This blog was previously written in a time in my life that was magical and full of love and hope. Times have gotten much darker as I have strayed from my principles, my vision, my path. I am sorry for all the pain I've caused. But I am going to pick up the pieces and move on. The next chapter in the blog may be very different...but it will be. I love my wife and family and hope to build the character and integrity it takes to hold you upon my shoulders into the sunset. For small journal entries on my life, philosophy, well-being and mistakes...please visit https://exvomit.blogspot.com/. Thank you for reading this trash.

I BUILT A GUITAR!

This is the guitar I built (and have been playing all day). It is made up of a 1969 E-110 TEISCO guitar and a 1967 SILVERTONE DANELECTRO bass.
I purchased them from my Great Grandfather's estate sale when I was about 11 or 12 yrs. old. I used to play around with them in his attic.
Sadly they both were once in nice/satisfactory condition and completely playable until my inquisitive grubby hands put stickers all over them, took them apart, and essentially ruined them.
UNTIL NOW. I am very glad to have made this guitar. I ordered the missing pieces off EBAY - re-soldered the lipstick pickup electronics and repainted it. Here is a rough step by step for you to see what I did exactly.

Rock and Roll Violet

In the spirit of Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell’s 1984 comes the 1967 film PRIVILEGE.

Shot in faux Documentary style, this striking film is a comment on how commercialism can be used to quell the masses into complacency in order to create a totalitarian state and establish complete political, social, and cultural control over their subjects. The British Government (in the near future) creates an iconic figure out of Steven Shorter, a POP star who’s violent and demeaning stage act depicting his time in prison and wish to be exonerated as prison guards taunt and beat him during his songs is a worldwide sensation. He appears to be the most loved and most influential person in the world but behind the scenes it is revealed that he is simply a broken shell of a young man who is completely controlled by his managerial staff who is working for the government.

As the story progresses we see that it is really an existential portrayal of personal identity and choice. Steven meets a young beautiful painter who has been commissioned by the government to paint his portrait and for the first time he begins gaining feelings of want and desire for his own needs.

One of the most poignant lines is delivered by Steven’s Business manager who tries to express the importance of his continued complacency, he calmly explains: “There are millions of people down there…millions of little people…the Liberal idea of given enough education these millions will grow into self aware, creative human beings is nothing but an exploded myth. It can never happen”.

Points of especial interest:

The film even hilariously parodies itself as Steven has to do a series of commercials promoting Apples in order to get the public to eat 6 apples a day so they don’t waste the fallen ones. The director of the film is a pretentious blow-hard who decides he needs people in apple outfits in order to “become” apples and describes his commercials as existential, philosophical works.

Later Steven is forced to represent Christianity as he is forced to create a pop version of a hymn with all the musicians dressed like and shaven like Christian Monks (perhaps a nod to the actual garage/punk band the Monks who did just that as a parody to organized religion).

The film peaks with the largest staging of nationalism in the history of Great Britain; the beginning of Christian crusade week. This supposed pop concert looks more like a Fascist convention, even including a cross on fire and huge red and black iconic images of Steven.

The Coalition Governments message to the public by supporting Christian Crusade week is “We need no longer have any disturbing political differences when we are all of one faith and we believe in one God and one Flag”. Then three words, WE WILL CONFORM, is put on cards and given to all. As a screaming, flailing priest gives a speech mimicking Adolph Hitler and forces the entire audience to repeat these words aloud. Afterward they all sieg heil, lead by a group of pop musicians who sing a new National Anthem to Great Britain.

Of course this is not the end of the film and that I will not give away, but I will say that it is a bitterly real and hopelessly tragic. If you are a fan of intelligent writing and enjoy the look and pacing of 60’s cinema (obviously hugely influential to filmmakers such as WES ANDERSON), you must check out this film! It had a real effect on me and I think it will you too.

GUILTY PLEASURES

Face it people, we all have secrets. I'm about to share with you some of my deepest darkest most heinous guilty pleasures...

1. CROSSROADS (1986) starring Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca and Jami Gertz, inspired by the legend of blues musician Robert Johnson. The film was directed by Walter Hill and featured an original score featuring Ry Cooder and Steve Vai. Vai also appears in the film as the devil's guitar player in the climactic guitar duel.

Why is it a guilty pleasure? I have to admit, I openly love Walter Hill's work, I adore Robert Johnson. But this film is a white guilt parfait with whipcream on top. It's the story of a young WHITE boy from Juilliard Music school who not only ends up getting accepted as a "BLUESMAN" but does something greats like Robert Johnson supposedly couldn't do...Beat the Devil by out-guitar playing his most wicked minion (Steve Vai of all people).

