Brockton G profile picture

Brockton G

'The sun lights up a thousand courtyards. Take away the walls, and you will see that it is all the s

About Me


I am Brock.
I am a devout agnostic. Gk., A = without, gnossos = knowledge. It's not a religious thing, it's a metaphor for life.
I am a proud father of two boys and husband to a wonderful woman, all three of whom have changed my life in amazing ways.
I love teaching and I'll be teaching middle or high school within two years. One day, I see myself teaching at the collegiate level.
I feel so lucky to have had music as a major part of my life. I love and honor music, and I'll never stop trying to be become a better musician.
"The world is like a ride at an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while.
'Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: Is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, 'Hey – don't worry, don't be afraid ever, because this is just a ride ...' And we ... kill those people. Ha ha, 'Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This has to be real.' It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amuck.
'But it doesn't matter, because – it's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one.
'Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defense each year and instead, spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace."
- Bill Hicks
"Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful."
- Socrates
"The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend."
- Aldous Huxley
With which great bass player do you most identify?
Jaco Pastorius
Early career backing the Temptations and Supremes. Moved on to work with Pat Metheny and Weather Report. Probably the best technician ever to play the bass.

Click Here to Take This Quiz

My Interests


Bass guitars, music, teaching, pro football, MMA, reading, writing, anime, cookies, politics and history

I'd like to meet:


Victor Wooten, Flea, Charles Mingus, Jaco, Rocco Prestia, Les Claypool, and all of the other bass gods. Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Bill Hicks. Yoshiyaki Kawajiri. William Stafford. Zakir Hussain. Sacha Baron Cohen. Bob Marley. Stephen Ambrose. Hunter S. Thompson. Jack Black. Barack Obama. Stanley Kubrick. Miles Davis.

Music:


Most Influential Albums:

"Blood Sugar Sex Magik" Red Hot Chili Peppers

"A Show of Hands" Victor Wooten

"Kid A" Radiohead

"Metallica" Metallica

"Dark Side of the Moon" Pink Floyd

"Awake" Dream Theater

"Sublime" Sublime

"Around the Fur" Deftones

"Transistor" 311

"Far Beyond Driven" Pantera

"Houses of the Holy" Led Zeppelin

"Worship and Tribute" Glassjaw

"Aquemini" OutKast

"Vegas" The Crystal Method

"Aenima" Tool

Movies:


Top Ten:

Unbreakable

A Clockwork Orange

Saving Private Ryan

The Big Lebowski

Ninja Scroll

Gangs of New York

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The Dark Knight

The Matrix

Children of Men

Television:


South Park, Battlestar Galactica, SportsCenter, The Daily Show, Metalocalypse, Sesame Street

Books:


Ray Bradbury - "The Martian Chronicles", "Fahrenheit 451"
Anthony Burgess - "A Clockwork Orange"
The poetry of William Stafford
Aldous Huxley - "Brave New World"
Lawrence Wright - "The Looming Tower"
Kurt Vonnegut - "Galapagos"
Hubert Selby, Jr. - "Last Exit to Brooklyn"
"Berserk" manga series
Ken Kesey - "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"
Tom Wolfe - "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test"
Hunter S. Thompson - "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"
The works of Flannery O'Connor
J.R.R. Tolkien - "The Lord of the Rings", "The Silmarillion"
David Brin - "The Postman"
Richard Dawkins - "The God Delusion"
Neil Gaiman - "American Gods"
Historic non-fiction, especially dealing with Classical Greece, the Enlightenment, or World War I

Heroes:


My father, Grant Lange, who taught me how to laugh. My step-father, John Stafford, who taught me how to play music. My grandfather, Bob Schultz, who taught me how to be a man.

My mother, Kathi Stafford, who gave me her heart and determination. My grandmother, Patricia Schultz, who gave me her love and wisdom. My wife, Cathryn Lange, who gave me her way of looking at the world.

My Blog

For all you elitists out there...

Excuse me, maybe I missed something... When the fuck did the word "elitism" become a pejorative for "snobbery" or, if you will, "douchebaggery" in this country? How did being elite come to be on par w...
Posted by Brockton G on Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:32:00 PST

Specism

When I was a little child, I would cry when I saw a helium balloon float off into the sky. I wasn't sad about losing the balloon... I was sad that the balloon might pop, land in the ocean, and a whale...
Posted by Brockton G on Thu, 22 May 2008 09:36:00 PST

David Marcus Lange

David Marcus Lange March 12, 2008 8 lbs, 15 oz; 19.5 in long My god it’s so much easier the second time around! Thanks for all the congrats everyone!...
Posted by Brockton G on Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:47:00 PST

Atheist? Agnostic? American?

By now, a lot of you may have heard about the Gallup poll (click here) conducted earlier this year that asked potential voters who they would rather vote for president, knowing only a particular ...
Posted by Brockton G on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:43:00 PST

"The Eucharist"

Cat thinks that is is an attempt by my gay side to remove the ballgag, undo the bindings, and escape from the closet. This was just my take on what comes to mind when we think of certain religiou...
Posted by Brockton G on Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:21:00 PST

Future plans...

So, so, so... Sent my application into Illinois State University at the beginning of this week, seeking admission into the College of History in pursuit of a Social Sciences Education degree. Yes, if ...
Posted by Brockton G on Sat, 08 Sep 2007 12:04:00 PST

"Spanktrovision"

        "  " God said through the television.           Steve sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the TV screen, nake...
Posted by Brockton G on Sun, 19 Aug 2007 02:34:00 PST

Just thought I'd share...

"Travelling Through the Dark" by William Stafford   Traveling through the dark I found a deer dead on the edge of the Wilson River road. It is usually best to roll them into the canyon: that road...
Posted by Brockton G on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 12:43:00 PST

Cai's First Birthday Cake

... or, How To Dismantle Frosting-Covered Angel's Food Cake. Awesome. Oh, and trust me he threw up later that evening. Three times. Not so awesome.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83WO2jCYS5U &n...
Posted by Brockton G on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:09:00 PST

Is to Feel

I used to shred bass for Is to Feel. Have you ever heard the sound of someone being killed and kissed, bludgeoned and beloved, slaughtered and sanctified, all at the same time? Then maybe you should g...
Posted by Brockton G on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST