Summer is booming along here in Northern Michigan – long days, swimming, thunderstorms, sunsets, and lots of fresh local produce. Heaven, basically. The Daughter of Godcast was launched two summers and one month ago, August of 2016. Now were a stone’s throw from the number 101, our next palindrome episode. Six months left to get the movie done in the Chinese year of the DOG, and five months before 2019.

I’ve discovered the unifying field theory, the spiritual Rosetta stone, a Twinkee made of pure light. The advent of a distributed utopia. What this podcast has been about all along. Process, right? That’s not news for devotees of the Daughter of Godcast.

This is probably a rehash of Buddha, Abraham Hicks, Alan Watts and ten thousand others,  but there’s also the glint of something new, the Shri Fugi Spilt perspective which perhaps might crack open the vault of your own inner treasures, a tad more. Maybe. If you’re ready. Tap YOUR ruby slippers together three times. Because there’s no place like home, and you’re already home, wherever you are. Which is sort of like what Buckaroo Bonzai brought into our shared gestalt, “Where ever you go, there you are”. Aka screenwriter Mac Rauch talking through actor Peter Weller, perhaps inspired by Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra and Confucius before him.

While we’re digressing, how did Yogi Berra get his nickname? According to ZellPinstripeblog “When he started playing in the American Legion baseball leagues, they had no dugouts or benches for the players. Berra used to sit indian style in the dirt with his arms and legs crossed. One of his teammates, Bobby Hofman, said he looked like a yogi (a hindu holy man), and the nickname stood.” So there’s that.

Podcasting indulges the guilty pleasure of fierce googling.

Still with me? The signpost up ahead, you’re entering… ok. Let’s focus. We’re taking a whirlwind tour of process today because we’re keeping the episodes svelte. And Now This!

English or perhaps American language has this bias, a built in self vs other perspective. I act on the environment, I do things. Me and you. Me and this fork, this camera. For some, me vs my body, like they can be seperate. Let’s start there.

Lately, like for the last year, I’ve been erasing the distinction between me and my body. I’ve been exploring being my feelings, my sensations, my experience. As opposed to having them.

That’s semantics, maybe. But what better game is there than rewriting the code of our conceptions? To tinker with inquiry.

This subtle shift means I have a richer me-ness, attending to sensation means I have less words and less words feels like more autonomy, more freedom. Your mileage may vary.

Fast forward to yesterday or maybe today, I now get that I am a process. I am not a human doing stuff, I am the doing. Doings. Language 1.0 might say it like this, “I drink water.” Version 2.0, I am the drinking of water. What does a drinking of water feel like? That’s the crux, right there. The question worth asking.

Why is this a breakthrough? Because by being a process instead of a bunch of components acting on each other, I get to go deeper. I am a deeper. Which is to say, I am more. Way more. Than ever I was before.

Sex magic, it get’s results. I mean c’mon! What’s the point of living the spiritual life or the introspective life or any life unless there’s some super humanity to be had? I want to be more. Don’t we all? The perspective o

What are we doing here? We’re watching scenes from a post apocalyptic romantic comedy and giving feedback. At least, that’s the vision, the dream. In 2018, this podcast switched from documenting the inception and production of the movie Daughter of God into a collaborative, participatory cluster fuck through a scene by scene test screening on the world wide web. Season Two Crowd Creation has been a blast, a riot, a step in the right direction… but we’re not quite firing on all cylinders, not quite yet.

A couple of episodes back, we riffed on Philip Marlowe, author Raymond Chandler’s iconic private detective, as an oddball exemplar of personal integrity and ethics.  He is also homophobic and slightly racist. A fictional character is always referred to in the present tense, because they never were, and always are. Who knows whether Chandler shared his character’s occlusions, who cares? Life is nuanced and confusing. As divinity incarnate, we are each a craggy outcrop of contradictions, shot through with veins of both quartz and gold.

