Chuck's Monologues Series 1

[Pilot] [The Choice] [Baby] [The Paper] [Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog] [Hoops]
[Gun] [The Wrong] [Mob Wife] [The Wall(pt1)]

[The Wall (pt2)] [Bat Masterson] [The Jury] [Psychic] [The Cat] [Phantom At The Opera]
[Faith] [Dad] [Love Is Blind]

Pilot
What if you knew beyond a doubt, what was going to happen tomorrow? Sure, I
know it's crazy... but what if you did? Whether you'd be rich, or poor. A
hero, or a loser. Lucky in love, unlucky in life. What would you do? What
if, by some magic, you found the power to really change things? People,
events, maybe even your life. Would you even know where to start? Maybe you
can't know... until it happens.

There are no explanations of course. But that's nothing new. Magic's like
life, mostly unexpected. Which means, newspaper or not, you can never be
sure what's around the corner, or what you'll do what you find it.

The Choice
Everybody makes choices. It's the American way. It's in the constitution.
Every shlub has a vote. You get up in the morning, you decide what to wear.
What to eat. What to waste your money on. You go with what you know, which
usually ain't much. But what if you knew what you knew before you actually
knew it? If that's confusing, so is getting tomorrow's paper... today. The
point being, sometimes the choice is easy... and sometimes you don't have
one at all.

What would you do if you got tomorrow's news today? (this bit is from the
beginning sequence, which was different to the usual one for some reason)

Like the man said... I think it was me... everybody makes choices. Some you
make because you want to. Say Abe Lincoln for president. No-brainer(???)
Mostly though it's a matter of guesswork. Going with your gut. It's hard on
the nerves. Really all you can do is give it a shot... and hope to God it
turns out right.

Baby
Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. Sometimes no matter how
well you plan your foundations, the roof falls in. Kaboom! Nothing left but
the rafters. Take my best friend Gary; a man born to have kids. Instead,
he's got a newspaper that tells tomorrow's news, and one about to be...
ex-wife. Which goes to show when it comes to the future, it's not what you
know that counts, it's what you do when you get there.

To repeat, sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. Whether or not
you got a crystal ball, life is a search for answers, and everybody's
looking, all at the same time, in the same general place. Which is probably
why we keep tripping over each other. So, here's to life. The ups, the
downs, the twists, the turns and whole mixed up unpredictable mess of it.
Just remember to keep your spirits up, and your eyes wide open. And
remember, there's always tomorrow.

The Paper
Life doesn't always come with a set of instructions. In fact, most of the
time it just comes. Every morning, like clockwork. It's there when you open
your eyes, and it's still there even if you don't. Take my friend Gary, a
regular guy; at least he was till the day life showed up at his doorstop,
in spades. Now he spends half his time figuring out where the heck it all
came from, and the other half wondering where it all goes. Face it; it's
not necessarily all it's cracked up to be, having a jump on the rest of the
world. Still, you go with what you got, and when what you got is tomorrow's
news, well it's gotta be one of two things; either you're a day ahead, or
everyone else is a day behind.

Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog
Things connect, especially in a big city. People rub elbows, among other
things. It's what you call a democracy, it's one big melting pot; whatever
that is. Where the little guy at the bottom can sit down to lunch with the
guys at the top. In theory anyway. Yup, no matter where you look, you can
see it in action, the free and open exchange of idea, the meeting of minds.
Not that the system doesn't have a few bugs. The point is - there's an
opportunity for all especially the guy with tomorrow's newspaper. Still,
having a rag that tells the future isn't always all it's cracked up to be.

Ah well, easy come, easy go. Who needs 20 million clams anyway? After all,
this is America, where everyday is a new deal, and dreams are worth their
weight in gold.Where the little guy can reach the top, even if he has to
crawl up a drainpipe to get there. And where sooner or later everyone has a
shot... at getting exactly what they deserve. Sister Mary Agnes found a
winning lottery ticket on her doorstep and donated the dough to a foster
care centre. Which, by the way, is exactly what I would have done.

Hoops
Everybody has a dream. It comes with being alive. Doesn't matter who you
are, or what you do. Or where you grew up. If you're breathing you got one.
But the dreams you dream when you're young, those are the ones that count.
The ones you never give up. When every second lasts a lifetime.

Nobody lives forever--but try telling *that* to the very young, when the
future's road that leads straight up, and hope is in your pocket, and
tomorrow's a promise you can't wait to keep. Like I said--everyone has a
dream.

Gun
Veni, vidi, vici. We came. We saw. We conquered. Or in Chicago speak - We
went to work. We had a bad day. We took the L home. Look around pal, it’s a
violent world. It’s been that way forever. Or at least since Caine whacked
Abel. Or vice versa, whichever it was. Violence, there’s practically no
stopping it. Even when you know it’s coming. Which may be why Mother
Theresa takes the bus.

Maybe it’s nobody’s fault. Maybe it’s everyone's. Once things go wrong,
it’s hard to remember why. Sometimes it takes losing the thing you love
most to bring you to your senses. Sometimes if you’re lucky, time and
patience can bring things together again. Trust me. I know.

The Wrong
Your scientists will tell you that most human beings only use ten percent
of their brain. What they don't tell you is that usually it's a very good
thing. Truth is, you don't want to think too much, because if you did,
you'd realise that we are all this close to catastrophe, disaster, or
heartbreak, every minute of every day.

The trick is to assume your life is going to work out. Of course, it never
does...so you do the next best thing. You take it one disaster at a time.

