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Much MUCH more love from Michael Mott. Page 9

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wm. Michael Mott" <mottimorph@earthlink.net>
To: <oddempire@blackfish-enterprises.com>
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2003 8:55 AM
Subject: Re: SUBTERRANEAN MYTHS AND MYSTERIES

> on 5/29/03 11:53 PM, Odd Empire at
odd_empire@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> > No, I doubt it. I haven?t been to one of those
things
> > since Dragoncon was the called The Atlanta Fantasy
> > Fair. I?m thinking about going up this year
however.
> > I?m curious to see how the science fiction scene
has
> > changed over the last couple of decades.
> >
>
> You'd leave the luxury of Florida for the smog of
Atlanta?
>
> It's a lot of fun, there's no doubt about it.

You call Florida luxurious? You be very-very strange.
It's only nice around these parts during the early
spring and late fall, otherwise it's pretty darn hot.

>
> > I wasn?t kidding about writing a couple of novels.
I
> > got the writing bug late last year and cranked a
novel
> > out and about seven short subjects in the space of
> > around four months. I have four short stories in
the
> > submission train right now. I?m papering a wall
with
> > rejection notices. I?m working on the sequel to
novel
> > #one and expect to have the third novel written by
> > December of 2003.
> >
>
> Go for it! Rejection notices are just part of the
game.
>
>
> > I?m not a ?frustrated writer?, not yet anyway. I?m
> > having too much fun producing this stuff. Even if
they
> > sit in a shoebox covered in rejection slips I
won?t be
> > dismayed too much. I?m fully aware of how
difficult it
> > is to get into the business. At the same time I
don?t
> > intend to pay someone to publish my work, they
will
> > either stand on their own merits or not at all.
Either
> > way, I get some satisfaction out of just doing it
and
> > the rest, can take care of itself.
> >
>
> That is the right attitude.

It feels right. Thanks.

>
>
> > Incidentally, I?ve read some of your writing over
the
> > last couple of hours. You have some interesting
points
> > of view, kind reminds me of Shaver?s stuff. I
can?t
> > say that I agree with your conclusions very much.
You
> > seem to be relating a bunch of urban legend and
> > couching it as fact.
> >
>
> No, it's based solely on verifiable fact. Patterns
can be found which
> correlate to one another, back to the most ancient
accounts.
>
> It really is more of an updated look at folklore,
but with an eye toward
> discerning the possible truths behind the legends.
It's not so much
similar
> to Evans-Wentz, as it is to Robert Kirk, in general
philosophy.
>
> Shaver was just one thread in the tapestry. He was
confabulating due to
> shock over something he'd experienced, and draped it
all in pulp-scifi
> trappings to protect his own sanity. IMO.
>

I tend to agree (about Shaver anyway). He seemed to be
sincere on some levels but he really lost himself (in) what
was apparently an intricate world of his own creation.

That's fine for writing fiction, even necessary! But
when one begins believing in fictional creations,
starts manufacturing evidence, and when they begin to
try and convince others that their creations are true
you get things like that very interesting group the
luxuries town of Clearwater Florida.

Why? Because people want to believe in UFOs and big
hairy hominids. They want some novel escape from
having to go to work each day and feed the kids, pay
off the house or the car. That's boring and most
people have no way to fight the boredom. So you get
the self styled prophets and gurus runningaround
proposing to solve their problems and makeing their
lives exciting. Its a trap though, life is exciting without all of this,
and a whole lot cheaper.

> > Now there is nothing wrong with doing that but
> > realize that most people are going to (and have)
just
> > reject(ed) you out of hand.
> >
>
> As is their right. Plenty of others--hundreds,
actually--believe I'm on
the
> right track. People who have had frightening,
inexplicable experiences,
and
> are tired or fearful of ridicule, derision, and
scoffing, are looking for
> answers. Little do most realize that their
experiences are nothing new,
not
> generated or caused by "aliens," but are native to
this planet and have
> always been experienced by human beings.
>

Good for you! My point, (and my only point) is that
the people looking for answers deserve real answers,
not something concocted out of the imagination of
another. People do appear to see strange things from
time to time, UFOs, trolls, the gentry (which I agree
are probably what the "gray" UFO occupants morphed
into.) But what are they really seeing? Are these
physical objects or some kind of projection?

> One of the areas explored in the book is the way in
which folklore--even
> "urban legend"--is used as a safety-valve and as a
protective mechanism
for
> the collective human psyche. Happens all the time.
>

You are so right. But what is that safety valve? Is it
something hard-wired in the human brain or is it
something external? If so, is that thing perhaps
a perfectly natural phenomena? Is there necessarily a
complex organized entity or set of entities behind
this? If yes then how does one prove it? Not by
telling and retelling very questionable lore and
couching it as
factual. The lore might be real (as allegory and
whatnot) but the *facts* cannot be established. It is
vitally important to establish the facts
.
Case in point, you bonked me over the head with this
Eltanin antenna thing. I seemed to remember reading
about this years ago and filed it under "interesting"
but gave it little thought. Since you were so
insistent that this was significant I poked around a
little.

