Like a Meme Virgin

As a very casual and lackadaisical citizen of the Blogosphere, it has taken me a while to react to the comment from yellojkt that I had been "tagged." Now that I've finally figured out what it means, at least in this context -- as opposed to the baseball or casual-sex contexts ("whoa, you tagged so-and-so last Friday?") -- I'm honored to participate:

1: Black and White or Color; how do you prefer your movies?

I'm kind of a sucker for black and white, depending on the story. Obviously, something with a great deal of scale and/or scenery is better in color. But I think that black and white can really focus you on the acting and dialogue, taking the possible distraction of color out of the equation. "Good Night, And Good Luck" is a great example. I know that another reason for black and white in that film had to be that it was a period piece and most people saw Edward R. Murrow only in B/W. But it really was grabbing to see the movie that way. (Aside: I also felt like I was in a smoke-filled room the entire time I was watching it, and felt like lighting up myself --even though I don't smoke -- after leaving the fabulous Ambler Theater.) Nothing wrong with color, except for the heinous process called "colorization," clearly a Tool Of Satan.

2: What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?

So-called reality television. Nothing makes me find a way to change the conversation or feign intestinal distress (hmm, maybe it's real?) that to hear someone launch into a discussion of the latest Survivor episode, or who should win American Idol. The latter should be renamed Americans Idle. What a f***ing waste of focus, energy, time, and cell phone minutes.

3: MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?

CDs, as a compromise. There was nothing quite like hearing the crackle of the needle hitting the vinyl and the hissing in anticipation of a bad 70s song about to be cranked out on the speakers of a dinosaur stereo with speakers the size of a Mini Cooper. MP3s are pretty damned convenient, but there's just no emotional attachment to the music. CDs are a good compromise; good quality plus some content in the form of liner notes, etc. I'm too tactile to go totally MP3.

4: You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going ... ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?

Not a chance. That would be like throwing away my life, my family, my friends, everything. Couldn't possibly be worth it. And the idea of starting over, regardless of how much money I would have, is scary. Can I negotiate for maybe four tickets and $1 million, and waive the non-disclosure?

5: Seriously, what do you consider the world's most pressing issue now?

Just one? Come on, give me a couple: Intolerance. Gross inequities in wealth among countries and peoples. Self-centeredness. Misguided priorities. (Hmm, you could just lump them together under the heading "Bush Administration," couldn't you?)

6: How would you rectify the world's most pressing issue?

By getting people to realize that poverty and injustice -- and not gay marriage -- are the true moral issues. I am not a Bible-quoter by trade, but what does God ask of us but to love justice, kindness, and humility?

7: You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?

Realizing at age 18 that the next four years in college were NOT about preparing myself to find a job for the rest of my life starting immediately after graduation. Has my career been financially lucrative? Yes. Fulfilling? No. Am I in a position to change that? Well, perhaps in the first few years in the real world, yes, but not now, with a mortgage and two teenage daughters. I would have taken life much more slowly and without some kind of self-imposed deadline. There isn't much reason to think that everything has to be decided by age 21. I'm now kind of a Micah 6:8 guy in a corporate, life-insurance-marketing guy suit, hoping that I can eventually get to the point where I can do good for a living rather than in my spare time. In the interim, my job (notice I don't say "career" as if it's a life-driving force) serves to provide for what my family needs and what I can give to the greater community.

8: You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?

I could be serious here -- Kennedy or MLK assassinations, for example -- but I'm going to be selfish. 1986 World Series, Game 6. Bob Stanley doesn't come in from the bullpen, Sox win, Bill Buckner's respectable baseball career is noted in its entirety rather than in a misplayed ground ball. I was there. It was very, very painful. Such is life as a citizen of Red Sox Nation.

9: A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole' Opry --Which do you choose?

Opera, but more so because I'm discouraged and disgusted by the rise in country-"music"-listening, NASCAR-watching, cheap-beer-swilling idiots in this country. Besides, there's usually at least one or two zaftig, busty women in every opera. Rowrrr.

10: What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you'd like to solve?

The 2000 Presidential election.

11: One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?

Got to be Philip Roth, a fellow Bucknellian with whom I have little in common save for a north-Jersey upbringing. I love his writing. I think we would call out for some good deli. (Aside: I was at a silent auction recently where each attendee picked out a name of an artist/musician/author/etc. to do his/her bidding. I picked Roth and was accused by another attendee of being a fan of masturbation. I pled the Fifth.)

12: You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky -- what's the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?

I am a serious. but liberal and non-literal, Christian. What I do is not motivated by the potential for an exit-row aisle seat on the plane to Heaven, but what I feel is right in that it helps the least of us. (Similarly, I've done some immoral things, and haven't let the fear of Hell deter me...as a matter of fact, I think I have a club box in the Eighth Circle.)

My first "tagging" completed! Can I have a cigarette now? How'd I do, yello?