Let’s drag out that clunky detective metaphor yet again, with a few lines from “The Adventure of Silver Blaze” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Gregory (Scotland Yard detective): “Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”

Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”

Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”

Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”

I’d like to draw your attention to the curious incident of the DOG on the web, Daughter of Godcast Season Two Crowd Creation that is. There’s not that much Crowd Creation happening and that’s the curious incident.

This experiment of expanding cinematic production to include the audience, still feels like a sparkling epiphany to me. Test screening on the web could be the future for film generally. AND yet, feedback for DOG is tapering off, now that the novelty is gone. Offering feedback just isn’t very compelling, not yet.

We’re not giving up though, no way. The feedback we HAVE received so far is amazing, my movie making is much more fun because of this feedback. Well, then… how much feedback would be ideal?

20-30 comments a week would probably overwhelm my capacity to respond. 10-15 feels about right. 200 people tune into this podcast each week, so if just 5% of our listeners gave an opinion every episode, we’d be there. That’s you, by the way. We want your comments and critique, especially if you’re a feedback virgin. By we I mean myself and all  the other listeners to the Daughter of Godcast.  I’m scintillating out here all by myself no doubt, but the fun jumps up a magnitude or two when you join in.

I know asking for feedback is not enough. Contributing an opinion needs to get way more tasty, thrilling, inspiring, satisfying. I’m trying to discover how to make this as good for you as it is for me. Let’s have feedback on the feedback, how can feedback be improved?

If you yearn for a more just, peaceful and sustainable human presence on planet earth, start here. Adventurous cinema awakens awareness and shifts culture. Doesn’t get more zany and adventurous than asking the interwebs to do a scene by scene deconstruction and critique of my very first feature. We’re improvising a breathtaking finale to 12 years of serendipity and stumbling.  AND the emergence of open source movie production. AND Learning to be fully alive.

Those are the stakes

Reclining in the summer sun, soaking up the output from our local star and becoming that light, turning the light into me. Like when we eat a stalk of celery, we are all of the sudden celery, or the celery is transformed into us. I introduce myself as Dan Kelly aka Shri Fugi Split, but truly that’s just a placeholder for all the celery and starlight I embody. How much of us are we really? Maybe we are mostly everything else.

Language is a glorious pageant of nonsense. We enjoy the consensual illusion that a well structured sentence conveys meaning, actionable information. What’s a civilization without reportage, debate, legislation, laws. Words, words, words. Words are what podcasts are made of, and that’s what we’re doing here, for the 97th week running. If we accept and even celebrate that words are silly, but write and speak them anyway, what powers do we invoke, what magic is made?

Episode 097 Really. Daughter of Godcast Crowd Creation, a crowd in the quantum waveform sense, a potential crowd, a cast of thousands or an army of one.

We’ve got a smidgen of feedback for 096, I Think So and here we go!

Gerry and Christina have achieved synchromesh somehow. Clearly there is now rapport and even chemistry. Tea is in the future, and maybe more. Gerry’s last question and Christina’s response implies that there might be some urgency, why do you imagine that would be so?

James via dog.movie

“Christina is almost done ovulating, and she doesn’t want to loose her chance of conception.”

James is acknowledging that there did seem to be some urgency for Christina and Gerry, and stated the obvious reason. As a father, he’s had practical experience with the mechanics of pregnancy. How a man and woman achieve biological synchromesh, when they  are yearning to have baby.

I replied

[snip] “Full disclosure – that never even occurred to me.

Ooo, 096, getting ever so close to 100. Just 4 episodes to go. Are you ready to party?

I’ve been rereading Raymond Chandler, stories and a few essays and turns out, (surprise!) that Philip Marlowe talks a lot like Raymond Chandler writes. As Marlowe describes his world with a decidedly poetic flair, whether chowing a wilted chicken salad sandwich or getting punched in the gut, I think we’re getting Chandler’s own worldview.

