Tag: Ask Me Anything 2-2015

So, continuing to play catch-up with questions asked two months ago, reader Josh asks this:

What are your thoughts on the Star Wars Clone Wars CGI TV series? Do you think they improved the Prequels?

I really hate this question, but not because it’s a bad question. I hate it because it forces me to make an embarrassing admission: I’ve only watched three episodes of The Clone Wars thus far. And that’s just stupid, because (a) I’m a Star Wars fan; (b) I’ve heard all kinds of good things about the series; and (c) the individual episodes are only twenty-two minutes apiece, so it’s not like I don’t have time. I just end up doing other stuff, be it reading or writing or whatever.

I know, this answer is terrible. I’ve been impressed by the three episodes that I have seen; even that small number gives an idea of big places that show wanted to go, and I do intend to start watching them more faithfully. Sometimes I’m just not that good at being a geek.

Next up, Roger starts asking stuff. Let’s go!

Are you Charlie Hebdo? 

Yes. The notion of violently attacking, by any means, anyone at all for voicing dissenting views even in an offensive way is staggeringly appalling.

And I think it very much worth noting that one of the police officers on the scene, and killed for his trouble, was a French Muslim of Arabic descent.

Thinking about Mario Cuomo: rank the governors of New York State in your lifetime, and a little about why. Heck, if you want to add the governors BEFORE your lifetime (the Clintons, the Roosevelts), feel free!

My lifetime? That goes back to 1971, and we didn’t move to New York State until 1981. I’ll only rank the ones whose administrations I have any functional knowledge of, and in all honesty…I’m not really in love with any of these guys, Mario Cuomo included. Cuomo the Elder was a brilliant speaker, but he was a wonderfully eloquent voice for liberalism at a time when liberalism was at its lowest ebb since the 20s, and the political nature of New York State is such that he really couldn’t push those policies quite as well as I might have liked. Not one of these Governors has thus far been able to put the brakes on New York’s decades-long outflow of population, for one thing, which I think exists mainly because Albany policy tends to be deeply skewed toward New York City and thus often creates a less-than-hospitable business climate to the places that are not New York City. Aside from that, there’s always been a sort of built-in dysfunction in Albany that does not show any signs of going away soon, even if they’ve at least figured out how to get the friggin’ state budget done on time. (Seriously, for years it was an annual thing that the New York State budget was always late.) Ultimately, I honestly can’t say I’ve ever really, really admired one of the governors during my life here.

Here’s how I’d rank these guys (and seriously, isn’t New York, one of the bluest states and supposedly a stronghold of liberalism, about due to elect a woman to this office?!):

1. Mario Cuomo

2. Andrew Cuomo (And I am not a huge fan of Cuomo the Younger. His education policy is a tire fire, his actions in dealing with New York’s legendary corruption are deeply disquieting, and even in matters of policy on which I agree with him — guns being a good example — there’s just always something smarmy about the guy.)

3. George Pataki (We had twelve years of this guy? Really? Nobody better? You couldn’t come up with a blander flavor of Meh if you tried. He kept a sure and steady hand on the wheel, that’s for sure. Never mind that the ship was anchored in port the entire time.)

4. David Paterson (I never had a feel for this guy. But I’m not sure he did, either. Every vibe I got from him screamed, “GAHHH get me out of this job!” I wonder why the hell he ever wanted to be the LG in the first place. It’s a thankless, crappy job.)

5. Eliot Spitzer (So much promise, which he tossed aside for the stupidest of reasons. Ugh. I do, though, sometimes wish the same rules that apply to Republicans when they have sex scandals also applied to Democrats.)

ISIS had beheaded several of its captives, and immolated one. The videos can be found. Have you watched one (or more)? Why or why not?

I haven’t watched any ISIS videos, and I don’t intend to. I did watch one of the beheading videos from the post-Iraq invasion turmoil, years ago, and…well, one of those is enough. It wasn’t gory, really; you couldn’t really tell what was going on as these masked guys clustered around the poor victim. Lots of shouting and some screaming. Utterly horrific, obviously. And it’s a particularly cowardly evil, isn’t it? If you’re that certain in your religious fervor that what you’re doing has the backing of God himself, then why would you need to wear a mask while doing it?

It seems clear to me that the methods of execution are being selected for their shock factor and their ability to get attention. Just shooting the victim in the back of the head has little to no shock value, but beheading with a machete does. So does locking a person in a cage and setting it on fire. So does leading blindfolded victims onto the roof of a building and pushing them off.
I don’t want to end on so depressing a note, so one more:

What’s the first rock/pop concert you ever attended?

This may sound bad, but…in reality, I suppose it would have to be the Trans Siberian Orchestra four or five years ago. Seriously. I’ve never been to an actual rock concert of any type, nor even a pop concert, really. I’m not sure why, to be honest; there are a lot of bands and artists that I would have liked (and would still like) to see in live performance. I suppose it’s mainly an issue of expense, ultimately; because of ticket prices, I’ve never much seen live music as a huge priority, except for Buffalo Philharmonic concerts. I did want to go see Neil Diamond when he was in town a couple weeks ago, but we weren’t free that night, alas.

