“I read your letter. Thanks. I was kinda excited because it was from a girl. My bike is blue.”
What is Bobby ni Kubittake?
Bobby ni Kubittake, literally translated as ‘You Gotta Be Bobby’ and often referred to by the names Bobby’s In Deep and Bobby’s Girl, is a film adaptation of Yoshio Kataoka’s (Make me a Slow Boogie, Main Theme, Gulf Road) coming of age novel of the same name. The film was directed by respected anime director Yoshio Hirata (The Adventures of Unico, Barefoot Gen 2, Pet Shop of Horrors), with planning courtesy of Rintaro (Harmageddon, Dagger of Kamui, Metropolis) and was chiefly produced by the legendary Masau Maruyama (Nineteen 19, Monster, Paradise Kiss) at the longstanding and respected Studio Madhouse, back during the studios’ more experimental years of blossoming talent and reasonably ‘out-there’ productions. The film offers up a brief peek into the life of a young man on the cusp of adulthood who aimlessly carries forth on a path all his own, continuing on regardless of what may come his way.
The film is hard to describe, in part because it’s a piece of media caught between being a mass market product and an honest attempt at arthouse. On one hand the film is, in effect, a glorified music video produced to promote the musical career of actor Hironobu Nomura —who also voices the main character of the film— which is most apparent from the insert songs placed throughout the piece. On the other hand, we have the avant-garde presentation and challenging storytelling that marks the film as being more than just your everyday token anime, showcasing a level of creativity and passion even beyond many anime productions of the then and thereafter. It’s also not forthcoming with its narrative ideas and the viewer will have to extrapolate from what’s shown in order to gain a greater understanding of the ideas presented.
Bobby ni Kubittake also defies being conventionally categorized, failing to fall neatly into specific descriptors and defying simple explanation. The film feels as if a portion of the main character’s life has been taken wholesale and presented before us as is, since despite the obvious truncation of the few months of time over which the film takes place it doesn’t feel like a summary nor a distillation of said span of time, rather it exists as an accurate representation of that chunk of the main character’s life. While what I’ve just described sounds like a literal ‘slice of life’, that simply has too much of a chance of being misleading, because the conventions of the genre and the image they conjure in one’s mind don’t accurately reflect what this film is. Other descriptors seem somewhat apt; drama or character study somewhat convey the intentions of the narrative and the content of the film, but both fail to account properly for the small amount of explicit character interaction, the lack of thorough exploration of the character’s psyche, the limited breadth it offers in terms of facets covered and explored, and the ultimately vague understanding it grants as a result. Bobby ni Kubittake is merely the apex of a young man’s life, not just the highlights or key points, but a life presented as it once was, offering up a worldview and experience so intimately and particularly that of Bobby.
What to expect from the film
Bobby ni Kubittake follows the perspective of seventeen year old Akihiko “Bobby” Nomura, a reserved loner who is estranged from his parents and whose only passion is seemingly his motorcycle, which he spends most of his time and energy maintaining and riding, to the point that he is even featured in a motorcycle magazine. Bobby isn’t a particularly smart or eloquent young man, in fact he is a person of remarkably few words and can come off as quite simple in his demeanour. Bobby’s poor grades prompt scrutiny from his father, who expects his son will attend college, even against Bobby’s assertion that he’ll merely get a job upon graduation, if not before if he gets his way. This pressure from his parents does not steer his efforts towards where it’s expected of him, and instead he continues to live out a fantasy of eighties youth culture, as if he were one of those common delinquents, though he doesn’t quite fall in line with the usual depictions of such personages. The narrative begins with Bobby receiving a letter from a female admirer who saw his photo essay in the aforementioned motorcycle magazine and wrote to him a long, involved, and poetic letter that leaves her appreciation known, to which Bobby returns a short and brusque response, and so the two begin exchanging correspondence throughout the length of the film.
Despite what the set up might imply, romance isn’t at the heart of Bobby ni Kubitake. The interactions between Bobby and his female admirer play relatively minor roles over the course of the narrative, which is more concerned with depicting the circumstances of Bobby’s life and the steps he takes towards making something of himself and eke out an existence that satisfies him by allowing him to indulge in his hobby. The film is staunchly dedicated to sticking with Bobby’s perspective, and it does so with raw and vivid emotions, not the type that is loud, up-front, or overbearing —like the stirring outburst in the climax of an interpersonal drama, or the triumphant and euphoric mustering of courage and power against an overwhelming foe— but rather less showy, more mundane displays, such as the melancholy of not knowing the way forward, the sudden realization when one’s made a regretful decision, or the bubbly surfacing of previously unexperienced feelings. And despite that, there’s a markedly impersonal touch to it all, a distance in the framing and dialogue delivery which makes it evident we aren’t in Bobby’s place so much as getting to see his life play out. Although there are instances where what we see on-screen is evidently what he is feeling, it’s only in instances in which words might have come short or would have had to be excessive, as well as when depicting that which could not be demonstrated without cutting away from the events surrounding him in specific —which would have broken the consistency of the previously established perspective— and so we are treated to his mind’s eye instead.
In many ways this film feels like a relic of the time, both in its stylistic leanings and the story it presents. Narratively, the japanese youth culture, the dynamics of the nuclear family at play in the narrative, and even the expectations placed on young men by societal norms are all indicative of the time the film was made in, though that isn’t saying the appeal of these is strictly limited to those who lived through or are familiar with the cultural context of eighties Japan. Dealing with pressure from your parents, living with the burden of expectations, the desire to dedicate yourself to what you love, and the idea of wanting to live out an idealized fantasy, are all concepts with a wide appeal which maintain Bobby ni Kubittake as a piece of media that is likely to be relatable for many, though only deeply appreciated by those of particular sensibilities.
Presentation
Bobby ni Kubittake is quite the looker, not the type of anime that is lavishly animated from start to finish, but each section is nonetheless attractive in its own right. There’s evident moments of limited animation, with some instances seeming to be have been the creative decisions to forego motion and fluidity for an increased level of detail, and others simply being blatant cost-cutting or time--saving measures, but the strong visual direction makes those instances just as effective at depicting and communicating what it sets out to, and at no point do these feel like a severe detraction to the film’s overall quality. The visuals in the film are quite experimental, particularly in how it sports several varying styles from scene to scene, making for highly evocative and occasionally striking moments of visual storytelling. These disparate visuals are strung together without the transition between them being too intrusive or jarring, making for an experience that isn’t as disjointed as it could have easily been in less capable hands. However, that isn’t to say it’s execution is entirely perfect either, as even aside from the moments of purposeful contrast there are segments that don’t fit in as naturally as most. Some of the more consistent elements of the visuals certainly play a hand in maintaining that cohesion throughout the film, such as character designs by famed shōjo mangaka Akimi Yoshida (Banana Fish, Gently Longer Than A River, YASHA) which add to the eighties aesthetic and remain in place throughout the entire film, as well as dark colors, bloom lighting, and the prominent use of dark shading. Some scenes are intensely memorable, such as an oft-brought up four-minute motorcycle ride animated by respected animators Takashi Nakamura (Yatterman, Harmagedon, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) and Kōji Morimoto (Akira, Macross Plus, Kiki’s Delivery Service), the later of which worked on a breath-taking sequence that is drawn in a style reminiscent of pencil sketch and stands as some of his most recognized contributions to any production. The stylistic mish-mash is not an approach that was used to its absolute fullest potential here, but it still gives the film a unique identity, and the variety ensures there’s at least one aspect to the visuals which is bound to captivate the viewer.
Musically is where the presentation falters slightly more, as despite its existence as a promotion of someone’s musical debut, half of the inserts songs don’t quite resonate with the rest of the production as well as they should, and so lack the needed impact to really elevate their respective scenes beyond what they are. The rest of the soundtrack, by Keiichi Oku (Crusher Joe: The OVA's, Marmalade Boy, Ojamajo Doremi) fares much better, with tracks that are serviceable by themselves but truly complement the visuals and does a significant part in building the atmosphere and tone presented, but it is still not outstanding in measure. Despite the fact Hironobu Nomura’s songs don’t quite do it for Bobby ni Kubittake, his frankly amateurish-sounding and undemonstrative voicework as the titular Bobby actually fits the type of character and general narrative surprisingly well, delivering a rather naturalistic performance which perfectly captures the feeling of the everyman in a way that helps ground the existence of both the main character and story in a sense of reality. It lends a remarkable, though perhaps unintended, affect to the entire piece and brings Bobby into focus more keenly than what a more conventional and polished voice could have managed, echoing and complementing the writing and visuals perfectly.
Bobby ni Kubitake is a fleeting look into the life of its main character in an experimental fashion, communicating all that which it wants to on the matter before coming to an abrupt halt. It’s a bit confounding in how it eschews some of the usual conventions as it follows its titular character’s outlook and perspective to their natural emotional conclusion, leaving us to ponder this young man’s flitting presence in the world and the intent of his unassuming way of life. Earnest and engrossing, Bobby ni Kubittake is a remarkably presented image of a smoldering youth.
”I feel guilty being alive. Through all those summer days I was wrapped up in a heavy chain, and I tried to run away.”
Information
MAL | ANN | AniDB | Anilist | AnimePlanet | IMDB
Availability
Bobby ni kubittake has unfortunately never been licensed for release outside of the domestic Japanese market, where it has never been re-released after the original Laserdisc and VHS copies. As a result, the quality of the transfers will not be ideal and the only means of enjoying the film in english is via unofficial translations, which can be tricky to find.
Many thanks to Wholesome_poker for ensuring I stuck with this piece until it was done, and to Nazenn for providing invaluable editing work and feedback.

