You should really smile more. Here, maybe looking at my favorite picture ever will help.
Monthly Archive for May, 2006Page 3 of 7
“W.W.J.D.”
Seriously. What would Jesus drive?
Every day, I see about five or six bumper stickers asking this exact question. I had no idea that Christians were so concerned with the Son of God’s chosen form of automotive transportation! Let’s see if I can figure out, just What Jesus Would Drive…?
SUV: Well, he could certainly carry all of his apostles in one vehicle with a big-ol’ SUV. I imagine for that he would choose the Hummer H2. The last time I checked, the H2 has 27 bench seats, a stadium theater with Dolby Surround, a jacuzzi, and a fully-equipped bathroom. Talk about travellin’ in style! Sandals and wooden carts be damned, the J-Man could haul his power boat (and all the honey’s) to the lake every weekend! And with that V-24 powerplant, he could leave the A/C on while truckin’ up the grapevine! But wait just a OPEC-Luvin’ minute - what about the gas mileage? The H2 doesn’t “get bad gas mileage”, as so many people think. Form the Hummer PR Campaign, the correct term is: “The Hummer H2 destroys everything in it’s path to move itself down the road. Gas Mileage is not our concern. This vehicle is designed to murder the environment, and any liberals who get in it’s path.” This vehicle actually drills for oil while it drives, eliminating the need to fill up the 40,000 gallon tank! That’s right, it actually drills and refines it’s own oil while it drives, leaving a trail of destroyed habitats in it’s wake. But there’s one thing I think Capt. Christ wouldn’t dig on: This thing is wasteful. The apostles only want to go to the club one, maybe two nights a week. For the other days of holy errand running, the H2 is just a waste of precious resources. Maybe something environmentally friendly, or at least socially acceptable….
Hybrid: Now we’re talking. 45 miles per gallon and a smaller ecological footprint. Envious stares from others at the gas stations would be awesome. Jesus would tell everyone what his gas mileage is every week. Whenever anyone says, “Man, the gas prices are just killing me!”, Jesus can say, “Listen, my son. My Prius averages more than 40 miles per gallon. It may not be much for the ladies to drool over, but it leaves me with more cash to buy that Pioneer 60″ Plasma. Know what I’m sayin’?” Heck, Jesus could use the carpool lane BY HIMSELF! That’s right. In California, hybrid vehicles are allowed single-occupant carpool access. No more waiting for the traffic on the 170 to move, just to get on the 118. He can zip by at a top speed of (maybe) 70 miles per hour, downhill, of course. But as we all know, even the carpool lane can get backed up with traffic. Because not everyone is smug enough for a hybrid…
So, what would be the perfect vehicle for Jesus? The answer:
A motorcycle. “Wha???” you say? Let me explain…
A motorcycle is built to do one thing: Carry and individual to their destination. No gadgets, no traffic, no compromising junk. 50 miles per gallon average, and style to boot. Jesus can make it to every appointment on-time and invigorated. He can split lanes on the 405 with ease. He can fill up the tank for a paltry ten bucks. On Sundays, he can do what I do - attend church in Malibu Canyon. Personally, I’ve never felt closer to God than I do every Sunday in Mullholland Canyon. Dragging one’s knee on the ground while cornering at 60 miles per hour requires faith. (And skill, and leathers, and knee-pucks, and a few loose screws.) There’s no windshield or airbags (or doors) to separate Jesus from the people. He can wave and give high-fives to anyone he pleases. He can park just about anywhere. With a motorcycle, he’ll never have to pay to park in a parking garage ever again! He can just go around the gate! All in all, I think the reasons are too solid to ignore:
J.W.R.A.M.
Jesus Would Ride A Motorcycle
God of the here and coming kingdom:
Why is “Why?” only ever answered
in retrospect?
After the fact, I often realize the cosmic Reason for the thing but it
would be so nice to know
when the thing is still
the thing.
Right now, for instance:
I’d like very much to know why life is just a little funky.
It doesn’t suck or anything (especially when I think about
kids starving or rape or war), but
it’s not great, either. I mean, I’ve got all these blessings I should
be thankful for, but instead
I just feel schlubby and peeved and whiny.
Cranky. Like a four year old,
sans nap. (And I’ve tried sleeping it off, but so far that’s a bust.)
I don’t want to be one of those people who lives in the future, sure
that when the Next Thing comes
along, suddenly I’ll get it, that life will make sense and
I’ll be happy. The Next Thing is
Bullshit. The irony is, my inability to live in the Now and
embrace the Moment and
count my frickin’ Blessings
is why I’m so
cranky. I’m ungrateful and wretched. And I feel
like a dope.
So what I’m getting at is this: If the cosmic Reason life is
blah right now is that I need
to learn how to be grateful and content even in times of
funk…You should probably try something else.
I don’t think it’s working.
I won’t be active here much in the next few weeks. Remember this? It’s now this:
I’m doing a record of my own songs this summer, and opening up as much of the process as possible to anyone who wants the voyeuristic thrill of watching somebody create an album. Stick, I know you, in particular, would love to know how records actually get produced. You can watch streaming video from the studio, subscribe to podcasts of the songs in process, with daily updated mixes.
The thing that will be hard for me, but I think interesting for other people, will be letting people see how much of the proccess is just plain ugly. Quick sketches of half-broken ideas, themes that aren’t quite thought through, pushed into demo form, then reworked, and reworked, until they emerge as the things we all listen to and love. Being, as I think most creative people are, inherently insecure about what I do, I usually wait until something is finished, polished, mixed, and shrinkwrapped before I even acknowledge that I had a hand in it. I want to preserve the idea of the inscrutible artistic muse, the illusion that inspiration strikes, and what emerges is just the song of the heavens echoing down through us. I’d rather not acknowledge the part of creativity that’s just plain mundane craftwork, from sometimes ugly raw material to finished product.
I think that’s a copout. It’s a way of distancing ourselves from the object of our work. If our hands are muddy, then we own the thing, and good or bad, it’s ours. On the other hand, if it was sprung full-grown from the head of Zeus, then we get to remain the amanuensis, and the criticisms don’t really belong to us.
Not this time. I’m in this thing. Good or bad, ugly or beautiful, my hands will be muddy all over it.
So, the website is 30dropframe.com. Come check it out. It’ll either be spectacular, or a complete tragedy. Either way, it’ll be interesting to watch.
Ran across the blog of a guy who has a running feature called “Steve, Don’t Eat It!” wherein he eats weird food and then reviews it. I can’t even come close to expressing how hard this makes me laugh. (Warning: He likes to use the word “ass” when describing unpleasant eating experiences, so if that offends you, skip it.)
As you were saying: