Spotlight on Silverwhisper

[Mac98]

I have no idea if this spotlight has been done yet, since I'm somewhat new to the spotlight threads, but I thought it'd be important to give the spotlight to the person who introduced the idea to this forum.

So I present to you all, the all-knowing, all-loving "Silverwhisper".

I'll start the ball rolling with a few questions:


1. Who's you favorite artist/band (musically)?
2. What's your favorite movie?
3. If you could have one super power, what would it be?


I know my questions aren't very original, but I tried.

 

[SweetErika]

Good choice, Mac!


Ed, what's your favorite time of year, and why?

What's your biggest pet peeve?

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be, and what would you eat?

 

[fire_breeze]

Excellent choice!

I want to say thank you for your sense of humour and your down-to-earthness (if that's a word). It's refreshing


And seeing as you can't start off with your usual questions, I think I'll borrow your questions and ask them


1. what is your favorite word?
2. what is your least favorite word?
3. what turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]?
4. what turns you off?
5. what is your favorite curse word?
6. what sound or noise do you love?
7. what sound or noise do you hate?
8. what profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. what profession would you not like to do?
10. if heaven exists, what would you like to hear god say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

 

[unregistered]

 

[emap]

[Trout smacks Mac98]

Sheesh just give him a bigger swelled head why don'tcha.

I do have a question, why are you so slow on the trouting anymore?

 

[Eilan]

Have you written any erotica lately?

 

[sadangel]

What do you do when you are feeling at your lowest to get out of that head space?

What makes you smile the biggest and what makes you cry the hardest?

What smell brings back good memories that you don't want to forget?

 

[CherryBomb24]

what is the one thing you want the most in life and why?
if you could travel to anywhere in the world - all expences paid - where would it be and what would you see?

 

[silverwhisper]

holy crap, how the hell did this happen?!

mac quoth:
so i present to you all, the all-knowing, all-loving "silverwhisper"

o no: if you just ask my wife, she'll tell you i'm absolutely not "all-knowing". :>

mac queried:
1. who's you favorite artist/band (musically)?
2. what's your favorite movie?
3. if you could have one super power, what would it be?

1. bruce springsteen: first, last and always. i've been a fan of the man and his music for as long as i can remember. sure, his voice isn't exactly awesome--maybe i'm even being too charitable describing it that way--but there's absolutely no performer i've ever witnessed who puts the kind of passion and energy into his music that i see in his. in part, perhaps that's b/c the very first rock album i've ever listened to was his seminal born to run disc, his 3rd, and i imprinted on that sound as what rock should be. but on top of that, his lyrics really speak to me. and when he released the rising, given where i live, that was something i really needed. so to sum up: i love his music, it's what i imprinted on, and i think that as a person, he makes great use of the bully pulpit his celebrity status gives him, as well as (at least in the past) doing the kind of charity work any regular joe could do.

digression: i don't know if you're familiar with the film eddie & the cruisers, but the difficulties the band experiences in trying to record this final album is a thinly-veiled allegory for the difficulties in recording born to run.

2. my favorite movie is a difficult question to answer. i'm going to list my favorite several movies, b/c which one is at the top of the list will differ depending upon my emotional needs of the moment. those films are:

the princess bride. i'm ultimately a sappy romantic at heart, and the film's eminently quotable, to boot. :>

stand by me. a lot of people aren't aware that stephen king can be a very, very effective storyteller even when he isn't writing horror. the adaptation of the original short story is brilliant IMHO, and i'll confess i'm a sucker for "coming of age" stories.

eddie & the cruisers. it's both tribute to bruce as well as a really cool movie in its own right, at least IMHO. :>

3. superpower...as a one-time heavy reader of comics and player of superhero RPGs (pen and paper), i'd have to say the power i'd most love to have is teleportation. i know people like to wax rhapsodic about flight--and i can see its appeal, to be sure--but honestly, the power to teleport would be amazing, both as a superhero but also in day to day life. think of how revolutionary that power could be. i could work in one city, live in another entirely, and never worry about commuting. need to do some shopping? bamf, let's shop. buying something really big? bamf! no delivery delay or charge.

