His Ozzness just put out a book, an autobiography named "I Am Ozzy." I haven't read it, and I don't know if I will. But we will also discuss why this is relevant to this week's Running of the Mouth.
Here we go ...
I am not crazy. Ask any of my friends. I just believe great wisdom lies in rock lyrics and thus rock music.
I concede I may sound crazy these days because I am figuring out that I am not only in the rock writing business, but I am also in the creativity business. I have so much creative energy coming out of me lately that I can barely contain it and I talk fast and write faster and I sometimes sound like the guy on the street corner holding the sign that says, "The End is near."
I believe it was Jerry Seinfeld who once mused that one of life's scariest moments comes when you realize that the toilet is clogged up with too much paper and is going to overflow and spill water all over the bathroom floor.
That's me these days. I am a toilet that is overflowing (knock it off, staffers, I'm trying to make a point here) and my friends and family and co-workers are frantically scrambling to grab the plunger before I splash all over the tiles.
I often joke that you all should be honored to be here because being here gives you the pleasure of not only listening to me Run My Mouth, but also because you are privy to watching history unfold. You are bearing witness to Really Important Stuff like me dropping the "R." from my byline.
(I said knock it off, staffers. They won't hear me with all the hyena laughs and gasping for air going on over there. Oh, wait.)
You, dear blog loyalist (not gonna go for it this time) are once again here to watch history. I am about to reveal my deepest, darkest literary secret.
I don't have an editor.
I don't have an editor because there isn't one available. I have to do the best I can with what I got and so be it. Oh, my staffers will read me to make sure I haven't endorsed the communist party or written about life in the time of cholera or performing illegal surgeries, but they don't edit me. What you get is the real deal.
This works to your advantage in the sense that you are truly getting the real me, warts and all. I am pouring myself out on these pages not only because I am compelled to, but also because I think it's important that you really know who I am. I ask you to invest your time in me, so I think you should know who the wizard behind the curtain is.
I am James Chesna. Hear me roar.
I love books. I always have. I love going to bookstores. My mom recently showed me a book I made in kindergarten and I was stunned by what I thought about myself even while I was a member of the sandbox set. I drew myself larger than life, and it touched me and made my mom smile like I haven't seen in a while.
(But let's get back to books you as consumers can and actually would want to read.)
I wander bookstores all the time because they're like a church. I was in a bookstore just today with an amazing woman. Some of you know her as Bisi Onile-Ere. I know her as just Bisi, or Bis, and she's an incredibly talented, smart and wonderful woman, and an artist and a beautiful human and a gifted writer in every sense. She reminds me of another rare talent, ABC News' Linsey Davis, who is a dear, dear friend who also once inhabited this newsroom.
(And in case you're wondering, Flint, Bisi's doing great. So is Linsey.)
Bis and I went to a local bookstore and browsed the rows and rows of books and talked about Stuff That Really Matters and showed each other the books we like and the ones we still want to read. Bisi, who also has mad love for books, bought a new book for herself, "Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime."
"Game Change" is currently riding a wave of popularity that you get when you publish a New York Times bestseller. According to Tina Brown of The Daily Beast, the tome is: "A smoking new book ... The real revelation in 'Game Change': Campaigns turn our politicians into lunatics."
I want to read that book because I love books about people and places and concepts and how they relate to me. And politics is an entirely different beast.
Here's what's great about books: To paraphrase Radiohead's Thom Yorke, the thing about bookstores and books is that every book in every bookstore in the world is about you.
(The tactile feel of books is one of the things I fear about the iPad and technology, but we're going to address my fear of technology in a minute, OK?)
The Yorke quote is located in a book by one of my favorite writers, Chuck Klosterman. Klosterman is one of my favorite writers because he writes like me and thinks like me and loves to pound out sarcastic zingers along the way.
People rant and rave about how Klosterman is my generation's Hunter S. Thompson. I buy into that as an outside observer. But Klosterman clicks with me personally, too, and here's why: Hunter S. Thompson is my favorite writer of all time.
Thompson, for those of you not in the know, created what has come to be known as "Gonzo Journalism." It's a pseudo brand name for a style of journalism that allows the writer to insert himself into the story and embellish it with heaping helpings of causticness and fiction.
Hunter was a master. He committed suicide in 2005. I hate that he killed himself. The world lost a wonderful voice.
