Digital Underground - uXu - Underground eXperts United #uxu-092

### ### ### ### ### #### ### ### ### #### ### ### ##### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ##### ### ### ########## ### ### ########## ### ### ### ### Underground eXperts United Presents... ####### ## ## ####### # # ####### ####### ####### ## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ## #### ## ## #### # # ## ## ####### ####### ## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ## ## ####### ####### # # ####### ## ####### [ Blackstone Rising ] [ By Sarlo ] ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 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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