I finally made it to the old mission after making a discovery and then to confirm something I saw at the mission I went to the former presidio in town ... let me retrace my steps ...
I have noticed lately and I am sure you have too, that I am moving quite freely about town with no interference ... I had assumed that my additional stealth was cloaking me from the 'watcher' .... not true ... it's tequila ... I have come to the conclusion that 2 or 3 margaritas a day provides enough cloaking power that I can move about the town at will ... but as usual there is a direct correlation between mobility, the number of margaritas and cloaking power ... I am still trying to titrate that ...
So after 2 margaritas for breakfast, I took the trolley to the old mission ... an imposing facade and next to a lovely park where artists were rendering what they were seeing in water colors ... 'en plein aire'.
Now this mission and the others between LA and SF were there for two purposes ... to provide a stop along the way for the missionaries and their brethern as they moved up and down the coast ... but their main purpose was in the conversion of the Indians from their natural, holistic way of living to more mercantile, screw your brother, white, old testament style 'eye for an eye' ...in other words they were bringing Christianity to them ....
The conversion process was not a gentle one ... it involved physical abuse ... and a number of the Spanish citizens, local Mexicans and the Indians themselves were offended and frightened by what was taking place ...
In parallel to this, the Spanish temporal authorities were not much better; ruling with an iron fist and a clear objective .... to use the local Indians and Mexicans to achieve their political and material objectives ... again using physical abuse and god and man's law ...distorted to achieve these objectives ... just hold those thoughts ...
As I walked through the mission ... I had a sense of deja vu ... yes ... all over again ... I had never been there before but I had seen something like it ... and then it dawned on me ... when people are oppressed they will naturally look for and find a hero .... one that through small acts of anarchy and social disobedience, 'speak for the people' ... everything I saw in the old mission reminded me of Don Diego .... yes .... Zorro. WTF Zorro has to do with me and the 'watcher' I have no idea ... maybe this was just me ...
The only way to confirm this was go to the presidio in town and see if I saw and felt the same way ... but ... I needed more cloaking so I repaired to La Playa Azul Cafe ... just across the street from the presidio ... how convenient ... soon I was ready ... and through the presidio I went ... yes, the same feeling .. but even more persistent.
There was a special exhibit within the presidio on the local Japanese population in Santa Barbara and how they were unceremoniously and forcefully moved from their homes in 1942 ... because of the paranoia in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor ... moved eventually to Manzanar ... in other words repeating the treatment visited upon the Indians by the missionaries and the Spanish governors ... 175 years later .... the Japanese had no hero ... they accepted their fate with an equanimity that none of us understood then ... or now ....
This shameful practice was carried out in Canada as well ... recently both governments have apologized ... but it's happening again today ... it's happening with the US attitudes to Muslims in the wake of 9/11 ... and we are very small steps away from a McCarthy style 'muslim hunter' ... and this has started with people questioning Obama's birth certificate and his African roots ... unless this is pushed back vigorously, it will gain traction .... and a sad part of history will once again repeat itself.
We need a hero ... just like the natives and the Japanese ... that hero is out there ... and it is each and every one of us ... we owe it to ourselves to be well read and informed and to be ready to act at the ballot box to ensure we get the law makers we deserve ... only in this way will prevent right wing fundamentalist nonsense, claiming to be informed by the bible, from ruling the day ....
I left the presidio feeling a need to do something .... I got my Kindle reader .... downloaded Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens and started to read ...
The 'watcher' is still out there .. today ... and just today ... we are on the same page ...
To quote from verse 1006 of the Krome Koan,
'Ask your doctor if getting off your ass is right for you ....'
Well .... I didn't make it to the old mission ... not for lack of trying ... it just wasn't meant to be yesterday ... too many forces at work ... too many distractions put in the way by the 'watcher' ... he has discovered what is kryptonite to me ... let me recap ...
I am staying at a location which we will generally refer to as the West Beach ... I left this area heading north on foot in the early morning ... my plan was to take the shuttle but I thought better about this when I saw the 'watcher's people' riding it ... so I continued north on foot ... and just outside the Santa Barbara Museum, I saw them, his sentinels ... I had no choice but to enter the museum and spend time in the exhibits ...
There was a photographic exhibit on Yosemite that included 4 photographs by Ansel Adams ... in my opinion, one of the best artists behind the camera and in the darkroom in the 20th century .... remember now ... in my opinion ... there were several other great photographers represented ...
