Thursday 30 November 2023

Bonapartism


Serfs could not be drafted — 
Napoleon saw to it 
that they could be.

In a somewhat fantastical scene towards 
the concluding half of Abel Gance’s 
classic 1927 silent film about 
Napoleon Bonaparte & The French Revolution, 
the ghost of murdered revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat 
beckons to an ascendant Napoleon

“What are your plans, Bonaparte?”

The confident young General replies : 

“The Liberation of oppressed peoples, 
the fusion of great European interests, 
the suppression of frontiers…” and… 
“…THE UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC

Europe will become a single people, and anyone, 
wherever he travels, will always find himself 
in a common fatherland.

To achieve this sacred aim, many wars will be necessary, 
but I proclaim it here for posterity, victories will one day 
be won without cannon and without bayonet.”

….but the concluding part is missing Napoleon's conclusion, as follows :

“The first impetus has been given and after the fall 
and the disappearance of My System it seems to me that 
the only way in which an equilibrium can be achieved 
in Europe is through a League of Nations….”

Napoleon To Nashville : Napoleon Bonaparte British Created Fascist


Napoleon's family background is that his father and mother were parts of a Corsican liberation movement which was an asset of British intelligence and the British Admiralty the leader of this Corsican Liberation Front controlled by London was Pasquale Poli a celebrated figure of the British controlled enlightenment Napoleon's father Carlo Bonaparte Bey was the secretary and right-hand man of Pasquale poli for about 20 years after the close of the war of the austrian succession in 1748 Corsica had a not was in the nominal possession of Genoa but they were French Garrison's along the coast the mountainous interior of the island was controlled by Pasquale polly and his pro-British Liberation Front Carlo Bonaparte they was so devoted to Paulie that in 1767 he brought his entire family including wife Leticia to live in Powys Mountain stronghold and capital of course they they keep the iguana parfait Napoleon's mother was the prettiest woman presence when pouty received an invoice of the bay of Tunis by the middle of the 1700s Horace Walpole the brother of the British prime minister was paying close attention to Corsica Polly was presented on the stage of Europe as the greatest statesman and constitutionalist of his time Frederick the Great of Prussia lionized Polly and his little handful of brave men who were fighting for liberty Voltaire joined in the chorus of praise Voltaire and Rousseau liked Corsica because they saw the shepherds of its mountains as semi civilised brigandage and robbery were widespread murders and vendetta's accounted for 800 homicides per year the Corsicans were closer to the state of nature and were therefore better thought Rousseau the leading publicity man for Pasquale Polly was James Boswell the most famous biographer in the English language and to put it mildly a British agent Boswell visited at the time that the Bonaparte they fell they was living in Powys mountain stronghold although little Napoleon had not yet been born Boswell's account of Corsica was published with the help of David Hume in 1768 and it caused the sensation it was in the same year that the French Foreign Minister choise I ordered french forces to wipe out Paul D Napoleon Bonaparte was born that same year powdi frets fled to London where he lived comfortably among the oligarchs for the next twenty years but he went back for the revolution Corsica was thus a laboratory for social experiments by the main operatives of the angle of venetian enlightenment Rousseau revealed something very important when he wrote in his social contract of 1762 that he had a quote presentiment that this little island will one day astonish Europe Napoleon's father worked for a British agent and in Corsica family is everything Napoleon's family were members of the petty nobility the level of a British Queen on the pole Ian's father's side the Bonaparte family Bonaparte they claimed to descend from Genoese merchants who came to Corsica around fourteen ninety or 1492 notice that by this time Genoa was a junior partner of Venice on Napoleon's mother's side the Romilly no claim to be descendant also from a Venetian the counts of Cole Alto the Bonaparte a and Rama we know families had intermarried with the families of the Corsican nobility including the family variously called para Vezina para Vizzini para vicino parravicini pallavicino or Pallavicini they were also the Pieta Santa the boss see in the or mano the pots of the Borgo lived in the top floor of napoleon's house and once father carlo sued the Pozzo di Borgo for emptying a chamber pot on his head the later Pozzo di Borgo as russian Czarist minister would help rule paris after the fall of Napoleon the born apart a family strategy was thus the seizure political power in an independent Corsica that had kicked out the French while working in alliance with the British to this Napoleon added results of his own studies he was fascinated by Plutarch indeed old Paul D once told Napoleon that he napoleon was not a modern man but a rebirth out of the age of Plutarch Napoleon's model of the good Society was the dictatorship of Sparta and Napoleon believed man had no rights Napoleon's intense dislike of the French was increased by his experience at school in France at the end where he made his famous pledge to cause the French all the harm he possibly could when the French Revolution broke out in the Polian first sought to use his rank of lieutenant of artillery to take over Corsica he tried to take over first by getting himself elected of the elected commander of the new Corsican National Guard but he only came in second during this time he wrote to his superior officers in Paris and talked of France as quote your nation since he could not take power by the ballot box on Easter Sunday 1792 Napoleon tried a military coup leading French the Corsican forces against it force flying the French flag he failed his third attempt was to use the jacoba clubs of Corsica which were controlled by his brothers to get Polly who is now back in power arrested for high treason Napoleon now under a French flag failed for a second time to capture the Citadel and he vest failed to take power for a third time but now his entire family had to flee to France to escape Pauly's Vendetta Napoleon made headway by his willingness to use his cannons against the mob Napoleon exalted the revolution and raved Macha and Vorbis Pierre those are my saints when Robespierre and the other terrorists fell Napoleon shifted to Baja soon Napoleon got a command in Italy and began to win victories against the inept Austrian with the armies that Carnot had created the post 1795 directory was a weakened hated government there was a lower house called the 500 in an upper house called the ancient and an executive of five directors one director was karna another director was Napoleon's protector the stock Jabbar Baca the directory regime was a storm cellar for very unpopular Regicides and terrorists who knew that if the king came back they would be executed the discredited directory fearing Royalists restoration needed the gripping exploits of a victorious general of these they were soon only one Bonaparte the Regicides wanted war and Bonaparte could be relied on to deliver with the Treaty of Campo Formio in October 1797 Austria dropped out of the war and England stood alone against France the first coalition was over and the British predicament resembled that of May 1940 a cross-channel invasion was on the agenda the British were very vulnerable Pitt had financed the first coalition against France with loans and prices began to inflate in February 1797 the Bank of England defaulted on gold payments to private citizens crops were bare bread was scarce at this time Britain became permanently dependent on imported food famine threatens and they were mutinies in the Royal Navy there was also a rebellion brewing in Ireland under the leadership of the United Irish society and Theobald Wolfe Tone the French had actually gotten 15,000 men to Ireland Bantry Bay in 1796 but they had not landed because of bad weather at the end of 1797 in the beginning of 1798 the Irish met with Bonaparte and Tally Hall appealing for the help of a French army a French landing would have led to a general uprising and the ouster of the British and Pitt recognized that there was no military way to stop such a landing at the same time the directory named Napoleon the commander of the army of England massing