PSYCHOPOMP

"Beatrice is The Psychopomp — a wonderful medieval word for 'Soul Guide' — who leads Dante through The Deep Levels of Purgatory into The Vision of Heaven, a journey of Wholeness and Healing. 

Dante owes his success initially to Virgil, but primarily to Beatrice, who leads, inspires, and awakens him spiritually."

GEOFFREY: 
Yes?
[pause]
Is it about the hedge?
[pause]
Look. I am awfully sorry, but--

GRIM REAPER: 
I am The Grim Reaper.

GEOFFREY: 
Who?

GRIM REAPER: 
The Grim Reaper.

GEOFFREY: 
Yes, I see.

GRIM REAPER: 
I am Death.

GEOFFREY: 
Yes, well, the thing is, we've got some people from America for dinner tonight, and--

ANGELA: 
Who is it, darling?

GEOFFREY: 
It's a 'Mr. Death' or something. 
He's come about the reaping(?) 
I don't think we need any at the moment.

ANGELA: 
Hello. Well, don't leave him hanging around outside, darling. 
Ask him in.

GEOFFREY: 
Darling, I don't think it's quite the moment.

ANGELA: 
Do come in. Come along in. 
Come and have a drink. Do. Come on.

GUESTS: [mumbling]

ANGELA: 
It's one of the little men from the village.

GUESTS: [mumbling]

ANGELA: 
Uh, do come in.

GUESTS: [mumbling]

ANGELA: 
Please.

GUESTS: [mumbling]

ANGELA: 
This is Howard Katzenberg from Philadelphia...

HOWARD KATZENBERG: 
Hi.

ANGELA: 
...and his wife, Debbie,...

DEBBIE: Hello there.

ANGELA: ...and these are the Portland-Smythes, Jeremy and Fiona.

FIONA PORTLAND-SMYTHE: Good evening.

ANGELA: This is Mr. Death.
[spooky music]
Well, do get Mr. Death a drink, darling.

GEOFFREY: Uh, yes.

HOWARD: Mmm.

ANGELA: Mr. Death is a reaper.

GRIM REAPER: The Grim Reaper.

ANGELA: Hardly surprising, in this weather. Ha ha ha.

EVERYONE: [laughing]

HOWARD: 
So, you still, uh, reap around here, do you, Mr. Death?

GRIM REAPER: 
I am The Grim Reaper.

GEOFFREY: 
That's about all he says.

DEBBIE: 
Heh.

GEOFFREY: 
There's your drink, Mr. Death.

ANGELA: 
Do sit down.

DEBBIE: 
We were just talking about some of the awful problems facing the thir-- [gasp]
[crash]

ANGELA: 
Ohh. Would you prefer white? 
I-- I'm afraid we don't have any beer.

JEREMY PORTLAND-SMYTHE: 
The Stilton's awfully good.

GRIM REAPER: 
I am not of This World.
[spooky music]

GEOFFREY: 
Good Lord.

GRIM REAPER: 
I am Death.

DEBBIE: 
Well, isn't that extraordinary? 
We were just talking about death only five minutes ago.

ANGELA: 
Yes, we were.

HOWARD: Mmm. Mm.

ANGELA: You know, whether death is really the end.

DEBBIE: 
As my husband, uh, Howard, here, feels, or whether there is-- and one so hates to use words like 'soul' or 'spirit', but--

JEREMY: 
But what other words can one use?

GEOFFREY: 
E-- exactly.

GRIM REAPER: 
You Do Not Understand.

DEBBIE: 
Ah, no. Obviously not.

HOWARD: 
Let me just tell you something, Mr. Death.

GRIM REAPER: 
You do n--

HOWARD: 
Just one moment. I'd like to express, on behalf of everybody here, what a... really unique experience this is.

JEREMY: 
Hear, hear.

ANGELA: 
Yes, we're so delighted, uh, that you dropped in, Mr. Death.

HOWARD: 
Can I just finish, please?

DEBBIE: 
Mr. Death, is there an after-life?

HOWARD: 
Dear, if you could just wait, please, a moment,--

ANGELA: 
Are you sure you wouldn't like some sherry?