Continuing
I’m sitting in the dark, fuming, wondering what the hell that was all about.
I still have my drink and cigar and I’m employing them in their proper offices. This is right before I light the newspaper on fire for a bit of light.
Sr. Majordomo appears out of the gloom with a lit 7-stick candelabra.
“Sorry, Suh”, He says in the hoity-toity British butler accent, “Bit of a bother. Seems the electrical substation down the road exploded again. No worries. Happens all the time. We’ll be fine once the emergency generator kicks in.”
And, as if by magic, all the lights come on again.
“Why, thank you, Jeeves”, I say as he nods and departs.
Now…where was I? Ah…fuck. UREE’s down 2⅝’s.
The next morning, down at breakfast…
“Weeeell. Good morning, bright eyes! How we feeling this fine day?” I ask Sanjay as he slopes into the Raj’s breakfast nook.
He looks at me through what appears to be two baseballs composed of very lean bacon.
“…fine…how are you?” he asks.
“Me? I’m in fine fettle. I’ve never felt fettler. I’m still breathing, I have all my appendages, such as it is, and still a spotless record.” I reply cheerily.
“How? How…can you? How…do you?” he asks, wearily.
“Years of intensive practice, m’lad.”, I smile, “Here’s something hot, wet, and black. Drink up, it’s going to be a busy day, Bucko.”
“erf.”
Sanjay is appreciative for the Greenland coffee. Somehow he’s developed a taste for the stuff.
I ask the attending butler for my specialty breakfast: a grilled bagelwich breakfast panini.
That’s a smashed, over-hard cooked egg, stinky French foot cheese, sliced ham, red onion, Siriaca mayo, sliced red capsicum, hot Giardiniera, and neon-green pickle relish on grilled, buttered garlic bagel.
Yum.
Sanjay looks at me through crimson-tinted eyes over his steaming soupçon.
“You’re not human.” He sighs, shaking his head.
“Nope. Never claimed to be. I’m an EtOH-fueled carbon-based lifeform. Take me to your larder!” I guffaw.
Sanjay groans into his morning mug.
Sanjay feels better after he slurps down some coffee and has his morning repast of gnarly looking gruel, Masala oats he tells me. A bit of tatte idli with coconut chutney. A couple of slices of bacon, akki rotti and chutney, some more coffee and he’s looking almost human again.
I grab the morning edition and head to the reading room.
“Call our driver, Sanj, if you would. Give me ten minutes and we’ll roll. First day of school and all that.”
Sanjay gives me the high sign and we rendezvous a bit later in the basement waiting for our ride. I go to fire up a breakfast cigar; a nice, light little Dutch dry-cured.
Sanjay looks at me like a flogged puppy; the whole big soulful eyes routine.
OK, fine. I’ll save that for later.
We arrive at the Barn, or Outbuilding #2, at 0705. The crew will arrive at 0800, and I’ve already got the day planned. I tell Sanjay I’ll be outside having a smoke. He wants to brush up on the day’s activities and bids me a hearty “don’t let the door hit you in the ass.”
Nice.
I’m sitting out in the bright, still morning sun when a tap-tap approaches.
“Dr. Rocknocker?” he asks.
“Sure am”. I reply.
“Please come with me.” he requests.
“Why? Where we going?” I reply.
“Headquarters. There is a request there for you.” He says.
This is odd. They could have called me directly. They could have called Sanjay.
“Oh, well”, I think aloud, “Whatever. When in Alang…”
I get in the tippy little machine and away we race at breakneck speed toward the main building complex.
I tip my driver and wander into the reception area.
The receptionist doesn’t even look up as I enter. She merely points to the boardroom.
“There.” was all she said.
“Thanks.” was my reply.
I trooped over to the boardroom. I look inside after I yank the door open, unannounced. It’s a full house. Standing room only.
I am immediately asked to take a newly vacated seat at the head of the table.
“Coffee, if you please, black”, I reply to the tea boy de jure’s inquiry.
I’m sipping my coffee and the room, previously abuzz with Hindi, goes deathly silent.
“Doctor”, one grizzled old Indian chap says, the Chairman I find out later, “We are pleased you were not injured in yesterday’s activities.”
“I’m rather pleased not to have been killed as well. Thanks, gents” I reply.
“We are also very pleased that none of our young people you recruited were maimed or harmed as well”, he said a shade more darkly.
“OK, I see where this is headed”, I thought to myself.
“Yeah. Ain’t that something?”, I said, gruffly. “Amazing that I could take a squadron of grass-green recruits and defuse a 9-ton company fuckup without so much as a bloody nose. I must really be good. Thank you for the compliment. Wait until you see my bill.”
“That’s just the thing, Doctor…” he continued.
“Yes?” I awaited the inevitable.
“Your methods are…so irregular. So…unorthodox. We are uncertain. That is to say, we are not convinced that you..” he tried to continue before I cut him off.
“Ah, hold the phone, Goodgulf,” I said as I pulled out Emergency Flask #2 and a new Oscuro cigar. “Have you indeed personally read my contract for this little soiree that you’ve invited me to attend?”
“Well, read…no. Skimmed…?”, he choked a bit.
“Ok, Scooter, here’s the deal.” I said to the Chairman, “You’ve got something sticking in your craw. So spill it. I’m not moving from this seat until we get a few issues vodka clear.”
I swore as I lit my new cigar.
There were a few gasps and coughs from the crowd. I blew a large blue smoke ring skyward toward the fluorescent lights.
“Well, Doctor.” One of the other board members continued, “Your contract was for training and teaching our young men in the use of explosives in shipbreaking. It’s been now three days and you haven’t broken a single ship…” he stammered.
“You fuckin’ with me, Bub?” I asked, incredulous, “Do you not know of yesterday’s little field activities?”
“Oh, yes”, he tried to continue, “But we believe you overstepped the strict bounds of your contract…”
“OK. Fine. You believe that all you want. Goodbye.” I snap a natty two-finger salute and proceed to stand to take my leave. “Fwwppp!”
They obviously hadn’t read my force majeure, iron-clad, triple take-or-pay contract.
“Oh. I’ll expect payment before I leave today. Business-class flight tickets or better and remember, payment in full before I go. Good day, gentlemen.”
I stood, readjusted my Stetson, and puffed a huge cloud of Oscuro cigar smoke skyward.
“Now, now, Doctor. Let us not be hasty.” The old fart said.
“Well, you sure as FUCK wanted me to be hasty yesterday when I identified that 9-ton catastrophe waiting to happen out in Sector 4. You didn’t even know it existed much less what to do about it. I hung my ass out over the line and dragged it back in to save your corporate asses. If that motherfucker would have blown, with all that counterfeit C-4, dynamite, ANFO, and fucking Nitronox; the place where you’re sitting right now would be one tall, mothering hole. It’d be littered with uncountable bodies and body parts.” I yelled back.
Each of the board members looked as if they’d just been slapped in the face with a large salt-water cod soaked in lemon juice.
“Doctor! Decorum!”, one of them bickered back.
“FUCK YOUR DECORUM!”, I roared back. “You candy-assed executives sit here and just watch the proles swing by and the money swirl in. Let me tell you something, me ol’ muckers. Get the fuck off your ivory pedestal and get into the trenches and see what it’s really like out there. You may have started in the trenches and clawed your way up here. I doubt it as most of you have never had a blister or broke a sweat. I’m a Goddamned Doctor of Petroleum Geology, I am! I have more degrees than any of you so-called ‘higher-ups’, and I look forward to cultivating blisters and getting all sweaty and nasty. It’s called ‘working for a living’ and being the best in your field. You sorry slack-jawed bastards might want to give it a try sometime. Don’t presume to lecture me on decorum, gentlemen. Let me lecture you on reality and how the fuck the real fucking world really fucking works.”
Utter silence from the whole boardroom. I sat back in my comfortable ergonomic seat, sipped my coffee, and smoked my cigar. I silently wondered who would be the first to break the stillness.
Finally Goodgulf Greyteeth, the original old fart, spoke up, “Ah. Yes, Doctor. Please do not misinterpret our reservations for ingratitude.”
“Not at all”, I replied, “I know you’re good at paying your bills. I do my homework.”
That stung them again. They knew they owed me and my recruits a fucking bundle.
“However, you are an American...” he tried to continue.
“What the flying fuck does that have to do with the price of Ganga in Calicut?” I railed, “You knew that from the onset. Don’t you even fucking dare try to make it a cultural thing. I’ve lived all around the world, Gentlemen; myriad ethnicities in the past 4 decades. I assimilate into a new culture smoother than the COVID-9 virus into a leaky mammal cell-membrane. What else you got?”
More silence. I checked my watch. 0745. I need to get back to the Barn.
“OK, gents. By your silence, I can see that I just terrify you”, I noted, “That’s cool. I have no problem with that. That’s really fine and dandy. However, you are correct: I am an American. I’m brash, I’m loud, and I’m quickly decisive. I smoke, I drink, I swear, I stink. And you know what? I’m damn proud of it. You value decorum? I value results. I don’t ask you to like, investigate, nor critique my methodologies. I ask you to like, investigate, and critique my results. Like yesterday. You’d have shit yourselves and gone blind before you’d screwed up enough courage to go up to that tent yesterday, much less go in and defuse the problem. That’s why I’m here. And until I decide to leave, you stay up here and play with your decorum; just don’t get caught. I’ll be down there and taking care of the fucking business of doing business. When I ask if ‘we’re green’, I mean ‘are we in agreement’. So, are we green, gentlemen?”
There’s an immediate buzz. Machine gun cadence Hindi and finally a unanimous:
“Yes, Doctor. We are green. I’m glad we had this opportunity to talk. Thank you very much for your time.”
“Marvelous”, I replied.
I slurped down the remainder of my coffee, donned my Stetson, and headed for the door.
“Ah, Doctor”, the old grizzled fart said, “No hard feelings, I hope.”
“None from this side”, I replied, “Sorry if you can’t say the same from yours. There is one thing before I go. You will be doing this without question…”
A few tense minutes elapse.
“Until we meet again, then. Ta-ta.” I said to the exasperated board.
One really surly conversation later, I’m out the door, down the steps.
I grab the first tap-tap to happen by and head to the Barn. Upon de-tap-tapping, I give the driver 500 rupees. I was just still so pissed I wanted to get shed of all things Indian at that point.
It was 0800 and I walked in the door.
Deep breath. Suck it up. It’s showtime.
“Morning, guys”, I said cheerily, “I do hope you all survived yesterday intact.”
There were a few groans. I knew that all those empty liquor bottles and half-barrels out by the rubbish tip had to come from somewhere. There were some headaches being nursed here, and they weren’t from nitro this time.
“OK”, I said, “Let’s see. Numbers 8, 14, and 22 are officially not here.” I said, looking at the tote board. “Shame, they will miss out on the juicy bonus information I have for them.”
Suddenly, numbers 8, 14, and 22 appeared as if by magic.
“Oh, lookee. The gang’s all here.” I said cheerfully, “Now we’re all present and accounted for, I have some de-briefing for you from yesterday’s escapades.”
The entire room was in rapt attention.
“First, my hearty and personal thanks to all of you. You performed above and beyond. My personal thanks and approbations.” I said.
There were actually smatters of applause from the assembled.
“OK, enough of that horseshit.” I wave off the applause. “Now the news you were all waiting for. It was rumored that you were to be given a one-time expeditionary bonus of 10,000 rupees for your work yesterday.” I informed them.
There was a buzz.
“What do you mean ‘were to be given’?” came a few gasps.
“Well, it’s like this”, I said, gravely clearing my throat, “I felt that was insufficient, unsatisfactory, and downright insulting. It’s only US$132 and I felt you guys deserved better. So I convinced your bosses to double that figure.”
There were gasps and huzzahs.
I held up a whole hand to silence them.
“However, just this morning they collectively managed to piss me off magnificently. So, now it’s double-double. How’s that?” I asked.
The room erupted. Phones came out to calculate their newfound wealth.
“Gents,” I said, “Put away your phones, you know my classroom rules. It’s US$523.28 Congratulations. You’ve earned every piasa.”
Now there was real applause. The room sort of erupted.
“OK?”, I asked, “Everyone delirious? Good. Because now we’re going to go through your locker boxes and have a locker box inspection!”
Never has the mood in the room done a 180-degree turn so swiftly.
“Sanjay”, I said, “If you would. I need some air.”
Outside I check my messages. Nothing that couldn’t wait. I had a small Dutch dry-cured cigar and a couple of tots from old number 3.
“Locker box go OK?” I asked.
“We’re green, Rock!”, came the reply.
Sanjay shook his head to agree.
“Outstanding”. I replied.
“OK, guys, here’s the deal. After yesterday’s total immersion, we’re going to hit the books for a day or so. Go over some fundamentals. It’s not going to be near as exciting, but it has to be done. So, get out your copy of the Blasters Protocols Handbook and read the first 5 chapters. That will take us to lunch. We will reconvene at 1300 hours and discuss what you just learned. We green?”
“Rock,”, one industrious student asked, “Do we need to stay here and read or can we go out?”
“No”, I replied, “I don’t really care where you do your reading. Because tonight there will be homework, so you may as well get used to it now. See you at 1300 hours. You can stay, as Sanjay and I will be here or go wherever. Go nuts.”
Three-quarters of the room left with their books, the rest remained.
I fielded a couple of calls and Sanjay brushed up on his Blasters Protocols Handbook, 15th edition. I fielded a few questions from the peanut gallery that remained, but by and large, the morning just evaporated.
At noon, we locked up. Sanjay went to lunch, I commandeered at tap-tap and driver. I gave him 500 rupees for the hour.
“Sector 4”, I said, “And don’t spare the electrons.”
He was driving one of those new, environmentally-friendly tap-taps.
Yippee.
Off we putt-putted. I fired up a cigar, offered one to the driver, which he snatched faster than a teen caught by his mother with a copy of Playboy, and had a few tots from old number 2.
We got to the location of the old ammo dump. The tarpaulin and poles had been removed, but not the warning flagpoles and yellow cautionary tape.
Salim was still standing here, looking somewhat confused.
I instructed my driver to tap-tap over to Salim.
“Show’s over, Salim. Thanks for your hard work.” I said.
“Salim tried to keep them out. They say they need tarp. They had to go around the back. Salim would not let them up the path. Doctor Rock say so. Salim make sure.” He smiles.
Hand him a bundle of rupees; got to be over 1,500. He gratefully accepts. He’s once again over the moon.
“Salim”, I asked, “Have you eaten today?”
“No, Doctor”, he replies, “I was at my post. Like you said.”
“OK. I officially relieve you of duty”, I say. I ask the tap-tap driver to get on his phone, radio, or carrier pigeon and get another car over here chop-chop.
A minute or two later, an ancient gas-powered tap-tap appears.
“Driver”, I say to the new cart pilot, “I want you to take Salim here to the commissary. OK?”
He nods agreement as I hand him 100 rupees.
“Salim”, I say, “This cart will take you to the commissary.”
I scribble a note in my tally book, rip it out, and hand it to Salim.
“Give them this. You go get some food and drink, now. Savvy?”
“Oh, yes!” he exclaims, “Salaam! Salim savvy. Thank you, Doctor”, as he tries to shake my arm off.
“No problem.” I said, “Enjoy. Bye now.”
Salim and his driver putt-putts off to the commissary.
I do hope he didn’t stay out here all night.
I walk over to where the tent once stood. The ground looks like a flock of large birds, or a perhaps a constipated dragon, finally had their laxatives kick in. The ground was ash-white, churned horribly, and no longer any form of threat. Hose this area down and within weeks, you’d probably get sneeze grass and wild wildebeest wort growing here again.
I’m such an ardent environmentalist. Yay me.
I get back in the tap-tap and tell the driver to head to the beach along the Road of Yesterday’s Potential Death.
He nods and off we putt.
We tap-tap along, down the sandy trail until the road just ends.
“That’s odd.”, I muse, “I could have sworn there was a road here yesterday.”
There was, however the Nitronox™, all 500 pounds of it, saw to its relocation.
Somewhere out beyond the orbit of Jupiter from the looks of it.
“Holy fuck”, I said internally. I had a slight case of retroactive jibblies as I kind of lost my balance, and shit, for a moment and sat back down, hard, in the vehicle.
“Dead is dead, Chuckles”, I thought to myself. “Be it a puddle of nitro, a stick of soggy dynamite, or this Nitronox shit. Any way you slice it, one errant kaboom and that’s the end. But still…”
I looked out to the hole left from yesterday’s final detonation.
It had to be 175 feet in diameter. Easy. And that’s after the surf’s been chewing on it all night and half the day.
2 tons of dynamite. A ton and a half of ANFO. One and a half tons of C-4. A couple of tons of general cheap-ass generic Chinese explosives.
Nothing compared to a simple 500 pounds of that goddamned thermal liquid binary shit.
I shuddered spontaneously. I asked the driver to take me away from this place. It gave me a feeling of impending doom as if there were some unexploded Nitronox lurking around out there. Stalking through the night, searching for the one who did their comrades in…
I’ve got to lay off those cheesy 1950s B-movies late at night.
We putted over to the commissary. My breakfast bagel cratered long ago and I was a bit peckish. I invited the driver in for lunch. He first adamantly refused, but I told him he’d be fine with me, and besides, it was my treat. He parked so fast, I thought he’d glaze his brakes.
I had a glass of that lovely mixed fruit juice and some sort of Indian grilled meat on a stick. I think it was tandoori chicken, buzzard, something or other avian, but it was actually very tasty. Especially with the crushed garlic dipping sauce, they provided. The garlic naan bread was particularly good. I could offend people for miles after a lunch like this.
