Bridgewater State Hospital/Titicut Follies

Here’s the lowdown. Not from 1967, and not from someone PAID BY THE FACILITY. From someone there within the past five years.

I don’t see the big deal in trying to ban people from watching the 1967 film ‘Titicut Follies’.

Not because it wouldn’t be disturbing, but because (and if you don’t believe this, you could probably use a BSH evaluation) EVERYONE KNOWS that no matter WHAT it shows, the party line will be: “That was X years ago…things are much better now.”

And, since no movies have been made showing BSH life since ‘Titicut Follies’, almost 50 years ago, how exactly can that statement be either proved or disproved, at all, with any reliability?

Well…the only people who KNOW how things work there now (or, recently, at least) are:
1) Employees
2) Inmates…I MEAN “Patients”

Right? I mean, how can anyone deny the most incredibly BASE and SIMPLISTIC logic that makes that an inevitable fact?

So the only people that know how things work there now – and therefore the only people who have ANY credibility in saying “It’s better”, “It’s worse”, “It’s the same”, or anything else in that regard – are employees and inmates.

Since the employees are all part of the same fra(with a little ma)ternity, since the state PAYS THEIR SALARIES, since they all have a common interest in having BSH portrayed as “well-run” and “humane”…is it REALLY a stretch to say “Well…opinions from BSH employees would tend to be exaggeratedly positive, at best.”

You know…because that’s their JOBS they’re talking about. WTF do you expect?

“Yeah, this place is a sh1thole, we treat people horribly…so, where’s my next check?”

I mean, to believe you’re going to get anything CLOSE to an “objective” opinion from staff (who get paid by the state) and the state (who pays the staff…see the symbiosis?)…well, now THAT is insane.

It’s insulting any reasonable person’s intelligence to suggest that is the case, and/or to suggest they BELIEVE that is the case because “well, we told you to.”

So the QUESTION is…how do you get an accurate portrayal of the way things are, NOW (or at least, very recently), when staff has a vested incentive to make things seem better than reality and “patients” (admittedly, in the same not-insulting-your-intelligence way) a vested incentive to make things seem worse than reality?

Well, you find people that 1) USED to work there, and are willing to tell it like it really is (in their experience), and people that 2) USED to be “patients” there, are NO LONGER patients there, have been completely removed from the BSH “system”, have no great bias towards the system for exceptionally horrific personal treatment, have NO personal incentive to praise OR criticize the system, and who are willing to be honest and even-handed in their evaluation of a system they, IN FACT, experienced first-hand.

As for number 2: Hi. That would be me.

So here goes:

First, anything you see in ‘Titicut Follies’ is COMPLETELY irrelevant. That’s 1967. There is no intrinsic connection between that, and modern BSH. Don’t be upset about what happened there almost fifty years ago. Be upset over what MIGHT BE happening there NOW.

Second, any comments suggesting that BSH has “improved” or “advanced” from ‘Titicut Follies’ – made by people with a vested interest to say so – are just as COMPLETELY irrelevant. Of COURSE they’re going to say that. Doesn’t make it true or untrue…it’s the standard party line, and so such statements are utterly meaningless.

To put any weight in either as realistic evidence of “Today’s BSH” is sloppy, lazy, and ignorant at best. And, I happen to know from actually BEING THERE…just plain WRONG. IMPO, of course.

The fact is, BSH is both better and worse than shown in ‘Titicut Follies’.

Let’s look at the positives and negatives one by one:

Positives:

1) Obviously, available medications have improved. The amount of different medications, the skill at prescribing said medications, the effectiveness of said medications (since everyone isn’t just given the same tranquilizers and “hope for the best…”) is improved. I’ve seen that…it’s a fact. OVERALL, it’s a fact. Now, this – to me – is more indicative of the progress of medication therapy IN GENERAL than to any change in “philosophy” at BSH; they work with what they have, and now they have a lot more options. They would have to be colossally inept and/or malicious NOT to prescribe more effectively.

1b) In a thirty day period of observing medication prescription and dispersal, my AUTHENTIC observation was that – for the most part – patients were given at least arguably appropriate medications at at least arguably appropriate levels. Also, FOR THE MOST PART, patients’ concerns over medications were given at least SOMEWHAT of an audience and the patients’ own evaluations of their feelings were taken into SOME account.

So, from what *I* observed, as someone RIGHT THERE, this area (once you were out of ITU…see “Negatives” below) was handled fairly well, and fairly professionally.

2) Obviously, facilities visible to the casual visitor (the main grounds, the visiting room, anything of that sort) are relatively clean and well-kept. This is GOOD, I guess…but what does it really mean? Nothing. Unless you’re DUMB enough to think that “Well…the lawn looks nice, so…the cells must be nice too.” I mean…really? It’s appearance, it’s good for business since people that CAN COMPLAIN (visitors) see it; of course it looks decent. Nothing to do whatsoever with what goes on inside, for better or worse.

2b) OVERALL, in my observation, facilities were GENERALLY both in decent shape and available to MOST patients (See “ITU” below). There was space to exercise, there was space to go outside, there was a decent-sized library (good enough, at least), there was adequate space for patient size, and so on.

So, again from MY observation, facilities were adequate in terms of exercise, outside space, medical, library, etc.

There were even Church (well, large room with lots of chairs and a priest) services for those that wished to attend, and the occasional MOVIE.

All of these things: Medical, library, exercise, church services, etc… had one thing in common. They were provided by employees that were NOT guards. Make of that what you will. It seemed the general attitude of the guards (IN GENERAL…) towards all these things was indifferent tolerance. Sort of “Fine, whatever…go, don’t, whatever…just don’t fck with me and don’t fck up my schedule.”

Which, come to think of it, is a pretty reasonable attitude, given that they weren’t there to be your friend, they were there to guard you. Guard the non-guards from the patients, guard the patients from the other patients, etc…

3) Most of the “professional” staff (Doctors, Psychiatrists, and the like) behaved in a fairly professional manner.