a runner-up however would be the power to transmute one material into another. the financial repercussions of that would be really tricky but i think i'd find a way to live with it...

erika queried:
what's your favorite time of year, and why?

is it totally lame if i say that i don't have a particular favorite, only less favorites? i try to find the best in the present time and enjoy it. deepest winter has its joys: the calm of the snow-covered landscape, the pristine and unbroken whiteness covering dirt, flaw and sound; autumn has the crisp air and glorious foliage; spring, the re-blossoming of life in the natural world and excitement in the air; and summer, ah summer, still reigning in my mind's eye as the king of vacation and the time of year for carefree-ness.

having waxed rhapsodic about each of the four seasons: i detest humidity and any combination of it with heat. therefore, i perversely find myself most uncomfortable around the time of my birthday. however, i like to think of it as time to enjoy the manmade world and its chief comforts, such as air conditioning.

erika queried:
what's your biggest pet peeve?

we all do a lot of driving. i suppose if the relevant metric for determining my biggest pet peeve is amount of profanity/verbal violence unleashed, then i'd say that something relating to driving a car must be it, quite probably someone taking the speed limit signs way too literally while driving in front of me. in the passing lane. on a highway. people who obstruct the flow of traffic around them generally cause a disproportionate amount of verbal violence to issue from me, i find. :>

but if that metric doesn't apply: um...deliberate, willful ignorance. i can work with someone who's ignorant, recognizes that fact and dislikes it. but if they like it--or worse, make it a point of pride--then i've little left for that person but contempt, frankly.

erika queried:
if you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be, and what would you eat?

is it lame if my answer is that i get to have that wish every night, b/c it's with my wife, and whatever we're having for dinner is what i want to eat?

but that's kind of uninteresting answer, so i'll go with something a bit different. if not with the mrs, i think it would be really cool to have dinner with several of the litsters at one of masaharu morimoto's restaurants, probably the omokase.



my apologies, folks, my time is limited this weekend. i promise, i'll return to answer more questions later this weekend at some point.

ed

 

[Mac98]

stand by me. a lot of people aren't aware that stephen king can be a very, very effective storyteller even when he isn't writing horror. the adaptation of the original short story is brilliant IMHO, and i'll confess i'm a sucker for "coming of age" stories.

Couldn't agree more. It's a classic of a movie! River Phoenix's best performance (imo). Stephen King also wrote, to many people's surprise, "The Green Mile" and "Shawshank Redemption" which are considered 2 of the best movies made.

Stephen King is usually sold short when it comes to more dramatic or emotional novels or novellas.

 

[Kikori]

3. superpower...as a one-time heavy reader of comics and player of superhero RPGs (pen and paper), i'd have to say the power i'd most love to have is teleportation. i know people like to wax rhapsodic about flight--and i can see its appeal, to be sure--but honestly, the power to teleport would be amazing, both as a superhero but also in day to day life. think of how revolutionary that power could be. i could work in one city, live in another entirely, and never worry about commuting. need to do some shopping? bamf, let's shop. buying something really big? bamf! no delivery delay or charge.

With this in mind...

1.) Do you have any kids?

2.) If so to #1, have you considered including a hero's name (i.e. Wonderwoman's "Dianne") in your child's name for the hope of a similar persona?

3.) If yes to #1, have you held back using a hero's name BECAUSE of their superhero relation?

*Skips his obvious #4*

5.) Why'd you become attached to that avatar? o:

 

[silverwhisper]

fire breeze quoth:
i want to say thank you for your sense of humour and your down-to-earthness (if that's a word). it's refreshing.

why thank you, FB! it's been fun getting to know you as well! i try very hard not to take myself very seriously. i mean, i know all the fuck-ups i'm prone to: i think that tends to keep me fairly humble. :>

fire breeze quoth:
and seeing as you can't start off with your usual questions, i think i'll borrow your questions and ask them.

i want to take this opportunity to note that i am merely repeating the question list developed originally by french journalist bernard pivot, with which i only became familiar thanks to inside the actors studio. host james lipton asks them of subjects at the conclusion of each episode. and in reviewing the wiki, i just learned that pivot in turn got it from a questionnaire popularized by writer marcel proust.

