The Cliffs of Insanity

See, this is what my brain does at night instead of sleeping. Here goes...

• Barry Andrews has created a character and is developing a musical around him called Vile Homunculus.


• The first time I ever heard the word "homunculus" was in a Tom Baker Dr. Who episode called The Talons of Weng Chiang.


• Dr. Who was referring to Mr. Sin when he uttered the word.


• Mr. Sin was played by a very young actor by the name of Deep Roy.


• Deep Roy later on played every Oompa Loompa in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.


• As the Oompa Loompas, Deep Roy performed all the songs in the movie.


• But he was actually lipsynching Danny Elfman, who wrote the score and the songs for Charlie.

So, once again, B and Danny Elfman are connected in my head. Now, wasn't that fun?

Working on the 'Eurydice' video today got me to thinking of how Orphaeus got his name. Originally his name was Cygnet, oddly named because Jack Skellington always put me in mind of a Gothic swan.

I had heard Danny Elfman sing before, but never like he did as Jack Skellington. His natural vibrato shining through on some of the loveliest songs ever composed finally pulled me over to The Elfmeister's way of thinking, so much so that a new Vampire was born in my head, belonging totally to Elfman in appearance and in talent. I named him Cygnet, because of my affiliating Jack Skellington with swans, and went to mapping down his origins and alignments. He was originally a party animal kind of Vampire, who also just happened to be one of the greatest singers and performance artists to have ever been born. He was of Austrian origins, being an opera singer in Vienna when he was turned. In modern times, he ran a cabaret in San Francisco and was a "family man," who just happened to have a big crazy party every single night of the week, welcoming both Vampires and humans.

Not long after A Nightmare of Christmas, Oingo Boingo released what was apparently their final studio album. This album boasted the song "Pedestrian Wolves," which would forever alter not only Cygnet, but also the entire Vampire Great Hive. "Pedestrian Wolves" created The Hive of the Beast, a sect within the Great Hive that was responsible for the legends of werewolves. These Vampires were masters at anubis, or shapeshifting, most usually shifting into wolves. They were the origins of the vicious Eastern European vrakshatha, who engaged in the rending and consumption of the flesh of their victims, as well as bathing in the blood they did not drink. Suddenly Cygnet was not as innocent as he had once been. The name of the Vampire was also suddenly quite precious.

So I set to rename the newly-crowned Prince of Beasts, but I wanted to keep him aligned with my beloved "Skellington Swan." It was then that the idea dawned on me that I could rename the character after the greatest musician of all time, Orpheus, whose constellation was Cygnus the Swan. It was perfect, since Cygnet was already a legendary singer. So I altered the spelling of the name a tad and Cygnet became Orphaeus Cygnus.

I so enjoyed writing this character, I found myself ignoring all the others, even Cadmus Pariah. I enjoyed the rest of 1994 and most of 1995 writing about my favourite party animal, and how he and his little family held fetes at their cabaret, and dined on one or two of their guests each night. It was during this time that Orphaeus adopted the serial killer's proclivity for taking souvenirs from his victims. To this day, the Swan still treasures his little leather bag of finger bones he has collected from his victims over the centuries. The two defining songs for Orphaeus became "Pedestrian Wolves" (of course) and the Oingo Boingo party anthem "No One Lives Forever." These allowed Orphaeus to be a monster, yet maintain a mischievous lovability despite his bestial nature.

But somewhere along the line, my demon child Cadmus began clamouring for my attention again, and I found the characters at odds with one another in my mind. Part of me wanted to stay in San Fran and party with the monsters, but the other bigger part of me was compelled to acquiesce to the dark demands of that singular monster who had upstaged all the other Vampires in my immortal pantheon. And so it was that the Pariah and the Swan became enemies. When the characters began battling for my attention, even though I wanted Orphaeus to win out, it was Cadmus who rose victorious. The battle for attention culminated in the scalping of Orphaeus, a vile act that became one of those sublime moments of Vampire legend in my head. It was only years later that the story of that scalping was ever properly told. The legend proper made it into the first book of The Vampire Relics.

