It reminds me of Clark Kent’s Smallville.



I arrived home at around 6:30, exhausted. I was reminded of the subtitle of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit–There And Back Again.

Then I had a lot of work to do. You can check out the reports and videos of the event at the Lexicon.

I have no idea if I achieved any greater insight through this experiment, but I suspect it’s a process, being mindful of your surroundings, looking out, keeping your eyes open for little transformative moments.


Special thanks for editorial help from XScribe, and belated thanks to her for the previous entry.

X-Files Adjacent: War of the Satellites

Nothing exists in a vacuum as far as creative influences. The following is the first of a trifecta of critical reviews concerning a group of late-50s, low-budget Sci-Fi and horror films. Chris Carter, within the last few years, has acknowledged (aside from the Night Stalker TV movies) that The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits, were an influence on him. Recently, I saw a series of films that might have possibly influenced the writers for such series as Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.



Produced and directed by B-Movie king, Roger Corman, War of the Satellites (1958) capitalized on the satellite craze of the period, triggered by the launch of Sputnik 1. The story goes that Corman pitched the film to Allied Artists, strictly on the title alone, with no script and with the promise he would have the film finished and released in seven weeks. He made good on the promise. After being given a budget of 70,000 dollars, Corman along with writer Lawrence Louis Goldman and Irving Block, built a story after listing what sets would be needed to be built first, and then developed a script to fit around the logistics.

It is with little doubt that Roger Corman has become an icon in the industry and is probably responsible for launching more careers, in as much as potential filmmakers and actors through his ‘Corman school of filmmaking,’ than UCLA and USC combined.

While the film is flawed and typical of the kind of production values from that era (in spite of the fact it becomes apparent after watching for about ten minutes, that you must throw science completely out the window, and the film is so cheap that lounge recliner chairs were used for the seating aboard the spaceship), for everything this type of a film gets wrong, it’s interesting to see, thematically, what the film gets right.

Several sequences reminded me of something you might find in an episode of The Outer Limits, or Twilight Zone. This film ends up being an idea-driven film. Now whether that was by design or something the writers stumbled upon out of necessity is the real question.

It starred Dick Miller, Susan Cabot (a woman whose demise would be as tragic and bizarre as an X-File*), and Richard Devon. After the destruction of the latest spaceship of the Sigma project to pass through an energy barrier somewhere in the solar system, Dr. Van Ponder insists to his colleagues that he will continue. Two high school teens (in the most awkward and corny segment of the film), after seeing a falling star that crashes, discover an alien satellite with a message for the UN.

An alien race from the Spiral Nebula Gamma views the human race as an infection, further adding that they are displeased by our efforts to move into the stars, and explain that have created this space barrier to restrain humans from space exploration. Dr. Van Ponder announces to the press that he plans to captain his own ship in the next design. His friends Dave and Sybil agree to go with him. The doctors plans include building the ship to use photon propulsion to travel at the speed of light. After getting a call from UN Counsel Leader Hotchkiss about efforts of the UN to stop the project, Dr. Van Ponder’s car crashes as a result of alien beams from the skies. Once word has been received at the UN that Van Ponder has been killed, he miraculously appears, and funding moves forward.

Assurances are given to Hotchkiss he is fine, and we, the viewers have revealed to us that Van Ponder is an alien who can duplicate himself through astral means and convert his duplicate into matter. He briefly communicates with his alien superiors, advising stronger action, as the warning from alien beings have been ignored. Suddenly, global disasters are triggered around the world--floods, earthquakes, fires, and nuclear incidents--which cause the press to speculate the alien warning is connected to the episodes.

Dr. Van Ponder, under a ruse, has an unexpected change of heart, and plans to cancel the program, going so far as to write up a statement to issue to the UN, but Dave ignores his wishes, and while speaking at the UN, states they will continue, and he argues that it is precisely because the Gamma aliens do not wish humans to travel into space that the project must go forward, much to Dr. Van Ponder’s displeasure. Another scientist named Johnny swears he had seen Van Ponder in two places.

After a mishap with a blow torch to Van Ponder’s hand triggers Johnny’s suspicions that the doctor isn’t human (a sequence that one might see from The Outer Limits, or Twilight Zone), Dave grows suspicious. But Dr. Von Ponder convinces the project medical doctor, Lasar, that Johnny has been under too much pressure, and he is ordered to be grounded from the flight. Dave finds the actual remains at a junkyard of the car that crashed, but can’t warn Sybil, or the others that Dr. Van Ponder might be an imposter, before the launch countdown begins. Johnny has a change of heart, and due to a lack of astronomical engineers, is back on the flight. Dr. Van Ponder duplicates himself again, which Dave witnesses. Three ships are launched, each ship being part of the final space vehicle.

After the launch, separation, and assembly, Dr. Van Ponder confronts Johnny with an ultimatum, explaining his races’ intention, tells him that humans are mere children in the cosmos, and not ready for space travel, and that his race is acting on behalf of the best intentions for the human race. The impostor Van Ponder offers to give Johnny the same powers--beings that can convert energy into matter--but Johnny refuses, and is killed with a single touch (another sequence that one might expect to see on The Outer Limits or Twilight Zone). Sylvia walks in to find him dead, and the doctor explains that Johnny could not survive the stress of the launch.


Film Trailer - War of the Satellites (1958).divx by pogox

The doctor, as captain, announces to the crew his intention to build up enough solar energy to trigger the Photon drive and break through the barrier. If they were to reach the barrier before the build up, they wouldn’t be able to break through until they can reach such a velocity. Dave informs Sylvia that the doctor isn’t human, just as Dr. Van Ponder appears and warns him not to get out of line. After the space burial of Johnny, Dave speaks to Dr. Lasar in private and demonstrates evidence that Van Ponder is a carbon copy of the real man. Sylvia walks in and Dave persuades her. The doctor notes that Dr. Van Ponder hasn’t permitted a physical. Dave points out the doctor might not have a heartbeat. Dr. Lasar confronts Dr. Van Ponder about a physical, which he conveniently manages to avoid when the barrier appears. After speaking with the pilots, Van Ponder manages to change his physiology and create a heartbeat, but there’s a trade-off: He loses a number of his powers and becomes more human. After passing the exam, Van Ponder strangles Dr. Lazar, and it becomes a race against time for Dave and Sylvia to stop Van Ponder from destroying the ship, and allowing the Sigma crew to achieve deep space travel.

One of the first interesting memes is the idea of an alien race inducing natural disasters to retard the progress of the human race, as well as the idea that the aliens would view Earth as a potential threat. In some respects this film is the inverse of Robert Wise’s The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), an alien race that simply believes the human race must take responsibility with its use of atomic space travel. The further idea of an alien race passively intervening with the human race, short of invasion, isn’t new either.



Edward E. Smith, Ph.D or “Doc” Smith, as he is affectionately known, the father of the sweeping space opera, in his 1936 tale "Triplanetary," the first of his Lensmen series, deals with two alien races: The Arisians, human-like beings, and the Eddorians, transformative beings that are hard to describe. Both Arisians and Eddorians manipulate the development of the human race in a long-term breeding program with the intention that the human race create Lensmen and Boskone, men with higher powers who would play out an ancient struggle without their awareness of themselves as pawns. The long term struggle is focused on four solar systems: Sol III, Rigel IV, Velantia III, and Palain VII. Regarding Earth, both alien forces manipulate matters and play out the fall of Atlantis, the Fall of Rome, and the trigger of three major wars, 1918, 1941 (Smith’s prescient prediction about WWII), and a war sometime in the late 90s. Before these tales unfold in the far future. One interesting example could be cited here, from the end of chapter three:

Gharlane of Eddore looked upon ruined Earth, his handiwork, and found it good. Knowing that it would be many hundreds of Tellurian years before that planet would again require his personal attention, he went elsewhere; to Rigel Four, to Palain Seven, and to the solar system of Valantia, where he found that his creatures the Overlords were not progressing according to schedule. He spent quite a little time there, then searched minutely and fruitlessly for evidence of inimical activity within the Innermost Circle.

Of course The X-Files touched on the meme of rival alien factions within their own mythology. For example, the alien rebels who appeared, starting in season five, that were immune to the effects of black oil - and resisted the symbiotic / parasitical entity within.

Watching the film recently, and pondering the recent wave of current events, without the following point trivializing the tragedies in Japan, but considering the wave of earthquakes, tsunami’s, volcanic eruptions, tornados, and other global events, and while they might be the by-product of climate change, it would make sense for a powerful alien race to trigger such disasters to slow down our evolution as a species.

Bear in mind, that there have been claims by countless NASA astronauts, of information that has never been released for the sake of national security, by Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, former NASA chief Maurice Chatelain, Gordon Cooper, Edgar Mitchell (founder of Institute of Noetic Sciences), of UFO activity in space and an extra-terrestrial base on the Moon, (as argued by people like Richard C Hogland) with aliens that have made it very clear to NASA not to establish a lunar base or revisit the Moon. Certainly shades of the same themes / memes expressed in War of the Satellites.

UFO/AAT skeptics have pointed out that the above-listed themes have been so long running with Science Fiction literature and filmmaking, that these memes can give ammunition to such skeptics that genre pop culture influences shape belief systems of things that might not have a paranormal or unexplained basis.

What is interesting about these connections from a cultural standpoint and this ‘chicken or egg’ argument, is are these interests just random or part of a greater collective unconsciousness?

Indeed, what if truth is stranger than fiction.

Next up: Curse Of The Demon (1957)

*Susan Cabot died in 1986. Her son, who suffered from dwarfism and was on medication, bludgeoned her to death with a weight-lifting bar in her Encino home after years of psychological abuse, verbal abuse from the mother, coupled with an unhealthy relationship between them. He was arrested, charged with involuntary manslaughter and received a three-year suspended sentence.

The X-Files Truth Podcast interview...

At the start of February, I was approached by this new, but terrific site, The X-Files Truth Podcast, and one of the team members, Agent Summer, wanted to do a profile piece about the site. From there it evolved into a phone interview.

It was a fun experience, and they cover a lot of ground with me. They were even gracious enough to feature snippets of my original music. This traces the origin of how it all began with the Lexicon, our role with The X-Files: I Want To Believe Blu Ray, as well as the launch of a new web network project.

The audio interview.

I have no idea, if, or when, I’ll ever do another interview such as this, Feel free to add your comments if this interest.

Under Pressure

This isn’t a typical blog entry, as it doesn’t relate to The X-Files, nor does this deal with the meme explorations of past entries, but the events of the past week have compelled the following observations. Simply put, the tragic Earthquake and Tsunami disaster in Japan, as well as the Nuclear plant disasters, does leave one reflective. It’s difficult to escape the real world, or the harsh realities of life, it’s difficult to be altruistic, or inward thinking during periods such as this.



The following song has been running around in my mind over the last couple of days. While I have always been a fan of many Queen songs, this has always resonated with me, as I suspect it has for others, especially the last few lines. We do seem to be at a crossroads, especially since 2008, it does look like we have some choices to make as a collective society: will we treat each other far better than we have, and be our brother’s keeper? Or will be continue down destructive paths?

While I understand that the economy is bleak for many people, but if you can afford to do so, please give to the Red Cross, or any charity organizations that are sending relief to Japan.

IBG is another great resource to go to.

As Jordan Black once observed during the Millennium finale: "We are all shepherds."