in the Channel ports for channel invasion the crucial period is the end of 1797 in the first months of 1798 Napoleon was reporting that he was having difficulty finding enough ships to transport the invasion force at this point Tally Hall came forward with his idea of dropping the cross-channel invasion and invading Egypt instead now at this time there were no British in Egypt there was no Suez Canal tallyhawk claimed that the idea of taking Egypt was a way of getting to India and Napoleon supported tally hormones Egyptian plan he reported that the cross-channel invasion was impossible despite important opposition in the directory the decision was made in early March 1798 to send a fleet and an army not to England or Ireland but to Egypt two months later in May tens of thousands of Irish Patriots Catholics and Protestants rose against the hated British the Irish were slaughtered they never had enough guns and no sufficient French forces ever landed although a small French force did show how pathetic the British land forces were before the French was surrounded in Egypt Nelson destroyed the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile and Napoleon abandoned his own army there where it surrendered in 1801 one fleet and one army lost and nothing gained but much was lost turkey and Russia joined together against the intruder Napoleon and the French defeats encouraged Russia and Austria to join with the British to form the second coalition the Egyptian fiasco had led to a strategic disaster it had saved the British from possible destruction but it helped Napoleon's career after he had shown that he had no intention of fighting the British he was groomed by Tali Hall for his seizure of power in November of 1799 the crew of Lamia Napoleon later brought Tallyho into his government now Ali Wong was a renegade Catholic bishop mad for money and power he was pro British in the way that every oligarch is and more tally won't begin working against Napoleon as an agent of Czar of the Tsar of Russia in 1808 Tally Hall lasted far longer than Napoleon he was still in power in 1831 when he created modern Belgium for the British to reassure the old jacoba Napoleon brought in Joseph Boucher at one point in the revolution the terror had been demanding had demanded the wiping out of the city of Lyon in the same way that Hitler had ordered the destruction of Warsaw in World War two Boucher directed the massacres and Fouchet stayed in power until 1820 Napoleon also got support in his coup from a veteran revolutionary a base yet a regicide and the theoretician of the Third Estate napoleon was named first consul for ten years Sooni other referendum to get himself named first consul for life then in 1804 he proposed a plebiscite saying the government of the republic is confided to an emperor at his coronation napoleon forced the pope to attend but he crowned himself with a pagan crown of gold and laurel he had one hand on his sword-hilt to show that his regime was based on military force after this Napoleon went off the deep end of his megalomania and tells it he attempted to divide Europe with the Czar of Russia in the same year he committed the folly of invading Spain and Portugal around this time Napoleon also launched his Continental System which forbad the importation of British goods into any French controlled or French allied part of Europe the British responded with a blockade without railroads it was impossible to run the European economy with land transportation alone despite the fact Oh help from Thomas Jefferson's embargo policy the Continental System backfire every time the paulien conquered a European country the British seized its colonies Napoleon defeated Russia Austria and Prussia several times over but these were all sometime enemies of the British while the British conquered the world outside of Europe but Napoleon did get his Habsburg Duchess Napoleon out stood Pius the seventh as the head of the papal States Pius the seventh excommunicated Napoleon for a time the Polian toyed with the idea of forcing the papacy to relocate to the new imperial capital Paris Napoleon built up a totalitarian police state based on conscription the dress he always needed soldiers his anti feudal anti-union and anti guild policies reduced populations to an atomized mass which could not resist serfs cannot be drafted Napoleon made sure that they could be Napoleon created the new imperial nobility Tally Hall was made prince of Benevento Fouchet that abya thesis of the terror was now solemnly addressed as the Duke of Otranto Napoleon placed his parvenu relatives on the thrones of Europe his sister Pauline married Prince Borghese of Italy Pauline was a nymphomaniac his sister ELISA mate became Grand Duchess of Tuscany she patronized Paganini and made money through the mass production of marble busts of Napoleon paranoid and syphilitic brother Louie was made king of Holland Louie drifted off to a spa and the Kingdom was liquidated in 1810 Napoleon the third was the son of Louis general muha married Napoleon's sister Caroline and they were made the monarchs of Naples moo-ha thought well in battle but by 1813 he had betrayed Napoleon to marinate he was angry that he had not been made king of Poland as well general bernadotte's married Napoleon's old girlfriend Daisy a clevy to console the jilted Desiree Napoleon made Bernadotte King of Sweden his failure to bring Swedish troops into the Napoleon 1812 invasion of Russia helped to doom that campaign Josephine son Eugene became Viceroy of northern Italy jérôme Bonaparte became king of Westphalia in Germany Jerome was a pleasure loving hedonist his nickname was Fifi Jerome commanded one wing of the Russian invasion his bundling was another key factor in Napoleon's disaster Westphalia collapsed about 1813 elder brother Joseph was made King of Naples and later king of Spain where his incompetent meddling guaranteed that the Duke of Wellington and the gray area would defeat the French in 1814 Joseph sealed Napoleon's doom by surrendering Paris to the Allies Napoleon called him a Kalyani and a pig mother Leticia never learned French she went around saying long go my long go my in her Corsican dialect long gone I meant let's hope it lasts in case it didn't Napoleon himself built up a stash of 500 million gold francs under the tree there he nepoleon coined the word United States of Europe when Fouchet warned Napoleon not to attack Russia while the Spanish campaign was going poorly Napoleon replied and I quote I need 800 thousand troops and I have them I can drag all Europe after me and in these days I regard Europe as a rotten old who must do my pleasure when I possess such an army there must be one legal code one Court of Appeals and one currency for all of Europe the European nations must be melted into a single nation and Paris must become the capital of the world can I help it if so much power is sweeping me on to world dictatorship unquote adult care wrote in his history of the consulate and the Empire of the cry rising up from every family in Paris and the remotest provinces which was he wants to sacrifice all our children to his mad ambition in 1813 Metternich's confronted Napoleon with the fact that his soldiers were now young boys children Napoleon raid that he grew up on the battlefield and he didn't mind if he lost a million men Napoleon viewed the French as a vehicle for his ambition much as the Austrian Hitler later viewed the Germany's Napoleon was a one-world imperialist and an anti nationalist his only disagreement with the British was the matter of where the capital of the world Empire would be London or Paris a mere detail as his marshals told him the distance from Madrid to Moscow turned out to be too far Napoleon sought to build a world empire based on the reign of terror this aspect is captured in a bell Gauss's 1927 silent film on the early career of Napoleon this is the scene in which Napoleon visits the deserted hall of the French National Convention which had been the seat of the reign of terror a few years before the ghosts of the now guillotine terrorists Danton Robespierre Marat, Saint-Just,  appear and demand that Napoleon pledged his loyalty to their heritage of inhuman madness Napoleon's lines as you were about to read them in the film are a direct quote but the concluding part is missing Napoleon's conclusion is as follows and get a quote 


the first impetus has been given and after the fall and the disappearance of my system it seems to me that the only way in which an equilibrium can be achieved in Europe is through a League of Nations….” so Spoke Napoleon almost one century before Woodrow Wilson their side and the League of Nations 


[Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 


Napoleon in the Bonaparte family had been British assets in Corsica during the time of Halle after the flare-up of the Napoleonic Wars the Bonaparte family and their networks all went back to work for the British their handiwork included some of the dirtiest British operations of the 19th century all over the world Napoleon the third would later write that his uncle's only mistake had not been imperialism and aggression but only fighting the British that mistake was now permanently corrected the result was a new Bonaparte infestation of the United States and of Josephine's old slaving grounds in the Caribbean Napoleon the third in particular would become the most aggressive foreign supporter of the Confederacy Napoleon the third sent a French army to Mexico to support the regime of the Habsburg Archduke Archduke Maximilian Napoleon the third finally left in 1867 under the threat of military intervention by grant and Sheridan this beast of bonaparte ISM did not die with the defeat and captivity of Napoleon in 1815 the beast reared its head in North America when many of the exiled Bonaparte and French military officers came to the u.s. to seek refuge the British found this beast a very useful asset inside the young nation of the United States this new Prince brand of aristocracy with its revolutionary facade and its aura of military heroism proved to be a most effective carrier of the disease of oligarch ISM into the young Republic the infection manifested itself first as an imperial impulse directed against the immediate neighbors of the US then later as was the case with the foreign legions of Imperial Rome the disease proved nearly fatal to um when those same corrupted Imperial forces were set into motion to provoke a civil war within the nation itself after his defeat at Waterloo in 1815 Napoleon was held under house arrest on the island of st. Helena in the South Atlantic some members of napoleon family went into exile in the US or elsewhere other family members were either executed or were placed under house arrest in Europe Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte who had been the king of Spain made it to the US along with a variety of nieces and nephews they settled on in the state in Bordentown New Jersey just outside of Philadelphia on the Delaware River also escaping to the u.s. were a large number of Napoleon's military officers many of whom had been court-martialed in Epsom tea and had a death sentence over their heads and at the same time that these exiles were arriving in the u.s. there was also a movement to Europe of members of the Bonaparte clan these were the Pattison Bonaparte back in 1803 found the Polian was still in power he ordered his youngest brother to Rome to take part in the invasion of the Caribbean on a stopover in Baltimore the 19 year old Jerome married an American woman Elizabeth Tabitha Napoleon immediately orders his little brother back to Europe where an annulment of the marriage was demanded now back under Napoleon's control to Rome next Mary Catherine of Britain Berg and became the king of Westphalia meanwhile back in Baltimore Elizabeth and liberal Jerome who was nicknamed Beaufort Bonaparte of course looked desperately to find allies in Europe who would help re-establish their claim to royal titles or to at least increase the pension paid to them by the Bonaparte family in 1815 when the other Bonaparte's were kicked out of Europe the Patterson Bonaparte were allowed into France for the first time it is this Bois Bonaparte who produced a child Charles who later became the Attorney General of the United States under the trees administration of Teddy Roosevelt hosting Elizabeth and Bo Bonaparte in France was none other than Albert Gallatin the Swiss born British agent who had just spent 14 years wrecking us finances on behalf of the British in his position as US Treasury secretary under President Jefferson and Madison it was in 1815 that Gallatin was appointed ambassador to France for the u.s. just in time to become the mentor for the young vote Bonaparte who spent his youth travelling between Paris Gallatin hometown of Geneva Switzerland and went into u.s. the New Jersey estate of his uncle Joseph Bonaparte this Joseph Bonaparte had back in 1808 been installed by his brother Napoleon as the king of Spain he was now in 1815 reigning over a 1,800 acre estate in Bordentown New Jersey called Point Breeze Joseph also maintained a residence residence in nearby Philadelphia which had been provided for him by his banker in the u.s. Stephen Girard Gerrard who was himself born in Bordeaux France had made his fortune in the West Indies slave trade the next invested in opium trafficking in the Orient and finally settled in Philadelphia establishing a bank called the Bank of Stephen Girard with the assistance of then Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin it was this Bank which handled a Bonaparte money Joseph Bonaparte also hosted at his New Jersey estate two of his nephews Lucien and Aquila Murat sons of his sister Caroline who had married Napoleon's generals Gusti Murat Napoleon had made Caroline and Yasin the king and queen of Naples after Waterloo Yasin was killed by firing squad Caroline was held in Europe under house arrest and Lucien and Kelly were able to escape to New Jersey where they were hosted by their uncle at Point Breeze these were rats and to pronounce the name properly the accident must be placed on the rat these Murat brothers traveled back and forth to Europe all the while promoting the Confederacy on this side of the Atlantic and the Manzini lad rebellions of Europe on the other side Aquila Murat died in Florida in 1847 Valusia moved back to Europe in 1848 when the Bonaparte's came back to power in France was Napoleon the third Lucien became its senator there and in 1860 he received the appointment to head all of Scottish Rite Freemasonry for France awarded to him by none other than the free Masonic leader Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan founder Albert Pike it was through Lucy and son you're seen a few generations later that a Princess Caroline Marat was produced who found her way to Front Royal Virginia just a few miles from here for her such stepson who is a member of the state legislature of Virginia still today functions as a toady for the British oligarchy as for Achilles Dena's wife Katherine produced no news plague carrying the rats here in the US but because of Achilles dedication to the promotion of the Confederate cause his widow in 1861 was given the honor of firing the cannons at the Florida State House which announced the Secession of Florida from the Union in that year also taking up residence in the Philadelphia Point Breeze area in 1815 were a number of Napoleon's exiled military officers the most famous of these included the Salomon Brothers also general regal and marshal grouchy in 1817 general re Solomon married Henrietta Gerard's the niece of banker Stephen Girard and settled on an estate next to Joseph Bonaparte Point Breeze in addition to Philadelphia french-speaking New Orleans served as a meeting place and coordinating Center for various plots and schemes in which Joseph and exiled generals were involved a building in the heart of New Orleans was purchased by the mayor of the city Nicholas Jarrell to serve as a residence for Napoleon himself provided that any of the various schemes to rescue him from captivity proved successful the more serious and menacing schemes of partiece however involves various expeditions called filibuster which were launched into Spanish held territory bordering the US since Joseph Bonaparte had once been the king of Spain their plan was to reinstate Joseph as the infra over those in the Spanish America who had once been his subjects during his short seven-year reign Napoleon himself from the mansion where he was held captive at st. Helena made several statements supporting such schemes he said to general arriba best friend who was part of the entourage who had accompanied Napoleon in his island captivity there's still talk of Joseph and Mexico they say he has 15,000 Frenchmen behind him if he has only 1/3 this number even 2,000 as long as there are artillery Calvary an engineering officers among them it's a lot officers you know make men into soldiers with them he could make something out of the Mexicans who on their own amount to nothing and to the position who attended him at St. Helena who was British I see no feasible method to remedy the distress of your manufacturers except endeavouring by all means that your command to provide the separation of the spanic South American colonies from the mother country by means of this you would have an opportunity and an opportunity of opening and extensive and lucrative commerce with the South Americans who would be productive of great advantages to you if you do not adopt depths of the kind the Americans will be beforehand with you if you act as I have said they could trade with no other nation than you by having me in your hand you could always make advantageous terms with Joseph who loves me sincerely and would do anything for me now before Joseph and the Napoleonic generals began their filibustering incursions into Spanish territory in the West filibustering by Americans was already occurring into Spanish Florida which before 1810 had extended all the way to New Orleans on the Mississippi River by 1819 Spain was forced to concede that it can no longer hold even EasternFlorida and sold what remains under its control to the US but these encroachments into Florida over this period were only sanctioned by the US federal government when there was an appeal that they were necessary in order to hold at bay hostile Indian tribes in the area the leading figure in the area at that time was General Andrew Jackson who was involved in deliberately provoking confrontations with the Indians to provide a cover for the squatters to move in with their settlement this 