Seven years after the birth of Cygnet, while I was still seeking out fellow Shriekback fans on the Internet, I was pointed in the direction of a website run by someone purportedly of interest to Shriekback fans. On the site was a link to another website called 'The Head of Orpheus,' which turned out to be a/the Russell Hoban fan site. Russell Hoban's works, particularly Riddley Walker, have been referred to by Barry Andrews as "Shriekback-required reading." The website I'd been directed to turned out to be a veil behind which Barry Andrews was hiding. He had been the one to link visitors to his site to The Head of Orpheus.

The irony of all that wasn't lost on me, given my characters' histories with their inspirations and one another. Of course, it was all just a little too strange for me too. Either way, it's what got me intrigued with Russell Hoban's works, not because the members of Shriekback suggested his writing, but because of the excerpts from the author's books found on The Head of Orpheus, especially from Pilgermann and The Medusa Frequency (which I quoted in the 'Eurydice' video, a quote using the voice of Eurydice, talking to her beloved Orpheus. It was that writing style I unabashedly tried to emulate when I began writing 'Sui Generis' about a year and a half later.

What's so funny is, Orphaeus Cygnus has never and will never anubis into a swan. That would just be too tame and serious for the likes of him. Cadmus would be more likely to shift into a swan, since he prefers birds (particularly the nighthawk) as his primary species into which to transform when he needs to employ anubis.

Ah, but Orphaeus possesses the ethereal beauty of the swan in his soul. When I look at his Cygnus alignment, I never fail to see Jack Skellington walking slowly up the curly hill, his thin, graceful form illuminated by the giant moon behind him. He will forever be my Gothic Swan, my Cygnet.

And here's what triggered my tip-toe down Memory Lane.

He has everything that sings to me as a weirdo and an appreciator of the Strange and Unusual ("I myself am strange and unusual...."). Already luvthyjoker has fallen under his jaundiced sway. I'm pretty certain all Depp fans, most Joker fans, whatever surviving Maul fans there are left, and lovers of Danny Elfman will fall hard for the Mad Hatter. I'm going to fight this. I'm going to fight it hard.

This wouldn't be a Joker situation for me. No. It would be more of a full-on Maulific lust thing. Sure, there's psychology there. He's mad, of course. Actually, he looks more demented than mad. That's neither here nor there. Anyone in his or her right mind (ha!) knows that combining Johnny Depp and the Mad Hatter was a 100% win situation. Tim Burton knew this. Why do you think Depp is now the poster child for the new Burton movie? Already there's a buzz going on about the movie, mainly due to the images of Johnny Depp as the Hatter.

I reiterate... I'm going to fight this.

I don't need any more fandom in my world. I've gotten in enough trouble as is. I need some peace. I need to write my own stuff. And I grew up at a time when Tom Petty was the Mad Hatter. You don't get over that in 24 years (when the video for "Don't Come Around Here No More" came out). And I've never been fond of the Lewis Carroll stories. The only characters I ever liked were Mad Hatter and that Hookah-sucking caterpillar (trippy, man!). Even the Cheshire Cat never really did much for me. And Tom Petty almost scared me off the Mad Hatter. I don't want to be a poorly-clad cake, thank you, and your tea looks weak.

So I have devised some anti-Hatter tactics and reasoning behind my refusal to get on this particular Crazy Train. My first tactic is my first reaction to Depp's Hatter upon being shown his picture by luvthyjoker:

"THAT looks like Tim Burton picked up Danny Elfman and knocked Johnny Depp upside the head with him." No seriously. Look...at...him...



Back in the day, Danny Elfman had a very similar 'do. Not that out there, but the same colour and texture. Burton's getting his fave dudes discombobulated and he's trying to make me to do the same, but I'm not gonna.

Okay, how about this? Just recently, Johnny Depp was proclaimed the sexiest man in America. This.



