Empire of the Odd

Fear of upsetting spirits keeps island society on best behaviour

By Mark Magnier
The Los Angeles Times
Taipei, Taiwan (Jul 19, 2006)Chin Wei considers a blockbuster American ghost movie and scoffs.

“I saw Ghostbusters, but that’s not how it’s done,” says the author of several ghost books and the host of radio and television paranormal programs. “You can’t get rid of ghosts that easily, especially with those funny, weird machines. That’s just comedy.”…
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“Well,” I say, standing to leave. “This has certainly been an interesting afternoon.”

Mary Sutherland stands. She is trembling, I think. Just a little. I extend my hand and thank her for her graciousness. She has been gracious. Not exactly the huckster I had anticipated.

“We should hug,” she says, and she embraces me.

She says: “Don’t make me look silly.”

And I say, “I’ll try.”
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Roswell: Ross Savedra fought aliens to rescue his girlfriend, then popped the question in an out-of-this-world proposal. Savedra, 32, staged his elaborate proposal on Sunday afternoon for Ariana Ash, 23, with the help of family members and Roswell’s UFO Museum.

Savedra and Ash were touring the museum when a silver-suited, masked alien from an exhibit called “alien autopsy” suddenly abducted Ash from in front of a group of tourists. Savedra dashed through the crowd, fought two aliens and rescued her. Then he dropped to his knees, presented her a ring and asked her

to marry him. Savedra, a Roswell native, chose the museum for his proposal because of its uniqueness. “She’s always calling me her alien man,Savedra said of his FIANCEE.

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By Ed Bark

The Dallas Morning News

(MCT)

PASADENA, Calif. – Heralded by a Comedy Central news release that childishly spews an expletive in its headline, “South Park” turns 10 this fall without really growing up.

Its foul-their-nests fourth-graders, now roughly the same age as the show, continue to vex the suits at the network’s mighty corporate parent, Viacom. Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, now comfortably rich, remain unbowed if a little bruised.

“This is `South Park.’ And we absolutely rip on everyone in really horrible, terrible ways,” Parker matter-of-factly told TV critics Thursday.

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Other than some stranger blatting a bunch of frustrated inanities into a new web log, somone who SOUNDS a lot like my darling Red Queen (now calm down ReaganI’m not the only one who thinks so.) What is really hilarious is, that whomever this person is actually clams to be a new Rich Remolds! That’s a little like Vladimir Putin claiming to be the Joe Stalin of the 21^st century. What a foot bullet!

Not that I blame her (or any of the other characters in the Odd Empire.) It’s got to be maddening that their TV based fantasy worlds don’t just come true. I can only imagine what it would feel like if the evil government suddenly came clean and said, ‘“hey good people, yes aliens have been infiltrating the Earth for generations. They have technology we can’t match, they abduct millions of people for foul sexual experiments and anal probes. If your real lucky they’ll just make soup out of you! But, Its OK, your government is negotiating a deal with the aliens. Only 2% of you will be chopped up or sexually assaulted in exchange for us political types getting the secret for better hair growth! A real bargain!”

Alas, the gritty reality sets in and they realize that the world is pretty much the way it was yesterday, no aliens no vast government conspiracies to poison the air or make their teeth fall out. It’s just life you know? Not aliens. Well, there are LOTS of marketing people and advertisers, those are the real evildoers (*brrr!)

Most notable thing this week? Paul Kimball’s planning to host a UFO Symposium in Halifax, Nova Scotia this October.

A UFO Symposium? A wild Greek party where guys in chitons will drink lots of wine, watch dancing girls and flick the dregs at each other?

Oh, you don’t mean that kind of Symposium (rats!) You mean a sober get-together where folks will talk about the state of UFOlogy such as it is. Get to know each other and maybe hove into to the local watering spot for some more spirited conversation.

And the strange thing about all this? So far, not an alien or contactee in sight. That’s right my incredulous audience! This as yet unnamed Symposium is not about what the strange bug-eyed creatures plunged into someone’s bunghole. It sounds more like a sober, rational look at the state of UFOlogy and how this rather exotic field can be pulled into the scientific community so that some real work can be done.

This mght turn out to be exactly what the woo-woos hate. Actual communication! An exchange of ideas. Leave your egos and pet beliefs by the door kind of stuff. Is that even possible? In this world of reflexive hard-nosed beliefs which do not tolerate descending opinion (narrow mindedness in so many words.) is it possible to that Kimball has the right stuff to make this happen? Can he do all that AND make a profit?

Stay tuned!

….probably not!

I got this off of James Gilliland’s daly screed.

It’s the latest comedy coming out of the venerable Exopolitics Institute. Get ready for the Hawaii Declaration on Peaceful Relations with Extraterrestrial Civilizations, you can sign the petition here, tell them the Odd Emperor sent you!

It’s been very quiet in the Odd Empire, just the pitter-patter of rain on the fine tin roof of the imperial compound. Most of the Relms Fortean are quietly bickering about the Heflin photos, whether they are fakes or not. (I have an old and dear friend who claims the photos are indeed fakes, but (he says) the objects they depict are very real. )

The evil Triumvirate seems to have broken up and gone their separate ways. These are three people who have repeatedly tried to harass me, embarrass me, insult me and have generally made complete fools of themselves.

I got a lovely piece of hate mail last week from a totally new source, in keeping with my campaign of “harassment” I will be sharing the full text of the message with you the good people of the Odd Empire. I replied to this gentleman’s first missive without using such invectives as “asshole” and the like, I don’t feel those descriptions are becoming of anyone over the age of ten (but that’s why I’m the Odd Emperor and you’re just whomever you are.) (I love you too Al!)

Other than that, I did hear that Karl Pflock recently passed away—I am sorry to hear it. I never met Mr Pflock but I’ve read a number of his bits over at the Smear and I was just about to review “Shockingly Close to the Truth” which he co-wrote with James Mosley. Pflock is one of those people I would have liked to have met. Now… We can only meet him vicariously through his writings. Such is the triumph and the tragedy of the author.