Rhonda Smith: Better than I am.. probably better than you, too:
I dig a good Al Pacino monologue.
Good food, good wine, good music & good friends. The sound of the waves on the beach at night. Driving really fast on the way to nowhere in particular.
Music
I particularly dig (in no particular order): Opeth, Meshuggah, Porcupine Tree, Tori Amos, Iron Maiden, Queensryche (up to the Empire disc anyway), Terry Bozzio, Simon Phillips, Dave Weckl, Chick Corea, Norah Jones, Mnemic, Dream Theater, Chris Poland's "OHM:", T-Ride, Stimulator, Pantera, Prince, Steve Vai, Aquarium Rescue Unit, Judas Priest, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, the older Mariah Carey stuff, Dweezil Zappa, Sarah McLachlan, Arch Enemy, James Brown, Devin Townsend & Strapping Young Lad, Allan Holdsworth, Dennis Chambers, Living Colour, Tower of Power, Niacin, King's X, Duran Duran, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, Fleetwood Mac, King Diamond, Journey, Rush, Dave Matthews Band, Marcus Miller, Van Halen with DLR, TOOL, pretty much any of that cool old Motown stuff, and most anything else that doesn't outright suck.
I particularly don't dig: CCR or anything where John Fogerty sings. Nirvana. Two Pack o' Coors & pretty much all other rap (except that old NWA or Easy-E anyway). R&B/soul played by machines instead of people. Smooth Jazz. That no-talent courtney love. I could add a lot more, but that wouldn't be a very positive thing to do.
Movies
Stuff that rocks: GRINDHOUSE!!!, Casino Royale, One Night At McCool's, Superman Returns, V for Vendetta, Mission: Impossible III, SIN CITY!, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Matrix trilogy, Major League, The first two X-Men flicks, ALIENS & pretty much all else directed by James Cameron, Nat'l Lampoon's original Vacation, Ferris Bueller, Snatch, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Smokey & the Bandit, "Untitled" (Almost Famous Bootleg Cut), most James Bond flicks, Ford Fairlane, The Crow, Kill Bill (the whole bloody affair), Pulp Fiction, Serenity, Star Wars (original trilogy only please), Naked Gun, Indiana Jones, PREDATOR, Spinal Tap, Slap Shot, Shawshank, Godfather Trilogy, Kevin Smith's Jay & Bob stuff, and Gladiator. (I could keep on here as well, but I have to get done with this damn profile *sometime*)
Stuff that doesn't: Anything helmed by Uwe Boll, Paul W.S. Anderson or Danny Boyle. X-Men 3, Sappy dramas that beg for Academy Awards, Romance flicks... they're all so full of shit they stink (Except for Chasing Amy... *THAT* is how real life turns out). Anything that stars Hugh Grant.
Television
Heroes, Entourage! (Jeremy Piven Fucking RULES!), PENN AND TELLER'S "BULLSHIT"!!! How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl, Sopranos, Jay Mohr's "Action!", WKRP in Cincinatti, X-Files, Lost, Alias, Twin Peaks, South Park, Family Guy and yes... Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
And.. for those of you who never got to enjoy "Action!", here's a sample:
Books
Tolkien's Rings, Clancy's Jack Ryan novels, Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch books, Frank Herbert's original 6 "Dune" novels, Roger Zelazny's "Amber Chronicles", Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" and "Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective" series, Calvin & Hobbes, Bloom County, the old Stephen King stuff when he was still scary & weird.
Heroes
Bond... James Bond. Ted Nugent, My Dad, people willing to go to war to defend this great country, and almost anyone who isn't in it for the money.
Milkshakes don't bring me to the yard, (wherever that is), so much as the Steak & Shake drive-thru. You'll most likely never hear me say "It's all good" or "That's just how I roll."
I like people whose actions match up with their words.
I believe that who you're with is more important than where you're at, or what you're doing.
Speaking of bass, I've had a few people ask me lately who my influences are, so I'll try & expound a bit. First of all, Steve Harris, (Iron Maiden); if it wasn't for his bass line in "Aces High", I'd probably be just another failed guitar player. Chronologically after that came Geddy Lee, Billy Sheehan & Stu Hamm. Those four guys were the ones who I ripped off endlessly and really influenced how I physically play the instrument. Other than them, there's just an absolute TON of people who I really enjoy listening to & copping the odd lick from. They include (but are not limited to) Oteil Burbridge, Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, John Myung, Rhonda Smith, T.M. Stevens, Rocco Prestia, John Taylor, Tony Levin, John McVie, Vail Johnson, John Paul Jones, Adam Nitti and Derek Smalls. These days, I'd call my bandmates my biggest influences. Almost everything I come up with is an idea sparked by one of my 'mates.
