Fortress Of Freedom Board

[Maurice Ali]

A bit about my mother.....



My mom died the morning after I gave my speech in General Assembly - the “so called” impossible goal I just decided to blurt out on The Fortress TV Show - and I actually caught a cab right after the speech and paid the guy extra “under the table” to get me to La Guardia as fast as possible using side streets. I made it in time to say goodbye, but now I really get nervous when you score big, and it is the reason I play for a few big scores and plenty of small bad luck. So my car has a tick in both heads when cold that disappears in a few seconds when left alone in sub zero weather for more than half a day- I just let it tick but it will now disappear till November, so now I hope I get the AC failure popular in Mustangs and required the whole dash be disassembled to fix. Then we have the plague. I also have the squirrel problem and so on. So I may just get that next big score if I play my cards right.




The family back in the day!



Anyway, back to mom - and driving fast cars. It is only in retrospect that I see now my mom’s aficionado for speed. We would go to drag races as a kid - but now I question if it was mom’s idea and not dad’s. Dad was an engineer and then early computer science instructor at NAIT. All our cars were monsters with huge powerful V8s. And when dad wanted a second car he bought an original Austin Mini which my mom never drove. It is now apparent to me that my mother loved the fast V8s! I remember being on vacation in the Rockies (six to eight years old) and waking up in the back seat of the car and putting my head over the front seats to see mom driving this big and fast Pontiac up and down mountain passes with cliff corners and shear drops to death - at 90mph! Dad was asleep in the front seat and mom drove around like a manic looking over her shoulder occasionally at me and smiling.....




My Mustang and my Roadmaster side-by-side!



So this gear head love affair I have could have come from my mother’s side. When my folks got the Buick Roadmaster it was my mother who had the final say. That Roadmaster had a Corvette LT1 drivetrain in it and a 147mph top speed for a eight seat station wagon with the five way back door! They were taking about when I should be allowed to drive that car and my mom muttered if I could handle the power! My mom said this in my presence and I drove a 5.0 Mustang V8 at the time. True, that Corvette V8 engine was more powerful and the wagon even had a higher top speed than the Mustang - but geez - this was my mom! Anyway some weeks later my mother pulls up beside me at a stop light near their home. Light turns green and mom smokes it off the line and she was gone - just like that! So what do you do when your 60 something mother totally humiliates you in your sports car at the lights? You drive like grandpa as if you never intended to race that car in the first place - that’s what you do.....



So now I know the truth about where my love affair with the car came from. I lived in denial about the obvious because I believed in the stereotype - yes, that can happen to me too.....





https://youtu.be/_cWvHojLX0A



https://fortressoffreedom.com/Buick_Roadmaster_Stationwagon.mp4


https://fortressoffreedom.com/Buick_Roadmaster_wagon_burnout.mp4

[Maurice Ali]

Ok I’m bored and now I may start to work with the Mustang and the first is to give her a name and something better than “my little Mustang” - and that name is:



Black Betty




I was keeping Betty stock as a daily driver but I need the money for the ground war in disseminating the positive mandate like I said I would not do. So no new Corvette to mess about with. I’ll probably wait till June when the 3 year warantee runs out. They would fix that head tick with a cutter to improve oil flow when extremely cold but it may just be a noise issue and not affect performance or longevity. Nothing goes wrong with these motors anymore as they were sorted out years ago. And the dealer sure as hell won’t deal with a noise issue after the bumper to bumper is gone, so even if I still have two years on the powertrain - I’m on my own with the cold tick after June so may as well gamble as I’m having fun after that. I did a YouTube interview at Moran Racing a while ago about a supercharged V6 engine and a stroker all here in the GTA. A procharger is the easiest but I want to to still be a daily driver. First is to have fun with BB by disabling all nannies which happens when you disconnect a connector on the driver fender inside the engine bay (that total control does not happen any other way) And that is how you do donuts at Yonge-Dundas Square. Then change the shift selector to a better design. Then live with the current power and refine the weak spots. Only increase the power when it holds you back and it’s powerful enough as it is for a daily - so we shall see.....




