PROGETTO LASZLO & LASZLO

Con una lista come quella qui sotto, saresti scusato per aver pensato; "La maggior parte di questi libri sono sicuramente in ristampa." Non è così; sono riuscito (principalmente indirettamente) a guadagnarmi da vivere con il mio libro Svenskt Konstglas durante gli ultimi decenni e non è che ora (primavera del 2018), che sto iniziando a sviluppare (commercialmente) Il progetto Laszlo & Laszlo.

Maggiori informazioni in inglese

40 titoli sono pubblicati su Amazon (2 + 3 in traduzione in italiano), ma nulla è stato promosso/venduto, quindi per tutti gli scopi pratici: non è pubblicato nulla. Ci sono 3 diritti cinematografici, 1 sceneggiatura finita, 4 libri che richiedono di essere trasformati in film, quasi una dozzina di "trattati" e una rappresentazione teatrale, ma non sono stati fatti sforzi per trovare produttori. Siccome il Progetto Laszlo & Laszlo ha molti aspetti non-italiani, puoi leggere dei progetti di dimensioni simili in queste lingue: inglese, spagnolo, tedesco, francese e svedese. Sono un membro delle più importanti organizzazioni di sceneggiatori/scrittori, ma virtualmente nessuna royalty è stata perseguita. Tutto è a posto e "ready to roll", ma i testi e i progetti sottostanti sono (così come i testi in altre lingue) tutti più o meno non sfruttati. Benvenuti nel video in inglese del Project L & L.

