“You see, Hucka D., when you enter Lego/ into the GNIRPS oracle machine these twinned Winfields come up, and we know that Winfield is the same as /Winesap/ through Kansas.”
Hucka D.:
Yup. But you’re losing your few readers, once more.
bb:
This can’t be coincidence[ however].
Hucka D.:
Of course not.
bb:
It goes back to or enters “Map Synching Feeling” again and all that labyrinthian stuff.
Hucka D.:
A way in, a way out. That’s all you can do[ at this point].
—–
“Let’s go this way, then. The Contraption begins to show up again in the Sam Parr series following Falmouth, where it initially appears.”
At this point, I realized I had to go meet Karoz over in his one room apartment above the Bodega market through Baker Bloch. I rang him up and asked him if he was cool about visiting the galleries for a bit, and that I wanted to take some pictures for the blog. He said okay.
Soon we were in the Red Umbrella gallery Fal Mouth Moon, looking at pieces where The Contraption first shows up.
“These are the two aspects of me,” he said when seeing these two matching green images in collage 57. They are… the 2 Roger Pine Ridges? Explain that Baker.”
So I, through Baker Bloch, explained the story of the 2 Roger Pine Ridges to Karoz, and how both visited our house last summer. My nephew had just mentioned Roger “Syd” Barrett on a facebook post today, because it was his birthday. I started to defend the music of Barrett more to my nephew, but decided against it. Best to come to the blog and do a solid night’s work. Best to talk about Barrett here, if anywhere.
“I understand Furry Karl thinks Syd is still in the woods,” says Karoz. “Do you think this is the same as Roger Pine Ridge?”
“I guess so, Karoz.” Realizing the tour wasn’t going to work since one of them falls asleep while standing up when the other is active, he suggests they go back to Karoz’s apartment and begin the interview.
“Haven’t we done this before?” Baker Bloch asks while walking with Karoz to the market. “I mean, didn’t we start an interview before and got sidetracked?”
“My memory is not what it use to be, Baker. Do you wish to consult the blog before proceeding?”
“Maybe we should Karoz. I tell you what, I’ll catch up with you tomorrow night if you don’t mind. About the same time?”
“That will be fine, Baker. Goodnight.”
—–
When arriving back at his house on the western edge of town, Furry Karl was waiting for him on the porch.
“Hey Baker Bloch, um, do you mind if I crash for a couple of nights in your front room? The heat broke over at my bar.”
“Um Karl, you’re missing the lower half of your body.”
Karl looked down. “Oh my God. Oh-my-God! What just happened here?!”
Half an hour later, after Karl’s full body had returned and he had calmed down some, he admitted he was lying about the bar’s heat being broken. It was the woods again. Baker himself had heard some kind of noises in that direction last night.
“You shouldn’t have released that book “Blood Curdling Tells of The Forest”, Karl,” voiced Baker. “And what about that typo — “Tells” instead of “Tales”? You didn’t like the original title?”
“Well, it was the initial reviews, which weren’t so hot, Baker Bloch. So I just let the admittedly rather massive typo stand; deemed it fate. This fellow *Blood Curdling* who tells stories about the forest is the one who doesn’t write so good, not me. And now I’ve invented his profile on facebook, so I guess he’s legit and all.”
“I’ll find him and friend him tonight. I’ll rez you a sleeping bag, Karl. I know your own inventory is rather light.” Baker decides to be a nice guy this evening to poor Karl. He’s just released a pretty bad book about hauntings. He’s *just* recovered from losing half his body all of a sudden.
He tucks Karl in, and then unwisely begins to read “Blood Curdling Tells of the Forest” before turning in himself.
—–
The next day a compromise was reached. Baker and Karl jointly decide that it would be best to move the Hole in the Wall bar to Collagesity, and above the Confluence Pool directly behind the town diner. It was a tight fit, but seemed to work after a little terraforming.
Baker set some pretty strict personal boundary rules right off the bat, since Karl was practically next door to him. Karl had to *call* him before coming over — couldn’t just drop in on a whim. And Baker rationalizes that it’s going to be quite wicked to have a bar just around the corner to wet his whistle. “Hey, you call me too before you come over,” requests Karl, and then laughs it off. But one thing Baker Bloch knew is that Karl didn’t need to live over there in the middle of the Rubi sim by himself any longer. Next to the heart of those woods. No he didn’t.
Sunklands 