Um, I’m interested in stupid people, particularly the mindset of those who don’t understand how small we each are in this universe and how insignificant we can be. I’m also awed by those who don’t realize their importance in the universe and how incredibly vast and insightful our lives are.Most of all, I’m interested in people who don’t know what the “POPCORN†button on a microwave does…and people who purposely torture themselves to fit in. So sad.Beyond these, I love seeing new places and experiencing other people’s ideas and concepts of life, reality and being as well as those people who have none of the above, AKA nileists.I’m an avid reader/writer with a disrespectful nature and a nonconformist view, but I generally have good manners and I respect those who do the same for me.I don't hate animals, but if comes to my car OR the cat in the road, you can send your condolences now...cause that fucking cat's done. So, it's not fair to say that I hate, or even dislike animals…but I do have my priorities…and my leather seats aren’t going make themselves, now are they?
Aside from maybe Elvis, Patton, Kennedy or Jesus…I’m doing okay.I’m always interested in networking and sharing interesting ideas and unique views, especially about nontraditional religious, political and ethical POV’s.
Wow, saying what music I like is kind of like telling you about my underwear today. Today they are fresh, clean maybe even brand new…but they get warn and used more than they should and before too long, they just feel all wrong. Stiff, bleached, a hole of two here and there, an itchy tag…and so on. But, years later that same pair of underwear can make a comeback and help me recall a time when they were different, when I was different. Such is my view of music. For those of you who didn’t get the underwear analogy, I like such a wide array of styles that it’s almost impossible to say what I like today, because tomorrow I might make myself a liar.But in the effort to be understood, as of 2005, I’m a sucker for Nine Inch Nails (Exceptionally deep logic, painfully true poetry and slap-your-mother angst.), Death Cab for Cutie (Freak rock, but strangely addictive.), Depeche Mode (Need I say more?), Syntax (Super sick hooks, uncommon vocal potency and twistedly poetic.), Gorillaz (Shut up! I’ll be humming fucking “Feel Good Inc.†for the next six months), Eminem (Who are we shitting? He’s our modern day Euripides, maybe our Shakespeare.), Duncan Sheik (Sad, but true.), The Police, Tears for Fears (If you don’t get it now, you never will.), Joss Stone, John Waite, Patti Labelle, Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Fleetwood Mac, The Knack, The Clash, Squeeze, James Taylor, Johnny Cash, Beck, Radiohead, The Cure, R.E.M., U2, Pink Floyd and a host of other true artists who have cut through the common muck of everyday crud with their experience and expression.
This is where I show my age, corruptibility and maybe a bit of my ass as well. I really don’t like much of feature work these days because it’s not the same experience that it once was. Today’s mega-hit movies are next week’s DVD fodder… and I’m full up to the frigging gills with crappy plastic disks with crappy, uncomplicated characters and obvious plotlines that don’t require thinking in any way, shape or form. I’m begging for another indie revolution to drop-kick Hollywood in the nuts and force them to make less “Napoleon Dynamite†and a shite-load more “Primerâ€.On the other hand, the exodus of Hollywood’s elite to the current indie gold rush has been refreshing. Seeing Robin Williams do anything un-funny proved to be a HUGE payday for the given story, the admission that “Alexander†was only good as a written history and that Colin Ferrell is not infallible was WAY overdue, the fact that Brad and Angelina did actually knock-one-loose to get rich, deep, nearly life-like characters was overrated and the pretty clear poignancy that Eddie Murphy is finally admitting that he’s middle-aged made me step up and say wow once or twice. Otherwise I’m dodging the latest Disney release and/or re-release, cruddy remake and politically motivated Hollywood-type’s personal rant just like the rest of you.Star Wars abandoned me at Empire, The Godfather died before the sequel was announced, the “truth†of Steven Soderberg’s “Sex, Lies and Videotape†is not nearly as unique as it once was and there is no such thing as an original idea in the land of sun and stars.Basically, the best movies I’ve seen lately are on TV. “Nip/Tuck†is a drop-dead serious story about vanity, deficiency, frailty, overt abuse of others for personal gain, all tied nicely together with tattered shoestrings and a bit of a story that leaves you wanting next week to fly by just to see what’s next. And “Medium†is my only consolation in a world of tired assed medical melodrama full of names that should have overdosed years ago. And don’t get me started on the crime-drama shit. I’ve got one name for you, “Hill Street Bluesâ€, beyond that…it’s all CSI’ed, “legalized†or utter copies of shows that would have been douched out of our collective consciences years ago. Let the record show that TV is NOT perfect, but in the world of internet communication and absolute no-holds-barred lying to us in movie trailers, I’ll take the lesser of the two evils.