Andrew Jackson was personally such an admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte that in 1821 when Napoleon died Jackson asked for a cutting from the willow tree under which Napoleon was buried it was in 1818 only three years after their arrival in the u.s. that the Bonaparte filibusters launched their first major operation into Spanish territory the expedition was headed by the brothers Daryl Charles Lynam on and general real Aleman who remember was the husband of the niece of Stephen Girard the state of Texas long after saw fit to erect a monument to the short-lived encampment of these foreign Brigance the monument reads the general Charles lalamon Antoine Rico the veterans of the Napoleonic Wars and other French settlers who after many trials and adventures came to Texas in the spring of 1818 to found on the banks of the Trinity River this chomps a zeal a last refuge for peace of Liberty it then says in French we want to live as free men through our labor and in peace the state of Texas today might do homage to the so called settlement but back in 1818 the activities of this Bonaparte is proud raised alarms in the federal government of the United States President Monroe had been alerted to their schemes by reports issued to a Secretary of State John Quincy Adams by William Lee they've been the former he was formerly the American counsel to Bordeaux France and had at one time been an intimate of the Bonaparte gang Lee wrote to John Quincy Adams in September of 1817 it appears from all I can learn that an expedition is contemplated against Mexico at the head of which is general law the generals live among Colonel gala bear and many other French officers of inferior grade they engaged 80 French officers and a thousand men I learned that the younger general alaman returned from New Orleans but a short time since and while they're sent a French officer of talents to Mexico to obtain information and found the Patriots this officer has lately returned it is in Philadelphia he represents that two of the most opulent and influential men in Mexico violence Valencia San Cordova are ready with all their means being proprietors of the largest mines and having at their disposal 10,000 raw troops to only wait for French officers to discipline them Lee also warns Adams that the generals planned an incursion into Peru which was to be based out of the Caribbean island of st. Thomas he indicated also that financing for these expeditions was coming from Philadelphia Boston and New York the beachhead for the Mexico expedition was the island of Galveston a no man's land disputed between the US and Spain the island was controlled at the time by a band of Caribbean pirates headed by the infamous Lafitte brother Jean M Pierre these pirates in previous years had based their operations out of New Orleans and they had at that time now the natural ally in general Andrew Jackson now they provided the logistical support for the Bonaparte East exhibition as it turned out the expected uprising among the Spanish citizens in the Trinity River area did not materialize and after a few months the disappointed generals and their crew abandoned the four fort they had built on the river and made their way back to Galveston on been to New Orleans President Monroe then ordered the Lafitte gangs to quit Galveston Island and order which was refused the Lafitte's held out for two more years until Monroe ordered a warship to the island to enforce the edict in 1829 General Andrew Jackson the admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte defeated John Quincy Adams in his bid for a second term as president the United States Mexico immediately fell victim to a filibustering free-for-all and by 1835 Aquila Murat the nephew of Joseph Bonaparte was directly at the center of it Akilah had moved from the Bonaparte's New Jersey estate in 1821 first to Tallahassee Florida Zinn to New Orleans in both places he purchased large sugar plantations and is on record as the owner of at least 150 slaves in 1835 he became the president of the filibustering Texas land company based in New Orleans during this period Akili was a close collaborator of Louisiana's future Senator Pierre Sewell a the son of another one of Napoleon's exile general it was Pierre su lay together with Louisiana's other infamous senator Judah Benjamin who later led Louisiana into the Confederate rebellion for these Confederate conspirators the acquisition of Mexico the Caribbean island and other Central and South American States was considered crucial to the creation of a new slave owners empire that would be powerful enough to resist or to even destroy the young Republic of the United States in 1848 thirty three years after Napoleon's Waterloo Britain's Lord Palmerston brought the Bonaparte family back into power in France with the accession of Palmerston puppet Napoleon the third Aquila Murat had died just the year before but his brother Lucien who had four children by that time deserted Point Breeze and headed for France together with uncle Joseph Bonaparte and the other assorted flotsam and jetsam in exile the Patterson Bonaparte Elizabeth and Beau took the opportunity at that time to become French citizens and in 1861 food in French Court to have Elizabeth's marriage validated which it's successful would have made both the successor to Napoleon the third so France was inundated with Bonaparte's murat and aging the poliana general who flooded in from various parts of the world but for the Western Hemisphere perhaps the last had been seen of the Bonaparte minute not so in 1861 Napoleon the third launched an invasion of Mexico with international help from the British the Austrians and even from a corrupted Spain the invasion was designed to give logistical support to the Confederate rebellion which the British had just ignited inside the u.s. the invading forces established a beachhead at Veracruz but after encountering a sipper resistance than expected in Mexico together with the prospect of the growing strength of an Abraham Lincoln Russian international alliance all the invading forces ended up withdrawing from Mexico except for the French the embattled French forces finally in 1863 took Mexico City and installed Austria's Archduke Maximilian as emperor of Mexico but it was in that same year that the Confederacy lost the decisive battle at Gettysburg to the Union forces thereby ensuring the doom of both the Confederate regime in the US and the Maximilian regimes in Mexico the world therefore saw the last gasp of the openly Imperial variety of the Bonaparte this disease in the Americas but was the patient completely cured of the infection [Applause] whoa such slander Serapis the british Lyndell against me my lady Fiona your majesty ah sorry your majesty at last I have found you at last deaf friendly voice yes I am the humble ah your service sire you do me honor I am yet log on to Tennant General James Bell will Bedford bars for guard commander the Calvary Western military district Confederate States of America on some page general ah you are free my phone yeah ancient an accepted Scottish bride southern jurisdiction voila I might since I'm go on are we on to fall I heard you in the busy being the territory the Confederacy so I hate you to pay my respect and my humble service is offered to you doing the stage and I found better thing my thanks for your cup of tea you just you urgent allow but there's me I regarded among you the combs Cibeles your reputation could not be better all of our best commanders are your disciples and imitators started with our master strategist President Jefferson Davis himself Jimmy Jimmy Jackson you know Johnson general Bragg and general hood they're all avid students of your campaign the typical Confederate general is always asking himself what would the implement Polian do if I were in my place along you imitate me that means you must have made conquest job play don't tell me let me guess I bet you get to see Tommy and please and you can't yeah I do you know we never got to Brazil although we already wish to do so alright alright I guess again you go and got yeah subha no we weren't able to come to Cuba either despite the design devoted efforts of our finest southern manhood well it is to get to our man and you take these y'all but deadly little rebound on the other side and then you got the town I believe you think that you command me o star to renewables all over the world hey don't don't get anything my colleague but you miss your générale definitely you know the APA's wha irregular irregular Calvary is my specialty general my motto is I get there first it's with the mostest yeah you as it began so you have won some victories a splendid victory saw at Fort Pillow Tennessee in the spring of 1864 and what was that my forces pill the vast number of captured black soldiers white civilians and Damn Yankees who were trying to surrender a Messick era where I have committed atrocities myself but even more importance in the military valor of our splendid Confederate forces was our ball drink and are sublime idealism Bravo above all slavery which boiled us the basis of freedom I was a slave trader myself before the Warsaw Valley problem maybe two three old wife Josephine she possession a falldown in Micronesia so I have slavery in two families our more strength was increased by devotion to our mother country I trust you understand sir but we anglo-saxon Cavaliers always look - my only mistake was that I did not make plans with people I teach because he's left to oppose them I need to do our part now my nephew you're funny on try he understands eyes and you Gracie besides that for you my time I leave you act for you I'd be honored if you'd inspect our Confederate apples with you don't maneuvers near here today and then we'll go to our commemoration of Spotsylvania courthouse they've all but fell we remember that the army travels on its stomach…..

