The Teacher’s Library
His library and study contained worlds to explore
The shelves were lined with books and volumes galore
Sources of knowledge where a fingertip opened the door
The walls were lined with murals
Of oceans, of Egypt, of Paris and the Urals
A small fountain and waterfall against the far wall
Model of ancient Roman village over which Caesar’s statue stood tall
These were a few of the items on display in the room
Including replica Viking helmet of a Norse raider’s doom
From here he would sit, ponder and read
Thoughts and ideas would often take seed
Cigar or pipe smoke filled the air
Like warm mist in this gentle scholar’s lair
Some nights he marked papers or prepared lesson plans
To his students he imparted Wisdom’s fair strands
Rivers and oceans of knowledge he longed to share
Life is a journey on which to set fare
His library and study were indicative of his teaching
What he shared with his students was lifelong and far reaching
The lives he impacted and ideas he inspired
Continued long after he had retired.
-A poem written by Christopher
Wednesday June 16th 2021
Inspired by memories of
a teacher’s library and study.
Picnic With A Good Friend
Grass and trees are green
A canopy of blue sky
Moment so tranquil
Take pause and take breath
Nature’s majesty beckons
Live in the moment
Good friend is priceless
Moments like this always last
In fond memories
-A series of haiku
written by Christopher
Tuesday June 15th
2021.
Thunderstorm In Area
High humidity
Temperatures are rising
Thunderclouds bring relief
Mirage
He was wandering lost in the desert.
He had stupidly wandered his way down a trail he wasn’t familiar with and couldn’t find his way back.
His mobile service didn’t seem to work out here and he couldn’t call for help.
His canteen was almost out of water.
Evening was approaching and a day of desert heat would soon be replaced by a night of desert cold.
Then he saw it.
A blue Chevy truck.
Most likely from the 1930s.
In mint condition.
He looked through the window.
The key was in the ignition and it appeared to have a full tank of gas.
He looked around.
And saw absolutely no one.
It seemed the vehicle was a godsend meant for him.
He got in and drove.
Some 80 odd years earlier at that very spot, a notorious bankrobber Sam Scarface Faring had pulled over to the side of the road to relieve himself.
When he turned around to get back into his truck, it had gone.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Faring, a police vehicle soon pulled up along the road and saved him from dying in the desert.
Instead he faced a life sentence in prison.
A mysterious time/space vortex had helped one man in trouble and sent another man to his just fate.
-A short story written by Christopher
Sunday June 13th 2021.
Baal and Baphomet Attend G-7 Summit In Cornwall
Michelangelo the Psychic Lobster was sitting in his lobster tank at Set Enterprises in London and having a vision of what was happening behind the scenes at this year’s G-7 Summit in Cornwall.
He saw that the demons Baal and Baphomet were attending the summit at Carbis Bay, Cornwall and were in fact the entities responsible for writing Joe Biden’s Build Back Better global plan that the U.S. President was presenting to his fellow G-7 leaders as his plan to save the world.
The Baal and Baphomet Build Back Better plan was greeted with enthusiasm by Canada’s brainless Justin Trudeau.
The Egyptian crocodile god Sobek also briefly appeared during the summit to shed crocodile tears over the fact that this was German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s last G-7 summit since she’d be stepping down as Germany’s Chancellor later this year.
After the day’s proceedings were over, French President Emmanuel Macron walked the streets of Carbis Bay in search of cougars.
Finding none, the French President then wondered about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Which is why the Queen was presented with a sword in order to cut the G-7 cake in case Macron approached her asking for a piece.
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi made inquiry of the demons Baal and Baphomet as to Judas Iscariot’s good health on behalf of Pope Francis.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was surprised to see Steak and Kidney Sushi on the menu at the Carbis Bay Hotel.
The summit host British Prime Minister Boris Johnson got a few pieces of the Steak and Kidney Sushi entangled in his hair.
And with that, Michelangelo turned off the lights in his lobster tank and went to sleep.
-A vampire novel chapter
written by Christopher
Saturday June 12th
2021.
Cleopatra
Queen Cleopatra
Alexander’s city
Alexandria of Egypt
haunted by a Queen
Where Nile meets the sea
Great Mediterranean blue
This queen walks like ghost
Nile river barges
Sail into golden sunset
Fall under her spell
Mysterious queen
Casts a giant shadow still
On these surging waves
-A series of haiku
written by Christopher
Friday June 11th
2021.
Scavenger Hunt On The Amalfi Coast
The ghost of Orson Welles was sitting in an arm chair in the living room of the billionaire ancient Egyptian vampire Set’s colossal London mansion and reflecting on a yacht trip he had made to Italy’s Amalfi Coast in 1953.
The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea located in the Gulf of Salerno in Southern Italy.
Welles recalled he wasn’t quite sure how he got to the Amalfi Coast.
The last thing he remembered was being on Spain’s Meditteranean coast and imbibing in several glasses of red wine.
The next thing Welles remembered was waking up on a yacht off the Amalfi Coast.
The yacht belonged to an Arab sheikh.
Welles got off the yacht not far from the town of Ravello.