I decided to continue north but to move over 2 streets to the east to get off the main thoroughfare that State Street is ... this put me on Santa Barbara Street ... I started walking north .... I was making a good pace when all of a sudden I was knocked down by a patron exiting a used book store ... exiting in a hurried and worried fashion ... I picked myself up ... he apologized profusely ... I see he has dropped a book .. I bend down to retrieve it and in doing so note the title, 'Tales of Santa Barbara: From Native Story Tellers to Sue Grafton'.
I tell the harried book buyer not to worry ... no problem ... don't worry about it ... he moves on. In the back of mind ... that book ... was it just coincidence or is there something there ... giving in to instinct, raw and pure, I enter the book store, found a copy of the same book and purchased it.
There was a cheese shop next door .... C'est Cheese ... I went in there and purchased a French Camembert ... just north there is a bakery ... I bought a baguette ... I realize that I have been steered in this direction by the 'watcher' and his sentinels ... there was no way I was going to make it to the mission today ... 'he' had discovered my weakness .... I turned back south and as soon as I did so the sun broke through overcast skies ... another sign that on this day the 'watcher' was the better 'man' .... if man indeed was the right word.
I made it to the Press Room ... and just as I feared they had Firestone Union Jack IPA on tap ... maybe the best IPA I have ever had ... a glass was sitting at the bar .. already poured ... head overflow and condensation dripping down the side of the glass ... the bartender just looks at me and smiles ... and then says, ' are you the Forever Man ....?..... I just stand there slack jawed ... 'it's for you' ... and he pushes it forward ... I clasp the glass and almost down it in one gulp ..... 'I was told you'd like it', he says .... he pours another one .... 'you'll need this ... and a lot more from where that came from' ....
I just sat at the bar and savored the beer ... maybe the best of it's kind I've ever had ... and a lot more from where that came from ... Firestone is in Paso Robles .... is it the old mission or Paso Robles ... or is it both ... I ordered another Union Jack .... broke off a piece of baguette, cut a piece of Camembert and examined the book ... the clues are here I decided .... everything needs more study .... everything .. I moved on ... continuing south ...
I recovered my senses in the Brewhouse ... I must have been in a dream state ... I was drinking a Nirvana IPA and munching on prawns wrapped in bacon ... yes ... more study ... I opened the book and started reading ...
To quote from verse 699 of the Krome Koan,
'Even if the voices aren't real, they have some good ideas ...'
Oh .... remember the 4 village lads from yesterday ... here's 3 lads and 2 lasses ... or was that lashes ... never mind .... locals I suppose .. enjoying the Press Room ...
Looking for answers in the paperback ... while it rains ....
..... 'old missing' was the way I heard it ... but the way I saw it ... and I did see it at Brophy's on the wall ... as a photo ..was the old mission ... the old mission in Santa Barbara.
I was going to have to go there obviously .. for reasons unknown to me ... but a little research would be required ... and since Google is your friend .... I grabbed an internet connection at a local cafe and started surfing ...
My research however yielded nothing that would explain how the events of trip so far are related to the mission itself ... although everything that has happened seems to point to that location or the structure itself ... unless old mission is a metaphor of some kind for a task not yet completed ....
There is a shuttle that runs up State Street and it connects with another that runs to the old mission ... the only thing to do would be to take that and see what I could see, either on the way or at the old mission itself ...
On a side note while surfing the internet I did discover an interesting fact ... there are a large number of folks in the entertainment industry who make their homes in this town ... not so much in the town but in the hills that surround the town ...
There are some other interesting facts ... the first offshore oil development in the world began here in the late 1800s ... what would become Lockheed was begun here .... and the world's first movie studio was established here in the silent film era ...also it was the site of a shelling by a Japanese U boat in 1942 ...the only time the US was attacked by an enemy other than 1812 and 9/11 ... after the 1942 attack a lot of the townsfolk left and real estate prices plummeted ... this kind of paranoia is well documented in the overlooked Spielberg film, '1941' ... California's first shopping center was also established here ...
I don't know if there is a connection here that holds all this together but it appears a visit to the old mission is the only way to find out .... so I'll be doing that very shortly ...
Oh yeah .... while surfing ... somebody or some 'thing' hacked into my computer .... I received a message through Google chat from a source only identified as 'The Fox' .... the message said, 'maybe it's intermission time' .... I don't think so ... I think it's time for the second act ... so here we go ....
One final thing ... the 'watchers' friends .. they are still out there .... see here ...
To quote from verse 699 of the Krome Koan,
'Some days you're the dog .... some days you're the hydrant.'
An interesting day yesterday and another piece if the puzzle has been found ... but not without a cost.