Wednesday 29 November 2023

General Order One

Spy Octopus Helps Friend Hide From Shark

Coconut octopuses are vulnerable to blacktip sharks, who use smell to find prey. 
With the help of an unlikely ally, this octopus is able to hide from hungry sharks.

General Order 1 — Section 1:
Starfleet crew will obey the following with any civilisation that has not achieved a commensurate level of technological and/or societal development as described in Appendix 1.

No identification of self or mission.
No interference with the social, cultural, or technological development of said planet.
No references to space, other worlds, or advanced civilisations.
The exception to this is if said society has already been exposed to concept, herein. 
However, in that instance, section 2 applies.

Section 2 :
If said species has achieved the commensurate level of technological and/or societal development as described in Appendix 1, or has been exposed to the concepts listed in section 1, no Starfleet crew person will engage with said society or species without first gathering extensive information on the specific traditions, laws, and culture of that species civilisation.

Then Starfleet crew will obey the following:

If engaged with diplomatic relations with said culture, will stay within the confines of culture's restrictions.
No interference with the social development of said planet.


All You Have to Say



All I want to hear from your ass is, 
"You ain't GOT no problem, Jules. 
I'm ON the motherfucker — Go back in there,
Chill them niggas out and wait for The Cavalry
which should be coming, DIRECTLY."

Saturday 25 November 2023

Mark Kermode reviews Napoleon

Mark Kermode reviews Napoleon - Kermode and Mayo's Take

okay so um Napoleon directed by Ridley
Scott from a script by David scarper the
tagline he came from nothing he
conquered everything you say that both
of those it's a great tagline complete
rubbish yeah I'm just total rubbish in
both section I'm just setting it up okay
so the film follows Napoleon's rise you
know through the the ranks of authority
to war from Warrior to Emperor from
Emperor to Exile from Victoria from you
know
Victorious uh leader to Vanquish anyway
huge battles vast Globe trotting
narrative you know we can't go into
winter it's Russia the horses won't make
it massively compressed historical
narrative and of course the Fab line
which you quoted in that interview you
think you're so great because you have
boats said to the British ambass which I
think should now be put on the you know
on on the British passports we think
we're so great because we have like he
wanted to say was I effing hate the
British I know I know however with all
that I have to say that for me the
central uh theme of this is the
relationship between Napoleon and
Josephine as you know Phoenix says it's
part historical drama part character
study there has been much praise for the
spectacular battles I should say the
spectacular battles are really Grim I
mean they first for a start they're
murky I mean they're shot kind of yeah
they're battles it's mud it's rain it's
violence it's you know people running at
each other with pointed implements and
horses getting hit by cannonballs and
you know blood it's like Saving Private
Ryan Napoleonic style I thought that the
battle scenes were horrific and I I
think they're meant to be and when you
you know people talk obviously about you
know the battle scenes huge and
spectacular they're they're Grim um it's
interesting to knowe incidentally that
that's a movie by you know Ridley Scott
who everybody used to accuse of being
all spectacle and no substance that I
think what this is the substance that's
more interesting than the spectacle so
Napoleon is not sympathetic I mean he
may be a brave Warrior on the
battlefield she calls him a brute but in
private he is a weasy little boy out
there in the world he leads armies into
death and destruction the death tolls
are astonishing and are much is made at
the end of just what the death tolls
were. 

When he's with Josephine, he is to
use a word that wackin Phoenix used in
that interview whiny bratty kind of like 
schoolboy she exerts her power over him —

in a
in a a particular scene in which she
says to him they're sitting opposite
each other and she's sitting on a chair
and she says to him if you look down you
will see a surprise and once you see it
you will always want it 

now it takes a
very fine actor to deliver that line and
get away with it luckily Vanessa Kirby
is a very fine actor and so the whole
she's a big fan of the podcast by the
way well good that's great and she
delivers that line as you know a a
threat a tease a come on a stale I mean
there's so much power in the way she
delivers that line 

Phoenix talked in
that interview about the Absurd humor of
their relationship and I think that
absurdity is Central — I mean in fact that
on one level the movie itself is
preposterous : Ridley Scott’s Napoleon
would cover you know and I'm,
What all of it?!”  — preposterous.

But actually that preposterousness is particularly
apposite considering the nature of their
relationship — people have talked about
the great love between 
Napoleon & Josephine;

The Love scenes are ludicrous
deliberately-so  : he makes this weird
sound when he wants to be with her 
just this kind of weird gesture you know 
I I want to be with my — and then the scenes 
of them together he's — they are they are 
played for ludicrousness —

They're not, you know, long 
languorous passionate scenes;
quite the opposite, they are 
perfunctory and canine in 
the way that they're Played-out —

the madness of him crawling
underneath the table and during that
scene about you know why aren't you
pregnant yet the other thing that I
think which hasn't quite been flagged
enough is this is a film that manages to
portray Josephine as a sexually
independent strong woman without ever
demonizing her for it she is who she is
you take it or leave it she asks him
straight off right at the beginning I
have a past is that going to be an issue
and he says no she takes lovers she she
says to him have you had lovers he says
oh oh yes yes you think no you haven't
no you haven't it's just what she does
she's completely charismatic she's also
three-dimensional I mean when she said
in that interview you know first that
she wants a kind of you know distance
avoidance thing with him but then later
on she thinks that she genuinely does
love him she's never portrayed as a
demonized force and this is very unusual
for mainstream C to do something that
and I think that's it's partly to do
with the filming but I think a lot of it
is to do with Vanessa Kirby coming in
and taking control of that role and
making it the kind of lightning rod at
the heart of the film as for Phoenix's
Napoleon I mean he's a narcissistic
lunatic he's kind of like a a calicular
figure actually weirdly enough in terms
of performance there are flashes in his
performance of Malcolm mcdow's cular
petulent whiny brtish also his previous
Emperor for Ridley Scott kodus
is exactly that kind of exactly and
those things they not you know you know
what a fantastic uh you know uh
admirable leader quite the opposite
whiny bratty and brave in as much as the
winter is coming we have to stop no
we're going to carry on oh look
everyone's freezing to death there are a
couple of other performances is worth
mentioning rer Everett is very very good
he is as Sensational as Wellington just
having a fantastic time it looks like
he's drunk an entire bottle of
bitterness and fantastic uh you know and
thank heavens for the for the support um
there was that weird thing when you
compared you said that you know people
have said that uh Tony Scott is like
Napoleon the weird thing when you said
that Ridley Scott is like Napoleon but
he's a benevolent dictator actually the
comparison is between uh uh Ridley Scott
and Stan kuri because of course Stanley
kubric tried for years to get a Napoleon
project together he you know he
researched it it was called the greatest
movie never made uh he just never got it
done abble G's version originally wanted
it to be six films you know even though
the the the the end result of that
Napoleon is considered to be one of the
greatest works of Cinema it wasn't the
full thing that he wanted to do Ridley
Scott just went I'm going to make
Napoleon oh there we are I've made
Napoleon apparently there is a
director's cut coming later on which is
4 hours that we'll come to
yeah coming to Apple TV but so you know
if you look in the history of Cinema you
know the fact that that Ry Scott just
went I'm going to do Napoleon there we
are I've done Napoleon I mean man he
shoots fast 62 days the whole film took
breathtaking breathtaking you know
kurick decades didn't happen abble G
huge amount of su and only did some of
what he wanted to do but I do think that
at the end of it the thing that makes
the film interesting is the portrait of
aoon as this whiny weasly bratty
narcissistic ciglar like figure and the
portrait of Josephine as a strong
independent um three-dimensional
character who absolutely has the measure
of him at the beginning of him and and I
think Vanessa Kirby is the key to it I
think those people who think that uh
Ridley Scott likes events not
explanation will find this as more more
proof of that I think the events are
better than the explanation in terms of
who Napoleon was and who he there is no
explanation as to why he is that guy
there is no explanation as to like for
example the incredible reforms that he
passed the man who reintroduced slavy
reintroduced slavy into the French
colonies where you know where is that
going there are other people like Andrew
Roberts historian who said he was the
Enlightenment on a horse that's how
where where is that where is that
Napoleon so I don't think so when and
when Ridley Scot that's a great phrase
when challenged by Dan snow and others
about the historical accuracy instead of
saying it's a film I've just done a
version he has this Preposterous line
where he says were you there no well
shut up then or stronger language that's
not how history worked absolutely that's
not how history worked so I do think
Ridley needs a little bit of firm media
yes but I want I want to be clear
firstly I'm reviewing the film not the
history exactly and secondly Ridley has
always been like that Ridley has always
been like that anyway it's it's
spectacular if you get a chance to see
it on a big screen do that before it's
on your laptop or your phone because but
the battle scenes are brutal they're not
lavish and G glorious they are but it's
like Gladiator you know it is it's
brutal stuff also when I said Commodus
Emperor Commodus it wasn't Mark Commodus
obviously it was Oh I thought he' played
me oh well he could do he could play me
wacking would be great he would I mean
you know he did Johnny Cash he could do
me thanks very much for watching this
video I hope you enjoyed watching it as
much as we enjoyed making it while
you're here check out all the videos cuz
they're cool too aren't they they are
and if you want to keep up to date with
everything kerm Mayo take then check out
our social channels I mean why wouldn't
you I mean I I would but I have done
excellent.

Horrid







Drop Dead Fred - Outtakes and cut spitting scene - VERY RARE FOOTAGE


This very rare footage was supplied by the director of 'Drop Dead Fred' Ate de Jong. 
The footage is in b/w because sometimes the rushes weren't printed in colour. 
The shot when Fred spits on Elizabeth's head was deemed 
too disgusting by studio executives who cut it out of the film. 

Sadly another extensive sequence involving Fred visiting Drop Dead Fred land appears to be lost :-( 

Was it based on a novel or an actual story by Elizabeth Livingston?

It was an article, and I’m not sure if it was the New York Times or The New Yorker. The writers certainly took a lot of freedom in adapting it and then when I came onboard I also took a lot of freedom; together with the writers. 

The whole foray into The Past was actually non-existent in the original script – not the script that we filmed - but the script I first got, and I felt that the thing in The Past was so essential in understanding her [Elizabeth - Phoebe Cates]. 

 Actually, this next bit might ruin your liking of the film...

No : nothing can do that.

There is an underpinning in the film which is actually extremely serious – because basically she is an abused child. We did it in a way that it wasn’t disturbing but there is a serious undertone in the film. And this psychiatry organisation in California actually used it a lot for therapeutic means – which to be honest I had never thought that could happen. But to me the whole reason for doing the film was this underlying tone.

Well people who don’t like the film just see Rik Mayall flicking snot at people –

Which is funny in itself!

Exactly, and there’s nothing wrong with that

So speaking of Rik Mayall, were you aware of Rik prior to the film?

Yes, because of THE YOUNG ONES.

How much of Fred’s antics were in the script and how much was improvisation on Rik’s part?

Not that much improvisation. Rik had to approve me. I lived in Hollywood so I flew to London because it was a British company, Working Title, and this was their first American film. So I talked to Rik and told him my ideas and apparently he liked me and I got along with him marvellously I must say. 

I certainly encouraged him to improvise – but within pretty strict boundaries – we set up very specific rules for what Fred could do and what he couldn’t do. And we stuck to that. 

And then sometimes, for instance when he smears the dog poo on the carpet, I said ‘Rik maybe you should jump on the chair’ and then he does that, but the way he does it is of course something I could never tell him because it’s so much better. 

The studio made us cut out a few things because he did a few more things which I thought were marvellous... like he spits into a cup of coffee and Elizabeth’s mother drinks it and says; hmm... but the spitting got thrown out – they didn’t like it – it was too much for them.

It’s got a ‘12’ certificate in the UK, and I was watching it with my young daughter and we came to the “cobwebs!” scene and I thought : ‘Please don’t ask me to explain that joke...’ but she didn’t.

But kids have the great quality that if they don’t understand something – they just don’t understand it. It’s the moment when they almost understand it that they then ask The Question.

Well she actually gave me Two Questions to ask you – but don’t worry, neither is about cobwebs.. Does Fred remember all the children he’s helped?

In our discussions – Yes, he does remember all the kids he has helped, but once he’s with a new child he doesn’t care about the previous case – so when he’s there at the end, he might recognise Elizabeth, but he’s not interested so he doesn’t pay her any attention.


Ok, and the second question : Was Fred trapped in The Box for all those years or was he off helping other children?

No, in our opinion, he was trapped in The Box. There’s one scene which explains a little bit about that first question, it was a scene of about 8-10 minutes, and they cut it out. At some point Fred goes away from her towards the end and he goes back to Drop Dead Fred Land.

Oh yes...

