Gray Satan: Where the Sidewalk Continues

[Abishai100]

Since the modern world is preoccupied with the contours and efficiency of traffic-flow and data/information transit, people are naturally very sensitive about the experience of using tools/technology that makes the movement of capital easier (e.g., eTrade, eBay, NASDAQ, etc.).

Comic book characters signify a new age curiosity about sensitization to powers and dominions that were once foreign/alien to us: e.g., metallurgy = Iron Man (Marvel Comics); media = Video-Man (Marvel Comics); industrialization = Kingpin (Marvel Comics); mining = Plastic Man (DC Comics); energy-use = Green Lantern (DC Comics), etc.

In this sort of 'artistic arena,' exposure to the textures and textiles of various palettes can define our sense of engagement with evolution-anxiety emotions towards modernism 'failures' (e.g., industrialization-related eco-pollution, intellectual property theft on the Internet, urban bureaucracy claustrophobia, etc.).

Take, for example, the Marvel Comics super-villain Gray Goblin (Gabriel Stacy), a wayward and troubled son of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and Gwen Stacy, who takes the biochemically-mutating 'goblin serum' originally developed by Dr. Norman Osborn (aka, 'Green Goblin') of Oscorp (a fictional avant-garde science-research-and-business firm) and becomes a gray-colored man-beast and general mayhem-artist (and urban terrorist).

Gray Goblin represents modern age anxieties about the proper management of science information and nature-tampering 'solutions,' and his 'neutral/apathetic' gray color symbolizes a general indecisiveness towards the governance priorities associated with species or Earth transforming scientific breakthroughs such as genetic cloning.

Pedestrian stories about Gray Goblin interacting and/or interfering with science protocols or civil procedures therefore reveal our modern civilization's focus on 'savage fascism' concerns.

In fact, when I read about Gray Goblin, I think about the overtly pro-capitalism policies of the Trump Administration. Should that inspire more 'Orwellian storytelling'?



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Gabriel Stacy realized he was running late for his interview (for the Daily Bugle) with Dr. Norman Osborn, CEO or Oscorp, NYC's most lucrative science-firm. Stacy agreed to sample Dr. Osborn's 'goblin serum' and see if it really was as dangerous as people were claiming. Stacy was given the assignment by his boss at the Bugle to take the right notes to construct a piece about the value and wondrous intrigue associated with any unusual transformation of the human body, since developments with the Human Genome Project (HGP) had everyone talking about Oscorp's investments in bizarre humanoid 'super-soldier' experiments with synthetically 'enhanced' brutes such as Juggernaut, Rhino, and Venom.

Stacy presented a fine article to the Daily Bugle after claiming that ingesting the goblin serum Dr. Osborn gave him merely made him feel much more energized and invigorated but in a way that standard 'uppers' such as Ritalin and coffee simply could not do. However, two weeks later, Stacy noticed his body was changing severely. His skin was turning gray, and he could suddenly hold muscular poses for long periods of time without losing energy! Stacy started calling himself 'Gray Goblin,' and he rushed to Oscorp to ask Dr. Osborn what should be the next course of action. Norman explained eerily, "You've been given a great power."

Gray Goblin soared around NYC on weekend nights on a special jet-glider Dr. Osborn had made for him at Oscorp. Gray Goblin carried pumpkin-bombs (just like Green Goblin), which he was instructed to use only for self-defense (by Dr. Osborn), but he was unaware that Norman was actually the Green Goblin. Gray Goblin sent a radio flyer to the NYU athletics department stating, "This school should host a tri-national women's field hockey tournament between Germany, Netherlands, and Argentina this summer to see how popular women's sports has become in modern media and academics!" NYU executives were puzzled until Dr. Osborn explained, "Gray Goblin is trying to convince us that progressive politics is something even a 'biochemical mutant' can entertain, so how come 'normal' people seem too lazy to do the same?"

The Daily Bugle labelled Gray Goblin as a modern AntiChrist with a surprising progressive-politics incendiary message of "Look before you taste!" Dr. Osborn believed Gray Goblin was an invaluable asset to his continuing work on the textures and viscosity of science-geared anti-establishmentarian politics. Dr. Osborn (aka, 'Gray Goblin') intended to 'use' Gray Goblin as a pawn in his new pseudo-Satanic 'terrorism game.' Osborn was going to convince Gray Goblin (Gabriel Stacy) to kidnap the First Lady (Melania Trump) and hold her as hostage until President Trump agreed to say on camera that he (like other members of the Cabinet) is a regular anti-science propaganda practitioner of witchcraft. Osborn believed this would change the face of 'capitalism politics.'