fire breeze queried:
1. what is your favorite word?
2. what is your least favorite word?
3. what turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]?
4. what turns you off?
5. what is your favorite curse word?
6. what sound or noise do you love?
7. what sound or noise do you hate?
8. what profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. what profession would you not like to do?
10. if heaven exists, what would you like to hear god say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

1. passion. it means obviously a great number of things, including lust, but for me its primary meaning is as a synonym for enthusiasm. i want to be around people who are passionate about things, because that kind of emotion is powerful and enriching for me.

2. the "c" word. i absolutely despise its use. i find that people who use it often are generally people with whom i have little in common.

3. enthusiasm! for the reason why, see 1, above.

4. apathy and ignorance, which i usually find to be intertwined. people are generally ignorant simply because they don't care, because nothing's challenged their thinking, preconceptions, what have you. but i find that if you can engage a person's interest, apathy usually goes away, and when it does, ignorance does too.

5. fuck. it's just so damned versatile. i know it's a tedious and quotidien answer, but it's the truth. i enjoy its versatility. it can be any part of speech, and more importantly, the meaning is even more dependent upon speaker's tone than other words, specifically because it's so versatile. i just love it. :>

6. the sound of my wife telling me she loves me. but less sappily: children laughing. there's something about it that, even as a non-parent, i find beautiful. perhaps it's the innocence and pure, unadulterated joy in the moment that so often, we grown-ups can't experience.

7. in the past, i've said "jackhammers". this is now incorrect. you see, while attending a parade at my wife's hometown yesterday, the sound i detest most is a single person's voice. all this woman could do is complain--loudly--about anything and everything. and while i'm a smoker, she sounded as though someone hooked up her cardiovascular system to a diesel engine for a week straight. it was the single most grating, annoying, and yes, offensive voice i've ever heard.

8. as i'm currently unemployed in the worst job market in decades, how about any professional occupation? :> but ideally: professional novelist. i think i have the necessary talent--but talent alone isn't what makes someone a professional novelist: you need the constant practice of the craft and the drive that goes with it. i'm working on that part.

9. contractor. i'm pretty much mr. non-handy. i know which end of most tools to hold, but i lack most of the necessary practical knowledge. in this respect, i am apparently quite like my father. :>

10. "i guess the joke's on you, mr. agnostic! bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! not only were you wrong about not being sure we'd be here, but in addition, you were wrong about which place you'd wind up. come on in, there's a few folks who want to see you again."

ed

 

[silverwhisper]

j to his pb quoth:
no questions yet, but just wanted to say that you were absolutely one of my favorite lit members when i joined the forums last fall! looking forward to this thread!

why thank you, j, that's so sweet of you! it's been wonderful seeing the evolution of your relationship from that thread. :>

emap quoth:
sheesh just give him a bigger swelled head why don'tcha.

mac isn't exactly my type.

emap quoth:
i do have a question, why are you so slow on the trouting anymore?

i just haven't been online much lately. a lot of my time's been taken up by other stuff, esp in the past 2 weeks. when they say searching for a new job is itself a full-time job, they ain't kidding!

eilan queried:
have you written any erotica lately?

lately, no. apparently, i haven't in 1 year and nearly 2 months. i just haven't been feeling it. now, writing only when you feel it is the mark of an amateur, from what i can determine. this isn't because of the lack of effort, though: it's because of the lack of desire. addressing that, as i mentioned in a response to one of FB's questions, is something on which i'm working.



OK, more later.

ed

 

[Mac98]

mac isn't exactly my type.

Don't lie to yourself... I'm EVERYONE'S type. Unfortunately, I don't swing that way, but it's flattering. xD

 

[emap]

Oh you bad boy you didn't answer why you chose that avatar.

[Trout smacks Mac98]

Stay on target.

 

[Mac98]

[Trout smacks Mac98]

Stay on target.

Please stop trout-smacking me... it's really painful :'(

 

[fire_breeze]

Thank you! They were very interesting - and insightful - answers!

