Xref: news.nzbot.com alt.fan.prettyboy:19915
Path: news.nzbot.com!spool1.sonic-news.com!pull-news.sonic-news.com!sewer!goblin1!goblin.stu.neva.ru!news.astraweb.com!border6.a.newsrouter.astraweb.com!not-for-mail
Subject: +*+*+*+ Stephen's Secure Blog #364 "Sax and Saints" +*+*+*+
Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 18:31:34 -0400
From: " +Grant. " <+Grant@grant.grant>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.prettyboy
Reply-To: +Grant.
Organization: .
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 8bit
X-No-Archive: yes
Lines: 268
Message-ID: <53e009c7$0$38704$b1db1813$df808093@news.astraweb.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: 2cfcdef6.news.astraweb.com
X-Trace: DXC=l9?V9[\Ic^3hZ4>`7BGPo4L?0kYOcDh@:X3PEiLaloZ2PjZ>HOhn>=1^O<T2lXi3>2^bMg:0hjj]5hbT<H`I0VP0Qd`;i[SfG2?]VUJU0D5:09
Stephen's Secure Blog #364
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 18 in this story, in Winter of year 9 of his special school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #364 "Sax and Saints"
START Page
I ported with Father Paolo to my office in the UMD main building
outside of Lhasa Tibet. I said to him, after we sat, "Here is a crystal
of a meeting I had before, on this problem." He read it. I said
"Comments?" He said "Well done! Who is teaching the courses on
Buddhism? The Monks?" I said "No. The same professors who are teaching
comparative religion." He said "Then you have my full support." I
grinned and said, "I knew that." He laughed.
The secretary showed the student in. He stopped dead in his tracks in
surprise, on seeing Paolo there. I said "Frank, please have a seat."
Like in a daze, he sat. I said "I see you noticed Father Paolo with
me." I turned to him, and said, "Would you tell him your official
title, er, and to me too, actually." He said to Frank, "I am the
official Vatican liaison to Stephen, and through him, to Tibet. By
order of the Pope, a Papal Nuncio. I see this has caused you some
unusual feelings. Please explain why you have them." Frank stammered,
"Y-y-you know the Pope!" Paolo said "Yes, and so do many other people.
Why is that unusual to you?" He said "Only VERY important people know
the Pope!" Paolo said "That's probably true, and Stephen knows him
better than I do. But then, the woman who sews the Pope's robes,
probably knows him better than most." I succeeded in trying not to
laugh. Paolo said, "You place high value on personal importance, so,
tell me this; who is more important, the Pope, or your namesake, Saint
Francis?" He couldn't decide. Paolo said "To help you, consider this;
who of them has most changed the world for the better?" He said "Saint
Francis!" Paolo said "The Pope agrees with you. Stephen was Saint
Francis." The poor kid was in shock. I said that to Paolo, who said,
"Yes, but he has to know, or he will continue to act wrongly in
ignorance." I said "And that it embarrasses me?" He grinned and said,
"An added benefit." I said "Revenge is wrong." He said "I never said I
was perfect." I said "True."
I said to Frank, "Hey Frank! Wake up. You're here because you're
causing trouble. So, tell me about it." He gathered his courage, and
said, "I'm not allowed to talk about Christianity!" I said "That's odd,
because you are doing that right now." He said "That's not what I
meant." I said "And that's because you weren't being honest. That
usually means you know you were doing something you knew was wrong, and
wanted to conceal that." He looked at Paolo, and received no support,
and sighed, and said, "Yes, I was proselytizing. But it's not fair that
you are trying to make people into Buddhists here!" I said "If we were,
that would indeed be unfair." He was in shock again. I said "Why do you
need to keep thinking that other people are just as prejudiced,
intolerant, and deceitful as you are?" He was confused again. I said in
command voice, "Answer me!" He said "I don't know! I didn't know I was
like that! Am I?" Paolo said "As I see you at this time, yes."
I said "A lot of courses are taught here. Are we trying to make
people into astronomers?" He got the point. I said "Why do you think
the students wanted to learn ABOUT Buddhism?" He said "I don't know." I
said "Yes you do. Tell me." He said "The Monks. They're popular." I
said "Why are they popular? And don't tell me you don't know." He said
"They are nice and polite and helpful." I said "In other words, they
were being like a TRUE Christian SHOULD be. Is that correct? Answer
me!" He said "Yes!" I said "So now we get to the heart of the matter.
You were jealous and envious of them." He said, despondently, "Yes. I
see that was wrong. But they are teaching their religion here!" I said
"Why do you need so much to be wrong?" He said "I don't understand." I
said "Have you ever been in any of those classes?" He said "No." I said
"Then why do you presume to know who is teaching them?" He said "They
aren't?" I said "Not only are they not, they wouldn't do it if we
asked. Tell me, if you were they, would you want somebody like YOU in
your religion?" His mouth formed an "oh" but no sound came out.
