Robert James profile picture

Robert James

THREE, FIVE, OH, ONE, TWO, FIVE, GO!

About Me

Well, I must admit that I think my life peaked in fifth grade, (from a certain sort of socio-political standpoint), when I learned how to shape my fingers into the word "Blood." Of course, the obvious ironic nature of the action was completely lost on me at the time, and seeing as how I no longer remember how the placement is executed, I guess I find myself searching for a bit of meaning and purpose. I have heard, however, that the guy who screws in the light bulb at the top of the Empire State Building is looking to retire, so perhaps my search is almost at it's end...

BUY MY COMICS!
www.inabsentiapress.com
www.breakupbots.com
www.skullpen.com
www.bobbyfugly.com

My Interests

Comic books, Music, Drawing, Researching a way to make the sweet love and then package it for later use and resale, Writing, Art and art criticism…Ok, before I go on, I need to say something. Lately, I've been thinking that I really don't have any interests, per se. It feels as if I merely possess a ramshackle collection of extroverted socially noticeable personality traits that simply reflect a subconsciously predetermined placement within my local social structure, know what I mean? I guess it's like this: Do I listen to Elliott Smith because I actually enjoy crying myself to sleep in the middle of the afternoon, or rather, do I listen to him because I've been led to believe that individuals with my mood and temperament SHOULD listen to Elliott Smith. Is it a matter of me actually enjoying the things I do, or rather, do I feel compelled to enjoy them because of the exertion of some non-quantitative social force that works to assign me a role to play, not an identity? And of course, let's not get started on whether my tastes are a product of me as an individual, or that, perhaps I am merely a composite of said tastes. Do I listen to XO because of my broken heart, or do I have a broken heart because I listen to XO...? Not to mention that if I am merely a collection of predetermined non-preferences, than I completely cease to be an autonomous human being, but instead I become a mathematical siphon of completely predictable, non-sustainable, chemical and social reactions. If that is true (and I must admit that I find myself believing that more and more...), the very idea of an interest box becomes undeniably futile, since anyone with enough time and effort would inevitably calculate my interests for me...

I'd like to meet:

I guess the people I'd like to meet would best be summed up by citing a verse of lyric by one of my favorite poets, Charles Michael Kitridge Thompson IV:"Now we live on the sea and relax and ride the tack /Drug running on this Panamanian schooner /She walks the deck in a black dress /And me I dress up in black /And we listen to the sea /And look at the sky in a poetic kind of way"Hrrmm? You know what? Now that I read that, I'm worried it might be a bit too opaque. Maybe this passage would be a bit more fitting, (from the mind of auteur Hank Evans): "Just because I rock doesn't mean I'm made of stone."

Music:

Quite honestly, when it comes to bands, if it's not The Art Museum Area, I don't really give a shit. That having been said, some music that I have enjoyed in the past includes, (but is not limited to): Pixies, Bob Dylan, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Interpol, Andrew W.K., Weird Al, The Arcade Fire, PUSA, Kraftwerk, Judge Wapner and the Verdics, Feed, My Bloody Valentine, Robert James and the Algetrons, The Rapture, Blondie, The Pretenders, Clinic, The Unicorns, That one David Bowie song about standing by the Berlin Wall, Aphex Twin, The Echo Rangers, The Comas, Wilco, Radiohead, Elliot Smith, The Electric Six, Devo, The B-52s, Fountains of Wayne and Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

Movies:

I've been told that I have exceptionally great taste in movies, so chances are that you haven't even heard of the last ten movies I saw. But since MySpace is all about revealing yourself to others through lists and statistics and JPGs, I guess that these are some of the more commonly known movies that I have enjoyed as of late: Batman Begins, Batman: The Movie, (Yes, they are two completely different but completely kick-ass movies), Dr. Strangelove, The Incredibles, Planet of the Apes, The Five Obstructions, Cable Guy, Fail Safe, Beneath Planet of the Apes, Jurassic Park, The Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Spider-Man, X-Men, Escape from Planet of the Apes, Spier-Man 2, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Let Have A White Guy Cook For Us And Then All Have Sex With Him, Battle For Planet of the Apes, X2, Silence of the Lambs and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Television:

I don't have much time to watch TV, since I spend almost all my time in front of my computer making these lists as pious, pretentious and pompous as possible. When I do watch a program, however, I tend to watch the following: 24, The Simpsons, The Celebrity Autopsy Cavalcade, City Confidential, Unsolved Mysteries (except the one about Bigfoot), The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Batman, Get A Life, The First Joe Millionare, Late Night With Zack Galifianakis. I wouldn't be surprised if several of the shows that I've listed are so forward thinking that some of them are no longer on the air, due to the fact that they were never able to attract an audience with an intellectual caliber high enough to appreciate them. I also wouldn't be surprised by the fact that I have simply been too cool to notice their absence.

Books:

I would highly recommend the following books for anyone who cares to waste their time with what quite frankly is a dying leisure: Bobby Fugly, The Elegant Universe, Jimmy Corgan: The Smartest Boy On Earth, Slowness, In Cold Blood, Blackhole, Dune, Superman: For All Seasons, A Farwell To Arms, Watchmen, Fountainhead, New X-Men, Maus, As I Lay Dying, 1984, Awesomeness Well Lived: The Robert James Algeo Autobiography, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Latchkey Kid