4) SOME OF the guards behaved in a decent, professional, responsible manner. They did their jobs, and as long as you didn’t act like a pr1ck or intensely fck with them or their responsibilities, they returned the courtesy to you. Which, really, is all you could realistically ask.

Negatives:

1) Obviously, since people who end up LEAVING BSH (patients, that is) can speak freely about their OWN experiences, treatment toward those both a) EXPECTED to leave and b) EXPECTED to be coherent and at least somewhat literate would tend (IMPO) to be more civilized and less abusive. Make of that what you will.

1b) Example: I was in ITU at the same time as someone else who was extremely vocal. I HEARD what this person said, and what was said to them AND about them. I UNDERSTOOD how this person was viewed, in general, by the guards that I heard. This person was viewed as a) someone that could be safely mocked and/or ignored, b) someone whose complaints to anyone about such treatment would be ignored, c) someone that had noone on the outside advocating for them or keeping tabs on how they were treated. There was noone there that gave a sh1t, and even if there WAS, this person was too mentally ill to coherently complain, and even if they COULD it would be their word against 2+ guards. In other words, he was FCKED, and the guards knew it. And, you know, I’m sorry…I don’t like bullies. And the ones who picked on this guy…that’s all they were; bullies aren’t any better or worse with a uniform and a badge.

Now, *I* was much more coherent than this person. I was much more able to understand what was happening, to REMEMBER what was happening and repeat it to my lawyer when they eventually showed up. I was much more able to verbally defend myself from constant random insults; the only “treatment” you received in ITU was being treated to abuse. Quite frankly I didn’t give much of a sh1t what they were saying about ME, but I *DID* care that they were verbally and emotionally abusing someone who was obviously in SEVERE emotional pain and who was just as obviously UNABLE to defend themself from such abuse. So, I basically tried asking (reasonably) why they were abusing someone for no reason. And when they told me to go fck myself and kept laughing at him (and me), I just said random bullsh1t back to them whenever they said random bullsh1t to him. And, like the DUMBA$$ COWARDS they were (and most bullies are), when confronted with a non-helpless opponent, their balls shrunk and they shut the fck up. And FCK ’em. You see, I was much more able to respond coherently…I was also much more able to COMPLAIN coherently and REMEMBER to do so. So, for these reasons, I was not subject to anywhere near the amount of abuse as this other person.

2) From conversations overheard from MULTIPLE sources, including directly from people supposedly affected who seemed perfectly coherent and reasonable in their statements and explanations, the duration of one’s stay at BSH was – at least at times – not of primary concern to those in charge. All 30-Day Evaluations are equal, but some 30-Day Evaluations are more equal than others.

2b) From what I remember, and what I gathered, and what I heard, and what I pieced together from coherent information…there were some people who had been at BSH FAR longer than they should have been. Whose “evaluation” had ended, according to THE LAW in such matters, but who remained there regardless.

I’m not talking about 31 days instead of 30. I’m talking WEEKS, even MONTHS over the LEGALLY ASSIGNED time. And it seems to ME, that these people were those least able to advocate for themselves, and least able to have others advocate for them from outside BSH.

3) SOME of the “professional” staff behaved in a lazy and unprofessional manner.

4) A LOT of the guards (I can’t say what percentage, or “most”, or whatever…it’s too far back to be that precise) were just a$$holes, plain and simple. They obviously had fun making fun of/pushing around the patients, got off on their mini power trips, didn’t give a sh1t about what they were supposed to be doing, and cared a hell of a lot more about “So, what are you doing when your shift’s over?” than “So, what should I be doing now for, like…my job?”

5) This is very subjective, admittedly…and it does NOT apply to ALL “evaluators”…but consider this:

It is a FACT that MANY “patients” (myself for one) there had not been found guilty of *ANYTHING* in a court of law.

Because you are sent for an “evaluation” of your mental state does NOT (supposedly, at least) have ANYTHING to do with “guilt” or “innocence” of ANYTHING…it has to do with: “Is this person mentally competent to stand trial?”. That’s the key…STAND TRIAL. Trial. Where you go, being presumed innocent until proven guilty. You know…the criminal “justice” system.

However, let’s be real. If the case that will be brought against anyone “evaluated” will be (and I think it will) ‘State Of Massachusetts Vs. X’, do you think the State of Massachusetts wants ANYONE to be found innocent?

In other words, do you think the State of Massachusetts WANTS to bring a case against someone and LOSE? Of course not.

Now just think for yourself, but here are a few facts:

– The District Attorney/Assistant DA/Etc are State employees
– Everyone working at BSH is a State employee
– “Evaluations” that strengthen the State’s case and weaken the individual’s benefit: The State and injure: The Individual
– Generally, organizations that are on the same side tend to work together.

This has been a subjective analysis made by someone that was relatively lucky in that he wasn’t dumped there and forgotten. A lot of people with mental illness DO NOT have anyone noticing when they “vanish”, and it is therefore much easier to get away with poor treatment on such people…

Because, who the fck are they gonna complain to?

A mentally ill person, against an entire SYSTEM, with noone to help them? Complaining to…what…”internal affairs”?

Oh, yeah, that sounds really effective.

IN ALL FAIRNESS: There were many people I encountered at BSH who were NOT abusive; psychiatrists, officers, counselors, even patients who went out of their way to help those that obviously needed help.

Some. There were SOME of those people. And there were also PLENTY of people that gave exactly as much of a sh1t as they had to: namely, none.

Things are as they have been, and will be, in any place where power is curtailed only by those that wield it and where those that are subject to it have virtually no recourse.

Think about it: There most certainly ARE at least some sadistic SOB’s working there…do you really think, if one of them had a problem with a “patient” they would hesitate to toss them into ITU (solitary) until they were good and ready to let them out? Based on WHATEVER rationale they wanted to use?

Because, it would come down to this:

Noone in ITU (“patient”) sees anyone else in ITU. Therefore, each “patient” has only their word working for them…if they are even coherent enough to have THAT (therapy does NOT take place in ITU, and medications are sloppily prescribed AT BEST).

On the other hand, every guard has at least one other guard working with them.