I said "The courses on Buddhism are being taught by our professors
who are teaching the comparative religion courses, and none of them are
Buddhist. They don't need to be Buddhists, because they are university
TEACHERS, not proselytizing fanatical intolerant evangelists. Actually,
one is a Catholic, and a former Deacon. I was a Deacon. One of the
first, actually. I saw Jesus on the cross. But that was a long time
ago, in a life long past. You have a decision to make. Here you are
receiving the best education anybody has ever had in the history of the
world, and you are wasting it in negative emotional indulgence. Do you
want to stay and concentrate on bettering YOURSELF, instead of acting
against those who are currently better than you? You have the potential
to be great. Or a great failure. Comments?"
Silence. I said "I should tell you why the prohibition of evangelism
and proselytizing of any religion is in place, for staff and students
in my sponsored universities. The Chinese government had outlawed
religion under Chairman Mao, and continued that less openly after he
died. ALL religions. Churches and Temples of all religions were defaced
and destroyed, and the leaders of them were tortured and murdered. That
was worst in Tibet. But they resisted, and suffered greatly for it.
ALMOST HALF OF THE NATIVE POPULATION OF TIBET DIED OR FLED THE COUNTRY
FOR THEIR RELIGION! All through the years, they suffered and died for
their religion. Now they are free. And they don't intend to suffer
religious persecution anymore. From anybody. Anybody who wants them to
change their beliefs. And here you are, trying to do just that. Deadly
riots have started for less than that. You are a GUEST in a foreign
country. I suggest you start acting like it!"
Paolo said "Working for the greater good, is best for all. We might
not agree with differences in worship, but it is the position of the
Roman Catholic Church that we all worship the same God, even if we use
different names for Him, and that we should treat other people with the
same respect that we would like to have from them. This is a Buddhist
country which has suffered much to keep religion, ALL religions, and
that includes Catholic Christians and their Churches, alive here. Yes,
we do have Churches here, and the Pope and the Dalai Lama are friends
as equals, and with Stephen, as someone above them. Well, he has been
three Saints, and is a Buddha, which is something more than a Saint to
all Buddhists." I said "You had to embarrass me again." He said
"Absolutely. You wife has said more than once, that is is the duty of
your friends to embarrass you as much as they can." I said to Frank,
wryly, "There is more than one kind of conversion. At least he didn't
tell you I was Moses." Paolo said, "Oh, thank you for reminding me. He
was Joseph in Egypt, and Daniel, too." I just sighed.
I said "Alright, I've been busy. We all are. Frank, I'll give you a
week. Don't discuss with anybody what he said to embarrass me. I don't
need any more of that. Stop making trouble, and you can stay. One more
incident, and for the safety of all, you go home so fast, you might
wonder if you were ever here. Dismissed." He just sat there in shock,
then got up and staggered to the door and through it. I said to Paolo,
"I wonder how long it will take for him to think all this was some
strange impossible dream." He tried not to grin, and said, "Until he
asks a school administrator about it, and has it confirmed to be true.
Which you expect to happen." I said "Oh, I'm SO exposed!" He laughed.
He said "And some more. You know he's going to tell the other
students after that. All of it, and about me, too." I said "Better that
he does it, than if I have to." He said "The Prime Situation Manager in
action. You didn't hug him." I said "I will, when he asks to see me.
Probably in about a week." He said "You planned more than I thought." I
said "That's new?" He laughed. I said "I would invite you to come home
with me, but we have a naturist household, and you would be shocked at
seeing God's creations in the er, flesh, and you would be very out of
place, dressed like a funeral director." He laughed, and said, "You
know I'm not allowed to remove my clothing in public." I said "My
living room isn't public. Anyway, it's your choice. It's late, your
time, but would you like a tour of the school here?" He said "Yes I
would, and not just to see some surprised faces, at your appearance,
and mine, with you." I growled, and he laughed.
We went through the offices, first, and I introduced him to the
staff. They were all very respectful. Then we did the art and music
departments. While there, I asked him if he played an instrument. He
said, with some embarrassment, "Yes. As a child, and at university." I
waited. He sighed, and said, "Saxophone. Jazz, mostly." I said "Well?"
He said "I was told so." We went to an unused music room. I said "If
you were to play now, which one?" He said "If I must, alto." I said "Do
you currently own one?" He said "No." I said, "That's going to change."
He sighed, and said, "I suspected that." I grinned all my teeth at him,
and he had to laugh.
I ported a sax case to the top of the piano. I motioned him to open
it. His eyes almost popped out of his head. I said "Should I watch were
I step, or are your eyes not going to pop out like they look ready to?"
