[The Zookeeper, The Bartender and The Seafarer is a monologue which is partially audible - different parts are audible at different times of the month, and the transcripts reflect the audio that you can hear at that time]. The Zookeeper You’ve probably heard the parable of the three wise old seers and the elephant. None of them had ever seen an elephant. They’d spent too long around books, hadn’t lived their lives. Maybe they couldn’t travel - travel is expensive. a To to to a zoo. zoos a strange a wild animal, the animal had no other to even animal were cared They object suspected lots to feel natural they served were know selfish. I out die. had an in with a zookeeper. A man loved teaching about animals - learning how they were part of larger whole. He didn’t know the wise seers’ theories about zoos and human nature, but would have been appalled by the thought. The wise seers asked the zookeeper if they could hang out with the elephant. The zookeeper said no, it would be very dangerous. Elephants are big and heavy and to be honest, the zookeeper did not trust these so called wise people to be sensible. Maybe they’d get overexcited, startled by the sense of their own joy and wonder. might upset the elephant. is not say he thought the elephant would get enraged by their He thought it was misguided complex human to even sophisticated - that for others. they what to dancing maybugs, can No, out elephant. even to happens strong senses they’d developed let’s Romola had an sense of JD sense sensitive. The third, let’s call them Fairuza. Fairuza had a honed sense of As the elephant approached the fence, Romola put their ear almost against their flank. They listened closely and heard the beating of the elephant’s huge heart. And they said, Ah, so an elephant is a huge kettle drum. It’s a sense of rhythm. It’s the glue that sticks the band together. JD pushed forwards and squeezed their hand through a small gap in the fence - they had quite small hands. They felt the rough crenellations of the elephants skin, concluded that the elephant was in essence gigantic brain. Why else would huge if to brain matter. was a I’ll was perhaps most eccentric of the three. huge brain? Great read about an A you like, your as - youthful ability and careful first dames scent world hair, fear and then on subtler glassware, not-burning mild The was courageous animal, Surmised The elephant was sense of purpose. Fairuza was what you might call an “abstract thinker”. Only marginally more so than JD, though. For whatever reason, the zookeeper did not disabuse the wise seers of these notions. He was a romantic at heart. --- The Bartender It’s to reduce a person to single attribute - their smell, of very Ask your society for but instead use to society. Are hammer a or courage in time? what the elephant ago, out a desperation overexcitement. you’ve been long, an exciting. And… the point story, it’s told, simple. People see put in of them. If they see up manure, they’re not thinking of as psychology. If they you speaking confidently on probably seething of your private The waves that cover the majority of your life makes large parts it inaccessible to the casual observer by placing the obstacles of time, context, and attention in their way. It’s only by sitting on the seashore and watching those waves pass slowly over the body of your life that someone would actually see you in your entirety. And then what? I’ve always been given to understand that when someone is woken up slowly from dreaming, they can recount detailed narratives of the dreams they had. If they’re woken up they report fragmented images snapshots. ways interpret this. that them up quickly shattered dream, and they could only back waking that only dreamworld, the half-awake act of surfacing, links those consistent. if and kettle a but like if elephants? there’s rope, The The waves roll slowly over the deck. Glaciers can - 100ft per day or slowly - two feet per year. These waves move at the speed of the calendar. Once per month, back to where they were. I’m grounded in shallow water and depending on where the wave lies, I can see different parts of the ship from up here at the back - the… forecastle? That doesn’t make sense, it’s at the back of the ship Hand on the tiller. The tiller is like the steering wheel of a ship. Maybe it’s called the Ship’s Wheel? People I must be brave, captain-ing a wrecked ship. Hanging on even though I’m the only person frightening? They ask. Were frightened? The I’m happy about but No, the is a coward. sailor. made No why. was all rusty I see around that otter. remember might just be sure of the roll on different of - occasionally the the front ship. There’s a figurehead. boat a time somehow I’ve forgotten what that is. Also I’m right at the back and it’s facing away from me. Someone on the cliff above will have a much better idea than I do. It must be strange if you walk by on the cliff and look over and in that moment the wave has revealed certain parts of the ship. There’s a cannon, and then further towards the back of the boat there are boxes with books tumbling out. You might conclude that the ship was a frigate, but after the war it decided to get into the lucrative publishing trade. sure, but why keep the cannon? Was it added retrospectively as some of machismo midlife crisis cosmetic addition? of the waves would cages that sit right front, and, me of the those tangles of nets. this person always interested animals. they maybe But What could of The the the books, the the the crates, barrels, looks a eras, the… I that an otter? But taken all together... It’s just a isn’t it? makes sense at all. Maybe it’s better to get glimpses between the waves. the story you tell makes more sense. It’s a giant floating brain, it’s a kettle drum holding things together, it’s courage. --- Neutrinowatch is generated daily, so this text will change every day. This version was generated on Tuesday, 08 October 2024, at 00:10 UTC/GMT