Ten Questions as posed to me by my friend Scott:
1. Why do you like the NFL team that you do?
It was my Da's favorite team, one of the few things I knew about him. I guess I latched onto 'his' team in some sad, desperate way of bringing forth some kind of imaginary closeness between us as a child.
2. What is the most interesting job you've had?
My friend J.C. convinced me to get a job with him as a P.I.A. I destroyed people's lives for money. Oh yes, quite the noble soul I am.
3. How did you get your first name?
My ancestor was a famous general in the Civil War. I am named after him save for the fact that my grandmother screwed up when they named me and I have a 'E' in my name where a 'I' should be.
4. What are your major music influences and how do they relate to your life?
Queen - The first real band I ever listened to. I used to sing the 'Bicycle' song as I buzzed around on my trike as a little kid. I have liked them, and continue to, since I knew what it was to like something. I honestly believe that Freddie Mercury had the greatest singing voice EVER.
Nirvana - I was around 12 or so when Nirvana hit it big. It was right when I was coming around the bend and shaping into a person, and the timing was perfect. Cobain knew how to write a hook and it was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for without really knowing what it was I wanted.
NIN - The band that opened the door for me into industrial music. I found so many bands that I love simply because I was looking for a 'NIN-sounding' band as a middle teen. Not to mention Trent has a way of taking such (technically) simple musical pieces and combine them with perfect lyrics to create something powerful.
The Clash - I can't explain it to you what it was like to hear 'Career Opportunities' or 'White Man in Hammersmith Palais' for the first time. As Nirvana woke me up to music in general, the scene's formed around music, and the ability to create something that could imprint on a body, the Clash carried this on into my late teens.
Blur - This was my shit above all other music growing up. I loved alot of bands, especially the seattle-based ones, growing up, but Blur was the one band that I would listen to above and beyond what I would put 'Nevermind' or 'Dirt' through. I hate that 'woo-hoo' song, but that's just nitpicking.
5. The slums of New Orleans, or the slums of L.A. and why?
Gotta go with Nola. I know, or at least knew, where to squat. I knew where the gestapo wouldn't look for you. Several abandoned car's and busses to camp in when the weather took a turn for the worse. What stores would give you food and the bar that would slide you a drink as a 'just keep at it, it has to get better' not to mention most of the homeless and poverty stricken "kids" of the area were/are my friends. L.A. would eat me alive and not even have the courtesy to pretend that I put up a fight against it.
6. Do you believe in any God or higher being watching over us?
No. I tried to force myself to believe once but failed horribly.
7. Best 80's song?
Oooo fuck. Man, I don't think I could tell you the best band out of the 80s, much less the best song.
8. Would you consider yourself to live an 'alternative' lifestyle? If yes, why?
I dont think so anymore. I used to believe that I did, but now when I look around I realize that what I considered alternative has become the norm. . Stale. Mundane. I think I am the new prep in a way. Look at a crowd, you will see the tattoo's everywhere, you can almost tell what they have and where with a glimpse. The tribal above the asscrack, the half-sleeve on the arm, the red-star and the the jesus-heart tattoo. You will see the trucker hats and the vintage shirts from the owner's diaper-age and the clothing style's that were once fresh and almost meant something now are mass-produced and sold through a million online shops and mall's across the globe so every young, middle-class kid in the suburbs can show just how hard he is rebelling with his uniform of choice. We fought the war and won, but in the end we were absorbed and became that which we hated the most as angry young kids, and most don't even notice it.
9. If you were stranded on a desert island and could only take 1 person and 3 possessions with you, what would they be?
I suppose I'm not allowed to take the smart-ass route and say thing's like a boat or a plane or some sort of telecommunications device. I don't know whom I would take with me, but I would make sure I had a weapon of some kind, a camping set, and the bible. Let's face it, you put this city boy out into the wilds, I'm either finding God or the inside of some nasties belly.
10. Best of the 3 Lord of the Rings movies?
The Two Towers. It is dark, it is emotional, it reminds me of ESB (or should it be ESB reminds me of TTT since the work was out years before ESB?). The movie has range, and I LOVE it.