LIBRI

Pepote/My Uncle Jacinto (Sr/Senior) (10 lingue). Questo è un libro per "bambini di tutte le età"; un bestseller in spagnolo, popolare in Giappone e un film di successo con Pablito Calvo e Antonio Sica in tutto il mondo. Un importante giornale di Parigi ha scritto: "Non era mai stato scritto nulla di simile da Il Piccolo Principe." Se hai qualche motivo legittimo per voler vedere il film, sentiti libero di contattarmi. Il testo esiste in italiano.Verdi l'articolo in italiano.
Paco l'infallibile/Paco Never Fails. Questa è la storia di un uomo onesto e semplice nella Madrid degli anni '40 che si guadagna da vivere impedendo che il latte delle infermiere si prosciughi (mettendole incinte); è diventato anche un film, con Alfredo Landa. Se hai qualche motivo legittimo per voler vedere il film, sentiti libero di contattarmi. Questo testo è attualmente tradotto in italiano. Verdi l'articolo in italiano.
Madre Sconosciuto/Mother Unknown. Un giovane ragazzo è rimasto sulla soglia di casa di Kurt, il nostro protagonista, con in mano una lettera non firmata: "Kurt, hai sempre desiderato un figlio. Eccolo qua. Non cercare di trovarmi." Che Kurt sia il padre è fuori dubbio, ma chi è la madre? Kurt va alla sua ricerca attraverso l'Europa dilaniata dalla guerra: Napoli, Parigi e Avila. Il tema è di prima classe e la logica della storia è stata molto migliorata. Credo che questa storia presto diventerà un film. Si spera che questo testo venga tradotto in italiano mentre leggi. Vedi l'articolo in italiano.
Donna Giovanna/Doña Juana. È "una sceneggiatura teatrale vestita da novella" e scritta in uno spirito femminista. Don Juan/Don Giovanni viaggia nel tempo per dare una mano a Juanita (che diventerà Donna Giovanna/Doña Juana) nel trattare con gli uomini, ma presto si trova innamorato della ragazza. L'influenza dell'amico di Senior, Simone de Beauvoir, è evidente. Questo testo è attualmente tradotto in italiano. Verdi l'articolo in italiano.
Le Cronache di Laszlo Senior/The Laszlo & Laszlo Chronicles I. Questo libro - insieme a un paragrafo di commenti biografici per presentare ogni storia - è stato anche pubblicato come prima parte di Le Cronache di Laszlo e Laszlo, presentato di seguito (9). Questo testo è attualmente tradotto in italiano. Vedi l'articolo in italiano.
Il Castello delle Foche/The Seal Castle. Senior, prima di lasciare la sua patria (austro-ungarica), risparmiando sull'affitto, ha trascorso un po' di tempo a vivere nei "bagni turchi" di Budapest (il castello delle foche). Questo libro contiene riflessioni di questo periodo e sebbene sia scritto allo stesso modo di The Crab's Rhapsody, questi due libri sono scritti in uno stile completamente diverso dai suoi lavori successivi. Poiché sono entrambi piuttosto corti, potrei fonderli in uno solo. Vedi l'articolo in inglese.
La Rapsodia del Granchio/The Crab's Rhapsody. Senior, dopo aver lasciato la sua patria (austro-ungarica), passò un po' di tempo a Parigi, prima di fuggire dalla guerra trasferendosi in Spagna. Questo libro contiene riflessioni di questo periodo e sebbene sia scritto allo stesso modo di The Crab's Rhapsody, questi due libri sono scritti in uno stile completamente diverso dai suoi lavori successivi. Poiché sono entrambi piuttosto corti, potrei fonderli in uno solo. Vedi l'articolo in inglese.
Le Opere Complete di Andres Laszlo Sr./The Complete Works of Andres Laszlo Sr.. Vedi l'articolo in inglese.
Le Cronache di Laszlo e Laszlo/The Laszlo & Laszlo Chronicles. Nel periodo in cui mi sono occupato della traduzione in inglese dei brevi racconti di mio padre che si intitolano: Solo Cambia Il Paesaggio, pubblicato da José Janez, all’improvviso mi si accese una lampadina: “Perchè non scrivo anch’io 20 brevi racconti di mia ispirazione, li combino con quelli suoi e li intitolo Le Cronache di Laszlo y Laszlo? Mi sembró un’ottima idea e decisi di realizza.Vedi l'articolo in italiano.
La Sfida/The Challenge. Qui Madrid diventa Città del Capo; corrida, pugilato; bianco, nero/di colore; del 1940, del 2010 e 20.000 pagine, 70.000. Viene fornito con 70 fantastiche illustrazioni (nello stesso stile della copertina) e sarebbe un bel libro per bambini rilegato in formato A4. È ideale anche come una sceneggiatura. Vedi l'articolo in italiano.
Il problema della droga/The Drug Problem. Vedi l'articolo in inglese.
Le Cronache di Laszlo Junior/The Laszlo & Laszlo Chronicles II, presentato sopra (9). Questo testo è attualmente tradotto in italiano. Vedi l'articolo in italiano.
Discorsi Disfunzionali/Dysfunctional Discources, se ha successo, mi farà persona non grata su questo pianeta. Dopo aver scritto Il problema della droga, mi sono reso conto che l'illegalità degli stupefacenti è un modo apparentemente disordinato di organizzare noi stessi. Poi ho pensato: "Forse l'illegalità della droga è solo uno dei tanti modi in cui ci organizziamo in modo disfunzionale. Discorsi disfunzionali finora non è altro che un progetto nella sua infanzia: un progetto su come e perché ci organizziamo in modi disfunzionali. Vedi l'articolo in inglese.
La Connessione Caspica/The Caspian Connection. Vedi l'articolo in inglese.
Vetro Artistico Svedese/Svenskt Konstglas. Vedi l'articolo in inglese ù completo articolo in svedese.

FILM, COPIONI E PROGETTI

16. Pepote - royalties. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (16).

17. Pepote - animazione/nuovo film. Pepote deve essere uno dei libri/film per bambini più popolari al mondo, mai resa in forma animata. Nei festival cinematografici spagnoli, è spesso indicato come uno dei primi 5 film spagnoli/ispanici di tutti i tempi e oggi - come si potrebbe dire addio alla corrida (Jacinto è un toreador) - questa è una storia che "deve" essere animata. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (17).

18. Paco l'infallibile - royalties. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (18).

19 Paco l'infallibile - nuovo film. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (19).

20 Sin Uniforme - royalties. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (20).

21 Madre sconosciuta - film. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (21).

22. Donna Giovanna - teatro / musical / operetta. Interpretato Doña Juana in una interpretazione mimica - e sarebbe una grande operetta/opera/musical. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (22).