This is me trying to look cool - and not making it!



As an aside - it kills me that a quickie ten minute YouTube video with no editing gets 37 subscribers and 3.400 views while the label channel only hears crickets.....



And yes I know “Lead Belly” may have written the song “Black Betty”, but “Ram Jam” made it popular - it is what it is.....


Later.....


https://youtu.be/2ud6dwWw71o


https://youtu.be/I_2D8Eo15wE

[Maurice Ali]

Well the weekend.....




Me and my Oma back in the day.



Stuff is happening now but nothing official on any of it. Writing about my mom does get you thinking. Much of the first four years or so of my life was spent with my Oma and her family. Believe it or not I won over her affection and I was just another member of the family. She kissed and hugged me and changed my diapers, sang me German nursery rhymes. My mom told she would have to translate out from them what I was saying as German was my first language. I keep wondering if I think in German but speak in English and that is why we have the bizarre style I have with the language. Whatever, those first few years formed 85 percent of my mind and saved me from the typical fate of other minorities of a like upbringing. No inferiority complex here - but a very unique perspective on things which could be of value to humanity.




Me and my Oma back in the day.



But Oma for the first three or four years and my mom for the rest. Mom was my biggest fan to the end. You take that for granted until it’s gone - and then it’s gone. I thought I was on my own, but since her death I am truly on my own. I now miss her pestering me about what I was up to. It was always a bother before - now I miss it..... Me and dad are fine but it’s nothing like mom. But you always have this idea of your mother as always this prim and proper saint and slowly you see that - especially in her younger days - she was not as boring as you thought she was.....




Me and mom back in the day.




Goodnight










https://youtu.be/uG7jXkqe_bU

[Maurice Ali]

It’s Sunday morning and during a discussion with one of my directors we are making possible plans for the fall.



These plans may not happen but the upside may be too good not to pass up. By September essential travel may be permitted outside Canada. My take is that it would be easy to get into the States but harder getting back in. But if the General Assembly happens in September there could still be much restrictive travel internationally. So while we were shut out before due to demand - with less demand for access we may just get into the big show! We shall see, but I do have time off for this if it comes up. This would be a massive score as the movers and shakers of the world (and their minions) will be there and anything can happen in terms of dissemination, along with that is the World Bank and IMF in Washington just after with the same problems and same opportunities of travel restrictions ensue. There would be more demand at both venues for NGOs from the States, but international access rules and Canada is international so we have a chance.



So it was decided that the opportunities far outweighed the risks involved and that we should try and go if we get a proper invite. Invite alone is good enough at the United Nations but I would like some chance of dissemination at the World Bank/IMF. Europe is currently off the table but you never know. It all happens in the fall. For Europe it is the “Public Forum” (i.e. freedom of expression days) at the WTO and a trip or recon to the UN Head offices literally across the street from the WTO. This would allow me to get a grounds pass and get used to the place. So oddly everything is technically back on the table and we shall just see how it goes.


Let’s face it, the only reason you are here is because I have some ideas and now the means to have a genuine chance of provoking change in the world. 99.9999999999999999999999999% of the population does not have what I have. Maybe only a handful in this world are strategically placed to make the plays I can make. So there is no question of “if” - only the question of “allow” and I go! This is the reason you are here. It’s not about my tragic early life or needing to get laid on the weekend. It’s all about ideas and the ability to change our world. I am one such individual that has a chance at it and I am strategically placed to do it with all the resources needed, so there is nothing holding me back at my end! This is the play, and it’s for all the marbles. So many people lament the futility of their situation and inability to do anything about it. Well all those social problems created me and I’m going to do something about it. “I” lament that my fellow humans hardly gave me any help to do this, though I will admit a few forward thinking individuals opened some doors for me. I litterally do this on a blue collar salary with car payments and a mortgage. And yet nobody I know of is doing what I do or even has the chance. Litterally all 7.7 billion on earth could do what I do - so what gives? I’m forced to conclude that I am special or an anomaly or else shame on all of you.



Stating goals during The Fortress TV Show!


