O, SOLO MEME-O

After nearly 9 months of blogging, someone has finally plumbed the depths of my astounding personal unpopularity. Yes, that's right: I've been tagged. And who's the crazy loon that saw fit to throw a bone my way? (Or maybe just decided to distribute the torture?): our friend George, from I'm Not One To Blog, But . . .

This meme seems to deal with, for lack of a better term, Art. Therefore, you'll all have the opportunity to see for yourselves the shocking philistinism that lurks just below the surface of the world's most pretentious blogger. I might as well admit right now, that despite majoring in English & all that shit back in college, I was far more interested in drinking beer, listening to loud rock music, or getting stoned and then drinking beer and listening to loud rock music than I was in arts & lit (in fact, that category was my worst in Trivial Pursuit, a game I otherwise cleaned up in).

That's not to say, however, that I remained ig'nant. Au contraire (see that? French. I got the goods when I need 'em). I realized that I could occasionally pick up the sneaky-hot nerdy chicks in my Lit classes by reading, and then pontificating about, highly intellectual reading material. Oh, the university! Anyway, on to the memeage:

1. Name a book that you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies: I'm not aware that I've ever given away a book voluntarily. As any of my friends could tell you, I'm extremely selfish when it comes to "loaning" out books, CDs, DVDs and such. In fact, I actually know which of my friends still have which of my books (that's right, I remember). I'm also aware which of the books generously lent to me by Neighborhood regular, Applesaucer, are his (and there are A LOT). What a cad I am.

But to answer the question, I'll have to dig back to the mid-90s and a book that I did voluntarily lend to a few friends (one of whom still has the copy, far as I know): Portnoy's Complaint, by Philip Roth. Among the funniest books I've ever read, it's the only "true" answer I can give here. So there.

2. Name a piece of music that changed the way you listen to music: Ahhhh, this is a tough one. So many candidates, hard to give just one answer. But, in an effort to be honest here, rather than just cool, I have to say Abbey Road, thinking of course of the suite on side two. While still one of my favorite albums, I can't say that I currently think of this as the most important piece of music or anything. But no other bit of tuneage had as much of an influence on the way I approach music, or how I hear it, how it affects me.

I must've been about 12 or 13 when I first "discovered" that one of the albums in my small but growing collection had this . . . mini symphony buried on one side. The silly little ditties like "Polythene Pam" & "Mean Mr. Mustard" went together as one piece. Music was art. Ringo could do a drum solo.

Changed everything.

(And unfortunately helped open the door in high school to Yes, ELP, and some of Rush's more indulgent offerings before I later realized that music could not only be art, but something to get you laid. Which is why Kind Of Blue could be the alternative answer to this question.)

3. Name a film you can watch again and again without fatigue: Another one that's very hard to answer. As the regulars here know, I'm a bit of a movie geek (bit?), with an undying love of a large percentage of movies released between 1975 and 1995 (how's that for narrowing down the scope). I own a small library of DVDs, which represent not necessarily my favorite films of all-time, but those I most want to watch when I feel the urge. Of course, most of these are favorites, but a few of those I love, love, love are considerably "serious" or "heavy" or just too long, so that I don't want to throw them on any given weekend (Apocalypse Now, Seven Samurai). So, I'll have to say it comes down to Goodfellas, Dazed & Confused, Annie Hall, & Miller's Crossing. I can't choose just one.

I can't!

4. Name a performer for whom you suspend of all disbelief: George Bush.

Oh wait, you mean a "real" performer? Hmmm, let's see. Without taxing my brain too much, I'll say Michael Douglas in Wonderboys, a film in which he OWNED the character, Grady Tripp. I'm not sure it was any bit more possible for an actor to inhabit the persona of a rumpled, depressed, pot-smoking professor on the permanent verge of chaos . . . even though Douglas appears to be none of these things in real life. I love the film, but I have to ocassionally force myself to forget I'm watching Kirk Douglas' son, one of Hollywood's A-list actors, playing Grady.

5. Name a work of art you'd like to live with: Does Audrey Tatou count? Not the sexiest woman in the movies by any stretch, but it's hard to think of anyone more exquisitely beautiful. Her face is like a work of art in my eyes.

But I'm not sure Mrs. Mike would want her to "live with" us. So I'll choose my favorite painting, "Boating," by Manet. Not sure why, but I've loved this one since I saw it at the Metropolitan Museum years ago (probably with a young lady, as I attempted to impress her with my "culture").

6. Name a work of fiction which has penetrated your real life: "World's End," by T. Corraghessan Boyle. It takes place in the area I grew up in. Its themes of history, class, self-realization (and failure), and soured father-son relationships hit me like a tumbling boulder when I read it about a decade ago. I've revisited it since and while it hasn't had the same impact, it's influence still casts a shadow.

This novel held a core role in a true moment of clarity when I first finished it. I can remember where I was, what time of year it was, what I did in the moments thereafter. Profound literally beyond words. Hard to describe, but it had a meteor-like impact.

7. Name a punch line that always makes you laugh: Again, many to choose from, but I'll go with a personal favorite: Cliff, played by Woody Allen in Crimes & Misdemeanors (one of his least-jokey films), tells his sister that despite an ostensibly happy marriage, he shares her non-existent sex-life woes: The last time I was inside of a woman was when I visited the Statue of Liberty.

And there you have it, folks. A little glimpse of Mike, through art, music, and film. Now leave me alone. I tag . . . Otto Man, Toast & DED. Hit it, fellas. (And anyone who wants to play along in the comments, please feel free to do so).
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Update -- 3:41 pm, EST: After a "planned" outrage outage that lasted juuuuuuust a bit longer than "planned," Blogger seems to be back and running at its usual crap level. The comments, which stayed disabled even longer than the "planned" disabling of the main page, also seem to be back up & running.

Here's hoping I need no more of these sorts of updates. I'm not planning to.