My favorite photograph: "Atomicus," by Philippe Halsman. *** *** My Music Space: WWW.MYSPACE.COM/CRYSTALVOX ***
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"The more laws and restrictions there are, The poorer people become. The sharper men's weapons, The more trouble in the land. The more ingenious and clever men are, The more strange things happen. The more rules and regulations, The more theives and robbers." Stanza 57, Lau Tsu's TAO TE CHING. "The most splendid fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is this exalted Word: Ye are all fruits of one tree and leaves of one branch."--The Universal Principles of the Reform Bahai Faith, XXXVIII; Baha'u'llah * * * *I am interested in people. People can make or break the part of the world they effect, and they decide how small or large that part of the world is. This is a very serious power, which has a great effect on the Collective Consciousness! I am interested in conversation, observation, meditation, new and interesting foods, places, and cultures, and the question of the Nature of the Universe and this Evolution we are all so quickly becoming aware of. I am always interested in the WHY. The answer exists, but where? So you have to wonder.
Salvador Dali says. . . "'YOU! And you and you and you in the front... YO! I'm live wid it, low, middle, da high wid it! And that's how I'm-a live and die wid it! Hold up and down yo spine wid it! Like ZIM-ZALLA-BIM!'" (Since he's learned to emcee cross-eyed, he's going through a little Mos Def phase...) Make PEACE not WAR. One thing all the Gods can agree on, "Don't kill each other over Us! Hold hands and fly through the sky!" ;P
Currently going through a "conscious Hip-Hop" phase- if you have not seen the documentary, "Letter to the President," I suggest you check it out of the special interest/independent section or at the library.Locals deserving of a "shout-out:" The Theatre Fire, The Blackland River Devils, Darrin Kobetich, White Ghost Shivers (Austin), Sweet Leaf Trio, Marty Christian (Lafayette), Kristina Morland, Top Secret...shh. There's more. I'll put some thought into it later. ;)The Beautiful TORI AMOS; ELLA FITZGERALD; LOUIS PRIMA; MEDESKI, MARTIN, and WOOD; Shelley Berg; ANDREW BIRD; Sufjan Stevens; MOS DEF; EELS; THE FLAMING LIPS; PINK FLOYD; AFTER CRYING; Magma; Present; Combustible Edison; KELLER WILLIAMS; RJD2; RADIOHEAD; Ben Harper; MICHAEL FRANTI & Spearhead; Common; YMA SUMAC; Dulce Pontes; Willie Nelson; CHRIS KRISTOPHERSON; Janis Joplin; Björk; RAY CHARLES; JJ Gray and MoFro; BLOCKHEAD; LEON RUSSELL; Cecelia Bartoli; BLOCKHEAD; Joan Sutherland; GALACTIC; BEETHOVEN, (of course!); Carlo Gesualdo; Charles Gounod, W.A. MOZART; VANGELIS; THE PIXIES; The Polyphonic Spree; RJD2; Celia Cruz; MANU CHAO; Rory Gahlager; THE ROOTS; Joe Cocker; Cibo Matto; Nikka Costa; Citizen Cope; BERNARD FANNING; Cat Power; TOM WAITS; Johnny Cash; BILLIE HOLIDAY; John Mayer; SONIC YOUTH; The Gypsy Kings; Etta James; PAVEMENT; Idjah Hadidjah; Beastie Boys; FIONA APPLE; John Lennon; Louis Armstrong; BECK; The Dire Straits; Phish; David Bowie; LEON RUSSELL; SARAH SLEAN; Grandaddy; Queen; Rickie Lee Jones; Digable Planets; Modest Mouse; PORTISHEAD; Elliot Smith; Sting, and the Police; Orbital; Ben Folds; Pulp; STEREOLAB, DJ VADIM, and so much more... I'm getting dizzy.
Best New Release: FIDO ("Not the teeth, Tammy!")
Crystal's Random Movie Quote:
'Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?'
- Frank, Donnie Darko
Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.comJim Jarmusch- *DOWN BY LAW; Coffee and Cigarrettes; Broken Flowers; Coen Bros- Raising Arizona, Fargo, *The Big Lebowski, *The Man Who Wasn't There, O Brother Where art Thou?; Wes Anderson- Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums, *The Life Aquatic; John Waters- *Pecker, *Cecil B. Demented, A Dirty Shame, Pink Flamingos; Quintin Tarrantino- *Reservoir Dogs, His quarter of Four Rooms (all of Four Rooms, really,) Kill Bill, Death Proof; Austin's own Richard Linklater- Dazed and Confused, Slacker, *Waking Life; David Lynch- *Lost Highway, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Dr., (and, of course,) Eraserhead: ("In Heaven, everything is fine.")Two of my all time favorite movies have an ear removal scene. (The Big Lebowski and Resevoir Dogs). Other randoms... The Man with the Golden Arm, Tetsuo the Ironman (HILARIOUS!), Crazy in Alabama, Snatch, Suicide Kings, Fight Club, Paper Moon, *Office Space, *Stander, *Cool Hand Luke, The 5th Element, Persepolis, Monster, Requiem for a Dream, Pan's Labyrinth ... damn there's so many great movies out there. Foreign is usually excellent. (Gotta love Werner Herzog.)
DEATH TO THE LIE MACHINE!!! I've been TV-free for... well over a year now.
Anything about (preferrably Eastern) philosophy and religion, or neuroscience. The TAO TE CHING from Lao Tsu. "A Treatise on White Magic," by DK under the pen name of Alice A. Bailey. Ram Dass's "BE HERE NOW" is a must read. THE BHAGAVAD GITA. Orwell's 1984 (we live here); Chopin's The Awakening; J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey (and, of course, The Catcher in the Rye;) Steinbeck's The Pearl and Of Mice and Men; Poetry: Samuel Tayler Colridge, Percy Byssche Shelley, William Wordsworth, James Tate, Dylan Thomas, Dorothy Parker, e.e. Cummings, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plathe; A lot of philosophy too: Voltaire, Plato, Nietzsche. Short Stories: Dorothy Parker, Joyce Caroll Oats, Kate Chopin. The best "self helps" ever: "POEMCRAZY: Freeing Your Life with Words" by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge; and "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" by Robert M. Sapolsky
My late Papa, Ward Casey. My Mema. And, of course, the One that Watches from the Inside of All, The Soul: