308 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
308 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
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Plastic Model Kit of
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J. R."BOB" DOBBS
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1:8 Scale
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Long, long ago, during the Years of Trouble, when all the
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Northern Fathers still slept under the glaciers, there lived the being we
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now know as J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. This man, Dobbs, was chosen by JHVH-1 for
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the Primary Communaonications from our alien benefactors, the Xists. As
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`"Bob" moved through the stars, he changed the face of them. His ten
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billion Quasi-modalities now vibrate in each of us, and have transformated
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him into the ETERNAL INCARNATION OF SLACK. From Dobbs came the UnReasoned
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Utterances which will remain forever unerasable. His brave experimentation
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with Excremeditation and Fornicationalism, using all Humankind as his test
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flock, resulted in the rule of the SubGenius for the next twelve thousand
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years. During his Span, disaater followed Dobbs, resulting in the outright
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obliteration of his physical vessel. Only by careful, Church- supervised
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studies can we now have our first look at the Dobbshell. Here is the
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approved Religiofficial Bioreconstructoid, perfect in every detail: Our
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Salesrnan. His skull is shaped a bit differently than is ours today. It is
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somewhat flattened in the rear and bulges over the brow. His brain was
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well devolved. Some theocraticians think that Dobbs did not speak at all,
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or that if he did, he did not have what we would call a language. He wears
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the Suit. His hands and feet are like ours. He was left-handed. The
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Briefcase he holds sent the signals that launched the Rockets of
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Cleansing, the blessed vehicles of our birth. He stands here in the
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wreckage of Earth, his native planet.
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-Paul Mavrides
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BEFOREWORD
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Traditionally, there are only two reasons for any book to have an
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introduction, or foreword, or preforeword or whatever the hell the editor
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decides to call that thing in the front of a book.
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Reason #1: To Boost Sales
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Someone discovered long ago that an artfully dropped name can
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establish instant credibility in certain situations. In the publishing in-
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dustry, this translates into the practice of inviting some celebrity or
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well-known expert to introduce a work. All too often, that is the sole
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"kicker" which sells it. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the
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quality ofthe introduction will be commensurate with the selling power
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ofthe introducer's name.
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Reason #2: Sentimental Obligations
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The editor bestows the honor of writing the introduction upon
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an old buddy-some harmless but washed-up has-been to whom he owes a favor
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just to give the doddering hack a break, "for old times' sake." While this
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approach sometimes makes for a more enlightening and sincere introduction,
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sales may suffer from the lack of status attached to the decrepit old
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bum's name.
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As difficult as it may be to believe, a book's ultimate
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success depends entirely upon which of these traditional paths is chosen
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by the editor. Since I fit neither category ofintroducers, this book may
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conceivably be one of those `"wild cards" that shatter all accepted norms
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of publishing . . if not even civilization as we know it, considering the
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nature of our missionl
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Some readers may also be surprised to learn that the foreword
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is usually the last part of a book to be written, and that the foreword
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actually contains the afterthoughts. A common afterthought is that readers
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might wonder why in the world the book was ever written . . . which may be
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particularly true in this case, so an especially lengthy attempt at an
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explanation, or at least an excuse, is required.
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The public generally associates my name with J. ft. "Bob" Dobbs
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and the Church of the SubGenius, and well it should. I have known "Bob"
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since our college days, when I saved him from drowning in a mud puddle
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after he had been knocked unconscious during a panty raid. (His skull was
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fractured by a bra with ice frozen into its cups-a bra hurled by none
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other than his wife-to-be, the attractive and gracious "Connie" Marsh.
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Yes, all three ofus met simultaneously on that fateful night in 1946.)