So…if a patient says he was abused, beaten, degraded, etc…and a guard denies it, and has a partner to back their side up…who gets believed?

THINK ABOUT IT.

Now, does this mean all guards/authorities are sadists and all “patients” are poor, helpless victims? Of course not.

I saw instances where people in authority were acting perfectly reasonably and “patients” decided to insult/threaten/attack them.

But if you don’t think the opposite happens too, you’re just living in a fantasy world.

The fact is, you can be sent to ITU for the SLIGHTEST things, and once you’re there you DON’T GET OUT until they’re good and ready to let you out.

And the daily serenading of the “patients” with insults and laughter by (some of) the guards is of questionable treatment value, I think. And when “patients” get upset that they’re treated like rat sh1t? Well, they’re being uncooperative…another day in the hole.

If you get sent there, and noone outside BSH knows you were sent there (if you even have someone outside BSH that would care), you’re fcked.

THEY DON’T TELL PEOPLE. People outside have to DIRECTLY find out. Meaning they have to ASK if a person is there. And even then, from my recollection, “patients” in ITU are neither confirmed nor denied. So you can godd@mn ROT there, in some instances, if they feel like letting you.

No confirmation, no visitors, no therapy, and quite often no hope.

How, exactly, is this “Intensive Treatment”?

ITU – what a joke. There was NO therapy in ITU. ITU was BSH’s LTI-speak for “Solitary”. It consisted of being thrown into a CELL no larger (and probably smaller) than you imagine a jail cell being, with a lumpy beanbag “mattress” in the center that was relatively unstained if you were lucky. You received a threadbare “blanket” that covered maybe half your body. The lighting consisted of one bulb flickering overhead (the light from the hall was blocked by the very-reinforced door) and the occasional stream of light from the one heavily barred window VERY high in the cell. The toilet seemed to work all the time, but ODDLY the sink seemed to sometimes work, sometimes not. And noone would come in to adjust it…it simply did NOT work sometimes. Same mechanism, different result. So if you want to be really charitable you can say shoddy pipe system, and if not you can say wellllllll maybe some of the guards might have fcked with some of the inmates…PATIENTS. The food delivery system went thusly: “Here’s your *insert name of meal here*”…your responses available were “Ok/thank you/etc”, in which case the food was slid through a small horizontal hole briefly opened in the doorframe, or anything else (ranging from the extremely benign…”I just threw up I can’t look at food now” to the extremely malignant… “Fck you motherfcker!”) in which case you were marked as “Refusing Food”. That was a strike to getting out of ITU, so accepting it and then passing it right back 15 mins later was the way to go if you thought you might vomit. Otherwise, even the most polite, benign, REASONABLE response (“I just threw up, I can’t look at food, I’m sorry”) was taken EXACTLY the same way: “Patient Refused Food”.

I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what the “Guards” were there for – and they were there, always. I mean, the cell doors were THICK, REINFORCED doors…noone was “breaking out”. Basically all *I* heard the guards do was talk about their personal lives and make fun of the patients, some of whom were obviously in EXTREME mental and/or physical pain.

I’m not talking about me, either. I’m not whining because they were mean to me. I’ve been around mentally ill people. I can tell when someone is SEVERELY mentally ill – severely depressed, suicidal, etc…

I HEARD, for a FACT, at least one patient who was OBVIOUSLY, to even the most casual observer, in EXTREME pain and distress…and not only did they do NOTHING to help them AT ALL, they actually went OUT OF THEIR WAY to yell at and MAKE FUN OF them. They seemed to think it was funny.

And wow, that takes a lot of balls, huh? To have a weapon, be backed up by another guard with a weapon (at LEAST one other guard), be in a position of complete power, be separated by a reinforced, multi-locked door, and make fun of someone in the equivalent of rags, with no weapons and a supposedly compromised mentality.

I HEARD this happening. And the patient wasn’t yelling psychotic sh1t at the guards…they weren’t screaming threats, they weren’t acting like fcken psychos, they weren’t acting “dangerous”…they were screaming IN PAIN, they were asking for HELP. And the response was – from some at least – “Oh, shut up!…So, anyway, did you see the game-”

So basically, you have to bite your fcken tongue, accept the verbal abuse from the guards and the sh1t conditions, act reasonable even though you’re being treated UNREASONABLY, be very calm and pleasant…and then, maybe, you get out of ITU and into the main system.

Placement in/removal from ITU was seemingly based on the morning rounds doctor’s mood and how compliant you were.

I don’t mean he was reasonable and you screamed at him. I mean, he asked questions and if you didn’t give the proper answers (to his liking, IMPO) then they slid the little door shut and you waited til the next day for another chance at it.

Once in the main system, this is what I saw/experienced:

As in ITU, there was NO therapy. There was NO “treatment”. You were given the meds your outside psychiatrist had ALREADY prescribed for you (unless they reduced or cut them off), and that was it.

ITU “therapist” meetings were to decide: “Does he get out of ITU today or not?”. Nothing more.

Main system “therapist” meetings were extremely infrequent. You could ASK to see a therapist, but that was a request…it could very easily be denied.

And I think everyone KNEW that the therapists weren’t there to give “therapy”, because the vast majority of requests that *I* saw/heard about were about getting things done such as obtaining a form necessary to put numbers on for people you could call, getting paper to actually write on if you wanted to communicate with someone outside the facility, etc…

This whole Op-Ed piece is written pretty chaotically, but I think it gets the point(s) across.

IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE AT BSH, AND YOU CARE ABOUT THEM:

Make sure they’re being treated humanely.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Fourteen

Grimmsy appears to have either not noticed the man’s attempt or has chosen to consciously ignore it, as his form is now about a third of the way out of the frame and moving slowly and steadily, without pause.

Man, after one final glance at his corpse and with a faint sigh to his ghostly features, begins to move in the direction Grimmsy is exiting, looking both casual and somewhat unsure in movement in his new form.

END

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Thirteen

Frame is much smaller than normal.