And here's some more questions!




If you could change one thing about the society in which you live, what would it be and why?

Why do you think there's a renewed appeal for comic books?

How do you envision the future, technologically speaking?

That's it for now... I think

 

[Mac98]

You've got very unusual questions, FB... I like that!

Ed, are you a fan of "The Simpsons" and if so, who's your favorite character (out of every single character on the show)? And which part of the series do you prefer, the first 10 years or the last 10?

 

[fire_breeze]

You've got very unusual questions, FB... I like that!

Ed, are you a fan of "The Simpsons" and if so, who's your favorite character (out of every single character on the show)? And which part of the series do you prefer, the first 10 years or the last 10?

Thank you! I like questions

I thought of some more, Ed... I hope you don't mind!

Is resistance really futile?

As humans, do you think we are driven more by logic or by emotions, and is it a bad or a good thing?

What do you wish you have invented? (I know this one sounds confusing, so for example, I wish I have invented Post-It notes).

What is the one quality that is fundamentally important to you?

Are you optimistic about the future?

 

[silverwhisper]

sadangel queried:
what do you do when you are feeling at your lowest to get out of that head space?

it depends greatly upon why i'm feeling low. when i was younger, i was prone to fits of depression. happily, this has become less so since college, and primarily, the depression was triggered by a stray thought that related to a fear of nihilism, that nothing we will ever do means anything or can endure. by and large, i've conquered that fear by adopting the belief that i will endure, my accomplishments will endure, so long as people know of me, of them.

nowadays, when i'm really down, it's primarily because i'm unemployed in a stunningly bad job market. however, i try to bear in mind the fact that in my career, bouts of unemployment have occurred before so this is a temporary situation that will eventually be resolved.

to get out of that headspace, i generally find it helpful to go for a walk or do something that helps me find joy in the moment: talk with a friend, listen to music i find upbeat, read a book i've always liked.

sadangel queried:
what makes you smile the biggest and what makes you cry the hardest?

biggest smiles are when i see my wife or other loved ones genuinely happy. when i can see the people in my life forget the difficulty and hard times they've seen, that makes me glad to be alive.

cry hardest? that's easy: when my wife or other loved ones are hurting, and there's not a damned thing i can do to help. it's the most barbed of razors, the way that cuts through my heart, fillets it.

sadangel queried:
what smell brings back good memories that you don't want to forget?

almost without exception: good food, first and foremost. it's said that our sense of smell is the strongest link to memories, and that certain seems to be the case from what i've experienced.

cherrybomb queried:
what is the one thing you want the most in life and why?

if you could travel to anywhere in the world - all expences paid - where would it be and what would you see?

want most: to finish a manuscript and get it published. i have every confidence that if i can do that, i can get it published. maybe the path to publication for me is to write short stories & get them published in an anthology first, i don't know. all i know is i have these stories in me and i want to share them, and ideally be paid for it. :>

travel: i would dearly love to take a castle & wine tour in france. my french is atrocious, but if i could get access to a translator, that would be incredible. of course, another trip to northern italy, where my wife's aunt lives, would also be great: i like the pace and lifestyle there, at least as a change of pace.

kikori queried:
with this in mind...

1) do you have any kids?

2) if so to #1, have you considered including a hero's name (i.e. wonder woman's "diana") in your child's name for the hope of a similar persona?

3) if yes to #1, have you held back using a hero's name BECAUSE of their superhero relation?

*skips his obvious #4*

5) why'd you become attached to that avatar? o:

1. no, no kids yet. :>
2. if i did, i would never consider a name with those hopes: for me, the name would have to possess a certain meaning for me and for my wife.
3. similarly, i would think the personal associations of such a name would trump popular entertainment associations. :>
5. heh...the av was designed for me by an acquaintance at another of my online haunts, another discussion forum. i once blogged about trout-smacking: it's something i'm known for in my various online haunts. anyway, some years ago (prior to that blog entry), it hadn't been my practice to use avatars. well, that acquaintance decided that perhaps an animated avatar would persuade me to do differently, and there you go. :>

mac quoth:
don't lie to yourself...i'm everyone's type. unfortunately, i don't swing that way, but it's flattering.