But I am making the plays and whatever doors were opened to me were not in vein. I payed them back and then some already. I fantasized about this as a kid and here I am. I stated my desires on national TV on the number two network and nailed that goal 10 years later. No bull shit from this guy as he delivers! They laughed - literally laughed at me when I stated my desire to make a speech on the floor of the UN General Assembly during the airing of The Fortress TV Show. Now if they see me they scatter like cockroaches under the light so I will never get that “I told you so” moment to enjoy. And personally - in the end - I’m totally alone anyway and so it goes like this, talk to a psychologist if you want to find out why. Go figure, but I will do what I have to as it’s the right thing to do. That moral imperative again.



In other news, we have at least three acts making music right now. The creativity continues and continues to endorse those ideas we espouse. Speeches and plain words are only one way.....



Later.....




https://iaij.com/IAIJ_Goals.wmv

https://fortressoffreedom.com/General_Assembly_Speech.wmv

https://youtu.be/T4Xf2Efb6_w

https://youtu.be/lk2-bgwA0Ro

[Maurice Ali]

So much for the weekend…..


Saturday was sleeping and then shopping for food and disinfecting the stuff afterward. I did go through a bag of chips and dip and a can of Coors Lite my dad had while watching movies. That was never a good idea but doing stuff I did before the virus is welcome. What I hate about this pandemic is that it just shows you how old you are and that you could die at anytime. Robbed of many life experiences when young - and now you get robbed of the tail end of your life. This stuff I am doing now in advocacy does not make up for the losses personally. I know, The Fates and the world does not care about one person - but personally it matters to me. It does matter to me, but in some hospital with Covid 19 with the staff maybe just letting you die there to free up another bed – well then, what you want does not matter.

Always the short end of the stick.



Me today


So this is the opposite side of yesterday’s post meant to pump me up. This is the opposite. You know, I feel great! I should be at least seven years younger than my 60 chronological age. I was growing out my hair and now have an excuse. Here are some pics and I didn’t touch anything after lying down on the floor watching videos on my phone. And what is going on with that bald spot where nobody goes bald at the back of my head. The lights or grey hair or what? But even though I may not feel like an old man I may just deteriorate quickly and die like all the other old people at the nursing home, leaving unfinished advocacy as the cherry on top of a useless life. Anyway, I finished my shopping at the grocery store and found this really attractive girl all by herself at the cash register. Why is it people avoid the hot chick cashier? Anyway I asked if she was open and this mountain of cans and food went down the conveyor belt. I told her to look at all the people not wearing masks and such (I was wearing one – it finally happened) and that now was the peak and the most likely time to get it. I told her I was this old fart from the 1950s and ripe for death due to Covid 19. She clearly didn’t buy that prognostication, but actually left her register and helped me bag that mountain of stuff I bought. But I did tell her how all this was going to end which you never see on the news but whatever. It’s not perfect but has more than a ring of truth to it and calms everyone I told down. Really was interested in that, and I also told her about the Lysol on the hands as opposed to the rubber gloves that never worked and she bought that idea and even asked me which brand of Lysol and such. Hum - and this was a 21 year old….. Why the interest as she wasn’t going to die. Anyway this Chinese guy tentatively looked over at us and I told him “yes, she is open!” and she went back to the cash register. Why are people so tentative about bugging super attractive people if they are there to do a job? They are not better than the plain chicks swamped with customers as I noticed. But yes, she was this blond super hot model working the cash register and everyone avoided her like the plague – too funny…..




A bald spot back there?



Sunday was no better. I’m ready to upload the UN review now but will still keep looking at it as there is nothing else to do. Maybe I will survive this wave of the flu but die in the second one in the fall. Maybe scoring at the international level – then – a quick death as payback time. Then maybe the girl at the cash thinks in November “Hum, that brown old fart insect creature was right – I wonder what happened to him?” And he is dead, after a living death on a respirator, then stuffed in some refrigerated trailer with 200 other corpses, parked inconspicuously at the side of the road. And as she dances at some club late that Saturday night having a good time, I am incinerated at some place with the ashes mixed in with others – a mass burial due to the times. Some guy later shovels the ashes into unmarked cans and then later labels are applied with any names on the list and presented to family members who have no clue it’s not the actual ashes.