Grimmsy has begun to move past both the man’s spirit form and dead body; he moves with a formal and (attempted) “regal” posture, as if he fully expects to be followed, not looking back to ensure that is the case.

Man purses his semi-substantial lips, narrows his semi-substantial eyes, and swipes out at the SOUS as Grimmsy passes, but his ghostly hand merely passes through it.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Twelve

Man gazes back to the tiny figure now very close to him; he does not seem properly chastised, more just a bit annoyed and slightly impatient.

Grimmsy’s purple eyes shift up to gaze at the man’s ghostly ones, still the picture of formality and decorum with his SOUS almost scraping the top of the frame. His speech/thought bubble is unaffected by the man’s annoyance as he addresses him as before.

DIALOGUE: “If you will follow me, Sir, I shall guide your essence on to its proper destination.”

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Eleven

Man has gazed back from the approaching Grimmling to his own dead body; he seems saddened by it, perhaps saying goodbye.

Grimmsy glides ever closer, continuing to gently chastise the man for forcing this rather unseemly behavior, seemingly MUCH more concerned with the perceived etiquette breach than by the man’s silent goodbye to his corpse.

DIALOGUE: “As you see, it would have been much more appropriate for you to have simply accepted your fate and come as I bade you.”

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Ten

Man maintains an annoyed little frown as he crosses his semi-substantial arms over one another (more like INTO one another actually, obviously not having mastered the intricacies of ghostly form) and waits for the little creature to do something.

Grimmsy finally begins to move toward the man (walking or very-close-to-the-ground floating of some sort), holding the SOUS steady and vertical as he does so. His Speech/Thought Bubble has the same appearance it’s always had, the perfectly formed letters tilted just slightly to show a certain gentle but firm reproachment.

DIALOGUE: “I apologize for having to resort to such methods, Sir. I can only stress that, if you had come willingly to begin with, this would not have been necessary.”

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Nine

Man looks somewhat annoyed in his resignation as he turns his ghostly gaze back toward Grimmsy. “Speaking” again – in the same manner as before – to Grimmsy, his words make both things clear in both form and composition.

Grimmsy seems prepared to respond, quietly allowing the man to “speak” first however.

DIALOGUE: “Well??? What now?”

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Seven

Frame size is back to normal.

Grimmsy remains still and stoic: posture (as described) and appearance (tiny form, cute purple eyes, absurdly large scythe “held” carefully vertical and still) at odds.

Man pauses, confused, glancing down at his own dead body, lying at his own ghostly, semi-substantial feet.

Deep Puppy Thoughts (Part 127)

I always asked myself, if I could choose to be “normal”…socially, emotionally, mentally…at the cost of becoming the same sort of a$$hole I’ve railed against for so long, would I? And my answer has always been no. An honest, genuine no. Because who I *am* – the things I believe in and the way I conduct myself – is what is worthwhile about me, what makes me ME. And I wouldn’t want any change – no matter how otherwise benign or effective – that would lessen that importance to me.

That’s a fact, Jack. I had mindless contentment right there in front of me and I told it to go fck itself.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Six

Frame is much smaller than the previous ones, indicating a quick change/action.

Grimmsy remains as he was, expression much the same. He seems to be comfortable in it, as if this is what he was expecting/hoping for in terms of himself…in the sense of mission accomplished, maintaining the proper respectful solemnness, etc.

Spirit-form man has gazed back to Grimmsy from the “speech bubble” that was above his head in the previous frame, said bubble now faded almost entirely as if – whatever it was – it was mostly insubstantial at best and has/had a very limited lifespan. His expression is still confusion, perhaps expecting to see some sort of explanation in Grimmsy, or perhaps just the remnant of a quick reaction.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Five

Grimmsy remains where he is, as does the amazing colossal scythe. His expression is still one of faint regret, solemn; he doesn’t appear bothered by the man’s (spirit’s) anger, as if he understands it, or at least appreciates the legitimacy of it…especially in light of the man apparently having yet to discover that he’s actually dead.

The gaseous man blinks, eyes tilting up slightly to apparently gaze at the “speech bubble” just above him. Whether he simply hears a change, senses one, or actually sees the bubble itself is open for conjecture at this point. His look of annoyance has been replaced by one of momentary confusion, this development obviously having taken him completely by surprise.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Four

Grimmsy now “holds” (with or without hands, as usual, undetermined) the SOUS completely vertically: being entirely out in the open now, it can be seen that the staff is in fact a real “staff” – an obviously carved single piece of wood which, from the size of it, must have come from a source almost as tall as the tree Grimmsy stands/floats next to. The pattern is similar enough to his previous staff to suggest a connection (probably the same carver) but is quite clearly also independent. It’s also very silly-looking, since when held fully upright the actual scythe blade almost scrapes the top of the frame. Basically it looks like an entire tree was quite possibly used to make this, and all it appears to be is a MUCH MUCH larger version of Grimmsy’s “regular” scythe, adjusted for length only (the blade is not to scale but instead only as big as the regular one, the shaft isn’t any thicker, etc, etc…). So the impression it gives off is “silly, useless, and really weird”; this impression is obviously (and very) at odds with Grimmsy’s intended impression: serious, “commanding”, solemn and “otherworldly” in an amazing sense…but it seems to fit with his UNINTENDED impression: cute, solemn, and “otherworldly” in a “WTF is that???” sense.

The gaseous cloud has fully formed, now, into what it appeared it was going to: the man, looking “alive” in terms of posture as opposed to the still quite-lifeless non-gaseous body lying on the ground. The two are now separate, the man floating just the tiniest bit above the grass, and his own dead body visible through his slightly obscuring, semi-substantial new (gaseous) form.

The gaseous man seems rather annoyed, “eyes” narrowed as he “looks” over at Grimmsy. He “speaks”, apparently, right away: the moment his new form is whole, that is. As he does so he appears not to have noticed his own dead body lying on the ground close to him, or anything else really since the gentle “POKE” from Grimmsy that resulted in his death.