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After several years of casual friendship and countless poker
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games, my win/loss ratio with "Bob" was hopelessly lopsided and my family
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fortune exhausted. I prevailed upon his boundless good nature to let me
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earn back some ofmy money. Pitying me, Dobbs proffered an opportunity by
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which I could both repay him my debts and recover my own losses many times
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over. Promising a get-rich-quick scheme unparalleled in history, he
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enlisted my aid in founding the Church of the Sub- Genius and its public
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relations arm, The SubGenius Foundation, Inc. Utilizing my experience and
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numerous contacts in the advertising business, I chose the then-destitute
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Rev. Ivan Stang to fill the open Sacred Scribe position at Foundation
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headquarters in Dallas. Ivan's task was to compile and organize the
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encrypted instructions provided by Dobbs: arcane trance memos and codices
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that ultimately became the early SubGenius pamphlets. "Bob" had long since
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undergone his Divine Emaculation, and had consequently amassed a personal
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fortune in the eleven-figure range. He then pretended to retire from
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public life. (lt was even rumored in the Pentagon that he had actually
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fled our solar system!)
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Nevertheless, in 1979, in caves hidden in the vastness of the
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Himalayas, the Most High Tibetan Lamas surgically altered my brain under
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the direct tutelage of Dobbs-performing that perilous operation, the
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Opening of fhe Third Nostril. This enabled me to receive, unimpeded,
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dogmatic revelations directly from interstellar Silent Radio signals. It
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simultaneously prepared me for that painful somatic mutation to literal,
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physical OverManhood which so drastically warped my appearance that I now
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must conceal my visage from the squeamish, bigoted eyes of normal humans.
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Despite arduous spiritual preparations, I underwent the very tortures of
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Hell when first I channeled the brain scorching direct transmissions
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required for The Booh of the SubGenius (Fireside/Simon & Schuster trade
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paperback, $10.95).
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But who, some few may ask, is this man J. R. "Bob" Dobbs? As
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difficult as it is for me to imagine that there are still so many mired in
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ignorance, it yet remains a most challenging question to answer possibly
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the most challenging of our time. After all, how does one describe the
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indescribable, and define the indefinable? I shall attempt nonetheless to
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paint a portrait of"Bob"-one equating not so much to a photograph, but at
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best to a child's broken-crayon stick-figure scrawl. J. R. "Bob" Dobbs: on
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the surface, an average, good-looking all-American "Joe," though of
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debated parentage; perpetual smoker of a sacred briar Pipe filled with
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mysterious and, some claim, hallucinatory admixtures; master omni-salesman
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of legendary abilities (very probably the historical "Traveling Salesman"
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of mythology), to whom has been widely attributed total command of the
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Luck Plane by virtue of, not skill, but sheer and unadulterated intuitive
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ignorance; recognized as Patron Saint of Salesmen the world over;
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contacted and Emaculated in his youth by the alien space-god JHVH-1 to
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receive instructions for initiating select individuals into the secrets of
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Original Slack, its at- tainment, abuse and true purpose; founder of a
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burgeoning cult religion with literally countless schisms and heretical
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spin-offs; purportedly as- sassinated in 1984 by the renegade Church
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Hierarchite D. Woodman Atwell (aka Puzzling Evidence and Ilberbrow), but
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also allegedly resurrected in 198? at Dokstok, a pagan convocation of
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fanatical upper-echelon Church executives; prophesied savior of the
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dogma-following and dues-paying Chosen on X-Day, July 5, 1998, when his
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"customers" the Xists arrive from "Planet X"; Honorary Pilot ofthe
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pleasure-saucer Escape Vessels ofthe Sex Goddesses; and captain ofthe
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Church softball team.
