From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
J. R. "Bob" Dobbs is the
figurehead of the
Church of the SubGenius. His
image is derived from a piece of 1950s
pop-art. According to
SubGenius dogma, "Bob" was a drilling equipment salesman who, in
1953, saw a vision of God (
JHVH-1 according to Church scriptures) on a
television set he had built himself. The vision inspired him to
write the "PreScriptures" (as described in the
Book of
the SubGenius) and found the Church. The "theology" holds
that "Bob" is the greatest salesman who ever lived, and has cheated
death a number of times. He is also revered for his great follies
and believed to be a savior of "
slack". He was assassinated in
San
Francisco in 1984, though the Church states that he has come
back from the dead several times since then.
The quotation marks in "Bob"'s name are always included when
spelling his name, according to the Church.
Personal
history
According to
Revelation X; The "Bob" Apocryphon, "Bob"
was born in
Dallas,
Texas to Xinucha-Chi-Xan M. Dobbs (a
pharmacist) and Jane
McBride Dobbs. At an early age he possessed a talent for making
large amounts of money by playing the stock market over the
telephone. He married his wife Connie in
Las Vegas in 1955 and worked as a
photographer's model while inventing and patenting novelty gag
items. In 1957 he worked weekends doing
Evangelical Christian preaching "strictly
for the money".
Connie
Dobbs
Connie Dobbs, the Blessed Anti-Virgin.
Connie Dobbs, the wife of "Bob", has become as legendary in
SubGenius circles as "Bob" himself. Although "Bob" has been married
to other women, spirits, deities, and inanimate objects (he was
married to
Eris, the
Discordian mother Goddess for a while,
though she grew tired of him and kicked him out), Connie is
described in the SubGenius documentary
Arise! as "his
first, and
still his primary wife." Connie is the patron
of SubGenius women, and she is seen as a vision of true liberation
for women. She refuses to submit to anyone (especially "Bob"), and
she is just as free-wheeling and promiscuous as her husband...
although she has a more level head on her shoulders when it comes
to domestic issues.
Dobbstown
According to Church lore, "Bob" travelled to
Malaysia and founded a secret enclave there,
called
Dobbstown, where he often stays when he is
not travelling. Few members of the Church of the SubGenius have
ever seen Dobbstown in person, and it may be a legend similar to
the legend of
Shangri-La.
Images of
"Bob"
"Bob"'s image first appeared in the original SubGenius
publication,
SubGenius Pamphlet #1 (a.k.a. "The World Ends
Tomorrow And You May Die") (1979).
[1] Since
his initial appearance, his face has appeared in numerous places
around the world, and it has made
cameo appearances on everything from
graffiti art on
highway
overpasses, to musical albums by many underground bands (and
several popular mainstream rock bands, ranging from
Devo to
Sublime) and the occasional
movie (see
The Wizard of Speed and
Time) and TV appearance (
Pee-wee's
Playhouse). There are also two German comics with "Bob"
("Future Subjunkies" and "Space Bastards", both by Gerhard Seyfried
and Ziska Riemann). The Church of the SubGenius maintains the
trademark and copyright on "Bob"'s image, though it has tried to
avoid taking legal action unless absolutely necessary. "Bob"'s
image is commonly seen on the
Usenet newsgroup alt.binaries.slack, where he
appears regularly in images by many artists. Proper etiquette on
the newsgroup dictates that credit be given where it is due, and
acknowledgement of the ownership of "Bob"'s image by the Church is
accepted by the regular newsgroup participants.
Both "Bob" and SubGenius Foundation head
Ivan Stang appear as characters in
John Shirley's novel
Kamus of Kadizar: The Black Hole of Carcosa.
"Ghost Host", a
Spongebob
Squarepants episode, breifly shows the image of "Bob" when a
giant worm monster's head morphs into his face.
Sacred
Ikon
Around 2002 the Church adopted a new symbol called the "Sacred
Ikon", which is a stylized cross consisting of three bars and a
pipe, placed in a pattern that matches the eyes, nose, mouth, and
pipe of "Bob"'s image.
[2]Atari ST
The picture of "Bob" was included in the
Atari ST character set, characters 28 to 31.
The four characters could be assembled into two rows of two
characters to display Bob:
[3]Time
Magazine
In its January 1, 2000 issue, a
Time
magazine internet-based poll named J.R. "Bob" Dobbs the #1
"Phoney Or Fraud" of the 20th century.
[4][5]Notes and
references
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