Imagine what a headache it would be if you had to believe that the death of John Kennedy, Jr. was the result of murder instead of an accident - you’re still not finished figuring out the assassination of his father, and now this! Well relax, because apparently I’m the only one saying it. Just think of me as the headache, that’s the way to solve it.
Preface
As usual, I shall preface my “surprise revelation” with a brief reference to what should already be known about me. Is it necessarily egocentric or delusional to perceive that things have reached a point where voluminous research of oneself by others has approached the realm of essential knowledge? There happen to be quite a few people in this category throughout history who are neither egocentric nor delusional. On the other hand, a corrupt informational system could leave you believing that Mickey Mouse is the only being you need knowledge of. I’m sorry, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
While it is not spelled out in the most simple terms, it has been spelled out (i.e., verifiable), by things found in the work of Spielberg, McCartney and many others, that I am secretly an influence (and have been for a considerable amount of time). Furthermore, you will not find anyone with the degree of secret importance that I possess.
Proper recognition of the truth of this statement then leads to having to seriously consider a number of heavy things (here’s where you’ll hold me responsible for giving you a headache, and insist to others that a “don’t go there” warning sign be erected). For example, if I say that I’ve seen enormous amounts of evidence that my apartment is bugged, in light of the fact that I am secretly important, this should not register as an outlandish statement.
The President’s Son
In July 1999, within a 24-hour period of the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr., at some point prior to his death, well before there was any news in relation to it, I was alone in my apartment. To hear myself think above the various sounds aimed at my space by God knows who, I was speaking out loud to myself, following a concept.
George W. Bush at this point in time was at the very least being considered by Republicans as a potential presidential candidate, if he was not already. Apropos of this, I started conjecturing about how people tend to feel when they encounter the fully matured offspring of those they know or knew. That there can exist a curiosity borne out of a sense of the wonder of it all, regarding the question of which genetic characteristics are perceivable as remnants from the previous generation. How have certain characteristics been refined, or perhaps corrupted. Is there some special filter that caused the offspring to retain the familiar yet merge it with something new. How this must recurringly be, since people began, a fascinating thing to focus on, not invariably, but depending on the nature of the similarities. And how the nature of George W. Bush’s resemblance to his father, the former president, might prove to be of such a variety as to potentially lend itself to exploitation for political gain. Or at the very least, it could have some kind of political impact.
Less than a day later the son of President Kennedy was dead. Eventually it was determined that it was an accident. You have everyone’s permission to believe that, so go ahead, believe that. Death may be final, but the findings of those who ruled Kennedy’s death an accident, in my book, are not.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Hanging Onto Guitar Picks In A Difficult Economy
Responses To My April 13th Blog
A few brief notes regarding what I consider "responses" to my April 13th blog, "Take Your Pick", which focused on a movie character having a guitar pick presumably owned by Mick Jagger, and also on the movie, "Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny".
Firstly, I find that Paul McCartney's appearance at Coachella yesterday, April 17th, involved him responding to a call for his guitar pick:
"(McCartney).... dismissed signs held by front-row fans _ including one that asked for his guitar pick. 'No! It's mine!' McCartney said."
If you read my blogs you will see that I have found there to be numerous occasions for construing an action by McCartney as being appropos of something that started with me.
Second, in my December 2, 2008 blog I referred to seeing Jimmy Kimmel (or a Jimmy Kimmel look-alike) in traffic, which I described as likely having occurred in relation to something Sarah Silverman-ish (Sarah Silverman was Kimmel's ex-girlfriend; the Colbert Christmas special made major use of my material; Silverman is among a handful of people with their own shows on Comedy Central). My April 13th blog, "Take Your Pick", in including as part of its main focus the movie, "Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny", identified that Liam Lynch directed that movie (as part of the closing statement of that section of the blog). Liam Lynch, it so happens, directed Sarah Silverman's movie, "Jesus Is Magic". Sure enough, on the morning of April 14th (the day following my blog), at the same place along my daily commute to work as before, Jimmy Kimmel (or a Jimmy Kimmel look-alike) and myself looked at each other in traffic.
A Separate Note
At one point I considered including in a blog an explanation of my belief that I had something to do with Tom Hanks' appearance at the April 14th ceremony regarding the new George Harrison sidewalk star in Hollywood. I am reluctant to note things that would seem to come out of left field to those who haven't much information about who I am in relation to "things". I do tend to feel more loyal to conveying the truth than to aligning myself with a bunch of ignoramuses' perception of the truth. Okay, perhaps they're not ignormasuses, perhaps there has been an expensive effort by certain people to cover-up who I am in this world, i.e., some ignorance is promoted. Then again, perhaps there are so-called ignoramuses who are actually part of the cover-up. Perhaps part of me is part of the cover-up too, as I do not wish to be in the spotlight regarding just anything.
As for the Tom Hanks thing: from time to time SNL, McCartney (not to mention McCartney's daughter), and others have made inside references to things that suggest to me a girl I knew during the 1970s, or to be more specific, things that suggest that girl in relation to myself. A recent reference of this variety on SNL made sense in that a movie opened that weekend that made such references more relevant. Last week's SNL made another such reference, but I was left in a quandary as to where the relevance was. The Tom Hanks appearance in relation to George Harrison, however, seems to have made SNL's reference relevant. It was a conversation I had with this girl that resulted in Tom Hanks' situation comedy, "Bosom Buddies". Furthermore, an Eric Clapton inside album cover once made another such inside reference, and Clapton is considered very important in relation to the story of George Harrison. And finally, one of the lines in Harrison's song about the loss of John Lennon, "All Those Years Ago" resulted from something I said to this girl (there were other lines in that song I was an influence on as well). I believe that the last time I saw this girl was when she was driving next to me on the freeway, a week before Harrison died. My understanding is that she is a friend of Paul McCartney's.
A few brief notes regarding what I consider "responses" to my April 13th blog, "Take Your Pick", which focused on a movie character having a guitar pick presumably owned by Mick Jagger, and also on the movie, "Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny".
Firstly, I find that Paul McCartney's appearance at Coachella yesterday, April 17th, involved him responding to a call for his guitar pick:
"(McCartney).... dismissed signs held by front-row fans _ including one that asked for his guitar pick. 'No! It's mine!' McCartney said."
If you read my blogs you will see that I have found there to be numerous occasions for construing an action by McCartney as being appropos of something that started with me.
Second, in my December 2, 2008 blog I referred to seeing Jimmy Kimmel (or a Jimmy Kimmel look-alike) in traffic, which I described as likely having occurred in relation to something Sarah Silverman-ish (Sarah Silverman was Kimmel's ex-girlfriend; the Colbert Christmas special made major use of my material; Silverman is among a handful of people with their own shows on Comedy Central). My April 13th blog, "Take Your Pick", in including as part of its main focus the movie, "Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny", identified that Liam Lynch directed that movie (as part of the closing statement of that section of the blog). Liam Lynch, it so happens, directed Sarah Silverman's movie, "Jesus Is Magic". Sure enough, on the morning of April 14th (the day following my blog), at the same place along my daily commute to work as before, Jimmy Kimmel (or a Jimmy Kimmel look-alike) and myself looked at each other in traffic.
A Separate Note
At one point I considered including in a blog an explanation of my belief that I had something to do with Tom Hanks' appearance at the April 14th ceremony regarding the new George Harrison sidewalk star in Hollywood. I am reluctant to note things that would seem to come out of left field to those who haven't much information about who I am in relation to "things". I do tend to feel more loyal to conveying the truth than to aligning myself with a bunch of ignoramuses' perception of the truth. Okay, perhaps they're not ignormasuses, perhaps there has been an expensive effort by certain people to cover-up who I am in this world, i.e., some ignorance is promoted. Then again, perhaps there are so-called ignoramuses who are actually part of the cover-up. Perhaps part of me is part of the cover-up too, as I do not wish to be in the spotlight regarding just anything.
