Arts Meme

Tagged by my favorite redhead, Maurinsky.

Name a book that you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies:

I don't know if I've ever given away a book. But there is one book I'd like a LOT of people to read including all politicians: Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do by Peter McWilliams.

Name a piece of music that changed the way you listen to music:

It goes without saying I can name several landmark pieces that altered my life. One was Black Sabbath's Paranoid LP. That pretty much moved me away from the pop of the same era. I still find the band's older work to be a shattering revelation -- I would love to have been with an early conservative record executive the first time he heard their first release.

Next up would probably be Roxanne by the Police. I still remember I was driving in the car in Albuquerque in 1978 the first time I heard it on the radio. The Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks also impacted me, but before I'd ever heard any of their music. Simply reading about their upcoming US tour and all the controvery made me realize some dramatic change was forthcoming. The idea of punk rock was thrilling. I never heard the LP until I bought it in London a year later, shipped it back to the US and then played it for the first time when I got home. I was sick with the flu when I gave it a spin and fully expected it to be a loud and talentless piece of shit. OK, it was loud. And they weren't the most talented musicians, but it nailed me to the wall nonetheless. I still have that one too.

I also agree with Maurinsky's answer with the Talking Heads' Psycho Killer. The band initially had a rather irritating effect on me. I liked it, but there was something I wasn't used to -- the artfulness of it. That took some repeated listenings for me to come around.

Name a film you can watch again and again without fatigue:

Annie Hall, the Big Lebowski, and any of the Christopher Guest creations, particularly Spinal Tap.

Name a performer for whom you suspend all disbelief:

Christopher Guest -- he's just as close to flawless as you can get.

Name a work of art you'd like to live with:

Him. Although I'd probably do significant damage to it trying to get an arousal.

Name a work of fiction which has penetrated your real life:

I honestly can't think of a book, but the original Star Trek series most definitely penetrated my life and helped mold me into who I am.

Name a punch line that always makes you laugh:

"Yeah, I know; and such small portions."



Tagged: Minstrel Boy.