The first time I visited Chateau du Freq in downtown Bellingham, I had the proverbial feeling of being watched. Not just by the meter maid, who casually slipped out of the alley just as I parked and entered the nearby bank seeking quarters. And not just by Jeff, Grant, and Wibby, who eyed me curiously as I walked with them into Jeff's cramped and cluttered office (Katie was rat-a-tat typing behind us at her microscopic desk) to discuss, among other topics, Grant's potent homebrew. I don't recall seeing any two-way mirrors or signs of hidden cameras, but there definitely was another presence in the office, an observant force that strangely reminded me of a Halloween special I watched on TV in the '70s that featured cool on-stage fireworks and speakers covers blowing off.

I took my place on the old chairlift seat directly opposite Galbraith's desk, and as the conversation turned toward Ski Journal banter, my eyes drifted upward until I saw the apparent source of my paranoia. There, hanging on the wall above Jeff's chair, were Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter.

I rubbed my eyes as Jeff went on and on about the ski industry and the magazine market and Frequency and oh yeah, how he'd always been a skier, while Grant and Wibby offered their own occasional "mmm-hmmms" and "no doubts," but I couldn't keep my eyes or attention off the Knights In Satan's Service. The KISS poster is about 4x6 and it commands obedience. There was Gene, mouth blood-red and eyes staring into mine. Shout it, shout it, shout it out loud... I was lip-synching. I blearily surmised the poster was part of Galbraith's mind-control technique to get visitors to Ground Zero of funny feelings LLC to basically see things his way. Whatever the deal was, it worked. I soon found myself shaking hands (with the devil?) and happily agreeing to devote all my time and energy to learning how to spurt blood from my mou--um, to helping make The Ski Journal a commanding new title in the mag industry.

How can you lose with Gene, Paul, Ace, and Peter behind you? It's not fair.