As for the Tom Hanks thing: from time to time SNL, McCartney (not to mention McCartney's daughter), and others have made inside references to things that suggest to me a girl I knew during the 1970s, or to be more specific, things that suggest that girl in relation to myself. A recent reference of this variety on SNL made sense in that a movie opened that weekend that made such references more relevant. Last week's SNL made another such reference, but I was left in a quandary as to where the relevance was. The Tom Hanks appearance in relation to George Harrison, however, seems to have made SNL's reference relevant. It was a conversation I had with this girl that resulted in Tom Hanks' situation comedy, "Bosom Buddies". Furthermore, an Eric Clapton inside album cover once made another such inside reference, and Clapton is considered very important in relation to the story of George Harrison. And finally, one of the lines in Harrison's song about the loss of John Lennon, "All Those Years Ago" resulted from something I said to this girl (there were other lines in that song I was an influence on as well). I believe that the last time I saw this girl was when she was driving next to me on the freeway, a week before Harrison died. My understanding is that she is a friend of Paul McCartney's.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Raindrops Threaded Together
This post is to proudly present my latest work-in-progress, a song entitled, "Raindrops Threaded Together". Now that you've clicked on the preceding link and listened to it, imagine the same song, okay, only with things that accentuate the rhythm and melody coming and going, permitting the quiet to continually return and dominate, so the drums, symbol, bass guitar, lead guitar, flute, backup vocals, lead vocals improvising with the same set of words, they're present like a train going through a station without stopping, and then coming back from the other direction. I hope to get around to doing all this with this song, anyway.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Take Your Pick
While I do not claim to have special information regarding the secret point of origin of every movie idea there is, it does so happen that at least some of my information is special. And so today I will share with you the secret origin of the movie, “Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny”.
It all began in Summer 1975, while I was working as Best Boy (assistant to the Electrician) on an AFI film shoot. Perhaps here some will (tangentally) be demanding an explanation of how I came to be working on an AFI film shoot, as I was a CalArts student at the time. A CalArts friend of mine arranged it. Now would anybody mind if I continue? Thank you!
Stuart Cornfeld, who subsequently became a big famous film producer but was then an AFI student (or to be more specific, fellow, unless I am mistaken), was also working on this same AFI film shoot, as a producer or something. Amy Heckerling, who subsequently became a big famous film director, was also working on this same AFI film shoot, as an assistant director. While on this shoot I often performed tasks directly for Rob Hahn, the film's cinematographer. Rob had initially come to California/AFI from New York with Amy Heckerling, who once was his girlfriend. They had broken up by the time of this shoot, though Rob made it clear that he still had feelings for Amy, who sometimes looked at us and smiled. Perhaps this would all benefit from my having special “Possible Tangent” paragraphs.
Possible Tangent
Interestingly, a girl living in the same apartment building where I was staying in Westwood during this time, a Catholic girl named Virginia, was the best friend of Stuart’s then-girlfriend. One morning, while waiting in my street level apartment for someone to pick me up and drive me to the film shoot (possibly Stuart, who drove me there a few times), Billy Joel’s sax player arrived in a very expensive sports car and dropped off this Catholic girl named Virginia. A few years later I believed this to be the same Catholic girl named Virginia who Billy Joel described in his song, “Only The Good Die Young”. And interestingly, a week after I made this observation aloud, Billy Joel was sitting next to me on an airplane (Easter 1978) explaining that he told Time Magazine Virginia was some girl he went to high school with (not the Virginia I knew - though on his next album one finds the line, "you can't get the sound from a story in a magazine"). A week after this airplane trip to the West Coast I received a letter from Paul McCartney, which as far as I can tell had nothing to do with Virginia.
Back To Our Story
One day in the Summer of 1975, Stuart offered me the opportunity to buy some pot, which he said was the same as the pot sold to Mick Jagger, and that its great quality accounted for its relatively substantial cost. I had to pass, though as many of us know there’s pot and then there’s pot. I treasured knowing about that pot, as I did not have the pot itself to treasure, though perhaps I would have continued to treasure knowing about the Mick Jagger pot even if I had owned it and then smoked it. I will never know.
In 1982, Amy Heckerling directed the movie, “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”. She had Stuart Cornfeld acting in a small part in this movie (the owner of the fast-food restaurant who insisted on the wearing of a pirate outfit). We also see Sean Penn in the movie going on and on about having the very same guitar pick Mick Jagger used. In fact, at a key moment he gives the guitar pick to his friend, a true sign of the character's good heart, unless the character made up the Jagger connection and therefore is being a sleazeball to portray himself as making a sacrifice in giving it away. The moment also spoke to the audience's consideration of the possibility that perhaps this character really was cool enough to party with Mick.
As for myself, I had no doubt whatsoever: the guitar pick to which Sean Penn referred, special because it had belonged to Mick Jagger, "began" as the pot Mick Jagger smoked. Stuart Cornfeld was in both situations. I would have associated together the Mick Jagger smoke with the Mick Jagger pick even had Stuart not been involved in either situation. I have therefore had this special sense about this special guitar pick in my mind ever since 1982. I have also over the years been increasingly developing the conviction that Stuart Cornfeld really did have the same pot Mick Jagger smoked back in 1975 (if there ever was any doubt).
