parsifal

I regret not recording the 7-foot-tall man with long white hair. He'd often turn his head and remark loudly, announcing some fact of mythology that needed to be dispersed as gospel to the masses. The closest he came to any declaration of intent was when he compared a can of black beans to fudge and made it seem as though fudge might be bad. He started with the dove. "Do you see they dove above my head? I am the human form of Noah that gave God the plum. A quill from the dove above my head was used by Jesus to write the name George Washington," he half-shouted to the thin black teen sitting next to him. The kid hid behind his headphones and stared into space. I stared at the bewildered giant spouting off some serious Harvey Darger freestyles up in the piece. His delusion was so well-cataloged and organized.


I'd had a long day which led to beers at the bar around the corner from work. I talk the golden age of Hollywood with the old Jew who holds ups the end of the bar. He's sharp as a tack and never passes the opportunity to one-up me on cinematic minutiae from 50 years before I was born. He gives me grief about being half-Goy and I rehash jokes Rabbi Barash told me in Prague. He brought this scene up and I immediately said "Hume Fucking Cronyn" and pointed emphatically. We became fast friends.



I've been reading lots of Hellboy and Lovecraft lately. The long day and the quick drinks helped tempt me to engage the enormous prophet on the train. I didn't because the only thing that would unnerve the entire car would have to be along the lines of "Nuh-uh. Shut up," when, in all honesty, I would have gone a more "I am Sadu-hel, scion of Baphomet, sigil of the great South hoop of Arawapa. You incite Gahdu-Shem with your various indignities. Tread carefully as your vibrations today will be in lines of 3s, 5s and 7s" route. Give it a minute to sink in, then nonchalantly validate it. "I know all this because I'm George Washington." I just sat and wished for a piece of paper with a pocketful of pens.


He sounded crazy, but lots of stuff sounds crazy to me.



People don't have to talk crazy for me to like watching them.