The Syndicate

Tennis shoes.

Upstate NY or the Big Apple?

When I was 20, the city. Now, upstate.

No lettuce ever again or no condiments ever again?

No lettuce.

Boyz II Men or K-Ci and Jo Jo?

Who?? Boyz II Men I guess, I am more familiar with them.

You're setting up the entertainment for your workplace Christmas Party; all you can afford is Vanilla Ice or Coolio. Who do you pick?

Vanilla Ice. But instead of singing, I'd put him to work remodeling the cubicles. (Or whatever office work environments look like now-a-days.) He's got that new show on HGTV, so I say let him do his handiwork.


Eat popcorn or potato chips while binge watching?

Gah! It depends. If it's between really great and really, really buttered popcorn and a kind of chips I'm not fond of, it's gotta be popcorn. In general, however, I've got to go with chips. I'm just less picky about them then I am about popcorn for whatever reason.

Mozzarella or Parmesan?

Mmmmmm, fresh grated parmesan. I frakking love that stuff.



Cheese and crackers or peanut butter and crackers?

This may be the easiest question for me personally to answer that has been asked so far. Peanut butter and crackers. I like cheese a lot but I don't think any of it goes well with crackers at all, whereas I've been eating peanut butter and crackers basically my entire life. So yeah.

Bowtie-shaped noodles or radiator-shaped noodles?

Radiator shaped. More nooks and crannies for my sauce (and parmesan cheese) to cling to.


End all social injustice or find a cure for cancer?

Social injustice. It affects more people, and they make more strides in the medical field towards curing cancer every day.

Do you think people are inherently good, or that they have to be taught to be good?

Ooooh, now that's a meaty one! Here comes a novel!

I don't think people are inherently "good" or "evil". Most little children come out as a blank slate. For example most little kids (if they haven't yet been taught to be racist) don't care what color their friend's skin color is, or what they look like. They tend to just have a gentle curiosity towards the world at large, hence why they sometimes will ask a stranger a question that an adult would be too embarrassed to ask because it seems "rude". But to a child it's just innocent curiosity. I do think most people have an inherent tendency to be selfish, and put self before others though. (I generally feel that many of the "bad" things that happen in the world can often be boiled down to pure selfishness and just not giving a shit about anyone or anything else.) And from my experience, we do seem to be born with that, to differing degrees of course. That's something that each person can learn to control if they want, and if they don't have some type of brain disorder preventing it.

Then, I think others write on the slate of a child. They can teach them things like racism, bigotry, misogyny, misandry, hatred, etc. Or, they can teach them things like love, empathy, compassion, generosity, etc. I do think that, by nature, some people have a more compassionate character, but I don't think compassion (or any of those good traits) are out of reach of anyone to learn and display (unless, again, if they have some type of brain dysfunction preventing it).

Then, once the child comes of age to be aware, they have the option to either continue cultivating those things they were taught (whether they be bad or good), or they have the option to toss those things and learn to cultivate different aspects of their persona. I don't think any person is perfect, but I also do not equate that as meaning that every person is evil. We are what we make of ourselves, and we don't have to be selfish little bastards if we don't want to be.





In your movies/tv shows: werewolves or zombies?

Werewolves. I love canines, corpses, not so much.

Pacino or DeNiro tee hee?

DeNiro. Now don't have a heart attack or anything.


Money and safe travel are non-issues - do you use the rest of your life to explore the ocean floors, or exploring the universe?

The Universe. Not sure why, but it was an instant reaction.'

Pacino or Pesci?

Pesci. He'd fuck me up if I spoke otherwise.

Bootlegger in Prohibition America or cocaine smuggler in 1985?

Although 1985 smuggler is probably more relevant to my own life, I would have to go with Bootlegger, it somehow seems more romantic.

Water bed or regular bed (speakingof 1985 )

Regular bed (do air matresses count? I really like mine)

Just barely not drunk enough, or just a little too drunk?

Just barely drunk enough can be remedied; there is no going back from a little too drunk.

A drink before breaking bad news, or sober?

Sober. I need my faculties. (Such as they are. )


Exploring the universe - start really far away first and work your way back to earth, or start close to earth and work your way out?

Oooh, this is a good question. Hmmm... I'd go with start really far away first and work my way back to Earth, that way I can anticipate heading home, rather than feel like I'm going further and further away from it. I just can't imagine exploring the universe like that; it'd be so cool.

Donuts or muffins?

Muffins. You can at least pretend they are more than a pile of sugar.

A pile of sugar or a pile of salt?

A pile of salt! Salt can be enjoyable to nibble at on its own, whereas sugar needs to go with something else for me to enjoy it.

Which type of villain is better in fiction? One that is unfathomably, psychotically evil and seemingly without motive, or one that has a clear agenda and whose reasons for doing whatever evil they do can be understood, perhaps even sympathized with?

I like unfathomable psychopaths. Don't judge.

Travis Bickle or Max Cady?

