Shane MacGowan - 12/25/1957 - 11/30/2023

 

The Stone Guest

 The Stone Guest

Too much text to stuff in the blog. Alexander Pushkin, 1830,  the last days and fitting end of Don Juan.

What the Fish!

 

Rafu Rey y su orchestra - vampiros en fuga

 

Swa-HEE-lee

Monster Mash?

 

Carla Bley - May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023

 

CJ having a Coke

 

Hounds and Jackals

Egyptian Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12

 

Good 16th Century Advice

Just some good 16th century advice:

"Company, musicke, honest gaming, or any other virtuous exercise doeth helpe agaynst heavinesse of mind."

William Bullein, 1558

Mighty Tough Country

 Hey you fellas, how 'bout some beans? You want some beans? Goin' through some mighty tough country tomorrow, you'd better have some beans.  -  Treasure of the Sierra Madre

 

Gold Train

Prospectors

Gold in them hills

Stashes of the color

Watch for Trains!

Countin'

 

A Pirate's Life for Me

 We're rascals and scoundrels, we're villains and knaves

Drink up me hearties, yo ho

We're devils and black sheep, we're really bad eggs

Drink up me hearties, yo ho

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me

 

really bad eggs

yo ho, yo ho

drink up me hearties

devils and black sheep

villains and knaves

a pirate's life for me

Pirate King

 

Wait, are you saying we didn't even play test this?

 

By way of reflection

Singular and Marvellous

 

"A carpet such as this is selleth for a few silverlings. What special virtue hath it that thou demand therefor the sum of thirty thousand gold coins?" The broker, believing Husayn to be a merchant man lately arrived at Bishangarh, answered him saying, "O my lord, thinkest thou I price this carpet at too high a value? My master hath bidden me not to sell it for less than forty thousand Ashrafis." Quoth the Prince, "It surely doth possess some wondrous virtue, otherwise wouldst thou not demand so prodigious a sum;" and quoth the broker, "'Tis true, O my lord, its properties are singular and marvellous. Whoever sitteth on this carpet and willeth in thought to be taken up and set down upon other site will, in the twinkling of an eye, be borne thither, be that place nearhand or distant many a day's journey and difficult to reach."

Marvels of Distant Lands

Twinkling of an Eye? Not so much

Stacked to Land

40,000 Ashrafis?

Tina Tina Tina

 

Slower, Boss!

 

Who Do You Trust?

You really believe it, don’t you?

I keep wondering how someone could do any of this. Lie and kill and still sleep at night.

But you’ve convinced yourself that this “Sun-Tzu fucks Machiavelli” philosophy was the way to go. - Rose to Diane Farr, White House Chief of Staff

For Peter, hero of The Night Agent (Netflix), the answer to the question, “who do you trust?”, is not complex. He will have a long road to the truth but in the end he will trust those who are faithful to their oaths, as he is. 

The oath of office has roots in and replaces the oath of fealty. It does so as the lord, as the monarch, is overthrown and the republic is established. It is an affirmation of political legitimacy arising from political violence. The dynasty fails because the power it claims is a universal and it's wielded by an individual. As civil society develops it loses its faith in the anointed one who it now views as just another player.

Once power has passed from the lord to the state only official violence is permitted. Unofficial violence, of course, persists but it loses claim to being political, it is only criminal. In The Night Agent bit by bit we, and our hero, become aware of a criminal conspiracy that has penetrated the highest levels of the state. Of course we have guessed this long before Peter since we find ourselves, right off the bat, in the White House. Along the way we all enjoy multiple dramatic surprises. What is not surprising is that the conspiracy against the republic, as it inevitably will, involves a reversion to archaic feudal loyalties, now expressed as allegiance to a boss figure, a campaign donor, the CEO of a weapons corporation.

Neither should we be surprised that the conspiracy is a reaction to seeds that have been sown in the provinces. An unnamed client state, heretofore under the thumb of a strongman who has been a reliable weapons customer, has developed an insurgency. Here in the capitol there are two options: crush the opposition or accommodate it. Had the decision been to crush there may have been those opposed and their arguments would have invoked the long term health of the system. But there would have been no rift within the administration.

In this case, however, the president has signaled a change of course. And her Vice President, appalled by the soft policy of his female president, has allied himself with the weapons CEO. The Vice President is motivated by the reactive logic of an empire threatened on the periphery, the CEO by simple mercenary reasoning. The provincial strongman is a good customer, especially when in crisis.

At this level, as a political thriller, the story is well crafted. It maintains our interest by disguising the loyalties of multiple players, not overly relying on the high-stakes setting of the White House for its drama. Behind the political trappings the tale also has merit but here, where our hero does battle with forces of evil, we can detect some strain in creating a narrative around current events in the world we live in.

Peter’s first quest is to vindicate his father who died suspected of treason. He is utterly faithful to his duty as FBI special agent. He is also determined to uncover the truth in all things, in particular concerning his father. Quickly he is paired with a private sector heroine who has been betrayed by a partner, orphaned by forces of evil, and dispossessed by the market. In the peril of the situation this bond develops practically and romantically. Opposite them is a pair of assassins. Besides being male and female they are veteran and neophyte, stable and unstable. All of the early action sequences of the story occur between these two pairs with the difference that Peter begins as Rose’s protector while the villains share equally in the attack.

Other pairs are key to the movement of the story as well. A veteran male Secret Service agent plays against a young ambitious female agent. Their assignment is the protection of the VP’s daughter. This is the only parent-child relationship in the story although the death of the mother echoes the lack of parents for both Peter and Rose. Finally, and maybe there are others I’ve forgotten, the bond, both personal and official, between the President and her Chief of Staff is critical to the final twist of the story.

Peter and Rose, their allies and antagonists, are engaged in a struggle between good and evil, in defense of the republic against a reactionary conspiracy. It is what makes them hero and heroine. But this moral dichotomy is undermined from the beginning, even in the title. The night agents are a sub rosa instrument of the president. It expresses the inability of the republic to defend itself on its own terms. We would not stray far to think this contradiction within the republic arises from its imperial ambitions.

Which brings us to the end of the season, Peter on a flight out of the country, his destination and mission secret. As a hero he has completed his quest. He should have wealth, elevated status, and be married. I, as a reader of fairy tales, am disappointed. Instead he remains in the shadowy role of night agent. He has learned that his father was indeed a traitor and he is leaving his romantic partner behind. Of course, this is a set-up for a second season but I wouldn’t leave it at that. 

As much as I enjoy a good car chase and showdown I am never quite satisfied by political realism. Factually identified persons and events will appear in serious documentaries or in comedies, but their identities are fictional in drama until their historic period is understood by the audience to have passed. Stories like The Night Agent purport to be about the world we live in but the characters, other than the heroes, give up much of their personalities so they can represent a type in an ideological allegory.

In the service of political realism Peter’s story is, in the end, not a hero’s quest but an audition for the role which he has been playing throughout, secret agent. He is right back where he started. Which is why, to continue a story with him as protagonist, he must go abroad, leaving behind a republic also still trapped in the contradictions that began this adventure.

Ave Caesar Ludorum Nox Est

Hail Caesar, it's Game Night!

 

Lord Vader reads the rules

A galaxy far away

Hey, that's the droid I was looking for!

The Death Star breeched

Rebels 1 - Empire 0

Babs ain't sure but probably doesn't care

 

All Along the Watchtower - The Alan Bown

 

Egyptian Game Board

 

Bad Beatles по-русски

 

Ten Screams of Jack

 

R.I.P. Raquel Welch

 

Chicks dig some groovy wax