DDT - Deambulações DeMentes Teóricas 53

The Serial Killer - Part XXXIII

So we reach the end of the road in antiquity concerning serial killing, and enter the modern era of the trade. What separates these two eras are two details:

1. Notoriety

and

2. Investigative knowledge

Because as far as violence, creativity and numbers are concerned, the ancient killers are not very different from the modern ones.
The modern era of serial killing was, of course, born with the Ripper. Why him? For one very particular reason - the media coverage of the case.

Jack was not much different from some of the killers we have seen here. He didn't kill in any very odd way, nor did he kill in numbers superior to those of some of his most prolific colleagues. His choice of victims did not deviate from the average statistical norm: young or middle aged white females, poor and trading in the sex business is not anything new. They are usually very seeked out because they are the most vulnerable and easy to get, apart from not being as much missed by relatives or friends as would women of a higher social condition and decent occupation. Even the much discussed ease with which he proceeded to kill his unfortunate victims - in the middle of the street in 4 of the 5 official Ripper murders - has a perfectly logic explanation to it: in Jack's time London was drowned in a heavy, thick, oppressive fog, a combination of cold weather and the polution coming out of the factories that were starting to invade the city like mushrooms on account of the Industrial Revolution. They even gave it a new name - smog, because it was fog mixed with smoke. It was said that sometimes even during the day people had to cough to mark their presence and avoid being bumped by another passerby. Trolleys had to drive with a man walking in front of it with a light and a horn, to warn unwary passers who would otherwise risk being run over.

Jack, then, had it easy. He could kill right in the midst of everyone's wanderings without being detected. He had time, balls and knowledge to do it, according to the numerous investigators and schollars who studied the case then and later. He had it easy for another very important reason: the investigative knowledge of the time was very limited - there was no DNA analysis, of course, but worse than that, no one had even invented fingerprinting yet. Jack was a needle in the midst of the huge, dark, foggy, dangerous and cold hay that London was in the late XIXth century.

The only thing differente about the Ripper and the thing that made him officially the first serial killer of modern history and very probably the most infamous of us all, was Fleet Street. That's right, the newspapers which publicized the case like no other before it or even, I dare say, after. Think of serial killing and the first and sometimes only name that pops into anyone's mind is Jack the Ripper. He was discussed, proded and analysed like no other subject in the history of serial killing. He has been depicted in movies again and again and every now and then someone comes up with a whole new theory about who of the 20 or so official suspects, is most surely the London ripper or about why he commited the crimes the way he did and how. There are even those who call themselves Riperologists.

Jack became the demon every lay men believes in and fears, the monster hiding underneath the sewers or lurking in the shadows of all modern cities. He became a legend, a myth, I would even venture to say he has become a sort of attractive symbol of the dark forces that sometimes lay dorment in some men's souls, a rock rebelious idol of murder.
Unfortunately or maybe not, Jack also became the epitome of all of us who deal in this trade. We are constantly compared to him. Because he could never be found, he became the God of evil, the Prince of deception, the ultimate role model to follow.
And so we enter modern serial killing, carrying the weight and responsibility of a huge ghost - the unknown Ripper, author of several perfect murders.

MURMÚRIOS DE LISBOA CXIII

The Vampire & the Werewolf - Part X

Winner: Werewolf

Every time the vampire throws her crumbs she acts as if she harbours this ancient, deep, eternal famine that will never be satisfied, no matter how many or how fat those crumbs are. She has decided, thus, that she will no more be a weak, vulnerable hostage to the whims of this vampire.

Officially she now declares the werewolf to be the winner of this competition, for one simple, single reason, if for no other - the werewolf doesn't have to do absolutely anything at all to move her as he always seems to do, in ways that she can hardly explain even to herself. His mere existence is enough for her. His presence a gift from the gods. The pain that grows inside her heart whenever she contemplates him and knows he will never move a finger to touch her is sometimes more than unbearable, for it reaches that same ancient, deep, eternal famine that the vampire only manages to tease.