23. La Sfida: sceneggiatura - film. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (23).

24. Short Stories - film. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (24).

25. The Caspian Connection - film. Vedere l'articolo in inglese di seguito (25).

26. Revive Dad - progetto. Vedi l'articolo in inglese.

27. Talks by Junior - progetto. Vedi l'articolo in inglese.

MORE ON MOVIES, SCRIPTS & THEATRE

"Movies" are about the three movies that have been made from Andres Laszlo Senior's texts and scripts, and: 1. The lack of payment from the corporations that have broadcasted these movies, 2. The lack of payments from the individuals/organizations that have sold the broadcasting rights to these corporations, "forgetting" about my father’s rights to royalties as a writer/co-writer of original texts and/or film-script & 3. The script-writers organizations (like SGAE/Spain & SACD/France) that might either have forgotten to collect royalties on my behalf (esp. in other countries than Spain & France) or lost track of old payments (all the way back to 1984). "Scripts" – apart from The Challenge, that already exists as a script - are about the possibility of making new movies/scripts/treatments out of my or my father’s texts: a new adaptation of Paco Never Fails, a script for Mother Unknown, an animated adaptation of My Uncle Jacinto or finding new script-ideas in The Laszlo & Laszlo Chronicles that contains 45 short stories. “Theatre” is about the possibility of staging Doña Juana as a theatre play from a virtually finished script or turning it into an operetta/musical.

16. MY UNCLE JACINTO - ROYALTIES (Sr.)

Senior wrote the children’s book Mi Tio Jacinto/My Uncle Jacinto, and later also the script for the movie (together with Ladislao Vajda). As the movie became a blockbuster and is still popular - often shown as part of "Spain’s 5 or 10 best movies ever" - there ought to be some considerable outstanding royalties from the broadcasting of the movie, especially in the Hispanic world. Spanish "SGAE" seems willing to pay me only for the last few years, and the Italians (My Uncle Jacinto was a Spanish/Italian coproduction) have as far as I know never paid me anything, and apart from SGAE´s royalty payments of 2 x €2500 (all in 2017) I have received nothing since my father's demise in 1984. I am now a resident of Spain, the movie is still popular, and I am told that it is aired not only by Spanish and Mexican television but also by various South and Central American countries, as well as Italy, France, and other European countries. So, there should be plenty of royalties to be collected/recovered by whoever knows how to go about it. SACD (the French) say that though Senior was a member, My Uncle Jacinto/le Muchacho is not registered with them.

17. MY UNCLE JACINTO/ANIMATION - NEW MOVIE (Sr.)

Honestly, how many children’s novels - that (i) Have been translated into nine languages & (ii) Have been made into a blockbuster movie - have you heard of? Now, how many of these have not been turned into animated films? Well, I know of only one, and unfortunately, the rights to that belong to me. My Uncle Jacinto has absolutely outstanding potential as an animated film. My Uncle Jacinto is a book for children of all ages and depicts a special day in the lives of down-and-nearly-out ex-bullfighter Jacinto and Pepote, his streetwise nephew. Honour is one antagonist, crime is another, alcohol a third and separation a fourth, and the common denominator. Jacinto accepts an invitation to play the lead role in a comic bullfight, but proudly declines the promotor's offer of assistance, saying that he has the required outfit. Thus the middle part of the story is spent chasing the money necessary to rent the gear, all against the backdrop of Madrid criminality of the 40s: everything from recycling cigarette butts to a Goya-scam. For a long time, things look bleak: Jacinto is down and out, he is broke, he has been ridiculed in front of what we feel is the better part of Madrid, and he has lost his main reason to exist, his honor. And, even worse, he has lost his honor in front of the boy who is the only important person in his life, and who is about to be taken from him. Don’t be silly; of course, My Uncle Jacinto has a happy ending, sort of, maybe, if you choose to read it that way.

18. PACO NEVER FAILS - ROYALTIES (Sr.)

Andres Laszlo Sr. wrote the novel Paco el Seguro/Paco Never Fails, and he also co-wrote the movie script with Didier Haudepin (who directed). However, it seems that Senior is not credited for his contributions to the script – and, possibly not even for writing the book on which the script is based - with SACD (now possibly fixed). The book/script was turned into a movie, but because of contractual complications it (allegedly) never got shown outside Spain. Together with Dedier Haudepin and (my then-agent) George Hoffman, I tried to acquire the outside-Spain rights, but without success. However, Allain Katz (now deceased)/AWA Films, succeeded where we failed, and I have a contract with Mr. Katz, negotiated by George Hoffman that gives me the broadcasting rights for the Scandinavian countries, plus a promise of a commercial copy of the movie and €7.500, once the movie is commercialized outside Spain. However, now the rights have been bought by Dynamics Films Library S.A, and CEO Dominique Vignet explains that: (i) the debts were not included in the purchase, (ii) there is no copy for me, and (iii) as the movie has not been exploited (or because debts were not included in the purchase(?)) there are no €7.500 either, so I have received neither the commercial copy that the contract stipulates that I shall receive, nor the money that I am owed. It should be noted that there could be royalties from Paco not only from Spain but possibly (though, if so, probably illegal) also from France and maybe from elsewhere. Spanish SGAE has Paco el Seguro registered, but SACD (the French script-writers' organization) says that though Senior was a member, Paco l’infaillible is not registered with them.

19. PACO NEVER FAILS - NEW MOVIE (Sr.)

Gallimard (Prune Berge/TV5), between 1999 and 2002, called me to Paris at least twice (actually, I think it was three times, but I am not certain) in order to sign contracts (around €250,000) allowing for new adaptations of the original text (into new movies), but on each occasion it came to nothing, mainly because I was stupid and behaved unprofessional. Yet, this suggests that Paco Never Fails could be the stuff of which new adaptations for the screen can be made. Also, now a new and much improved English text is available for script-adaptation, something that hopefully can stimulate some English-language interests. If you have read the book, it might interest you that in the new adaptation: 1. More suspicion has been thrown on Ricardo as the manipulator of Paco, leading to his death (thus adding the dimension of "murder mystery") and 2. The importance of "the blue circle" has been emphasized. As the phenomena around which the story centers – the “impregnator” occupation – must have existed in more or less every major city, it is likely that a new adaptation could be attractive not only for French filmmakers… Actually, I have never understood why the French seem much more interested in a new movie than the Spanish. As the text now exists in five languages - Spanish, English, French, German, Catalan (and DV soon in Italian) – there are many possibilities. The book was turned into a movie by Didier Haudepin, with Alfredo Landa starring as Paco. The story is set in Madrid in the early 1940s (i.e., during World War II and just after the end of the Spanish Civil War). Here we meet Paco Garcia (a real person) who makes his living by making pregnant young girls from the countryside: girls who have come to Madrid with the purpose of making a better life for themselves as wet-nurses. These girls, once the milk from their previous pregnancies stops, need to get it flowing again: i.e. they need to become pregnant. This was at the time a real profession (I am told that in some parts of the world it still is), and the “impregnator” most likely to succeed (i.e. "never fails") became the one highest in demand. Paco sees himself as a serious and professional man, and he is determined to justify the income he is earning from his trade in this 100% decent period drama on a subject matter that would have allowed for a wide variety of alternative approaches. However, "never fails" isn't 100% true because Paco has failed once – he has failed to grant his own wife, Maria, her greatest wish, which is to become a mother – and this is a main concern. Therefore, when Maria unexpectedly becomes pregnant, Paco’s world descends into chaos. “Am I really the father?” asks the father of thousands. Though I/Andres Laszlo Jr. do not remember, I have been told that I have met the actual/real Paco, and whether it is really so or not, to him and his offspring I dedicate this new translation/adaptation.