The man's liver is busted and one eye is larger than the other. If this is sexy, what is scary in America? See, except for the funky eye colour, I already have one of these in my head. His name is Orphaeus Cygnus. He's a bit off in a fun sort of way. He has red hair. I don't recall him ever wearing a hat, though... ...again, that's neither here nor there. What I see here is a serious conflict of interest in my head. The first time Johnny Depp and Danny Elfman ever took the silver screen together, it nearly destroyed me. I'm not over Edward Scissorhands yet and, to this day, refuse to listen to any of Elfman's score from that movie. It took me two years before I could set eyes on Johnny Depp without tearing up.

I blame Tim Burton and my own outcast nature for all that, but the fact remains that I have issues when it comes to Depp and Elfman. The two should never ever share even a hint of physical resemblance. They're both beautiful in their own right. Mash 'em together and what have you got? A seriously jaundiced red-head who hasn't seen sunlight in 4 years probably because he's been in a small room in a straight-jacket. He also needs a liver transplant and a tooth filling. And some corrective eye surgery to fix that unsettling Picasso look he has going on there.

So yeah. Mad Hatter.

I may end up eating my own hat when I say that I refuse to succumb to my natural fascination with him. Too many pitfalls and pratfalls await my dance down that path to perdition. I'm keeping Elfman to my left, Depp to my right, and Burton in front of me where I can keep an eye on his sneaky arse.

Aunt Tudi and I have some errands to run later. After that, though, I have some things I want to do.

I've begun a new quote renovation, taking old quotes and giving modern interpretations, usually Sithly in nature, 'cos that's how I roll yo.

I'm also going to be writing a thing for the mods on TJB on how to deal with 'problem children' on the forums and on their networking sites. We're all being friended and followed from You Tube to Twitter and, sometimes, it gets little hairy with some of the more obnoxious Nerfs. Since I've had experience with folks like this in the past, especially whilst working in The Pit, I'm gonna impart what knowledge I have regarding this to the mods, one of which is relatively new to the net and are a little freaked out by what she's recently had to deal with. I expect things are only gonna get worse in the respect with the release of the next couple of episodes of The Joker Blogs. Tasks will be involved, so things are sure to get crazy.

The next part of The Blood Crown is for Kelat to pass on to Orphaeus the body of knowledge she carries within her infinite memory. He'll be come the keeper of all the Tarmian history and wisdom in relation to the Tribes of Thessaly, making him the first male to hold such sacred knowledge, and the first human. I think his title won't be Father of Memory, but Bard of Memory. In Tarmian, the word would be Kelat'lihar'vha, which essentially means the Singer of Memory. The memories will come unbidden to him as they are needed on the journey to and quest within Rome. Cadmus will be furious that he must depend on Orphaeus for knowledge they need for the success of their venture, but it won't matter because this ability Orphaeus possesses will be the one thing that will keep him alive in the presence of such a volatile and vicious Vampire.

I'm thinking of seeking collaboration in turning The Chalice into a screenplay. The book was always a movie in my head first. I'd had the thing cast, the person I wanted to score the film, and possible directors. I never stuck with one director, because none of them seemed just right for maintaining the vision I wanted. Maybe Peter Jackson, but I'm not sure he'd want to move away from the central goodness he tries to instill in his films, even though he comes from a gory, ridiculous background. Neither one really fits The Chalice anyway. Sure there's fantasy and blood, but neither really fits into the Jackson world. I need a director who has a hint of sociopathy, who can tap into the soul of the Cadmus character and allow the actor to bring him out in all his horrible glory. Personally, I'd like Ed Kowalczyk to play Cadmus Pariah. After seeing the 'Freaks' video, I really think he could pull it off, and he's had acting experience before, having appeared in The Fight Club.





I added that extra video to show his stage presence. He has that hypnotic charismatic power over his audience that I've described in Cadmus more than once. I think he'd be a dead ringer for the Cadmus character. Of course Barry would be my first pick, but I don't think he'd be willing to do that and, honestly, he's too old for the young Vampire now. Not that he doesn't still look uncannily young for his age, don't get me wrong. I just wonder if Ed could do a British accent and if he'd be willing to work with Barry Andrews in the creation of the character for screen. And, of course, Barry would have to do the songs for Magnificat. I'd like for Danny Elfman to score the film.

