Of course it was in the realm of possibilities.
You are shopping one day and in a very brief instant everything has changed.
It must have been that way many times in our history. Geological disasters, invasions and plagues - all events that just occur out of the blue, so to speak.
But I am told that chatter and background noise are important and (perhaps I am just to into the subject) but from my stock show in the morning to the last posts I read on the Internet at night - the theme of imminent danger permeates the discussion.
Perhaps it is always this way and TEOTEAWKI is just around the corner for each generation - but there really is a very heavy feel to atmosphere.
I am not certain if there is a swan, and certainly I have no clue as to the color of said bird....
But all the same since my contact with MA I have changed.
Your comment about TEOTEAWKI for some reason reminded me of the calf-scramble scene at the opening of Independence Day or Contact or one of those alien-contact movies, when the young radioastronomer suddenly realizes he's looking at a modulated carrier from deep space: the song "The End of the World as We Know It" (title?) was playing on his boombox in the background, as a sort of in-joke or audio inescutcheon.
You wrote: “since my contact with MA [”Mother Abigail” ]I have changed.”
Must have been one too many “Crown Royals” on the rocks.
PS: I suspect that you are really “James S”, that James S.is really “Mother Abigale”, and that it was you who signed up to post on FR under that MA screen name on 10/9/2001.
I also think you got the idea for that screen name from a
Fantasy Land movie that came out in 1994 about how a super-flu wipes out most of the earth’s population. And wonder of wonders, one of the characters is called “Mother Abigail”. LOL:
Mutant Reviewers from Hell do Stephen King’s The Stand
1994 It’s The End Of The World As We Know It
http://www.mutantreviewers.com/rstand.html
Summary Capsule:
A super-flu wipes out most of the earth’s population, and the survivors try to rebuild civilization while fighting evil (or being evil).
What better subject for a cult miniseries than one of the most beloved cult books of all time? Stephen King’s The Stand is one of my all-time favorite books, and for a good reason. Instead of dickering around with saving the world from a deadly virus (a la Outbreak), King goes right ahead and kills off 99.9% of the world’s population within a few weeks. The survivors find themselves congregating into two camps: the “good” people, who follow prophetess Mother Abigail to Boulder, and the “bad” people, who gather forces in Las Vegas under the demonic Randall Flagg. On one hand, it’s about the death and rebirth of America and civilization; but more ultimately, it’s the ultimate showdown between good and evil in the apocalyptic sense.
The miniseries, which spans 4 one-and-a-half hour episodes, is as faithful an adaption of this book as I could ask for. Released on ABC in 1994, The Stand holds up quite well even to today’s standards, approaching movie-like level instead of mere TV-adaption. .......
I will end with a totally random observation. The best moment of this miniseries is one of its most quiet. The plague has ended and two survivors — Fran and Harold — listen to an LP of that Crowded House “Don’t Dream It’s Over”. As the song plays, numerous scenes are shown, giving a terrific impression of the stillness after death, and the small hope that remains. This is the human race, signing off...
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The Stand
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stand
[snip]
Plot summary
“Captain Trips”
The novel is divided into three parts, or books. The first is titled “Captain Trips” and takes place over nineteen days, with the escape and spread of a human-made superflu (influenza) virus known formally as “Project Blue”, but most commonly as “Captain Trips”. The virus is developed at a U.S. Army base, where it is accidentally released. While the base tries to shut down before any infected person can escape, a security malfunction allows a guard and his family to sneak out. Unfortunately, they are already infected, and set off a pandemic that kills an estimated 99.4% of the world’s human population, as well as that of domesticated animals, such as horses and dogs.
King outlines the total breakdown and destruction of society through widespread violence, the failure of martial law to contain the outbreak, and eventually the death of virtually the entire population. The human toll is also dealt with, as the few survivors must care for their families and friends, dealing with confusion and grief as their loved ones succumb to the flu.
The expanded edition opens with a prologue titled “The Circle Opens” that offers greater detail into the circumstances surrounding the development of the virus and the security breach that allowed its escape from the secret laboratory compound where it was created. ......
“The Stand”
The stage is now set for the final confrontation as the two camps become aware of one another, and each recognizes the other as a threat to its survival, leading to the “stand” of good against evil. There is no pitched battle, however. Instead, at Mother Abagail’s dying behest, Stu, Larry, Ralph and Glen set off on foot towards Las Vegas on an expedition to confront Randall Flagg. Stu breaks his leg en route and drops out. He encourages the others to leave without him, telling them that God will provide for him. Glen, Ralph, and Larry soon encounter Flagg’s men, who take them prisoner. When Glen rejects an opportunity to be spared if he kneels and begs Flagg for his life, he is shot on Flagg’s order by one of his men. Flagg gathers his entire collective to witness the execution of the other two, but before it can take place, Trashcan Man arrives with a nuclear warhead and a giant glowing hand”The Hand of God”detonates the bomb, destroying Flagg’s followers and the two remaining prisoners.
Stu, with the aid of Glen Bateman’s dog “Kojak” (formerly “Big Steve”) and Tom Cullen, survives injury, illness, and a harsh Rocky Mountain winter. The three of them arrive back in Boulder soon after the birth of Fran’s baby. Although the baby falls ill with the superflu, he is able to fight it off. In the end, Stu and Fran decide to return to Maine, and the original edition of the novel ends with the two of them questioning whether the human race can learn from its mistakes. The answer, given in the last line, is ambiguous: “I don’t know.” ...
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How’s THAT grab ya? bttt