I had my juiced juice and three skewers of grilled whatever and was quite satisfied. My driver, who was easily 1/3rd my size, had 5 skewers of grilled avian whatever, tabbouleh, a stack of naan, grass salad, hummus, a couple of meat pies, and glass after glass of what was either buttermilk or laban.
I had to look under the table to see if he was stashing some for later. He wasn’t. This guy could eat like a starving trencherman. Must have had a couple of hollow legs.
I told him I need to get back to the barn for school was about to begin for the afternoon. He starts shoveling it in faster and faster.
“No, no. Wait one!” I said, “You stay here and enjoy lunch. I need to walk back anyways, I need the exercise. It’s all paid for. Take all you want but eat all you take.”
He smiled back at me with sticky meat-glaze all over his face.
“Groovy.”, I said, “Later.”
I walked briskly out the door, down the stairs and back to the Barn.
We spent the rest of the afternoon going over the different classes of explosives: high, medium, and low. I gave examples of each and their particular uses. We then went over different fusing methods; from set-pull-forget to demo wire and a blasting machine. Blasting machines like the Old Reliable plunger-type; now sorry to say, obsolete. And the new Captain America electronic type.
I spent some time tripping down memory lane regaling them with tales of wind up detonators, Twist-Off detonators, cannon fuse you lit with a match, match lights you lit off with a lighter and myriad other ways to get explosives off their dead asses and go to work.
1700 hours hove into view quickly. I assigned chapters 6-12 for tomorrow and said “Adios” for the evening. It had been another long, but not quite as deadly, day. I need the phone, to update my field notebooks and dossiers, make come calls, and sprawl around in the Jacuzzi like a beached graying narwhal for a few hours.
Not necessarily in that order.
Back at the Raj, Sanjay disappeared to make his notes for the next day.
I stopped by the bar, surprise, surprise, and Butler 214 magically appeared. These guys were quick studies. He handed me a selection of cigars he chose personally. He would like to know what I thought of each the next day.
“Yes, sir!”, I said.
I think he actually cracked a small smile.
I sidled over to the bar and had the Bejesus scared out of me by the little attendant who was invisible down behind the bar, tending the taps on the draft beer.
“Yes, sir, Doctor”, he smiled widely, as he pops up like an Aarav-in-the-box. “What is your pleasure?”
“An all-expenses-paid year-long vacation at Milton Lake Lodge, Saskatchewan?”
He just looked at me quizzically.
“OK. I’d like a pint of cold draft Boris Brew Vikingathor if you please. Plus 100, no, 200 milliliters of Old Fornicator Vodka.”
As if by magic, they both appeared.
The Dark 8.2% beer went down without so much as a hint of a fight. The Old Fornicator scrapped a bit, at first.
I had him prepare me a to-go package that I could take to my room.
“Oh, no sir!”, he said.
“What?” I roared.
“No, sir. Just call 215 on your room phone. I will bring it to your room personally. Service available 24/7”, he smiled.
“See what you miss when you don’t pay attention?”, I smiled and slipped him 500 rupees.
“Mea culpa”, I said, “It’s been a couple of really long days.” I dragged off to my room.
“Calgon, take me away” could be heard filtering through the cracks in my room as the water splashed.
Afterward, feeling less marine mammal and slightly more human, I call Esme. I give her a Reader’s Digest version of what’s been going on the last couple of days.
She’s blasé about the whole situation. Remember, she’s had 39 years’ worth of me going to strange, foreign places, and getting into all sorts of odd situations. She was particularly pleased that neither my recruits nor I were killed, maimed, or otherwise inconvenienced.
Besides, she said she’d kill me if I came home dead.
Funny thing is, I truly think she means it.
I profess my love, tell her about my really healthy bonus package. I endure the shrill “Squeee!” of her telling her mother they’re going shopping again today.
She always has been the moral, ethical, and economic center of our family. I love her so for that.
Next on the roster was a collect call to Virginia and my agency buddies.
“Hey, guys”, I say, “How are things in the clean world? Still locked down?”
“Hello, Rock”, Rack and Ruin say in unison. They have me on speakerphone, even though they know how much I hate those things.
“Take me off that damn loudspeaker”, I demand.
“Nope, it’s breakfast time here and we need both hands free.” They riposte.
“You know that I know certain people, right…?” I said ominously.
They just chuckle.
That really hurt.
“Anyways. What’s up?” I re-interrogate.
“Well, we hear you’re really making waves over there. Literally and figuratively.” They say.
“Yeah. Business as more or less usual. Prosaic, boring, and spine-tinglingly dangerous. Another day in the life…” I yawn.
“That’s not what we heard”, Agent Rack replies.
“Oh? What have you heard?” I ask.
“We have heard of tales of recklessness and heroics regarding some 18,000 pounds of dodgy Chinese wholesale munitions.” He continued.
“Oh, that? Yeah. A spot of bother. No worries. We sorted it out.” I replied.
“About that. You took 24 green cadets with you to defuse a smoldering 9-ton ammo dump?” Ruin wondered.
“Yep. Good chaps. I think they’re going to work out just fine.” I said.
“Ah, Doctor. We want to let you know we’ve investigated your role in the last couple of days' activities over there. True, you are a private contractor, but Agent Ruin and I have put you in for an Agency citation. For valor and initiative above and beyond the call.” Agent Rack tells me.
“Whoa. Groovy! What’s that worth on eBay?” I ask, immediately running the solemn moment.
“You asshole!”, both agents laugh.
“Hey, it’s me. A leopard can’t change his spots or so goes the old story.” I snicker.
“And Doctor Rocknocker, we’d have no other way.” They agreed.
“Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment.”, I stated.
“OK, now all that fluff and circumstance is out of the way, what news have you for us?” Agent Rack enquires.
I give them the lowdown on some of the more promising students, especially Viswamitra Dattachaudhuri. I tell them that due to our vetting process, we’ve run the selected bunch through the wringer three times before they receive their numbered brass tags. I explain that it seems to be a good system. I’ll write it up in great and glorious detail in case anyone else wants to try and apply it themselves.
Scribbling can be heard down the line. I ask if they’re ready for more.
“There’s more?”, Agent Ruin asks, “You bucking for a promotion now to go along with your citation?”
“Hush, you.”, was all I said.
I told him of my run-in with the board of directors and Goodgulf Greyteeth, the headmaster of that special education class.
“Did you really tell the entire board to go ‘piss up a rope’?” Rack asks.
“That was the least of what I said to them.” I chuckled. “I swore, I stomped, I cursed, I fumed. I went full American on their flabby asses.”
“Not ‘full American’?” Rack recoiled verbally in horror.
“Yep. With itchweed clusters.” I chortled.
“Well, there goes that offer of Ambassadorship for our Dr. Rocknocker.” Ruin laughs.
“Bah! They couldn’t pay me enough”, I quipped.
“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Agent Ruin replied.
“Holy shit.”, I thought, “Were they being serious?”
“So, Doctor. We would appreciate full dossier profiles on those people you feel would be of interest to us here. You know the parameters we use to determine that. We trust your judgment.” Agent Ruin says.
“What’s this? A sudden brush-off? Or has your coffee gone cold?” I ask.
“Anyone ever tell you you’re very intuitive, Doctor? Bye now.” Agent Rack chuckles and rings off.
“Why do I let myself continue working with these guys?” I wonder to myself.
The next morning, after breakfast, Sanjay and I are back at the Barn at 0715. There is a knock on the door. It’s a courier and he has a message for me.
“Please accompany the courier to Warehouse 11.” was all the note said.
“Sanjay”, I said, “Hold down the fort. I’ve been summoned.”
“Got it, Rock. Chapters 6-12?” he asks.
Yep. Basic stuff. Really hammer it home. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I said and followed the unsmiling transport driver cum courier.
I pull out a cigar and off him one. He refuses politely. I offer him 200 rupees for his troubles. He accepts politely. We’re off in a cloud of blood-red dust and headed for Warehouse 11.
I meet Mr. Bana Padhya, the foreman of this warehouse.
“Doctor”, he says as we shake hands.
“Good to meet you. ‘Bana’ is it?” I ask.
“Yes, sir”, he replies.
“OK, Bana. Call me ‘Rock’.” I say.
“Fine. Dr. Rock, your bunker is finished. In fact, it’s already being populated.” He beams.
I feel a chill in the still tropical air.
“Please explain,” I asked simply.
“We finished the bunker you requested and designed. After that, we retrieved the materials from your adventures with the munitions tent the other day. We have placed those materials you had buried into the bunker. Please, let me show you.” He insists.
I breathe a bit easier. I remembered the Primacord that we salvaged. My heart rate dropped back down from hummingbird mode.
We rode out about 5 minutes and there, built into the side of a sandhill was a very respectable set of locked blast doors. I look and see the cross-braced sub-structure supporting the roof as well as providing ventilation.
They actually did follow my designs.
Mr. Bana escorts me to the doors. He twirls a knob, twiddles with a lever, diddles a keypad, produces a huge key, and proceeds to open the bunker.
We walk right in. I have to admit, I was impressed.
10 meters by 10 meters square and 4 meters or so tall. All built out of doubly-rebar reinforced concrete and cinderblocks. There was a strong forced-air draft running through the place, circulating air in from the top to bottom and out again. A digital readout on one bulkhead noted the time, date, temperature, and humidity. All this data was being recorded and could be downloaded at the terminal under the readout.
There were shelves, lockers, and lockable cupboards. There were keypads that allow or prohibit access to the more lockable storage sub-facilities. Over along the west wall is spool after spool of Primacord. It looks like it might still be useable, but until I give it the once over, I ask it to be locked behind closed doors.
They have fire suppression built-in as well as some sort of Asian faux-Halon system they had laying around gathering dust. That wasn’t in the original plans, but, hey, it can’t hurt.
I walk around and give the place the once over.
“Not bad”, I say, “Not too bad at all.”
I walk outside. Looking at the roof, I see a potential problem.
“Bana”, I say, “Get some of your guys before another single stick of anything is stored here. Get them on the roof and clear away all that sand.”
“But, Doc…Rock”, he protested, “Sand is heavy and when wet, will be a most beneficial addition to containing any blast if something should happen.”
“That defeats the purpose of my design”, I reply, “See those X-shaped cross-braces up there just under the roof?”
“Yes.”
“They are there not just for ventilation, but as structural support for the blast roof.” I said.
He looks at me quizzically.
“The way it works is this:”, I say, “If there’s an accident, the solid double-reinforced and sand-braced walls and blast-doors will contain the blast energy. Now, that energy has to go someplace, right? So I planned for it to go straight up. The roof is split cross-wise, petal-shaped. 4 petals will open like the eggs in the original Alien. They will peel back, on hinges connected to the X-shaped cross-members, and allow all that blast energy to go straight up and dissipate, without hurting anyone or anything.”
“Amazing”, was Mr. Bana’s reply. He assured me the roof sand would be removed immediately.
“Outstanding “, I replied, shook his hand, and got into the tap-tap for the ride back to the Barn.
“DOCTOR!” Mr. Bana yelled before we took off.
“You might want these.” He says as he hands me the procedure, codes, and my own keys for the blockhouse.
“Of course. Many thanks, Mr. Bana” I reply as we take off in a flurry of dust and good feelings for once.
Back at the Barn, Sanjay is going over Chapter 9 and I walk in.
“Ok, gentlemen. Break time.” Sanjay announces. “Be back here in 30.”
The room empties almost immediately.
“Well, Rock”, Sanjay asks, “What was that all about?”
“Good news for a change”, I am and show him the procedures, codes, and keys for the blockhouse. “We now have a fully functional explosives bunker. Now, all we need is some explosives. Oh, we do have that Primacord you guys buried in the sand the other day.”
“That is good news.” Sanjay reports, “Oh, I got a note the air packs you ordered have arrived.”
“They actually found the 3M™ Scott™ Air-Pak™ X3™ SCBA gear I wanted?” I asked.
“They had to go through the military to find them. The military, by the way, was a bit annoyed that you wouldn’t use their air packs”, he added.
“If I’m going to teach these characters how to go into a dodgy atmosphere; potentially poisonous, or otherwise hazardous, and survive, I want gear with which I’m familiar. Scott? Oh, yeah. Indian military? Not so much.” I explained.
“What’s so good about Scott?” Sanjay asked.
“Well, it’s been around forever”, I say, “It’s the brand of choice in the Oil Patch. Plus, they come with CGA or Snap-Change cylinder connection, they’re available in 2.2, 4.5, or 5.5 cylinder pressures, have dual-redundant pressure reducers, a new back frame contour design with articulating shoulder harness, possess improved hose and wire management, have optimally positioned "buddy" lights, "External" HUD for easy air status updates of the team, Vibralert tactile alarm and best of all, they’re made in the U.S.A.”
“OK, you’ve sold me. I’ll take a dozen.” Sanjay laughs.
“Laugh all you want. When things get weird, the weird turn pro and wear Scott air packs.” I laugh back.
Sanjay smiles. He knows that I’m joking as well as being serious. ‘Eh, it’s a gift.
“Have them roll the entire list over to the bunker. Plenty of room there to store them. We’ll start tomorrow on their care and feeding with the guys.” I said.
The regular crowd shuffles in, move their brass markers to the proper spots on the tote board and I notice an unfamiliar customer hanging around the back of the room.
“Sanjay”, I say, “Handle this for me for a while. I think I’ve got another message waiting.”
“Sure, Rock”, Sanjay says, “We’re just going over black powder and its historical uses. Nothing too mission-critical.”
“Great”, I say, and pat him on the shoulder. “Make it interesting.”
I motion to the guy in the back to meet me outside.
I am outside firing up a heater and he walks up to me and asks, “Are you Doctor Rocknocker?”
“Ah! Let me check.”, I say. I pull out my wallet and look, “Yep. That’s me.”
Not as much as a smile.
“Please sign here.” He instructs.
I sign and ask “What is this?”
“It’s for Dr. Rocknocker.” He says, turn heel, and walks rapidly away.
“Well, that was weird.” I think. I pull out my Neutral European Country Military-issue Knife and Pocket Tool Set and zip the heavy envelope open.
It’s from Dynamo-Noble.
“Hurrah!” I think. A real munitions and explosives manufacturer and wholesaler.
It’s a ticked manifest of everything I had ordered previously!
• Du Pont Herculene 60% Extra Fast!
• Pure metallurgical-grade ammonium nitrate!
• Trojan® GEOPRIME® blasting caps and millisecond delay super-boosters!
• Blastex Composition C-4! Real C-4!
• Biterox safety blasting caps and fuse.
• Ensign-Bickford Brand Primacord – Primaline 85!
• Eurenco PETN!
• Eastman Chemical Company RDX!
• Professional Demolition International demolition wire!
• ‎EPC-UNIVERSAL EXPLOSIVES Detonation cord!
• Oil Well Explosives Gelatin Nitroglycerin Dynamite )some of which might go in my personal collection.)
• And NO! Nitronox™!
It’s like Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa all in May. It’s the first real good thing to happen this beleaguered year.
“Me so happy!”
I look deeper. The C-4, dynamite, Primacord, Det cord, caps, boosters, and fuse are already here. I need to call and supervise their loading into the new bunker.
The rest is en route and should be here within 2-3 days.
That’s cutting it close but will have to do.
At least, I’ve got some old friends to play with now.
Those kids have no idea what’s just hit.
I rub my hands together in barely contained glee. I feel like a kid in a candy store with a brand new Mastercard.
Back in class, I tell my students that we will meet after lunch over at the new bunker. I have Sanjay get on the phone to Mr. Maya. We’re going to need the magic bus once again.
After lunch, I’m sitting in the shade outback of Outbuilding #2. I’m having a post-prandial smoke, a tot or two, and Sanjay is almost at the point where he got enough dander up to ask me for a cigar.
Suddenly we hear the raucous strains of Bollywood music.
It’s Mr. Maya and his Magic Bus!
The bus coughs to a stop, and Mr. Maya gets out.
“How are you today, Sir?” I ask, shaking his hand. “Added some paint to the old motor coach, have we?”
“Oh, yes, Dr. Rock”, he smiles, “With Sanjay’s payment and your bonus, I could buy many new colors. Like I say, I never know when to quit.” He chuckles.
The bus was covered with a pattern of startling hues, ranging from schizoid red to psychopathic azure, post-traumatic stress purple to exhibitionist green, bipolar brown to obsessive-compulsive cerulean. It added a bit of color to an otherwise drab environment.
“We’ll load up right after lunch”, I said.
We sit and swap some stories, and I decide it’s warm enough for another Tiger. Sanjay calls a number on his phone and suddenly, a courier arrives.
He has a small lunch-box sized cooler. Inside are 4 iced Tigers.
Sanjay refuses to give me that number.
I’m enjoining the light, pilsnery taste of the Tiger as is Mr. Maya. This stuff’s so light, you need to tie it down or it’ll float away.
My team is filtering back after lunch. I look and see it’s getting close to that time.
Precisely at 1300 hours, we all hear and feel a small boom, a tongue of unctuous black smoke licks the sky, and a siren is screaming its tonsils out.
“Post lunch back-to-work cannon and whistle?” I ask.
“No, Rock”, Sanjay replies anxiously, “There’s been an accident in the yard…
To be continued…