Reading about Chandler’s life, I couldn’t help but notice some parallels to Phil Dick – women, substances, depression,  sublime stories, redefining their genres…

Newsweek 2007

I wonder if Phil Dick ever had correspondence with Chandler? They had a bit of overlap, Dick was first published in 1955, Chandler died 4 years later. They both got their start in pulp genres, Chandler the hard boiled detective crime genre and Dick science fiction. Their characters explored dark worlds, truthful, authentic worlds of feeling.

I didn’t do a comprehensive search of correlations between Chandler and Dick, but I have my imagination which is way better.

Phil was born in 1928. Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep was published in 1939 and released as a feature film in 1946. Phil must have been exposed to Raymond Chandler, perhaps he was a fan.

PKD’s The Man Who Japed is a sort of detective yarn. A creative functionary of a shiny police state wakes up one morning with foggy memories of running amuck. Turns out he murdered a statue. He ends up investigating himself, his feelings and discovers he has become an agent of change. Japed was written in 55 and published in 56.

Chandler’s essay on writing detective stories, The Simple Art of Murder is a sort of manifesto for the detective genre. The main thrust seems to be, authenticity. Technical details, sure, but way more critically, emotional honesty. Which is really about the author’s own life.

A lot of PKD novels feel like detective stories in this Chandler sense, characters staring at the mystery of existence, unraveling what the fuck is going on… as we all are. In contrast to PKD’s Tire Regroovers, Artiforg Surgeons and Pothealers, Chandler’s character Marlowe is a professional investigator, with a keen eye for detail, insight into human nature, handy with a gun…  but he isn’t detached. Nor is he there for the money. He’s an exemplar of personal honor, a monk from an esoteric order of which he seems to be the only member. In other words – a weirdo, an oddball.

In the lingo of the times a private detective is also a shamus or private dick… wait, Private Dick, PKD… Phil Dick. And Philip Marlowe and Philip Dick, weird.

Daughter of Godcast Crowd Creation also has our very own Seamus, so how about that? Double weird.

Howard Hawk’s The Big Sleep and other film noir presaged Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner, the movie that transformed Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep into Phil’s most famous detective story. Phil had cops or detectives as protagonists in plenty of other stories, like Flow My Tears the Policeman Said and The World Jones Made.

Cops or no, Phil’s wrote lots of detective stories, maybe mostly detective stories. Dark movies.

I find corroborative evidence of this in Phil’s reaction to Bladerunner, as reported by Maer Wilson, Phil’s friend and David Dyer who handled special effects on Bladerunner. Maer Wilson reports that Phil was skeptical of the Bladerunner project, and was upset that major elements of t

I slept in Keanu’s Airstream the other night with rain pattering down in full surround sound. An energetic immersion of splish, drip and splatter while curled up warm and cozy. A delicious dichotomy all night long, then waking up electric and happy. Life at the movie studio.

Welcome to 095, Can I Come In, Daughter of Godcast Season Two Crowd Creation.

In 094 Grown Up Ghost we considered an orphaned fragment, a scene that has no movie, yet. The request we made then was for help discovering how Grown Up Ghost might be reclaimed. In episode 095, we’re sussing out Grown Up Ghost’s destiny, antennae quivering with feedback and then offering a related scene, Can I Come In.

Originally, there were three story objectives for Grown Up Ghost. The first was to give Christina Joe’s hat. The second was to establish the PKD theme and the third reveal Christina’s unique experience of reality. These last two have already been touched on in prior scenes, so they are not primary outcomes. Aside from the hat, what’s Grown Up Ghost driving at? I am not sure. I see a wooden Buddha, crudely carved but with a secret gem at the heart.

Because Daughter of God is resonant with all creation, asking for feedback on Grown Up Ghost  is like reading a spread of tarot cards. We receive opinions and comments knowing that everything is redolent with the essential, even or maybe especially flippant wise cracks, disinterest, and digressions. Everything is a finger pointing to the ineffable.

