How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again! (Mark Twain)
TCM was promoting the 1967 Richard Brooks film, In Cold Blood, last week and it got me to thinking, given the Zal Rule* at Fakeopedia, that the killing of the Clutter family in 1959, the basis for Truman Capote’s book of the same name and subject, would likely be a hoax.
*Zal Rule: If there is a major motion picture of a “real” event, you can be certain the event is a hoax-
This began as a response to BMSeattle about ‘Wings of Hope’(1998)*, another, IMO, faux TV documentary from Werner Herzog. It got a little long so I’ll post it here and hopefully give some relief to the comments section for Mark’s post, Grizzly Man.
*The film is about a 17 year old German girl, Juliane Koepcke, being the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Peruvian jungle in 1971. 92 (11) others on the plane died. The plane was hit by lightening and disintegrated. Given that planes are routinely hit by lightening and don’t do that, there is your first howler to judge this “real life” drama by. Continue reading “Little Werner Needs to Lie”
This post started as a simple comment to Dave about Amy Carter and an allergy she may have related to metal touching her skin. How I got from that to this pile is as confusing to me as it might be to you.
Regarding Amy and the missing wedding band, she never looked all that, um, what would be the best word…? Libidinous? She looks like her “father”* to a degree, but she also looks like her late uncle, Billy. Her “son” looks like the prop husband but nothing like her.
“Quotation marks” you ask? Continue reading “A Fact Check Free Zone”
The royal Chinese courts allowed parallel histories to co-exist. There was an official history issued by the Emperor which was used to determine the value of this and that (laws and customs) by controlling the nomenclature, and a wild history: a mélange of rumors, superstitions and bald faced lies told with real brio that resonated with the peasants, allowing them head space to dream rather than act out.
The following is neither- It is opinion based on contempt for institutions that used to have my admiration. This is me acting out… based on highly suspect information sources, of course. Take any of it with a sea’s worth of salt- Continue reading “Two Arrests- No Crimes Committed”
Home Run Derby was a television show that aired for one season back in 1960, ending abruptly when the announcer died of a heart attack. The show pitted two major league sluggers against each other for a chance to win 2 g’s. Two grand in that era was perhaps 5 to 10 percent of a ballplayer’s salary so the best and the biggest participated. Mickey, Willie, Hank etc. In that arrangement, the pitcher, a retread former hash slinger from the minors, tossed eat me lobs at these hall of famers and in all of the couple dozen or more contests that aired into the summer, no one really went crazy, as Aaron Judge did in this year’s derby at the all star game in wherever the hell it was held. In an hour plus, Judge hit something like fifty homers to win by a wide margin. In 1960, Jackie Jensen, a real piece of work that guy, managed a show best total of only 14 taters in his contest. Continue reading “Tipping one’s hand”
On Wednesday afternoon, 12:20pm, October 18th, 2017, a San Francisco police officer on bicycle patrol was hit by a suspect driving a stolen vehicle. I believe the assailant was under investigation for illegal firearms possession. (No private guns allowed in SF after the Milk/Moscone hoax) He was later apprehended at 3:30pm (of course).
Facebook and Twitter spread the word as this happened and a friend of mine found herself and her entire neighborhood under a “shelter in place” order from the SFPD. To my knowledge, this is the first time that order has been issued in Frisco. That got my antennae up. Continue reading “Frisco gets another turn on the hoax wheel-“
I know I’m walking right into the trap they have set, but what the hell…
I spent the weekend trying to make sense of the public immolation of the persona of Harvey Weinstein. I looked at it from several economic angles and nothing made sense. Film, streaming, gaming, they are all chugging along at record profits. What’s Harvey Weinstein to all of that? His crap wins awards. Prestige is a thing in Hollywood and he delivers. He’s a valuable asset to the propaganda machine. Continue reading “Auto-da-fé”
(In an effort to provide more manageable comment space for this very Clues Forum style debate over what happened in Vegas, I offer a few thoughts on some of the topics raised.. and yes, ‘Troll’ is right there in the headline…)
I walk in and out of a hospital almost every workday. During a crisis, beyond the private security in the building, local police help with crowd control. My hospital is part of a state university so the campus has its own full time police department. When needed in the building, officers are stationed in the public pathways, not in the ICU or convalescent areas. To secure a portion of a hospital for phantom vicsims beyond public scrutiny would not be difficult. The police are certainly not going to ask inconvenient questions when so deployed. Continue reading “Controlling the Aftermath”
Harry Dean Stanton, venerable character actor, slipped the guards and went on his merry way yesterday. My old man knew him long before he established a name for himself, and allegedly HDS would watch us toddlers from time to time. I have no recollection of those early years but Harry would always bring his guitar, sez the old man, and serenade anyone within earshot. Continue reading “Harry Dean is trying to tell me something”
In the comments for Maarten’s recent post regarding the flying Yugo, the conversation turned towards the inevitable question of who would participate in such a ruse?
My immediate guess is military personnel. No big headline, that, but it should be stated once again to ward off the suspicion that actual criminals may be involved. The people used in hoaxes have to be reliable, and the notion of a criminal being reliable long term doesn’t really add up, in my opinion. Continue reading “Who would do such a thing?”
Piece of Mindful 