Okay, if you’ve read this far, you’ve already had a taste of my views of what's on TV, but just to add the “yellow†to the snow cone you’re about to eat, here are a few little gems that were, are or will be axed because of lack of interest and/or general stupidity among the masses.“Jeopardy†(Syndicated) – No shit, it might be on its last leg according to numerous people in the position to make the decision weather to let it ride or not. Apparently, years of learning things that aren’t taught in high school and only occasionally having any clue of what the correct answer might be has proven too much pressure for today’s great thinkers. Mr. Jennings, the multi-million dollar winner of the 2004 season provided just the boost that the show needed to prove that it was still capable of making money or else it would already be dead.“Dr. Phil†(Syndicated) – Okay, I was just fucking with you. Dr. Phil is a hack with an ideology that only accrues value if you’re totally fucking hopeless, a glutton for personal abuse, or a masochist. Outside of those three, if you’re watching it…you need REAL help. But, on the bright side, Oprah now says that he's a bit too much for her pleasure these days. Ah, honesty.“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia†(FX Networks) – It’s a nuclear bomb in the crap-filled pond that is cable television. It’s funny as hell with a very, very dry wit. It’s not for everyone, but designed to be somewhat palatable by almost anyone over the age of 20 with eyes. If you don't find anything funny here, you're taking too many pills or you need to get out more.“My Name is Ed†(NBC) – After years of sitting through “must see TVâ€, there is finally a show that makes me actually want to laugh. What could be funnier than an asshole from a small town tracking down people he’d done wrong in order to make things cosmically right? Normally, I’d be able to find something to knock…but this show is really well written and the leads are all actually talented in their respective roles. Trust me, if you think that TV has nothing to offer, this show will make you think twice...or maybe once, if you didn't get the Dr. Phil crud above.“Nip/Tuck†(FX Network) – Okay, again, I’m screwing with you. It’s not really in danger of going anywhere, but with every single one of the lead actors being handed film scripts after every episode, it’s only a matter of time before it self-implodes. Let’s hope for a quick death that makes us miss it instead of that “ER thing" that’s been dragging through the ages. I wanted so bad for Dr. Green to run into that God Damned building with a nuke screaming "I'm taking you fuckers with me! Where's Clooney?" Boom...exit stage right. Please don't screw us FX.“Monk†(USA Network) – Get the hell out of here! If you haven’t seen this show, it’s kind of like “The Andy Griffith Show†meets…well, I guess a hypochondriac with WAY too many issues to be one person. If you can get past the overacting, it’s worth every minute. The only problem is that the characters are written pretty shallow and superficial for the effect and that leaves you in limbo when each episode is neatly tied up. You almost wish this guy would crack and pop a few innocent bystanders just to prove he’s not as fucked-up as he lets on. God knows a guy who had to reload AND use his hand sanitizer between shots would be a twist we wouldn't see coming. Who's with me?Anyway, being that this is supposed to be a “what I like†section, it’s fair to say that I really like very, very little on TV these days.
First, in the true attempt not to be insulting in the least to any regular reader, author or publisher, I don’t assume that many of the books I’ve read recently will EVER make the New York Time’s Best Seller list, but in all honesty I don’t read them for their ability to lead me around by the cerebellum. I prefer to read what compels me to recognize new things, or at the very least makes me understand that the words are of some value to the space that they heretofore will forever occupy in that tiny space, in that tiny broom closet, in that very dark corner of my brain.That said, I am a huge fan of books that speak of changes and upheavals within people, communities, nations and galaxies. I’ve never gone through what I would refer to as an epiphany, but I like to feel as though the words that I absorb have the power to make me accept as true that one day I might. I’ve yet to read lines in a book more powerful than those written by Aristotle, Hemmingway, Capote, Emerson, Clemons/Twain, Frost, Poe, Melville and Moore…but I expect to.Anyone with eyes to see and the capacity to do so should read, and do so frequently. Not only is reading a means to educating one’s self, but it is a way to challenge what we observe to be the status quo, in effect changing and reshaping existence. Words are the only things in this world or the next that will be able to convey who and what you are, or were. Without words and books, we are but puppets to the forces that abound within the space that we occupy. But through words, we harness and focus those energies to our whim, thereby changing everything.
I’d love to have something heart wrenchingly powerful, or even mildly moving to say here, but truthfully I know Superman died, Santa hates me, My Dad has passed away and the world around me leaves me with so very few people with which I can even relate that there simply are no “heroes†for me to identify, much less idolize.I would like to add that my wife and daughters are incredibly beautiful and tough-as-nails-chicks who I hope have more optimistic appraisals of the potential of heroes in the world today, and if I had to pick any people that would be my heroes, it would be them. Hey, they put up with all of the crap in the world and me too. That’s worthy of a star on Sunset Boulevard if not a badge of some kind.