__ __ \ \ /_/i e w e r issue 8 vol. 1 november 10/98 \ \/| |i s c r e t i o n ISSN 1481-2266 \__| |/ v_d@iname.com | _ |/ archived at disobey.com |___|/ http://www.disobey.com/text/ __ __________________ _ __________________ _ _________________ __ __ ________________ _ __________________ _ ___________________ __ __ ______________ _ __________________ _ _____________________ __ In this issue: WELCOME QUOTABLE THE REEF HORROR - BY MORBUS NO FRILLS OF OUR LIVES - BY GOATBOY BOOKSHITE ETC :: WELCOME :: Welcome to the "seriously fucked-up carnival" issue. Why seriously fucked-up carnival you ask? (Or don't - whatever) Well, it's mainly because I just read that particular phrase on page 87 of Stephen King's latest novel Bag Of Bones (no, I am not ashamed to admit I read SK and even like what he writes) and I really liked it. It stuck with me and seemed to closely describe my current mental state as I was reading and thinking about what to write for this issue of VD (I can multitask!). But it also goes deeper than that. I mean, even at the very best of times life could be described by that above quote. One just never knows what repercussions will follow a seemingly insignificant decision... Am I eluding to something here? Uh, possibly...probably. But so far the seemingly insignificant decision I made is still uh, insignificant... More later...possibly. Believe it or not but the issue you are reading was entirely hand written (well, not Morbus & Goatboy's columns) before being transcribed into 1's and 0's. See, I started my new job last week and that meant returning the desktop PC the my previous office had so graciously let me take home. So now my household is reduced to one laptop (not counting the numerous older computers I have lying around in various stages of disrepair) and my wife is using it for a school meeting. And seeing as I was 'inspired' to start writing this issue it was either dig out one of those wooden things filled with lead (no, not a billyclub) and some refined wood pulp and start writing or risk forgetting everything forever (I have a great memory but it's short ). Oh well...ya I know life is harsh, poor me, yadda yadda yadda... In completely unrelated news... Personally I'm quite pleased that Newt Gingrich resigned last week. First off though let me say, for those of you that don't know, I am a Canadian so I realize that my opinion of U.S. political types falls under the category of asshole - in that everyone has one, who cares. Anyways, my reason for being pleased with his departure is that with Canada being so close to the U.S., it's only natural that their political decisions have fall-out on our side of the border and quite honestly I can live with that. But what scares me is the prospect of someone named 'Newt' actually wielding power down south of the border. I mean, c'mon, growing up as 'Newt' you just know this guy got beat up. A lot. And I don't really want to be directly attached to a country that has some extremist-revenge-of-the-nerd dink named Newt blowing up everyone who shit in his Wheaties while growing up. Nope. Like I said, glad he's gone. Now if someone will just uncover that hetro-homo-transexual-beastial-kiddieporn-snuff video of Kenneth Starr that just has to exist, well, then life would be good - still a seriously fucked-up carnival, but good none the less... Enjoy the issue. :: QUOTABLE :: "Since the soul in me is dead, Better save the skin" -Archpoet (translated by Helen Waddell) "Welcome to the Darwinian Monkeyhouse of the Iron Scream" -Norman Spinrad "The moment someone's laziness makes my life difficult, I turn into an asshole with a cause." -Goatboy :: THE REEF :: This week we have a conspiratorial piece. It's a two page advertisement/order form for a book entitled MOONGATE: Suppressed Findings of the U.S. Space Program The NASA-Military Cover-Up by one William L. Brian II. Mr. Brian purports to have documented evidence of the greatest cover-up ever perpetrated upon the American people." He states that in his book he exposes "NASA's true link to Military Space Operations" (this is news??), "Secret Weapons Developed Under the Cover of the Civilian Space Program", "Suppressed Gravity Research Discoveries", and one of my favourites, "The Moon's True Nature and History". All this for $19.95 U.S. Tempted as I was I didn't buy the book, I was actually hoping the author would send me a promotional copy when I sent me note to him. Too bad. Well, if anyone out there has read or skimmed this book drop us a line and let us know if it is worth the read or not. :: HORROR - BY MORBUS :: PIN PIN skirts the line of "Is it really horror?". In most definitions of the word, horror brings up images of modern day movies, filled with guts, blood, killings, and all of the assorted FX that make people think of Scream and its ilk. People don't seem to realize that there is a form of horror I call "insidious"... It's not in your face or the flipping of your stomach as your eyes recoil, but rather seeps into your head and causes you to think about the implications. That's why most people don't consider SUSPIRIA, THE BUTCHER BOY, THE WICKER MAN, PIN, and so on as horror movies. They don't come out and attack you, but wait for you to attack them. PIN starts 15 years in the future, as a group of kids stare at the motionless figure in the window of a large mansion. Never moving, the figure has been there since the boys remember, and furtive whispers about it's nature run rampant. And as with boys of that age, no one is scared, but no one dares to get closer... until their courage is challenged. Which is why we follow one boy as he gets closer and closer to the mansion, eventually climbing the walls to get to the second floor window where the figure sits. Once close enough, he looks triumphantly back at his friends. And then the figure, never moving, speaks. Decelerate 15 years into the past, as the mystery of the figure unfolds through a typical American family: a doctor husband, a supportive wife, the testing son, and the cautious daughter. What we are treated to is the story of those 15 years we've traversed, and the eventual explanation of the figure in the window. I WILL NOT ruin this movie for you. This movie I heartily recommend to rent or own, if you can find it. Although longer than most, the story is strong, well written, and builds up to a point where you realllly need to go to the bathroom, but you're not willing to pause the damn thing. Labeling PIN as a "good movie" is an understatement. :: NO FRILLS OF OUR LIVES - BY GOATBOY :: IT SAYS "NO PARKING" It seems to be that school in this