And that is my little upbeat post for tonight…..




Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/9skz0syLM7g

[Maurice Ali]

The Quadrennial report for the United Nations has been sent in!







Finally, I can forget about this for awhile. The picture above is the confirmation that it has been sent. And the picture below is our profile showing that the report has been sent. I erased my email and stuff like that but that is what you would see from my end. They will email you when they look at it but with so much closed down - who knows when that may be?







That Covid 19 thing from China has screwed up so much of the world it is incredible as to the scale of its effect. But it is what it is and that’s all I will say here. But personally it does screw up your life considerably. The biggest is the trip to Geneva, and that is most likely the one surest to be cancelled. And I only have so many active years left, so this is a real bitch for me to have to deal with. I’ll lay it all down tomorrow, but Geneva was my next location to ingratiate myself on the world’s stage, now delayed for who knows how long!



You can always say “why me” but everyone on earth is saying that. That you are trying to do good does not matter to the world. Fairness and justice are just mental constructs in our minds and do not exist outside our minds. This is all a mind game but the happiness from good policies and goals are for real. That is the “Holy Grail” I give to all of you, but at this point of time nobody cares. Things will just play out. But in general things should work in my favour the more uncertain things become - and right now we are living in uncertain times. According to the “uncertainty principe” the more my position in the world is - the more uncertain my momentum is as you can’t be sure of both. So in a very abstract way we may make progress even in a pandemic! So maybe I should just role with it.....



Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/9mXJK86GCsI


https://youtu.be/8DajVKAkL50

[Maurice Ali]

Getting back into stuff again.



I think I’ll probably put the original “The Fortress TV Show” on Amazon just so you can see the original show - warts and all - on how all this started. It’s more fun to see the tail end of “Saturday Night Live“ and the commercials and then our funky little show! A proper show on a proper channel with all the fixings! I’m sure a show like this never was broadcast before and culminated the end of a six month battle to get it on the air for free speech reasons. Dan told me later that getting the show on a big network like Global TV “was” a big deal, and actually he may have been right in the passage of time. I’ll update you on progress as it goes along.





I was going to show you why Geneva was a big deal before the virus but I think I will leave it for tomorrow and just start this thing now and get right into it. The show was a big deal for me when it aired. There were only a few channels on the air back then and this was channel three! Most of it over the air even into New York State! I didn’t think about it then but this was my first major bit of dissemination. The people that watched it didn’t know what hit them, but some emailed me basically saying: “whatever it takes” - a great moment in my life!



Goodnight.....




https://fofentertainment.com/FOF_Show_Intro_Long.wmv

[Maurice Ali]

I now have the finished file of The Fortress TV Show and will upload it for captioning and also Amazon’s servers. This is the broadcast file captured on my PD170 off the cable feed from Global TV in SD and then overlaid onto a DNxHD 1080p 220mb/second 10 bit file for TV broadcast. Then I compressed it to a 720p file for Amazon. So that gets uploaded today.




The show in Beta SP - rejected because of the audio.



I’ll now update some of the more minor things in my life just for kicks and giggles. First is me constantly forgetting to take my Apple Watch off the charger before it it’s 100 percent. I aim for 80% so I don’t age the battery on the watch but forgot again and it’s at 100% which pisses me off to no end - first world problems. Next is the tick on my Mustang which only sounds off when the car is cold near freezing or below and sitting for more than eight hours - and this happens for less than a minute on start up. Right now with warmer weather you either don’t hear it at all or very very faintly if it’s still cold. It will now disappear for half a year at least so what to do. Do nothing I guess, but I watched a video that showed the caps for the head cams for these early engines loosened with the bolts over time and one example with like 250.000 miles had the rattle so bad that the caps showed hammering due to the gaps. The bolts that secured the caps could be turned by hand and that was how lose they were. But I hesitate to crack open that engine now as the cars is problem free and all - so another first world problem. Then the squirrel in the attic. And these are some of the problems in my life right now. There are others but I digress.