FLY WINGMAKERS FLY
UPDATE: A disinformation agent has doxxed me here on reddit, in another WingMakers post I made, and called out my city of residence whence he should not have this information, I guess they are afraid of this knowledge, TRULY afraid. Afraid enough to doxx little ole me. I am not afraid. EYES ON AND SHARE:
[–]Branbrokemylegs [score hidden] 26 minutes ago
If your ideas can't stand up to the slightest bit of scrutiny without you flying off the rails then there is something wrong with the messenger.
Go outside, smoke a bowl since it's legal in Canada, and step away from conspiracies for a bit. I'm sure >>Ottawa<< is beautiful this time of year.
[–]trancemixt[S] 1 point 14 minutes ago
Oh look at you trying to scare me. What a brave little man.
Do my ideas scare you, little one?
WITNESS the disinformation agent call out my city in an attempt to scare me.
WITNESS their disgusting and vile nature.
Hey Fred buddy, no. Thank.. YOU!!
https://imgur.com/a/UiBTlze
UPDATE 2: I am not one to complain but yo... the Reddit Vote Manipulation is REAL. Frustrating too.
NOTE: I used to be very wary of the "Ra" channelings but now that I have found the people approaching it scientifically with good morals and nothing but good intentions, we see the result. TRUTH is the result. Amazing.
how about starting with clearing up how human history really went (re: extra terrestrials in our history).
Why don't we ask them directly?
To start, what was Egypt all about?
Answer:
https://www.lawofone.info/results.php?c=People&su=Akhenaten#Akhenaten
This book is mindblowing: https://www.llresearch.org/library/the_law_of_one_pdf/the_law_of_one_book_1.pdf
RECOMMENDED: To browse and click on many names at the top of the above link and read, Jesus, Muhammad, even Hitler and Eisenhower. Fascinating.
wingmakers.us (real)
wingmakers.com (truth mixed with lies, the site was taken over and replaced, thank God for Fred Burk SAVING the entire site and copying it over to wingmakers.us or I would not be here typing this.)
When you see how the interviews were changed, and WHAT was changed, you can see the CLEAR coverrup (damage control). They knew the bulk of it was out of the hat so they decided to change the interviews by DELETING huge sections and replacing with LIES. By changing names and even distances to Star Systems. Weird, no?
NOTE: all over the web, youtube, everywhere, you will have assholes (agents and fucking morons) talking about "Dr.Neruda" and interview 3, 4 or 5. These interviews were NEVER RELEASED and the ones on youtube are quite obviously FULL. OF. LIES. it pushes new age horseshit and lies about some "Grand Portal". The original interviews below SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. No New Age garbage. Zero mention of Grand Portal or Ascending to higher dimensions, that is all new age garbage.
WINGMAKERS IS THE REAL DEAL.
Interview One: WantToKnow.info/wingmakersorig/wingmakersinterviews1changes.pdf
Interview Two: WantToKnow.info/wingmakersorig/wingmakersinterviews2changes.pdf
note: when the name was changed to "Dr. Neruda" it was the CIA taking control, these 2 pdf's are what remains of this truth disclosure from around 1999-2000 and then 2001 happened and the WingMakers was buried.
Now we have someone running Wingmakers.com who is NOT the original poster. They have changed everything on the sight (CENSORED) and literally turned it into wholesale (everything used to be ofc free).
They've commercialized an alien contact episode to hide it.
Here's where it gets really messed up:
In the original interviews someone named "Mahu Nahi" is mentioned one single time. He is said to be the leader of the "Corteum" (AKA annunaki) which is supposed to be an alien race that the US government has made a treaty with (think Eisenhower in the 1950's). I believe the Corteum is disinformation and he was instead referring to the Draco (reptilians).
So now we have someone named "James Mahu" who mysteriously took over the site wingmakers.com and wiped the original content from the web.
If you search for his instagram, he calls himself "James Mahu - Mahu Nahi". According to the legit interviews, and if it is true, James Mahu aka mahunahi is quite literally the leader of the "corteum" aka Draco. ROFL.
He claims he "updated the website" as per the emails exchanges he had with Fred Burk that Fred published on his website. But it is all a lie as Fred shows us; they CHANGED everything, added in Theosophy and New Age Luciferian trash to it, added as a goal to "ascend" to higher states and all this HORSESHIT. What used to be there, is truly amazing.
How amazing? So amazing that this info still stands all by itself, just like Phil Schneider and Fritz Springmeier. Some very special people.
Been researching for like 20 hours straight and am unable to prove WingMakers as being a hoax - this is REAL - and is the biggest coverrup going. The one with the BIGGEST implications. Don't believe me? Try to prove me wrong, I dare you.
When Phil Schneider was killed in the 1990's there was 130 confirmed deep underground military bases in the USA alone and 1400+ worldwide.
So many of these bases exist now? If they are so fucking huge, what the is going on down in those bases?
When Qanon made references to the matrix and people being fed on or whatever I am convinced this is the DUMB's and the fact they have made alien contact long ago and have done an agreement with the Draco to literally farm humans and feed them to Draco.
(SIDENOTE: we also know like ancient places in mexico and whatnot used to worship serpent gods and do sacrifices to them, clearly just more annunaki crap, and look at our elites now, luciferians doing sacrifices. Is lucifer just made up crap so the Draco can get their meals? How far is this from the truth, not sure.. or how close?).
You wonder why they would eat kids and shit? Who taught them to do this? Who told them to go all in?
Could it be the Draco? We are not being told the full story.
But its NOT ALL BAD. Read below to find out, the good guys are here, and from my 2 days of almost nonstop research I am more and more convinced that Donald Trump is working with the Labyrinth Group and that Qanon IS this group.
Have you guys seen these videos on youtube of "black magick" having these "magicians" going and making shit appear out of nowhere? I saw one where an asian dude made an entire, GIGANTIC, loaf of bread appear out of his hand - out of thin air, sitting in the middle of a restaurant.
The Luciferians allowed this to go into the open, they allowed this guy to display LERM as a "miracle" or as they call it "magic", for 10 million normies et all to gaze upon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3YLneFhr60
They do it using LERM (Light Encoded Reality Matrix) just one technology/science that they hide from us.
Yesterday I spent 12 hours researching only the WingMakers.
Al Bielek during the Philadelphia Experiment actually ended up being sent to the year 2800 and HE MET THE WINGMAKERS.
They are a HUMAN CIVILIZATION from 750 years in our future who discovered time travel.
They went back to the year 800 A.D. and buried "time capsule" sites which include AMAZING music, art, poetry and philosophy. Absolutely none of this is Dark Shit. No occult. No new age. No "worship the light" horseshit.
Not only that, but its indicated in the original literature that 6 other sites (7 total) - 7 trumpets? - needed to be found to fully comprehend the Time Capsule and receive the tech for BST (Blank Slate Technology) which is actually a technical way of saying Time Travel.
this is the real deal.
The only content remaining uncensored of this amazing discovered is housed at wingmakers.us which is a site controlled by a true Patriot named "Fred Burk" - thank you so much Fred!!!
Guys...
Who are "The WingMakers" ?
What is "The Labyrinth Group" ?
we are not alone on this planet..
youtube.com/watch?v=xFpes9qWMj4
youtube.com/watch?v=4hxBNJRVoTs&t=4s
WHO IS: The Labyrinth Group?
WHAT IS: The Ancient Arrow Project?
Within the ACIO, there are 14 distinct levels of security clearance. Those who are at level 12 and above are aware of the Corteum/Anunnaki Technology Transfer Program (TTP). >>>There are only 7 who have level 14 clearance. <<< [Less than 10] - [Qanon]
is Qanon = Labyrinth Group ?
further notes: Phil Schneider was good friends with Al Bielek.
Bielek was involved with the Philadelphia experiment along with his brother Duncan. (think Nicolas Tesla).
Bielek is actually the guy who convinced Phil to come out and do public discourses (he was killed for this months later).
Bielek, as a result of Phi. Experiment. was sent to the year 2800 and met with the WingMakers (no shit!)
Can you people see why this is so huge? Tesla, Trump, Bielek, Schneider.
Phil Schneiders Dad, Oscar Schneider, went on many trips just before World War 2 broke out and even 1 trip just as the war broke out. Oscar would return home with a German, the German would stay at their house 2-3 weeks and eventually just blend into society and dissapear.
YEP, you heard that right, he was bringing NAZI's over from Germany!
NAZI SCIENTISTS TO BE MORE SPECIFIC.
Bieleks father was the Head Medical Tech involved for the Philadelphia Experiment. They discovered time travel, BY ACCIDENT, of course
if you are not yet freaked out and want more Draco evidence (WARNING, its some disturbing stuff):
youtube.com/useTHEYLIVE2012/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid
CONTINUED:
If you search the web you can find people in India talking about ACIO positions and it states clearly in the original interview transcripts that the ACIO has offices in India, USA and one other country.
Al Bielek telling all about Philadelphia Experiment and how he traveled to the year 2800 and met the WingMakers. youtube.com/watch?v=dYE1Oady6Qo&list=PLmqTgSUpRWNvDJSiwue_B_1UB4rSeQaHE
My research indicates he was part of not only Phi. Exp. but also the Montauk Project AND NOT ONLY THAT, he was one of their PROGRAMMERS of what is dubbed "The Montauk Boys" <---STRANGER THINGS [MK ULTRA]
For anyone interested listen here and listen CLOSELY. Do you know the name "Fritz Springmeier" ?
Fritz Springmeier knew Phil Schneider very very well.
Now let that sink in a moment.
Yes you heard right. Fritz held this information for over 20 years secret. He freaked the fuck out when they found Phil dead. Phil was an MK ULTRA victim and had multiple personalities - part of him breaking free of black projects and going rogue was him trying to not only tell the truth - but to break free of his ACTUAL programming. He was very high up in NATO when he left - head of their top GEOLOGY Department (THINK DEEP UNDERGROUND FUCKING BASES). THIS MAN KNEW ALL, AND TOLD ALL.
Al Bielek found out years later that his real name is Edward Cameron. And that Duncan Cameron is his brother. MK Ultra. Multiple Personalities, like Phil Schneider. These guys were victims of the MK Ultra program EVEN AS SCIENTISTS IMPLEMENTING THE BLACK PROJECTS. Now thats twisted.
OK? Ready for more?
This is a top secret Military wing of the NSA - called ACIO.
in the ACIO, they have created a subgroup of only the top clearances called the Labyrinth Group (12x clearance and above).
There is a leader of the Group and he is known only as Fifteen (15).
The 'whistleblower' who dropped this info on the net in 1997 is a 12x cleared linguistic expert called in to help on the discovery of the Ancient Arrow Project site in New Mexico.
What they discovered was legit.
Consisted of an underground tunnel complex that was perfect, not a pebble anywhere, everything perfect, the site was perfectly preserved for 800 years. Smooth surfaces and they later discovered that they had used some sort of Sound Tech. to carve out the stones (Harmonics, if you find the perfect Harmonic Frequency of a substance (like rock) you can fuck with the matter, its much like the drills they use for the D.U.M.B's as Schneider talks about - he was an expert GEOLOGIST working on black projects).
Only dust was found covering the smooth walls, ceiling and floor because the site is 1,200 years old!
It was carbon dated to have been put there in the year 800 A.D. by time travellers from our current year 2800 (from our current timeline I should say). A group who calls themselves the WingMakers.
They found 23 chambers (humans have 23 chromosomes).
Each chamber consisted of 2 pieces of Poetry, one Huge Painting on the wall and an Audio Music Recording corresponding to the chamber. In the 23rd chamber they found an OPTICAL DISC (like a CD-rom) with hieroglyphics on it. It took them 4 years to figure out how to read its contents. It contained 8,100 pages of writings, philosophy and music.
People who viewed this original material as it was dropped on the web (the first and second chamber material was available completely as the translations were done for these 2 chambers and they knew what music and philosophy went to it. It changed peoples lives.
But it gets even more crazy... the linguist, after much studying of their ancient language, started to discover that the entire site is a time capsule. The entire site itself, is a language, its a message.
Now let me tell you, during the interview he made a ball of yarn appear out of thin air for the reporter, just like that, didnt give a fuck.
Then the woman is losing her shit, shes like... wtf? OK can u make a million dollars appear? hes like "yep, I can". totally fuckin dead serious hes being... she starts like trying to reason why he should make it appear, how it would help her, essentially shes freaking out.
So she calms down a bit and figures that because she will have to hide away a while after releasing this crazy info, she could certainly use 10,000 bucks it would be really helpful (shes being completely earnest) so the guy is like "yah sure makes sense" and literally makes dozens of 100 bills appear out of thin air for her. SHE STARTS LOSING HER SHIT.
This is LERM. This is Light Encoded Reality Matrix - its a SCIENCE the Elite know and use. Creating money out of thin air?
These movies hollywood makes, inception, in the interview they talk about "intervention points" relating to BST technology which is TIME TRAVEL.
Certain races in the galaxy already possess BST but they do not use it on us.
There is no real big threat, as per this 12x scientist, from our current galaxy./
But there is a prophecy that is Top Secret, sumerian documents, that they have about an invasion in the future.
An invasion from an Alien race NOT FROM OUR GALAXY
A hivemind like alien race that utilizes essentially drones, like a big fuckin ant colony, and they are a COLONIZATION race.
Singleminded colonization.
Now stop right there - has anyone ever played or seen STARCRAFT?
We are the Terran.
The Protoss is the Annunaki AKA Corteum whom is working the humans to fight against....
THE ZERG.
The Zerg is this hive mind alien race that the ELITE WELL KNOW is prophesied to come and attack us.
SPACE FORCE?
THREAT FROM SPACE?
know what I think?
Labyrinth Group figured out that the attack was delayed to a future date and instead they focused fully on getting Trumper into power. If Hillary had gotten in, who fuckin knows.
Remember the footage of Hillary coughing out some green globular object during a speech? That doesnt happen to human beings, as we all know, no matter how much the talking heads on TV talk until their blue in the face (lie until blue in the face). The footage of them ripping a kids face off: her and Huma? Humans do not do that guys.
Frazzled.rip for all the normies who have no clue what I'm talking about -> PizzaGate.
FAKE NEWS is a term that appeared at the SAME TIME as PIZZAGATE.
When Trump refers to FAKE NEWS -> He is talking to the Media and saying "I KNOW WHAT FAKE NEWS IS COVERING UP FOR YOU, SO I WILL USE THIS TERM BACK ON YOU".
These are not even human beings. Refer to much of my Draco (annunaki) evidence pointed to on youtube, the AZUR AZEEN channel as well as marinodelfino will have much good info.