First the video ... I have been shooting random video while driving ... I do this because I can extract still frames from the video of place and things that I simply can't capture otherwise. I came into Santa Barbara from the west, and drove right down State Street to the water ... video running. Just after I turned west on East Cabrillo boulevard the video captured something of unique interest ... you can see a 'still extract' just below ...
Yes ..it's a lighthouse ... remember that reference from Billy earlier in the trip ...
I visited the landlocked lighthouse yesterday .. it's basically a tourist information centre ... but it is facing up State Street and has a window into that is directed towards the pier ... and on the pier at that point are two or three establishments ... buildings .. a marina maybe ... I couldn't tell from that distance.
As I was leaving the info centre I bumped into a street person ... an extremely aromatic one I might add ... and in a flem spewing, toothless exclamation, yelled what sounded like 'Brophy's' at the top of his lungs ... and continued to scream something about 'he's watching' and something else about 'upper State Street' and 'missing' something ...
I got out of there quickly and worked my way over to that pier on the upper streets .... the wind was picking up now .. from the north ...birds were everywhere in flight... and palm fronds were dropping everywhere around me from heights of 50 - 60 feet ... these fronds are 4 - 5 feet in length and have rough serrated edges so if one were to hit you just right, it would not be pleasant ....
The sun was setting now and the wind was getting stronger ... the surf was pounding the breakwater and rogue waves were cascading over the breakwater ... the 'watcher' clearly knew I was there and was doing his damnedest with the elements to try to take me out ... I was clearly on to something on the pier.
I walked away from the breakwater back towards where those establishments were that I had seen from the lighthouse .... just as I was walking by the second one a drink glass full of ice and some spirit crashes right at my feet .... I jump back and look up ... the drink has fallen from the balcony of a restaurant named .... Brophy's!
It is now dark .... I go up the stairs and enter the restaurant ... it is packed ... it's a seafood place ... I am safe here .. too many people for anything 'odd' to occur ... or so I thought ... there is a bar on the east side of the restaurant overlooking the pier ... I sit down .... the bartender without asking takes a large glass ... fills it halfway with ice ... turns a tequila bottle upside down over it and then does the same with a bottle of triple sec ... then tops it off with lime juice, a touch of orange a bit of sour mix ... he puts the drink in front of me and says 'old missing' ... 'what did you say' .... he carries on as if nothing has transpired ... I catch his attention and I ask again, 'what did you say' ... he looks at me and says, ... 'nothing, I just kind of had a brain cramp there for a second ... what can I get you to drink ...' He sees my drink and asks,'where did you get that .... ' .... I just say the other bartender ....
I chug the Margarita and quickly order a second one.... 'old missing' ... the bartender comes back and says, 'you should try the cioppino' .... cioppino again ... what is it with this dish ... I order it ... it's excellent ... the Margarita is great ... it would have to be, given how much booze they squeeze into that glasses confines ...
'Old missing .... WTF was that old fart and the bartender talking about .... 'Out on the Weekend' is playing in the background ... pictures on the wall indeed ... there are pictures on the wall in Brophy's ... pictures of former patrons .. pictures of boats ... pictures of fishermen with their prizes ... pictures of the some of the historic buildings in town .... wait a minute... he didn't say 'old missing' ...
Their is a disturbance at the entrance ... the old fart and some of his friends have forced their way in ... I drop some cash at the bar ... scramble across it out onto the balcony and leave via the back stairs .. the watcher' now knows that I know ...
My playground is getting smaller .... it's getting clearer what I need to do ... let me see if I can explain ...
I spent the night in a campground in the area of Santa Barbara ... in the early AM I was on the move ... I tried to withdraw cash from more than one ATM ... one machine indicated I was over the limit .... one machine indicated I had insufficient funds .... others simply didn't recognize the debit card .... no matter which branch I tried ....
I phoned my bank back in Canada and was able with their help to get a small amount of cash ... but the call gave away my location .... I knew what the consequences were, but I was desperate ... so I was on the move again ...
As I was driving into Santa Barbara proper my cell phone makes a weird sound .... I answer it but no one is there ... then I realize that I have received a text message ... I am driving but I don't know how to access text ... I pull off the road and then after trying everything that I know how to do with the phone another message comes in ... and displays ... I click on it and it stays displayed ... the message read as follows,
dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem x ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla"
I 'google' the page from the phone ... the text is from Cicero .. but there are small portions of text missing .. why would that be ... unless it specifically needed to be formatted for some reason ... and then I see it ... the characters at the beginning of the 6 lines dclxvi .... Latin for 666 ...
