Stephen's Secure Blog #219
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students, in the 1950's. This was from a time before computers
would fit on a desk, and when people communicated with friends in other
countries by actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote
225 of them to a friend. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he
still wanted to record his life, in case he lost his memory again, and
wrote 30 entries in his first logbook. Then he wrote to an artificial
intelligence called Geenee, in the master computer in his school for
gifted students, which he started attending in 2016. Now it's after
2018, and he's continuing to save his memories in a secure blog.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 16 in this story, in the Fall of year 7 of his special
school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #219 "Concerted"
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Before the doors opened in the Siam hotel auditorium, to let the
for a fun warm up. He wasn't sure, but the orchestra liked the idea.
That convinced him. We did it, and it was terrific, which I told them,
which they liked a lot, naturally. Then the doors opened, and I played
Pictures at an Exhibition while they wandered in. My special guests sat
at the back. Some who noticed who was playing, recognized me for one
reason or another, and there was a lot of surprised whispering going
on. After the finish with the Gates, and the manager had signaled the
hallway was clear, I stood and moved to the podium. I said in Thai and
English "I am Stephen. I will be speaking in Thai and English. Are
there any people here who do not know either of those languages?" There
were. Japanese and Korean. So I repeated myself, adding those two
languages. They bowed to me, which I returned. I told them about the
program. Then we played the Tchaikovsky Piano concerto. We earned some
very good applause. I stood and bowed, and so did the conductor, and
then the orchestra. Then I announced the museum director as my friend,
and something about the piece we would be playing. I kept it short,
because I had to repeat myself in four languages. Then we played it,
and he did his best ever, to great applause. We all bowed. He asked to
say something, and I translated. He said "In case you didn't know,
Stephen is the artist who made and donated the shield of gems and
swords to the museum, and he makes all his own musical instruments."
Then he bowed again, and left the stage. I said "I didn't know he was
going to say anything. I'll talk about that with him, later." Some
laughter. I said "There will be a 15 minute intermission. I will not be
available for comment." I played some soothing selections on the piano.
They were all back in time, and I announced the Carmen Fantasy for
the Violin. We played that, and the applause was loud and long. We
bowed a lot. Then I announced the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody no 2, and
played it on the piano. The applause was tremendous. I bowed some more.
Ernesto Lecuona, in piano concertino form, my own arrangement." We did
that, and it was the best ever. There was tremendous enthusiastic
applause, and as a standing ovation. We all bowed a lot. I walked off,
and it didn't stop. I came back, and we all bowed again. I walked off,
and still they didn't stop. I came back, and took up my violin. They
quieted fast, and sat down. I said "First I would like to thank the
people who have made this event possible." I listed them, and their
contributions.
Then I said "For my truly last piece, I will play something very
close to my heart, that I played here in this hotel at the end of the
first time I was here. During this, you might begin to feel something
of how I feel. Please don't be afraid. The whole world has felt it
before. This time I think it will only be in this city and country, and
strongest in this room. It is so much a part of me, I could not stop
it, even if I wanted to. I will begin." I played my romantic
Scheherazade solo violin excerpt. I let my love flow all over the city
of Bangkok, and to the rest of the country. For the people in the room,
I wrapped them in my love. I played with all my heart and love, and at
the dying sound of the last note, I could see the tears in the eyes of
the audience. I was glowing then. I raised my arms and said, "May all
you believe is holy, bless you with their love and care. Thank you for
allowing me to give you some moments of pleasure, and my love." After
all the translations were done, I said "Farewell, my friends, till we
meet again." I bowed, and when I straightened up, I made my silvery
disappearance act, porting to the staging room. They still applauded,
even though they were a little startled and confused. Finally, they
started walking out.
When audience had all gone, and only my friends were left, I walked
back into the room. I said to the orchestra, "You were truly
magnificent! Better than I could have imagined. I love you all!" Which
they felt. I said to the conductor, "Do you think it would be alright
if I offered to invite those who want to, to a musical jam session
party now?" He said "We are off tomorrow, so I see no harm in it." I
said "You too, if you want." He said "Thank you, but in my position, I
shouldn't. My wife is expecting me, too." I said "I understand. For a
little excitement, I could send you home my way. No, you won't feel a
thing, but she might be a little startled." He grinned and said, "A
tempting offer, but I shouldn't frighten her like that. She's too good
with a knife." We laughed, and I hugged him with all my love. I did
invite the musicians. Some stayed.