Gods listen to me. I talk like it's already a given, and I still don't have anyone who could help me make it into a screenplay. Pathetic much? I'm way too much of a dreamer.

Speaking of music, booraven22 sent me a bunch, including "I Like It" by Moby. I was listening to it while on chat with one of the TJB mods, luvthyjoker, who also happens to be a fantastic video editor who shows her fine work at her You Tube channel. I sent the song to her with the message "Nerfs the world over would worship at your toes if you made a tribute video to this song." Well, she did. And I've been laughing uncontrollably ever since. I'm not posting the link here because that'd just be wrong of me, and I feel dirty enough as it is. Anyway, that's a lot of what I did yesterday, just cackling at the absurdity of what we'd done. I blame booraven22 for sending me the song. I have to blame someone.

These new meds are kicking my butt. I fell asleep during Knowing last night, so I need to watch the rest of that. For now, though, I think I'm gonna have another lie down.

He is. I know it. I can't believe it took me this long to realise it.

Here's the thing: whilst in college, I went off on a tangent and took a series of critical listening courses. It was pretty much my own tiny rebellion against a family who was keen on having me study to become a teacher (who hates children) or a government worker (who hates government). I wanted to be in music, somehow, someway. So, I started with critical listening. Funnily, the critical listening courses are what got me the sweetest job I ever had, being a quality inspector for the big mean music biz.

But I digress.

I had a world of music opened up to me through critical listening. One of the genres of world music presented to me was Bulgarian women's folk singing. Talitha MacKenzie did a slam-bang job of recreating the style in her recording the traditional Serbian song "Adje Jano." The style features an incredibly eerie form of dissonant harmony with a signature whine at the end of most phrases. This is the best example I could find. Those who've never heard it should check it out.



So here I was in the car earlier and "Pedestrian Wolves" by Oingo Boingo comes on. This has always been a very important Orphaeus song because it helped me create the Hive of the Beast. I'm just listening along until it comes to the bridge (the part where the Elfmeister starts to sing "And I take my pleasure on a soft red cloud...") and I was thrown for a loop. Why had I not noticed it before? The harmonies are a lot subtler, but the dissonance is there, as well as the phrasing. He's got it down for that part of the song! I was turned into a slack-jawed fool, it was as though I was hearing the song for the very first time, and I've listened to it off and on since 1994! That's 15 years of complete ignorance on my part, seeing as how I'd been an appreciator of Bulgarian women's folk singing since 1985. I'm ashamed of myself.

And that's why I now contend that Danny Elfman is, in fact, a Bulgarian woman. Either that, or he's seriously done his homework. I say we throw a frock on him and send him to Serbia, just for shits and giggles. (We, as in you and I, booraven22. I don't think he'd be averse to a little dress up, do you?)

What better way to party than with the best Hallowe'en music out there by Boingo and the Shrieks!

He has lovely teeth.

I've cycled back into Oingo Boingo and Elf-music in general. It's all I've listened to for the past couple of days. Danny Elfman has one of the most beautiful voices in modern music history. Jack Skellington is proof of that. I'm so keen on the Elf-music right now, that I was driven to finally pop the question to B: what does he think of Danny Elfman? There are a multitude of reasons why I'm so curious as to what he thinks regarding Danny Elfman.

I don't know what happened to my "Boingo" album, but I'm purchasing it off iTunes as I write this. A lot of the songs off this album helped with the fleshing out of Dmitri, particularly the song "Change." And "Pedestrian Wolves" really influenced the creation of the Hive of the Beast. Needless to say, Orphaeus Cygnus was also deeply influenced by the music on this album. It really ticks me off that I can't find it, though! Ah well. I guess that's why iTunes exists, to help out poor schmucks like me.