DEBBIE: [mumbling]

HOWARD: 
Angela. Angela, I'd like to just say this at this time, if I could, please. Really.

GRIM REAPER: 
Be quiet!

HOWARD: 
Can I just say this at this time, please?

GRIM REAPER: 
Silence! I have come for you.

ANGELA: 
You mean... to--

GRIM REAPER: 
Take you away. 
That is My Purpose. I am Death.

GEOFFREY: 
Well, that's cast rather a gloom over the evening, hasn't it?

HOWARD: 
I don't see it that way, Geoff. [sniff] 
Let me tell you what I think we're dealing with here: 
a potentially positive learning experience to get an--

GRIM REAPER: 
Shut up! Shut up, You American! 

You always talk, you Americans. 

You talk and you talk and you say 

'Let me tell ya something' 
and 
'I just wanna say this....' 

Well, you're dead now, so shut up!

HOWARD: 
Dead?

GRIM REAPER: 
Dead.

ANGELA: 
All of us?

GRIM REAPER: 
All of you.

GEOFFREY: 
Now, look here --
You barge in here, quite uninvited, break glasses, and then announce, quite casually, that we're all dead. 
Well, I would remind you that you are a guest in this house, and--

[whack]
Ah! Oh.

GRIM REAPER: 
Be quiet! 
Englishmen, you're all so fucking pompous, 
None of you have got any balls.

DEBBIE: 
Can I ask you a question?

GRIM REAPER: 
What?

DEBBIE: 
How can we all have died at the same time?
[silence]

GRIM REAPER: 
The salmon mousse.

GEOFFREY: 
Darling, you didn't use canned salmon, did you?

ANGELA: 
I'm most dreadfully embarrassed.

GRIM REAPER: 
Now the time has come. Follow. Follow me.
[clunk]
[bang bang bang bang bang]

GEOFFREY: Just... testing. Sorry.

GRIM REAPER: 
Follow me. Now.
[deathly music]
Come.
[eerie music]

ANGELA: 
Well, the fishmonger promised me he'd have some fresh salmon, and he's normally so reliable.

RANDOM: 
Stumm. Stumm.

JEREMY: 
Can we keep our glasses?

RANDOM: 
Mmm hmm.

FIONA: 
Oh. Good idea. [hiccup]

RANDOM: 
Come on.

GUESTS: [mumbling]

HOWARD: Okay.

GUESTS: [mumbling]

DEBBIE: 
Hey, I didn't even eat the mousse.

GUESTS: [mumbling]

ANGELA: 
Honestly, darling, I'm so embarrassed. 
It really is embarrassing. I mean,...

HOWARD: I suppose... [mumbling]

ANGELA: 
...to serve salmon with botulism at a dinner party is social death for me.

GEOFFREY: 
Well, all right.

GUESTS: [mumbling]

JEREMY: Uh, shall we take our cars?

FIONA: Do we need them?

GEOFFREY: Why not?

ANGELA: Yes. Why not?

HOWARD: [mumbling] ...is my vote.

ANGELA: Good idea.

RANDOM: Yes. Why not?

GUESTS: [mumbling]

RANDOM: Shall we go separately?
[car sounds]

GUESTS: [mumbling]
[spooky music]

GRIM REAPER: Behold... Paradise.
[elevator music]

How to Succeed with Brunettes

Adenoid Hynkel : 
Strange, these strike leaders, they're all brunettes. 
Not a blonde amongst them.

Garbitsch : 
Brunettes are trouble makers. 
They're worse than the Jews.

Adenoid Hynkel : 
Then wipe them out.

Garbitsch : 
Start small. Not so fast. 
We get rid of the Jews first, then concentrate on the brunettes.

Adenoid Hynkel : 
We shall never have peace 'til we have a pure Aryan race. 
How wonderful. Tomainia, a nation of blue-eyed blondes.

Garbitsch : 
Why not a blonde Europe, a blonde Asia, and blonde America.

Adenoid Hynkel : 
A Blonde World.

Garbitsch : 
And a brunette dictator.


Adenoid Hynkel : 
Dictator of The World!

Proper and improper etiquette on a movie date and at a formal dance with receiving line.