Thompson was the first guy who inspired me to write. There have been many other people besides him who have inspired me since, not including Klosterman. The others include my mentor, Doug Pullen, who taught me everything I know about rock writing and who also taught me something more important: what not to do at a rock show.
I preach Pullen's gospel every day 'round these parts. I miss being able to talk to him every day. See, Doug took a buyout from the Flint Journal and went home to El Paso. He had to follow his heart. And I respect him for it even as I miss his companionship.
Doug and I still talk and have a yearly tradition of calling each other on Grammy night. We carried that on this year. He's doing great, Flint. We talked for nearly two hours about music, rock writing and the State of the Union as far as the industry goes. It was a great talk, and in it he revealed that he has enjoyed watching me evolve.
I was blown away.
Doug is really good friends with Gary Graff, another guy who inspired me early on. Doug and Gary (from afar) taught me the most important thing about writing: Write from your heart and tell the truth and don't fall in love with your own opinion. Pullen told me to always remember why we do this: because we love music.
Which brings me to another favorite writer of mine -- er, technically a pair of writers. One I don't know, and one I do and I love her. "She" would be Amy Sciarretto, a publicist for Roadrunner Records who helps me do my job by moving mountains for me daily.
She's among the very best in the biz -- elite. I couldn't do what I do without her. And Amy has written a book. It's called "Do the Devil's Work for Him: How To Make It In The Music Business (And Stay In It!)."
It's an amazing book. If you want to break into this business, you need to read this book. It's a tell-all that really tells all. It reads like a manual. You will make it in the music business if you read it, and if you keep your head about you and follow the rules contained within, you will build a solid career.
Guaranteed.
Amy co-wrote the book with one Rick Florino. I don't know Rick, but I'm pretty sure we could hoist beers sometime. I know for a fact I can hoist them with Amy any time, but Amy lives out of state.
Amy's book has become required reading in the ABC12 Listening Room because in the book she says the same stuff I say when I talk to my staff (read: yell at them hysterically while waving my arms). Amy inspires me, because she's published a book. And here comes another big reveal ...
Anyone who knows me knows I am writing a book. (My condolences to those who know me, by the way.) I work on it constantly these days, because I feel like I have several books in me and I need to get them out of me before I spontaneously combust or die. Because I really am feeling this "legacy" thing I talked about a couple weeks ago.
Anyone who knows me is also aware that I recently bought a brand-new laptop computer so I can write whenever and wherever I want and give my right hand a break.
Yes.
Yes, I am writing a book in a thick college-rule notebook on paper with a pen.
Maybe I am crazy.
But I realized today that I actually am not crazy, because I talked on the phone with yet another writer who inspires me. Blog regulars know his name well. (Still not going for the "blog regulars" joke this week. You're welcome.)
The writer I thus far speak so cryptically about is one Sean Jablonski. Yes, that Sean Jablonski. The Hollywood writer and producer who had the guts to follow his dreams when he was younger and who now is in a real position of power in Tinseltown.
Sean inspires me because he has been living his dreams since college. He didn't listen to the damned demons who tell peeps they can't do stuff to make dreams happen for them. He deserves every ounce of respect and success he has earned, because he is an amazing talent.
I wrote a couple weeks ago about Sean's star burning just a little brighter. Mine does, too, and I'm only just now figuring all this out. All of it. I need to be nurturing my abilities even more than I am these days, and I don't want to throw away my paper notebook, and that's a scary thought.
But Sean told me he still writes all his rough drafts on paper with a trusty pen in hand. When I exclaimed, "So do I!" Sean laughed and we talked about how the romance of pen and paper and the rawness of spilling everything out onto the page is therapeutic.
Phew. I feel a lot better about my notepad. But what about that computer?
Here's the final reveal in this trilogy of reveals you didn't know was a trilogy of reveals: I still haven't removed my laptop from its box. I am afraid of it. I am afraid I will either break it or do something unspeakable to it, like give the poor thing one of those "fatal flaws" computers are prone to.
I am afraid of viruses and missing a finance payment and having the thing that can help me the most turn on me. I know I will overcome this fear, but this last leg of this story is leading me to the final writer on my inspiration list.
It's appropriate that I am revealing who he is this way, and fans of his work will see why in about two seconds. Here we go: The final writer is Ronald D. Moore, creator of the revamped "Battlestar Galactica," which sadly went off the air last year.