The TV station manager said, "May we stay for that?" I said "Sorry,
no. Our friends might be a little too self conscious to be as creative
as they should be tonight." He looked very disappointed, but said, "I
understand." I said "I don't envy you, your explaining who I am to your
reporter." He grinned really wide. I gave him a handful of memory cards
and said, "The things of interest from tonight, all in high
definition." He said "I didn't see any cameras." I said with a grin,
"There weren't any." He laughed. I had permission, so I said, "These
are recordings of what I did in Shaolin. Martial arts demonstrations.
And this is what I did in Mongolia. You may use as much of them as you
wish, but under license agreement. Copy rights reserved. If other
stations around the world want the real thing, they should ask you to
contact me. Here is my PRIVATE number, not to be released to anybody
without my permission. Uninvited callers might have permanent problems
with their phones." He grinned.
I spoke with the hotel manager, "Well, did we do alright?" He grinned
and said, "As a performance, you all were magnificent! For the hotel,
we made some money, but that is nothing in comparison to the
promotional value. A great success!" I said "So, next time, you can
charge a LOT more money for the tickets." He said "Oh wow! A next time!
I didn't expect that, from what you had said." I said "I didn't either,
but it seems I have more to offer than I expected. Would it hurt your
hotel to have people think I like it enough to do it here, something
original, a premiere?" He had to sit down. I grinned at that, and he
had to laugh, but weakly. I said "Do you think you could charge a
hundred dollars a ticket?" He said "Easily!" I said "Good. We wouldn't
want you to have to work at that." He laughed. I said "Give me a few
weeks to decide on the program. Then we can discuss the schedule. I
will want some of the proceeds for a charity I will be supporting. It
doesn't need to be much, but that is what I'm doing this for." He said
"Very good. Please let me know as soon as you have decided. Please have
a good party, at our expense." I said "Thank you. We will try not to
demolish the building." He almost looked worried, but then returned my
grin.
Then I went and joined the musicians. We had some food which the
manager had sent to us. Then we discussed some music, and then we
illustrated our ideas by playing them. Then we did some real jam
sessions, and they were amazed by what Srinoy could do on the piano. He
caught my happiness at that, and projected his love to me. Chad played
some things too, and impressed everybody. We all had a great time.
Before we all left, I said, "Announcement. I'm going to be doing
another concert here. I haven't decided what to include in it, but
there will probably be something for an orchestra in it. I don't have
any reason to change which one, do I?" That received a lot of expected
comments. Then we all left.
The next evening, before the dancers were to come in, I met with the
dance band, and said, "What kind of music can you play well?" The
consensus was swing. I said "One O'clock Jump, Begin the Beguine, Don't
be That Way, Sing, Sing, Sing?" They said those were too difficult,
specially the last one. I said "I can handle the clarinet lead. Rose
can handle the trumpet lead. Hawk can handle the drums, or the other
way around. I can write the arrangements. Would that be enough help?"
They thought it would. I said "I don't know if we can do all or even
one of those. I have to juggle the program to see, but I want to, if
you are willing. No pay, though. It's for charity, but there will be
world wide notice." They wanted in.
Next, I had another strategy meeting, with my Tibet team. I said "The
Native Americans for Endangered Native Peoples needs a title, an
organization, a charter, and a list of peoples they want to support,
and a charity fund. Please think up a title, and start that fund. We
can then start asking for donations. That is important, not necessarily
for the money, but to show that there is support. I plan to fund that
myself with proceeds of my performances. Comments?" Hawk said "Nice
title." Mr. RedCloud said, "I like it better than what we have been
considering. We just couldn't find one with a good acronym." I said "I
couldn't, either. Anyway, it's not my decision. Next is how much should
Rose and Hawk support that out in the open, and in connection to me."
They agreed it could be a lot. I said "Would that include performing
with me?" That was debated, and agreed they could, and be credited with
that. I said "Now for another. The next show will again be in Srinoy's
country. I feel really bad he isn't in it. Can he be included?" The
consensus was not the next one, but the one after that. I said
"Alright. My unusual piano creation. Should that be in the next
performance?" Chad, who had made sure he was close enough, poked me. I
said to him, imperiously, "I let you do that." We laughed.
I said "I was planning on the Grieg for the next performance at the
Siam, but I'll wait for the one after that, for Srinoy to do it. I will
entertain suggestions for the orchestral piece at your leisure. I want
to do at least one swing piece, with Rose and Hawk, and the dance band,
so I can use them to announce the charity, and their foundation." They
thought it was a good idea.
I said to Chad, "Please make a list of the albums you want me to
record, singing, and then let me know when you want me to show up for
the recording. I can handle the music, unless you want to give some
musicians some work, which would take much more time in rehearsals,
BUT, if you wanted to accompany me, I would love it with all my heart."
He almost cried at that. Instead, he hugged and kissed me. I didn't
complain at all.
I said "Next, how do we distribute the recordings? I'll be premiering
things in Thailand in the next two shows, but there won't be any full
recordings released until we do it ourselves. I was thinking American
TV might be after them by then." Pete laughed. Chad said "The king of
the understatements! We'll be talking to the media before the next
show. You can be sure of that." I said "Right. Being a relative, it's
natural you should be my official agent and manager."
I said "Next, art. Should I go public with my paintings and
sculptures?" They all said I should, because I already did with gifts
to the Temples and the museums. I said "What about my diamond
sculptures?" Pete said "Diamonds have been synthesized for years.
What's really different with your art is the size of them, and the
programmed colors." Chad said "I think they shouldn't go public. They
will want to know how you made them and where, as a defense issue.
Secret proprietary technology at that level made aware to public, can't
stand without full disclosure, which we can't support. Somebody, maybe
even congress, will demand to see the factories." It was agreed they
shouldn't be offered. The same with unusual natural material, where we
can't reveal the source. I could use quartz and other non precious
stones, though. Tomba said "What you have given to Temples should be
safe, because they might be miracles, and governments won't want to
risk promoting that with investigations." I told them what happened in
Shaolin, and they had a good laugh. Tomba said with a grin, "I like
that a LOT!" We laughed some more.
I said "My new 3D technology should be patented. While it is at
current tech levels, and can be theoretically duplicated by others,
crudely, the results I achieve with it in my art needs a fine object
sense and PK, and a lot of fast high math ability. I've got the art
market cornered, for that effect. I have to tell you, it really works
great in abstract things. Cubist is REALLY cubist! Check out my new
gallery on Allguard." They sent viewpoints there, and had a lot of wows
available. Those who couldn't do that, were ported there and back. I
said "Select what you want, and suggest new themes, and set up a real
gallery in New York, for one man shows. I can appear at them if
necessary. We might think about auction houses, too, for my jewelry.
That's also at my house. All proceeds from my art go to fund our new
charity, which should be made public." They said they would work on
those ideas.
I said "I'm out in my abilities in the public, but I think I should
be the only one. Do we agree?" They did. I said "So others of us who
are involved must be very careful not to show anything unusual in
public, or we could all be exposed. Now, just how much more should I do
of that? My problem is I really dislike the attention, and the possible
worship coming from it, but I know the more of that which happens, the
better it will work for my goal." Tomba said "I sympathize with you,
even though I have always felt the same about you, which you know. I
think you're doing it the right way, slowly building it up. I think you
don't have any choice, actually. I think you know the others intend
that. Your powers are becoming more visible, and that part of them less
under your control. I don't think that's an accident." I said with a
sigh, "Yes. They changed my appearance to be more compatible with the
task they gave me. I don't look like a boy ghost anymore. Not that I'm
complaining about that part." Pete said "It looks like they want people
to see you as the God of Love and Creativity, and don't you know it, I
personally think that's not too far from the truth. There is nobody
more loving and creative than you, of all humanity. Everybody who knows
you, knows that. Those of us who have known you in all phases of your
Stephen existence, know it the most." They agreed. I said "I can't
dispute the facts, but I CAN dispute the God reference. I can't be one,
because I'm human. So there!" They all hugged and kissed me, which
effectively stopped all the arguments. I didn't complain at all.
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Grant
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