More to come!

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OK, what the heck happened? Well, here’s what: I kicked off Ask Me Anything at the worst possible time: when I was entering the toughest part of writing a novel. See, as a proud member of Team Pants when it comes to writing, the second act in any book is usually where I have the most problems. I spend a lot of sessions wondering where any of this is going, and how I’m going to make it all work, and just what it is I’m setting up. Act II is supposed to set up Act III, but if I don’t know what’s going to happen in Act III, Act II can be really difficult. So I spend an enormous amount of mental energy writing the book, and a lot less on things like blogging.

And then, sometimes, real life intrudes: days when I have to be at work extremely early, which sap even more mental energy; school concerts and training classes for the dee-oh-gee; and lately, a very busy and draining couple of weeks at work. In the great game of rock-paper-scissors that is life, “Novel” beats out “Blog post” every time. The lesson here is simple: in the future, if I’m hip-deep in a complex novel in February, I’ll probably not do Ask Me Anything! then. We’ll see.

So that’s what’s going on, and that’s why so many questions have just gone unanswered, until now. Obviously I make no promises as to how things will go, but I’ve got this opportunity, so here we go, starting with Andy, who has a question about guitar solos.

WOO HOO!!! So while pondering important stuff while acting like I am working, I want your option on something. Now I have ALWAYS a thought the guitar solo that Eddie Van Halen does in the live version in 5150 was the best ever but now as I get a little bit older, I think the one in Hotel California is pretty darn good and don’t forget David Gilmore’s in ‘Comfortably Numb’ is awesome too. What say you OBI Won??

For reference, here are the three songs he cites:

I had never actually heard the live version of “5150” until now, so that’s really cool. My stock answer to the question “Van Halen or Van Hagar?” has always been some variant of “I like both equally”, but if I’m being very honest, the simple fact is this: if I get in the mood to listen to some Van Halen, I will usually end up listening to something from the Sammy era before I listen to something from the DLR era. That’s just the way it is, and I’m not going to debate it. I just love so many of the songs from the Sammy era, and the DLR era was just fantastic. We’re talking about, oh, “Do you like burgers or pizza more?” territory here. Plus, there’s some sentiment involved: when Teenage Me was just discovering rock music (before that, I was all about movie music and classical), Sammy Hagar was just joining Van Halen. That first album, 5150, blew my mind, and I still love it dearly to this day. The song “5150” is an underrated gem, in my opinion; it wasn’t one of the album’s singles, but that album simply does not have a weak song on it.

But anyway, I’d never heard Eddie Van Halen’s live solo until now, so that’s cool. And it’s quite the solo, going off in many different directions, not all of which are entirely related to the song itself. That’s not a problem, really – live solos are usually more elaborate and go farther afield than their album versions.

As for “Hotel California”, that’s pretty classic in itself, isn’t it? That song is so iconic it’s become almost a cliché, which is kind of sad, because it really is a very good song in itself with some terrific guitar work. And then there’s “Comfortably Numb”, that deeply odd song from a typically deeply odd Pink Floyd album. The solos in the song are deservedly revered, although I have heard some grumblings in the past that they’re not quite the technical masterpieces they sound like since they were (allegedly) cobbled together for the album out of different takes. I have no idea of the truth of that, but I do remember reading a blog post years ago by someone (geez, this sounds bad, doesn’t it) whose son was teaching himself guitar solos. Apparently he scoffed at the “Comfortably Numb” solo, which doesn’t sound all that technically difficult. And no, it doesn’t; that solo isn’t full of Van Halenesque guitar pyrotechnics. It’s all about the sound: you have to really know how to make that guitar sing, if you’re going to play that solo in any way convincingly. It’s demanding in a completely different way than “5150” or even “Hotel California”.

So what is the “greatest guitar solo of all time”? Well, who knows? Any of these could qualify, surely. And many others. Who can forget “Freebird”?

Along the “singing guitar” line, there’s this terribly underheard ballad from ZZ Top, “Rough Boy”.

And frankly, this deserves mention. Listen to what Prince does here when he steps up, halfway through a live all-star performance of The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”.

So, readers, what guitar solos do you admire? Don’t limit yourselves to rock, either! There’s some great guitar work in blues and country and folk, and even classical!

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Well, I didn’t get a whole lot of questions for Ask Me Anything! this time around, but hey, you can still ask things, folks! Put them in comments (preferably on this post, as I like to have things in one spot), but also, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and good old e-mail are fine.

A fellow who goes by Astohart on Instagram, who is also a fan of overalls, asks quite simply: Why do you like overalls so much?

