Posted by pancho from ? (64.79.4.3) on Friday, March 01, 2002 at 3:25AM :
Got a call from Narsai this morning kind of puzzled. said he just got a call from John Nimrod saying Narsai should send the Shumirum to Chicago...to HIM! Said they owned the piece and told Narsai they paid me $300,000.00 for it.
This is too much. Helen gave $120,000.00 says so right there in their own books, assuming their books aren't over cooked. Then they send a letter to Butterfield and Butterfield, on their letterhead, saying they gave $170,000.00 for the Shumirum...now, mind you, John didn't give a damn thing, it was all Helen's money anyway, she paid their allowances for them.
Next thing I know at the convention in San Jose, Atour wants me to sign a contract promising not to say a word about either the Shumirum or the Federation...right after John has just announced to a room full of dignitaries, that's what they call each other, that he gave $220,000.00.
Then, a month later, three days after I taped a TV show with an Assyrian friend in which we were carefull only to talk of things that I could document, things I left copies of with the man so he could answer any questions...Carlo Ganjeh, of the Ganjettes, calls the man to say I am a liar and sholud not be allowed on the air. And HE tells the guy that the AUA gave me $240,000.00 for the Shumirum.
Well by now I'm beginning to think I either got screwed somehow from the start, or I'm a pretty clever fellow to keep making more and more money without lifting a finger. And then today the Horse calls Narsai and from his own mouth raises the figure to $300,000.00 that was paid to me for the Shumirum.
And no one believes ME, but John and the AUA represent Assyrians. I'd say it was well past the time that Assyrians got another representative...they aren't going to be able to afford John much longer.
That was just this morning. Then I get a letter from Janey Golani, out of the blue, telling me she is broken hearted that my family has fallen apart and I am forced to come up here, away from my children, to sell sculptures at half price...tells me Atour was under a lot of stress dealing with those people, tells me she and Atour are in tears, says they don't hate me, do I hate them...and caps it all off my by offering to send me, what else, MONEY...and from their own account no less.
It's good to know that they have some shred of conscience left, and this tear jerking note proves they knew damn well that what happened at the convention in San Jose was contrived by and set in motion by Jackie Bejan...and all because I wouldn't "put out".
I told Janey I didn't hate anyone, that it wasn't personal, as I'm sure they felt I was their friend all the time I was being hustled out and my work thrown in a corner...said I had taken a lesson from their book of Christian Friendship and it was only "business" on my part too. Told her to assuage their conscience some other way, to tell Atour to get himself another whore, I don't do it for money.
It's funny and crazy in so many ways. They said the only reason I decided not to weld the figure of the king to his throne, in the model, was to save money...meaning put some more into that bottomless pit of a pocket I have. It costs all of fifteen bucks to attach the two, so I changed the entire way I wanted to make the models not because the weight or for shipping and handling purposes, but to make an extra $45.00.
Being that kind of a guy, they must have assumed I'd jump at the chance to get some FREE money from them. I'd crawl first and so would my children...and we don't crawl.
-- pancho
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