The vampire's provocations are like feathers of a very exotic bird tickling her senses. The denial of the werewolf is a heavy, earthly stake buried in her wounds, digging around with sadistic and masochistic will. If the vampire knew about any of this he would advise her not to let such weak matter as the flesh is take hold of her. He would smile his cynical smile and pat her on the back, stating "That's life". She knows he's right, of course. She knows she should just ignore everything. Forget it. Pretend it never happened. And if she can't do that, she should even move if necessary. Eliminate any opportunity to lay her eyes on the werewolf, smell his shadow or allow any thoughts about him or anything that resembles him to crawl into her brain. She should make both her heart and brain take a metaphorical cold shower, get soaking wet and wise up.

This is not a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel and even if it was, sometimes they do not have a happy ending, or any ending at all. That is life, true.

But the werewolf wins, just the same, if not her heart, at least this contest.

MAGIC MOMENTS 236

Tunes for Travelers 41fkdsf
No carro, no comboio, no autocarro, no avião, no barco. Façamo-nos às estradas deste mundo, mas que seja com estilo e energia.

New York, to that tall skyline I come
Flying in from London to your door

Macro Secrets 187

Love is chemistry described by poetry

AS BANDAS DE ANDRÓMEDA

Leppard, Def

Inglaterra
O nome foi proposto pelo vocalista Elliott, como uma piada (significa Leopardo Surdo) e ao mesmo tempo uma referência parcial à banda Led Zeppelin

My boys forever
A voz rouca, felina e às vezes histriónica de Joe Elliott
O power, a diversão, o joie de vivre
O rock duro, mas não tanto
O exemplo de preserverança e amizade - quando o baterista Rick Allen perdeu um braço num acidente de viação, os seus companheiros esperaram que recuperasse e aprendesse a tocar apenas com um braço, para regressarem à estrada
A sensualidade que pinga de todas as músicas
A sensualidade que escorre do guitarrista Phil Collen
As letras light, às vezes parvas mesmo, mas que desopilam e continuam a ser sedutoras de uma forma muito crua
A consistência - já lá vão 35 anos and they keep rockin' !

Pour some sugar on me - o início é brutal e depois o resto é inesquecível
Mas também: Make love like a man, Animal, Let's get rocked, Love bites, Two steps behind, Armaggedon it, Hysteria, I wanna touch you, Have you ever needed someone so bad, Heaven is, Tonight, When love and hate collide

Do you wanna get rocked?

PALAVRAS TRADUZIDAS 26

Fleetwood Mac - Sara

Espera um minuto bebé, fica comigo um pouco

Disseste que me davas luz mas nunca me falaste do fogo

Afogando-me no mar do amor onde toda a gente adoraria afogar-se

Mas agora foi-se, não importa para quê

Quando construires a tua casa então chama-me, "Lar"

E ele era tal e qual uma grande asa negra, nas asas de uma tempestade

Penso que tinha encontrado o meu par, ele cantava e desfazia os laços e desfazia os laços, desfazia os laços

Disse, "Sara, és o poeta no meu coração, nunca mudes, nunca páres"

Mas afora foi-se, não importa para quê
Mas quando construires a tua casa, então chamam-me, "Lar"

Aguenta, a noite está a aproximar-se e o estorninho voou durante dias

Eu ficaria em casa à noite sempre

Eu iria a qualquer lado, a qualquer lado, a qualquer lado

Pede-me e eu estarei, pede-me e eu estarei, porque me importo

No mar do amor onde toda a gente adoraria afogar-se

Mas agora foi-se, eles dizem, "Já não importa"

Se construires a tua casa então por favor chama-me, "Lar"

Sara, és o poeta no meu coração, nunca mudes e nunca páres jamais
Agora foi-se, não, não importa mais

Quando construires a tua casa, eu apareço (Agoa foi-se (Sara), agora foi-se, agora foi-se, (Sara), agora foi-se)

(Loucura, bem, mas há um bater do coração que nunca morreu, eles disseram, nunca morreu, (Sara))