The show in Digital Betacam - accepted and broadcast with tape library bar code and cue sheet!



But really I should just get out of this bath tub and upload the videos instead of just talking about it. So many people talk about what they are going to do and never do it - not me though.....




The markings on the case.



Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/JrYtD7gSWsI

[Maurice Ali]

I took today off.....



Nothing is happening. Even the closed captioning is delayed. Most of the United Nations is closed. Library and Archives Canada is closed so no final catalogue of my book - I.e. no Dewey decimal number yet. You get the drift.



But music production is roaring ahead so there is that one bright spot.




Later.....

[Maurice Ali]

So I owe you a proper update.....


The closed captioning came through on Friday so when I post this I will upload that to Amazon and review. If everything checks out then it gets sent off for review. My guess is that it gets left in limbo for a few weeks and then I bitch about and it it goes up on Prime.





A still from the show!



I also have to figure how to get that last show onto that 4 terabyte drive. I actually should get the DNxHD file and then a JEPG 2000 file to complete it. But this was the original show off the cable. The real source file is SD but getting that source video off the tape in DVCAM will still be 30gigs. The broadcast file is 50gigs and the JEPG2000 maybe around that. So I may as well just go with the JEP2000 file and be done with it. And that will truly take care of video production here. The Fortress TV Show is produced and distributed by Fortress of Freedom Inc. and not FOF Entertainment Inc., this is because that was how it was originally aired. So it does not get lumped in with the series, but I may change this to add a second season as we only need one more show. We shall see.....




A still from the show!


One thing I should add, Global TV actually had a discussion about my philosophy for the organization and thought I was nuts. But the idea was not nuts enough to ruin the brand of the network so it went on. The bottom line is that you can’t force a network to put your show on. They can do whatever they want. So getting on Global TV was a big deal and a big accomplishment at the time (2005). Finally - in retrospect I love the fact I included my family in the credits as I considered keeping them out to make that production look more professional. Now with my mom dead, all this was the right move. She held my cue cards as I made my five minute speech or “war cry” - she dropped them making me ad-lib briefly. But all this will pay off big in Asia where family means more - we shall see.




A still from the show!


Goodnight.....





https://youtu.be/SR3aIzfNMXM

[Maurice Ali]

I should have all the broadcast TV shows archived into DNxHD and JEPG2000 files by Monday.....



And with that my goodbye to all those video projects. But there is one last thing I want to have. I still want to make a small run of DVDs of our movies with audio commentary by me of the experiment. I have an extensive catalogue of DVDs and what sets many of them apart from downloads is that audio commentary to go along with the movie. So I will fish out that first disc I made and marry it to the first case I made and take I t from there.



Some early DVD labels.


There are still places making proper CDs and DVDs and I may splurge and do a proper DVD for us and anyone else interested. I’ll put it on sale on Amazon and just be done with it now and for all! I know DVDs are almost dead but like the big old fashioned theatre premiere - this is more for me personally doing something commonplace in my past life even though it is past its prime today. Like getting ours show on terrestrial TV. I don’t know how may people still use antennas to get TV but it was a thrill to see The Fortress TV Show on the kitchen TV over the air like that - and with my dad watching the show there as he usually does - that was like a twilight zone moment for me. So we do the DVD thing and a copy of The Fortress Experiment ends up in the stack of DVDs at my place.



All this of course points to the fact you are an old fart. I can try to hide it and hang around younger folk, but more and more your age is thrust into your face. This pandemic showcases your age even more. I am right on that cusp where you have to think about the risk of this flu and your age. It starts you thinking about getting old and frail. It will pass but you can never escape it. It would have been better if I really looked the part and had nothing going on in my life but upcoming retirement. But I’m still looking ahead and dreaming of things and there is still an open future for the time being. I can’t think about retirement but it is there nevertheless. It just exacerbated the whole age thing even more. Being President and CEO of several corporations does put you in a crowd of people your age still vital, but when these get togethers are done it is back to you getting old.


