{"id":296,"date":"2014-01-02T00:03:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-02T05:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/?p=296"},"modified":"2022-04-05T18:18:41","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T22:18:41","slug":"this-american-dreamtime-is-brought-to-you-by-flkrtm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/?p=296","title":{"rendered":"THIS AMERICAN DREAMTIME IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY FLKR(TM)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally published in TRUCE issue V<\/a> (download PDF<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Have you done this before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014You keep asking. What\u2019s it to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Just doing my job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014So you know this can last up to 16 hours. And it can go horribly, painfully wrong…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Will you stop! What do we have here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spreads out an array of small neat translucent envelopes with miniature labels\u2014illustrated to advertise their contents\u2014 a few Neo-noirs (Gotham on Ice<\/i>, Redlight Soho<\/i>) stuff you\u2019d do if you were doing the bar pick-up scene for the night… the Bladerunner-esque ones pique my interest (Electric Sheep, Molecular Tango<\/i>)\u2014 too edgy; an underwater fantasia ( Psyche: Seahorse<\/i>) I\u2019d heard of the series, but maybe too Discovery Channel… A werewolf scenario\u2014 scary,  I bristle at the thought…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014what\u2019s this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014This? This is something I usually don\u2019t have–it\u2019s kind of a bestseller, or so they say\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Really? This?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The label is literally a fairy tale scene: a lit up forest clearing, a thatched cottage made of rosy light interiors cobbled in river brushed stones and winter creepers: a calm blanket of snow plays rhapsody with pine trees and curious fauns peeking into the rose-lit dream of domesticity… Behind and above it all, an insane whirl of sunset. All it was missing was the Christmas card glitter and it pulsated with\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Not something I\u2019d recommend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014A) It\u2019s kind of perverse for a beginner and B) It\u2019s kind of perverse, period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 The \u201cBestseller\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Also, you know about McKenna\u2019s law of Opiates, Dreams and Hallucinogens?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Do the appropriate drug for your surroundings. Go Neo-Noir, Sci-Fi or Light Goth. This stuff is bucolic\u2014and probably not in a good way\u2014not if you\u2019re in an urban environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Sounds crazy. I\u2019ll take it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Are you sure? It doesn\u2019t seem that compatible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Oh please,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I peruse the label again, the title is enough to dissuade me from backing off:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u201dHome With the Kinkade\u2019s For Christmas<\/i>?\u201d That is perverse! Thanks Doc, I\u2019ll take one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

II.<\/b>A BRIEF HISTORY<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCinema is truth at 24 frames per second.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the last millennium,  CINEMAX a cable TV entertainment company, went pharmaceutical with a new discovery that single-handedly dismantled the future of the entertainment industry. The pheromonal patch, FLKR(TM) was first introduced as a group therapy tool for schizophrenics, but gained widespread recreational use when the FDA, in some bizarre and probably unmonitored instance, approved it for over-the-counter use. FLKR(TM) is based on a mood regulator that accesses and manipulates the Pineal Gland\u2014modulating its access to light and creating specific rhythms that regulate your reality. FLKR(TM) is a an internal magic lantern generating the speed of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may recall, Original Sin was velocity based: mankind fell<\/i>, and thus ever since, it is speed that has determined the tenor of life\u2014speed things up and we have the early comedy of Chaplin and Keaton becomes apparent, slow the same sequence down and discover the tragedy in things… An unexpected cocktail of fast and slow makes for dramedy, and so on. Human perception is always a matter of speed. Consider FLKR(TM) as the DJ who remixes your neo-cortex, thanks to nano-cocktails, FLKR(TM) gets specific on pheromonal levels. Better still, each FLKR(TM) experience is like a snowflake, one of a kind, never to be replicated. Herein lies the genius: FLKR(TM) access those parts of the cortex that traffic in childhood memories and associations. With FLKR(TM), it was all in your head to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

III.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I lied, This was my first time on the patch. The first time I was able to afford it. My curiosity quickly dwindles into anxiety as the room begins to pulsate gently, then aggressively. My companion fluctuates in a sensory swirl of black wipes, white-outs: there\/not there…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014You all right, kid?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I witness him morph into a kindly wizard, a Wonderful Wizard of Oz…<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BLACK\/ WIPE\/HERE\/NOT\/THERE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A blow to the head and the scene pulsates with…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLOR. LIGHT. PASTEL. PEPPERMINT. LAVENDER. Snowflake intersect…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wizard is static, of course\u2014only a painting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid awwwwwwwwwwwwwrrriiight????????<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scent of warm cinnamon wafts through, an electric phase signal on my tongue tells me mother is in the kitchen baking. In another room strains of The Little Drummer Boy<\/i> escape into the swirl of color, it is almost slowed down by the color saturation. Not so much the way I remember it. It must be Christmas. Elsewhere, a conversation continues with the wizard. Elsewhere I note I have opened the gateway to schizophrenia, but who cares?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snowflakes intersect and tickle. The waft of Christmas cookies swirling into a world of  neon brights, softening into saturated pastels. The Mystical Letter N levitates before me, then disappears into a camouflage of surprise wood panelling. N is for NAUSEA,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything from my stomach, comes up to my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other realities, the Wizard speaks in splinters, they aggregate into: \u201cRough Patch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you didn\u2019t hear that from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IV. The Best Seller<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Home With the Kinkade\u2019s for Christmas<\/i><\/b>, released in 2001, became one of FLKR\u2019s best selling holiday patches\u2014it by far out trumped  the Norman Rockwell series\u2014which became surprise Art House favorites, perhaps because in their Frank Capra-ness, they invoked Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy\u2014 but really Jimmy Stewart, figure-head of right thinking American Masculinity\u2014who smoked Marlboros and slyly did double duty in the shadow worlds of European directors like Hitchcock and Preminger. Thus the \u201cRockwells\u201d became Hitchcock-ian by default.  On the other hand, the Kinkade series,  licensed by FLKR(TM), based on the works of late 20th century American artist, Thomas Kinkade, a self-proclaimed \u201cpainter of light\u201d, were immediately dismissed by the intelligentsia as kitsch, but were instant mainstream hits. What no one predicted was the series underground appeal: the Kinkade\u2019s with their play on American  Fantasia, in some distant time outside of time, were exactly what some philosopher had termed \u201cmachines that suppressed time\u201d. This was the \u201cOnce Upon A Time\u201d of fairytales. This was America\u2019s own custom-fitted dreamtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shrink asks me to lie down: Tell me about your obsession with Snow White\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014How did I get here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014I was hoping you might tell me. What is it about Snow White that appeals to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014It doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Then why are you here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Are you part of my hallucination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WIth this sliver of awareness the faux-shrink disintegrates, leaving me in Snow White\u2019s Cottage. (But isn\u2019t this my living room?). The walls are giving way to saturated pastels pulsating light. I remember what fascinated me about Snow White– she was like Goldilocks, but with dark hair, wandering into a cosy cottage, but never to wander out. Never to wander out. Never to wander out. I begin to spasm as the Mysterious Letter N hangs in the air, flashing  then disappearing into the cosy ambiance. Then flashes again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

N is for NEVER.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VI. LABEL WARNING<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Label Warning: FLKR(TM)  and PERSPEK(TV) may cause any of and all of the following symptoms\u2014epilepsy, convulsions, heart attacks\u2014temporary blindness, insomnia, synaesthesia, loss of balance, temporary deafness, temporary schizophrenia, nausea, vomiting, amnesia, drowsiness, rash, dementia and  may irritate eyes. FLKR(TM) IS NOT RECOMMENDED for pregnant women, nursing mothers, people with a history of depression, epileptics, asthmatics, people with stress related disorders, people with a history of violence, lack of self control and diabetics. IT IS NOT ADVISABLE to mix FLKR TM) or PERSPEK(TV) with any medications, narcotics, opiates or alchohol. FLKR(TM)  and PERSPEK(TV)  SHOULD NOT TO BE USED while driving or operating  or heavy machinery. Maybe harmful if swallowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KEEP OUT of reach of children and household pets. FLKR(TM) is for entertainment purposes only. Please consult your physician before use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VII.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

N  E V  E R   R E V E  N  N  E   V   E  R  N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R  N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R  N  E   V   E  R  N  E   V   E  R  N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  RV N  E   V   E  RVVV N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R N  E   V   E  R NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEV ER EV ER N E VE R N E V E R  VER   NE V E N  EVE   N E V ER  N E  R V E    N E V E R N E V E  R  N  E  V  E  R  N  E  V E  R  R  N E  V  E  R<\/p>\n\n\n\n

N  E V  E R   R E V E  N<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R E V E     N E V E      N E V E R<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E V E  R  N E R V E  V E N  E E R<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E  V  E      V E E R  E V E N  R<\/p>\n\n\n\n