Well, this could take a while, so might as well go grab some food! I’m sure I’ve posted something very similar to this before, but I’m feeling lazy right now (it’s Monday evening and I’m waiting for dinner and I’ve just finished a rum-based beverage as I write this), so here’s the short version:

First of all, there’s the most important thing: comfort. I don’t care how cool something looks; if it’s not comfortable, I don’t want to wear it. I find overalls very comfortable to wear. That’s the most important thing. I’ve never understood the whole “Look good even if it hurts to dress that way” thing, whether it’s women in tall heels or neckties. (Formal wear is something different — when you need to look really, really, really good, then I think it’s OK to dispense with comfort a bit. I don’t attend many formal events, though.)

Second of all: I genuinely like the way they look. I really do, which is probably fairly obvious. Overalls can look frumpy and “farmerish”, but they don’t have to look like those things, and anyway, what’s so wrong about looking like you work for a living? Why should looking like farmer be a bad thing? Show me a successful farmer, and I’ll show you a person who works his or her ass off and is almost certainly smarter than you and competent in many, many things. But I really do like the way they look. (I also think they tend to really look good on women and I deny from the rooftops the notion that they are “unflattering”, but that’s a series of thoughts for another day…although I’ve probably commented on that in the past anyway!)

I generally don’t have a lot of use for “fashion” as a general concept. Sure, trends come and go, but I rarely find myself looking back at photos of people from, say, the 1980s and thinking, “Geez, people looked really dopey back then.” I am always amused when someone says something like “Overalls should stay in the 90s where they belong!”, because it reveals how little they know. Overalls weren’t just a 90s thing; they may have become really prevalent then, but they were quite common in the 1970s and less so, but still ‘acceptable’ and common enough, in the 80s. It was only in the 2000s, when the predominant fashion notion of “everything must be tight and clingy and reveal every single curve or contour of your body” took hold, that overalls really got pushed away.

Third of all: pockets. Pockets are cool. I don’t actually use the bib pocket for anything, usually, except to occasionally carry my phone up there. But the regular pockets on overalls tend to be very deep and well-made. So there’s that.

Finally, when you’re not wearing overalls as a uniform for doing physical labor, I find that they add a sense of whimsy to your outfit. I find them fun to wear and I think they look fun. Someone posted on Twitter a while back that they’re like wearing a hug, and I can’t disagree with that! Overalls are comfy and warm and fun and they’re unique without being outlandish and I like the way they look. That about sums it all up!

(Oh, and I almost forgot: you never have to worry about plumber-butt. That’s huge.)

Roger, as always, has a bunch of queries, some serious and some less so. Here’s one: What topic in this blog that you’ve written about have you TOTALLY (or partially) changed your mind about?

Huh. Well, I remember being convinced eight or nine years ago that Tom Brady was never going to win another Super Bowl and would likely only play four or five more years after the 2006 season or thereabouts; I was clearly as wrong as is humanly possible of that. I don’t recall if I ever pontificated back in the first years here about my dislike of The Beatles, but I’ve certainly done the Full 180 on that.

And then there’s the Iraq war. I never actually supported it, but I was more willing than most to hold my nose and go along with it, stating my fear that even if things went really really well and we were in and out of there quickly, that what might come afterward in terms of ruling that country might well be worse and we’d be back there in twenty years. Well, we weren’t in and out of there quickly, the whole thing was a colossal mess and blunder, and from the looks of ISIS, we’ll be back there a hell of a lot sooner than twenty years. So there’s that.

But hey, at least we got to the bottom of Brian Williams lying, eh?

Another Roger query: You posted on National Pie Day last year, but not this year. Are you no longer a pieist?

Perish the thought! I just never got around to posting this year, for whatever reason. A pure oversight. Maybe I can achieve redemption on this year’s Pi Day, 3/14, because this year it’s 3/14/15, which means that Pi Day is actually on the first five digits of Pi! That might be worth celebrating. I’m not sure how to incorporate a pie in the face on this one, though. Suggestions, class?

More to come!

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Hey! Remember this?

That’s right, it’s time for Ask Me Anything!, the February 2015 edition! Feel free to tweet your questions, or ask them on Facebook, or on Tumblr, or in e-mail, or in comments on this post. Bring ’em on!

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It’s February! That means, by long-standing tradition ’round these parts, that it’s time for my twice-yearly game of Ask Me Anything!. The rules are simple: you are to, well, ask me anything. Anything at all. Questions can be serious or silly, profound or poofy. (However, the seriousness of the question does not have any bearing on the seriousness of the answer. I may give a silly answer to a deeply profound question, and I may pen a long and detailed essay in response to a silly question. You never know with me!)

Questions can be posed in any of the usual ways: in comments to this post, or via Twitter, or on Instagram, or Facebook, or e-mailed directly to jaquandor@gmail.com. No limit on questions, and every question will receive an answer of some sort! I will start providing answers in two (2) weeks, and I’ll post the occasional reminder. Until then: Ask Me Anything!

REMINDER: I do honor requests to keep things anonymous, if that is desired.

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