I actually like Robert Mitchum's Max Cady over De Niro's Max Cady, but Travis Bickle beats both. That character strikes a perfect balance between fathomable and unfathomable, and De Niro's performance makes the film.

Heath Ledger's Joker or Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurrh?

Heath Ledgers joker; Ilike me some chaos, and Anton Chigurrh is a psycho, but he is a deliberate psycho.

Dog Day Afternoon or Serpico?

Dog Day Afternoon. Serpico's fun thanks to Pacino but Dog Day Afternoon has better rewatch value IMO.

The Godfather or The Godfather Part II?

That's hard for me.The Godfather was so awesome, but GF2 has DeNiro. And the Flashbacks. And less Diane Keaton. So GF2.

Pacino; Over the top awesome, or just over the top?

Over the top awesome. I think the view that all acting must be extremely grounded and restrained to be immersive and effective is ludicrous and closed-minded. The reason Heat works so well is that it's not just the perfect film to have Robert De Niro and Al Pacino acting with each other, it's also the perfect film to contrast their very different approaches to acting and illustrate why both approaches are essential to the art of cinema.

Michael Keaton's Batman or Christian Bale's Batman? The performance exclusively please, not factoring in the overall films or even the character.

Christian Bale. He is always so impressive, he lives his roles.

American Psycho; Book or FIlm?

The film. Bret Easton Ellis is a hack IMO.

Apocalypse Now or Apocalypse Now Redux?

Apocalypse Now; it was perfect. It did not need the extra hour.

Diffusing tension; humor or earnestness?

Depends on the source of the tension, but generally humor.

April or May?

May. I have never been a fan of rain (except at night,on the roof, hmmm, best nights sleep)

Parades; floats or marching bands?

I like floats better; I only really like marching bands with good choreography, which doesn't occur in parades much.

¿Enchiladas rojas o enchiladas verdes? Cocino una noche.

je ne parle pas espagnol, et je ne mange pas de viande BUT when I did, I liked Chicken enchiladas so green, I suppose.

Learn a foreign language; Mandarin or Hindi?

Mandarin.

Something that starts sweet but turns sour, or something that starts sour but turns sweet?

Sour>sweet

Who has the more interesting family tree; your Mom or your Dad?

My dad.

But that's only because I know so very little about my mom's side. I know (above my own generation) my two aunts, uncle, grandma, a great-aunt, and great-grandma. That's it.

I know many more people on my dad's side, and there are a lot more photographs. My dad's father is the only grandpa I ever knew, and he was an inspiration to me as a guitarist.

Hang out with friends or cousins?

Cousins. You can be who you are with cousins. But I have a super close family.

You are looking for something neutral;is is beige or gray?

Gray. Beige washes me out.

You want to set up a night out with friends: text or call?

Call.

Your favorite celebrity has died. Learn it was from a drug overdose or an act of violence?

Drugs, he died passed out rather than in terror.

Scarier: Cylons or Storm Troopers?

I think I'm going to go with Cylons. In the newer BSG, the totally mechanical ones were much scarier to me than a Storm Trooper.


Which is scarier to you: tornadoes or earthquakes?

Earthquakes. You can potentially run from a tornado.

Someone you know has killed someone (who you also know) that physically hurt them. They appear to be getting away with it. Do you tell or do you keep silent?

Snitch.

You're in the 2016 summer Olympics: Archery or beach volleyball?

Archery.

Would you rather be trapped in North Korea for ten years, or Somalia?

Wow. That's tough. I'm going to go with Somalia, because I feel like there would at least be a chance I could help some people there - I would work really hard against FGM, maybe even getting involved with the Ifrah Foundation, and I feel like there would be a chance I could actually save some girls' lives and make a difference, if only for some girls.



Live with gorillas the rest of your life, or bison?
RIP Harambe

Gorillas. At least you can reason to an extent with gorillas. Bison will just plow you down with no thought behind it at all.

Zoos; interesting & educational, or cruel & exploitative?

I think it largely depends on the zoo. Truthfully though, I would much prefer to see things like nature reserves, animal refuges, sanctuaries etc - where it is more focused on caring for the animal properly instead of entertaining the human public.

If we had more of those places, with more opportunities for the public to safely volunteer in meaningful ways (ie, food prep, clean up, environmental enrichment, etc), I think we'd foster more of a real love, compassion and understanding for animals, rather than zoos, which are generally just for people who like to look at exotic animals and say "oh how pretty". So while I try not to paint all zoos with such a wide brush, if I have to choose, I'd go with the latter. (Plus, if I were ever abducted by aliens, and put on display, I'd rather be in something like a sanctuary than a zoo. So, what's good for the goose and all that. )


Nature documentary WITH predation scenes, or WITHOUT predation scenes?

Without. I know it's nature, it's how life works yada yada yada. But when I was a kid those scenes upset me so much; not so much the predation, but the photographers just standing there and watching and not helping the zebra/wildebeest/antelope. I know that the lion has to eat, but I didn't much care when I was 8.

Dog time; play in the yard or a walk around the block?