N E V  E  R<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VIII. AMERICAN DREAMTIME\/ HOW DOES FLKR(TM) WORK?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(From the FLKRpedia) From the cave drawings of ancient Lascaux to the latest strides in pharmaceuticals, light modulation has played a role in the animation of human perception. The so-called \u2018Third Eye\u2019 or the  the human pineal gland is operated on an available light basis and thus  regulates our dream sequences \u2014awake or asleep. FLKR(TM) often referred to as American Dreamtime, especially since it functions as a waking trance, is an alchemy of  light regulating neurotransmitters and customized circadian beats. This circadian rhythm is programmed with the use of a morse code sequence of light and darkness which for significant  stretches of time can overtake the users own in-house bio-rhythms and superimpose a subjective sensory experience alien to the user\u2019s psyche. This can last from a few hours to almost 20\u2014depending on a myriad of factors such as affinity, resistance, openness…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally developed  for psychotherapy sessions, the patch fell out of use within medical communities. It was suspected (but never proven) to provide potential gateways to dementia and schizophrenia. Indeed when this American Dreamtime oft times operates as a nightmare: in cases where there is intrinsic ideological resistance in which several hours of a subjects\u2019 experience can be characterized as a \u201cbad patch\u201d or a \u201crough patch\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IX.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something\/someone enters the room. A small bundle of malevolence.  Dwarves are here? They find Snow White sprawled on the floor. They suspect she is a victim of American Dreamtime and\/or the Mysterious Letter N.  N can be for NIGHTMARE. Either way, there\u2019s nothing they can do about it. It\u2019s a Bad Patch and she has to ride it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X. PRODUCT PLACEMENT<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t too long after the advent of PERSPEK(TV) and FLKR(TM) that the world of advertising attempted to insert itself into this new internal mode of communication. It\u2019s intrusion was subtle: real world advertising began to focus on archetypal images absorbed unconsciously, but triggered into meaningful experience withe the help of FLKR(TM).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FDA proposition to regulate advertising in FLKR(TM) was mostly brought on, not unsurprisingly, by Thomas Kinkade\u2019s blatant Disney product placements in his \u201cpatchworks.\u201d Disney had commissioned Kinkade to commemorate it\u2019s 50th anniversary with a Snow White scenario of the fairytale heroine happening upon the dwarves cottage in the forest. To boost sales, this Snow White Scenario imposed itself in all Kinkade related patchworks regardless of theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was just the tip of the iceberg: more unsettling were the appearances of Jesus in the Kinkade schema. Many claimed to have met the Christ while under the influence of FLKR, some even went as far as experiencing religious conversions thanks to meeting Jesus in Kinkadia. It was this part that drew fire from Evangelical communities across the USA. At first there was nation-wide euphoria at the prospect of meeting their Lord and Saviour, then the more circumspect views kicked in: not only were the these Jesus sightings encouraging drug use:  the main charge leveled  against Kinkade was that his faux religious confections could only be in service of now fallen Angel of Light\u2014Lucifer: for he was producing exactly the sort of \u201cfalse Christ\u201d, that Christ himself had warned of in the bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the controversial \u201cThe Church  vs. FLKR(TM)\u201d case, the FDA and the Supreme Court were forced to confront the manufacture of religious experience as product placement. Their rulings would have caused disruptions in realtime and altered religious institutions status as not-for-profit entities. In the end it was pressure from various Christian communities and not the courts (the case was suspended indefinitely) or the FDA that forced Kinkade to take Jesus off the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a Bad Patch. I have to ride it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