KNOW WHAT I REALLY THINK? I think Trump is a good alien working with the humans (Terrans) to stop these psychopaths and end their feeding of our kids to the bad reptilians ALL THE WHILE planning to fight the incoming Zerg invasion.
Remember Trump tweeting HIMSELF AS PEPE THE FROG?
Frog = Reptile.
He is telling us that he has allied himself, and probably many other good aliens, to fight not only the bad reptilian/other aliens who are against the humans, but also preparing for this incoming invasion. I don't know what other terms to use so fuck it, use starcraft labels.
Guys... I could have much of this wrong, but you know what? It's logical and fits. How can Trump have so much energy when he eats McDonalds and Drinks diet fuckin coke, doing no exercise and just going nonstop. HE AINT HUMAN! LOL< Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. I don't think it matters. Human or Alien, if he loves GOOD. HAS GOOD MORALS. WANTS US TO THRIVE? I say... fuck it. LET THE TRUTH BE HEARD.
SPACE FORCE uses the STAR TREK logo =)
NOTE: For any who want to research this topic, you may note that all available LEGITIMATE footage of reptilian (draco, annunaki) on the web has been manipulated via view and upvote count but more importantly, ALL QUALITY IS 480p or lower and THIS IS BY DESIGN. I am not new to this subject, just only recently found out about wingmakers and ACIO. It was a well hidden - I found it by accident. The Hoax garbage led me to the legit stuff, so a huge CIA failure on that front, HAHAHA!
For those having a hard time reading (or just to pwn agents) ANYTHING with "Neruda" in it, and ANYTHING talking about "Grand Portals" and "Ascension" bullshit and saying we are slaves in a fake reality ARE REPEATING LUCIFERIAN HORSESHIT AND IT IS TO BE IGNORED.
The truth is contained at wingmakers.us ONLY
period.
1930 - Einstein is brought from Germany over to the USA.
Working at CAL tech.
Working at the Institute of Advanced Studies.
Working alongside good buddy Nicolas Tesla
Keep in mind this is all ocurring BEFORE the CIA exists (which was founded in 1947). This was all being conducted as a research project initially.
They were working on an invisibility project for the Military, at Roosevelts direction, he KNEW Tesla was brilliant. I mean they fucking brought over Albert Einstein so it sounds like some serious shit.
Continued until 1940, Al Bielek working on this project alongside his brother Duncan. in January of 1940 a successful test was done in Brooklyn naval yard. The ship was rendered invisible when the equipment was turned on and nobody was on board the ship, for safety. At this point Navy classified it, everybody had to get clearances.
1941 till 1942 project was moved to the back of a shipyard in Philadelphia.
late 1890's tesla makes a coil that breaks a power plant - but its also said he made contact with Another Civilization Not From Our Planet. At this point JP Morgan contacts tesla.
Tesla worked for RCA from 1919 till 1939 as their Chief Engineer. The lie on google saying he was a recluse tries to hide this - yet it was one of the busiest times in Tesla's life IRL.
MORE:
1941 till 1942 project was moved to the back of a shipyard in Philadelphia.
late 1890's tesla makes a coil that breaks a power plant - but its also said he made contact with Another Civilization Not From Our Planet. At this point JP Morgan contacts tesla.
Tesla worked for RCA from 1919 till 1939 as their Chief Engineer. The lie on google saying he was a recluse tries to hide this - yet it was one of the busiest times in Tesla's life IRL. Held a retirement party for Tesla in 1939 at Cherryhill, NJ. People since have tried to trace the history of Tesla and RCA but have not been able to find them. He decided to use the name Nicolas Turbil for some reason at RCA. Records were later destroyed and Bielek is not sure really why. In 1931 he was working on the “Free-Energy” business (wow) Took an auto, ripped out the engine, put in an electric motor and a “little black box” which was essentially free energy that he had developed around the turn of the century. Jp Morgan wanted no part, as we know. Put the black box in the Dashboard and plugged it in, and it drove the 75 HP motor of the car (electric). Self powering car, in 1931. Using free energy in the air. This secret apparently died with him. Japanese tried to recreate what he did, many years later, and they said “Tesla did it better than us and nobody knows how he did it”. He developed particle beam weapon and tried to sell to US government. Nobody wanted to buy it, not USA, not Canada, but RUSSIA did buy it (rofl). They bought it for 25k cash lol 1935-1936, while working on 'Project Invisibility'
He needed money so bad that he sold that tech to them so cheap. Eventually the US Govt did provide Tesla a stipend because he was needing money.
He was anything but a recluse.
He knew Roosevelt from years prior (World War 1)
When he met roosevelt again in 1931, he told him about some of the things he had been up to (projects).
He told him he had a good track record and had many projects under his name (successful).
He had 2 laboratories and one of those labs was contained in the twin towers of the Waldorf Astoria hotel.
(Reminds me of ASTORs of Titanic fame, ones against the Fed Reserve who were killed).
Had secret laboratory in New Jersey as well.
He also worked at institute of Advanced Study. Princeton.
Al Bielek worked there also, he asked if they had records of Tesla (this was later after Nikola died).
He was told that nobody who actually worked there and received a paycheque, had files on them kept.
All they had was a folder on Tesla. Contained a telegram (sent from Institute to New York (assume Waldorf Astoria)) announcing Nikola Tesla had died on 7th Jan, 1943 and announcing the plans for his funeral. This was the only thing in the file.
Back to 1930's. He had an incredible and impeccable reputation – he never married his whole life.
Tesla was friends with a guy named HILBERT from Germany who was a brilliant mathematician who essentially figured out there was multiple dimensions using Math.
Tesla learned all his formulas and was fascinated.
This stuff was brought over to USA by Van Neumann and showed to Tesla (institude advanced study princeton)
This was all used in the experiments (Philadelphia exp)
Electricity and current flow, in electrical circuits.
There are elctric fields, magnetic fields, ever heard of “Gravity Field” ?
Mass of the planet determines str. Of Gravity field = incorrect.
Gravity Field is what was used to create a means of access to the time field.
Not many people outside the HARDCORE scientific field understand that time is not an illusion but is in fact a FIELD. (measurable).
(Al Bielek – whos a smart fucker – is trying to break it down how this all works for us (laymen)).
He says Gravity Field, Electrical field and Magnetic field all form basically an equilateral triangle (they all work together).
At 3 points of the triangle. If you interconnect these 3 fields using electronics, which they took many many years to figure out how this all works and how to build the hardware and setup these fields working together..
you setup electronics and electronic means, to properly interact together, it develops (gives access to?) the Time Field.
This is a small localized field, It depends how much power you put into it. You can access it, and manipulate the time field, for effects which as local. Think about a donut. A torroidal structure resembling a donut. Time is a closed loop, a closed circuit.
There is no beginning and there is no ending (infinity chan logo? 8Chan) There is a point where you can say it is PLUS or MINUS infinity but this is a mathematical concept that perhaps doesn't have any feeling in reality, you might say there is a beginning and ending and you can go through that point.
This is a concept, Alpha and Omega, We are at some point in the time field.
Think of a line around the edge of this donut, this is the reality edge of time, the 3 vectors. Time can be measured with a clock. Time has another aspect, another vector called T2, which is at right angles to the linear flow. It controls T1, they combine for the time field.
In you go to T2 and affects things there, it affects T1.
They created a time field.
If you can create a field large enough to surround an object, you can hide the ship basically. This field affects time around the object, with enough power, can make the field bigger.
The field creates a rotation around the object (torroidal field) which causes so that light can pass through the field, the object is invisble essentially. The light is being reflected back by the time field.
No return of light, no image. Sounds simple, but its really not. If you make the index of refraction of the ship = 1 , then it is invisible. It bends light.
Tesla involved in this all the up until March 1942. When they heard he made the little ship small, Roosevelt contacted him and asked him to do it with a big ship, and everything was classified. It was moved to Philadelphia.
Tesla had Einstein as a consultant.
Many brilliant people involved.
Al Bielek had been sent out, with his brother Duncan, out on a ship with a home dock being PHILADELPHIA in 1940 ship called the Pennsylvania arrived to pearl harbor as ship was due for overhaul in Oct 1941.
So they went to Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, and then left to go on leave for 2 months. On Dec 5th, 1941 they were supposed to head back to Pearl Harbour but they were intercepted and told not to go back because there would be an attack on the island and the people at Princeton did not want them on the island then.
And 2 days later the attack happened, They had known for 2 months, everybody on the island, that an attack was coming from Japan they just didn't know when. This lie (surprise attack) was ofc used to get AMERICA into the War.
As they worked back in Princeton in 1941 on Philadelphia experiment, on a huge battleship, they installed the equipment in the ship and began doing testing but Tesla was worried that the coils and equipment would be too powerful for the sailors who would be aboard if they were to ever try and use the equipment. Tesla tried to tell them to put back the date for the test but was told
DERP MERP THERE IS A WAR ON MR. TESLA, THE DATE IS FIRM.
But on the night before the first test he went around and sabotaged some equipment so the test would fail the next day.
At this point, Tesla left the project (wow)
Van Neuymann was assigned to replace him.
First thing he did was try to figure out what had gone wrong – it did not take him long to figure out what had gone wrong. He wanted to redesign the system. He decided he wanted to scrap the analog system – he decided instead of continuous raditation field he wanted to use instead a PULSE field. It was more efficient in his view. Van Neuymann was a very strange man, he had the ability to not only conceptualize his opinion but also build the hardware to make his work, brilliant. Good at Math, Good Engineer. He decided they needed not only a Pulse System, but that they needed a ship specifically designed from the ground up, for this project. (Bielek now describes the various modifications that Van Neuymann requested of the Navy Ship Builders at their site, Newark Shipyard). Asked them to provide a hollow gun turret, leave it all gutted out. Ship was ready in summer of 1942. DE-173 (USS Eldridge) was transferred to Philadelphia Navy Yard to install some very heavy equipment.
They were using Megawatts of Power (Diesel Generator) @ 1.6 Mhz Alot of heavy equipment was fitted on the ship.
Here Al stops talking and mentions how the Black Budgets are always 50 and even sometimes 100 years ahead in technology.
What he is saying to the idiot normies is to fucking undo what you think is possible, completely WIPE IT CLEAN because YOU DON't KNOW WHAT IS POSSIBLE.
Finnally in the summer of 1943 the first of the total of two tests began. There was a Capt Harrison who was kind of the head coordinator for the testing – he was the first Native American to ever get to the rank of Capt in the Navy.
He was observing the invisble ship for 20 mins while the equipment was turned on but saw a problem – he noticed that the waterline which should show at least an outline of where the ship should be – was ALSO INVISIBLE. So he ordered they turn off the equipment.
They confirmed during the test that the ship was also completely invisible to Radar.
Also noted that much of the crew that on the upper deck complained of “mental issues”, as Tesla had warned.
July 1943 first test with the volunteer crew, after much training and preparation.
The first test the ship kind of faded out of view like special FX in movies, but REAL. Not an illusion.
It was invisible to the eye and also invisible to the radar.
It was mandated by the very head of the Navy, an Admiral, that the tests be completed by 12 August or that they were to drop the test. Highly unusual and we do not know why this happened, they never got the answer till the late 1980's.
With a lot of research they did find out eventually but it would take way too long to explain now.
They worked around the clock as a result, on the project.
The reasoning was that at night in a convoy you must be able to see the ship somewhat with optical sight, because of dangers with own allied ships. What they really wanted was the radar invisibility.
By 9 August 1943, when they were getting ready for the final test, everybody started getting this very uneasy, odd, queasy feeling. Like something was wrong.
There was one crew member who almost bed ridden because he was so nervously thinking about a feeling of impending doom.
Comes the 12th of August, they had a final party the night before at the Blue Lagoon Bar.
They board the ship, it goes down the harbour, they have 3 observer ships nearby.
Set for the test. At the apropriate hour – everything was turned on by radio link.
The ship became radar invisible, but you could still see the shop via a green fog – highly ionized ozone around the ship. Producing a greenish fog, allowing them to optically see the ship.
But after 70 seconds, there was a blue flash of light, and suddenly everything dissapeared. No more USS Eldridge.
No communication. Nobody knew what happened, nobody had any concept of what was happening until the ship returned FOUR HOURS LATER at the same place in the harbour.
End of tape 1
More to follow. Pls keep upvoting.
It is a badge of Honour that they felt the need to doxx me.
LOL
OVER THE TARGET, WE ARE.
AND ON, WE FIGHT.
LIGHT over DARK.
CALL TO DIG ON THE FOLLOWING:
Statistics and meaning of name Jamisson
Usage: 72% firstname, 28% surname. Jamisson [NERUDA] first name was found 31 times in 3 different countries. Surname Jamisson is used at least 12 times in at least 2 countries. (USA,Australia)
"Jamisson Neruda" why did the spooksters choose to use this particular name? what does it mean? could it connect to the actual whistleblower or reporter that dissapeared back in 1998-1999 ?
I'm 1 hour into The Matrix (1999) -> Don't forget this WingMakers stuff all became applicable again in 1994, that's when the rockslide occurred, and let me tell you that this movie is a GIGANTIC redpill on more than we thought. Is fifteen = Neo aka The One ? Or a dramatized version of him.
I imagine the "Agents" as the CIA who are run by the cabal and surely contain tons of these Draco....
trippy stuff
It is very much recommended to go down the rabbit hole on this WingMaker material, and then rewatch The Matrix.
NOTE: I am continuing to add as I look into this, and edit this post, so always come back for more updates y'all. Please upboat for visibility and all that. Appreciated!
Why is PEPE so popular? A human displayed as a frog?
Why is it REALLY so popular?
Further reading into all of this: https://www.wingmakers.us/wingmakersorig/Anne.shtml
WE DIG.
FUCK LIARS.

Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.
Today's interview is with Robert Patton of SHEATH LLC, a brand that sells premium men's pouch underwear.
Some stats:

• Product: Premium men's pouch underwear.
• Revenue/mo: $100,000
• Started: February 2014
• Location: colorado springs
• Founders: 2
• Employees: 0

Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?

Hello, my name is Robert Patton and I am the CEO of SHEATH, a premium men's pouch underwear company that sells to active men in over 74 countries.
If you are not familiar with pouch underwear, our original design has what we call an inverted kangaroo pouch for your joey located inside of the garment to separate the package from the inner thigh region. Our latest models now feature a similarly-designed dual pouch which offers separation not only from the inner thighs, but also for the penis from the testicles, keeping everything dry and comfortable.
We sell mainly men's underwear, but recently introduced the women’s line and we are currently generating over $4K a day in sales with that projected to double by end of summer 2019.

What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

In the beginning, it was an idea based out of necessity. I couldn’t find the product I wanted so I created my own. At the time, I was not strapped for cash because I was in the Army, but I was only making about 50 grand a year risking my life for a cause I no longer believed in.
The idea
It was in Iraq in 2008 when I was on my second tour with the Army 111th Quartermaster Company. As you can imagine, it was hotter than the devil's balls. This time I was in Tikrit and I was on mission.
My biggest problem was that I couldn’t help but be annoyed with my underwear situation at the time. The underwear I had been issued were old, loose, saggy and coarse like sandpaper, making my situation downstairs a hot mess with extreme chafing and discomfort. In fact, it was so uncomfortable that I had a “necessity is the mother of invention” moment and I conceived the idea that if everything downstairs (the junk, package, boys, frank and beans etc) was separated, this would eliminate skin-on-skin contact, thereby reducing excessive moisture and improving comfort significantly.
So while testing out my prototypes, the boys were now being kept cool and dry rather than compressed and constricted under hot, dark and moist conditions for long periods of time, which, for anyone, comes with undesired consequences, i.e. persistent rashes and/or excessive need for re-adjusting.
A failed business in my past
Being that I was in the army, I had no background in clothing construction development or design, but I did have a background in inventions. I actually, unofficially, invented crazy keys back in 2000. Yes, the keys that have your favorite football team or Disney character on them.
I had the idea back in 2000, but quickly gave up after a few months because it was too hard to do the way I wanted to manufacture the keys. Rather than painting the design on, I had envisioned it engraved on the key, which overcomplicated the invention, and ultimately, because it was too complicated, couldn’t find help, so I gave up.
This was also prior to reading the book that changed my life, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, which would have taught me never to give up at the first sign of defeat. Unfortunately, or as fate would have it, I did give up at the first sign of defeat, as many often do. But the experience wasn’t a total loss.
What I took from that endeavor was to keep things simple. Don’t over complicate things. I applied this when conceptualizing SHEATH. Keep it simple. Had I figured out the paint on the key idea back in 2001, which I had actually tried once but with too thick of paint that would constantly chip off, I would have succeeded and my life would have turned out very different - I would have been the key guy with kiosks all over the world in Walmarts and Home Depots, but now I am the underwear guy.
Both are cool and I love my current position, but I never forgot my first major invention that failed. Particularly when I saw a “Crazy Key” in a store about 5 years after I had given up, I felt like I got punched in the gut… Fortunately, I was in the Army at the time so I didn’t dwell on it and it wasn’t long after that that I had the idea for SHEATH. So to reiterate, I didn’t have experience at all in underwear or fashion, but I did have experience with inventing and was now armed with the knowledge of keeping the idea as simple as possible and not giving up at that first sign of defeat.
The lesson is, in the beginning, keep it simple. Baby steps. It is the key to starting a business. Many people over complicate the matter so much in their mind that they never even make the first move. There is always time to expand on the idea later, once you are solidified and making enough money to turn the cogs of the business.
Research
Before moving forward with my pouch underwear idea, I did some research to see if the product had already been invented.
I noticed on google patent search that in 1981, a man in China invented something similar, and therefore, I didn’t think I had the option to make a full Utility patent, so I decided to create a design patent to provide some protection.
Note: Design patents are essentially useless unless you are designing a new shoe. If you are designing something with functionality, you need to attain a Utility patent.
With or without a patent, I knew the idea was good because when I would tell friends about it, they unanimously agreed that it was a clever idea. Never did someone say to me, “this is stupid”, aside from the obligatory skeptical family members that felt like I was throwing my life away. (When starting a business or taking a professional risk, be prepared for some of those closest to you to be the least supportive. It’s not always the case, but if it happens, waste no time trying to convince them or change their minds. Drop their opinion and move on. It is a sad truth.)
I also knew it was a good idea because I loved the result and it worked. Speaking of the idea, let me explain in greater detail what it is and then I will get back to how I knew it was a potential game-changer.
The idea itself is simple; an isolative pouch on the interior of the underwear for the groin region. We describe it as an inverted kangaroo pouch for your joey, a hammock for your soldier, a holster for your gun, a sheath for your sword. These descriptions quickly cue people in on the functionality of the underwear, which is to isolate the male anatomy from the inner thigh region, thereby eliminating the need to readjust by keeping you cool and dry. They look like regular underwear on the outside, but it is what we’re packing on the inside that makes the difference.
I noticed on the United States Patent and Trademark Office search that similar inventions already existed, but nothing quite like what I had in mind. This lent credence to my design, as I now knew that others had been on the same track of thought and that there was clearly a demand to be met.

Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.

Initially, I hand-stitched together some extremely raw prototypes (zero sewing experience) while I was on tour in Iraq.
You can see one here.
When I got back from the war, I bought a sewing machine and began playing around with new designs.
Eventually, I found a seamstress that would help with making the initial prototype. This was in 2010. I then went onto a website called mfg.com where I was coupled with manufacturers that bid for my contract.
I ended up going with a company in Pakistan. The guy called me and told me he would walk me through the process. It was great, but I was too excited and incidentally rushed production when the product samples weren’t ready - the pouch was too high. This set me back a good three years.
Note: Never rush production, especially not the one you intend to launch your new business with. You will want to because you think you have to rush to get your product to market, but if you rush it and it’s not right, then you will wish you had been more patient.
That being said, everything happens for a reason. I was still enlisted in the army and married at the time, so having a budding business while going through a divorce wouldn’t have been in my best interests anyway.
The setback allowed me to regroup on my personal life. I got out of the Army and went back to college by utilizing the Post 911 GI Bill to attain my Bachelors in Organizational Development, followed by a Masters in Business Administration from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio TX.
At this time, I had also been working as a tailor’s assistant to learn the craft of garment construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction. I created new prototypes during that time which brings us to 2013 when, finally, my small team and I did our first Kickstarter to help us finalize the payment for our next production.
We found that hundreds of people were willing to back the project and get us funded, proving to us that we really had something special on our hands. By the end of the campaign, we were feeling like we were on top of the world. We sent out products to hundreds of satisfied customers who then reordered more pairs and we used those earnings order our next batch of product. Production was well underway and sailing was going to be smooth, or so we thought.
Unfortunately, it seemed we had put all of our eggs into an unreliable basket, yet again. Bad pouch placement and riddled with inconsistencies… The new shipment was virtually unsellable. It seemed like an unmitigated disaster and yet another major setback. That’s when I felt it, the same feeling that cost me my designer key invention. Defeat. This is where my new sense of faith and persistence came into play. The old me might have folded at this point, but I didn’t even flinch. I was not about to let it stop me again.
We took our lashes, made things right for our customers, assessed our strategy and moved forward. We were able to get 35% of the cost back from the faulty manufacturing, but this was not enough to make a new purchase with a new manufacturer. After a year of hard work righting our wrongs and perfecting our approach, we sourced a new manufacturer to produce our newly revised design and decided to attempt another crowdfunding campaign. This is where we really kicked into high gear.
The results may not seem like much, but, since the completion of our 2014 Kickstarter, we have yet to go a single day without sales.
When you fail to quit, the universe will do a funny thing. It will actually acquiesce to your desire, though it will test you. When it sees that you won’t give up no matter what, it seems as though the universe will just kind of give in. What that meant for SHEATH was the discovery of a new production company that specialized specifically in men's underwear and had the bandwidth to work with us.
They asked if they could make a sample for us, so I sent them one of our existing samples to recreate. What we received in return was noticeably better than what we had sent them. This gave me a great sense of reassurance. I knew that this new and improved SHEATH Underwear, which we coined as SHEATH 2.0, was exactly what we needed to solidify not only our revolutionary concept but our reputation as a company that offers reliable, quality-crafted products.
A true concern for quality, along with treating every customer as if they are your one and only, are the key ingredients in creating a successful business. When you have a high-quality product, a supportive team, impeccable customer service, and healthy margins, the rest will take care of itself.

Describe the process of launching the business.

The beautiful thing about launching a business is there really is no right or wrong way. There is no definitive procedure or rulebook that you must follow to be successful. This is because you never really know what obstacles are going to reveal themselves until they do.
We originally started in 2010 with the name SHEATH. The naming took us a few months. We started with Junk Drawers, but found that was taken. We then considered Packaged Jewels and Southern Comfort, but they didn’t feel right. We then began thinking in terms of the functionality and masculinity of our product, which is when we came up with SHEATH. The comparison of a sword being sheathed just as the male anatomy would be sheathed in our garments... it just made sense.
Then we bought the URL sheathunderwear.com and started making social media pages, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Tumblr, Pinterest. Etc. We didn’t take out any loans in the beginning. It wasn’t until we really began expanding and revenue started becoming reliable that we began utilizing loans to keep up with demand.
Fortunately, it didn’t cost a great deal to start the website and keep it running. Also, the majority of our team was working for no pay for the first few years, aside from free underwear, including myself. This is where the ingredient of a supportive team comes into play. You’ll find that the vast majority of self-made individuals always had a supportive team that believed in them and backed their every move.
We applied for patents and did all of this out of my pocket, but you would be surprised to find that applying for a patent yourself isn’t very expensive unless you get an attorney involved. For those on the fence about it, there was a law passed a few years ago that gives preferential treatment to individual inventors and requires examiners at USPTO to walk you through the process, therefore you could file for, and get, a patent issued yourself at relatively little cost.
This would be less than $1,000 dollars and could protect your idea from infringement by others. This can all be researched and completed on USPTO.gov.
During the first 3 years, we saw very little sales and thus, very little income. They were sporadic. Normally, we would only see a handful of orders a month, but sometimes we would have none at all or even as many as 15 orders. We weren’t promoting it heavily because, at the time, we were still in the early production phase and our products did not possess a level of craftsmanship and quality that we were proud of, but we did sell them and the majority of people seemed to like them anyway solely based on the concept. It wasn’t until our Kickstarter in 2013 that we really started to see almost daily sales and, ever since the 2014 Kickstarter, we haven’t gone a day without sales and our annual revenue has been on a steady uptick.
The biggest lesson to learn from all this is to never quit. Once you quit, the game is over. As long as you don’t quit, there is always a way to overcome obstacles. Don’t quit, but don’t lie to yourself either. If your product is garbage, don’t deny it - improve it or pivot to a new item all together. On the other hand, if you know what you have is good, don’t cheat yourself from riches. If you truly enjoy and believe in your product, you will find a segment of the population that also likes and believes in your product, guaranteed. As long as you want it bad enough, you will be successful. The true question is, are you willing to put in the work and do you have the patience to stick it out? Are you willing to put in 2-4 years of work with no return, paying yourself next to nothing for the sake of growing the company?
Allow me to reiterate. Our company was founded in 2010, but we didn’t see any numbers until 2013, which was immediately followed by another set back. What little revenue we had generated was all lost again. I personally wasn’t getting a paycheck from my own business until 2015, and it wasn’t much. Even since then, I’ve only been able to pay myself somewhere around 50-60k a year since the majority of the money flows right back into the company every month for expansion. So my budget remains tight and my life is far from lavish, but my business is mine. You must be willing to sacrifice for the long term. If you are looking of a quick payout get rich quick business, good luck to you... We have been doubling in sales annually since 2013, and I believe this is all due to me and my team’s sacrifice of the short term payout for the long term legacy.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

Initially after the launch, we liked to go back to our Kickstarter campaign page every few months to give them updates and spark a response from our backers, but eventually, that ran dry.
Advertising
The next source of patronage was Facebook. Facebook still, to this day, provides a majority of our site traffic. It may not always be the highest quality traffic, looky-loos who want to see pictures of people in underwear, etc... but visitors from Facebook continuously result in a fair portion of our sales.
We also use Google Adwords, but the problem with this is that we have already optimized our SEO to the best of our ability, so most searches that trigger the Google ads tend to organically bring us up in the top search results anyway. So this feels a bit extraneous at times.
Targeted Audiences
We also use Criteo, a remarketing tool that helps us place targeted ads in front of individuals who have visited sheathunderwear.com but have not made a purchase.
Below is a graph of sales by month from January 2016 to April 2019. You can see the growth, which has been steady, and this can be attributed to ad targeting strategies, influencer marketing (UFC Fighter Donald Cowboy Cerrone), social media ads, google ads, email campaigns and more. We have also had the spotlight shined on us by going on TV, the Radio, sponsoring local sports teams (Colorado Springs Switchbacks) as well as outdoor expos and really anywhere we can get our foot in.
Amazon
Amazon has also been a great platform for us to gain new customers as well as offering options to our existing customers who take advantage of Amazon prime. The annual growth in Amazon sales is less noticeable, however, as we have much less control over it compared to our other sales channels. In fact, our Amazon growth has been relatively stagnant the past few years, but we are actively developing new methods to rectify that.
We hope to one day have amazon rivaling sheathunderwear.com in sales, the current goal being $1 million sales monthly on each platform.

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

Currently, business is good and we are profitable. We are projected to reach a gross revenue of $2 million for 2019. I actually just got back from a Shark Tank audition, so we are not too successful to think that we couldn’t use their help. It’s worth a try and for me, this was my second attempt; the first being in 2013.
Compared to our first attempt, we are in a much better position with a far superior product and system in place with a large base of loyal repeat customers to maintain revenue and steady growth. These are things they might appreciate, but we are not counting on that making or breaking us. Regardless of whether we are on the show or not, we will be successful. We already are.
When it comes to customers, the lifetime value is yet to be determined, but we have individual customers who have spent over $1,000 on our products. However, we have only just begun achieving this level of loyalty. We have a long way to go.
Regarding the cost of acquisition per customer with facebook and google, this varies, but I feel like an average would be about $10. We spend about $200 a day on ads. Whether it’s facebook, google or influencers, the combined cost is somewhere around $200. We will be spending more as time goes on. We are always making progress.
Regarding our current operations, we are no longer shipping out of our house as we had for the first 5 years. Last year in October, we moved out of the living room into a warehouse in Nevada, which places us in a far better position to scale. Prior to this move, we were very limited by the space in our house. With the new warehouse, we have full scalability for unlimited growth.
As far as the website goes, we average 1-2 thousand visitors per day and our conversion rate has always been about 1.5-2.0%, which we have found to be the industry standard. As of late, it has grown closer to 3 conversions per 100 visitors, which is an improvement. However, we would like to see that number continue to grow.
The majority of our sales are from sheathunderwear.com, about 90% of them. Fortunately, that is beginning to change as we are seeing more sales from outside sources as well as amazon’s steady increase of monthly revenue. Other outlets include wholesale accounts and Touch of Modern from time to time.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

Building a business really tests you as an individual, as you must utilize essentially everything you’ve learned from all previous experiences up until that point in your life. This is particularly true when it comes to education (school or otherwise), team activities, previous jobs, military training, etc.
When you put in the effort to become familiar with and master something, and you don’t give up, you improve your likelihood for success with every moment you spend working at it. When you are driven to your absolute limit during a practice session, that builds the character and fortitude that you will continuously be falling back on when building your business.
The person that will be the most successful is the person that has the best ability to deal with discomfort and acclimate to new conditions. Sports, in particular, are a great way to train you to find comfort in discomfort, which is invaluable in all aspects of life.
I’m reminded of a funny story of mine about luck and timing. After the first Kickstarter and after I realized that our replenishment inventory was faulty and not up to standard for sales, we were in a state of limbo.
I remember that I went to a Joe Rogan Stand up show in Austin, Texas around this time and two major things happened that night. One, After the show, when Joe was doing some crowd work, I - stupidly - through a pair on stage to get his attention. In retrospect, I realize now how disrespectful this was, but what is done is done. He picked up the underwear and read the package and said “SHEATH, A pouch for your package? This has got to be the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard of, or a billion dollar idea.”
I like to think it is the latter. I still have the audio of him saying that it was a billion dollar idea, but he has since rejected all attempts at sponsorship for his podcast, quite possibly and most likely because of my interrupting his show to introduce him to SHEATH. Although, I am also aware that he is a very busy person with larger fish to fry. I haven’t taken it personally. I would probably take it back if I could, but what is done is done.
The silver lining of this story is the second thing that took place. After we left the show, I was sitting at a red light in Austin and was rear-ended by a taxi. A couple of months later, I got a check from the taxi insurance company for $5,000. I was able to use that $5,000 for a down payment on a new production with our new manufacturer. The remainder of the money was raised through second Kickstarter and the rest is history.
So, in a funny, involuntary sort of way, Joe Rogan has played a part in the success of SHEATH.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