Don't Be a Sucker

Dramatizes the destructive effects of racial and religious prejudice. Reel 1 shows a fake wrestling match and "crooked" gambling games. 

An agitator addresses a street crowd; he almost convinces one man in the audience until the man begins to talk to a Hungarian refugee from Germany. 

A Nazi speaker harangues a crowd in Germany denouncing Jews, Catholics, and Freemasons. 

Reel 2, a German unemployed worker joins Hitler's Storm Troops. 

SS men attack Jewish and Catholic headquarters in Germany, and beat up a Jewish storekeeper. 

A German teacher explains Nazi racial theories; the teacher is dragged away by German soldiers.

The Need to Revere Women

Dear Miss Spielrein, 

I owe you an apology. 

But the fact that I was wrong, that The Man is to be blamed rather than The Woman, satisfies my own needs to revere women. 

- Sigmund Freud

Limelight

 Charlie Chaplin - Spring Song (Limelight)

Terry: 

What is there to fight for?

Calvero: 

Ah, you see, you admit it. 

What is there to fight for? Everything. 

Life itself, isn't that enough, to be lived, suffered, enjoyed. 

What is there to fight for? 

Life is a beautiful, magnificent thing, even to a jellyfish. 

Besides, you have your art, your dancing.

Terry: 

I can't dance without legs.

Calvero: 

I know a man without arms who can play a scherzo on a violin and does it all with his toes. 

The Trouble is you won't fight. 

You've given in, continually dwelling on Sickness and Death. 

But there's something just as inevitable as Death, and that's Life. Life, life, life. 

Think of all the power that's in The Universe, moving the earth, growing the trees. 

That's the same power within you if you only have Courage and The Will to use it.

Spring is here

Birds are calling

Skunks are crawling

Wagging their tails for love.

Spring is here

Whales are churning

Worms are squirming

Wagging their tails for love.

What is this thing

Of which I sing

That makes us all bewitched?

What is this thing

That comes in spring

That gives us all the itch?

Oh, it’s love, it’s love, it’s love love love love love

Love love love love love love love (etc. etc.)

“I believe that Faith is a precursor of all our ideas. Without Faith, there never could have evolved hypothesis, theory, science or mathematics. 

I believe that Faith is an extension of The Mind. It is The Key that negates The Impossible. 

To deny Faith is to refute oneself and The Spirit That Generates All Our Creative Forces. My Faith is in The Unknown, in all that we do not understand by Reason; I believe that what is beyond our comprehension is a simple fact in other dimensions, and that in The Realm of The Unknown there is An Infinite Power for Good."

Charlie Chaplin,

My Autobiography, p. 291

[as Terry dances, Calvero prays behind the stage] 

“Whoever you are, whatever it is, keep it going. Keep it going until...”

[sees someone staring at him] 

I've lost a button... one of those cheap outfits.....

5G Debate

On Tuesday 10th September 2019 supporters of the Stop 5G Campaign gathered outside of Bristol Council House, recently renamed City Hall, in order to bring awareness to the public of the dangers of Wi-Fi enabled 5G on all living things. 

Afterwards at 6.00 pm they filed Into the Public Gallery to witness and support the contributions from Amber Eastman followed by Karen Churchill who both did their best considering the restriction of time imposed upon them. 

The accumulation of over the 3,500 signature threshold qualified a Councillor debate with Sally Beare presenting the petition requesting a pause to Bristol’s 5G roll out until it has been proven to be safe. First to respond was Thomas Brook, the Labour Councillor for Bishopston and Ashley Down, who is also the Chair of Bristol Development Control Committee as well being on the Public Control and Safety Committee. 

So having heard his impassioned opinion on 5G based on his faith on the information espoused by Public Health England I thought it expedient to include some some balance by including some insights, following the video clips of the Council meeting, from the experience of Barry Trower who is the World’s primary go to person on the effects of Microwaves on the Human body. 

All other Councillors have their political affiliations identified prior to speaking Barry Trower begins at 33.07

5G : Is It SAFE? - Presented by Ian R Crane

'Short for 'fifth- generation', 5G wireless technology promises faster download and upload speeds. 

