Hello George

The following Email was sent to George Lucas 03/23/03 

Hello George: 

I'm trying to find this guy I used to know. He called himself Joe Tamboola and he's this America-hating little shit with red hair and glasses and into Swing Dancing. Back in the year 2000 in Pittsburgh, during a period when I was running the cash drawer at one of these dances on a Saturday night, he used to come in.  We got to talking about Allan Watts and Buddhism and pretty soon we started meeting for coffee on Thursdays, just to b.s. 

Now I have reason to believe you might know him - it's all spelled out in my blog articles, along with reasons why I found him suspicious. Let me describe him to you and ask yourself if you know him. (What I'm telling you I take seriously - I mailed a description of Joe to the FBI.) 

Joe was uncanny. He used to say things to me that paralleled biographical details from my past. It happened more than once and I even asked him if he'd gone to the same college as I. "No," he said. 

Joe was pathetic. He used to tell me he hated competition bolstered by this bird brained deconstructionist scheme that people could play chess as a win-win game. "You could just appreciate the beauty of the moves," he'd say, but chess moves sans 'checkmate' are meaningless.  Then I came to the conclusion that all his talk about being anti competitive was deceit - it really masked a strategy of winning by lying that he didn't care about winning. How do I come to that? Joe used to say over and over again, "Why can't you just see it my way? Why can't you just see it my way?  Just this once?" 

Joe was diabolical. If he used this 'Why can't you just see it my way' appeal on others, I'm sure a lot of people would agree with him just to shut him up. And it's at that point, the point where people reverse themselves that they barter away their integrity for a little peace of mind. Joe 'wins'. It could happen so quickly one might not realize it.  But in the mind now rests an unconscious memory of victimization. What ideas would he introduce next? My guess is Joe knew exactly what he was doing; peace activists or malcontents or anti authoritarian types would be particularly susceptible to his whiny, infantile routine. In an exchange with Joe, somebody with a weak mind would trade away their integrity for a 'truce' and not think twice about it. Joe 'wins'. 

Yet despite the fact he had this technique going for him, Joe was mostly an idiot. We had this conversation one time and I don't remember exactly how we got on the subject but Joe said to me, "It's wrong to hate." 

I said, "Well ... what if I hate Hitler? I reserve the right to hate Hitler." 

"No," said Joe.  "It's wrong even too hate him 

"What are you telling me, Joe? I should embrace my inner-Hitler?" 

"Yeah," he said. 

Sad, really. 

Then there was this other time Joe said to me, "Life is a paradox."

"Okay, Joe, " I said.  "I'll give you a paradox.  It's called The Spanish Barber Paradox.  There's a small town in Spain with only one barber.  The barber shaves every man in town who doesn't shave himself.  Does the barber shave himself?"

"That's not a paradox," said Joe.

"Yes it is."

"No it's not"

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

In related matters, not long ago I was watching your 1973 movie 'American Graffiti'. At the movie's end the plane takes off with Kurt on board, and the name on the plane is 'Magic Carpet Airlines.' I know I've mentioned this in a prior Email but I think it's worth repeating. 

Now on the rudder of the plane there is this symbol - a crescent with a smaller circle in it. What does it mean? I went to Google and did a little research and found the design in a piece of Arabic Calligraphy called Al-Ein or The Eye. It really does look like one. 

Then I went back to Google and typed in 'Magic Carpet' and guess what popped up? Back in 1948-1950 Alaska Airlines in a humanitarian gesture flew 40,000 Yemenite Jews to the newly formed State of Israel. 

Then I went back to Google again and typed in 'Alaska Airlines', and this time I saw stories about Alaska Airlines Flight 261 that crashed 20 miles off Point Mugu California, January 31, 2000. 88 people were lost. A memorial sculpture to the tragedy was recently unveiled on the tragedy's third anniversary. You know what I thought? I thought 'Whoa'.  And do you know what else I found on Google?  Somebody saying that the malfunctioning horizontal stabilizers that brought that plane down were inferior parts made in Communist China.  And again I thought 'Whoa'. 

I thinking 'Whoa' because I was reminded of your first feature film, 'THX 1138'. (Released in 1971 on March 11 no less). Then in your movie 'American Graffiti' there's the license plate on John's yellow hot rod - THX 738. I played with those numbers and I came up with 11-7-38. November 7, 1938 is the date of Kristallnacht - the night Brown Shirts trashed Jewish Shops and Synagogues in Nazi Germany.

You know what I think?  I think I love Google.  But getting back to Joe Tamboola. Do you know this coprophagous insect? If you do see him tell him Alex is looking for him.  I want to ask him about the Space Shuttle Colombia disaster.  One of the people on board was the world's first Israeli astronaunt.

Imagine that. 

Sincerely yours, 

Alex