(Oh engolirias todo o teu orgulho, falarias um pouco mais alto (Sara))

Cantando "Tudo o que eu jamais quis saber foi se estavas a sonhar")

DDT - Deambulações DeMentes Teóricas 52

The Serial Killer - Part XXXII

George Chapman was a was a Polish serial killer known as the Borough Poisoner. Born Seweryn Antonowicz Kłosowski in Poland, he moved as an adult to England, where he committed his crimes. He was convicted and executed after poisoning three women, but is remembered today mostly because some authorities suspected him of being our friend Jack the Ripper.

His motives for the murders are unclear. In one case, his victim had given him £500, but he gained nothing from the other two victims.Chapman took several mistresses, who often posed as his wife, three of whom he subsequently poisoned to death. They were Mary Spink (died December 25, 1897), Bessie Taylor (died February 14, 1901) and Maud Marsh (died October 22, 1902). He administered the compound tartar-emetioc to each of them. Rich in the metallic element antimony, improper usage of tartar-emetic causes a painful death with symptoms similar to arsenic poisoning. According to a certificate found in his personal effects after his arrest, he was apprenticed at age 14 to a provincial feldsher (a sort of nurse-practitioner), whom he assisted in procedures such as the application of leeches for blood-letting. He then enrolled on a course in practical surgery at the Warsaw Praga hospital. This course was very brief, lasting from October 1885 to January 1886 (attested to by another certificate in his possession) but he continued to serve as a male nurse, or doctor's assistant in Warsaw until December 1886. He later left Poland. Witness testimony at his trial seems to indicate that he arrived in London between 1887 and 1888, precicely the time of the Ripper murders.

Suspicions surrounding Marsh's death led to a police investigation. It was found that she had been poisoned, as had the other two women, whose bodies were exhumed.

An indictment for murder could contain only one count and Chapman was therefore charged only with the murder of Maud Marsh. He was prosecuted and convicted on March 19, 1903, and hanged on April 7, 1903.

One of the detectives at Scotland Yard, Frederick Abberline, is reported to have told George Godley the policeman who arrested Klosowski: "You've got Jack the Ripper at last!" In two 1903 interviews with the Pall Mall Gazette, Abberline spelled out his suspicions, referring to Klosowski by name. Speculation in contemporary newspaper accounts and books has led to Chapman, like fellow serial killer Thomas Neill Cream, becoming one of many individuals cited as a possible suspect in the infamous Jack the Ripper murders of 1888. In The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, Philip Sugden argued that Chapman is the most likely candidate among known Ripper suspects, but that the case is far from proven. As far as is known, Chapman was not a suspect at the time of the murders either under his proper name, or as "Ludwig Schloski", a name he was using in London. Chapman was a later surname borrowed from one of his common-law wives whom he did not poison — Annie Chapman (not to be confused with the Jack the Ripper victim of the same name).

The case against Chapman rests mainly on the point that he undoubtedly was a violent man with a misogynistic streak. Chapman is known as a poisoner and not a mutilator, but was known to beat his common-law wives and was prone to other violent behaviour. In one incident often used as an argument to link him to the Ripper crimes, while living in the United States, Chapman allegedly forced his wife, Lucy Klosowska, down on their bed and began to strangle her, only stopping to attend to a customer who had walked into the adjoining shop he owned. When he left, she was said to have found a knife under the pillow. He reportedly later told her that he had planned to kill her, even pointing out the spot where he would have buried her and reciting what he would have said to their neighbours.

Inspite of this, there is a lack of any hard evidence that would link Chapman to the Ripper murders. Most scholars also believe the Ripper selected victims who were previously unknown to him, while Chapman killed acquaintances. In Jack the Ripper: An Encyclopedia John Eddleston rates Chapman at only 2 ("a remote possibility") on his 0 to 5 rating of Ripper suspects. He argues that although Chapman did live in Whitechapel it was not particularly near the murders, and as a 22-year-old immigrant he is unlikely to have had detailed knowledge of the area which the Ripper seems to have had.