XII. PERSONAL APPEARANCES<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If advertising and product placement in FLKR(TM) were now under control, there were no restrictions on \u201cpersonal appearances.\u201d In fact Kinkade (and a few others) argued it was their right as artists to insert themselves into their work. Most disturbing is Kinkade\u2019s \u201chow\u201d of insertion, it is  unproven, but rumor has it that his propensity in realtime for \u201cterritorial pissing\u201d spilled over into his patchworks: traces of his bodily waste fluids are supposedly mixed into the patchworks\u2014to give a personal flavor. Naturally the FDA would never approve such methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinkade is known to appear  mostly as a benign jolly psychopomp in Kinkadia, the friendly postman, the kindly uncle, the pipe smoking psychotherapist… However there were increasing reports of \u201crough patches\u201d in which he would manifest as gaggle of foul-mouthed cigar smoking imps; a randy dwarf; a horny devil\u2014always lurking in the crevices of the shadows that made the light so surreal… More esoteric was the Mysterious Letter N–often interpreted as N for Netherworld. Negativity. Nightmare… The presence of the Letter N is the underbelly of American Dreamtime, it\u2019s darkside. It\u2019s horror is said to be palpable, but its appearances cannot be described without further descent into psychoses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinkade categorically denies any sinister function of the Mysterious Letter N. The N exists, he claims, as a tribute to his wife, Nannette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XII.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Tell me about your fascination with Snow White.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 I told you: I\u2019m not!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Then why are here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Are you supposed to be my shrink?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wait, this time the hallucination lingers, not falling for the same trick as before. It was like a self-improving virus, eventually the antibiotics stopped working. I employ another tack:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014The Black Civil Rights mantra \u201cI am Black and Beautiful\u201d is a latter day translation of the Bible\u2019s  Song of Solomon, where his love interest, the Shulamite states: \u201cI am dark, but comely\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no response, a strong sensation hits my nose: ammonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am lying in a stinking crevice of darkness, a blackhole. Far off are the unattainable swirls of light ominous light curtain, hiding in their folds the Mysterious Letter N.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recall  Anselm Kiefer\u2019s painting, Shulamite<\/i> a vast holocaust memorial  of dark oven bricks and gold straws like golden hairs like goldilocks<\/i>… Dark brooding with glimmers of salvation lodged in speckles of paint.  HEY! The psycho therapist(?) interrupts my train of thought–Hey! You\u2019re losing the picture. This is KINKADIA. Ditch the Shulamite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this spelled out in smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XIII. THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER N<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Book of Esther, in the Old Testament, the Hebrews are is saved from a holocaust thanks to the interventions of a former beauty queen turned wife and concubine of the ruler. With all the near-death swipes and misses and the miraculous denouement, not once is God mentioned in this book. Or so it seems. The letters YHWH are not readily apparent, unless one reads the Hebrew verses like an acrostic\u2014diagonally, with the first letter of each line\u2014 then the hidden name of G_d appears. It would seem Thomas Kinkade had something similar in mind with his work: N is for Nanette, but also for Netherworld, Nothingness and No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

XIV.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THIS IS THE RIGHT PICTURE. THIS IS KINKADIA. THIS IS BUILT FROM MY OWN SWEAT (AND PISS). THIS IS AMERICAN DREAMTIME<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The darkness  pixilates, fluctuates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blink and N is for NASTY. Why can\u2019t it be for NICE?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I understand immediately the meaning of painting light: darkness is required, and things or people to shove into it. Sensory assault: cinnamon cookies baking in the oven; the Shulamite baking in the oven; the hidden name of K_NK_D hanging over head; shock ammonia wafting above. A rough patch. How many hours, years, aeons till the NIGHTMARE ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

