Thursday night's PNB spectacle.

There was a PNB phone-based meeting last night, one that defies description and surely earned the distinction of being the most chaotic, unproductive gathering of these bozos to date. This is the ultimate "thank you gift" the new and vandalized Pacifica has for its rapidly dwindling listenership.

Everybody should hear this, including the FCC, but especially anyone who contemplates giving Pacifica a donation. Be forewarned that it is long and lacking in substance, which is why I recommend that you start with the entrance of Mozart—yes, Amadeus! I need not explain further except to say that the great composer has patiently waited in the wings as the Pacifica overture built up to a climax. It all has to do with the ongoing war of the factions. There has just been a network-wide election and the JUCs of NYC (you know, the Cerenians, saw their plot to win the majority not go as rigged (I mean, planned). Last-minute skulduggery did not go so well, either—WBAI was declared unfit for this board and... well, cue Herr Mozart.

At the bottom, you will find the entire disaster in three parts, including the musical interlude. You will probably want to skip around, but you will miss some gems if you do.

Our friend, 'indigo pirate', listened from beginning to end—a true test of endurance that rendered him speechless. However, after the dust settled and the last phone was disconnected, he managed to get himself together and gather the following impression:

In ancient times two of the many unpleasant forms in which one might find one’s end were… 

The death of a thousand cuts – self evident, self explanatory, though details of course vary.

Punishment of the sack – the party is placed in a sack with an assortment of wild animals and unceremoniously dumped in the sea, preferably at night.

There is also, of course, the case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce, the thematic center of Dickens ‘Bleak House’ – a long-running and contentious legal battle which in time consumes the inheritance at the center of the dispute.

Now I came to find myself wondering which if these might be most applicable to Pacifica. All, all too clearly, fit quite nicely.

In the end, I found the punishment of the sack most fitting, with the observation that in this instance the parties concerned have placed themselves in the sack and, with their own fine company and an accompaniment of wild snarling clawing peck-peck-pecking wee little beasties have found themselves descending slowly in the cold cruel sea, in a night of their own making.

A fitting end, perhaps?

~ ‘indigo pirate’

Here is the entire cast: Act 1, Act II, Act III