20. SIN UNIFORME - ROYALTIES (Sr.)

Senior wrote the script (the story part) to this movie, together with his friend Eugenio Montes (who wrote the dialogue part). Sin Uniforme/Without Uniform is from 1948, but some source(s) suggests it wasn't released until 1950, and I have no idea as to the situation regarding rights and royalties. However, this movie probably is registered with (French) SACD as Der Drennende Radfahrer. On Spanish “Filmaffinity” there’s plenty information about the film, which was produced by Warner Brothers and directed by Ladislao Vajda. The producer was “Peninsular Films,” and amongst the cast one notices Rafael Durán and Blanca de Silos.

21. MOTHER UNKNOWN - NEW MOVIE (Sr.)

This, Senior's first major novel, he was turning into a script at the time of his demise, but though I still have the correspondence, I have lost the script itself. However, whether or not it is recoverable - it should be somewhere, with someone - this is a text out of which excellent cine can be made. In the new translations of Paco el Seguro, and My Uncle Jacinto, although the original translation of Paco wasn't the best, very little could be done to improve the texts. However, Mother Unknown - also published as Donde los Vientos Duermes, Mere Inconnue and Die Mutter Meinen Shones - was a totally different kettle of fish. Here, Senior was still "unfinished" as a writer and remarkably "improvable," quite possibly in part because no professional content-editing had been provided. In 2017 the Spanish text was translated-while-adapted to English, and it is now a great basis for a script. Considering that the text was about to become at worst a "near miss" as a movie in the 1980s (at my father’s demise), I feel that there ought to be a good chance that the into-English adaptation shall do well, especially as up until now no English translation has existed. The story starts in Tangier, during World War Two, less than five minutes from Gibraltar as the rocket flies: a large town or maybe a small city. Whatever it was, it remained outside the war and the world order that so much of Europe had been forced to subject itself to, yet not outside the whirlwind of plots that surrounded it. This is the scene on which the curtain rises for the first act of Senior’s first important novel. Tangier, however, is only the setting that Andres Laszlo Sr.’s has chosen to get this drama started. Late at night, a young boy is left at the door of our protagonist, holding an unsigned letter: "Kurt, You always wanted a son. Here he is. Don’t try to find me." That Kurt is the father is beyond doubt, but who is the mother? Kurt goes in search across war-torn Europe: Naples, Paris & Avilla. The theme is top class, and I believe that this story soon will become a film.

22. DOÑA JUANA - THEATRE/MUSICAL/OPERETTA (Sr.)

As I finished translating this "theatre-script dressed us so as to read like a novella," I was amazed. This is world class - probably to be explained at least in part by the fact that father was a theatre director back in Austro-Hungary - not only as theatre but even more so in its potential to be turned into an operetta/opera/musical. With some rewriting, this theatre script could be performed by only two men and a woman (though 3+1 or even 4+1 would make things much easier) and only 2 scenes are required. Marcel Marceau starred in a mime-version in Paris (Marcel Marceau "Dom Juan"). The story is set in Malaga the 1930s, on the coast, always within reach of the lighthouse’s beam. It is late. An old manner house. Let us enter: a band is playing, we find our way to the library, where myopic Juanita tries to locate Don Juan Tenorio in the hope of finding a way out of her terrible predicament. Juanita - who, when we come to the end of the story, will have metamorphosed into Doña Juana - is the devastated daughter of the house, who has just found out that her fiancé is about to elope, and to make things even worse, she gets to overhear the enamored couple plan their escape. Tears fall into her lap - and into the book she had come to read in the hope of finding a solution - as she realizes that all is lost; "Oh Don Juan, if you only were here..." "But I am here." "Who are you!" "I am Don Juan." "Don Juan who?" "Just Don Juan." Yes, "that" Don Juan, has traveled through space and time, in order to give the poor girl some assistance: to show her how to get out of her dilemma by means of manipulating men, much as he manipulated women. However, the girl turns out to be better at "this thing called love" than expected, and Don Juan soon finds himself enamored with the girl, who turns out to be a great puppet-master and ruler of the destinies of men. The emotional foundation for a great musical is in place: Mr. Lloyd Webber, if you are reading this... And, for anyone wanting to throw a bit of modern psychology into the piece - or maybe some Lacan or Kristeva… (Simone de Beauvoir is already there, as she no doubt influenced Senior) - it would constitute a great vehicle for doing so. Beware males of the species: Doña Juana has arrived!