Mobile network provider EE, claims 5G technology will 'provide a better connection in busy places. '

The technology has already begun to be rolled out across several major UK cities, including London, Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, but not everyone is convinced the technology is progress. 

In fact, 5G technology is a hugely controversial topic, that has caused mass controversy, with many scientists, academics & Health Care professionals voicing concerns about potential health risks. In fact, there is not a single INDEPENDENT Scientific Study PROVING 5G frequencies to be SAFE! 

Consequently, the 'Precautionary Principle' should be applied pending further study but the 5G agenda is being driven by Corporate Greed ... 

Health & Well-being then become secondary considerations, until such time as Concerned Communities come together to remove the 'Political Will' to continue rolling out a potentially devastating, ecocidal technology. 

Ian R Crane is a former Oilfield Services Executive who spent seven years (2013 - 2019) supporting Communities develop their resistance the UK Government's FRACKING agenda. In late 2017, Ian became aware that the Countrywide Tree-Culling was directly related to the planned roll-out of 5G, due to 'Organic Material' being a BLOCK to 5G frequencies. This prompted him to study the available academic research of the Negative Health Impacts of 5G microwave frequencies. 

Ian's mantra is to encourage people to do their OWN research ... and his thought-provoking presentation will undoubtedly stimulate further curiosity, particularly amongst those who are already concerned at the pace with which Humanity is being led deeper into technological reliance.' 

Monsieur Verdoux

The Girl :

It's nice seeing you. You'll never

realise what your kindness meant.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

Kindness is a convenient thing at times, my dear.

The Girl :

However, tell me about yourself.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

I prefer to talk about something pleasant.

You for instance and this...

And what?

Monsiuer Verdoux :
What sort of a chap is your friend?

The Girl :

In many ways, very kind and generous.

But in business, quite ruthless.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

Business is a ruthless business.

Do you love him?

The Girl :

I thought you didn't believe in such things?

Monsiuer Verdoux :

Everyone needs Love.

The Girl :

Something's happened. 
You seem to have lost your zest for bitterness.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

Perhaps I have no more use for it, since I've given up The Fight.

The Girl :

There's always something to fight for.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

For me, there is nothing.

The Girl :

Nothing?

Monsiuer Verdoux :

Soon after The Crash, I lost my wife and child.

The Girl :

Oh, I'm sorry, I never realised.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

However, they're much happier Where They Are 
than living in This World of Uncertainty.

The Girl :

You have changed. 
I can see that.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

Since the loss of my family, I seem to have awakened from A Dream.

The Girl :

What do you mean?

Monsiuer Verdoux :

I was a bank clerk once.

My existence a monotonous rhythm.

Day in and day out, counting Other People’s Money.

Then the rhythm was broken.

I lost my position.

What followed was a numbed confusion.

A nightmare in which I lived in a half dream world.

A horrible world.

And now I've awakened.

I wonder if that world ever existed.

The Girl :

You went through a bad ordeal.

Don't allow it to take hold of you.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

It hasn't. Despair is a narcotic.

It lulls the mind into indifference.

The Girl :

But that's giving up Life.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

We must all give it up sooner or later.

The Girl :

Yes, but not before our Time.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

Why?

The Girl :

Must you know the reason for everything?

Monsiuer Verdoux :

It might help a little if we did.

The Girl :

Life is Beyond Reason.

That's Why you must go on.

If it's only to fulfil Your Destiny.

Monsiuer Verdoux :

My Destiny!

The Great Dictator (1940)

Note, any resemblance between Hynkle the Dictator and the Jewish Barber is purely co-incidental. 

This is a story of a period between two World Wars - an interim in which Insanity cut loose. 

Liberty took a nose dive, and Humanity was kicked around somewhat.

Herr Garbitsch :

"Corona veniat electis."

Victory shall come to The Worthy.

Today, Democracy, Liberty, and Equality are words to fool The People.

No nation can progress with such ideas.

They stand in the way of action.

Therefore, we frankly abolish them.

In the future, each man will serve the interest of The State with absolute obedience.

Let him who refuses beware!

The rights of citizenship will be taken away from all Jews and other non-Aryans.

They are inferior and therefore enemies of the state. It is the duty of all true Aryans to hate and despise them.

