another "all about me" questionaire survey thingies

[thehefner]

TEN Random Things About Me

1. I’m so straight, I once made out with a guy just to turn a girl on.
2. My grandfather founded SABR (Society for American Baseball Research)
3. I have a hairy birthmark shaped like Australia on my left arm.
4. I nearly got suspended from high school for sneaking out of class to get a cheesesteak.
5. I was a total Daddy’s Boy until I was 10, when I converted to Mommyism.
6. Buying shoes is hard because I inherited my father’s EEEE width feet.
7. Despite my name, I’m not so much a cat lover anymore
8. Of all Kevin Smith’s films, I’m that rare beast that likes Mallrats the best.
9. I’ve probably seen more movies than anyone else my age… or at least, a wider variety.
10. Though I’m silly and crazy outside, I’m really quiet, serious, and contemplative within. But then, most everybody here knows that.

NINE Ways To Win My Heart

1. Be entertained by me
2. Be genuinely interested in movies, comics, and/or drama and be able to carry on conversations
3. Say, “Hey, for a hot date, let’s go see that new production of THE ICEMAN COMETH!”
4. Sing along with me to CHESS and SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE showtunes.
5. Be independent
6. Be assertive but not bullying
7. Be honest and open
8. Let your mask fall and trust me
9. Give me yours.

EIGHT things I want to do before I die:

1. Publish my entire multi-novel saga
2. Play the following roles: Hamlet, King Lear, Edgar, Hickey (from Iceman), Tyrone (from Moon for the Misbegotten), all the roles in I AM MY OWN WIFE, Richard II
3. Write superhero comics, especially Batman and Green Lantern
4. Be invited back to the Playboy Mansion
5. Find true love and, if I must lose it, lose it in such a way that my drama-loving soul will appreciate and be able to live with it
6. Make a movie with some of my favorite and underappreciated character actors (and maybe an idol or two, like Derek Jacobi, Brian Cox, or Bruce Campbell)
7. Convert as many people as possible to the wonder and glory of comics and sequential art
8. Make people think of something other than Hugh when they hear the name Hefner.

SEVEN ways to annoy me:

1. Patronize me
2. Act superior to me
3. Gang up on me (2 or more) in an argument
4. Tell me I’m acting just like my father
5. Tease me for being less than a man
6. Belittle my tastes
7. Lock me out and push me away

SIX things I believe in:

1. The fundamental potential for good in every person (even if they become irreversibly corrupted and evil)
2. The power of human will to overcome anything
3. The glass is half empty. But one day it will be full.
4. That God has no more love or hatred for us than any author does for his characters; that is to say it is love, but don’t be expecting any favors. You get what the story necessitates, and some days you’ll be the main characters, other times a bit player. No death or suffering is pointless, therefore, since everything is action and reaction as everyone’s stories play off one another.
5. The ability to change if the person is willing
6. Hope that, by God or by chaos, everything will be all right.

FIVE things I'm afraid of:

1. Losing love
2. Being utterly powerless
3. Being told “You have no right…”
4. Hurting others
5. Becoming my father

FOUR favorite items in my room:

1. My bed
2. My computer
3. My DVD shelf (and therefore all the DVDs on it)
4. My comics box (and therefore all the comics within)

THREE things I do (virtually) everyday:

1. Check my email
2. Check my live journal
3. Think about things I probably shouldn’t

TWO things I want to do right now:

1. Read new comics.
2. Watch movies and spend time with a special someone.

ONE person I want to see right now:

1.) Misty

Comments

[tompurdue.livejournal.com]

Mallrats, huh? Care to elaborate?

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

First and foremost, it was the first one I saw (at a theatre... imagine being a young boy and seeing a mainstream movie with so much love for comics in it). But all of Smith's other films (not counting Jay and Silent Bob, which is more of a View Askew fan "shout-out" than an actual standalone movie, and Jersey Girl, which I haven't seen) try to balance the comedy with commentary, depth, or poingiancy.

Chasing Amy, for example, is time and again hailed as his masterpiece, and they might be right. It takes some huge risks, tries to go deeper than the usual fart comedy. However, where it largely succeeds, it also fails in the "threesome" ending, which has turned many people against it, including myself. Dogma also juggles wit and insight with self-importance and pretentiousness.

Mallrats, however, is pure, mindless silliness. Pure fun. He had enough of a budget to do crazy things, but he hadn't yet become "Kevin Smith," and, for lack of a better phrase, totally sold out. It's full of comic book geekiness, fun characters, and just a dose of celebrity cred with Michael Rooker (star of the cult film "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" and of course Stan the Man Lee). The movie is pure popcorn and doesn't strive to be otherwise.

[tompurdue.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is that the threesome ending of Chasing Amy really worked for me.

Part of me wants to see it again and figure out if it was just the mood I was in when I saw it (several times, but some years ago). But most of me knows enough to say, "Just enjoy the memory and don't push it."

But I remember at the time thinking that it might make a hell of a play, and that tazira would do a bang-up job as Alyssa.

And don't tell me that some of the silliness in Chasing Amy wasn't inspired: the racial overtones of Star Wars and "I prefer to think of it as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet Vladimir and Estragon" are utter classics to me. (Though the book really does sound more like Batman and Robin meet Cheech and Chong.)

ah, the old "chasing amy" box has been opened again. i, too, like bob, must break the silence.

[interdisciple.livejournal.com]

that film knows things about us that most of us won't let us know about ourselves.

too cryptic? let me be more explicit:

most people:

-are uncomfortable pushing the sexual envelope;
-fear admitting the breadth of possibility;
-habitually deny nerve endings and natural curiosity;
-are too socialized to break the stigmas attached;
-are too scarred and scared to be objective;
-cower at the thought of our infinite potential toward everything;
-draw the line partly out of fear and pragmatism, partly out of natural inclination and desire;
-let pragmatism generally win the bigger slice of pie.

in this regard (and in many others), kevin smith is not most people. for the courage alone, if not the profound and authentic nature of the content, chasing amy was genius. not only did it dare to go where nobody had gone, or would go again in a serious manner--it went there, and it took it like a man. nowadays, we only get pothead homoeroticism jokes and lipstick lesbian lockerroom cliches. the one movie that approached sexual paradigm shift staunchly and brilliantly refused its own success and gratification, much in the way that society would, and/or has. in this manner, it became a metaphor for itself.

so what do we do when we see a discomforting void? do we linger with/in it, or do we pretend it's not there?

this is my own humble opinion, but those who can't watch chasing amy and admit its power are hiding something somewhere.

the flip-side is that those who Do admit its power are not only vulnerable and transparent, but are promptly demonized (though closet-respected).

[fishymcb.livejournal.com]

8. Make people think of something other than Hugh when they hear the name Hefner.

This'll perk you up. A couple years ago, when Carrie spent spring break here in Baltimore with me, we killed time one day by playing "Name Burst", a game in which you use clues to get your partner to guess the name of a famous person. So Carrie was giving me clues to somebody, I forget who, but his first name was Hugh. So she says, "Hefner." My knee-jerk response was: "John?"

Mission accomplished. :)

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Aw, that warms me old Irish heart. Or it would if I were old. Or Irish. Or had a heart. But you get the picture, Durst-puncher. Thanks!

[fishymcb.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Durst-puncher. I like, I like.