TRANSCRIPT 3008 [OR; “On the Unfortunate Matter of the Institute, Its Conception, and Current Enrollment”]

[Audio File: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m48GqaOz90 ]

Disingenuous Hemingway [OR; “Rat”]: On the matter of the Institute, this conversation, unfortunately, must be transcribed. I have categorized this task as “unfortunate” because I must specify to you the need for the Institute, despite how much I wish there were no need…

Allison: This is undeniably challenging.

Rat: Yes. Despite years of protest, the task somehow still fell to me.[1]

One day, in the Past, Dunne Cliff [OR: “The Cabin on the Cliff over the Lake”] was immaculately conceived. The structure of each doorway, stairway… wooden counter… and chair… came from a Blueprint.

Now, before you ask, I can’t talk about the Architect of this Blueprint! But I can talk about what happened at the Birth…

[Aside: Actually… I will tell you a little secret [Laughs] – the Blueprint came from… a place beyond! You might know the place. It is the place you came from, before you came to this place. You probably remember it well because you were Nothing then, and so there was nothing else to think about, and so you would’ve committed to memory what it felt like to Be Nothing. Unless you were distracted. Anyways…  the Blueprint came from there!]

At the birth, Nothing [OR: the Blueprint] slid itself out from the great cosmic Tube and lay itself onto a topographical image of the whereabouts of the Granite that formed the Cliff over the Lake. To be honest, what followed was graphic… I’m not sure I want to tell you about it.

But what I will say is that the Illustration assumed the form of particles [Laughs]… and the Lake was shocked! It reacted to the Granite, which then shook and shifted, increasing to Fortissimo… and in response the Geology the Hills across the lake suddenly burned with fire – I’m telling you… they were Ablaze! – and then came the Wooden Planks, followed by the Great Metal Frames, and Beams of Timber, which marched into Form with Determination and Order and climbed up over one another to stand as they wished… [because it would be a verylong time before they would be permitted to release the pose… perhaps an eternity… and they knew it.]

Allison: They must have been strong.

Rat: Yes… [Laughs]

And then there was cement… an absolute fountain of it! Pouring down, an undeniable Gravy over the beams and timbers… encasing them in Form.

And out of this Soup solidified white ceilings, hidden corners and dark passageways… a stone chimney, and a great pane of glass, which slid [not fell!] into the Front Opening of Dunne Cliff… the opening which looks out over the Lake!

This was the biggest piece of glass you have ever seen… It was literally huge! And to this day it is still crystal clear – no fingerprints have ever been found – I myself have looked… You can see the lake in Shocking detail… You can sit and count the white-caps on the pointed waves from the window up on the cliff… if you have Time.

I am telling you about this Birth because visiting hours are now open! Although the Cliff is older now, and you might no longer be able to hold it in your arms… though you can still sing to it. And you may take in The Opera Comique on a weekend afternoon when it is not too hot and not too cold and you can sit out over the Cliff and Paint the colours of the Lake.[2]

Allison: Tell us about Enrolment, Disingenuous! [Laughs]

Rat: Ah.

The Registrar [along the Greater Administrative Body] have asked me to remind you that All Paperwork must be submitted on time…

The unfortunate reality is that Attendance is dependent on “Admittance” to the Institute, which can take a few weeks to process… Essentially, if your papers are submitted by mail [the only accepted method of submission], the post box at the end of the long dusty drive will be challenging for the Post Man to find… This will cause several weeks’ delay…

While you wait, you could think about the “unfortunate” task of providing clarity on the need for the Institute…

The Institute exists to enable the Education necessary to Entertain, and be Entertained by, the Residents of Dunne Cliff.

This involves a deep study of Thinking, Observation, Consideration, Questioning, and Recollection (or, Memory), among other things…

There is no course calendar and there are no electives. There is no timetable [Though you may select, on any given day, your own Beats Per Bar!] You will Learn so long as you Think, and you will think about how to avoid being Distracted.

You will meet Logic… and Imagination… perhaps the Beauty of the Mind! [Laughs]

Subjects at the Institute will open up and reveal themselves to you… you will find that you don’t need to Achieve Landmarks… [Mortal/Moral Measures of Success]… only Peek back into that original feeling… from that place… This is the Required Reading.

On the matter of wardrobe… there’s a Uniform!

But it Doesn’t Really Matter! [Laughs] For now, just Try to Remember that there are Two Movements at the Institute…

A)   Warm Lake (I – or A) – in which the water temperature is approximately 22 degrees [Celsius, to be clear! Which is about 70 Fahrenheit…]

B)    Frozen Lake (II – or B) – in which the water temperature is Below 0 degrees, generally… could even be up to -10 degrees, or so… [this is beyond comprehension in Fahrenheit!]

And for each Movement, there is a Uniform.

Allison: I will try to remember…

[1] Editor’s note: To be clear, many others begged to complete this task. However, D.H. insisted that he should be the one to tell the story. In truth, he possesses a deep paranoia surrounding Authorship. He is concerned that Other Authors might rely on Monsieur Machine to form discourse… instead of writing the discourse of the Mind! [The flawed nature of the mind, in his view, is preferable to the certainty of Mr. Machine. However, this is only if one is able to reduce their attachment to the following two Priorities: a) speed - a desperate need for Accelerando! And b) perfection.]

[2] For more on the Opera Comique, please see Transcript 2048…