MURMÚRIOS DE LISBOA CXII

The Vampire & the Werewolf - Part IX

Vampire / Werewolf = Tied
Although they live in two completely different universes, both the vampire and the werewolf have certain things in common. What attracts her to them are their differences, but they share curious similarities.

They are consistent - both have dedicated most of their lives to their occupations and have not drifted elsewhere.

They are grounded - both have worked in the same place for a considerable amount of time.

This tells her they both need security or, perhaps like her, have let themselves be trapped in an apparent but mortifying sense of security.

She can sense the same restlessness in both, translated by different languages.

Both are disguised as their exact opposite, which is extremely interesting. Neither have deliberately chosen his respective mask, it naturally fell upon them. Maybe they were born with it, but most likely it has grown into them due to life's difficult labyrinths. That it has crept as two exact opposing extremes into their bodies and minds, is a remarkable phenomenon to which she cannot find words to describe.

The vampire uses his werewolf mask to disguise the coldness that lies beneath his skin. The werewolf mask provides him with the suitable, agreeable cover. He becomes one of the lads. He is the youthfull gentleman who tells inteligent jokes and makes people laugh, especially women. He is the safe haven where his students will find shelter and understanding, while totally oblivious of the fact that he is sucking his financial security and their souls out of them.

The werewolf uses his vampire mask to disguise the heat that burns underneath his muscles. The vampire mask provides him with the ideal cover. He becomes dettached, arrogant even, a marble statue of indifference towards the world. And the world does not suspect of the storms that rage inside him.
They share something else in common. Although they both know she exists, they insist on keeping themselves unavailable to her. The werewolf because his meager attempt did not produce the results he was expecting, the vampire because he simply does not care. There is another thing they share - both have slowly crept into her and insist on remaining lodged there.

MAGIC MOMENTS 235

Tunes for Travelers 40fkdsf
No carro, no comboio, no autocarro, no avião, no barco. Façamo-nos às estradas deste mundo, mas que seja com estilo e energia.

So why don't we make a little room

In my BMW, babe, searchin' for some peace 


of mind

Macro Secrets 186

I´m Sigourney in Aliens -
and it's growing ...

AS BANDAS DE ANDRÓMEDA

Jackson 5

EUA
O apelido da família e o número de elementos do grupo


Época de ouro da Motown
Michael Jackson, the one and only
Sem Michael os Jackson teriam sido apenas uma curiosidade engraçada
Com Jackson, criança prodígio maravilhosa, os Jackson foram um fenómeno
O soul que lhe sai da garganta aos 7 anos de idade é estarrecedor (façam a experiência e ponham a vossa criancinha lá em casa a cantar ...)
Coreografias, cores, ritmo e muita alma
Harmonia de vozes, que fazem sobressair a voz cristalina, melodiosa e com garra de Michael


I want you back, sempre
Mas também: ABC, Shake your body, Stop the love you save, Can you feel it, Rockin' Robin, Blame it on the boogie, I'll be there, Ben, Who's Lovin' you (tomara muitos adultos conseguirem cantar isto desta maneira), Dancing Machine, Never can say goodbye

Oh darlin' I need one more chance!

PALAVRAS TRADUZIDAS 25

Lady Marmalade - Moulin Rouge


(LiL' KIM)
Onde é que estão as minhas irmãs da alma
Deixem-me ouvir-vos fluir irmãs

(TODAS=CHRISTINA AGUILERA, PINK, MYA, LIL KIM)
Hey irmã, vai irmã, irmã da alma, flui irmã (oh)
Hey irmã, vai irmã, irmã da alma, vai irmã

(MYA)
Ele conheceu a Marmelada no velho Moulin Rouge
A bambolear-se na rua (rua (eco))
Ela disse, "Olá, hey Joe, queres experimentar?" (woah)