I must have it somewhere on a videotape. If I find it I’ll send it to you – I know it exists. They go to Drop Dead Fred Land; all the other characters you see in the psychiatrists’ office are there too all having fun. And there are loads of doors and each door represents a new assignment but Fred says : “No, I have to go backI can’t leave her like that...

Once again – this film deserves a Blu-ray release with extras...

We did shoot a new ending also, because the original ending finished with Elizabeth telling Her Mother that she needed A Friend. But we felt the film needed a more upbeat ending.


So only Rik Mayall was attached to the film when you came on board. What was it like working with Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher?

I adored her. (I was not extremely close to Phoebe to be honest, I mean we could work together) but I adored Carrie. The writers hated her because she made up her own dialogue very often and she was so, so sharp with the dialogue (you could see the writers grinding their teeth). I’m still in touch with the writers and still in touch with Carrie. You know she even once did a scene where she said: “May The Force be with You”. I laughed; but I cut that out – it was a bit too campy.

Bridget Fonda doesn’t appear in the end credits...

No, she did it as a favour for Phoebe, they were good friends and she did it as a cameo.

Your Director of Photography was  Peter Deming – who’d lensed Sam Raimi’s EVIL DEAD 2 prior to DROP DEAD FRED and who has since gone on to work not only with Raimi several more times, but also David Lynch, Wes Craven etc...

We started with another DP, but after 3 days I said to our producer Paul Webster : Paul, this isn’t working, we’re only making 6 shots a day. So Paul had to fire her and Peter, who we’d already met, came back – and he was a great guy.

And the animator on the opening credits, Steve Segal [no not that Segal] went on to work on A BUG’S LIFE and TOY STORY...You’re a human four-leaf clover Ate!
(Laughs) I’ve never thought about it. I hope so!

We spoke a little about the script and the certificate it received here in the UK, was it difficult to know who to pitch the film to, and how far to go with some of the more ‘adult’ references and jokes?

We personally anticipated a slightly older audience than it got. The film was finished, and there were test screenings in different cities. The results of the tests were that this film is ‘particularly good for women over the age of 33’. The film was going to go out with 150 prints (which for an independent film was great).  So they test-released it first in 5 cities. The audience was all kids (kids and their parents). The weird thing was, in the evenings, when there weren’t any kids; there were couplesgenerally on the younger side – but couples; lots and lots of couples. It was a date movie! (Which we never expected).  The film did so well over that first weekend of the test-release with the 5 prints that they said okay, not 150 prints – 950 prints! And instead of spending $1.5million on publicity and advertising : $7million – more than the actual film’s budget.

Which was...?

$6.5million.

Bargain.

So for me it was like a dream come true. But when we made the film we thought that it was actually more for kids, and that we made the adult jokes for their parents. And then the tests all said no; but ultimately it was more or less true.

Thursday 23 November 2023

Janet






George…. Your Father
is in the same place
he’s been for the past
Thirteen Years --
Oak Park Cemetary…



Janet 
fem. proper name, a diminutive of Jane with -et. In Middle English, Ionete-of-the-steues "Janet of the Stews" (see stew (n.)) was a common name for a prostitute (late 14c.).

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Jenny 
fem. personal name, originally another form of Jane, Janey and a diminutive of Jane or Janet; in modern use (mid-20c.) typically a shortening of Jennifer

Jenny is attested from c. 1600 as female equivalent of jack (n.), and like it applied to animals (especially of birds, of a heron, a jay, but especially Jenny wren, 1640s, in bird-fables the consort of Robin Redbreast). Also like jack used of machinery; Akrwright's spinning jenny (1783) is said to have been named for his wife, but is perhaps rather a corruption of gin (n.2) "engine."

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Wednesday 22 November 2023

A Riotous and Indecent German Dance











5 entries found.

waltz (n.)
round dance performed to music in triple time, extraordinarily popular as a fashionable dance from late 18c. to late 19c., the dance itself probably of Bohemian origin, 1779 (walse, in a translation of "Die Leiden des jungen Werthers" from a French translation, which has walse), from German Waltzer, from walzen "to roll, dance," from Old High German walzan "to turn, roll," from Proto-Germanic *walt- (cognate with Old Norse velta), from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve."

Described in 1825 as "a riotous and indecent German dance"
 
— Walter Hamilton, 
"A Hand-Book or Concise Dictionary 
of Terms Used in the Arts and Sciences"

The music struck up a beautiful air, and the dancers advanced a few steps, when suddenly, to my no small horror and amazement, the gentlemen seized the ladies round the waist, and all, as if intoxicated by this novel juxtaposition, began to whirl about the room, like a company of Bacchanalians dancing round a statue of the jolly god. "A waltz!" exclaimed I, inexpressibly shocked, "have I lived to see Scotch women waltz?
— The Edinburgh Magazine, April 1820

[T]he waltz became a craze at the end of the [eighteenth] century, a double-dactylic, joyful experience of liberation, breaking resolutely away from the proscriptions of the minuet and the philosophy inherent in the minuet, which had emphasized a pattern of order and reason overseen by a sovereign, the individual submerged in the pattern. 

— Miller Williams, 
"Patterns of Poetry"

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waltz (v.)
1794, from waltz (n.). Meaning "to move nimbly" (as one does in dancing a waltz) is recorded from 1862. Related: Waltzed; waltzing.

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*wel- (3)
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to turn, revolve," with derivatives referring to curved, enclosing objects.

It forms all or part of: archivolt; circumvolve; convoluted; convolution; devolve; elytra; evolution; evolve; Helicon; helicopter; helix; helminth; lorimer; ileus; involve; revolt; revolution; revolve; valve; vault (v.1) "jump or leap over;" vault (n.1) "arched roof or ceiling;" volte-face; voluble; volume; voluminous; volute; volvox; volvulus; vulva; wale; walk; wallet; wallow; waltz; well (v.) "to spring, rise, gush;" welter; whelk; willow.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit valate "turns round," ulvam "womb, vulva;" Lithuanian valtis "twine, net," vilnis "wave," apvalus "round;" Old Church Slavonic valiti "roll, welter," vlŭna "wave;" Greek eluein "to roll round, wind, enwrap," eilein "twist, turn, squeeze; revolve, rotate," helix "spiral object;" Latin volvere "to turn, twist;" Gothic walwjan "to roll;" Old English wealwian "roll," weoloc "whelk, spiral-shelled mollusk;" Old High German walzan "to roll, waltz;" Old Irish fulumain "rolling;" Welsh olwyn "wheel."

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two-step (n.)
dance style, 1893, from two + step (n.); so called for the time signature of the music (as distinguished from the three-step waltz). But as the positions taken by the dancers involved direct contact, it was highly scandalous in its day and enormously popular.

A certain Division of an Auxiliary gave a dance not long since. I went and looked on. What did they dance? Two-step, two-step and two-step. How did they dance? When we used to waltz, we clasped arms easily, took a nice, respectable position, and danced in a poetry of motion. Now, girls, how do you two-step? In nine cases out of ten the dear girl reposes her head on the young man's shoulder, or else their faces press each other. He presses her to his breast as closely as possible, and actually carries her around. Disgraceful? I should say so. Do you wonder at the ministers preaching on dancing as a sin, when it looks like this to a woman like myself who believes in dancing and has danced all her life? Mothers, as you love your girls, forbid them to dance after this manner. 

