This is where you stick random tidbits of information about yourself.
The Jim Neighbors Masculinity Project
Friday, March 22, 2002
Ok, I promise not to write another long-winded essay for a while. I will tell you that my current Favorite Band of All Time is Super Furry Animals. Like Richard Burton they are Welsh, sound great and have been married to Elizabeth Taylor numerous times. Their music sounds like a bright ferris wheel covered in bubblegum and silver latex that sometimes goes underwater, sometimes rolls away from its restraints and sometimes gets taken over by a Brian Wilson cult. Did I mention they are Welsh?
2:28 PM
Thursday, March 21, 2002
I have an addictive personality. If you are a pair of shoes, chocolate, Peruvian, electronic or squishy chances are I have consumed you in great quantities. If I ever run across a thing that combines all of these qualities I think I will be so happy that I will spontaneously evolve into a new being not unlike the star baby at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey. A bloated, greasy and very, um, intensely alert star baby, but a star baby, nontheless.
What goes better with addiction and bloated evolution than music? (Why aren't advertising firms beating my door down for these slogans?) Actually, I am probably more hopelessly addicted to music than anything else (with the possible exception of making hatware for pets). I know, I know...everybody says they love music - just like everybody thinks they have a good sense of humor. I am not going to spend the next 38 hours giving my Music Love Resume, but I will state for the record that my love of music has gotten me married, taken me to three continents and put me to sleep on some pavement outside of a train station more than once (I was big proponent of the hobo dance revival of the mid-90's, man).
Since I have invested the gross national product of Mongolia in concerts, cds and unfortunate clothing accessories over the years, I don't feel any qualms about stealing, erm, downloading music obsessively. There is no question in my mind that the genie is out of the bottle and the recording industry will cease to exist as we know it within five years. The record company executives are typically behind the curve and are trying to create technology that will keep people from copying their product, but their efforts are doomed. Don't ever, ever underestimate the power of free and the power of dorks. While industry sleeps, computer and music geeks are ever vigilant to keep their supply lines open. Like the war on drugs, the new war on copying is doomed to failure. Which brings our discussion full circle back to addiction: Cold Turkey is easier said (or downloaded) than done.