His “speech bubble” is altered from his previous ones: it doesn’t come from his mouth directly in a manner definitely indicating SPEECH, nor does it look quite like Grimmsy’s usual “speech bubble”; it’s somewhat insubstantial, like the man, a bit less “real” or solid than his previous one or Grimmsy’s. It also lacks the formality and near-Calligraphy quality of Grimmsy’s lettering; much more a vague, not-quite-as-there version of his previous casual speech.

DIALOGUE: “Look…this is ridiculous…why don’t you just-“

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Three

The man’s body is unmoving and unchanged: quite clearly still dead.

Grimmsy has succeeded in retracting most of the SOUS, lifting it upwards as the base of the shaft comes closer to where his hands (if any) would be waiting to hold it. It appears that this time he is pulling the base of the shaft towards his hands-or-lack-thereof, and subsequently the scythe is rising fairly straight up from where he “stands”, the blade on the end of it rising into the air much the same as a flag being hoisted up a great distance over a very small person or persons. The blade itself is incredibly small compared to the rest of the scythe; it looks roughly the same size as the blade on the previous, normal-sized (tiny) scythe, and the higher it is raised the more absurd both it – and Grimmsy – appear, as it looks both completely unwieldy (though he seems to be managing fine) and also, from the sharp contrast in sizes, completely useless (though it did manage to poke the man to death, apparently).

The gaseous form has begun to quite obviously take on the shape of the man’s body (before it was poked to death, that is) as it rises and – more and more – becomes semi-substantial and quite evidently self-aware, the closer it comes to its final form…whatever that is, exactly.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame Two

The majority of the setting is still unchanged, but Grimmsy has begun to withdraw the long arm of death (scythe handle of unusual size).

As he is doing so, a faint, translucent white form of some sort in the appearance of a gaseous cloud has begun both emerging and forming at the same time, apparently from the dead body – rising up.

There is both an ominous and somewhat noble air about this rapidly coalescing figure, and its appearance seems to indicate that it is not sentient, not self-aware…at least not yet. That it is being “born”, in a sense, from the death of the man both literally and figuratively.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Four – Frame One

Setting: The background – and very close to the exact detail – of the last frame of Strip 3; any imperfections and/or changes appear to be attributable to either a very small passage of time, a very small change in circumstances, and/or the illustrator starting to draw from scratch again.

Grimmsy is still gazing over at the now-deceased man lying on the ground, and still appears quite less than enthused over his “victory”.

A Tribute To The A$$hole Fans Out There – Part 1

Have fun with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60WR8dB0H-s

Book One: Home,

Chapter One:
Music music man greetings.
Door man man man man man Mynril?
Put bound Gods one hold no!
This door do chatter humanoid

Thou Cast Outwards Before

this. Come To things stops
This you head images he he.
third How pause do that’s nod. Just
door third both Mynril? give pause…

The Latest From ESPN, Puppy News Division

Celtics beat Hawks 4 games to 3!

In an amazing, remarkable, even incomprehensible turn of events, the Boston Celtics have come back from a 2-4 series deficit to win the series 4-3!

When asked how he felt about the comeback, coach Brad Stevens said:

“I LOVED it. MUCH better than ‘Cats’. I’m going to think about it again and again.”

Echoing a fairly similar sentiment, every member of the Celtics responded, in a dull monotone: “We loved it. Much better than ‘Cats’. We’re going to do it again and again.”

Surprisingly, the Atlanta Hawks were very good sports about it, some even going so far as to wish the Celtics luck in future rounds thusly: “We loved it. Much better than ‘Cats’. We hope they do it again and again.”

When asked for his thoughts on how Celtics players probably were celebrating the victory, Stevens added “They’re loving it. Much better than ‘Cats’. They’re going to celebrate it again and again.”

The Credibility Of ESPN – A Derogatorial

ESPN – A Derogatorial, V 1.1

Since my internet connection MYSTERIOUSLY, SUDDENLY, and COMPLETELY froze – even though I was running nothing else that would POSSIBLY make that happen – while I was trying to make this post about the selective allowing/”editing”/removal/etc of information (aka “Propaganda”…great Wikipedia article, check it out) the first time, I’ll try again, and this time I’ll make sure to use A LOT MORE words.

Basically, ESPN edited out Curt Schilling’s “bloody sock” game from its “Four Days In October” special (which I’ve seen several times).

Now, I don’t know much about Curt Schilling. But from what I GATHER (could be wrong) he’s very conservative. So would I like HIM, the person? Probably not. Would I agree with most of his views? Probably not.

But (in this context) I don’t give a fck if he’s, hypothetically speaking, the most terrible person in the history of the world IN THAT: for the purposes of that program, it MAKES NO DIFFERENCE.

“Four Days In October” is not a political commentary. It’s not a moral commentary. It’s not expressing ANY opinion (Unless you consider “I like the Sox” and/or “I like/hate the Yankees” and/or “I like watching exciting baseball plays” to be highly debatable, complex opinions).

It’s a FCKEN SPORTS DOCUMENTARY. And the opinions, WHATEVER they are, of ANYONE involved in said documentary about SPORTS – OUTSIDE OF SPORTS – have exactly NOTHING to do with the documentary, and hence absolutely NOTHING to do with whether they should be included or not.

What should be included in a documentary about the near-miraculous and first-ever-in-MLB-history postseason comeback from a 3-0 series deficit to win that series…hmmmmm…I mean, I’m not a qualified sportsologist, but I’d have to go with “things involved in the comeback from 3-0 to the series win”. So like…ummm…maybe, game 4? And then, I’d follow that…PROBABLY…with…hmmm…game 5, I think. And well, I’d probably include game six…and WTF, I guess I’d include game 7 too. And…I dunno, maybe get some commentary from the people involved on the most interesting parts. And I guess I’d have to not show EVERYTHING because, it being a one hour program and four baseball games taking say 12 hours or so, or whatever. So I’d have to edit out some stuff. And based on the exciting blueprint established above, I think I’d edit out the boring stuff and leave in the exciting, memorable, thrilling, series-altering, history-in-the-making-revisited stuff. Maybe, I dunno.