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"Bob's" teachings promote awareness of the Original Slack with
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which all bipeds, MereHumans and SubGenu alike, are endowed at birth,
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allowing us to exercise and financially exploit our Abnormality
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Potentials. He fights to ensure that this innate Slack is not squandered
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or, worse yet, stolen outright by that Conspiracy of Normals which
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presently controls this planet. Only if the Universal Slack levels are
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high enough, and the smoke from `"Bob's" Pipe sufficiently thick, will the
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Xists materialize and save all paid-up, Yeti-descended Ordained SubGenius
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Ministers -while trashing in their interplanetary "beer run" not only the
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faithless human Conspiracy dupes (or `"Pinks," "Menialitites,"
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"Mediocretins," etc.), but their entire hellhole planet as well. These are
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but a few reasons you owe it to yourself to purchase The Book ofthe
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SubGenius-ifyou haven't already-and to buy additional copies with which to
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save your loved ones . . . but NOT, necessarily, excuses for waiting to
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purchase this third book. (High Weirdness by Mail, an expose of rival
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false cults, is the second. )
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Ordainment, membership documents and subscription to the Church
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journal, The Stark Fist of Remoual, are $20 from SubGenius, Box 140306,
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Dallas, Texas 75214 ($30 overseas); $1 for catalog of audio- and
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videotapes, pamphlets, posters, clothing and other Churchly items. High
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Weirdness by Mail, the cyclopedic directory of kookified mutation and
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artistic frenzy, is, partially, our way of repaying those early
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collaborators who gobbled up the bait, for it promotes hundreds of their
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own secular rantzines, scientific discoveries, performance projects, UFO
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con- tacts, forbidden musical recordings and shunned comic books, all
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created independently of the Dobbsword-indeed, created as if in psychic
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rebellion against the insidious spiritual grip within which Dobbs had, in
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many cases, threatened to engulftheir minds. Dobbs was proud ofthem for
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that, and rewarded them. Both High Weirdness and The Booh of the SubGenius
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are $12 each postpaid from The SubGenius Foundation, Box 140306, Dallas,
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Texas 75214. They may also be ordered bv better bookstores evervwhere
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throueh the nublisher. Simon & Schuster.
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The Book of the SubGenius presented the Teachings of Dobbs in
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a formal, almost Biblical "textbook" style. It succeeded in luring into
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the fold those brilliant collaborators who have made the Church
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relentlessly grow and grow, like the Blob of pop mythology or the Sceptre
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of Priapus in classical legendry-simultaneously inoculating our endeavors
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against the entropic stagnation which afflicts all rival religions. The
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intentions, then, of this anthology of fables, parables and dramatic
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historical retellings is to help students transcend the hidebound, stodgy
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formality of earlier revealed dogma, to grasp by example Dobbs' more
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subtle characteristics, and simply to enjoy his true-life adventures as he
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seeks to accomplish his Nameless Mission: a mission whose origin and
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purpose remain a total mystery, certainly unfathomable through mere rote
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memorization ofPreScripture. Indeed, it's possible that those who haven't
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researched previous SubGenius litany may, ironically, glean more pure
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Slack from this collection than will the "Bobbies" who've memorized Dobbs'
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every recorded utterance. For they will be inculcating themselves with
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Dobbs Knowledge from context-which, preliminary studies suggest, is the
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most expeditious way to extract that " Grail ofthe Philosophers"! "Bob's"
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is a living church, a dynamic social organism better understood through
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even vicarious experience than through the simplistic doctrines and
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embarrassing rituals which hobble lesser faiths.
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What exactly is a "Three-Fisted Tale of"Bob" "? Any answer lies
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only in what the Tales are not. They aren'tjust gripping yarns ofaction
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and suspense, nor whimsical fantasy, nor pathetic cuteness-and-light New
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Age prattlings. Nor are they limited to the strictures of science fiction
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or lurid murder mystery traditions. One cannot label them simply
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"romance"; and it is impossible to pigeonhole any solely as spy thrillers,
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humor, or sword-and-sorcery. They are, instead, a revolutionary
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amalgamation of all of the above, and far more!
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Defying all basic literary genres, they lie more in the realm
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of Apocrypha-dictated not by Dobbs, as was The Book of the SubGenius, but
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instead by his Apostles, his Fishers of Wallets. A few Tales may even seem
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heretical in content . . . but, more often, they represent in- spired
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prophetic visions, biographical reenactments, and outright but no less
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valid fabrications. Whether solidly researched, untarnishable histories,
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or strictly metaphorical parables, they fill out the previously sketchy
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picture of "Bob" Dobbs the man.
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To protect his family, Dobbs himself insists that we never
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identify which are true histories and which (if any) are fables; he
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trustingly leaves that determination up to you, our dearly beloved Reader.
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Thus, if any given Tale seems particularly distasteful to you personally,
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it is your right to rank it among the subversive lies; those that you
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enjoy, on the other hand, may be taken as irrefutable and factual
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chronicles worthy of being etched into the Rock of Ages.