He wandered around the town and ran into an acquaintance fellow actor Humphrey Bogart.
Bogart was in the town along with actresses Jennifer Jones and Gina Lollobrigida and actors Robert Morley, Peter Lorre and Bernard Lee.
They were shooting the 1953 adventure comedy film Beat The Devil.
Bogey teased Welles as they sat in a small outdoor cafe.
“Well, Orson, this film is obviously about beating you,” Bogey smiled, “You’re usually playing a villain in most of your films whether it’s a megalomaniacal newspaper publisher, an ex-Nazi on the verge of becoming a U.S. Supreme Court justice’s son-in-law, a post-war black marketeer on the streets of Vienna or a Renaissance Borgia prince. Your characters are usually human devils of some form or another. Thus as the film title suggests Beat The Devil is about beating you.”
Welles wasn’t about to take this insult lying down.
He answered, “I did play a heroic role in the 1947 film The Lady From Shanghai where my soon-to-be ex-wife played the villainess. Besides in many of your film roles in the 1930s, you often played gangster or mean tough guy roles.”
“Yes but later I played great heroic roles like Rick in Casablanca and Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep so I was quite the heroic hero whereas you were usually the villainous villain,” Bogey laughed.
“Well, pick a game,” Welles challenged, “I bet I can beat you at it. And then we’ll see who’s the Devil.”
At that moment Gina Lollobrigida approached.
Bogey told her about Welles’ challenge.
The Italian actress suggested an old fashioned scavenger hunt.
Welles and Bogey agreed.
Gina said she would pick what was to be located and found.
She gave the same list to each actor.
Both Welles and Bogey set out on the scavenger hunt.
Welles had spent the entire morning searching.
And he had located what was to be located on Gina’s scavenger list.
Now it was early afternoon and Welles came to the final item on the list.
“What?!” Welles exclaimed, “Find the Greek goddess Hera sitting on a piece of driftwood on the beach? How is that even possible?”.
Still Welles headed down to the beach.
Where he noticed a beautiful woman who looked like a goddess sitting on a piece of driftwood on the beach.
“Excuse me,” Welles addressed the woman, “but you aren’t the Greek goddess Hera by any chance?”.
“I am, Mr. Welles,” the goddess answered, “I’m a big fan of yours so I came down from Mount Olympus to help you beat Bogey.”
Welles took Hera to the cafe where sat Gina and Bogey.
Bogey was looking dejected as he had been unable to find the goddess Hera sitting on a piece of driftwood on the beach.
When Welles introduced the woman as Hera and swore on a King James Bible that he had found her sitting on a piece of driftwood on the beach, Bogey objected, “I believe that you did find her sitting on a piece of driftwood on the beach but how do we know this woman is really Hera?”.
Hera then called on the gods Zeus and Hermes to appear.
When they did so appearing out of thin air, Bogey conceded defeat while Gina looked very surprised.
Angered by his scavenger hunt loss, Bogey went for a car ride where he got into an accident losing several of his teeth.
As a result while adjusting to the loss of his teeth, Bogey was unable to speak clearly and therefore actor Peter Sellers (who was not then well known at the time but had a talent for imitating voices) was hired to dub some of Bogey’s lines speaking like Bogey.
Some of the lines had to be re-dubbed because Sellers instead of speaking like Bogey spoke like Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi whom Sellers would later play in the 1968 movie The Party.
And thus that was how through the help of the Greek goddess Hera, Welles was able to beat Bogey at a scavenger hunt.
-A vampire novel chapter
written by Christopher
Thursday June 10th
2021.
Tanaka and The Unfinished Orson Welles Film Noir
The immortal Lakota Sioux Princess Tanaka: As she appeared in a scene in Orson Welles’ unknown and unfinished Film Noir movie The Feather Casts A Giant Shadow
British MP Renfield R. Renfield was sitting in the living room of the billionaire ancient Egyptian vampire Set’s colossal London mansion and enjoying a fine single malt Scotch whisky as he engaged in conversation with the ghost of Orson Welles.
Renfield was telling Welles how he had run into the immortal Lakota Sioux Princess Tanaka yesterday in a London park and how she had played the most beautiful melody on a beautiful vintage classical lyre.
“Tanaka had once visited Los Angeles in 1946 and she appeared as the heroine in a Film Noir movie I was directing at the time The Feather Casts A Giant Shadow,” Welles reflected over a good spectral glass of spectral red wine, “A film I was sadly unable to finish because it was shut down on orders of the studio heads.”
“How did Tanaka become immortal anyways?” Renfield inquired.
“She had apparently ridden a rare legendary ghost white buffalo back in the late 1870s and it is said that whoever rides a ghost white buffalo becomes immortal,” Welles explained, “And in Tanaka’s case, that turned out to be true.”
“What was the plot of this unfinished Film Noir movie starring Tanaka?” Renfield asked.
“It was about a prestigious Ivy League university secret society,” Welles answered, “one that counts several influential politicians and judges among its membership. And one that specializes in stealing important Native American artifacts.”
“I wonder which Ivy League university secret society you would have based that on,” Renfield remarked sarcastically.
Welles laughed.
For both knew that the secret society in the film was obviously based on Yale University’s Skull and Bones Society.
“And what was the plot of the film?” Renfield wanted to know.
“That the giant Phoenix bird of ancient legend had once flown over the Black Hills of South Dakota and one of its giant feathers had fallen on a hill top,” Welles replied, “where it was found by members of the Lakota Sioux nation. It was kept in a sacred lodge in the Black Hills known only to certain elders and certain members of their families. A member of this Ivy League University secret society accidentally crashed his plane near the lodge and found the lodge with the sacred Phoenix feather present. Being the thorough scoundrel that he was (a future U.S. Presidential candidate if there ever was one), he stole it.
He placed the feather in a room in a Philosophical Research Library and Museum in Los Angeles that was associated with a grand global occultic fraternity of which the Ivy League University Secret Society was just a branch.”
“How did Tanaka’s character fit into the film?” Renfield asked.
“Tanaka played the granddaughter of a Lakota Sioux elder who was one of the Guardians of The Feather,” Welles explained, “She was sent to Los Angeles to bring the Feather back to its original owners.”
“So Tanaka was the heroine,” Renfield nodded, “Who was the femme fatale in the film?”.
“That would have been the secret society member’s girlfriend,” Welles noted, “She was a female Nazi Intelligence officer who had been brought to the United States by the OSS (forerunner of the CIA) in order to help set up America’s post-war Intelligence, National Security and Espionage apparatus.”
“I see,” Renfield finished his glass of whisky and poured himself another, “And so why did the studio heads stop and shut down production of the film?”.
“Because I guess it was hitting a little too close to the truth of what was actually happening in the U.S. at the time,” Welles answered, “Apparently FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover himself showed up in the offices of the studio head ordering that the film’s production be immediately halted. And to add insult to injury, Hoover apparently showed up wearing one of the dresses that Vivien Leigh wore as Scarlett O’ Hara in the movie Gone With The Wind. The production ceased with a single phone call within 5 minutes of Hoover’s arrival.”
“How very sad,” Renfield sipped his second glass of Scotch, “It sounds like the film would have been a great classic.”
Lakota Sioux Princess Tanaka appearing in a scene in Orson Welles’ unfinished Film Noir classic The Feather Casts A Giant Shadow.
-A vampire novel chapter
written by Christopher
Wednesday June 9th
2021.
Tanaka and The Pendlebrook Lyre
British MP Renfield R. Renfield was taking a stroll through a London park.
By chance, he happened to hear a lovely musical melody being played.
He looked and noticed a beautiful young woman playing a lyre.
He recognized the woman.
He had met her on a few occasions.
She was the Lakota Sioux Princess Tanaka.
She was wearing a beautiful and elegant classical Grecian dress.
When she had finished playing, she passed her lyre to the bandstand security detail for safekeeping and approached Renfield.
“Hello, Mr. Renfield,” she greeted him, “How are you?”.
“Very well, thank you, Tanaka,” Renfield tipped his hat, “And you?”.
“I’m very well, thank you,” she smiled.
“That was a lovely lyre you were playing,” Renfield noted, “Where did you get it?”.
“I bought it from the Dashwood Forrest Art Gallery,” she answered, “who purchased it from the Pendlebrook Estate.”
“Ah yes, the Pendlebrook Estate,” Renfield nodded, “I understand the last Lord Pendlebrook died in Berlin, Germany on May 7th 1945 the same day that Germany unconditionally surrendered. But it took until early this year before the Estate was finally settled. And that only happened because one of the sole remaining litigant/claimants died after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. Otherwise the matter might still be before the courts. It was like a long running Charles Dickens Bleak House novel.”
“So I understand,” Tanaka replied.
“That lyre certainly sounded divine,” Renfield acknowledged, “I wonder how the Pendlebrook family got ahold of it?”.
“According to a Pendlebrook family journal that Dashwood Forrest also purchased,” Tanaka explained, “Lord Peter Pendlebrook the First acquired it in 1810 after seeing a woman jump off a Cornish cliff into the sea during a raging sea storm. Pendlebrook rushed to the cliff but saw no sign of the woman. However he discovered that she had left a lyre behind. This is that same lyre.”
“It appears,” Renfield commented, “that the Pendlebrook lyre is like a good Scotch whisky. It gets better with age.”
-A vampire novel chapter
written by Christopher
Tuesday June 8th
2021.
Rat and Mole In A Boat On A Moonlit Night
It was a night of a crescent moon
Only sound on the lake was cry of a loon
Mole rowed the boat through reeds and water lilies
Rat smoked a pipe like Grandma of the Hillbillies
A falling star fell in the sky behind the pair
Undoubtedly many wishes were made then and there
Rat had a small lamp attached to his pole
Lighting the way for the boat rowed by Mole
On a nearby lily sat a small frog
As quiet he was as a bump on a log
Behind the boat some distance away
A swan swam as tranquility lay
It was a magical mystical moonlit night
The water was calm and the stars were bright
Friendship was in the air
The boat’s true guiding light.
-A poem written by Christopher
Monday June 7th 2021.