The story is not really in many places, most web sites
that reference the thing are simply quoting the
Undiscovered Country page verbatim , I only found one
or two other references (which are already listed on
the Undiscovered Country page). I checked a couple of
(dozen) other sources, there was indeed a ship called
the Eltanin registered to the USGS around that time
but it was sold in 1975 (not 1979 as the UC article
suggests). The vessel had a 3900 ton hull, it was
delivered in 1962.

http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/postwwii/government/research.htmn

There are a number of data points on the Internet
regarding this vessel, two things stuck out. The ship
was involved in coring operations to and at least one
person made reference to "antenna modeling" (whatever
that is).

One thing that I could not find is a good explanation
as to what the antenna photograph really is. You will
note that there is no way to tell scale, how big is
it? Something two inches high or twenty feet? There is
no way to tell. It is likely that this is a very small
object though, it is really difficult to light
anything larger than a couple of feet underwater.

Additionally, I have yet to find any way to verify
that the photo
(http://www.cyberspaceorbit.com/vosanten.html)
eltanin-1.jpg can actually be attributed to the NSGS
Eltanin

> > Have your read ?The Fairy Faith in Celtic
Countries??
> > (W.Y Evans-Wentz, Citadel, New York NY. ISBN
> > 0-8065-1160-5) That stuff has been around for a
very
> > long time and is probably related to modern ideas
of
> > UFOs and other phenomena.
>
> Yes, of course.
>
> >Whether this stuff is
> > actually related to aliens or subterranean
Detrimental
> > Robots is quite another thing.
>
> No aliens. The entire extraterrestrial school of
thought is fraught with
> misinformation, disinformation, and deception. This
deceptive quality is
> part and parcel of encounters between humans and
"others," however. It
> always has been.
>

I agree, most of the so called "research" is of the
most shoddy, fantastic nature.

That's putting it very mildly.

> > One would have to
> > really look at the evidence, and good evidence is
very
> > hard to find! My family even has stories of
strange
> > caverns on property that we own, but when one
tries to
> > actually find the caves they are conveniently
missing.
> > That seems to be the nature of the beast, if one
looks
> > too hard the evidence becomes nonsense.
> >
>
> Maybe you shouldn't dismiss those stories out of
hand. A little serious
> investigation may at the very least reveal the
existence of those caverns.
>

Naa, I don't really dismiss them.

> Since most of the southeast U.S. sits on either
limestone or sandstone,
> cavern systems are almost guaranteed to exist
throughout. This is due
> simply to the processes of water and carbolic acid.
This doesn't mean
that
> entrances which are large enough to permit ingress
would exist, however.
>
> Surely your family preserved those stories for a
reason. Of course, the
> caves are probably just ordinary, dripping caves.
>

Probubly, the four-corners area is full of stuff like
that.

> --M.
>
> p.s., You may want to be a bit more careful with
your derision....
>
> >From www.m-w.com:
>
> Main Entry: judg•ment
> Variant(s): or judge•ment /'j&j-m&nt/
> Function: noun
> Date: 13th century
> 1 a : a formal utterance of an authoritative opinion
b : an opinion so
> pronounced
> 2 a : a formal decision given by a court b (1) : an
obligation (as a debt)
> created by the decree of a court (2) : a certificate
evidencing such a
> decree
> 3 a capitalized : the final judging of mankind by
God b : a divine
sentence
> or decision; specifically : a calamity held to be
sent by God
> 4 a : the process of forming an opinion or
evaluation by discerning and
> comparing b : an opinion or estimate so formed
> 5 a : the capacity for judging : DISCERNMENT b : the
exercise of this
> capacity
> 6 : a proposition stating something believed or
asserted
> synonym see SENSE
>
> ------
> One entry found for pronouncement.
>
>
> Main Entry: pro•nounce•ment
> Pronunciation: pr&-'naun(t)s-m&nt
> Function: noun
> Date: 1593
> 1 : a usually formal declaration of opinion
> 2 : an authoritative announcement
>

The last bit doesn't really make much sense you know.
I have a perfectly good dictionary right here.

It would really help if you just said things strait (sic)
out and stop with this silly cyber-stalking drama. I
don't feel particularly intimidated by you and if you
want something from me the polite thing to do is
simply ask.

=====
Sincerely;

The Odd Emperor
http://blackfish-enterprises.com/oddempire/index.htm

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