(TODAS)
Giuchie, giuchie, ya ya da da (yeah-ey)
Giuchie, giuchie, ya ya aqui (aqui)
Moca Choco late ya ya (ooh yeah)
(MYA)
Creoula Senhora Marmelada

(TODAS)
Queres-te deitar comigo hoje à noite (ah, oh)
Queres-te deitar comigo hoje (Yeah yeah yeah yeah)

(Hey irmã, vai irmã, irmã da alma, flui irmã
Hey irmã, vai irmã, irmã da alma, flui irmã)

(PINK)
Ele sentou-se no seu quarto enquanto ela se refrescava
O rapaz bebeu aquele vinho de Magnolia todo
Nos seus lençóis de cetim negro
Foi onde ele se começou a passar, yeah

(TODAS)
Giuchie, giuchie, ya ya da da (da da)
Giuchie, giuchie, ya ya here (ooh ooh yah yah)
Moca Choco late ya ya (yaaaa)
(PINK)
Creoula Senhora Marmelada

(TODAS)

Queres-te deitar comigo hoje à noite (à noite)
Queres-te deitar comigo (Yeah yeah yeah uh)

(LIL KIM)
Nós vimos com o dinheiro e os cintos de ligas
Deixá-los perceber que temos esse bolo
Através do portão
Nós as mulheres independentes, alguns tomam-nos por pêgas
Eu digo porque é que hei-de gastar o meu quando posso gastar do teu


Discordas? Bom isso és tu e desculpa
Eu vou continuar a brincar com estes gatos como Atari
Sapatos de salto alto receber amor dos gajos
Quatro raparigas ruins do Moulin Rouge


Hey irmãs, irmãs da alma
É melhor conseguirem essa massa irmãs

Bebemos vinho com diamantes no copo
Por sinal o significado de gosto caro
Queres gitchie, gitchie, ya ya (anda lá)
Moca Choco late o quê?
Creoula Senhora Marmelada

(TODAS)
(Mais uma vez, vá)
Marmelada (ooh)
Senhora Marmelada (ooh yeah)
Marmelada (ooh, hey hey hey)

(CHRISTINA AGUILERA)
O toque da sua pele é suave como seda, hey
Cor do café com leite (é isso)
Fez a fera interior rugir até ele chorar
Mais (mais) mais (mais) mais (mais)

(PINK)
Agora ele está de volta a casa a trabalhar das 9 às 5 (9 às 5)
(MYA)
A viver a vida da flanela cinzenta (oh piedade)
(CHRISTINA AGUILERA)
Mas quando adormece as memórias assombram-no
Mais (mais) mais (mais) mais (mais)
(ALL)
Giuchie, giuchie, ya ya da da (da da ahah oh)
Giuchie, giuchie, ya ya here (ooh Oh deus)
Moca Choco late ya ya (oh oh oohoh )
Creoula Senhora Marmelada



Queres-te deitar comigo hoje à noite (à noite)

Queres-te deitar comigo (todas as minhas irmãs yeh)

Queres-te deitar comigo hoje à noite (à noite)

Queres-te deitar comigo (ooh)




(MISSY ELLIOT)
Christina (oh yeah ooh)
Pink (Lady Marmalade)
Lil' Kim (hey hey uh uh uh uh uh uh uh)
Mya (oh oh ooooh)
Mount Wallaby
Moulin Rouge (ooh dadow dadow)
Mau comportamento aqui

(TODAS)
Creoula Senhora Marmelada ooh sim!

DDT - Deambulações DeMentes Teóricas 51

The Serial Killer - Part XXXI

Joseph Vacher was a french serial killer, sometimes known as "The French Ripper" or "L'éventreur du Sud-Est" ("The South-East Ripper"). When he was a child Joseph was sent to a very strict Catholic school, where he was taught to obey and to fear God. In 1893, while in militaryconscription, he fell in love with a young maidservant, Louise, who was not at all attracted to him and even mocked him. In a rage, he shot her four times (she was badly injured, but survived) and then tried to commit suicide. Shooting himself twice in the head accomplished nothing more than paralyzing one side of his face (one of the bullets remained forever lodged in his skull) and putting him in a mental institution. Medical treatment did nothing for him, but the doctors released him as "completely cured" one year later. Shortly after his release, at the age of 25, he began his murder spree.

During a three-year period beginning in 1894, Vacher murdered and mutilated at least 11 people (one woman, five teenage girls, and five teenage boys). Many of them were shepherds watching their flocks in isolated fields. The victims were stabbed repeatedly, often disemboweled, raped, and sodomized. Vacher was a drifter, travelling from town to town, from Normandy to Provence, staying mainly in the southeast of France, and surviving by begging or working on farms as a day laborer.

In 1897, Vacher tried to assault a woman in a field in Ardèche. She fought back and her screams soon alerted her husband and son, both of whom came rushing to her aid. The men overpowered Vacher and took him to the police. The authorities had little evidence that Vacher was responsible for the rash of murders, but Vacher soon confessed to everything.

Vacher claimed he was insane because of a quack cure given to him as a child, when a rabid dog bit him (in fact he was not bitten at all, just licked), then changed his mind and said that he was sent there by God, just like Joan of Arc, in order to make people think and understand the real virtues of faith. He was however judged sane by the court and sentenced to death on October 28, 1898. Vacher was executed by guillotine two months later, at dawn on December 31, 1898. He refused to walk towards the scaffold and had to be dragged by the executioners.

MURMÚRIOS DE LISBOA CXI

The Vampire & the Werewolf - Part VIII

Round 5: Werewolf

Apart from the love of cars, bikes and workout, she knows that the werewolf is interested in zen. He wears a yin-yang circular symbol around his neck all the time. It goes with the rest of his outlook. He prefers black, the color of night and of warriors.
She finds this interesting. That the werewolf, the epitome of manhood and masculinity and eventually even brutality and savagery, is also in touch with his feminine side. It makes her even more curious about him.
She ventures an explanation - he's in to zen philosophy. The contrasting symbol and the color black match this prediction, not to mention the fact that he enjoys his workout - she can see that by the strength of his muscled arms.
She wonders what would make a werewolf interested in zen, of all things. It tells her he is not just what he wants people to see. It tells her he's got depth in him. That he is not just a fighter, a brute, but a warrior. There's a huge difference between one and the other. The brute fights with no reason. The warrior fights only when he has a good reason. The  warrior thinks before he strikes. He does not waste time, energy or ammunition. And when he goes to battle he knows he has a good chance of coming out of it victorious.
Perhaps he means to control his anger. Or perhaps deep down inside his soul he really wants to find his other half. Perhaps in his nightly, lonesome wanderings or even when he's trying to decipher the intricacies of his engines, the werewolf wonders what it would be like to have someone by his side. Someone who could understand him, and not judge him. Someone who could understand and welcome his demanding needs and desires. Someone who could balance his dark side, his animal insctinct, and maybe even smooth some of his hard edges. Someone who would accept him exactly the way he is, without questioning or criticizing.
In truth, she thinks he might be a romantic after all. Every warrior is.
Of all philosophies and religions, she has also been seduced by zen a long time ago. It's the only one that attracts her in some way. It fascinates her to the point of wishing she had 200 years to be able to study it properly. She knows you cannot really learn zen unless you are taught by a master in some eastern country. It is probably the most complicated philosophical system ever invented. There are a few things she has managed to learn though: to accept the present, to have patience, to work with what life gives you and, most of all, not try bending the road you travell.
She thinks that this might help her to deal with the fact that her path and the werewolf's own path will probably never cross eachother, although their owners cross eachother's paths almos every day.

MAGIC MOMENTS 234

Tunes for Travelers 39fkdsf
No carro, no comboio, no autocarro, no avião, no barco. Façamo-nos às estradas deste mundo, mas que seja com estilo e energia.