Mob Wife
Here's the problem with life today. There's too many moving parts. Getting
anything to work is a pain in the butt. By the time you've read the
directions, the thing's already obsolete. And believe me, warranties aren't
what they used to be. What you really need to get by is some kind of
crystal ball. In fact, tomorrow's newspaper will do. No doubt about it;
knowing the future can be a definite boom to mankind. Just don't expect it
to help you program your VCR.

Sure, anything's possible. You just gotta show faith that the people who
care for you really care for you. And one way or another, things work out.

The Wall (pt1)
The past is never over. The future's never begun. That's what someone
said... don't ask me who. When you think about it though, it kinda makes
sense, like yesterday's dinners, tomorrow's leftovers. Or something like
that. The thing is, most of us live in the now. Y'know, get up in the
morning, brush your teeth, put on your socks. Easy. Until you start getting
tomorrow's news today. Then, everything changes and nothing ever quite be
the same again

The Wall (pt2)
In the end, it didn't matter who was right and who was wrong. Things happen
as they happen. You can't change the past. Trouble was, only one man knew
the truth, and he was gone. Unless... he wasn't.

It never made the papers. On the books it never happened. Anyone who knew
said nothing. They buried Dobbs at Arlington. Gave Marley an unmarked
grave. Harry Hawks had a park named after him downtown, people missed him.
Then things moved on. Only now, for one man, things were different. From
now on, that paper would never be the same.

Bat Masterson
If there's one golden rule in the world today, it's this - ignore thy
neighbour. Which roughly translated means - stay outta my space. Face it;
it's every man for himself, with of course, the occasional exception. Meet
the last good Samaritan.

Like the man said, life is full of improbables. Who's to say what is, and
what isn't? A man gets lost and finds himself again. Crazier things have
happened.

The Jury
Nothing's easy these days, no matter what language you speak. Murphy's Law;
what can go wrong, will. Face it, even when you get tomorrow's newspaper
today, you're still not outta the woods, not by a long shot. Like it or
not, you still gotta deal with life. Not to mention the phone company.

Some people say things always work out for the best. Others say, that's the
way it was meant to be. Life is full of twists and turns, and you don't
always know where it's taking you, but it sure can be an interesting
journey. Especially for someone who gets tomorrow's newspaper today.

Psychic
Let's face it; life's hard. Life takes effort. That's just the way it is.
Most of the time there are no short cuts. No easy way out. Every now and
then however, life surprises you. Thing is; you can't go looking for the
short cuts, they find you. Which is why from time to time, everyone needs a
wake-up call. In the mean time, you try to keep your head above water and
just keep swimming. And be glad that someone out there gets tomorrows
newspaper today.

Impossible things happen everyday. Little miracles. Most of the time we
can't see them, not because they're invisible, but because we don't know
what we're looking for. But maybe we're not supposed to see miracles. We're
just supposed to believe they're out there. Because sometimes believing is
enough. Sometimes believing is the miracle.

The Cat
Life is full of unpredictables. The pitfalls you never see coming. The
minefields you didn't know were there. Sometimes you can head off disaster,
say, with tomorrows newspaper. But sometimes, even that's not enough.
Sometimes, when the chips are down you need help. Hell, even Luke Skywalker
needed help from Obi Wan once in a while!

The connections we make in this life are so fragile. A bad word, a wrong
glance and everything changes. Sometimes they can poison life, drive people
apart. Sometimes it can bring them back together. Still, life goes on;
everyday, every way. And there's never enough time. Unless you're brave
enough to make it. So maybe that's the secret, when you get right down to
it. Treat everyday like it was your last, or your best. Who knows? You
might even find something on the way. A puzzle solved, a mystery revealed.
Or maybe even a voice from the past, saying 'live your life.' Maybe.

The Phantom At The Opera
We enter this world alone. We leave it pretty much the same way. And in
between, a dance we call life. Problem is it takes two to Tango. So we look
for signs; something to help us to find our perfect partners. A smile, a
wave. But we have to be careful; because while some signs can be
misinterpreted, others can be missed completely. And if you think it's any
easier for a guy who gets tomorrows newspaper today, think again.

Some dances you sit out. Others you change partners. The important thing is
you never stop dancing.

Faith
Time's a great healer; especially if you're young. A month later Rachael
was ready for a new life. She wasn't the only one. Maybe it's chance that
turns people's lives around. Maybe it's something more. Maybe it's
believing what could be. After all, something's you know, something's you
never will. Sometimes you have to leave it in other hands, sometimes you
just have to go on faith.

Dad
The world is a scary place. I mean, just take a look at the headlines
sometimes: you got your serial killers, your flesh eating viruses, your
wild packs of carnivorous coyotes roaming the countryside. You never know
what's going to pop out of the dark. Sometimes the scariest things out
there are the things you simply don't understand. Take for example a guy
who gets tomorrows newspaper today. What's scarier than that?

They say that no-one can teach you to be a father. But it's not really
true, because every father was once somebody's son. Thing is, you don't get
to pick your parents. No-one automatically gets the father they want.
No-one. Sometimes however, if you're lucky and you're blessed, you get the
father you need. That's the best you can hope for, and really, more than
enough.

Love Is Blind
There are some things in the world of sport that mere words can't really
describe. The beauty of form and motion. The symmetry of style. The
inevitable grace of balance and poise. It takes a rare performer to bring
these things all together at once. It takes a great athlete, or a guy with
tomorrows newspaper. Watch carefully the approach. The dismount. Makes it
look easy, doesn't it? Face it, when it come down to the intangibles, some
of us have it, and some of us don't. All in all, Ill give it a ten.

The trick is to assume your life is going to work out. Of course, it never
does...so you do the next best thing. You take it one disaster at a time.