So for games 4-7, in terms of the info I’d include, I’d PROBABLY lean towards showing said exciting, thrilling, near-miraculous stuff as opposed to the relatively boring, unexciting, mundane stuff. So like, if I had to choose between showing the Dave Roberts stolen base that kept the entire series alive by the margin of maybe an inch (or just a TINY stumble), and showing footage of and commentary on a weak grounder to first or a shallow fly to center in the early innings, it’d be a tough choice, but I THINK I’d go with the Roberts stolen base. But hey…I don’t work at ESPN, what do I know.

A few things:

1) You have to separate the ARTIST from the ART.

– Ty Cobb was a vicious, disgusting, racist slimeball that TRIED TO injure people by bringing his (very real and quite sharp) spikes into their legs as he slid into second.

Should he be removed from the “Greatest Hitters Ever” discussion? Should his numbers be removed from Baseball History? Better yet, hey…since he was so nasty, why not LOWER his numbers, so he was a HORRIBLE hitter? I mean, he was a slimeball, so he didn’t DESERVE those high batting averages. So let’s just…hmmmm…there we go. Now he hit .237 – PERFECT. Now, excuse me while I go out and campaign against deception in political campaign ads.

*SATIRE…SATIRE…SATIRE*

(You see, I HATE propaganda as much as the next person, but the way to show you HATE propaganda is to POINT IT OUT and CRITICIZE it, not to USE IT YOURSELF!!! WTF is wrong with you people???)

I mean, these MORONS who HATE Curt Schilling for his POLITICS but then USE PROPAGANDA POLITICS as an excuse to edit something entirely a-political. I’m not saying they’re morons for hating Curt Schilling. I’m saying, that’s the equivalent of being so against violence that you’d just KILL anyone for even contemplating war. Or ABSOLUTELY DESPISING people that have any hate for anything. Or being ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that an absolute is NEVER correct.

– If you removed every classic rock band from radio rotation and played based on how nice they were as opposed to how TALENTED they were, rock radio would be pretty FCKEN dull. (See “Hicks, Bill” on his music preferences).

– Never met Stanley Kubrick. Don’t know him, didn’t know him. But if a million people came up to me and told me he was a horrible person, I would not suddenly remove ‘The Shining’ and ‘A Clockwork Orange’ from my “A List”.

1a) HERE’S WHY: Propaganda is propaganda…there is no “good” propaganda.

Propaganda is the selective “bending” (or breaking) of information and/or truth to achieve a desired result.

‘1984’ is about a society controlled by propaganda, where The State decides everything that is true, “always has been” true, and will be true and totally controls every aspect of everyone’s life.

Now, they happen to be vicious, cruel, and evil about it…

However, it’s not any more “ok” when they’re relatively “nice” about it (‘Brave New World’) or less TOTALLY controlling about it (‘Gattaca’) or it works REALLY well and it’s not COMPLETELY controlling…(‘The Return Of The Archons’).

Propaganda is propaganda. Either (PREFERABLY) don’t use it, or get off your fcken moral high horse when other people do. Idiots.

It’s LAUGHABLE that ESPN – which routinely criticizes “excuses” for things by professional athletes that are quite obviously…ummm, well, nudge nudge wink wink grin grin snap snap SAY NO MORE! – edits out UNARGUABLY (unless you’re insane or you enjoy tedium) one of the MOST memorable parts of the series and then pretends they did so for “logistics” or “time constraint” reasons.

I mean, talk about hypocritical. It’s your d@mn documentary, so edit it if you want. Hey, even change the outcome if you want, to get Yankee fans! Have TWO versions!!! Make a SERIES out of it!

But if you’re GOING to edit it because you don’t LIKE Curt Schilling, have the GUTS to say “Yeah, well, we don’t really like Curt Schilling so we cut his bit out” or have a brief graphic at the beginning like “There Now Follows A Documentary Edited By People That Don’t Like Curt Schilling”.

NOTE: This is a post containing SUBJECTIVE OPINIONS. Your subjective opinions may or may not be the same or similar. Everything you read should be subjected to something called “thought” and given something called “consideration”, if you even care about it, which of course you don’t have to. Individual results may vary. Verify all “facts” before accepting them as so. Shake well before serving. Does not include certain models. On the bottom of the box after Monosodium Glutamate. Eat at Joe’s. In small print so as not to affect the sales. Close cover before striking. This post may be a fire hazard if you light on fire the thing you’re looking at it with. Hot coffee may be hot. You love it. HOTSEX MUCH better than ‘Cats’. HOTSEX You’re going to read it again and again. HOTSEX.

5/3/16: “Whose harmony? Yours? Plato wanted Truth, and Beauty; and above all, Justice.”

If propaganda is a tool of nasty, horrible people, what does that make someone who uses propaganda to exaggerate actual facts about how someone else used propaganda? (“Hmm…this is HORRIBLE…but in order to get people involved we NEED to show it’s even MORE horrible…so, here…ok. Now, all references to the North Korean leader’s ex-girlfriend actually still being alive are gone. Minitru!)

Nasty, horrible people don’t require propaganda to attack.

I can say “Kim Jong-Un is an incredibly dorky evil scumbag” without having to remove any actual facts that diminish HOW MUCH of an incredibly dorky evil scumbag he is. Like, the fact that, since his ex-girlfriend is ALIVE (according to several articles I’ve read, check for yourself), he PROBABLY didn’t have her executed by firing squad, as had been reported.

10/16/16: Hey, someone actually read this. Which made me look for how high I was in the search results (not very). BUT, it also made me read other articles related.

So when you get past all the BS on all sides, it comes down to two things:

– Are you stupid enough to believe that, given a number of less important parts, ESPN edited this out for “time constraints”, AND

– As I said, it’s a sports documentary. Sports has nothing to do with politics. Or opinions (outside sports). So a SPORTS network should probably do its best to show SPORTS programming, as best it can. I mean, I know that it would be a great tragedy not to be able to see the quarterfinals of the All-Essex Badminton Championship, but game six of the ALCS is PROBABLY more important…and more interesting. It doesn’t MATTER who Curt Schilling is outside of baseball. Not on a SPORTS network.