hey, you're the one putting yourself out there like that, man... :>

emap quoth:
oh you bad boy you didn't answer why you chose that avatar

well, i hadn't gotten to kikori's questions then.



more to follow. :>

ed

 

[silverwhisper]

FB queried:
if you could change one thing about the society in which you live, what would it be and why?

just one thing, huh? right now, i'm gonna go with this. if i could change one thing, i'd change this incredibly unhealthy dual way in which americans in general view sex. it's a subject on which i've blogged in the past. if i may quote:

in the US, there's such a screwed up, dual view of sex: yes, please tease us with the promise of sex to sell us anything you want, but for the love of pete, don't you dare actually discuss sex in a meaningful or substantive way. it's like a culture-wide manifestation of the whore/madonna complex that so many men have with respect to the women in their lives. this attitude is entirely screwed up, and i say it's because we're still trying to shed the damage of centuries of puritanic attitudes towards sex.

so at least right now, if there was one thing i could change, i think it would be that. if i think about it some more, i might come up with something else.

FB queried:
why do you think there's a renewed appeal for comic books?

i don't know that there's renewed appeal in the general populace, but at least WRT film, that's easy. i believe the reason stems from 2 facts:

1) hollywood lacks the courage generally to do anything that isn't already successful in another medium, which is why we see so many adaptations of other work in general, and

2) the movie theater-going experience rewards large, flashy spectacles. i know that at least for myself that if i want to see a movie in the theater, that can be kinda expensive, if you include the cost for concessions--and for parents with young children, that means either kid films or getting a babysitter. esp right now, this means that unless a film has to be experienced on that tremendous screen, with a better audio system than most of us have at home, it's just not worth seeing in the theater. it's certainly been my experience, and the studios apparently understand that.

so popular comic books are a very easy solution to both issues: no investment in original ideas, and big flashy spectacle is built-in to the comic book/superhero genre. and while a licensed property requires a royalty payment, hollywood accounting appears to completely eliminate such a need.

FB queried:
how do you envision the future, technologically speaking?

in civilian life, we'll eventually move away from exclusively gasoline-driven cars to more sustainable/green vehicles. hybrids are becoming increasingly popular (although someone will have to explain to me why it's necessary for them to be ugly), and it's in our best interests, both financially and militarily, to reduce our consumption of petroleum. computers, i suspect, will stop being a single, expensive object, but rather a set of smaller, more affordable devices that network using bluetooth or a successor technology to achieve most of our computing needs (get info, view/listen/otherwise experience entertainment). look at the costs of premium mobile phones and netbooks: they're about the same. gaming platforms such as xbox, PS3, etc., leverage TVs as monitors and have a somewhat respectable amount of computing power.

FB queried:
is resistance really futile?

almost never, IMX. sometimes, the mere act of resisting, irrespective of outcome, is what's actually important. registering non-consent is to my way of thinking always important. it may be inexpedient or politically costly at times, though, but when you break down any general, non-contextualized aphorism or saying, it does tend to break down anyway--at least, IMX.

FB queried:
as humans, do you think we are driven more by logic or by emotions, and is it a bad or a good thing?

i think the logic/emotion divide represents a false dichotomy. by way of example: i love my wife. i am happy when she is happy. therefore, i try to make her happy. in this example, we see that my emotional attachment to my wife forms my priorities. stated differently: emotions then represent the context within which we make logical choices or deductions. therefore, one might say that emotion forms the meta-logic: we make logical choices based upon our priorities.

i blame gene roddenberry for this false dichotomy: if he hadn't ever introduced it in star trek, i think we'd all be happier people.