Let’s read the scattered bones, the swirl of tea leaves and find out what the feedback REALLY means. Rediscover what this scene might be about.

Frank via FB got things off to a promising start.

“For some reason I don’t get a “vacation” type vibe.. more like they are traveling with a purpose… such as visiting family.. or they’re on the run, but they seem too chill for that.”

Not a “vacation” vibe. Traveling with a purpose. On the run.  Frank’s take feels spot on for me. This scene is slightly charged, or should be. Are they even traveling? Perhaps they are waiting, biding their time, letting a catastrophe pass them by. Perhaps this is training. How to hide, how to be ready for what’s coming. How to pass the time.

Perhaps this moment has significance in the outside world, where were you when? I was in that sailboat with Uncle Joe, he was reading me a story, and then… WHOOSH! Paradigm shift.

What if the movie opened with this scene, fragmented and slightly contradictory, maybe reversed left to right and then back again, wavery. How would an authentic memory feel for Christina?

Tony who lives over the hill via Facebook .

The actual boat is indeed on a trailer at my house. In shooting the scene, no attempt was made to make this boat seem to be in open water or even moored. Creating the illusion that the boat is floating would not be trivial. The plan was to establish this as a the grounded boat by adding an additional shot of Uncle Joe stomping up the gang plank. Tony’s remark emphasizes that whatever reason Christina and Joe have for being on the boat, traveling is not one of them.

Jil via email was concise.

[snip] “The scene with Uncle Joe and Christina was not interesting to me. Philip K Dick is not as interesting as dialogue written by Dan Kelly. At all. No” [snip]

Jil is opining that the scene is BORING, doesn’t have a

Hail humans in time and space, the DOG is with thee. Blessed are they who call her friend, and blessed is our feedback coming soon, for all scenes.

Daughter of Godcast Season Two Crowd Creation and this is Episode 094, Grown Up Ghost dropping on June 13, 2018. We’re now a little over halfway through the Chinese year of the DOG. Just 6 months left to wrap our DOG, or Daughter of God and that’s exhilarating, intense and all sorts of wild. We’ve been making steady progress, plenty of cinema offered and feedback received.  Poised for a triumphant climax, the big finish yet STILL quite an adventure ahead. An even more thrilling ride about to begin, and we’re standing check by jowl at the helm, the tiller, the steering wheel.  We’re all gripping the spatula, the joystick, the paintbrush. Everything depends on us. We can do this.

Episode 093 was another respite from the constant barrage of scenes. We went Low Level and looked at some charcoal drawings of the shots in Welcome Back, a drastic simplification intended to hone our compositions. Intriguing shapes and engaging designs. Plus taking suggestions for even more post apocalyptic props.

Susan Gallant, no relation to the awesome and extremely short lived episodic musical Galavant on ABC, offered this via Vimeo…

“It would be cool to see your DOG logo in the sky in some of these shots. Maybe she is getting on the boat at dusk. I really love that you filmed your drawings and explained and or gave people the option of throwing ideas in.”

I replied,

Susan’s saucer in the sky idea is fun, I wonder if her suggestion can be plugged into the contraption that Gerry’s messing with? Perhaps the dish antennae catches the dawn light and flashes, or maybe the device is pumping out tiny halos that drift up and away, kind of a variant of the electric discharges in the original 1931 Frankenstein.

Maybe Gerry’s device is a beacon, projecting a holographic halo into the azure dawn sky like the Bat Signal. Another approach would be to just enlarge the moon and then alter the crescent to suggest the halo. Maybe a cosmic cataclysm has changed the appearance of the moon.

How would these different options alter or expand the story? For example, why would Gerry project a holographic halo in the sky? Maybe he’s signalling the crew of the big boat to return from their scavenging expeditions, that’s why Christina is coming back.