The other argument I read is that people are only upset because they’re Red Sox fans, and also the same people are upset about ESPN’s reporting vis Tom Brady.

May I direct you to the MANY other posts I’ve made pointing out bullsh1t and denouncing propaganda. I don’t think Tom Brady is a choir boy, nor do I think that God himself reaches his omnipotent hands toward Gillette Stadium on Sundays to guarantee a Pats victory, cuz he’s a fan.

How important is cutting Schilling’s part in the grand scheme of the universe? Not very. But NOTHING on ESPN is vital to the grand scheme of the universe. It’s SPORTS. They’re GAMES. If you’re going to make a network that’s dedicated to being the “Worldwide Leader In Games-People-Get-Paid-Huge-Amounts-Of-Money-For”, you should PROBABLY show the most important (and most important parts, given time constraints) of such games. Which would be the most popular, and the most “significant” in regard to such games and the history of such games in general.

Phew…now, to get ready for the game. Om… *Divine Light* GO PATS!

Re-Kill (2015)

It’s about how kids have really bad taste in television, and watching too much of it is NOT good for you.

OR

It’s about “infected” hunters that (OMG/OMLG!) find infected.

Either way, there isn’t a single flicker of life in any of the predictable scenes, shapeless characters, or horrible lines.

Incredibly boring. So generic you can’t laugh at it, which would be the only redeeming thing about it.

Time spent watching movie and writing review to make sure YOU DON’T WATCH IT: about two hours.

Grade: F-

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Eighteen

Frame size back to normal.

Grimmsy’s eyes have resumed their normal look; no longer focusing. The way they are drawn indicates perhaps a bit of sadness mixed with a matter-of-fact note that he has accomplished what he set out to.

Man’s body has fallen over (drawn to indicate movement), off the bench, sandwich dropping. He is crumpled on the ground, obviously deceased.

END

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Sixteen

Man notices Grimmsy and frowns, extreme irritation mixing with surprise/WTF. He starts to speak to him, speech bubble drawn to show mood.

The staff apparently moves forward (gently) JUST a bit…just enough to touch the man. On the lower leg, since it’s not very far off the ground.

DIALOGUE: “WHAT THE-“

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Fifteen

Man seems more WTF? now than startled by the sheer absurdity (and unlikelihood) of what he’s looking at.

Grimmsy has appeared about halfway from behind the tree: enough to show that he is holding (somewhere) whatever is now close to the man. His eyes don’t appear gloating or triumphant at all; in fact, if anything they seem a bit grim, as if he’s not happy at all with what he’s doing.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Fourteen

Frame size back to normal.

Man seems startled – he glances toward the ridiculously long staff that is now quite close to him (the base of it), approximately horizontally, and from the end (near him) all the way back to the tree, about a foot off the ground, to scale.
He seems to have completely forgotten his lunch – the suddenness of the new entry (if nothing else) obviously taking his full attention.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Thirteen

Frame is MUCH smaller than the others, to indicate very quick action. Everything is drawn to scale.

Man looks to be in mid-bite as what appears to be an impossibly-long shaft has fallen suddenly and quickly toward him from behind the tree, motion indicated by the way it is drawn and a “swish” through the air drawn from where it was to where it IS; said “swish” is approximately a forty five degree angle. Appearance is uniform throughout the shaft: it is obviously one piece, not a conglomeration.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Ten

Basically the same as frame eight: man turns back to his meal, the bottom of what looks like Grimmsy’s scythe (sort of) has emerged JUST A BIT from behind the tree, at the same height and angle as before.

(minor changes, man isn’t sitting EXACTLY the same way, etc, so it appears normal rather than a simple duplicate of frame eight)

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Nine

Man repeats his look of irritation and attentiveness, pausing eating again as before to look toward HIS left, this time more towards the tree itself, which is drawn slightly “behind” him (in the depth of the frame). What had been at the top of the tree is now gone, and all appears normal.

Means

The valiant and heroic attempt to establish a peaceful, orderly society through vicious and violent repression and control:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVZe2qd6xPY

This applies exactly the same to all who pursue this noble cause, by any means. A tyrant is a tyrant: a tyrant of fear, a tyrant of pleasure, a tyrant of reason, a tyrant of tranquility.

Some people need to remember why, exactly, they’re complaining about certain things.

Here is the fictional achievement of said cause:

Ironic that the tyrant, Landru, – thought of as a “God” by the people – is actually a purely logical computer. Just as tyrannical, either way.

And ironic that Spock – quite logical himself – aids in Landru’s destruction.

FAIR USE: CRITICISM – I hold no rights to either clip, they are being used both as things to be criticized and forms of criticism.

What Is The Meaning

“Tsunetomo believed that becoming one with death in one’s thoughts, even in life, was the highest attainment of purity and focus. He felt that a resolution to die gives rise to a higher state of life, infused with beauty and grace beyond the reach of those concerned with self-preservation.” – Wikepedia on Yamamoto Tsunetomo

There’s nothing morbid about this; not when you understand what it really means.

We’re all going to die. Make sure that when you die, your life will have been one worth living.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Eight

Man has turned back to focus on his sandwich, raising it to take another bite. If one looks carefully at the top of the tree, what appears to be the bottom of Grimmsy’s scythe (the end of the shaft) has emerged from behind it JUST a bit. It is at a forty five degree angle as if it is being shifted downward thusly. It seems somehow slightly different: if studied it isn’t EXACTLY like the bottom from the first two; VERY slight variations in wood pattern, color, etc.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Seven

Man’s head has turned toward HIS left, the far right of the frame. Gaze is at the general area, and he doesn’t seem to be specifically looking at the tree. Areas drawn just before “off frame” indicate in some way there may be other trees about. His expression still “interest/attention perked up a little, very mildly annoyed”.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame Two

Man (from 1 and 2, obviously, mildly altered (clothes, etc) as normal) has entered the frame on the far left. He appears pretty much the same as before in terms of “mood”, expression, etc. He seems to have wandered in from just outside the left edge of the frame (position even with the “front” of it), and paused just to look around, take in the view, etc., at least briefly. He has a small bag in one hand, obviously filled (with something)…it looks like the sort of bag that would hold food or something similar; a little mark on it indicating some sort of logo, though it’s not “visible” – it’s drawn so small that it’s only obvious that it’s there, not exactly what it is.