We don't need no destination
Just a tank of gas and a good clear station

Macro Secrets 185

Nobody is going to give me a fucking medal

AS BANDAS DE ANDRÓMEDA

Heróis do Mar

Portugal
O nome tem conotações com a época de ouro dos Descobrimentos Portugueses


A voz agradável, marota e apimentada de Rui Pregal da Cunha
A atitude marota e apimentada de Rui Pregal da Cunha e sus muchachos
O som inconfundível da banda, verdadeira pedra no charco da música portuguesa da altura e ainda de hoje
As letras acutilantes, marotas, espertalhonas, divertidas
A masculinidade brutal que pingava de cada música, sexy e provocante
A maior banda portuguesa pop de sempre


Amor é a preferida de sempre. Imbatível no ritmo, no power e no tal elemento de masculinidade, sobretudo na parte do refrão
Mas também: Paixão, O Inventor, Cachopa, Só Gosto de Ti, Supersticioso, Alegria, A Glória do Mundo, Brava dança dos heróis, Eu Quero, Fado, Saudade (onde já se via o início dos Madredeus de Pedro Ayres de Magalhães)

Hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iauhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PALAVRAS TRADUZIDAS 24

Ne-Yo - Closer


Mais perto, mais perto
Mais perto, mais perto


Apaga as luzes neste sítio
E ela brilha como uma estrela
E eu juro que conheço a cara dela
Só não sei quem és


Aumenta o volume the música aqui
Ainda a ouço muito bem
Como se estivesse mesmo no meu ouvido
A dizer-me que quer


Possuir-me
Controlar-me
Fica mais perto
Fica mais perto

E eu não consigo afastar-me
Estou sob um feitiço que não consigo quebrar
Não consigo parar, não consigo parar
Não consigo parar, não consigo parar


E não consigo afastar-me
Mas não quero escapar
Não consigo parar, não consigo parar 
Não consigo parar, não consigo parar 
Não consigo parar

Consigo senti-la na minha pele
Consigo saboreá-la na minha língua
Ela é o sabor mais doce que já v
Quanto mais tenho, mais quero


Ela quer possuir-me
Aproxima-te
Ela diz, "Aproxima-te"
Hey!


E eu não consigo afastar-me
Estou sob um feitiço que não consigo quebrar
Não consigo parar, não consigo parar
Não consigo parar, não consigo parar 

E não consigo afastar-me
Mas não quero escapar

Não consigo parar, não consigo parar
Não consigo parar, não consigo parar 

Não consigo parar

DDT - Deambulações DeMentes Teóricas 50

The Serial Killer - Part XXX

Henry Howard Holmes was active between 1888 and 1894, targetting mostly younger women during the famous Chicago World's Fair. 

His father was a violent alcoholic, and his mother was a devout Methodist who read the Bible to his son. He claimed that, as a child, classmates forced him to view and touch a human skeleton after discovering his fear of the local doctor. The bullies initially brought him there to scare him, but instead he was utterly fascinated, and he soon became obsessed with death.

While attending university, he stole bodies from the laboratory, disfigured them, and claimed that the people were killed accidentally in order to collect insurance money from policies he took out on each deceased person. He moved to Chicago to pursue a career in pharmaceuticals. He also engaged in many shady businesses, real estate, and promotional deals under the name "H. H. Holmes".

He killed the women by enticing them to his custom-built "murder castle," which was tailor-made to kill large numbers of people using a wide variety of premeditated methods. To keep this secret, he fired all his builders and hired new ones before any one set of builders could ever finish one part of the "house." He sometimes murdered his victims on a day-to-day basis but usually slept with the victim first and devised a method in the morning. Actual body count is unknown, but it is possible that there could have been more than 230 victims, as the majority of the victims were completely dissolved into acid housed in a   gigantic pit built into his basement. In his biography he wrote he had killed 133 victims.

Following the World's Fair,  Holmes left Chicago and reappeared in Texas where he had inherited property from two railroad heiress sisters, to one of whom he had promised marriage and both of whom he murdered. There, he sought to construct another castle along the lines of his Chicago operation. However, he soon abandoned this project, finding the law enforcement climate in Texas inhospitable. He continued to move about the United States and Canada, and it seems likely that he continued to kill.