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Psychology of Colors (Gray)

 

[Abishai100]

The 6th Man


In the 1980s, the Duke University Blue Devils men's college basketball team under the auspicious burgeoning leadership-genius of 'Coach K' (Mike Krzyzewski) soared to ACC glories and tournament achievements with stand-outs such as Danny Ferry and Mike Gminski, but they continued to fall short of the national championship.

Then, in 1991, thanks to the incredible team-flow and coaching acumen of Coach K, the Blue Devils won a national title. Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley were the superstars, and Billy McCaffrey was the second highest team scorer. Duke went on to win 4 more national titles including one the following year (1992), but McCaffrey (Duke's darling 6th man oriented contributor) transferred to Vanderbilt (in 1993) where he became that school's second-all time leading scorer and achieved the record for most assists in a game (in 1993 versus Kentucky).

Obviously, Coach K recruited a swarm of talent going into the 1990s, but the 'buzz' generated by McCaffrey's darling 6th-man play with Duke and his stellar achievements as a Vanderbilt transfer made college basketball sports writers more conscious of the fact that contributions to sports revealed an American celebration of labor itself.

American historians nearly-deify labor-focused figures such as Benedict Arnold and Jimmy Hoffa, since they are fascinated by the impact of contribution on team achievement and social progress. Maybe this explains the capitalism excitement in the USA, but whatever the rationale is, a meditation on the labor-teamwork contouring exemplified in the achievements of Billy McCaffrey suggest that Americans want to see 'dystopia psychiatry' on TV and in the movies...



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Peter Parker (aka, 'Spider-Man') was thrilled that Gabriel Stacy (aka, 'Gray Goblin') was getting necessary treatment for his anti-social behavior at Oscorp and started to believe that the redemption-minded self-reforming criminal could become an invaluable '6th man' to American society. Stacy started working part-time at the NYU Library while under constant supervision by Oscorp guards under a program known as 'Escorted Rehabilitation.' Stacy even started corresponding with a beautiful young woman named Frida Hardy (who unknown to Stacy was Felicia Hardy's daughter!). Felicia Hardy was a nemesis of Spider-Man, since she prowled around NYC as the terrorist known as 'Black Cat.'

Stacy and Frida Hardy really hit it off, and she would constantly visit him at Oscorp with cookies and good cheer and romantic spirit. Then, one day, Friday told Gabriel that she had started dating a new person. Gabriel did some snooping around and discovered this individual was the older but very wealthy fashion designer Roderick Kingsley who once experimented with Dr. Osborn's 'goblin serum' himself before deciding to avoid any kind of anti-establishmentarian science altogether. Gabriel was so jealous that he broke out of Oscorp to hunt down Frida and Roderick and hopefully try to win back Frida's affections. However, he discovered Frida had now become 'Red Cat,' a terrorist-ally of 'Hobgoblin,' Roderick's evil Osborn-associated alter-ego, which he never let go.

Gabriel Stacy (aka, 'Gray Goblin') decided to tackle Red Cat and Hobgoblin on his own and help New Yorkers as the 'darling 6th man' they once conceived him to be. He found Red Cat and Hobgoblin creating mayhem in Central Park on Halloween Eve and decided to use his re-stolen goblin jet-glider from Oscorp to swoop in and dismantle the 'anti-federalism' demonstration the two villains were performing. Red Cat and Hobgoblin were arrested and taken to Oscorp, and Gabriel returned their on his own accord as a rehabilitation-minded 'patient.' When he visited the cell of Red Cat (Frida Hardy) while having the permission to walk around Oscorp's hallways, he would notice her special preference to sit in her cell wearing gold-colored fineries and watching CNN stories about the pro-capitalism achievements of the media-incendiary Trump Administration. Gabriel muttered to himself, "If only I was a cosmo-savvy fashion designer like Roderick Kingsley, I could reach out to Frida as a 'socialism-sentimental 6th man'!"

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[Abishai100]

The Interview

Here's a short-story I wrote about the subtle but tangible links between politics and general culture in this new age of networking-related 'etiquette' (e.g., Facebook, European Union, etc.). This has been a challenge IMO for the somewhat one-sided Trump Administration thus far.


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King Edilson was a wise Danish monarch who always wore authentic classic gray-colored princely uniforms. When asked why, he would simply reply, "A leader must look like he is interested in the passions of opposing parties and hence objective and dispassionate. Gray is neither black nor white and therefore symbolizes my bipartisan approach to governance!" Edilson read in the Daily Bugle (he loved reading American newspapers) of a new terrorist terrorizing NYC and making the work of the celebrated masked urban defender (and vigilante) 'Spider-Man' very challenging. Edilson realized this new terrorist-maniac (a steroids-pumped suited up brute who referred to himself as 'Rhino') was a real threat to the values of social order and the virtue of peace.

