.
...he's babbling.


Tom Cruise, Scientologist, on...Tom Cruise, Scientologist!


Good Lord, what madness rules in brainsick men, as the Bard would say.

"He's bugfuck bananas," as Harlan would say.


The above link goes to post at Gawker, where a Church of Scientology indoctrination video has been posted. It's been popping up around the net the past few days, as the CoS keeps trying to bash it down like a prairie dog. In the video, Cruise talks about being a Scientologist, and you know, even given that a great deal of it is obviously code-speak, he still doesn't make any sense.

Now, I've had my run-ins with Scientology. Hell, living within walking distance of the West Coast headquarters (a building which reminds me of nothing so much as the Overlook Hotel, especially at night) it would be impossible not to be familiar with this, frankly, creepy cult. Both I and my ex worked for Scientologists at one time or another, and once I got to accompany him on an errand for his boss, which took us straight into the main admin building on their campus. (Wanna hear weird? Lord L.Ron's office is still there, just as he left it. Not a thing changed. It's roped off with velvet ropes. Wanna hear weirder? There's one in every CoS building in the world. No, there are no gods in Scientology. Or saints. Of course not.)

Scientology's a weird thing, whatever it is. I'm damn sure it's not what Hubbard intended. One of the things I saw on that little trip into the Twilight Zone was a waiting room TV showing a speech he gave just before his death. Lemme tell you, that was one wrung-out dude. I've rarely seen anyone so clearly tired, with this sort of foggy depressive air, a kind of crushed affect. It freaked me out, because that's not what I expected at all. I'd heard about him from some of his sci-fi writer pals, and what with all that money and power and all, I thought he'd be more...I don't know. Alive maybe. Later on Norman Spinrad told me he'd been really distressed to see what had happened to the guy.

So anyway, the creepy in this video is not all Cruise, not by a long way. This thing really does mess with your head, anyone who falls into its clutches. Here's this energetic and capable guy who used to be pretty damn charming and now sounds like a freak, and it occurs to me, watching him, that not until he changed over his PR people and started actually talking about this stuff (he never had before) did he start to seem crazy. So I gotta wonder how long this stuff's been eating his brain. He's probably been halfway round the bend ever since Mimi Rogers got her hooks into him.

So watch the video and take a lesson, my friends. It can happen to anyone. All it takes is one little in.


Now that I see him, I do pity him. - Frodo Baggins

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. - Ozymandius

Hmm, guess my icon of a colorfully tattoed penis wasn't interesting enough for y'all, eh?

I was contemplating a long, irritated-nigh-onto-enraged post about fandom whinginess in general, including sections on "Oversensitivity (or, You've Traumtized My Virgin Eyes!)", "How to Click the Back Button in 5 Easy Lessons", "Where to Find a Spine At a Reasonable Price (A Free Pair of Balls With Each Purchase!)", and "The Gall It Takes to Dictate Content to Writers".

But maybe that's not useful.


In the meantime, how about a link describing how thieves can rip off your ATM card? A very fine little instructional page, detailing the intricate ruses used to record and capture your debit card transactions at those convenient little money-stops.

Boy, I was glad to find that. I'll be extra careful from now on. Not that I actually use those things all that much. Don't trust 'em, myself.


And for dessert, a little picspam:


( A wet Ranger... )

( ...a sharp Steward... )

( ...and a hobbit I want to shag. )


Oh, and just for me:

( My on-again, off-again hotass fantasy for the last 20 years )


That last one not your speed? Fine. More for me. ;p

Well, me and my mom, who also wants to shag him senseless.

That's it for tonight. Off to bed now.

.