I'm a huge NHL ice hockey fan, (My home STARS mainly, with some Maple Leafs, Sabres & Ovechkin's Capitals thrown in on the CenterIce). My sense of humor disturbs most people. I think *real* friends are just like family. I do not worship the almighty Lucifer. I don't use a lot of superlatives to describe things. I keep a red lava lamp on my computer desk and a purple one on my nightstand. I don't think Tom Cruise is gay, but do think he should be whipped mercilessly for dumping Nicole Kidman. I like shooting firearms at inanimate objects. I could go on for days with junk like this, but are you really learning anything about me? I think not.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens" -- Tolkien (from LOTR)
"You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die" -- Frank Herbert (from God Emperor of Dune)
"I'm going to have my DNA fumigated" -- Carrie Fisher
"The clothes are all black, the music is crap" -- Steven Wilson
"Chance furnishes me what I need. I am like a man who stumbles along; my foot strikes something, I bend over and it is exactly what I want.' I don't know how I got here, but here I am. I love hockey. You love hockey. Game on." -- James Joyce
"Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?" -- Rob Gordon
"You have 20 seconds to comply" -- Ed209
"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake" -- Napoleon Bonaparte
"The path of least resistance leads nowhere worthwhile" -- Me
"The mind is like a parachute: it only works when it's open" -- Frank Zappa
"Where a group favours business logic over musical decisions, the music has just
died. Where a group attaches greater significance to its appearance than to its music,
the group has just died. Where a group listens to the musical advice of its record
company it has a one-in-seven chance of being hugely successful, and a six-in-seven
chance of failing miserably. Either way, it loses its core audience. Hence the aphorism
that the only thing worse than a record company which takes no interest in a group is a
record company that takes an interest in a group." -- Robert Fripp (King Crimson)
"Miracles are for the bible and Fairy Tales are for children's books... in Real Life, people mostly just shit on you" -- unknown.
"Some people play 'Hard To Get'... I play 'Hard To Want'! -- Ford Fairlane
"The future is no place to place your better days" -- Dave Matthews
"Every now and then say, "What the fuck." "What the fuck" gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future. If you can't say it, you can't do it!" -- Miles from "Risky Business".
"Never allow someone to be your Priority while allowing yourself to be their Option" -- unknown
Who I'd like to meet: Barney Stinson.. that guy's Awesome! James Cameron: You've got to love a guy who's figured out he can go do just about any damn thing he wants as long as he films a documentary while doing it so he can get someone else to pick up the bill! George Carlin. People intelligent enough to take a joke without getting offended.
Well balls, that sucks :( Yea the counter is still up there and says we are in the lead but I hadn't heard anything so I was like well...ok then! Dang!
..Watchmen.. kicked ass! Didn't mind @ all & actually enjoyed standing in line + sitting close (luckily not that close: 3rd row-didn't strain our necks that much) to the screen. All o' the super graphics were well worth the wait & ltd seating @ the midnight premiere, & I'm sure you'll ♥ it... Whit seems to be doin' well, so hope ya still keep in touch w/her & her sis ;) That pic o' us & my buddy Chris @ his pad after a Mavs game a few yrs back's still framed in my bdrm :-) Have fun this wkend ♥, E =D
Yea when I went it was me and my boyfriend, my brother and his girlfriend and my cousin and one of my friends that he was kind of dating at the time (that's a whole other story there!) and I totally fell in love with the place...I was ready to go back again in a couple of months but they all pooped out on me and said once was enough for them...I was like whaaaaaaaaatttt? No way, I want to go EVERY weekend!!! It was really kind of funny, Chompers acted like he remembered me...probably just my imagination I'm sure, but it was very sweet!!!!
I didn't realize you adopted Cassie, that is so freaking cool! I want to adopt Chompers soooooooo bad!!! I met him when he was just a little baby, almost 10 years ago now!!! Did you go see my pics?
DUH! I thought I had friended you months ago! Sorry about that...I'm still bOlonde! Dude you have been to CARE? Is that place not AWESOME!!! I love it! Go look at my CARE pics too!!!
