Monday, February 21, 2011

Pastor of Muppets

  When I was in high school, I used to fall asleep with my earphones on blasting Metallica.  I deliberately did that because it would give me the most wicked dreams.  It is from those dreams that a lot of my writing comes.  I couldn't tell you how many scenes from the Nocent are just straight transcriptions of nightmares of mine.  That's how I know it's good shit cuz it scared the shit out of me.
  During high school, music was my stability.  I was an Army brat as you might know.  That, coupled with the fact that I'm bipolar gave me a deep-rooted desire to have any semblance of stability in my life.  That came in the form of my Star Wars toys, which always moved around with me anywhere my father was stationed.  Later in life, movies, books and music became foundations of stability for me.  No matter where I went, they were a constant.  Also as important, they were reliable, dependable, trustworthy and they never yelled at me or made me feel stupid.  They never told me, "It's easy!" when I couldn't do something.
  One of my favorite albums of all time is Blind Melon's eponymous first album.  I think Blind Melon is one of the most under-appreciated bands ever.  Most people would only be able to name 'No Rain' by them.  That is a good song, but it is one of my least favorite simply because the rest of their body of work is so strong.  Probably my favorite song of all time by anyone is 'Change'.  It has the same message of encouragement echoed by such bands as Hatebreed, Pearl Jam and Soulfly and preceded by Buddha and the Christ: "When life is hard, you have to change."  You can't change what the world is gonna do to you, you can only strengthen yourself so that you can overcome it.

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