FB queried:
what do you wish you have invented? (i know this one sounds confusing, so for example, I wish I have invented post-it notes).

that's a really fascinating question. um...google?

it's hard to say. for me to have invented something, that requires that i have sufficient relevant skills/knowledge that bear directly upon the production of the end product and was in the proper environment to do so. i'm familiar with technology, but i'm not a real database or development guy, so creating google (for example) was never in the cards for me. similarly, intermittent wipers were developed by a guy working at one of the US auto makers, so the idea, while easy, was not something i could have implemented: i was never in the right environment.

right now, i'm thinking those little plastic things folks put in the middle of a pizza box to keep the lid from touching the cheese. or perhaps paper clips. :>

FB queried:
what is the one quality that is fundamentally important to you?

i'm assuming you mean by that a personal quality or trait with this question: if i'm misinterpreting, please let me know.

after having thought about it some, i was struck by the significance of something socrates once said.

socrates quoth:
the unexamined life is not worth living.

therefore, i believe that the quality that i find most important is an interest in introspection. we all experience failure in life: sometimes small and tedious, and sometimes grand and harrowing. how we respond to failure however is absolutely crucial, and i think that introspection is the key to the difference between a bad response and a good response to failure. analyzing what led to failure and finding ways around it is of paramount importance, IMHO.

FB queried:
are you optimistic about the future?

as a matter of fact: yes, i am. i'm a child of the '80s and always knew the threat of sudden death. it's taken me a long time to get away from that mindset--but i have. people have been saying the end times are near for literally millennia. either they've all been wrong, or the end times are largely indistinguishable from other points in history. :>

plus, i firmly believe that our perceptions form our reality. yes, i know, that's also said by qui-gon jinn in episode one: the phantom menace. but i believe it's true. look at it this way: i'm unemployed and have been since november. like a lot of job seekers, my job search isn't getting me anywhere just yet. in the networking groups in which i'm involved. a lot of people have been in transition for even longer, so i see people getting depressed quite a bit. and sure, i do too, sometimes. but the fact is that i have to keep trying, or i'll just wind up "going fetal", and there's no way in hell i'm ever gonna get a job that way. so while yeah, i still need a job, i'm actually fairly positive. the fact is that for the vast majority of my career, i've been employed. i know therefore that this is a temporary situation that will get straightened out at some point. :>

mac queried:
are you a fan of the simpsons and if so, who's your favorite character (out of every single character on the show)? and which part of the series do you prefer, the first 10 years or the last 10?

i don't watch the simpsons regularly, so it's hard for me to say as i'm unfamiliar with most of the one-time appearances. i like most of the regular characters to varying degrees. if forced to choose, i think i'd have to say lisa. she appeals to my liberal sensibilities and i like how they tend to get her into trouble--or are even the source of the problem on occasion. :>

now, if you'd asked me about south park, now that's something i've watched religiously from the beginning.

ed

 

[Cattypuss]

Loving these replies

My question for now -

if your house was on fire and you could save one (inanimate) thing, what would you save?

 

[silverwhisper]

thank you, cattypuss. :>

tough question. it's a toss up between the practical and the sentimental.

practical: laptop. it's got a lot of data that i would find very important. as a practical matter, it's also kinda expensive.

sentimental: the photo album the mrs gave me as a wedding present which contains letters we've sent, menus and other stuff that basically chronicles our relationship pre-wedding. there's a lot of stuff that couldn't be replaced in it--like the letters.

can i cheat by saying that i'd grab the photo album and my flash drive, which contains a lot of that same data on it? :>

ed

 

[Mac98]

now, if you'd asked me about south park, now that's something i've watched religiously from the beginning.

ed

Dang! I didn't think anyone but me watched South Park anymore :O. Ok then, out of all South Park characters, which one's you favorite (Mine is Butters... you gotta' love Butters). And which part of the series do you enjoy most, the first 7 years or the last?

 

[silverwhisper]

let's see...of the four main characters, i dig kyle. i identify with him fairly strongly, truth be told.

but for the other recurring characters, i'd have to say lemmywinks.



no, just kidding: i think i most like timmy. i know they aren't using him lately but i always liked him. and they get good mileage out of wendy.

i think the early south park is the best, in general. great exceptions can be found in the return of the lord of the rings to the video store episode, the WOW episode, and the 2 parter in which terrorists have taken over our imaginations. i thought they were absolutely hysterical.

and i loved the ep in which they killed off chef.

did you ever see the original video christmas card that matt and trey did? i saw like a 4th generation copy of it. it was beautiful.

ed