[Naked City Atlanta] The Pounding of the Kazoos -"Obsession"

Author's Note: Even now, as I post this, Naked City Atlanta is going on.  The word this month is Obsession.  Even though I can't be there, I'm writing this post to appear as if I were there in spirit.

There it was, the pounding of the kazoos, throbbing in my brain; an obsession that I could not get rid of.  Some people who look at the polar vortex gain a deep insight into the weather of the world; and some go mad.  Some just start running and never stop.  I'm one of the ones that went berserk.

It started small, you must understand.  The weather department at a news station is small, usually consisting of one or two people.  KQWAK was a bit larger than most, given the major metropolitan area that was Bismark North Dakota, so we had four.  Alright, perhaps it wasn't the size of our city so much as the fact that we had weather that was chaotic...and the weather girls were all rather attractive.  Except myself. I am neither a girl nor am I attractive.

But I was here first.

I stared at the vortex as it swirled and swirled on my little screen, phantomly imposed on the green-screen as I stared at it, pointing it out with my laser pen.  I was talking about the polar bears in the air as I stood in front of a stupid screen.  I was naked, baring my soul to these people.  And they didn't think it was real...the monstrous ursine cacophony soaring up above the stratosphere, ready to turn us all into so much lunch chow.

I'm not supposed to care about this.  A polar vortex is just a weather term for air that decides to go south for the winter in a place it never should be, but I know the polar bears are angry.  I said, I said to the guy I bought my car from, I said, "I want something that looks great and gets really shitty gas millage!  Fuck the environment!"  And I did, because you wouldn't believe what you can earn standing in front of a green screen and pretending you know what the hell you're talking about.  Fine, so I paid that little pimple for the answers to every test, but have you seen the other women in the news room?

I mean seriously.

And weather groupies?  I mean, there is nothing like getting serviced with a girl just in college who goes all gushy like a fruitloop with the magical words,"Castroverius Cumulonimbus Cirrico."  Seriously.  Clouds.  Tell them you're on TV and mention a few cloud names to them and they're all over you.

So I'm driving in my new car, hot blond on the carpet content as can be, humming with the hummer, and I shit you not, there is this coca cola billboard, and this polar bear, this polar bear is staring at me, as if I have personally

The bears, their claws,
The bears, their maws
The whirling vortex of infinite doom
I spot beneath myself a white wasteland
Where none, but the most incompetent
Let the people run free
Frozen in their tracks
Frozen in their cars
Frozen in all of the ways that matter
And I know,
I know in my heart
That I have been eaten by the bears
And they have stolen my soul.

What does it mean? What does it all mean?

Not a god damn thing except that I need to finish my coffee and that I need to get somewhere considerably warmer.  I wonder what the pay is for weather men in Miami....

Precyber - Chapter 16

Clarke meets Che and Fidel.  

Check out this episode!

Seventh Seal - Chapter 3 - Page 48

Row 1 – Vesuvius, Pete, Jesra and Sluice all look at each other and smile, with confidence. A portal lies beyond them.

Row 2 Box 1

Amanda looks at Forsalio.

Amanda: I have a financial proposition for you. Have you ever considered opening a chain of restaurants?

Row 2 Box 2 Forsalio puts his hand under his chin.

Row 2 Box 3 Forsalio grins, it is clear that he loves the idea. The greed is visible in his eyes.

Forsalio: I’m listening.

Row 3 Box 1 The portal darkens and dry cracks appear over the surface.

Row 3 Box 2 (Wide) The portal pops like a soap bubble and suddenly Vesuvius, Sluice, Amanda and Pete look rather worried.

Seventh Seal - Chapter 3 - Page 47

Row 1 Box 1 Amanda and Slither step out of the portal in front of the museum. It is daylight.

Row 1 Box 2 Amanda points out Forsalio to Slither.

Amanda: There he is.

Row 1 Box 3 Slither snickers and follows behind her as it shows all but Amanda’s ankle off panel.

Row 2 Box 1 Amanda walks up to Forsalio and taps him on the shoulder.

Row 2 Box 2 Forsalio jumps and turns around.

Forsalio: Huh? Whazzat? Who? Where?

Row 2 Box 3 Forsalio calms down. A little.

Forsalio: What, did you just pop out of thin air lady? Would you like a hot dog?

Row 3 Box 1 Amanda smiles wickedly.

Amanda: You could say something like that.

Row 3 Box 2 Forsalio looks a bit confused. Slither dances on the hot dog cart waving his arms and grinning but Forsalio doesn’t see him.

Forsalio: What?

Row 3 Box 3 Amanda smiles again, ignoring Slither. She puts her hand on Forsalio’s shoulder.

Amanda: Yes, I would like a hot dog. I imaging someone like you earns quite a bit of money at the hot dog game…

Chapter 15 - Precyber

Words spreads on Clarke.  Emily gets a message.

Check out this episode!

Seventh Seal - Chapter 3 - Page 46

Row 1 Box 1 Nungo, Jesra, Pete, Vesuvius and Sluice all sit around a well stocked, candle lit dining table.

Vesuvius: So then I said to the Fairy, ‘Why no officer, I don’t know where this elephant came from.’

Row 1 Box 2 (Wide) Everyone laughs out loud.

Row 2 Box 1 Jesra and Pete look at each other romantically.

Row 2 Box 2 Vesuvius elbows Sluice knowingly and smiles.

Row 2 Box 3 Sluice smiles and elbows Vesuvius knowingly.

Row 2 Box 4 Vesuvius flies through the air.

Row 3 Box 1 Pete has a shocked and concerned look on his face.

Row 3 Box 2 Vesuvius lands in a large bowl of mashed potatoes.

Row 3 Box 3 Potatoes cover Nungo’s face. He does not look happy.

Row 4 Box 1 Jesra starts to giggle.

Row 4 Box 2 (wide) Everyone is laughing again, even Nungo.

Seventh Seal - Chapter 3 - Page 45

Horus’s Throne Room

Row 1 Box 1 – Horus looks into the pool and frowns at the sign of the seven in the sky.

Row 1 Box 2 – Slither and Amanda watch very quietly and nervously from the sidelines.

Row 1 Box 3 – Horus looks into the pool and sees a flame douse though it is vague and featureless since he cannot scry into their realm just yet.

Row 1 Box 4 – Horus frowns.

Row 2 Box 1 – Slither and Amanda look at each other nervously. There is camaraderie in doom.

Row 2 Box 2 – Power begins to build up in Horus’s hands.

Row 2 Box 3 – Slither looks nervous but Amanda looks positively terrified but she is more afraid to flee than she is to stay. For now.

Row 3 Box 1 – Horus spots an empty space at the museum and looks puzzled a moment.

Row 3 Box 2 – Time winds backwards as the sands of an hourglass in the pool flow upward.

Row 3 Box 3 – Horus spots Amanda and Pete enter the portal after Vesuvius.

Row 3 Box 4 – Horus laughs and howls at the broken moon.

Row 4 Box 1- Horus waves his hand and dismisses the images in the pool.

Row 4 Box 2 -Horus looks at Amanda and Slither. Slither has no reaction at all, Amanda looks very careful.

Row 4 Box 3 -Horus opens a portal of his own and points toward it.

Horus: There is a seal lost to them. Go and seize the advantage. While there is still time.

Row 4 Box 4 - Amanda and Slither do not hesitate, and run for the portal as fast as they can.