I won’t rant in this too long - but you get the drift. Make way for tomorrow.....





Goodnight.....




https://youtu.be/AeKsY3Kg2OU


https://youtu.be/eANLSvxwCk0

[Maurice Ali]

I accomplished my goal of making all the archiving files for the shows we had on traditional broadcast networks like Global TV and CTV which were the number 2 and number 1 networks in Canada.



The funny thing is that I did that stuff so quickly and cheaply. To be honest, the money never mattered to those people. Just the threat of “Joe Average” messing about with their precious station. So they put me on and I went away - the point was made! Now it’s dissemination across all sorts of platforms. But all the files needed are done and I still have the original Digital Betacam tapes that I can take to a production house and have them converted to broadcast files if need be. Plenty of those decks still around.




Main page of the DVD



Right now though, I want to close the door on the DVD movies. I did find the latest DVD with the chapter selection last night and now what I want to do is add the director’s commentary so that is the next task. I also wouldn’t mind adding Shane’s movie to the menu and all on one disc. I could go Blueray but few have these players but most have an old laptop or PC or stand alone player for DVDs. So in the next few weeks we get that master disc done along with the artwork for the DVD cover. I could also add 5.1 Dolby but it’s theatrical 5.1 and takes up more space than the movie so that’s probably a no go. But I do have Dolby 5.1! You’ll hear more about this as we go along but I want that DVD. I’ll probably get a real manufactured product with a silk screened disc and all. I only have one movie so it gets the royal treatment.






Scene selection page of the DVD



In other news: Twenty6hundred is making new music. More news on this later but this ”is” happening in the background even though we can’t meet any of the band and the band mates have to track things individually at their homes. But creativity cannot be stopped by a virus!



What else.....



I thought I lost my AirPods on Saturday but I found them later after thinking they were stolen as the “find my” app said they were at some house two kilometers away - glad I didn’t ring their bell asking questions. Then on Sunday I was coming out of a store and took my mask off flinging the AirPods onto the concrete. I told a guy near me that the mask situation was getting old and he pointed me to one of the AirPods I was looking for. Second time dropping them on concrete and the pods are getting nicked and scratched but still working fine. I love these things! I actually forgot they were in my ear and so didn’t remove them before whipping off the mask. That is tribute to the comfort of those things which leads to the question of what I would have done if I really lost the AirPods on Saturday. Well no AirPod Pros for me as they would never stay in my ear. But after half a year of use some honest reviewers are flat out saying to go for the original AirPods. This is huge as Apple cuts your access to samples and invitations if you give a negative review - but - if it’s a review between two Apple products and you recommend one over the other you may dodge that bullet. And that is what you see in places like YouTube. Also I love the Apple Watch 5. No regrets there and I want to keep mine for awhile.


We may get stuck using masks all over the place so stylish and alternative masks are coming out with promotional videos with the cool people rocking face masks. Too funny - until - you buy one.....




Goodnight.....






https://youtu.be/8CTGBJH-sEU


https://youtu.be/JZXzqhu5Ytc

[Maurice Ali]

I’ll wash dishes and clean up around the house. Then I’ll look at those 4tb hard drives and see if there is any way to squeeze my TV files from the weekend on there.



I will also open my DVD program and start to work on things. First is adding a button to the home screen and this will be called “extras” or “special features” or whatever is the notation and this is where I’ll put the audio commentary/ trailer/or even the Real Life: Real Lives mini movie. I just want to start the thing. First though may be a quick wash of the car. That car is the most reliable car I have ever owned. Almost three years and not one trip to the dealer. Sure many have issues with the air conditioning but not me so far. That engine tick for 30 seconds when standing for at least half a day and in cold temperatures is noted but not enough for me to chance them monkeying around with it. So it looks like I sail past the bumper to bumper with no issues. I bought this car from fleet sales from a run for rental cars so that may explain much. A slower production line and pick of the parts in the bin for a huge client. There has to be a reason as the other cars have really poor quality control.