1. Why do you like the NFL team that you do?
It was my Da's favorite team, one of the few things I knew about him. I guess I latched onto 'his' team in some sad, desperate way of bringing forth some kind of imaginary closeness between us as a child.
2. What is the most interesting job you've had?
My friend J.C. convinced me to get a job with him as a P.I.A. I destroyed people's lives for money. Oh yes, quite the noble soul I am.
3. How did you get your first name?
My ancestor was a famous general in the Civil War. I am named after him save for the fact that my grandmother screwed up when they named me and I have a 'E' in my name where a 'I' should be.
4. What are your major music influences and how do they relate to your life?
Queen - The first real band I ever listened to. I used to sing the 'Bicycle' song as I buzzed around on my trike as a little kid. I have liked them, and continue to, since I knew what it was to like something. I honestly believe that Freddie Mercury had the greatest singing voice EVER.
Nirvana - I was around 12 or so when Nirvana hit it big. It was right when I was coming around the bend and shaping into a person, and the timing was perfect. Cobain knew how to write a hook and it was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for without really knowing what it was I wanted.
NIN - The band that opened the door for me into industrial music. I found so many bands that I love simply because I was looking for a 'NIN-sounding' band as a middle teen. Not to mention Trent has a way of taking such (technically) simple musical pieces and combine them with perfect lyrics to create something powerful.
The Clash - I can't explain it to you what it was like to hear 'Career Opportunities' or 'White Man in Hammersmith Palais' for the first time. As Nirvana woke me up to music in general, the scene's formed around music, and the ability to create something that could imprint on a body, the Clash carried this on into my late teens.
Blur - This was my shit above all other music growing up. I loved alot of bands, especially the seattle-based ones, growing up, but Blur was the one band that I would listen to above and beyond what I would put 'Nevermind' or 'Dirt' through. I hate that 'woo-hoo' song, but that's just nitpicking.
5. The slums of New Orleans, or the slums of L.A. and why?
Gotta go with Nola. I know, or at least knew, where to squat. I knew where the gestapo wouldn't look for you. Several abandoned car's and busses to camp in when the weather took a turn for the worse. What stores would give you food and the bar that would slide you a drink as a 'just keep at it, it has to get better' not to mention most of the homeless and poverty stricken "kids" of the area were/are my friends. L.A. would eat me alive and not even have the courtesy to pretend that I put up a fight against it.
6. Do you believe in any God or higher being watching over us?
No. I tried to force myself to believe once but failed horribly.
7. Best 80's song?
Oooo fuck. Man, I don't think I could tell you the best band out of the 80s, much less the best song.
8. Would you consider yourself to live an 'alternative' lifestyle? If yes, why?
I dont think so anymore. I used to believe that I did, but now when I look around I realize that what I considered alternative has become the norm. . Stale. Mundane. I think I am the new prep in a way. Look at a crowd, you will see the tattoo's everywhere, you can almost tell what they have and where with a glimpse. The tribal above the asscrack, the half-sleeve on the arm, the red-star and the the jesus-heart tattoo. You will see the trucker hats and the vintage shirts from the owner's diaper-age and the clothing style's that were once fresh and almost meant something now are mass-produced and sold through a million online shops and mall's across the globe so every young, middle-class kid in the suburbs can show just how hard he is rebelling with his uniform of choice. We fought the war and won, but in the end we were absorbed and became that which we hated the most as angry young kids, and most don't even notice it.
9. If you were stranded on a desert island and could only take 1 person and 3 possessions with you, what would they be?
I suppose I'm not allowed to take the smart-ass route and say thing's like a boat or a plane or some sort of telecommunications device. I don't know whom I would take with me, but I would make sure I had a weapon of some kind, a camping set, and the bible. Let's face it, you put this city boy out into the wilds, I'm either finding God or the inside of some nasties belly.
10. Best of the 3 Lord of the Rings movies?
The Two Towers. It is dark, it is emotional, it reminds me of ESB (or should it be ESB reminds me of TTT since the work was out years before ESB?). The movie has range, and I LOVE it.