Henceforth this nation is annexed to the Tomanian Empire, and the people of this nation will obey the laws bestowed upon us by our great leader, the Dictator of Tomainia, the conqueror of Osterlich, the future Emperor of The World!

Schultz :

You speak.

A Jewish Barber :

I can't.

Schultz :

You must.

It's our only hope.

We all want to Help one another — Human Beings are like that. 

We want to live by each other's Happiness, not by each other's Misery. 

We don't want to hate and despise one another. 

In This World, there is room for everyone :

The Good Earth is rich, and can provide for everyone. 

The Way of Life can be Free and Beautiful — 

But We Have Lost The Way

 

Greed has poisoned Men's Souls, 

Has barricaded The World with Hate, 

Has goose-stepped Us into Misery and Bloodshed. 

We have developed Speed, 

But We have SHUT ourselves IN. 

Machinery that gives Abundance has left Us In-Want. 

Our Knowledge has made Us Cynical; 

Our Cleverness, Hard and Unkind —

 

We THINK Too Much and FEEL Too Little. 

More than Machinery, We need Humanity. 

More than Cleverness, We need Kindness and Gentleness. 

Without these qualities, Life will be violent and all will be lost.

The Aeroplane and The Radio have brought Us closer together —

The very nature of these inventions cries out for The Goodness in Men, 

Cries out for Universal Brotherhood, 

For The Unity of Us All. 

Even now, My Voice is reaching millions throughout The World — 

Millions of Despairing Men, Women and Little Children — 

Victims of a System That Makes Men Torture and Imprison Innocent People. 

To Those Who Can Hear Me, I Say — Do Not Despair. 

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of Greed — the bitterness of Menwho fear the way of human progress. 

The hate of Men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people and so long as Men die, Liberty will never perish. 

Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes — Men who despise you — enslave you — who regiment your lives — tell you what to do — what to think or what to feel! 

Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. 

Don't give yourselves to these unnatural Men— machine Menwith machine minds and machine hearts! 

You are not machines! 

You are not cattle! 

You are men! 

You have the love of humanity in your hearts. 

You don't hate! Only the unloved hate — the unloved and the unnatural! 

Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! 

Fight for liberty! 

In the 17th Chapter of St. Luke it is written: "The Kingdom of God is within man" — not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! 

You, the people have the power — the power to create machines.

The power to create happiness! 

You, The People, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. 

Then, in the name of democracy, let us use that power! Let us all unite! 

Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give Mena chance to work, that will give youth the future and old age a security. 

By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie! 

They do not fulfil their promise; they never will. Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people! 

Now, let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness. 

Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite!

[Cheers]

Hannah, can you hear me? 

Wherever you are, look up, Hannah. 

The clouds are lifting. 

The Sun is breaking through. 

We are coming out of The Darkness into The light. 

We are coming into a New World, a Kindlier World, where Men will rise above their hate, their greed and brutality. 

Look up, Hannah. The Soul of Man has been given wings, and at last he is beginning to fly. 

He is flying into the rainbow — into the light of hope, into the future, the glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. 

Look up, Hannah. Look up.

Modern Times

"Modern Times." 

A story of industry, of individual enterprise - humanity crusading in the pursuit of happiness.

Sheriff Couler:

Well, you're a free man. 

The Tramp :

Free? Can't I stay a little longer? 

I'm so happy here. 

Sheriff Couler : 

This letter will help you to get work. 

Now Make Good.

“What I’m worried about also, in this age of social media. . . I’ve noticed that as a teacher in the classroom that the young people are so used to communicating now by cellphone, by iPhone, that they’re losing body language and facial expressions, which I think is going to compound the problem with these dating encounters.

Because the ability to read the human face and to read little tiny inflections of emotion... . I think my generation got that from looking at great foreign films with their long takes. So you’d have Jeanne Moreau and Catherine Deneuve in like potential romantic encounters, and you could see the tiniest little inflections that signal communication or sexual readiness or irony or skepticism or distance or whatever.

The inability to read other people’s intentions. . . I think this is going to be a disaster. I just notice how year by year the students are becoming much more flat affect. And they themselves complain that they’ll sit in the same room with someone and be texting to

each other.”