Oh, and for all you iPhone users out there - ever wonder why, all of a sudden, data seems to disappear for no reason at all? Well one answer I found out is that AirPods get updates automatically and there is nothing you can do about it, and that is for original and the pro models. This came out with the fiasco that is AirPods Pro. The first operating system (OS) was fine for the OG (original gangster - or original for the old farts like me) pods but then they started updating unknowingly to the user. Bass improved but noise cancellation broke eventually not making any noise cancellation at all. Another update was a disaster and retracted by Apple but those who already updated were stuck as you can’t go back. So one pod would not work right. Take it back to Apple and get a replacement pod. Only problem is that the replacement pod had a different OS so now the two pods don’t communicate with each other and no longer work. Then Covid 19 shut everything down and now here we are. There may also be a hardware problem with one of AirPods Pro. So that is the current situation with these head phones. Don’t buy them for those reasons and the fact many find they don’t fit and fall out of their ears. Why do I care? Apple rarely screws up this bad and it got my curiosity and that is why. Nuff said.....



Goodnight.....




https://youtu.be/EAp2YRgvU3Y







https://youtu.be/0yrCjsaZKg8

[Maurice Ali]

Success with the DVD!



I now have the main movie with chapters and now the short with chapters under the “Special Features” section. Now I need to change the main page to the movie iconic poster image and the same for the short. Then the commentary for both films and possibly captions. It is finally coming together!




The Fates!



Ever wonder why I keep bringing up the mythical Fates? It is because even though we may be ruled by gods, they ultimately have no control over The Fates. The Fates are in essence the universe’s safety valve over all. The only control over gods is through The Fates, so if the gods misbehave, they may inadvertently “give rise” to the seeds of change through one (or those) given their destiny by The Fates who ultimately control one’s life. How do you explain peculiar action from a place that should never see such action. Where do those “monsters” of justice come from sick societies, and even so, how are they enabled to do what they do and have an impact even though all of society works against them. In a perfect society, everyone is in their proper place. But in a sick society, everyone is in their proper place except for the one affected most by the sick society. Everyone is in their proper place except that one entity, and this fact allows that person to do what they do to provoke change and hopefully change for the better.


The only cultural metaphors for this invincibility is fate as dictated by The Fates. You see this all the time in popular culture, popular recent examples being Neo in “The Matrix” or Riddick in “The Chronicles of Riddick”. In the Matrix the Architect who created the Matrix knows and expects Neo to appear and just deals with it as fate. In the Riddick trilogy The Marshal hears from a prophet that he will be downed by a child of his own doing and kills an entire world and every child to escape this prophecy - and yet still falls victim to The Fates.


Right now I deal with the one that ends life. She is shown to be an old miserable woman with shears to cut the thread of life. But I see her as a beautiful woman who gives me the opportunity to right the wrongs of my life before my time runs out. I depends on which side of the fence you stand on - I hope you get that.....




Goodnight.....




https://youtu.be/UrMcfE7kz84



https://youtu.be/yX5TsLuIEy8



https://youtu.be/WT0xEcAIRz4



(NSFW)
https://youtu.be/8zZMXLPnpgg

[Maurice Ali]

A late one today.



A late one because I’m making headway with the DVD. So we now have the option to have or not have closed captions for the main movie but not the short. I will add the commentary to the main movie and the program I use will easily handle this. But what do I do with the short film? The quick and dirty thing to do is just slap the same movie onto the disc with the captions. I could even slap a third one there with the commentary or just put that on a second disc. We shall see but getting the captions on the main movie opened up the process to inject the commentary the same way so this day was productive.



When all this is said and done I may add some music used in the soundtracks and some stills and such. This is actually fun to do - until I encounter a real problem, but a distraction until I’m back to the man-of-the-world thing and fate. Always that and since I seem to be the only one doing that I can’t opt-out..... The usual, someone who thinks they are playing god only to be stymied by the fates or some other oracle manipulating some human be it Hercules or Beowulf or whatever to provoke change. It alway makes for a good and proper movie.



Back to the DVD.....



Later.....





https://youtu.be/_m8UwQUiyJk


https://youtu.be/cHZl2naX1Xk