Grimmsy Grimmling, Escort Of Souls – Number Three – Frame One

Slightly larger box than the normal ones for strips one and two. Things are drawn in such a way to indicate that the larger box equates to a larger area in scale than before.

Scene background obviously altered from first two…there is a tree on the far right of the frame, drawn showing that it’s “back” just slightly from the “front” of the frame. Tree is fairly generic in appearance, leaves on it indicate spring or summer.

There is a small, plain wooden bench on the far left of the frame.

Distance from the tree to the bench and height of the tree seem approximately the same.

The background is drawn in such a way (besides the solitary tree) that it suggests a somewhat foresty area; perhaps a park, some land set aside for aesthetic purposes, etc…

Daytime is indicated by the Sun, random clouds (no discernible “match” with strip one or two) which seem to be still.

(clouds stillness remains during the course of the strip).

If one studies very carefully, the cloud formation at one point would appear to very roughly and vaguely (and naturally) look similar to a “J” next to a “G”.

Pupdate – Grimmsy Grimmling FAQ

These are the questions I imagine people would ask about the Grimmsy comic if people asked a lot of questions about the Grimmsy comic.

Q: Are you going to make more?
A: Yes…I have lots of ideas, it’s just a matter of transferring them to proper written form as opposed to jumbles of notes.

Q: When are you going to post the next Grimmsy strip?
A: Well, let me put it this way…no idea. If I had to be more precise, I’d say…SOMETIME between this exact MOMENT…(I guess not) and the moment right before I’m dead.

Q: Why are you going to make more?
A: Because I like it. He’s adorable, and he’s a real (thought out, detailed) character.

Q: Is every comic going to be him trying to take that guy’s soul?
A: No. That’s what I’m doing now, but the comic will NOT become an eternal (haha) Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner bit.

Q: So what else will the comic be about?
A: He’ll develop a (noticeable) personality, things will slowly be worked in, things will build on other things, etc…you know, like how a character develops in a movie. Or a book. Or an illustrated comic strip.

Q: Can you tell me more about Grimmsy?
A: Just read and imagine. He’s not totally one-dimensional.

Q: What exactly does Grimmsy look like?
A: Not having an illustrator, that’s difficult to say. It’s sort of like role-playing…when someone writes a description of what their character is doing, you have to IMAGINE what that description would be in picture form. If the description is good enough, you should be able to come up with a decent picture…and your picture may be slightly different from someone else’s, that’s the beauty of imagination. The basics (pretty much all you should need for a picture) are in frame two of strip one.

Q: So you’re glad you don’t have an illustrator?
A: No, I’m just making the best of it.

Q: So, you still want an illustrator?
A: For the love of God, yes.

Q: Why would someone want to illustrate your comic?
A: Well, if they like the idea…they would get credit for being the illustrator, of course, and that could be good publicity since my website is extremely mildly visited.

Q: Do you really think it’s worth it for that?
A: No, not really, but that’s the best I could come up with.

Q: Does Grimmsy have hands? Or a body?
A: None of your business.

Q: Why are you being so grouchy?
A: I’m NOT…being “grouchy”…I just want to finish my work.

Q: Well, I’ll ask more questions later then.
A: *pause* Random Questioner, let me explain something to you…whenever you ask me questions about the comic, you’re breaking my concentration; you’re dis-TRAC-ting me, and it will then take me time to get back to where I was.

Q: *blink* *freaked out look*
A: Alright…we’re gonna make a new rule…whenever I’m thinking about the comic, and I’m typing. *TYPE* *TYPE TYPE* *TYPE* or whether I’m NOT typing, or whatever the FCK you hear me doing, when I’m thinking about the comic, that means I’m WORKING, THAT means, DON’T ask questions about the comic. Now…do you think you can handle that?

Q: *short, stunned pause* Yes.
A: Fine. Why don’t you start right now and shut the fck up.

Q: *see above* …Ok.
A: *TYPE* *TYPETYPE* *TYPETYPETYPETYPE*

Coming Soon: All work and no play makes Grimmsy a dull soul escort.

*rimshot*

The Fly (1958)

Goodness knows it’s not that I can’t enjoy an old movie.

I understand that FX stunk in 1958. I understand that things were different in 1958. I understand that horror films had to have obligatory EXCITING! opening music in 1958.

But I saw a movie released in 1956 called ‘Invasion Of The Body Snatchers’ that was pretty darn good (I think I under-rated it, actually…oops).

The difference between ‘Invasion’ and this?

‘Invasion’ takes a great idea and plays it out well using decent acting, directing, and writing.

This takes a great idea and plays it out badly using wooden acting (except for Patricia Owens, the female lead), and poor directing.

Owens is working by herself most of the time, surrounded by puppets and cliches, and that’s how she looks.

I mean…at the end, when they’re walking away from the camera, the boy LIFTS HIS FOOT AWKWARDLY OVER a croquet hoop, instead of, you know…breaking the “perfect” symmetry of the departing line by stepping slightly to the side, just to keep the “perfect ending” in place.

No need to re-take that.

We’ve come full-circle. In 1986, this was remade to salvage a great idea with: good acting, a much better script, and better directing. The FX are improved too, of course…but that’s not what makes it a good film.

Now, we’re remaking films from about thirty years ago and making them suck with slick, robotic acting and bad scripts; hoping that the GREAT FX and all the AMAZING visuals will hide the fact that they suck.

About 54 minutes in: “Perhaps booze would alleviate this situation…”

A short time later: “This house has sho gone crazy!”

Upped a notch for inspiring the 1986 remake.

Grade: D

4/21/16: Instant re-review – I loved it. Much better than ‘Cats’. I’m going to watch it again and again.