I could have a blast imagining how your suggestions might auspiciously integrate into the existing scenario. I&

Hey 93! When the Kurzweil singularity strikes, we’ll be singing Steely Dan style about smoking hot great grandmas and grandpas. Imagine wisdom walking in ripped surfer bodies. That’s just around the corner.  Actually right now. If you’re already young, there’s nothing to see here, move along. Because Bruce Sterling spelled it out in Holy Fire. Young people growing up after the singularity will be slightly screwed. Science fiction – guidebooks from the multiverse, everything is already happening somewhere. Read all about it.

Daughter of Godcast, Season Two, Crowd Creation, Episode 093, Low Level. For the last 22 episodes, we’ve been flitting about among the clouds, godlike, gazing down upon the movie making process from way up high. The scenes we’ve seen so far are nearly complete, mostly comprehensible, quaffed. we haven’t really gotten our hands dirty or hair mussed. I’m thinking now we’re ready to go deeper, thrust our paws into the loamy soil, wallow in the mud, melt back into the primordial ooze of creation. Let us prepare for the ecstatic descent, for a grounding, a wriggling of naked toes in the fallow earth. But first…

Feedback for 092 After At Last

From our two most Best Beloveds, Seamus and Jil.

Seamus was snagged by the words Plague Ship writ large on the side of the big boat. He conjectured…

“I draw two possible interpretations from the words, “Plague Ship’ scrawled on the side of the boat. One is that the characters had been either medical personnel or patients/inmates on the quarantined vessel, and that they now roam free after the plague has gone.

The other possibility is that it never was truly a plague ship, but that someone who lived on the boat (I suspect Jerry) had scrawled that there so he would be left relatively alone. This suggests a somewhat antisocial or introverted disposition, or a lack of trust of strangers. Given the shattered glass sound, perhaps there’s a reason to be distrustful.”

(snip)

I replied

(snip) “About the scrawl, I’m leaning toward your second interpretation. How to make pirates think twice? Subterfuge and camouflage are themes in DOG, as in RL. You and I are not we what seem to be, Seamus.”

There’s plenty more planned for this sequence, PLAGUE SHIP is the vanguard of a much trippier treatment. I’d rather be showing than telling but I’m very glad you caught the gist from this impoverished hint.” (snip)

When you start your own Daughter of Godcast, here’s some sage advice. Rarely talk about the future, what you’re planning to do. Because making promises and keeping promises are two different things.

I have grand plans for the introductory sequence, Welcome Aboard. We’ve already done 3 episodes on this and gotten more clear to be sure, but execution has lagged. Now, since I want to avoid making promises, I can’t say I’m never going to talk about the future, so instead let’s say were going to emphasize the present. The process. Low Level.

This too from Seamus

“I also learned that Christina has a magic coat that reflects green light under an all-red lamp.”

Yet another piercing insight disguised as a sarcastic quip by our man in Ann Arbor. I paried…

(snip) “Maybe physics inside the boat is different than outside. Could Gerry be tinkering with forces hitherto unfathomed by scientific inquiry? Has he somehow steered the boat into dream space?”

I’ve hinted that Gerry’s got his own agenda in past episodes and most recently in a May 3 FB p

Daughter of Godcast, Season Two Crowd Creation and we’re back with Episode 092 After At Last. In 090, we announced an inside peek at the production process, and posted 090, Welcome Aboard, the musical introduction to the Daughter of God. This was a sequence of strictly live action scenes, shot in Canada back in April of 2006, the before. Flash forward 12 years and one month to the planned post apocalyptic VFX transformation. However, due to some workflow snags and urgent family matters, the After wasn’t ready by Episode 091, so we posted a making of time-lapse of the production process instead!

Now for 092, After At Last, the VFX is far enough along to get some  feedback from y’all.

First tho, let’s see what the incomparable Seamus and Jil had to say about our making of sequence.

091 After, Almost is not a scene from the Daughter of God, but a peek into the process of adding Visual Effects. A scene behind the scenes, if you will. Even if you won’t.

The feedback question is, would you enjoy seeing more of the movie making process, more behind the scenes scenes?

Jil via Vimeo

Yes.

Seamus via dog.movie

As long as it doesn’t cut too much into production time, I’d love to see more behind the scenes footage. The bullets along the path are an interesting addition, and I’m curious to find out the reasoning for the decision. You’re probably on another list now, depending on how you got them.

I replied

Good point about cutting into production time, I’m experimenting with an easy documentation method that not only won’t distract, but might even enhance the process. [snip]

With luck I’ll get this scene pretty much ready in the next couple of days. Becoming evident that revamping my workflow re organization would feel great.

Then we’ll revisit the why of the shells, might be more evident in context with the rest of the new elements.

Not being ready with the VFX version was a fortunate stumble. There are no accidents. I just happened to record my fiddling around in the studio while setting up the brass ammo shells, so I had a little something to share for 091, in lieu of an After. This felt like a punt, maybe even cheating but actually the universe was orchestrating the next breakthrough.

I’ve been getting back into watching After Effects tutorials on YouTube. Slightly sidetracked the other night when I found a keynote and interview with Andrew Kramer of Video Copilot. He was talking about how he started posting free After Effects tutorials to drive his own learning process. Eureka!

Behind the scenes scenes are like tutorials, and I definitely still have a lot to learn. Shared learning as the driving force behind production. The quest for excellence, complete with fortunate mistakes, trial and error, virtuosic stumbles…

Another factor in expediting future VFX is implementing more efficient organization. I’ll need a couple of weeks to fully revamp the project archives.

Finally, the VFX is likely going to get more complicated. If 2-3 weeks are needed to do the next before and after, there can be making of videos along the way.

On Friday I showed Welcome Aboard at Studio Anatomy’s Basement Art Show, curated by Nick Walsh. Severalpeeps from the long dormant Michigan Movie Makers were also screening, and we each got to do a bit of Q and A. Quite fun.

Trevor was there and IMed a couple days later, complimenting the theme s

The Daughter of Godcast, 091 After, almost. The planet keeps rolling, the fusion reactor at the center of our solar system keeps blazing away, we keep narrowly missing comets and asteroids, love keeps getting made so babies keep getting born, old ones keep croaking off and this podcast keeps episoding. A short episode this week to be sure,  a quickie, a modest reminder of what’s worthy and wonderful.

Let’s check out the feedback for 090, Welcome Aboard.

Welcome Aboard introduces the main characters of DOG, Christina, Gerry and the Big Boat. The theme song Another Fucked Up Day in Paradise gives a bit of exposition about the DOG universe. Choose one of these two feedback questions. What stands out for you? What relationships are hinted at?

Seamus via dog.movie.

“So far, it looks like both of them live on the boat. That implies that they likely know each other fairly well.” [snip]

I replied

Since they both live on the boat, it’s a reasonable assumption that they know each other well. This made me aware that I’ll have to insert additional business, because they may not, (know each other well).

Seamus again

[snip] “I’m intrigued by the sound of shattering glass, and a bit surprised that Christina didn’t investigate further. Perhaps it’s a common occurrence that she’s grown accustomed to.”

and Dan again

[snip] “Maybe breaking glass IS a common occurrence. Maybe Christina’s just minding her own business. How gregarious would the crew of a post apocalyptic tramp ice breaker be? How many other people live on this big boat and how did they come to be there? These are questions I often ponder as I drift off at night.”

The intro and theme song are intended to set the stage, and Seamus’s impressions hint at how to set the stage more adroitly.

Frank via Facebook

“Nice music! Post Apocalyptic Swing!”

And coming from Frank, that means a lot. He’s an accomplished musician, electronics whiz and Tesla channeler, (Nikola not Elon) so Frank’s got bulletproof polymathic cred. Thanks, Frank. That’s Frank on pedal steel.