In July 1894, Holmes was arrested and briefly incarcerated for the first time, for a horse swindle. He was promptly bailed out, but while in jail, struck up a conversation with a convicted train robber who was serving a 25-year sentence. Holmes had concocted a plan to swindle an insurance company out of $10,000 by taking out a policy on himself and then faking his death. Holmes promised Hedgepeth a $500 commission in exchange for the name of a lawyer who could be trusted. He was directed to Colonel Jeptha Howe, the brother of a public defender, who found Holmes’s plan brilliant. Holmes's plan to fake his own death failed when the insurance company became suspicious and refused to pay. Holmes did not press his claim; instead he concocted a similar plan with his associate, Benjamin Pitezel.

In 1894, the police were tipped off by his former cellmate, whom Holmes had neglected to pay off as promised for his help in providing Howe. Holmes's murder spree finally ended when he was arrested in Boston on November 17, 1894, after being tracked there from Philadelphia by the Pinkertons. He was held on an outstanding warrant for horse theft in Texas, as the authorities had little more than suspicions at this point and Holmes appeared poised to flee the country, in the company of his unsuspecting third wife.
After the custodian for "the Castle" informed police that he was never allowed to clean the upper floors, police began a thorough investigation over the course of the next month, uncovering Holmes's efficient methods of committing murders and then disposing of the corpses. A fire of mysterious origin consumed the building on August 19, 1895, and the site is currently occupied by a U.S. Post Office building.

This is the typical case of a serial, born serial, but using his serial skills to gain profit from it. Not the true artist, for sure, but neither the lame one.

MURMÚRIOS DE LISBOA CX

The Vampire & the Werewolf - Part VII

Round 3: Vampire

She feels they make a good team, she and the vampire. They have the same working habits, at least. Organization, method, a steady pace. They understand eachother in that department.

But does that mean he knows her? Does it mean he has even the slightest idea of what goes on in her soul? No, definitely not. But then, does she know herself? Does she know who she is? Who is she? If she did know herself, she wouldn't be torn between a vampire and a werewolf. It would all be very clear to her. She would be able to choose between two extremes, two roads that lead to opposites of the world. But she can't because she has no idea who she is or, even worse, who she wants to be.

The vampire could help her. He has the power to look at her from a distance, his evaluation detached. Sometimes she wonders what he sees of her in her written words. A lot, probably. His trained eyes will no doubt find their way in between the lines and detect all her insecurities, all her fears, all her desires. It's unfair, of course. For the only thing she has of him are his eyes. Yet, as we already know, his eyes very rarely reveal what lies underneath. He is a remarkable actor. In fact, he would make Brando proud, she's sure. And that's probably why he disdained the option of sharing the genius' time of glory. The vampire knows what the great actor knew so well - all of us are great actors, and we don't even know it. Every time we don't feel what someone expects us to feel, we fake. We fake all day long, without even noticing. Rarely are we who we really are, is it not true?

She always had a problem with the hipocritical turns of the human day-to-day existence. She is also a remarkable actress, but for quite opposite reasons. The vampire acts because he's after something. She acts because she's hiding. The vampire has lost track of his own soul, buried beneath endless layers of masks he built over the years to protect himself, his wants and needs. She always ran from the world, pretending to be a block of ice just so that no one could even suspect how fragile she is. The vampire acts because he has no sensibility. She acts because she has too much of it.

And so she wonders more and more how it would have been to have known that great genius. She's sure he would understand her. He might not be able to help her, but he would definitely understand how she is, why she does the things she does, what makes her tick, what makes her crawl into a corner. And he would understand the vampire. He would be able to show the vampire his own reflection in a human mirror.

She wonders if the vampire would run scared. Maybe he hasn't looked into a mirror in a long time. Maybe he has a Dorian Gray kind of portrait which, if unveiled, would suddenly show the vampire the monster he has become.