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Being true SubGeniuses all, each author sees "Bob" differently,
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depending upon his or her own ethical development. One writer may be
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accurately recounting the Master's deeds, while the next is a schismatic
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reprobate intent upon destruction of the Church from within. "Bob" still
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insists that you be the judge.
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Our contributors hail from all walks of life: occultists,
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astrologers, rich jet-setters, doctors, minimum-wage slaves, yardmen,
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poverty stricken geek visionaries, upper-level corporate managers,
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Berkeley egghead intelligentsia, right-wing fascists, frothing Commie
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radicals, filmmakers, technical writers, Christian missionaries,
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suicidal wretches both successful and failed, cartoonists, avant-garde
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painters, rock musicians . . . even gorgeous, slinky housewives in sheer,
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silken evening gowns. (One manages to combine all of the above callings!)
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Some have had absolutely no prior professional writing experience, yet
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were obviously inspired by what can only be termed " Higher Powers." Two
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or three have actually built successful careers as accomplished, paid
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storytellers!
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As for the editor ofthis anthology, the Rev. Ivan Stang is a
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celebrated and erudite man ofdistinction known the world over-an
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accomplished author, radio personality, film auteur . . . and regular
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family man. Known for his ranting "Southern preacher"-style sermon
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delivery, Rev. Stang has organized soul-saving Church Devivals across this
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country (and several foreign nations) to great critical and even
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supernatural acclaim.
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He has arranged these Tales not chronologically, but rather by
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strin- gent (but seductively simple) Drummondian subliminal Silent Radio
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mind-control techniques. The first few stories provide a perspective for
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new readers unfamiliar with the orthodox dogma: introductory Tales, if you
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will. At the same time, they serve to remind self proclaimed "Sub-Genius
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experts" of those sound basic doctrines whence sprang the Church's
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pythonic, back-to-the-Pamphlet, dogma-scrubbing redeformation movement.
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Once the explanatory narratives have been digested, the newly
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illuminated reader may hurtle uncontrollably but safely into the more
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profound, esoteric and, mayhaps, frightening tales-those designed to
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disconnect established thought patterns and sabotage habitual mental
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logic. Gliding effortlessly into a euphoric haze of real or imaginary
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happenings, the reader will imbibe freely of the fermented fruits of those
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who are not-quite-geniuses, becoming "drunk as a lord" with enlightenment.
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Finally, when the maximum limit of enlightenment absorption is
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reached, the reader (if he or she can still be referred to as such) may
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stealthily dare to approach the last stories-hideous necropoli of
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soullessly rotting, maleficent, stench-filled pre-/post-histories wherein
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mysterious apparitions gleefully carve their unspeakable names upon the
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foolish mortal reader's heart and soul. Tales of this depth simply defy
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all earthly description. This arrangement allows the reader to become
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gradually familiar not only with the ancillary characters who populate the
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later stories, but even r,vith their writing styles-for did not these
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so-called "characters" u>rite half the stories??
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This is the first One True Anthology to represent the entire
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gamut of the Before-, After-, and In-Between Resurrection annals-the first
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(of, hopefully, many volumes) to dare cover ALL conceptual bases, charging
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cheerfully and unfalteringly into the colossal sales fray that is the
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marketplace, battling head to head with any and all competitive comers,
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even the shallowest of best-sellers. And it shall surely come up smiling,
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delivering Dobbs' Ultimate Punch Line in its pristine virgin
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state-unsullied and uninterpreted.
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By promising nothing, "Bob" both gives us the world and grants
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us the final laugh . . . that laugh which will surely last all the way to
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the bank, no matter how this book's sales figures may be impugned by any
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pencil-necked geek of a market-myopic chain-bookstore accountant. We
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sincerely hope that these Tales somehow allow the elusive awareness of
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Slack to delicately insinuate itself into our readers' consciousnesses,
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preferably without damaging their abilities to do their dayjobs.
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After all, we value their money almost as highly as their souls.
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It is therefore my most profound privilege to declare to you, dear
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Reader: READ ON IF YOU DARE!
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This is mv testament!
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-Dr. Philo Drummond
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OverMan lst Degree,
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First Authorized FisTem-
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ple Lodge, Church of the
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SubGenius / Drummondian
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