— letter in the ladies' section of 
Locomotive Engineers' Monthly Journal, 
March 1898

To the Two Step may be accredited, serious injury to the Waltz, awkward and immodest positions assumed in round dancing, also as being a prominent factor in overcrowding the profession and causing a general depression in the business of the legitimate Master of Dancing. 

— The Director, 
March 1898

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homoioteleuton (n.)
 in general, "the repetition of endings in words, rhyme and near rhyme," but also, in palaeography, a form of scribal error which occurs "when two words/phrases/lines end with the same sequence of letters. The scribe, having finished copying the first, skips to the second, omitting all intervening words" 

— Robert B. Waltz, 
"The Encyclopedia of New Testament 
Textual Criticism," 2013

Greek, literally "same ending;" see homo- (1) "the same" + telos.

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Trending words










“If there is any truth or worth to the danse macabre, it is simply that novels, movies, TV and radio programs – even the comic books – dealing with horror always do their work on two levels. On top is the ‘gross-out’ level – when Regan vomits in the priest’s face or masturbates with a crucifix in The Exorcist, or when the raw-looking, terribly inside-out monster in John Frankenheimer’s Prophecy crunches off the helicopter pilot’s head like a Tootsie-Pop. 

The gross-out can be done with varying degrees of artistic finesse, but it’s always there. But on another, more potent level, the work of horror really is a dance – a moving, rhythmic search. And what it’s looking for is the place where you, the viewer or the reader, live at your most primitive level. The work of horror is not interested in the civilized furniture of our lives. Such a work dances through these rooms which we have fitted out one piece at a time, each piece expressing – we hope! – our socially acceptable and pleasantly enlightened character. 

It is in search of another place, a room which may sometimes resemble the secret den of a Victorian gentleman, sometimes the torture chamber of the Spanish Inquisition . . . but perhaps most frequently and most successfully, the simple and brutally plain hole of a Stone Age cave-dweller. 

Is horror art? On this second level, the work of horror can be nothing else; it achieves the level of art simply because it is looking for something beyond art, something that predates art : it is looking for what I would call phobic pressure points. The good horror tale will dance its way to the center of your life and find the secret door to the room you believed no one but you knew of – as both Albert Camus and Billy Joel have pointed out, The Stranger makes us nervous . . . but we love to try on his face in secret. Do spiders give you the horrors? Fine. We’ll have spiders, as in Tarantula, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and Kingdom of the Spiders. What about rats? In James Herbert’s novel of the same name, you can feel them crawl all over you . . . and eat you alive. How about snakes? That shut-in feeling? Heights? Or . . . whatever there is. 

Because books and movies are mass media, the field of horror has often been able to do better than even these personal fears over the last thirty years. During that period (and to a lesser degree, in the seventy or so years preceding), the horror genre has often been able to find national phobic pressure points, and those books and films which have been the most successful almost always seem to play upon and express fears which exist across a wide spectrum of people. Such fears, which are often political, economic, and psychological rather than supernatural, give the best work of horror a pleasing allegorical feel – and it’s the one sort of allegory that most filmmakers seem at home with. Maybe because they know that if the shit starts getting too thick, they can always bring the monster shambling out of the darkness again.

We’re going back to Stratford in 1957 before much longer, but before we do, let me suggest that one of the films of the last thirty years to find a pressure point with great accuracy was Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Further along, we’ll discuss the novel – and Jack Finney, the author, will also have a few things to say – but for now, let’s look briefly at the film. 

There is nothing really physically horrible in the Siegel version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers;* no gnarled and evil star travelers here, no twisted, mutated shape under the facade of normality. The pod people are just a little different, that’s all. A little vague. A little messy. Although Finney never puts this fine a point on it in his book, he certainly suggests that the most horrible thing about ‘them’ is that they lack even the most common and easily attainable sense of aesthetics. Never mind, Finney suggests, that these usurping aliens from outer space can’t appreciate La Traviata or Moby Dick or even a good Norman Rockwell cover on the Saturday Evening Post. That’s bad enough, but – my God! – they don’t mow their lawns or replace the pane of garage glass that got broken when the kid down the street batted a baseball through it. They don’t repaint their houses when they get flaky. The roads leading into Santa Mira, we’re told, are so full of potholes and washouts that pretty soon the salesmen who service the town – who aerate its municipal lungs with the life-giving atmosphere of capitalism, you might say – will soon no longer bother to come. The gross-out level is one thing, but it is on that second level of horror that we often experience that low sense of anxiety which we call ‘the creeps’. Over the years, Invasion of the Body Snatchers has given a lot of people the creeps, and all sorts of high-flown ideas have been imputed to Siegel’s film version. It was seen as an anti-McCarthy film until someone pointed out the fact that Don Siegel’s political views could hardly be called leftish. Then people began seeing it as a ‘better dead than Red’ picture. 

Of the two ideas, I think that second one better fits the film that Siegel made, the picture that ends with Kevin McCarthy in the middle of a freeway, screaming ‘They’re coming! They’re coming!’ to cars which rush heedlessly by him. 

But in my heart, I don’t really believe that Siegel was wearing a political hat at all when he made the movie (and you will see later that Jack Finney has never believed it, either); I believe he was simply having fun and that the undertones . . . just happened. This doesn’t invalidate the idea that there is an allegorical element in Invasion of the Body Snatchers; it is simply to suggest that sometimes these pressure points, these terminals of fear, are so deeply buried and yet so vital that we may tap them like artesian wells – saying one thing out loud while we express something else in a whisper. 

The Philip Kaufman version of Finney’s novel is fun (although, to be fair, not quite as much fun as Siegel’s), but that whisper has changed into something entirely different: the subtext of Kaufman’s picture seems to satirize the whole I’m-okay-you’re-okay-so-let’s-get-in-the-hot-tub-and-massage-our-precious-consciousness movement of the ego-centric seventies. 

Which is to suggest that, although the uneasy dreams of the mass subconscious may change from decade to decade, the pipeline into that well of dreams remains constant and vital. This is the real danse macabre, I suspect: those remarkable moments when the creator of a horror story is able to unite the conscious and subconscious mind with one potent idea. I believe it happened to a greater degree with the Siegel version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but of course both Siegel and Kaufman were able to proceed courtesy of Jack Finney, who sank the original well.

— Stephen King, 
Danse Macabre, 1983


* There is in the Philip Kaufman remake, though. There is a moment in that film which is repulsively horrible. It comes when Donald Sutherland uses a rake to smash in the face of a mostly formed pod. This ‘person’s’ face breaks in with sickening ease, like a rotted piece of fruit, and lets out an explosion of the most realistic stage blood that I have ever seen in a color film. When that moment came, I winced, clapped a hand over my mouth . . . and wondered how in the hell the movie had ever gotten its PG rating.