It’s time for the people of Mystenopolis to help choose their deity. Send your votes in today! I’ll talk about my preferences as I go along.
First up is Boxy Brown, one of the candidates for chief Collagesity deity filled by Carrcassonnee back in February. Now in the new contest the parameters were broadened a bit. Candidates can choose up to 6 objects to aid their cause. So while retaining the simple “Head Trip” psychedelic poster backdrop from the first contest, this go around Boxy Brown has also enlisted X-Files co-stars Dana Scully and Fox Mulder to help pitch his message, along with Perch’s cousin Pincushion Head hovering menacingly above them all. Filling out the 6 objects from Boxy, we have a version of the Mmmmmm’s King Bill to his right here, along with a painting called “Son of Man” by surrealist Rene Magritte. Awesome.
Next comes a newcomer: Wappo Jack, who was around in 2014-15 Collagesity but didn’t have designs on becoming a deity at the time. That’s changed, as he’s cooked up a collage of spiffy associations. Jack now identifies with the Jack Nicholson character of The Shining, who, in turn, is also called Jack — Jack Torrance, a name carried over from Steven King’s source book. Wappo Jack poses as Jack from the movie in a 1921 photograph famously zoomed into at the end. A computer monitor by his side displays perhaps the most iconic shot from the film: Jack Torrance’s head poking through a door panel he’s just axed away, and announcing, “Heeere’s Johnny!”. Brilliant, and a line Jack Nicholson reportedly improvised on the spot. The Hollywood table sign reflects the Hollywood movie, or how The Shining both adheres to an industry code for horror movies and shatters it at the same time. Director Stanley Kubrick purposely inserted a seemingly countless number of what appear to be continuity errors on the surface, but are obviously not, or at least the great majority aren’t. Floor Shine Man (“shining” again) and Philip Linden inspired pop art complete Wappo Jack’s tableau.
Across the temple’s aisle we have another newcomer. This setup is the concoction of Lisa Simpson of The Simpsons, or who has chosen here to be known as Lisa The Vegetarian, per one of her more thoughtful characteristics in the long running animation. Lisa converts to a non-meat way of life during the namesake episode Lisa The Vegetarian from the 7th season. The last 2 episodes from that season are Lemon of Troy and Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 1, which Lisa has decided to combine through a burning lemon making up the central part of her display. On the wall behind the lemon is a Medieval painting of St. Lemon of Troy, patron saint of Sunklands. Marvelous. The water urn toting ballerina to the right indicates a solution to the burning, with the 3 blue rings surrounding her representing the 2 major streams of Mythenopolis along with a hypothetical common confluence, a central Mysten mystery pool if you will. To Lisa’s left is a Tron arcade game, symbolizing the beginning cue of Carrcass-2 which prominently features the Simpsons episode Lisa The Vegetarian. More on that connection soon, perhaps. Old Man Baby and an oil drum to the right complete the deal. I think this is a wonder display, and probably should have won Lisa the title of town deity. But it didn’t.
I should pause here and announce the judges of the contest. We have Norubi Turtle walking past Lisa The Vegetarian’s display in the above photo. Cardboard Derek Jones and Starbuccanneer Barista are also circling around the contestants’ spaces this morning, taking it all in. Accompaning Starbucanner presently, as I’m eyeballing the scene through Baker Bloch, are the small pink Mooninite Er along with the tall Plutonian Emory, both from Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie. And lastly there’s Queen Maria from The Life 2.0 Movie Fan Club just appearing at the door. I think that’s it.
Woops. Hucka Doobie has just rung me up to say that the Mooninite and Plutonian are *not* judges, as one of their own is part of the contest (Master Shake, also of Aqua Teen Hunger Force). They’re just accompanying friend Starbuccanneer this morning after a long night of partying with her.
Moving to the 3 displays on the other side of the temple, we first come to Jesus of Nazareth, who like Master Shake to his left and also Boxy Brown at the other end was a candidate in the Collagesity deity contest. The most holy Jesus has chosen to completely make over his former arrangement, here paired with who appears to be Mary Magdalene inside a blackened grotto. Painfully green Boss Moss seems to be elucidating the story of the famous foot washing scene involving the two. Gears spin behind Jesus’ head — his holy machinations? Three masks of red, yellow and blue top everything off. A masterful upgrade from the Prince of Peace.
Such is not the case with Master Shake, unfortunately, whose true, selfish colors have seemingly been exposed and made clear in the new contest. Shake blatently stole the Big Fire of Lisa The Vegetarian, reporting saying to her in a jealous rage something to the effect of, “You think that’s a fire, I’ll *show* you a fire!”. He is truly engulfed in a massive flaming, and takes with him a group of innocent butterflies, stolen from the display to his left (Piet Mond). I won’t say any more about his tableau as I don’t think it is worth wasting blog space on.
So we move to Piet Mond, yet another new candidate for town deity. The clown being assumes a virile pose in front of a 3 part room screen with design based on the artwork of Dutchman Piet Mondrian, famous for making geometric tri-color paintings. Red, yellow, blue — just like the masks displayed in the Jesus exhibit right across the aisle. I’m not sure whose is a reaction to whose, or if the repetition of theme is mere chance. Anyway, it would be good to know, since it will affect the judging in a positive or negative way. Behind the screen appears another jester or buffoon, holding a rock with the engraving, “Nothing is etched in stone.” Irony — always a plus to the judges. And the ladder leads to the orange butterflies we’ve just seen burning in Shake’s display. As I said before, Shake stole them from Piet Mond, however. It’s like he didn’t even try hard in the new contest. Undermining?
Then the final display in the temple comes from robot “It’s Alive”, but was later seen to be just a ruse of Carrcassonnee waiting outside with a huge surprise.
Now when Baker Bloch finished up inside the temple and went outside and spied Carrcassonnee way up in the sky staring down at him, he was sure she’d win. This was the topper, as much as he liked Lisa The Vegetarian’s display, along with a strong showing from Jesus, Wappo Jack and maybe Piet Mond. But then after about 5 minutes she disappeared — gone in a wink.
He then wasn’t so sure. And as he thought about it later, he became more concerned about that lack of eyeball within her head. Something wasn’t prepared to the fullest in the ambitious yet perhaps overreaching attempt.
More results and speculation soon!
Sunklands 