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Underground eXperts United
Presents...
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[ Blackstone Rising ] [ By Sarlo ]
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Blackstone Rising
By Sarlo
The eyes. Everyone is struck by the fire that blazes in
Nicholas Blackstone's dark eyes. Businessmen see in them a
beacon guiding them to wealth and glamour. Politicians see a
torch illuminates their own names. And others see it a flame
that burned their houses down and left them out on the
street.
Right now, those eyes are looking out towards the
ocean from Blackstone's Pacific Palisades home, and they do
not like what they see. A young family of four have made
themselves comfortable on his private beach: the children
toss a frisbee while the husband prepares to swim. "I can't
believe this," says Blackstone. "Don't these people read
signs? Well, they'll get what's coming to them." This proves
almost immediately when, seemingly out of nowhere, a shark
appears and bites the man clean through. Blood fills the
water, screams fill the air, and Blackstone smiles grimly as
he sips his Bordeaux. "It's a tough world," he says.
And Nicholas Blackstone may be the toughest denizen of
that world. For his is - or claims to be - Satan, "The
embodiment of evil, that whole trip," in his words. As such,
he has compiled an enviable record as the ultimate hard-
charging, behind-the-scenes operator, a man always present
at the biggest deals and the most fashionable parties.
Indeed, many among the wealthy, powerful, and famous count
on him as the most valuable friend they have, a seductive
man in tune with the times to an uncanny degree.
But, like many accomplished people, Blackstone is
dogged by critics who accuse him, with varying degrees of
substanation, of letting loose violence, famine, and
hopelessness around the globe, and find him insensitive to
the pain he causes.
One such person is Hector Rodriguez, a homeless man who
defaulted on his ren after being stricken with leukemia.
Huddled in the doorway of an abandoned building on New Yorks
unattractive Lower East Side, his purpleish mouth contorting
with unreasoning hate, Rodriguez curses Blackstone, who
admits to having arranged Rodriguez's fate as part of a
wager. "Why, Man? That's all I got to Ask, Why?"
(Blackstones reply has been unchanged since his role in the
affair was first revealed: "Why did they climb Everest?
Because it was there.")
Blackstone's work on larger canvasses has also come
under attack - whether the charges can withstand closer
examination or not. For example, some liberal activists have
accused him of receiving a profit on every nuclear weapon
made: in truth, the profit kicks in only if they are used.
He also has been linked to the "Greenhouse Effect", without
much evidence. "That's a ridiculous charge," counters
Blackstone. "I don't even OWN a car. Although I will say
that, in my opinion, the `Concern-for-Nature' fascination has
gotten out of hand - I can do business now matter WHAT color
the air is, and I know a lot of people who feel the same." It
is the characteristic response of a blunt man who professes
to be indifferent to his reputation.
"Hey, I INVENTED Social Darwinism," says a confident,
serene Blackstone as he opens another bottle of Bordeaux. "I
never promised there wouldn't be a Down-Side. If I'm such a
bad guy, why do people keep calling on me?" Yet as he
continues defending himself, one get the unmistakable
impression that, behind the bluster, Blackstone may not be
the unfeeling monster his opponents - with their skillful
use of the "Satan" tag - have made him out to be. "Okay, so
an innocent bystander gets hit in the head with a
ricocheting bullet and is cut down in his youth. I mean, how
do you think >I< feel? That guy's dead - I have to live with
the knowledge of his senseless extinction forever. I only
wish it could be otherwise."
When questioned further, even people like Hector
Rodriguez are forced to agree. "Maybe I deserve all this,"
says the homeless man as a passerby spits at him. "I
remember that I did some dancing on Sunday once. When you
think about it, he's just doing what he's gotta do."
But it is a Blackstone who is sensitive to the needs
and concerns of others that his friends and supporters talk
about warmly. Again and again, they refer to the many people
he has lifted out of obscurity to the highest positions in
their fields, always noting that he asks for nothing
material in return. These include everyone from Political
figures - on the right AND left - religious leaders, and an
enviable string of the world's most beautiful women. (In
fact, his latest Lady Love, British cabinet minister Rachel
Ann Simpson, is all three) For these movers and shakers,
Blackstone's identity as Satan is not enough reason to
abandon a man who has done so much for them. While they
admit that he has been guilty of "Overzealousness" and that
he may have "a cruel streak," they claim on a whole, he has
been inaccurately portrayed in the media.
"We understand that, as a purely malign presence, he
makes a good copy," says his current publicist, Mark
Bergman. "You know, witches being burned on his account, the
Holocaust, and so forth. But what reporters don't see is
that these stories really hurt him personally. We think
it's time to tell out side of the story."
Hence a new campaign to court the press. Reporters who
were once brushed aside or afflicted with boils, are now
welcomed and told of Blackstone's extensive one-on-one
philanthropy. "All you have to do is call on him, and he's
there," says Simpson "That's what happened to me." Simpson
was working a London topless bar when she wrote Blackstone a
letter detailing her plight. "Just a few phone calls later"
- in his words - she received simultaneous invitations to
enter the Episcopalian priesthood AND the Conservative
Party, and now, two years later, she sits happily by his
side in custom-designed Geoffrey Beene vestments. And what
does she think about Blackstone's habit of discarding
intimates by causing them to kill themselves? "I think this
time it'll be different. He's assured me, privately, that
he's really changed after all these centuries. He realizes
that the smile on a kid's face after his first Black Mass is
just as precious as a Million-Dollar deal," says the woman
insiders think will be the next archbishop of Canterbury.
Blackstone seems uncomfortable hearing statements like
these. After a pause, he says, "I feel I've ALWAYS been a
people person. Helping someone attain his or her goals - if
they truly want them - I think that's what Nicholas
Blackstone's all about." But with characteristic reticence,
he declines to go further. "Talk of motivation makes me
uneasy. I'd rather be judged on what I do."
Indeed, for all this outward pride in his thick skin,
Blackstone is a man driven by a fundamental need for
respect. "For a long time, my treatment at the hands of the
media was a record of distortion, but I put up with it," he
says, those dark eyes flashing. "Now, though, the time seems
right for a change. I'm tired of people blaming me for their
misfortunes. They should take responsibility for their own
lives! It doesn't matter if you're poor or crippled or
starving - if you can't overcome your fear of success, you
deserve what you get."
Blackstone has never had any such fear. And, as you
spend more time in his hypnotic presence, the source of his
impressive can-do achievements becomes obvious. For Nicholas
Blackstone, alias Satan, life begins with a simple belief:
have faith in yourself. He has gained access to the halls of
wealth and accusations from petty-minded detractors who call
him "the Author of Evil." According to his friends, the
greatest evil is that he is misunderstood.
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