country is a complete waste of time. What's the point of wasting 15 years of your life learning shit, if when you come out you use your brain less than before? For example, how hard is it to read a friggen sign? Apparently impossible for many of you. This brings me to the parking lot outside of no frills. The parking lot is huge. You can park at least 200 cars and there would still be plenty of space left. The only spot where one can't park it's in front of the entrance. It's a space that would probably fit no more than four cars. There is a rack there where customers plug the buggies in, and those alone take half of that space. There are big words written with yellow paint on the floor that say "no parking". There are a total of 6 signs that clearly say "no parking". Pretty fucking clear, you'd think. Apparently not. There is not a day when we go to get the buggies from outside and bring them back into the store, that someone hasn't parked there. It's not like the parking lot is far from the store. It's just a matter of walking, what.. 50 meters from where you parked? You drove to the store, you could get some exercise to your fat, overweight and cramped body. Now, that someone parks there, really, I wouldn't care less, if it wasn't for the buggies. And since the majority of idiots park in such a way that make a) getting the buggies out impossible or b) bringing them in the store just as much difficult, the guys and me flip our nutsack in a frenzy of revengeful dick play. The moment someone's laziness makes my life difficult, I turn into an asshole with a cause. Usually we are nice and ask the customer not to park there, because, clearly, it is making it impossible for us to get the buggies out. Now, a normal person would take their car out of there.. but no, the assholes that shop here give you the dirty look and answer you with a "I am a customer, so I can park where I want". Yeah, you also pay taxes to the city, so why do those parking enforcement officers keep putting tickets on your car? Of course, as the customer walks into the store, feeling pretty cool that he had the balls to tell us that, we know exactly what to do. With a couple of guys waiting in specified locations so as to give a quick signal when the customer returns (although usually we have plenty of time), the rest of us grab a roll of wrapping plastic and.. start wrapping the car. We wrap it so well that the only thing you can see are the lower part of the wheels and a bit of the roof. There is nothing more satisfying then watching a customer with his hands full of grocery bags, being laughed at by other customers that had the courtesy of parking in the correct spot, while he tried to remove the thick plastic with his keys. Yeah, you saved yourself walking 50 meters, but now you had to sit here and cut through all that plastic for a good 15 minutes. Loser. In the winter eggs work wonders. Ever tried to scrape a frozen egg from your hood? Guess what else will peel with the egg? All the paint. And that ensures a good dosage of rust to develop on the car. Maybe next time we'll try gasoline. :: BOOKSHITE :: Kathy Koja's _Skin_. What a seriously fucked-up carnival novel. Seriously. This novel takes the 'Modern Primitive' notion, those among us who sport serious tribal tattoos and piercing (including but not limited to genital piercing) to a very negative extreme. And what a trip it is getting there. The author has obviously immersed herself in the worlds of Survival Research Laboratories and RE/Search's Modern Primitive book. And the story, whether you agree with the direction of the story or not, I don't, benefits greatly from Koja's research. The basic story is a post apocalyptic carnival of dancers, performance artists, sculptures, blood letters, etc., that are driven by the friendship, and destruction of that friendship, of two women; Bibi and Tess. Bibi is constantly pushing her limits to an inevitable negative conclusion. Tess on the other hand can see what's coming and is trying, with no avail, to rein Bibi in. The ensuing story, tensions, etc., told in Koja's own inimitable style, is a very dark, engrossing read. What I don't agree with in this story is that it seems to focus entirely on the negative aspects of this, now old, latest trend. I don't think there are too many people who are going to take the piercing, tattooing, body modification ideal to the extreme of lopping of limbs, death, etc. Right from the beginning of the book it has this dark cloud over it. Now seeing that this is the effect that the author wants, it works. But personally I just found it a bit overwhelming and somewhat unreal. However this doesn't stop _Skin_ from being a powerful, enjoyable (in a perverse way) book that is well worth the time invested in reading it. :: ETC :: You can catch VD from seriously fucked-up carnival workers named 'Newt' who have dead body cavity fixations or by sending an empty email to v_d-subscribe@makelist.com If you have something you'd like to see in vd or an idea for a section you'd like to write or just want to scream at someone, send a note to v_d@iname.com Viewer Discretion, VD, its content are mine, all mine, hahahahaha. Viewer Discretion is archived exclusively at Low Bandwidth - http://www.disobey.com/low/listings/viewer_discretion.htm because underneath Morbus' Devil-incarnate exterior is lot's of blood and guts and veins and shat. Morbus appears courtesy of disobey.com Goatboy appears courtesy of capnasty.org The worse thing about hand writing this issue is it is only when writing something of this length and disjointed thought, that I come to realize how much I use and rely on cut & paste. Next issue November 24/98 __ _______________ _ ___________________ _ _____________________ __ __ _________________ _ ___________________ _ ___________________ __ __ ___________________ _ ___________________ _ _________________ __ Morbus made me put this here cos he's a "visionary"... Viewer Discretion and its back issues are available at: http://www.disobey.com/text/ Viewer Discretion, VD, its content are. <-Zen style copyright, uh yeah. Copyright 1998-2000 Neil MacKay <-Legal style copyright, uh huh. Publication by Disobey. http://www.disobey.com/ TO SUBSCRIBE: majordomo@disobey.com BODY: Subscribe ViewerDiscretion TO UNSUBSCRIBE: majordomo@disobey.com BODY: Unsubscribe ViewerDiscretion ...whatever...dogs bark...but the caravan moves on. __ ___________________ _ ___________________ _ _________________ __ __ _________________ _ ___________________ _ ___________________ __ __ _______________ _ ___________________ _ _____________________ __