23. THE CHALLENGE: SCRIPT - MOVIE (Jr.)

The Challenge: Script is my adaptation of my own book The Challenge, which in turn is an adaptation of My Uncle Jacinto. Here the 1950s, Madrid, and bullfighting becomes 2010s, Cape Town, and boxing. I sought a production grant from RFF (with producer Tim Spring), and I was informally told that it had been a near miss, caused by what they (quite incorrectly) interpreted as a "Hollywood ending.”

The story is about Baba and his nephew Tiger; it covers a decisive day in their lives. The hero is the bond between the two and the heavy is separation. Baba - a prematurely old, rheumatic, not too bright, drunken, used-to-be prodigy boxer, with only a bit of imagined honour, a fantastic speed, and the upbringing of his nephew left to justify his existence - erroneously gets selected for the champ-part in a ‘Challenge-the-Champ boxing extravaganza’, where old used-to-be champions can be challenged by anyone in the public. Baba, confronted by paradox as he's sworn never to box again - mainly to prove to his nephew, whom he believes he is looking after, that he is not the down-and-out drunkard that he very well knows everybody tells the boy that he is - accepts. Tiger; a cuddly, bright, fast and fun-loving eight-year-old - who has so far successfully dodged school and who by far is the more street-wise of the two - knows that it’s he who is looking after his uncle.

The beginning. In the township, it rains, and Tiger builds a waterwheel, nearly drowning his sleeping uncle. The letter from the boxing promoter arrives but is not taken seriously. Tiger and Baba travel to the town center for their usual scavenging. Collecting cigarette butts, they spot a poster proclaiming Baba to be the champ to be challenged. The issue can no longer be disregarded, and an upset Baba calls the promoter to protest but ends up accepting the champ-part. Baba, too proud to accept assistance, pretends that he has got the required boxing-gear.

The middle is about the sundry tricks and petty crimes by which they try to gain the money required to rent the boxing-gear, all while the danger of separation - in the guise of a fake-watch salesman, a musician, the police, a children’s court, a real criminal, a professional hit-man, etc. - gets ever more real. Their day is seen against a background of the whole spectra of Cape Town criminality: from reusing stamps to a multi million-dollar diamond scam. As a last resort Baba, dishonoring himself, attempts to sell a fake watch with Tiger’s assistance: they are caught. Baba seemingly is about to go to jail and Tiger to be sent to a children’s court. Dishonour and separation seem a fact, the boxing-gear shop is about to close, and Baba - amicably and logically enough to convince most of us - is told that he should ‘give the poor kid a chance’: that he’s no good for Tiger.

The end starts as Baba, devastated, is sent off with a warning. Next Tiger wangles out of trouble, soft-talks the gear-renter into giving Baba credit, locates his uncle, and gets him to the clothes shop. Now we follow them, Baba dressed to fight, on the bus to the stadium where Baba nicely deals with the first opponent: he’s still fast. But eventually he gets carried away by his overdeveloped desire for honor, and he makes the mistake of accepting the challenge of an athlete twice his size that is sent to kill him, and it is in this challenger that the danger of separation takes its final shape. Baba puts up a great fight but is, eventually, down, out and made a fool. Baba has lost what justified his existence - his honor – and Tiger has witnessed his ultimate humiliation; Baba hesitantly walks up to take farewell of his crying nephew. Don’t be silly; of course, it has a happy (Abrahamic, actually) ending, maybe, if you chose to read it that way. Read more.

24. SHORT STORIES - MOVIES (Sr. & Jr.)

I have put together my own short stories with my father’s, so as to produce The Laszlo & Laszlo Chronicles. Among them, there are several short stories that could be of interest to a producer, as especially Senior's short stories often read like treatments.