Edilson was a supporter of the pro-capitalist Trump Administration, though he contemplated on the practical gravity of celebrating non-traditional 'social icons' or 'celebrities' as potential media-hyped 'modern role models.' Edilson believed President Trump's outlandish use of the media pulpit reflected a new age focus on media/news engaged politics and social criticism. Edilson considered the notion that various prominent American celebrities such as the movie superstars Tom Cruise and Leo DiCaprio, given much media attention for their 'extra-curricular' pro-populism social politics work with Scientology tolerance and eco-activism, could be considered as 'media titans' and therefore 'pedestrianism monarchs' (or even kings!).

Edilson read the Christian Book of Revelation and the prophecy that the AntiChrist (the Earth-born adversary of Jesus Christ, the Holy one of Israel) would arrive at the End of Days to confound humanity's intellectual and spiritual struggle with the forces of profiteerism, 'socialized religion' (e.g., EWTN), and power-struggles (e.g., European Union, NATO, etc.). Edilson wondered if President Trump would be adept at handling political subjects that touched culture as deeply as issues in the past such as the establishment of Arabia, Israel-Palestine relations in the new free market, and the USSR-Afghanistan CIA-fuelled intrigue (i.e., Charlie Wilson). Edilson considered the notion that this new NYC brutish terrorist 'Rhino' could be some kind of manifestation of the AntiChrist.

Edilson decided to travel to NYC and meet with Spider-Man in an interview arranged secretly by Peter Parker of the Daily Bugle. During the interview, Edilson described his stance on monarchy and governance, the rise of urban terrorism in the modern age, and the lure of vigilantism and citizenry-engaged justice through the proactive role that media-idolized 'celebrities' play in our commerce and traffic-centric modern civilization. Spider-Man asked King Edilson if he believed the AntiChrist would prosper in ways that would make Edilson's view of the 'social presentation' of the bipartisan color-psychology of 'gray uniforms' rather challenged, and Edilson responded to that as well in what would be known as the Edilson-Trump Diplomacy Interview. Tom Cruise would go on to make a high-grossing Hollywood film-adaptation of the interview, titled The Democracy Session. Here is a transcript of the interview:

"
EDILSON: What do you think of Rhino, Spider-Man?
SPIDER-MAN: I think he's a real terror. Why do you ask?
EDILSON: Americans seem fascinated by vigilantism!
SPIDER-MAN: Yes, well, we Americans cherish at least the 'theory' of self-governance.
EDILSON: Fear the world that can't be satisfied with 'normal policemen.'
SPIDER-MAN: It's why Americans like films such as Maniac Cop.
EDILSON: Do you think the Trump Administration is adept at managing jurisprudence?
SPIDER-MAN: Well, his administration appointments have raised eyebrows.
EDILSON: In England, we have a traditional monarchy and a modernized Parliament.
SPIDER-MAN: England has had the luxury of a long history (e.g., Cromwell).
EDILSON: Do you think American democracy is more progressive than English governance?
SPIDER-MAN: I believe America's brand of multiculturalism makes for positive intrigue.
EDILSON: Immigration is not well-managed by the U.S. government, in my opinion.
SPIDER-MAN: Do you think the terrorist Rhino symbolizes 'American insanity'?
EDILSON: Americans seem schizophrenic --- e.g. The Untouchables and Natural Born Killers.
SPIDER-MAN: Well, we Americans favor 'diversified dialogue.'
EDILSON: Perhaps, but 'confluence color' must be balanced with centralized deliberation.
SPIDER-MAN: That's why we celebrate civics-inclusion programs such as The People's Court.
EDILSON: How do you propose celebrities be invited to participate in 'passion-politics'?
SPIDER-MAN: Well, Leo DiCaprio receives media attention for his eco-activism work.
EDILSON: Celebrities should use their 'aura of fortune' to address inner-city problems.
SPIDER-MAN: Celebrities who've abused drugs sometimes become media spokesmen for DARE.
EDILSON: I think President Trump should surround himself with female advisors.
SPIDER-MAN: If he doesn't fall into the same holes as Bill Clinton did, he would prosper.
EDILSON: Female advisors always have insights to offer regarding police brutality.
SPIDER-MAN: I doubt Trump will have to deal with anarchy (e.g., Los Angeles Race Riots).
"

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EDILSON and RHINO: