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SERPENTINE_KISS


                                                       March 19, 2007

  The infamous Gene Simmons/
  Terry Gross smackdown:

    [ref]


  Simmons is (or claims to be)
  an "epicurean hedonist".
                                              DIONYSIAN_SOAP
  He justifies himself
  in quantifiable terms:    (Why he feels the need
  money and women.          for justification is
                            the obvious question.)
  He makes the claim
  that "money is the
  most important thing
  in the universe",
  and proves this by
  pointing out we need
  food to survive, and
  in the world as           SURVIVAL
  constituted, we need
  money for food.

     This skips the
     question of why we
     would want to be
     alive, but we can
     infer he would say     Or perhaps he
     it's to experience     would say that    At one point, he
     pleasure.              that's just his   hedges, claiming that
                            answer.           what he says always
     It also ignores                          has an implicit "for
     the question of                          me" attached.
     quantities: the
     amount of money one
     needs to survive is         Given enoughmoney,
     no where near the           one would think that
     Gene Simmons level.         money's importance
                                 would dwindle.            Kim Stanley Robinson
     And arguably, while                                   proposes slogans:
     having rock star riches        Money would            "Enough is enough",
     would have it's uses,          then be                "Sufficieny is
     it would also have             regarded as            sufficient".
     it's drawbacks -- it           only one thing
     makes you a target, you        of import              ANARCHIC_ROBINSON
     need to worry about
     kidnap, lawsuits,                      And even the
     con-artists...                         minimal amount
                                            needed for
             Finding trustworthy            survial is
             staff you can pay              a prerequisite,
             to manage your finances        not a motivation
             strikes me as a nasty          in itself.
             problem all in itself.



The interview leaves a lot of
issues open -- Terry Gross                     I find myself wondering
keeps getting put off of the                   how he feels about
scent by his macho posturing.                  someone like David Bowie:
                                               a similar figure -- doing
  4000 plus women sounds                       "rock n' roll with
  less like fun to me,                         lipstick on" -- but
  and more like someone                        *both* a popular and
  stuck in a, uh, rut --                       critical success.
  indulging a habit.



  Presumably the appeal of huge numbers
  lies in novelty -- if it's not just in
  bragging rights -- but how much room for
  it is there in the life of the mega-star?

     Your staff vets (and
     auditions?) the candidates,
     the candidates recieve             The instructions, in
     strict instructions, and the       Simmons case: no drugs    How many
     candidates have a culture of       including cigarettes      rockstars
     their own, and already know        and alcohol, and with     actually
     largely what to expect, and        this I can sympathise.    skip the
     what is expected...                                          chemical
                                            I would guess         excess part
                                            that this is a        of the job
            Lost in a house                 prerequisite          description?
            of mirrors.                     for making it
                                            past 4000.            You hear
                                                                  about them
                  UNINTENDED                                      every so
                                                                  often, e.g.
                                               DRUGS              Frank
                                                                  Zappa...

                                                                  Probably
                                                                  even more
                                                                  are in the
                                                                  closet.


                Simmons is one of
                those entertainers
                that likes to insist    But he also says that with
                that his art is all     KISS he was trying to
                just a matter of        become something "larger       Yes:
                entertainment.          than life", using motifs       thick
                                        from various pieces of         platform
                                        "Americana", e.g.  Black       shoes.
                                        Bolt, the Marvel comic book
                                        character.

     Black Bolt:                        This reaching for
     the leader of                      the mythic, this
     (yet another)                      attempt at becoming
     society of                         something heroic
     super-beings                       and monstrous...
     named The
     Inhumans.                             I submit that there
                                           is more going on
     When introduced,                      there than an attempt
     Black Bolt seemed a                   at finding an engaging
     rather passive                        piece of schtick.
     figure... stately,
     restrained.                               The "art is just entertainment"
                                               line is no less reductionist
     He communicated via                       than any thing else he says...
     a sign language and
     interpreters, and                         Why is something entertaining?
     didn't seem to be                         What makes one thing bore and
     able to speak.                            another resonate?

     He had very little                             And what motive is
     in the way of                                  there behind the
     "super powers" on                              impulse to deny
     display.                      What makes       that there are
                                   it entertain-    mysteries here?
     But later, when               ing to pull                
     The Inhumans are              the chain of     
     challenged by a               an NPR drone?    
     serious threat, he                             
     faces it alone,                                
     and orders his                                
     people to hide in
     bomb shelters.

     He responds to the
     attack by speaking
     a single word--
     which effortlessly                                               
     destroys the enemy,                     But Black Bolt's costume    
     and everything else                     is a basic Batman cowel     
     in sight.                               (albiet with and odd tuning      
                                             fork on his forehead):           
     He is not mute:                         how does one get from that       
     When Black Bolt                         to Simmon's bat mask makeup?     
     speaks, cities crumble.                                                  
                                                  (I suspect a retcon).      
     He has a voice that destroys, and                                     
     hence can not be used for ordinary                                   
     speech.







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