Matt Ralph profile picture

Matt Ralph

Consider it pure joy

About Me

I'm a writer, a traveler, a dreamer and a loner. I've been doing this zine for like 12 years now called Tangzine. Check it out on the web at www.tangzine.com. If you want to talk, drop me a line on IM - my screen name is rat malph.

My Interests

Jesus, baseball, downtown shopping, supporting local businesses, walking, fair trade, public transportation, British football, public speaking, newspapers, tea, doing chores around the house, driving, visiting friends, randomness, storytelling, whiffle ball, education, art, summer camp, bridges, Delanco Camp, and living life to the fullest.

I'd like to meet:

People with interesting stories to tell.

Music:

Elvis Costello, Wilco, Low, Mojave 3, Built to Spill, U2, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Crooked Fingers, Damien Jurado, Denison Witmer, Sufjan Stevens, Magnetic Fields, Sigur Ros, Bjork, Grandaddy, Kinks, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Big Star, Nick Drake, Half-Handed Cloud, Soul-Junk, Joseph Arthur, Innocence Mission, John Prine, Yo La Tengo, Pavement, Portastatic, Danielson Famile, Reels of White Softly Flow, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sparklehorse, Arcade Fire, Saxon Shore, Kimone, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Movies:

Citizen Kane, To Kill A Mockingbird, 12 Angry Men, Vertigo, Night of the Hunter, Godfather, Raging Bull, Adaptation, Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, Grapes of Wrath, The War, You Can Count On Me, My Life Without Me, Diner, The Sweet Hereafter, Heavy, Smoke, Sling Blade, The Apostle, All The Real Girls, George Washington, Waiting For Guffman, Down By Law, Annie Hall, The Last Temptation of Christ, Bloody Sunday, Omagh, A Mighty Wind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Killing Fields

Television:

Adventures of Pete and Pete, Twilight Zone, Taxi, Doug, Freaks and Geeks, Wonder Years

Books:

Travels With Charley, Salvation on Sand Mountain, Friday Night Lights, Blue Like Jazz, Cannery Row, Things Fall Apart, Rabbit Run, Winesburg, Ohio, Complete Short Stories of Flannery O'Conner, Life After God, Soul Survivor, Leaving Reality Behind

Heroes:

Jesus, my gramma, my mom, dad and two brothers, Apostle Paul, John Wesley, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jimmy Carter, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Ryne Sandberg, Quentin Griffin, Sterling Williams, Darryl Duer, Scott Norwood, Mitch Williams, Donnie Moore, Bill Buckner, Leon Durham, Steve Bartman and anyone else who has ever been blamed for losing a stupid sporting event that in the long run means NOTHING

My Blog

From my guitar

What does He look like in the movies?What does He look like on the Internet?What does He look like in a txt message?What does He look like in my world?What does He look like in the third world?What do...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Sat, 24 Jun 2006 03:45:00 PST

Four years of waiting

In less than 12 hours, four years of waiting will be over and once again I will be wishing I didn't live in the one country in the world that doesn't care. I am talking about the World Cup of course, ...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 10:35:00 PST

"Every time I pick up the phone someone else dies."

That was my brother's away message this morning. He had just received word that his best friends' father had died from spleen surgery complications. Lately, that tragic statement seems to have som...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Tue, 21 Feb 2006 05:52:00 PST

Is it really worth losing your hair over?

So I was watching the TV news coverage of this so-called "Black Friday" thing tonight and they showed a video of a woman falling over into a pile of people rushing to try and get $199 lap tops at Wal-...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Sat, 26 Nov 2005 10:47:00 PST

If you're paying, is it really "good news"?

A story came over the wire today that created buzz in the news room about how a weekly paper in Newark (N.J.) is receiving $100,000 from the city (that's taxpayer money folks) to only print "good ne...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Mon, 24 Oct 2005 01:42:00 PST

The guy with no last name

I recently wrote a story that appeared top fold about a guy who died earlier this year and willed his farm over to permanent preservation (He also had a provision in his will calling for his pets to b...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Wed, 19 Oct 2005 01:04:00 PST

Blue Grass Airport

After about 4 1/2 hours of time in the air and in airports, I've arrived in Lexington. As I listen to the roar of a plane overhead, I wait for Mike Ralph to show. He told me I'd have to wait. I rememb...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Wed, 12 Oct 2005 10:39:00 PST

Pressing on

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to hav...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Sat, 08 Oct 2005 12:07:00 PST

"You wanna see inside?"

I was getting bored and frustrated at work the other day (it's been one of those weeks) so I decided to take a walk down to the bank to order some checks and stop in at the Nut Shop to visit Dave Ralp...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Thu, 06 Oct 2005 03:31:00 PST

Dave Ralph is my hero

My brother has been an adult not even a month yet, and already he is displaying colors much wiser than his years. It makes me so proud. He passed on a so-called can't miss "opportunity" with "good...
Posted by Matt Ralph on Wed, 28 Sep 2005 10:41:00 PST