If you could only choose 1 cd to ever listen to again, what would it be?
Well, I'm torn between two. First, there's the Toasters' 1998
"Live
in London" disc. It really captures the essence of their
incredible and energetic live
shows at the height of their skill. And, of course, it's ska, which is
practically a necessity of life! Songs like "2-Tone Army" and "Weekend
in L.A." are pure happiness, built to order.
Then there's the industrial might of KMFDM's 1995
"Nihil".
Their most polished effort, "Nihil" is an angry stomp through a world of
angst and misery. Songs like "Ultra", "Juke Joint Jezebel", "Flesh",
"Disobedience", and "Trust" all set the tone of submission and
preversion that reaches a crushing crescendo in "Brute", the most
compelling song of submission I've ever heard:
Touch me - hate me
Give yourself to me and break me
Cut these eyes and I will see
Kiss these lying lips for me
Stroke this skin and I will kneel
Brutalize me; I will heal
If you could only choose 2 movies to watch ever again, what would they be?
Although I generally dislike movies, perhaps that's why I find this
one easy to answer. The first and obvious answer is Richard
Linklater's
2002 "Waking Life", a rotoscoped nonlinear romp through pop
philosophy.
It's a saturation-bombing of introspection for a slacker population who
haven't yet woken up to the real questions of life, and is thus an
absolute treasure trove of questions for the enquiring mind. Don't leave
home without it!
My other selection is a little more embarassing:
"Star
Trek: the Wrath of Khan". People really don't seem to realize
what a
literary masterpiece WoK really is. From a writers' standpoint, it does
an expectional job of using all the literary elements: character
development and change, dramatic tension and action scenes, a believable
but larger than life villain, several archetypes, incredible imagery,
unexpected plot twists, and above all it manipulates the viewers'
emotions with a skill that most movies fail to accomplish. And on top of
it
all, virtually every line of dialogue is fantastically quotable! It's an
amazing piece of writing, and no matter how stupid it might sound, it
really does make my list of movies that are actually worth seeing.
If you could only choose 3 books to read ever again, what would they be?
I suppose, as a writer, I ought to have an opinion here, but I don't. To
be honest, there aren't many books that I really find very compelling.
For me, books are pretty interchangeable, at least those designed to
entertain. But if I really had to make a list, here's what
might get considered:
- Tanith Lee's "Cyrion" (good atmosphere)
- Something from Terry Pratchett (good humor, but they're all interchangeable)
- Elizabeth Scarborough's "Song of Sorcery" (good "innocent" fantasy)
- Michael Shea's "The Color Out of Time" (like Lovecraft, only well-written!)
- Clark Ashton Smith's "Monster of the Prophesy" (one of the trailblazers of horror and fantasy)
- Bram Stoker's "The Jewel of Seven Stars" (even better than his "Dracula")
If you could only choose 4 things to eat or drink ever again, what would they be?
- Ice cream (one of the necessities of life; either chocolate chip, or Haagen-Dazs' Cookies & Cream)
- Coca-Cola (an ancient addiction)
- Some form of chicken curry (Indian food, and meat!)
- Baby carrots (fresh garden veggies steeped in butter!)
If you could only choose 5 people to ever be/talk/associate/whatever with ever again, who would they be?
- Inna - One of the most insightful and interesting
people I know. She's helped me really come into my own as a person, and
is quite the cutie!
- Ailsa - Each time she's come into my life,
she's heralded major change, and always for the better. She's been my
role model for successfully incorporating emotion and impulsiveness into
my otherwise very staid personality. And she's a cutie!
- Rhonda - Another woman who helps me
explore that
part of life that I don't understand, Rhonda has an intuitive grasp of
emotion. And as a fellow writer, I appreciate her intellect and skill.
And she's a cutie, as well.
- Pam - Unlike the others, Pam is me in a
woman's body. She seems to understand me in a way other women can't:
she empathizes with my social ineptitude as well as my passion for
perfection and order. She knows what it's like to be happy being alone,
and
things like that connect us in a rare "kindred spirit" kind of way. And
being a writer, she understands what I'm about. And she's a cutie!
- Margot - Margot is also a writer, as well as
an artist, and I really appreciate her intelligence and her
supportiveness. And wouldn't you know it? She's a cutie, too!