Just enough feedback to keep our heads above water. Thank heaven for Seamus. And Welcome Aboard Frank, you’re on the BIg Board of the Best Beloveds.

Crashing and burning is a huge boon, the adventure of being alive requires huge problematic disasters. On the Daughter of Godcast, failure is a superpower. Because we often don’t know what we want until we’re really clear about what we don’t want.

090 Welcome Aboard, presented the unVFXed introduction and theme song sequence, the before. 091 was supposed to illustrate the VFX transformation, the After. The title of this episode 091 After, Almost should be a clue. We’re not quite ready with the after.

You know what’s wonderful about this? A straight before and after skips the slogging in the trenches and that’s where all the fun is, for dog’s sake.

For 091 After Almost were visiting the shack, where much of the magic happens. Watch me making some of the elements for the after. The feedback question is, would you enjoy seeing more of the movie making process, more behind the scenes scenes?

That’s 091 After Almost, Daughter of Godcast Crowd Creation where you make the movie, we make the movie. We ARE the movie because heck, these episodes are movies too. A creative opportunity like no other, I’m convinced we’re looking at a bonefide trend, even if Daughter of God is the only collaborative movie making experience on Earth because all trends have to start somewhere, and this one’s starting wit

Welcome Aboard Episode 090, of the Daughter of Godcast, our 9th episode number palindrome, with the next palindrome coming up in 11 weeks. And this week I’ll turn 55, another palindrome. I’ve definitely cleared the half century hurdle and am striding steady and strong. I’ve hardly broken in this incarnation of super fine physicality, human comma male, with the 1111 year warranty.  Every breath is more fun, beautiful and interesting.

…and our movie is getting made with feedback for Scene 089, Check It Out.

Christina’s got objections and Uncle Joe’s got solutions. The crux of the quest is revealed and the path is about to light up. The feedback question is, Is Christina putting up token or credible resistance? What does she ultimately want?

Allison, Seamus and Jil responded to the feedback question.

Jil via Vimeo

“Token resistance. She wants to believe that Uncle Joe’s story is true.”

Seamus via dog.movie

“It’s definitely token resistance…for now. She’s somewhat uncertain about the whole situation, but she’s intrigued and wants to know more. She’s open enough to the idea that she’s willing to joke about it.”

Allison via FB

[snip] overall, I didn’t really sense resistance so much as hesitantly going along.

I prompted Allison for her overall impression, and she responded with an auspicious association.

[snip]

I’m reminded of a Wizard of Oz feeling, from the beginning, when Dorothy meets the traveling salesman. She’s not worldly and she too trusting, but she doesn’t quite buy it, either. And her unadulterated persona ends up leaving him feeling guilty about messing with her.

That’s not quite how I remember Dorothy’s interaction with Professor Marvel. His crystal ball session is pretty convincing  to Dorothy and she rushes back home, which is what she wanted to do all along anyway. In this sense, there’s a lovely parallel to Joe and Christina. Jil Allison and Seamus see Christina as going along with Joe’s sales pitch, of wanting what he says to be true. Here’s the Professor Marvel scene from the W of O.

A few words about Professor Marvel. Interesting that he references Egypt at the get go, and then makes two uncanny guesses. Dorothy’s barn has a weather vane of a running horse, and that Aunt Em stands for Emily. Perhaps running horse weather vanes were all the rage in Kansas, but according to thinkbabynames.com back in the 30’s Emma was a more common name than Emily. Maybe Professor Marvel has a little real magic going on. I’d trust Dorothy’s judgement any day.

I really love that Allison made the connection to the Professor Marvel scene. The Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite films.

The end was confusing for Allison and Tim. Joe whips out a media disk, reflects rainbows into Christina’s face, then inserts the disk into a laptop and the scene ends.

and Tim via FB “Trying to figure out why the play with the reflection on the CD.”

I repl