I slam every button on the cell phone to try and clear the text .... the phone mercifully turns off ...I throw it into the back seat ... I pull back onto the highway and a voice suddenly comes from the phone's speaker ...'heck or bideo' ... I nearly run off the road ... it repeats, ... 'check or video' and then it repeats again ... this time I get it, 'check your video' ....
I have not checked the video from the past 3 days of driving but now I have a reason to do so ... and quickly ...
I find a small cottage in the west beach part of town .... I re-connect to the internet and start searching the video ... and oh yeah ... it's there .... I just missed it being in so much of a hurry ... it's quite clear what the next step is ... it's quite clear what I need to do ...
I have to move now ... the 'watcher' followers are very close ...
they and their signs are everywhere ...
so much so that this update is late for that very reason ... I'll be back if I survive the next step .... I am seeking sanctuary in some of the local temples ....
I am in need of the sustenance and refreshment these temples have to offer ....
and looking for those hours that are truly 'happy' ... when magically drink sizes and food portions increase .... and those who attend and partake are astonished by this miracle ... and are drawn back by the promise of the miracle repeating itself ...
To quote from verse 1066 of the Krome Koan,
'Honk if you love Jesus ... 'text' if you want to meet Him.'
After sleeping in the car over night ... I was able to grab an internet connection and find alternative accommodation in Santa Barbara ... the deal is cash .. the 'watcher' may be able to monitor the withdrawal ... there is no way that the payment can be monitored .... I will be unknown for a time ... but I am still being watched .... see here ...
.... and here ...
I slipped into Santa Barbara quietly this AM .... I don't get a room until tomorrow ... another night in the car ... but that's OK ...
It's clear there are answers here ... it's also clear that there are just as many questions ... I'll be moving from place to place ... trying to stay one step ahead of a debit transaction or a cell phone conversation ... until I understand why I am being tracked ... and what it is I am supposed to do or not do ...
The one thing that I do know is that in 1966 ... look what number you get if you drop the '1' and invert the '9' ... this area was a hot bed of liberal thought and expression ... maybe, just maybe, there is a clue there ... more on this later ...
But I think it is more than that .... from San Francisco on down to Santa Barbara I was driving on the 'Camino Real' or to translate, 'The Royal Road' .... this trail, or road, as it would become later ... connected San Diego to Sonoma ... but ... along this road were 21 missions ... yes ... missions ... and look what happens when you add 645 to 21 ...
So ... maybe ... just maybe ... I am not on a mission so much as I have to 'go to a mission' ... it may be an object as in ... I have to find something in a mission ... it may be a purpose .... but something is out there ...
I have met up with some old friends here ... they are helping me ... it's not going to be easy ... that said I start tomorrow ... I scouted out the town today ... I know we are up against a formidable enemy ... nothing worth having comes without a fight .... no life is worth living without a purpose ... the driving has stopped ... here is where the stand takes place ... we shall see what we shall see .... but the `watchers` friends are out there ...
To quote from verse 1966 of the Krome Koan,
'I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian'
A dark day today ... as things have swung in favor of the 'watcher'.
I went to North Coast Brewing but they were not open ... you know at 6:00 AM some people need a beer ... anyway ... there was a note on the glass door indicating that the main office was 'under construction' and that the contractor was a Braban A A Tsar ... I was bewildered until I realized this was an anagram .. but not without a clue ... I had crossed the Russian River and that was obviously the Tsar portion ... the solution was, 'Santa Barbara' .. so on down the road I moved ...
I motored from Highway 101 to California Highway 1 ... one of the most scenic drives in North America .. and everything was proceeding smoothly ... weather was good ... driving was good ... yet ... something was wrong ... we were making good time ... but the clock indicated we were only doing about 30 miles/hour when the speedometer indicated at least 45/50 miles/hr ...
I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge around 3 PM and realized it would be a challenge to get to Santa Barbara by sunset ... I phoned ahead to where I had made a booking ... and then I realized how deep into this I was and had yet to go ... the booking I had made had been cancelled .... not by me ... but yet ... apparently by someone who passed themselves off as being me ....
So now I realize that the 'watcher' has access to all my debit/credit transactions and can act on them ... in such a way as to not constrain them but to access where the transaction occurred, when, and to obviously intervene in those that have a timed or 'forward' payment regime ...
I am grabbing this connection outside a library in a small coastal town close to Monterey .. it is not obvious right now what the next step is ... maybe, that's the best thing that could happen ... because it is not obvious where I am now, and with no place to stay, not obvious where I'll be ...