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
You have your sun in Leo and moon in Sagittarius... There's a lot of FIRE in that there sign, young man!
I guess I can hardly say I know you well, but this sounds fairly accurate to me - we are, after all, bound by Sagittarius...
'Hero-worship; honourable; adventurous; passionate; outspoken; intuitive; independent; loyal; proud; generous; warm sincerity; romantic visionary; restless; sociable; imperious; impractical; impatient...
You are a combination of fixed, self-centred creativity and the restless striving for novelty and knowledge. You may be the kingly nomadic, the travelling entertainer, the daredevil extrovert, the lucky artist, the regal philosopher, the captain of the team... self-assured, proud and resilient...
A nobility of spirit coupled with the savvy of a gambling gypsy... a creative adventurer... Essentially a restless explorer, either geographically or in the mental realms, you react rebelliously against being trapped in any one place, job, philosophy or relationship...
autocratic in style but egalitarian in spirit... full of innovative ideas and original ways of viewing things...
Because you are intensely honourable, you can seem somewhat high-minded at times, even though you are one of the most kind-hearted souls in the zodiac... instability... You may have enormous financial swings, as well as a lot of domestic disarray...
Integrity is your middle name; you detest human hypocrisy and will feel personally called upon to expose it where you find it... you can be very contemptuous of those whose moral standards fall too low to qualify, in your view, as human...
Naturally generous with your affections as well as with any material goods you have, you may need more than one person on whom you can bestow your fun-loving beneficence...
Restless, passionate and somewhat nervous... You need intellectual rapport with your partner, and to share your romantic vision of life...
A kind of manic 'upness' and constant pursuit of excitement may mask a hidden fear of being ordinary and bound by mortal limits, and you may be prone to unexplainable bouts of depression...
Strengths: High personal standards; broad and far-ranging intuitive mind; enthusiasm for learning and for personal development; and your open, resilient and positive friendliness towards others.
Weaknesses: Restlessness and inability to tie yourself down for long to relationships or projects; tendency to jump before thinking things through; and to dismiss ideas or others arrogantly with brusque, sarcastic pronouncements that wound far more than you intend.
Famous personalities: Ray Bradbury, Lisa Kudrow, Lawrence of Arabia, Herman Melville...
1. Denver Broncos. I liked the blue and orange colours as a kid, and the romance of the Mile High Stadium - not that I've ever been there, hell I was watching from another continent. (What's your team?)
2. This one, university lecturer. Or actually, interpreter for healthcare. I had to interpet for somalian and Romanian refugees who spoke broken French. It was interesting seeing hospitals from the other side of the power divide... My role was essentially pastoral... I always felt more on the side of the patients, the underdogs...
3. I was born in Scotland. It means 'dark water', which I find pretty appropriate.
4. Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo, for showing me the beauty in noise. Blakes Babies and the Field Mice for their sensitivity in helping me through a troubled adolescence. American Music Club for showing me that you could also do philosophy in music (and hence,
anywhere) (on this last point, Bob Dylan, Leonard cohen and tom Waits, too, but Mark Eitzel did it first for me...)
5. LA, for the romance of the boulevards.
6. That question is all wrong. No, unless that higher being is what comes after humanity, humanity's next step. No, I believe that the process in which we're all caught up is beyond our understanding, to the extent that we can only catch glimpses of it and obliquely refer to it, but I'm not convinced there's any design to it, au contraire...
7. 'Echo Beach'.
'From 9 to 5 I have to spend my time at work
My job is very boring I'm an office clerk
The only thing that helps me pass the time away
Is knowing i'll be back on Echo Beach some day...'
8. (I like your answer to this, by the way, and actually all your answers
Only in my mind. Although, actually, the fact that I spend no time at home and haven't returned home before 11pm for the past 6 months is pretty fucking 'alternative'... People think I'm straight, I look straight, but when the sun goes down and people go home to their families, I'm left wandering the streets...
9. 730_trixel_fem! Writing materials, music (this is cheating, I know, you'd need several items for this) and, I guess, a knife - the tool of civilisation!
10. Fellowship, for all the politics.
Thanks, I enjoyed writing this.