He almost fell down laughing. When he could, he gasped, "You enjoy
doing that!" I said "Don't complain about what you would do if you
could." He laughed some more, and said, "But silver!" I said "Mostly.
Has some palladium and osmium in the alloy. Tarnish resistant. Special
features are, fancy front F spatula, stack adjustments, double arm
keywork, F# helper, spring loaded hinges, positive G# lifting
mechanism, rolled tone holes, textured and shaped finger pads of ruby
and sapphire, and all adjusted to give absolutely smooth action, and to
your body and hand configuration. And some jewelry type embellishment.
I'll wait for the wow." He had to laugh.
I sat at the piano, and said, "Well?" He assembled it, and started
wetting the reed. Some people who saw us through the double glass wall,
were standing and staring at a Priest in black, with a very shiny
custom sax, about to play it. Somebody must have gone to tell a
teacher, because one came in, and with the department head. We knew
each other from the Vienna concerts, and nodded to each other. The
students noticed that. So did Paolo, getting nervous. I said "When you
play, make it PLAY, as in fun. Play with it. A toy for you to toy with
it. You can't be bad or make mistakes, because it's just playing
around. Got it?" He nodded, and relaxed some. He didn't notice that I
had used a 4th hand to open the door a little, so the others could
hear, and they had. The department head motioned them all to be quiet.
He had the reed in, and blew a few notes, and was surprised at the
tone and ease of play. I said "Do some scales." He did that, and well.
I said "Faster." He did. I said "Let me see it." He gave it to me, and
I made some adjustments, and handed it back to him. He played some more
scales, and then had to stop. I said "If you didn't know it before, you
know it now; you can't play the sax with a gigantic grin splitting your
face almost in half." He laughed. So did those outside. I said "Shall
we invite them in?" He nodded, and they didn't need any more than that.
I said "This is Father Paolo, the Pope's official spy on me." I named
the others." I said to one, "You, drums, to start. Slow jazz. Pick up
my lead." He was surprised, but went there, and started a beat. I
played some cords to that, in a slight syncopation. I nodded to Paolo
to jump in, and oh boy did he ever! He was wild! We had to increase the
tempo. I tried to force him into some different things, and he went
along, and was fantastic. I said in the air, "Rose, piano." She ported
in, and I got up and ported my violin to me, and we did some more
improvisations, with Rose pounding away on the piano. I said "Hawk,
double base." He ported in, and joined us. We started to play some
recognized tunes. I said "Paolo, think The Saints would work for us?"
He almost laughed. Rose and Hawk knew what to do, and we did it. We all
had solos, and it was great, "The Saints Go Marching In". Then we
stopped for a rest.
I said "I'm going to call somebody. I'll let you hear what I'm
saying. Starting. Greetings! Stephen here. Are you available for a
little talk, of the non Earth shaking variety? I'm with Paolo at one of
the Tibet universities' music department, with its head and some
students. If you're decent, can we do this in two way video? Alright,
starting." I projected the view of his office against a wall, and one
of us against his wall. I introduced everybody, and the students were
shocked beyond words. Paolo said to him, "I always find it strange that
you and I receive such shocked reverence, while he who is so much more
than us, is right here." The Pope laughed, and said, "It is the same
with me." I said "Enough of that. I just made an important discovery!
Paolo is a virtuoso on the saxophone! You've got Irish Tenor Priests
who do concerts. What about a Jazz Band made of Priests of different
faiths, with official blessing? Justification; keeps your spy closer to
me. Well, I only do so many gallery events a year." He said "Good idea.
I wish I could join you. I wasn't too bad on the piano, in my younger
days, but I'm a little too old for a concert schedule, and I have too
many duties here, or so my Cardinals keep telling me." I said "I'd like
to tell them a few things!" He laughed, while Paolo choked, and Hawk
almost strangled. The Pope said, "I'll tell some people about this.
Paolo, it's part of your duties now, which I don't think you will
object to very much. Oh, that grin says it all." I said "Would you like
to hear our latest?" He said "And startle all my people here?
Absolutely!" We did the "Saints" again, even better. The Pope was
astounded, and said, "I see. You made for him a special instrument."
Rose said "Best ever made." He said "Rose, I don't doubt it. How are
you enjoying married life?" She said with a big grin, "As often as we
can!" He laughed, while the university people looked scandalized.
Rose said "We haven't announced it yet, so you'll be the first, along
with everybody else here. We are expecting our first child. A boy." He
said "Congratulations! I look forward to meeting him in the future. Oh,
there's some banging on my door. I'll have to say goodbye." I said
"Thanks for allowing the visit. Goodbye." I closed the connection. I
said to the group, "I think we're going to have something good. So much
for celibacy. Priests can too have sax!" They all cracked up, including
Paolo, but Hawk was laughing the loudest, as usual.
END Page
--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant
|
|