Fun to watch? YES

Disrespectful and arrogant wet dream of every blues loving white guy out there? DEFINITELY!

2. FIONNA APPLE - My mind says noooo, but my ears say yes!

3. STEPHEN KING - I like to say that I use his works to clear my mind after reading heavy material or non-fiction, but that's just a lame excuse to read it. Still I would argue the legitimacy of THE STAND being a masterful work of fiction to anyone. And the Dark Half rules! Oddly I am not at all ashamed to proclaim my love of his films MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, CHRISTINE, PET CEMETERY, THE SHINING (Kubrick's of course) and IT.

4. ROD MCKUEN - This loses me about a thousand "hip" points. I like alot of poetry from Keats to Bukowski but what started the love affair with verse was this smaltzy bastard. I blame it all on naive youth and nostalgia.

Most Shocking Endings!

Films/Series:



1. Invasion (2005 TV series)
2. The Mist (2007)
2. Angel (1999 TV series)
4. One flew over the cuckoo's nest (1975)
5. Easy Rider (1969)
6. The Tenant (1976)
7. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
8. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
9. Night of the Living Dead (1990)
10. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Books:



1. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
2. Savage Night (Jim Thompson)
3. Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
4. Day of the Triffids (John Wyndham)
5. Geek Love (Katherine Dunn)

Some Randomness...

Violet is starting to talk! She says "peeeze" and "up" and "Eat" and a host of others. It's sooo cute! But she's getting so big my baby is turning into a little girl :( That's o.k. I guess. It's exciting to watch her grow.

Stacy is not happy with her job and has been looking for something else. Problem is she is a great teacher and kids really gravitate towards her...but it's mostly the adults she is fed up with. I hope she finds something she really enjoys doing...but that's hard to do with jobs. I HATE JOBS...so much that I think no matter what I did I would grow to dislike going to work, just because I have to be there. Some people say if you get a job you really love you will always be excited to go to work. I think thats bogus, at least for me. Well maybe if writing music was my job...I could dig that!

Trying to find time to watch films now is hard but here's a couple of thoughts on things I've seen...

GI JOE - previously I wrote a blog about how excited I was....well that was stupid. This movie is shit. Not "the" shit...just shit. I mean the kid from 3rd rock from the sun is Cobra Commander???!?? Thats just ridiculous. This is the let down of the decade.

SAW VI - It was alright...attacking the insurance companies keeps with hot topics but...I don't know what to say. It was a SAW film. If you've seen one you get it. I liked it.

UNDECLARED series - Fun, silly, hilarious - but not quite as good as FREAKS AND GEEKS. But then what is? I still recomend it highly.


thats it for me. imout.

The broken shreds of narrow roads...and other tales of boredom.

I am the red silhouette. Under the tree of design that constitutes the very mold from which we sprang. I am the adolescent screams of rage that penetrate the cement walls of basements everywhere. I am the daughters of discontent sewing their sleeves long enough to conceal a knife and wishing with their whole hearts that anchors would fall. Never have I been so terribly blank as to say "hello, some weather we're having." and yet never have I been so filled up to actually remember a thing or two. So why am I writing this and what does it mean. I don't fucking know...

After J.D. Salinger died I heard a radio program discussing "what book changed your life". This got me thinking about movies (as does everything else). So I wondered what film changed my life or more succinctly, what film made such an impression that it has altered my perception and stayed in the forfront of my mind since I first saw it.
Now , like all pseudo intellectual 30somethings, I would love to say it was Godard's "Breathless" or Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai", Hell, even Fincher's "Fight Club" that drilled it's way past pop culture into the meaty center of my brain and altered my very foundation.
HOWEVER...it is none of those, nor the expansive list of films of social and celuloid relevence I have seen; but a fun, silly little jem called "BILL and TED'S Excellent Adventure."
Yes it's true...and all who know me know that it's true. Not even Romero's "Dead" franchise has created so much excitement, wonder, and happiness in me. I quote the film constantly. Watch it endlessly, and enjoy it more each time. The only film that may take it's place would be..."Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey".

P.S. That book that changed my life? Again...I'd like to say it was Dostoevsky's "Notes From Underground" or Howard Zinn's "Peoples History of the United States" or Hell, even "Fight Club" but it was not. The book was "Bill and Ted comic book no. 1" - JUST KIDDING...it was actually Jim Thompson's "The Killer Inside Me" and that ain't no shit.