Senior had an adventurous life, and his collection of (22) short stories – first published in Spanish as Solo el Paisaje Cambia, and now as the second part of The Laszlo & Lazzlo Chronicles - illustrates this. Senior has written his short stories quite expressionistically, and as I’ve translated them into English, I have made an effort to make several of them read as close as possible to (movie) treatments. As to Senior’s stories, they are, generally speaking, much better suited for screen-adaptation than my own, especially as they do not form part of any greater whole: 1. The Little Circus Horse is a full-sized philosophical and slightly melancholic children’s story. 2. Murder by Default is a dark tale seen from a murderer’s point of view, 3. My Friend in the Photo is a great vampire tale that could do with a better ending, 4. A Beautiful Girl is a romantic tragicomedy, 5. The Man in the Blue Tuxedo could form an excellent piece/centerpiece for a movie where we need to be told how a gambler made a lot of money in an entertaining way, 6. The Spy could have interested Hitchcock & 7. The Olga Case, Bergman.

Junior/I have had a pretty adventurous and interesting life too, and my collection of (22) short stories illustrate this (esp. if you find a charming man-eating tigers interesting). My own short stories - that are taken mainly from The Caspian Connection and The Drug Problem - form the second part of The Laszlo & Laszlo Chronicles: 8. Man-eating Tiger. There’s the tale of a tiger (several, actually, all pretty short), told from the tiger’s point of view, and though I am not an ethologist, I did put some work into the research, soif you are a tiger-fancying producer, this might be something for you. 9. Panama/Conduction is about my adventures in Panama, dealing with (deposed) General Noriega’s narco-police, and constitutes a virtually 100% true, and totally 100% Kafkaesque drama, that at the same time illustrates how the fact that drugs are illegal corrupts the very fabric of society (by one of two unrecognized mechanisms). 10. A Drug-lord’s Tale/Convection. This is a story about how the drug trade can appear from a drug-lords point-of-view, and at the same time illustrates how the fact that drugs are illegal corrupts the very fabric of society (by one of two unrecognized mechanisms).

25. THE CASPIAN CONNECTION - MOVIES (Jr.)

This is simply too big a project to present; especially as a script, as I haven’t even started thinking about this yet. Actually, I haven’t even finished the books, even if they are 955 presentable. Therefore, let me just try to impress you with a wee bit of backstory on the bad guys:

Let's go to Baghdad and 832; there’s a heated argument between those calling themselves “The Kharijites,” and the religious leaders of The Abbasids. Virtually 200 years have gone since the Prophet’s death and maybe 100 years since the original "Addendum" was destroyed. In this argument, The Kharijites argue for the use of unprovoked violence to promote the continued spread of Islam. When the prophet's (and God's) purpose with the original Addendum - which was: no unprovoked war - is used to counter the Kharijites’ argument, these argue that if there ever had been such a thing as an Addendum – which, probably, there hasn't – it most certainly must have been a forgery, produced by A’isha or Uthman, trying to pervert the true spirit of the Koran; "Had the writings been here now, that could easily have been proven." Now a loose-mouthed member of the Abbasids drops a bombshell by spilling the beans: a big silver plate together with six smaller copies, by order of the Prophet, were engraved with the text of (the now destroyed original Addendum), just to make sure that violence never got used in the name of Islam. Also, the loose-mouthed blurts out that these plates are to be revealed to the world on the 200th anniversary of the prophet’s death, i.e., in a matter of days. The Kharijites have to back down, and there is panic in their organization. The leadership of the Abbasids has purposely kept this information from the Kharijites, in order to keep them from stealing/destroying the plates, and the man who has prematurely revealed the information has acted rashly, especially as he has made it possible for the Kharijites to deduce the location of the first and nearest shrine. There could still be time enough for The Kharijites to stop at least the first shrine from opening. The loose-mouthed is admonished, and the Kharijites are warned not to try to prevent the opening of the shrines.