N is for so many things, sit here with me and we will reverse its mysteries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally published in TRUCE issue V (download PDF) I. \u2014Have you done this before? \u2014You keep asking. What\u2019s it to you? \u2014Just doing my job. \u2014Whatever. \u2014So you know this can last up to 16 hours. And it can go horribly, painfully wrong… \u2014Will you stop! What do we have here? He spreads out an array of small neat translucent envelopes with miniature labels\u2014illustrated to advertise their contents\u2014 a few Neo-noirs (Gotham on Ice, Redlight Soho) stuff you\u2019d do if you were doing the bar pick-up scene for the night… the Bladerunner-esque ones pique my interest (Electric Sheep, Molecular Tango)\u2014 too edgy; an underwater fantasia ( Psyche: Seahorse) I\u2019d heard of the series, but maybe too Discovery Channel… A werewolf scenario\u2014 scary,  I bristle at the thought… \u2014what\u2019s this? \u2014This? This is something I usually don\u2019t have–it\u2019s kind of a bestseller, or so they say\u2014 \u2014Really? This? The label is literally a fairy tale scene: a lit up forest clearing, a thatched cottage made of rosy light interiors cobbled in river brushed stones and winter creepers: a calm blanket of snow plays rhapsody with pine trees and curious fauns peeking into the rose-lit dream of domesticity… Behind and above it all, an insane whirl of sunset. All it was missing was the Christmas card glitter and it pulsated with\u2014 \u2014Not something I\u2019d recommend. \u2014Why? \u2014A) It\u2019s kind of perverse for a beginner and B) It\u2019s kind of perverse, period. \u2014 The \u201cBestseller\u201d? \u2014Also, you know about McKenna\u2019s law of Opiates, Dreams and Hallucinogens? \u2014No. \u2014Do the appropriate drug for your surroundings. Go Neo-Noir, Sci-Fi or Light Goth. This stuff is bucolic\u2014and probably not in a good way\u2014not if you\u2019re in an urban environment. \u2014Sounds crazy. I\u2019ll take it. \u2014Are you sure? It doesn\u2019t seem that compatible. \u2014Oh please, I peruse the label again, the title is enough to dissuade me from backing off: \u2014\u201dHome With the Kinkade\u2019s For Christmas?\u201d That is perverse! Thanks Doc, I\u2019ll take one. II.A BRIEF HISTORY \u201cCinema is truth at 24 frames per second.\u201d At the end of the last millennium,  CINEMAX a cable TV entertainment company, went pharmaceutical with a new discovery that single-handedly dismantled the future of the entertainment industry. The pheromonal patch, FLKR(TM) was first introduced as a group therapy tool for schizophrenics, but gained widespread recreational use when the FDA, in some bizarre and probably unmonitored instance, approved it for over-the-counter use. FLKR(TM) is based on a mood regulator that accesses and manipulates the Pineal Gland\u2014modulating its access to light and creating specific rhythms that regulate your reality. FLKR(TM) is a an internal magic lantern generating the speed of life. You may recall, Original Sin was velocity based: mankind fell, and thus ever since, it is speed that has determined the tenor of life\u2014speed things up and we have the early comedy of Chaplin and Keaton becomes apparent, slow the same sequence down and discover the tragedy in things… An unexpected cocktail of fast and slow makes for dramedy, and so on. Human perception is always a matter of speed. Consider FLKR(TM) as the DJ who remixes your neo-cortex, thanks to nano-cocktails, FLKR(TM) gets specific on pheromonal levels. Better still, each FLKR(TM) experience is like a snowflake, one of a kind, never to be replicated. Herein lies the genius: FLKR(TM) access those parts of the cortex that traffic in childhood memories and associations. With FLKR(TM), it was all in your head to begin with. III. I lied, This was my first time on the patch. The first time I was able to afford it. My curiosity quickly dwindles into anxiety as the room begins to pulsate gently, then aggressively. My companion fluctuates in a sensory swirl of black wipes, white-outs: there\/not there… \u2014You all right, kid? I witness him morph into a kindly wizard, a Wonderful Wizard of Oz… BLACK\/ WIPE\/HERE\/NOT\/THERE A blow to the head and the scene pulsates with… COLOR. LIGHT. PASTEL. PEPPERMINT. LAVENDER. Snowflake intersect… The wizard is static, of course\u2014only a painting! \u2014Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid awwwwwwwwwwwwwrrriiight???????? I\u2019m fine. Scent of warm cinnamon wafts through, an electric phase signal on my tongue tells me mother is in the kitchen baking. In another room strains of The Little Drummer Boy escape into the swirl of color, it is almost slowed down by the color saturation. Not so much the way I remember it. It must be Christmas. Elsewhere, a conversation continues with the wizard. Elsewhere I note I have opened the gateway to schizophrenia, but who cares? Snowflakes intersect and tickle. The waft of Christmas cookies swirling into a world of  neon brights, softening into saturated pastels. The Mystical Letter N levitates before me, then disappears into a camouflage of surprise wood panelling. N is for NAUSEA, Everything from my stomach, comes up to my head. In other realities, the Wizard speaks in splinters, they aggregate into: \u201cRough Patch.\u201d But you didn\u2019t hear that from me. IV. The Best Seller At Home With the Kinkade\u2019s for Christmas, released in 2001, became one of FLKR\u2019s best selling holiday patches\u2014it by far out trumped  the Norman Rockwell series\u2014which became surprise Art House favorites, perhaps because in their Frank Capra-ness, they invoked Jimmy Stewart, Spencer Tracy\u2014 but really Jimmy Stewart, figure-head of right thinking American Masculinity\u2014who smoked Marlboros and slyly did double duty in the shadow worlds of European directors like Hitchcock and Preminger. Thus the \u201cRockwells\u201d became Hitchcock-ian by default.  On the other hand, the Kinkade series,  licensed by FLKR(TM), based on the works of late 20th century American artist, Thomas Kinkade, a self-proclaimed \u201cpainter of light\u201d, were immediately dismissed by the intelligentsia as kitsch, but were instant mainstream hits. What no one predicted was the series underground appeal: the Kinkade\u2019s with their play on American  Fantasia, in some distant time outside of time, were exactly what some philosopher had termed \u201cmachines that suppressed time\u201d. This was the \u201cOnce Upon A Time\u201d of fairytales. This was America\u2019s own custom-fitted dreamtime. V. The Shrink asks me to lie down: Tell me about your obsession […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[122,121],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","category-short-story","tag-thomas-kinkade","tag-truce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=296"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4077,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296\/revisions\/4077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}