Ron Moore may be my favorite TV writer ever, save for Sean. Sean's last gig was "Nip/Tuck" and now he's testing the waters with new projects. Ron's hard at work on the "Galactica" prequel called "Caprica," which is different than "Galactica" but it still feels very much a part of the family.
(And since this is technically a music column, I will mention that "Galactica" has a spectacular soundtrack courtesy of composer Bear McCreary.)
Time will tell whether "Caprica" will leave such a smoldering brand on popular entertainment like "Galactica" did. Here's why: "Battlestar Galactica" was one of the greatest TV shows in the history of TV and in the history of humans. Anyone who is snickering right now has never seen the show -- take it to the Bank of America.
"BSG," as it came to be abbreviated, was stellar entertainment but it soared even higher than the Earth's atmosphere because of its writing and characters. "BSG" was loaded for bear with rich, complex and deeply flawed characters. And the writing was some of the best I have ever seen or read.
Moore, who got his start writing for "Star Trek: The Next Generation," impresses me with his talent, certainly, but he also impresses me as a guy. I've never met him, but I would love to interview him someday. Moore is fascinating to me because he embraces technology and regularly holds podcasts and explains his creative process.
They're the only commentary tracks I've ever taken the time to listen to. They are that good.
But it's ironic that Ron embraces technology because "BSG" was a show that warned about technology, at least the abuse of it. Moore went out of his way to make "BSG" photo-realistic and genre-realistic and made his universe believable and relatable.
But Moore and his partner David Eick knew the focus of "BSG" was characters and the flawed decisions they make and the consequences of those decisions. And then there was war and terrorism and the military and religion and the unexplained mysteries of life and a whole bunch of other completely riveting, gritty stuff.
Above all this, Moore and Eick wrote fabulous dialog -- flawed things flawed people would say and act upon. Plus existential riffs on the comfort we as humans can provide one another. One favorite line from "BSG" I keep with me to this day. You are about to find out why ...
Commander William Adama (the compelling Edward James Olmos) is conversing in his cabin. He is speaking to the newly appointed president of the Colonies, Laura Roslin (the courageous Mary McDonnell). Adama is loaning Roslin a book, and Roslin promises to return it expediently. Adama, a bit warm and gruff at the same time, says: "It's a gift. Never lend books."
Killer.
One of the main themes within the mythos of "BSG" involved technology and our need to play God and basically have said technology turn on us and kill us. I won't go into great detail, but at its core "BSG" was about killer robots who turned on their human masters for enslaving them.
It's a popular motif in science fiction, even when your sci-fi show is as dark and real as "BSG." And the last scene in "BSG" is not all that original, but it is an ending that is satisfying. It was the only ending the show could have had, which finally leads me to my new computer and that pesky fear of tech.
I love my new computer. I do. But right now I still only I love the idea of it. I need to savor this just a bit longer I will open it soon and get busy. Because it will hold my future in its memory banks.
But I'm a little afraid. I know it sounds crazy. But I also know the fear will pass, especially when I really see what will be possible. I dream that I will type and type and type and all my projects will be neatly stored and saved and I will feel sublime.
But I'm not quite there yet.
I will be.
But I'm not giving up my notebook.
(That's it for another week, peeps. The news and notes segment is below. Until next time, keep rockin').
This week in concerts, country artist Luke Bryan plays the Machine Shop Thursday. And Friday Five Finger Death Punch and Shadows Fall hit the Shop, and John Mayer is at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Oh, and Saturday Patti Labelle plays the Colusseum at Caesars Windsor.
As far as CDs go, Tuesday will see the release of Sade's "Soldier of Love," and country star Josh Turner puts out "Haywire."
Finally, industrial metal giants Fear Factory are unleashing "Mechanize," too.
The ABC12 Listening Room staff: James Chesna, editor-in-chief; Josh Daunt, managing editor, photographer; LeeAlan Weddel, contributing editor, staff writer, photographer; Beth McEnroe, staff writer, photographer; Gwen Mikolajczak, staff writer; Chris Harris, photographer, staff writer; Eric Fletcher, chief photographer; Randy Cox, photographer; Chris Carr, photographer; Norm Fairhurst, photographer; Jessica Reid, contributing photographer.
