Here's a postscript concerning the geographical extension of the synchronicity I noticed, 
from a personal letter to me from David Chirot which documents its stunning surfacing 
within his personal life.

"Next thing we know i am reading an article on Graham Greene and his Catholicism as 
evidenced in , among other works--Brighton Rock--and your letter arrived a bit later the 
same day--

And riding the bus looking out the window there it is --Spicer Meats--SPICER MEETS--
through various personae extending from the one you write of to the one here--battered 
ghetto store--"


On Thu, 17 Dec 2009 Barry Alpert wrote:

Thanks Doug.  Curious what happens when synchronicity takes the place of intentionality 
and/or calculation.  "Causes" me to recall George Quasha telling me in the early 
seventies that when one notices synchronicity within the context of one's writing activity, 
that process is going well.  That last example via David Chirot at the end of a month's 
consideration startles me while still making a kind of conclusion to the project.

Barry 

On Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:29:57 -0700, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]> 
wrote:

>Just brilliant, Barry, a 'catch' for sure, of which I think JS would  
>approve.
>
>Doug

SPICER PLAYED BY WYLIE WATSON IN BRIGHTON ROCK

	via Graham Greene’s script from directors John & Roy Boulting’s adaptation
	of his novel


Which table was it, Spicer?
The one on the right, with the yellow cloth.
Waitresses off somewhere . . .
They freeze me.  They freeze me too.

The dead can’t speak, Ida.
“Eye suicide, Fred”.

How do we make you safe, Spicer?
Spicer, you’ve been gone again.
Spicer, you have a message for me.
You have to disappear, Spicer.

Spicer passed away.  Condolences from his old pals.
They’ll like that--shows proper respect.

Spicer was evidence.
Pinkie wanted him out of the way.


Barry Alpert / Silver Spring MD US / 12-16-09 (5:51 PM)

Jack Spicer certainly wasn't in mind when I arrived slightly late for the National Gallery of 
Art's screening of Brighton Rock within their British Noir series.  I hadn't conceived of 
writing during the film, but I became intrigued when I finally determined that characters 
within the film were referring to or addressing another character as "Spicer".  
Remembering Jack Spicer's own fascination with the radio transmissions to Orpheus 
rendered within Jean Cocteau's film, I decided to gather Spicerian material from Brighton 
Rock.  Just today I stumbled on an analysis by David Chirot of William S. Burroughs' 
preference when using literary texts rather than newspapers for his cut-ups, which 
synchronistically relates to what I've done:

"[WSB] is reading The Quiet American aboard a ship, and looks up--and there by God IS 
A Quiet American ascending the stairs towards him--the novel creating a person who in 
real time is encountered by the reader, linked by the title of the book and the description 
within it which matches the real figure approaching--
It is such events that break down the systems of control . ."

While it's certain that Jack Spicer didn't see any of the 56 episodes of the animated tv 
series Xiaolin Showdown in which a character named "Jack Spicer" appears, I can well 
imagine him witnessing Brighton Rock (1947) during his lifetime.