Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Sunday, March 23, 2008

provoked

Henry Rollins 3-22-08 Olympia, WA
Morning after pill
he spoke for almost 3 hours took maybe 2 sips of water
there's no one missing him when he's on the road, his agents crack the whip when he's not
currently renting a BonJoviMobile ~ black tour bus ~ somebody committed suicide by jumping out in front of it once ~ formerly owned by Poison's Brett Michaels ~ had to put on the HazMat suits and burn everything clean inside

"When in doubt, head for the smoke"
does not take vacations ~ vacations imply that you are "vacating" from something that sucks ~ he takes adventures when he's not working his ass off writing or touring
his idea of an adventure? Islamabad, Pakistan 2007 Only way to get a visa to Pakistan is via Dubai, so he went to Dubai. His hotel in Islamabad is like a medieval fortress, layers of walls and guns. Everywhere he goes, he gets out on foot to meet the locals. He was in Pakistan when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated ~ Islamabad was locked down ~ Rollins talked with people burning tires in the streets, mourning her death
Other places Rollins has been recently? Syria ~ Beirut, Lebanon ~ Terran, Iran ~ anywhere that the MAN tells him he shouldn't go ~ no tour guides except the state-sponsored/required one in Iran ~ even manages to give the Iranian guide the slip ~ the Iranians Rollins meet think Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is kooky but say we have no finger to point given our own leadership situation ~ in Beirut: hires a Taxi Driver for a day to show him the real Lebanon, not globalization ~ goes to the Taxi Driver's house get WIRED on Lebanese coffee, alarms the Taxi Driver's wife and two kids but gets invited to dinner anyway
http://www.henryrollins.com/website/dispatch_beta/2008/01/02/12-26-07/

"You're pretty intense"
talks about performing with his heroes the Ruts ~ what's left of them at least... "Staring at the Rude Boys" (note: must track down), ~ acting like a dork when meeting Iggy Pop for the first time (great Iggy impersonation)~ many stories of acting like a fan-boy when meeting his heroes, played a priest guarding the gate of hell in a straight to DVD movie (with Cuba Gooding Jr of all people) (note: must see)

"Mullet Guy"
Everyone you meet is just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG. Whatever shit you have in your life, somebody out there has got it 100 times worse. The Subway Sandwich Guy (making "Sandwich Talk") is working on a sandwich salary has a daughter who is foster care bound. The Mullet Guy with the Lion Mane stops on the side of the road to help you change your flat tire. Stereotypes and cynicism are bullshit ~ a defense mechanism so that you don't have to dig deeper or spend any thought at all.

"When you get into your 40's any 17-year old can kick your ass"
If I have a hero other than my Dad and Mom ~ it's Henry Rollins
I think everyone in Olympia smokes ~ that's all I got

Saturday, March 08, 2008