In 2006 Stuart Cornfeld produced the movie, “Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny”, the pick in the title being a reference to a most special guitar pick, one that was magically owned at one time or another by every great rock and roll guitarist in the history of rock and roll. Could I possibly have any doubt whatsoever, after retaining over the years the idea of Mick Jagger's guitar pick in direct relation to the idea of Stuart Cornfeld (perhaps Stuart is somewhat more than an idea, sorry about that), that the origin of this Tenacious D Pick of Destiny began as anything other than the pot that Mick Jagger smoked (which I once could have purchased)?
Possible Tangent
At some point in 1988 (about half-a-year before Ringo Starr sent me a letter written on the 25th anniversary of the famous February 9, 1964 appearance by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show), I was on vacation in England, during which I took a trip to the town in which Mick Jagger grew up, his childhood hometown. While walking around there, I thought I saw Stuart Cornfeld driving by behind the wheel of a potato truck. Though Stuart is a redhead and the driver of the potato truck was blond, I still thought it might be Stuart (yes, this was after Billy Joel did the song warning against changing the color of your hair). I might have forgotten about the potato truck incident if not for what happened next, which was something I also might have forgotten about, if not for the potato truck incident: As I boarded the train back to London after a day of walking around Mick Jagger’s childhood hometown, someone who looked like Simply Red (who is named Simply Red because of his hair color) appeared to be exiting the same train car. The music video for Simply Red’s 1985 big hit, “Holding Back The Years”, shows Simply Red throughout the video walking around in what is presumably his own childhood hometown. I cannot swear it was Simply Red in Mick Jagger's childhood hometown, but clearly this was meant to trigger this impression in me. If you had lived my life, or at least walked half-a-mile in my shoes, you would appreciate the idea that it was at the very least meant to trigger this impression in me. As you might guess, life has chosen me for many of these types of experiences. In fact - well, nevermind. Perhaps if this paragraph had been entitled, “Total Tangents” instead of “Possible Tangents”, I then could have continued along these lines....
The End Of Our Story
And finally, or tangentally, it may be of interest to know that the director of "Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny" is someone named Liam Lynch, a very close friend of George Harrison's son, Dhani.
Damage Control
And now for something completely different: A few days ago I wrote and posted a new comedy sketch idea, "Arguer And Corrector Discuss Russia", which you can access through clicking on the title a few words ago earlier in this sentence, or, if you are one who only moves forward and considers it only tangental to move backward, you can click here.
It all began in Summer 1975, while I was working as Best Boy (assistant to the Electrician) on an AFI film shoot. Perhaps here some will (tangentally) be demanding an explanation of how I came to be working on an AFI film shoot, as I was a CalArts student at the time. A CalArts friend of mine arranged it. Now would anybody mind if I continue? Thank you!
Stuart Cornfeld, who subsequently became a big famous film producer but was then an AFI student (or to be more specific, fellow, unless I am mistaken), was also working on this same AFI film shoot, as a producer or something. Amy Heckerling, who subsequently became a big famous film director, was also working on this same AFI film shoot, as an assistant director. While on this shoot I often performed tasks directly for Rob Hahn, the film's cinematographer. Rob had initially come to California/AFI from New York with Amy Heckerling, who once was his girlfriend. They had broken up by the time of this shoot, though Rob made it clear that he still had feelings for Amy, who sometimes looked at us and smiled. Perhaps this would all benefit from my having special “Possible Tangent” paragraphs.
Possible Tangent
Interestingly, a girl living in the same apartment building where I was staying in Westwood during this time, a Catholic girl named Virginia, was the best friend of Stuart’s then-girlfriend. One morning, while waiting in my street level apartment for someone to pick me up and drive me to the film shoot (possibly Stuart, who drove me there a few times), Billy Joel’s sax player arrived in a very expensive sports car and dropped off this Catholic girl named Virginia. A few years later I believed this to be the same Catholic girl named Virginia who Billy Joel described in his song, “Only The Good Die Young”. And interestingly, a week after I made this observation aloud, Billy Joel was sitting next to me on an airplane (Easter 1978) explaining that he told Time Magazine Virginia was some girl he went to high school with (not the Virginia I knew - though on his next album one finds the line, "you can't get the sound from a story in a magazine"). A week after this airplane trip to the West Coast I received a letter from Paul McCartney, which as far as I can tell had nothing to do with Virginia.