We are currently utilizing Shopify Plus, but I am hesitant to endorse it as I am not 100% sold that it is worth the $2k a month we are spending on it. They sold me on 10x-ing if I switched to this upgraded platform, and it’s looking like we are most likely going to 2x or 3x for the year, which we’ve been doing on our own all along. If we do officially 3x, then that would technically be our biggest growth spurt yet, but it is hard for us to tell at this point in time if we can attribute it to this platform.
We also utilize Klaviyo as our email marketing platform along with Gorgias as our customer service tool. We recently switched to these apps from MailChimp and Zendesk respectively, as we have been advised that these new apps have better track records in aiding budding businesses.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

Here is a short list of my major inspirations that I frequently find myself thinking back to and learning from:

• Think and Grow Rich
  
• The Secret (the original movie with Abraham Esther Hicks)
  
• Tony Robbins
  
• Tim Ferriss
  
• Joe Rogan
  

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

My advice for anyone starting out or looking to get started is to read Think and Grow Rich because it really sets a solid foundation while also leaving some of the message up for interpretation for each individual.
I also find that the movie, The Secret, has some value to watchers if you can open your mind up to the possibility that thoughts are energy and affect your reality. Thinking positive attracts positive things to you. There is a lot involved in being successful. Some people look at it like a formula, some look at it like magic, some people do a combination of the two.
Everyone’s path to success is different, but they all have similar characteristics: an extreme desire and faith that it will work; persistence and the ability to visualize ahead of time; writing down the goal and breaking that goal down into manageable steps from start to finish. My most concise tidbit of advice is this - start and don’t quit until you figure it out. Once you quit, it’s over. There is always a way, you just have to find it.
You have to find what works for and motivates you to keep going day in and day out for as long as it takes. Are you willing to sacrifice 20 years to dedicate to this dream without pay? If not, then you may not have what it takes, if so, you do, and most likely it won’t take 20 years.

Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?

People sometimes ask if we are hiring. For the most part, we only hire from within our circle of trust since it is such a small company, but from time to time we bring in outsiders. We brought in one last year that asked if he could work for free to show us what he could do and within a week, he was on the payroll.
The problem is, most people ask for a job in the traditional sense rather than offer to demonstrate the value of what they can bring us. As a small company with limited resources, it is difficult invest in things without a sense of certainty, but if you can bring value to the organization and prove it to us right off the bat, then we are in business. So at the moment, we are not necessarily hiring, but we are always interested affiliate marketers that will promote the product for a percentage of the revenue on the back end.
If you have an audience and are interested in that, please feel free to [email protected] with your numbers and we will get in touch. You can also reach me directly at [email protected].

Where can we go to learn more?

• sheathunderwear.com

If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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Book #1: Imperial Goldsmith's Guild Pricing and Labor Guide

for Artisans and Wholesale Merchants 4E Summer 201- 4E Spring 202 Approved by the Imperial Exchequer Imperial Chamber of Commerce and the Imperial Office of Weights and Measures

Material Standardization

According to the Imperial Office of Weights and Measures, the standards our guild must abide by in terms of material apportionment and distribution of precious and other metal are as follows:
Precious Metals Taken as Legal Tender
Gold Bullion at 29.54 feathers, legal tender as 5000 septims, parcelled into 10 Gold Bars of use to the Imperial Goldsmith's Guild at 2.95 feathers each and legal tender at 500 septims. Gold Bars may be split into 4 Gold Ring Shanks per bar, weighing .74 each and tradeable at market value of 125 septims.
Silver Bullion at 16.03 feathers, legal tender as 400 septims, parcelled into 10 Silver Bars of use to the Imperial Goldsmith's Guild at 1.6 feathers each and legal tender at 40 septims. Silver Bars may be split into 4 Silver Ring Shanks per bar, weighing .4 feathers each and tradeable at market value of 10 septims.
Quicksilver Bullion at 10.90 feathers, legal tender as 280 septims, parcelled into 10 Quicksilver Bars of use to the Imperial Goldsmith's Guild at 1.09 feathers each and legal tender at 70 septims. Quicksilver Bars may be split into 4 Quicksilver Ring Shanks per bar, weighing .27 feathers each and tradeable at market value of 7 septims.
Ebony Ingots at 11.5 feathers, legal tender as 160 septims, parcelled into 10 Ebony Bars of use to the Imperial Goldsmith's Guild at 1.15 feathers each and legal tender at 16 septims. Ebony Bars may be split into 4 Ebony Ring Shanks per bar, weighing .2875 feathers each and tradeable at market value of 4 septims.

Traded Metals

Malachite Ingots at 3.67 feathers, currently valued at 120 septims, parcelled into 10 Malachite Bars of use to the Imperial Goldsmith's Guild at .37 feathers each and currently valued at 12 septims. Malachite Bars may be split into 4 Glass Rings weighing .01 feathers each and tradeable at market value of 3 septims.
Orthoclase Feldspar Bricks at 3.85 feathers, currently valued at 80 septims, parcelled into 10 Moonstone Bars of use to the Imperial Goldsmith's Guild at .38 feathers each and currently valued at 8 septims. Moonstone Bars may be split into 4 Moonstone Tabs weighing .01 feathers each and tradeable at market value of 2 septims.
Copper Ingots at 13.64 feathers, currently valued at 40 septims, parcelled into 10 Copper Bars of use to the Imperial Goldsmith's Guild at 1.36 each and currently valued at 4 septims. Copper Bars may be split into 4 Copper Ring Shanks weighing 0.34 feathers each and tradeable at market value of 1 septim.
Steel Ingots at 7.85 feathers, currently valued at 20 septims, parcelled into 10 Steel Bars of use to Imperial Goldsmith's Guild at .785 each and currently valued at 2 septims. Steel Bars may be split into 4 Steel Ring shanks weighing .2 feathers each and tradeable at market value of 1/2 septim or 10 denarii.
Current Market Value of Gems by Approximate Carat Size

Amethyst

~100 carats: 1300 septims ~30 carats: 360 septims ~10 carats: 180 septims ~10-30 carats, flawed: 55-95 septims ~1 carat: 20 septims

Diamond

~100 carats: 10000 septims ~30 carats: 3000 septims ~10 carats: 1600 septims ~10-30 carats, flawed: 700-900 septims ~1 carat: 200 septims

Emerald

~100 carats: 7000 septims ~30 carats: 2000 septims ~10 carats: 1200 septims ~10-30 carats, flawed: 500-700 septims ~1 carat: 150 septims

Garnet

~100 carats: 1100 septims ~30 carats: 300 septims ~10 carats: 140 septims ~10-30 carats, flawed: 40-80 septims ~1 carat: 15 septims

Onyx

~100 carats: 1000 septims ~30 carats: 300 septims ~10 carats: 140 septims ~10-30 carats, flawed: 55-95 septims ~1 carat: 18 septims

Ruby

~100 carats: 3500 septims ~30 carats: 1000 septims ~10 carats: 600 septims ~10-30 carats, flawed: 800 septims ~1 carat: 75 septims

Sapphire

~100 carats: 5000 septims ~30 carats: 1400 septims ~10 carats: 800 septims ~10-30 carats, flawed: 400-600 septims ~1 carat: 125 septims

Topaz

~100 carats: 4650 septims ~30 carats: 1300 ~10 carats: 550 septims ~10-30 carats, flawed: 85-125 septims ~1 carat: 105 septims

Artisan's Surcharges (in Septims*)

Cabbing - 10

Per guild regulations, an artisan shall be permitted to add a surchage of 10 septims onto the material value of a piece to establish a wholesale price of a piece for each gemstone it contains that is cut with a cabochon cut, bevel cut or baguette cut. Flawed gemstones of between 10 and 30 carats in weight are most suitable for cabbing.

Faceting - 40

Per guild regulations, an artisan shall be permitted to add a surchage of 40 septims onto the material value to set the wholesale price of a piece for each gemstone that is cut in the single cut, rose cut, old single cut, trilliant cut, table cut, point cut, kite cut, bevel cut, pear cut, marquise cut, radiant cut, pendeloque cut, briolette cut and all polygonal cuts such as pentagonal, hexagonal, etc.

Advanced Faceting - 200

Advanced faceting is open to artisans who are masters or senior journeyman rank in the Imperial Goldsmith's Guild. This season, the master's privilege of adding a 300 septim surcharge for advanced faceting will continue to include those pieces which make use of the brilliant cut and the double brilliant cut. For this season, all pieces in which the briolette cut appears will be priced at the regular 40 septim surcharge, until such time that the guild has sorted out the ongoing controversy between the application of the cutting method of the High Rock or Nibenese cutting schools.

Mounting a Faceted Gem - 20

This surcharge may only be applied for the labor of fitting a cut gem into a bezel, prong setting, or basket. It does not refer to threading a rondelle or bead onto a thong or string, for which there can be no charge.

Shaping a Piece - 10

For the establishment of the general form and appearance of a piece, whether it be circlet, necklace, ring, or earring pair, whether by lost wax, mold, pliers, or hammer and tongs, an artisan may charge ten septims.

Engraving - 20

To clarify this matter in a manner beyond that elucidated in prior issues of our pricing and labor guide, engraving refers both to carved inscriptions and simple decorative design patterns cut into any piece, but not to painting, enameling, or mere marking of a piece with color by whatever means. A distinction is made between engraving and figure carving, however, which is explained below.

Figure Carving - 50

The surcharge for figure carving may be properly applied to any tooled design which appears in three dimensions, and this includes sculpture, whittling, as well as "bas-relief" on the flat surfaces of pieces.

Spinning a Chain - 50

A "chain" is defined by the guild as any looped connection of pieces comprised of at least six links. The links must be interlocking with each other and individually segmented. Grommets which merely abut adjacently do not qualify as chains, nor do pieces which contain six looped pieces which are not interlinked consecutively in a single segment. Strings of beads are also not chains, unless the integrity of the piece is maintained by links between the beads and not a connecting thong, cord, or thread on which the beads are strung.

Material Premiums for Skilled Labor (in Septims*)

Working in Elven Bronze or Brass- 200 for necklaces and circlets, 100 for rings and each earring of a pair.
The art known as "elven smithing" was discovered by the Mer in the Merethic era. It consists primarily of the art of melding orthoclase moonstone, an adularescent mineral, with copper and iron. The resulting alloy is remarkably lightweight, can hold a cutting edge, and yet bears almost none of the properties of mineral or stone, but instead can be beaten and shaped as a metal. It is this alloy which our guild officially terms "elven bronze". The art of elven smithing is also privy to the metallurgic secret of melding copper with quicksilver, the resulting alloy of which we term "elven brass" (formerly 'gilded elven' for marketing pushes in certain prior seasons). Although the use of both of these is of primary appeal to the patrons of the lesser art of blacksmithing, jewelry pieces of elven bronze and brass both continue to enjoy a niche market among magicians, traditionally minded mer, and other aficionados.
Working in Orichalcum ( Marketed by our guild as "jade" in prior seasons) - 150 for any piece.
Our campaign to offer pieces made of green steel or orichalcum as "jade" was quite successful, leading to a large demand for such pieces among our wealthiest clientele and an en vogue status as the jewelry de jure among elite social circles. While true jade is far more rare than orichalc and samples exist only in pieces from far flung Akavir, the connecting of orichalcum with the more exotic jade caused it to lose much of its derogatory perception as associated with orcs, which is something that had hurt sales for decades. However, as an ironic result, independent non-guild affiliated artisans among orcish clans in Orsinium and Skyrim have capitalized on the newfound popularity of orcish pieces, flooding the market. The guild is therefore temporarily marking the devaluation of the production of orichalcum pieces for this season with a lessened skilled labor surcharge.
Working in Dwemer Metals - 200 for necklaces and circlets, 100 for rings and each earring of a pair.
Dwemer metals continue to be found in popular jewelry pieces and are especially beloved by erudites because of the metal's association with Julianos. Although the market value of found dwemer metal scrap continues to sink (even with the current inflation of the septim), the guild still honors the skilled labor premium for those artisans who understand the forging process for pieces made of this material.
Working in Ebony Metals - 400 for necklaces and circlets, 200 for rings and each earring of a pair.
Ebony has always enjoyed reputation as a rare and exotic material, most notably due to its applications in the lesser art of blacksmithing. However, in our latest endeavor to mine the enduring popularity of our ebony, this season we are pushing the fad of "black gold", wherein we alloy one part ebony with one part gold, or even 3 parts ebony to one part gold, to create jewelry pieces of a lustrous chocolate color. The ebony content in this black gold significantly lowers the material cost while allowing us to market a piece for an even higher value than a pure gold piece because of the allure and current popular appeal of ebony. Skilled artisans may take advantage of a 400 value surcharge onto the wholesale price of any ebony piece to support their guildmates in this promotion.
Working in Glass - 400 for necklaces and circlets, 200 for rings and each earring of a pair.
Although few pieces of moldavite have been produced in recent seasons, the guild continues to recognize the value in the skill, which is at the master level of our craft. As such, even ancient pieces made of moldavite will continue to bear a 400 septim markup onto their wholesale value to encourage and recognize the profound skill involved in its crafting.
*The rates for this season have gone up because of the recent introduction of 60% copper content into the Imperial Septim by His Imperial Majesty, Titus Mede, for the minting in First Seed of 4E 201 and presumably all future mintings. All labor rates reflect the summer 201 market, but may be subject to change after further announcements by the Imperial Exchequer on account of the currently fluctuating value of the septim.

Pricing of Artifacts and Rare or Historical Pieces

It is important to note that when determining the wholesale value of a piece, the guild does not consider the antiquity or rarety of a piece, but rather leaves such concerns to collectors. The guild is concerned only with recognizing the material value in gold, gems, or precious metals coupled with the value in labor as established by the above guidelines. As such, the work of a smith of the ancient Merethic era is valued the same, all things being equal, as one of our guildmember smiths from the current era who still works his forge. This holds all goldsmiths of all ages to a common standard without bias with regard to era of production. Thus, all apprentices, journeymen and masters are rated equally throughout the ages. This is of especially practical application when one considers, for example, the Graymane family of Skyrim, who work the legendary Skyforge. The Graymanes have produced pieces of the exact same style and workmanship for nearly 4000 years, so that a piece unearthed from a Skyrim crypt may, with some minor variations, appear the same as one produced just yesterday by their current scion (whom it bears mentioning is one of our masters in the highest standing).
Thus, from the guild's perspective, even if one can distinguish that a piece is of ancient Nordic make as opposed to last season's, so long as material usage and workmanship are equivalent, the price will not vary.
Understand this is merely the guild's position on setting a wholesale value of items for record keeping and establishing intrinsic value. Intrinsic value is nothing more than material value plus labor. This is quite a thing apart from market value. A pair of emerald briolette earrings by the legendary 2nd era designer Stradivarius Valerius Severus made during his "Miracle Year" of 2E 616 has a relatively commonplace value in guild tabulation, but an astronomical value to collectors and museums.