Now, in a Kharijite emergency meeting regarding the upcoming opening of the shrines, no agreement is reached. One group argued that it’s too risky to pursue the “Six and The One”; "They are watching us, and if anything happened to the plates, they would know that it was we who had done it, and we would all be destroyed." However, the radicals argue that the plates must be found and destroyed at any cost. "With them exposed to the world, our cause would be forever lost." There is no agreement but in secret the radical branch of the Kharijites – there’re seventy-seven of them – set off to trace The One and the Six in order to destroy them all, and to kill anyone with knowledge of them. They reach the first location where the shrine’s keepers greet them as brothers in faith. However, after having gotten all the information sought, they slaughter the entire order. As they have found out the next destination (of "Muhammad’s Travellers": those that opened the shrines 200 years ago) they set out for it, and as they reach the second shrine (just about to be opened) the keepers greet them in much the same way as they were greeted at the first, but again they behave as before, and they find out that the next destination of Muhammad's Travellers was Djardjan; they set out for it. In June 832, as they reach Djardjan, it is only to find that the shrine – which had contained four of the five missing plates – has been looted a few days earlier by Karli, a Viking from the Swede’s country (Odin’s son, though Karli doesn’t know this: our protagonist). Some of The Kharijites say it’s time to give up, some even that it must be God’s will; others say it’s their duty to follow the Vikings and destroy the plates, whatever the cost. Anyhow, it seems unlikely that they’ll manage to catch up with the Vikings before they return to their home country: the country of the Swedes. And, following them back to their home would require them to recover the plates from Karli on his own home turf; not an easy task.

There's mayhem and confusion, and it’s decided that a council shall be held. This council reaches no conclusion, and in order to settle the question, it is decided that a poetry challenge shall be held to settle the matter; Handsome Jacob from Spain – who represents those set on pursuing Karl - wins for the radicals. It is decided that Karli indeed must be pursued and that the plates must be destroyed at whatever cost; because, failing, The Kharijites’ very reason for existing would cease to exist. However, as it is unlikely – at least if they all pursue them as a group – that they’ll catch up with the Vikings before they reach the Swede’s country, this idea is discarded. Then the alternative of sending a single man with horses and enough gold and silver to purchase the plates is discussed. However, this is a project – at least if failing to catch up with Karli before he arrives the Swede’s country – that is likely to require more than a man’s power, silver, gold and (quite possibly) lifetime. Alternative solutions are sought and discussed, but no feasible new solution is found. Thus, furnishing their best rider with two horses plus gold and silver enough to buy back the plates is seen as their optimal option. Handsome Jacob - a Spaniard, a convert, the best rider, and the winner of the poetry competition - accepts the job: “Your task is to retrieve/destroy the silver plates at whatever cost.”

At this moment an expert in pre-Islamic magic, the leader of those seven (mainly pre-Islamic) magicians that forms part of The Kharijites 77-strong radical core, suggests: “Here in Djardjan dwells a renowned and powerful jinni by the name of ”Djardja.” If we could make her accept the same challenge as Jacob has just accepted, it would have two thousand years to complete the task rather than half a man-age.” However, it is then argued that a jinni is too awkward and unreliable a creature to deal with, and in addition would be unlikely to be accepted by the Norse. Then the magic experts suggest they offer the renowned jinni food and sex in order to make her accept entering a human’s (i.e., Jacob’s) body, thus to be given a human appearance and a persona that will appear less awkward. The pre-Islamic expert knows the required spells and rituals for keeping the jinni from breaking such a promise and though Jacob protests vehemently, the suggestion is accepted. Now men are sent out to find suitable men as sex-partners for the she-jinni and attractive jinn-food. Once this is done the renowned jinni is conjured up, offered to, admired and given the proposal: “If you “marry into” a human shape (until your task is done) and pursue the Viking-captain called Karli and destroy the five silver plates he has robbed, we’ll give you all the best food money can buy, and all the best humans-for-sex Djardjan can offer. The jinni/Djardja answers shrewdly: “But then, when I have exhausted myself in intercourse and consumed all food and drink my body can manage, what will I do then? If I cannot continue this way of life in the Viking’s country, looking for the silver plates, how then will I be profited?” A new council is held and eventually it is deemed acceptable that the jinni becomes a long-time/permanent drain on the Kharijites´ resources.