Back To Our Story
One day in the Summer of 1975, Stuart offered me the opportunity to buy some pot, which he said was the same as the pot sold to Mick Jagger, and that its great quality accounted for its relatively substantial cost. I had to pass, though as many of us know there’s pot and then there’s pot. I treasured knowing about that pot, as I did not have the pot itself to treasure, though perhaps I would have continued to treasure knowing about the Mick Jagger pot even if I had owned it and then smoked it. I will never know.
In 1982, Amy Heckerling directed the movie, “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”. She had Stuart Cornfeld acting in a small part in this movie (the owner of the fast-food restaurant who insisted on the wearing of a pirate outfit). We also see Sean Penn in the movie going on and on about having the very same guitar pick Mick Jagger used. In fact, at a key moment he gives the guitar pick to his friend, a true sign of the character's good heart, unless the character made up the Jagger connection and therefore is being a sleazeball to portray himself as making a sacrifice in giving it away. The moment also spoke to the audience's consideration of the possibility that perhaps this character really was cool enough to party with Mick.
As for myself, I had no doubt whatsoever: the guitar pick to which Sean Penn referred, special because it had belonged to Mick Jagger, "began" as the pot Mick Jagger smoked. Stuart Cornfeld was in both situations. I would have associated together the Mick Jagger smoke with the Mick Jagger pick even had Stuart not been involved in either situation. I have therefore had this special sense about this special guitar pick in my mind ever since 1982. I have also over the years been increasingly developing the conviction that Stuart Cornfeld really did have the same pot Mick Jagger smoked back in 1975 (if there ever was any doubt).
In 2006 Stuart Cornfeld produced the movie, “Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny”, the pick in the title being a reference to a most special guitar pick, one that was magically owned at one time or another by every great rock and roll guitarist in the history of rock and roll. Could I possibly have any doubt whatsoever, after retaining over the years the idea of Mick Jagger's guitar pick in direct relation to the idea of Stuart Cornfeld (perhaps Stuart is somewhat more than an idea, sorry about that), that the origin of this Tenacious D Pick of Destiny began as anything other than the pot that Mick Jagger smoked (which I once could have purchased)?
Possible Tangent
At some point in 1988 (about half-a-year before Ringo Starr sent me a letter written on the 25th anniversary of the famous February 9, 1964 appearance by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show), I was on vacation in England, during which I took a trip to the town in which Mick Jagger grew up, his childhood hometown. While walking around there, I thought I saw Stuart Cornfeld driving by behind the wheel of a potato truck. Though Stuart is a redhead and the driver of the potato truck was blond, I still thought it might be Stuart (yes, this was after Billy Joel did the song warning against changing the color of your hair). I might have forgotten about the potato truck incident if not for what happened next, which was something I also might have forgotten about, if not for the potato truck incident: As I boarded the train back to London after a day of walking around Mick Jagger’s childhood hometown, someone who looked like Simply Red (who is named Simply Red because of his hair color) appeared to be exiting the same train car. The music video for Simply Red’s 1985 big hit, “Holding Back The Years”, shows Simply Red throughout the video walking around in what is presumably his own childhood hometown. I cannot swear it was Simply Red in Mick Jagger's childhood hometown, but clearly this was meant to trigger this impression in me. If you had lived my life, or at least walked half-a-mile in my shoes, you would appreciate the idea that it was at the very least meant to trigger this impression in me. As you might guess, life has chosen me for many of these types of experiences. In fact - well, nevermind. Perhaps if this paragraph had been entitled, “Total Tangents” instead of “Possible Tangents”, I then could have continued along these lines....
The End Of Our Story
And finally, or tangentally, it may be of interest to know that the director of "Tenacious D And The Pick Of Destiny" is someone named Liam Lynch, a very close friend of George Harrison's son, Dhani.
Damage Control
And now for something completely different: A few days ago I wrote and posted a new comedy sketch idea, "Arguer And Corrector Discuss Russia", which you can access through clicking on the title a few words ago earlier in this sentence, or, if you are one who only moves forward and considers it only tangental to move backward, you can click here.
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