Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
(Carl Sagan, 1934-1996)
The world of the chemist is such a wonderful place...
I'd like to meet:
Firstly, anyone from overseas. Seriously. Hit me up and I'll try find you cheap lodgings somehwere. Other than that, anyone with something the least bit interesting to contribute to my life, to philosophical argument, opinionatied views or straight hedonism. A sole message with a random thought or world problem I could solve would also be swell. Vacuous Myspace-whores need not apply. Neither do random "cool" bands. If I liked you, I'd listen to your music. But I don't. So I won't.
Music:
My iPod died a most cruel and horrible death (read: head read/write error) last September. What a horrible thing it is to lose a music collection you'd been nurturing for the best part of 3 years. Anyway, it used to have:
[Error]
16 Volt
28 Days
A Perfect Circle
AC/DC
Aphex Twin
Aphrodite
Basement Jaxx
Beastie Boys
Beck
The Berzerker
Bill Hicks (music? Fair point...)
The Butterfly Effect
Cake
Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty
Coal Chamber
Cog
Combichrist
The Cranberries
Deftones
Devolved
Disciples of Annihilation
Disturbed
Dream Theater
Enya
Faith No More
Fatboy Slim
Fear Factory
Garbage
Goldfrapp
Green Day
Grendel
Grinspoon
Groove Armada
Happyland
Immortal
Incubus
Infected Mushroom
John Butler Trio
Juno Reactor
Jurassic 5
Korn
Lacuna Coil
Liquid Tension Experiment
Marilyn Manson
Massive Attack
Mephisto Odyssey
Meshuggah
Mindless Self Indulgence
Ministry
Monster Zoku Onsomb
Mortiis
Mudvayne
Muse
Nightwish
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
Opeth
Pantera
Pearl Jam
Pendulum
Placebo
Presidents of the USA
Primus
The Prodigy
Psyclon Nine
Public Enemy
Puddle of Mudd
Queen
REM
Rage Against The Machine
Rammstein
Regurgitator
Rob Zombie
Run-DMC
Sepultura
Sevendust
Sikth
Slayer
Sipknot
Son Kite
SonicAnimation
Soulfly
Static-X
Stone Sour
Sum 41
System Of A Down
Tatu
Testeagles
Thelonious Monk
Tool
Veruca Salt
White Zombie
ZZ Top.
WARNING: Not a definitive list. That's just what I get exposed to every day. If I was to choose genres, I'd be picking electronica/industrial or experimental rock (I guess that's what you'd call it?)
I also play drums in a band with my mates Pete, Jeremy and Dan and Phil. More on this project as we start gigging. Hopefully in the next few months. Watch this space.
Movies:
Anything without Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom, or anything with Keira Knightley. Unfortunately, I won't see Pirates of the Carribean, as the former outweighs the latter.
"There are two types of tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want, the other is getting it."
(Yuri Orlov)
Television:
Double The Fist. Random cartoons on MTV - Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law. The Mr Hell Show. Other non-cartoon shows that give an excellent (and unnervingly accurate) cross-section of American society - Jerry Springer or Maury. Next time I'm in the USA, I'm going to Chicago to see one of them get taped. And none of you are stopping me. Although I also won't reject a good documentary or historical program.
Books:
"The Pig that Wants to be Eaten" - Julian Baggini. Alas, I'm not an avid novelist. Far too busy investigating my own stories rather than reading anyone elses. But I am open to suggestions. I gave a Dean Koontz book a go the other day - I might try him again. If only I remembered the title off-hand... "Odd Thomas" or something.
Heroes:
Charles Darwin and Nicolas Copernicus. For standing up for what they believed to be correct, even though prevailing authority at the told them otherwise.