Penalties

As always, the guild maintains a no tolerance policy toward clipping of Imperial coins as well as any other form of debasement or counterfeiting including sweating. Guild members accused of these crimes by Imperial authorities will be immediately expelled, even before verdicts are reached in their criminal trials.
In the name of the guild's ongoing effort to stamp out ignorance among its ranks, let all be reminded that corundum is the material which rubies and sapphires are composed of. "Cuprum" is the proper Old Cyrodiilic term for the orangish metal known as copper. Smiths who use the terms improperly in guild correspondence will be asked to pay double their yearly dues. Further, no journeyman smith may promote to master who has been documented to have used the terms improperly within the past 3 years.

Book #2: The Archidoxes of Talismata

by Hypatia Agrippina Mistress of Academia for Cheydinhaal Mage's Guild 2E 865
Through all the ages there has been a bond that has connected we brothers and sisters of the Path, a golden chain that links all philosophers through all time. It is the bond of Art, for from the time of the Ayleid sorcerers to that of the ancients of the Psijic Order, and so from the time of Ahzidal and Shalidor to that of the foundling members of the Mage's Guild of our own era, there have always been three all important pursuits whose study comprises the way of those who would attain to knowledge of the most Absolute. These are the Three Arts of Magnus: Magic, Alchemy, and Astrology.
Magic, beloved of mages, is the exercise of the Will; it is the skill of conducting magicka and imprinting it with concentrated thought. Alchemy, beloved of herbalists, smiths, and physicians, is the knowledge of the properties of Matter and how to make use of the innate qualities of magicka which all the diverse substances of Nirn possess. Astrology, best known by the legendary moth priests, is the familiarity with the cycles of magicka in Mundus and how they influence affairs and events, including such things as the likely degree of success in any undertaking of the former two arts.
There is one work, however, which requires skill in all three, thereby binding their attainments all together into one, so that spirit is bound into matter and ideas are bound into form to create works that last for all ages. This is the art of Enchantment, which is the concern of our present volume.
In its most basic form, enchantment is merely the exercise of the magic Art upon static objects with the intent of promoting a lasting magical effect. These objects are then called talismans. The purpose of the physical talisman is to anchor the magical expression into a concrete manifestation rather than a transitory and abstract effect. In the oldest of times, this was accomplished with the Rite of Sacrifice: blood was spilled to serve as a medium with which to transfer soul energy from a creature to a talisman empowered with its essence and directed to a specific purpose. Later, soul gems became a way to contain a soul indefinitely.
The skill of the true artificer goes far beyond the ability to channel and imprint an object with an effect fueled by a thirst for magicka, however. An observation of the nature of materials and their suitability to certain tasks is paramount.
According to the various cosmogonic myths of the cultures of Nirn, the creation of Mundus involved the sacrifice by the et'Aeda of a part of their natures. Those who participated in the surrender are known as the "Ehlnofey", which is Aldmeris for "Earth Bones". When they did this, their planes of existence collapsed into the spherical forms we see in the night sky as planets. However, just as the planets have a connection with their corresponding Aedra, so too do certain substances which make up Nirn. The most emblematic of these materials are the 9 metals known to the dry method of alchemy. So close is this connection that the metals are frequently referred to by the names of their corresponding gods - as, for example, the old Cyrodiilic for gold, which is "aurum", is directly cognate with the name of the Ayleid god Auri-el.
The interplay of the diverse energies and natures of the planets assigns a cosmic groove to each one, with those of higher and lower frequencies sorting where they will, and from this are established their harmonious cycles and epicycles, which the wise may hear as celestial music in the night sky. The artificer who understands the way the various natures align and compound upon each other, and of what powers they partake in may draw on this knowledge to strengthen any operation of enchantment. This is wisdom.
We continue with a description of the powers of the et'Aeda in the realm of enchantment, and of what materials are especially adored by each in such operations.

GOLD

Gold is the king of metals, considered to be of the highest vibration. It is for this reason that it has been prized almost universally by every culture as possessing the greatest financial value. As it was mentioned that gold once bore the name of Auri-el, the student knowledgeable in Alessian theological history might assume that metallic gold draws on the power of the planet Akatosh, but this is not so. Owing perhaps to the affiliation the most sublime of Aedra have with that realm called Aetherius, it is the Sun, called by the name of Magnus, that gold corresponds with. The nature of this connection is unclear, but nonetheless it is true that artifacts sacred to Auriel are in legend said to be able to command the power of the Sun.
The Sun is of the most distant orbit from Nirn, if it can even properly be called an orbit, and this explains the potency of gold's power. As the magicka streaming through the Eye of Magnus gives life, movement, and energy to the entire world, so does gold supply an active, vivifying energy to talismans. This makes it suitable for augmenting Destruction magic and masculine pursuits like the skills of war, in addition to all such tasks which involve health, recuperation, and the opening of both the mind and obstructed paths. On the other hand, this same nature makes gold less helpful in all such arts that involve the enshrouding of the mind, or which thrive at night.
The gem of the Sun, called topaz, olivine, or peridot, depending on its value and the clarity of its cut, also partakes of the same nature and utility as the metal gold. Topaz is particularly known to aid its wearer in avoiding detection, and this might seem contrary to the nature of its patron, the Sun. The custom of certain practitioners is to explain this by suggesting that topaz grants mastery of light, such that light can be invited to pass through one's form without reflecting an image.

SILVER

The queen of metals is silver, sacred to Mara, divine mother. Astrologically, it partakes of a dual nature that resonates with two planets - both the planet Mara, its namesake, as well as the moon Masser, which was once called Mara's Tear. Of the two, the greatest resonation is with Masser. There is a school of thought that explains this discrepancy by suggesting that Masser, whose red color and monthly phases set the menstrual cycles of females of all races, bears the truest connection to Mara as divine mother. The planet called Mara, which orbits Zenithar, is itself orbited by Dibella. On account of this fact, it is explained then that the planet Mara is more properly connected to elven brass, which is a marriage of quicksilver, the metal of Zenithar, with copper, the metal of Dibella. Both elven brass and silver have a number of similar uses in enchantment, so if anything, this is a good mnemonic for the student.
Where gold enhances the school of magic called Destruction, silver, being of a more materially based energy, enhances the school of Alteration. This is also supported by the fact that just as the moon goes through phases, so does it lend its power of changeability to those who would practice Alteration. Because the moon rules the night where fear and phantasms thrive, it can either aid or destroy those who operate at night, for it has authority over them. This makes it also suitable for those who practice the arts of Illusion, and thus it likewise has a power over shapeshifters and the undead.
As an example of an application in which there is a confluence of silver's traits, specifically its benefit to womanhood, its powers of healing, and its aid to the benighted, prostitutes in Anvil are known to apply a tincture of silver to the eyes of their newborns so as to prevent the blindness that they frequently develop. However, because of their inert and feminine nature, silver along with copper are particularly vulnerable to all energizing masculine magic, in particular fire and shock.
The gem or material called moonstone also partakes of the nature of Mara to a slightly lesser extent than silver. It is worth mentioning that like elven brass, which is an alloy that is created from quicksilver and copper and partakes of Mara's nature, the cheaper alloy called elven bronze is made from copper and moonstone and also resonates with Mara. Both of the elven metals are well renowned for their assistance in operations of Illusion in particular.

QUICKSILVER

Quicksilver is traditionally sacred to Zenithar, and because Zenithar has the closest orbit to Nirn, it is affiliated with all of the matters most associated with the mundane aspects of mortal life such as trade, communication and business, and will benefit enchantments meant to enhance these pursuits.
However, while the priests of Zenithar actively preach against thievery, and Zenithar is traditionally a god of "honest payment in kind", the metal quicksilver is of particularly potent use for enchantments involving any kind of trickery or deception. This could be a factor owed to Zenithar's dominion over craftsmanship, which may lend power and efficacy to the practice of any kind of skill, no matter to what end. Quicksilver has also been associated with gods such as Xarxes, who rule writing and speech, the form of communication that first gave mortals power over their surroundings, and thus, with the will to succeed.
Then there are some who, remembering that Zenithar is the closest planet and thus the most in touch with the mortal world, associate quicksilver with Lorkhan, the inspirer of the mortal plane and the Trickster god. As the mortal world is where all essences commingle, they posit this as explanation for quicksilver's extraordinary propensity for versatility in magic. They then point out that while Mara is traditionally the wife of Lorkhan in certain myths, the fact that Mara orbits the planet Zenithar suggests that perhaps the planet is misnamed.

IRON

Iron and its derivative, steel, are sacred to Stendar, god of the Imperial Legion, of might and of justice. Like silver, iron also partakes of a dual astrological nature, corresponding on the one hand with the planet Stendarr and on the other hand with the moon Secunda, which is poetically known as "Stendarr's Sorrow". Some say that iron is more properly associated with the planet Stendarr and cold steel with Secunda, but just as many others say that the distinction is rather between his warrior nature and his compassionate nature (Stendarr's "Sorrow"). The student of magical practice will find this distinction unimportant.
Iron's magical properties make it of benefit for all enchantments meant to strengthen performance in war. Its energy is proactive and masculine, but of an eminently practical nature. As such, iron conflicts with the more mystical aspects of magical work, and will be a bane against conjurations, illusions, and even the deceptions of thieves. As an attitude, this energy of Stendarr is most visible in the causes of his order, the Vigilants of Stendarr, of whom it might lightly be said that they are zealously driven to stamp out those very things.
As iron is associated with Secunda and silver with masser, some suggest that the interactions of these two protective metals and their respective vibrations are what form the "Lunar Lattice" which protects Mundus - one for the physical world, one for the spiritual world.

COPPER

The metal which the ancient Imperials called cuprum is related etymologically to the cypress, which was one of the sacred trees of Dibella. Dibella orbits Mara, and this fact can serve as a reminder for the student that, in magical use, copper will exhibit all the same effects of silver, but to a lesser degree.
Copper is particularly suited to all operations involving the attunement of matters between two opposing sides, as for example a couple, or feuding enemies. While it is very poor in resisting the spark of attraction, it excels in conducting it. Because of its association with facilitation and with the unimpened flow of both magicka and passion, it is also of particular benefit to healing and restoring the balance of the body.
It is excellent for charms meant for love, seduction, and attraction, and can greatly improve the bearer's effect on others and the regard in which he is held.

DWEMER METAL

The metal whose creation the dwemer devised came about through the application of their advanced learning and understanding, an inspiration clearly owed to Julianos, its corresponding planet.
Dwemer metal was once called aurichalcum (sic), and according to legend it was created somehow by an alchemical fusion of gold and copper. It is important for the student to recognize that in the oldest of tomes which make mention of the properties of auricalchum, it is actually dwemer metal which they are referring to. Our modern word "orichalcum", which refers to the metal sometimes called jade or green steel, came into being due to a confusion and conflation of the term at the time in history when the orcs first began to adopt the use of the green steel. "Orc's calx", which is Old Cyrodiilic for orc's stone, became confused in the popular lexicon and so it came down to the present day. This is an important distinction because the properties of orichalcum differ strikingly from dwemer metal, which we shall see below.
Dwemer metal, however, partakes of the nature of Julianos in that it is a facilitator of all activities which involve the mind, such as clear expression and lucidity, negotiation, and invention. As such, it is quite suitable for talismans meant to aid the art of enchantment itself, as well as for any manner of construction or tinkering, organization or administration.
Like gold and iron, it is one of the masculine metals, and so it lends itself to vivifying and exuberant expressions of magicka such as the elimination of fatigue and disease. Because of its benefit to the keenness of the mind, it also has an affinity for augmenting the keenness of blades. Likewise, because of its association with the flash of insight, it also has a connection with the flash of lightning, and indeed, the creations that the ancient dwemer wrought with dwemer metal all seem to live on electricity.

ORICHALCUM

It is because of the planet Akatosh's rulership over time, the most defining trait of the mortal plane, that it is connected with the dense and heavy metal known as orichalcum, which is second in weight only to gold, itself ironically associated with Akatosh's other form as Auri-el.
On account of its density and weightiness, orichalcum serves as a bane against the operation of more sublime and abstract of expressions of magic. Like iron, it repels enchantments of Conjuration and Illusion, but because of its propensity for materiality, it excels even beyond dwemer metal in enchantments meant to augment enchantment or skill in material craftsmanship. For the same reason it is of extraordinary benefit in any operation meant to increase defense or endurance, particularly in physical combat.
Its density and materiality allow it to "bring ideas into manifestation", and this is one reason why the cemetery in Green Emperor's Way so often plays host to curse tablets of orichalcum inscribed with the names of citizens' enemies. This is also due in part to the fact that it is poisonous, so note should be taken that it is unsuitable for healing enchantments.
Orichalcum is also associated with Redguard deities such as Diagna or the Hoonding, who figure in their myths as influencing the course of time and events, incidentally through the use of warfare. This coincides with our understanding of the magical qualities of orichalcum.

EBONY

Ebony's correspondence is with Arkay, god of death. As such, ebony excels in all matters affiliated with death, both worldly and otherworldly.
In warfare, it will enhance the same skills that steel does, without the drawbacks associated with steel, such as repelling magic. Far from repulsing spirits, ebony, for its part, is the metal par excellence for Conjuration, but like iron it is still of not much use in operations of Illusion- with the exception of Fear Magic, for which it has special proclivity.
Because of its spiritual connotations and suitability to enhance Conjuration, ebony is also especially suited to Daedric enchantment, well able to trap daedra because it is close in magical nature to Oblivion.
The gem of Arkay, onyx, also partakes in the same nature as the metal ebony. However, unlike ebony, onyx seems to be suitable to use in Illusion magic.

GLASS

Known variously as Moldavite or Malachite, the reflective metal most commonly referred to as "Glass" is sacred to Kynareth. Kynareth's glass shares many traits with the other feminine metals, silver and copper. As copper, when left to tarnish, can develop a greenish patina, the green color of certain varieties of glass is considered to be a higher octave of the same energy displayed in copper. This would coincide with certain myths wherein Kyne and Dibella are described as married to the same god, or one is a handmaiden to the other or vice versa.
Glass therefore is of similar use in situations where the pacifying and facilitating traits of copper would be called for, such as in negotiation and establishing camaraderie.
Kynareth is the goddess of the sky and the air, and like the great dome of the sky, glass excels in all enchantments invoking reflection. If orichalcum is the best material for physical defense, it should certainly be understood that glass is the best material for magical defense.
As reflections can also distort reality, glass will also aid the magician in operations meant to strengthen the art of Illusion. Because Kynareth rules the air, glass can be of aid to those who wish to travel unseen, as the wind does.