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Re: Most Influential



(For a shorter, less inflammatory and tangential form, omit the passage in 
brackets.)

Better late than never....

Kendrickjd at aol_com wrote:
<So what is your most influential CD, book, and/or movie?

As far as CDs go, I'd have a hard time narrowing it down to one.  Heck, the 
first record I ever twisted my mom's arm off to allow me to have was 
probably "Pyromania" by Def Leppard, but that was vinyl.  Before that, Men 
at Work were my favorite band as a youth in the process of developing some 
sense of individual musical tastes, and the love of Aussie rock they must 
have instilled has never left me.  However, even before I started to develop 
my own tastes, which, by the way, were actually being dictated to me by 
corporate dollars, my childhood was spent listening to a variety of artists 
my brother and sisters liked.  My brother and I were roomies, and I absorbed 
the Progressive rock sounds of Yes during the formative stages of brain 
development.  That explains much about my musical "I.Q.".

That said, the first life changing CD was probably "Stay Hungry" by Twisted 
Sister.  (I know, you are all shocked!!  What a scandal!  Blackmail 
material!)  Actually, I was still in elementary school when it came out, 
trying desperately to fit in among my peers and failing.  Dee Snider has 
since become a major disappointment to me, but, at the time, his band's 
sometimes religious messages (Sin after Sin, Burn in Hell, Power and the 
Glory, etc.) were enough to calm my ultra-conservative mother, while his 
message of individuality, personal freedom, and standing your moral ground 
was EXACTLY what I needed to hear during those awkward days.  I decided to 
be "my own man", and never looked back.  Peers be damned. (if not mommy.)

Then, I saw an add for Stryper in "Hit Parader", and my love of Christian 
music originated shortly afterwards!  Though I would remain a metalhead for 
some time, this eventually changed when I purchased Adam Again's "Dig" and 
became an alterna-head.

Which leads me to Midnight Oil's seminal "Diesel & Dust" record.  While it 
was setting Oz sales records, I was still a metal-head, and oblivious.  When 
I "discovered" the Oils in 1991, I was so impacted by this particular 
aboriginal rights treatise that I actually planned to join the Peace Corps.  
(Nobody knows this.)  Until I went to the library and did research about it, 
that is.  Still, I have the utmost respect for the listees that have 
expressed an active role in overseas/missionary work.  I wish I had the 
courage... (hums "Brave" by "Innonence Mission")

So, if I didn't go, why pick this disc as "influencial"?  Simple: it was a 
major stepping stone on the road to epiphany as it helped to crytalize the 
notion that I want and need to devote my life to some kind of service of 
humanity.  Oh, and I started an ill-fated but earnest recycling drive at 
work because of it too!

Book: has anyone said, um...The Holy Bible!?! Is that too boring an answer?  
I find very telling, and VERY sad.  Perhaps it is too obvious?  Sure, it may 
be, but so what?  That the single most influencial book in the history of 
civilization also happens to be a given person's most influencial book is 
NOT shameful, by any means.  Heck, if it weren't for the Bible, and the 
concepts contained therein, I'd have killed myself at some point early in my 
highschool life, having been thrust into the larger, less insular world from 
my cozy parichorial school upbringing.  (And I do mean "UPbringing, as 
opposed to simply "raising.)  So, how could any other book hope to compare?? 
  I'm alive because of it!  Alive AND sexually repressed even!

[Before I offend the good souls of this list that are truly my dear 
sibblings too much, let me state what I find most telling about the Bible 
having NOT been mentioned, if I may ressurect an old argument.  (Ooops, I 
used the "R" word.)  If the Christians on this list were here to 
proselytize, as we are often accused of, then the Bible would have come up 
during this thread once, twice, thrice etc., with whole passages being 
quoted as they related to each person's life experience.  However, since 
this didn't happen, I can only assume that most of the "evangelical" 
christians ostensibly are on this list merely to share and learn, not 
preach.  Think about it.  Proof positive, it is.]

Movie: I'm not a big student of Popular culture; still haven't seen "Holy 
Grail", "Princess Bride", "or "American History X", though this list has 
given me cause to do so. Still haven't seen "City of Lost Children" or ANY 
Cohen Bros. films.  Even purchased "Memento" on DVD for $10 a few weeks 
back, and haven't touched it.  Haven't been to a flick since "Fellowship" 
opened, in fact.

That said, "Star Wars" ignited a spark that turned into a fire.  It was the 
first thing my second grade brain ever obsessed over.  I even listened to 
the record version so often that, like Peter C., I had the dialogue 
memorized.  So, it inspired my imagination, and sense of wonder.  Given my 
impressionable age, I doubt any film could ever hope to affect me both in 
this manner and to such a degree.

Finally "!Fight, Iczer-One!", my first Japanese anime.  Pretty standard 
stuff, but unlike anything I'd ever seen as it was animated.  A friend 
showed it too me right after  graduation rehearsal, in straight Japanese 
without subtitles, and I was enthralled.  I soon entered the secret world of 
the ultra-cultish underground, a place full of misanthropes, nerds and 
social misfits who were essentially like myself.  I was a home- almost.  
(Ysoie is to "token Jew" as I was to "token Christian".)  Since the artform 
recently went "mainstream", anime conventions pack 'em (males AND females) 
in by the thousands, but, back then, only 400 smelly, fat weirdoes did a con 
make.  Rebels, all.  Anyway, a life-long love of the genre, socially 
"fitting in" for the first time ever, and $1,000s less in my savings over 
the years- that's an influence, to be sure!

ending on a happy note,

Matt



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