In these times of economic uncertainty sometimes you have to bite the 8.9% bullet

It's nice at times to pretend like you're a hermit. It's nice to spend most of the night in your room sucking down Crown Royal and Coke, watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and feeling like you're out in L.A. in a studio apartment working on your next big screen play.

And the more alcohol you consume, the more heartbroken you feel and the faster the cursor moves, but you still have nothing to write.

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?

Chuck's Top 10 Best Break-up Songs

I suggest you download these and make a playlist immediately because if you haven't felt the pain of love that leaves you crying hard into your pillow on the floor, then you will. I promise you that you will. We all do. And It's times like these when I get real cynical. And I wonder if relationships are supposed to work out. I wonder if two people who are in love could ever be happy together forever.

"My pillow smelled like snot and tears. What had started out as a slow cry - had developed into a hard sob that contracted my stomach and left me choking for air and unable to breathe. A part of my life was dying, and it was as if I was watching it all happen from an outside perspective." 

-my response after listening to #1 on repeat for what seemed like hours on end.

10. Jimmy Ruffin. "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?"

: Love's happiness is just an illusion/Filled with sadness and confusion/What becomes of the broken hearted/Who had loved that's now departed?

9. Sinead O'Connor. "Nothing Compares 2 U"

: It's been so lonely without you here/Like a bird without a song/Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling/Tell me, baby, where did I go wrong?

8. U2. "With Or Without You"

: Sleight of hand and twist of fate/On a bed of nails she makes me wait/And I wait without you

7. Snow Patrol. "You Could Be Happy"

: Most of what I remember makes me sure/I should have stopped you from walking out the door/You could Be happy, I hope you are/You make me happier than I had been by far

6. Death Cab For Cutie. "A Lack of Color"

: All the girls in every girlie magazine/Can't make me feel any less alone/I'm reaching for the phone/To call at 7:03/ And on your machine, I slur a plea/For you to come home/But I know it's too late/I should have given you a reason to stay

5. Cake. "End of the Movie"

: People you love/Will turn their backs on you/You'll lose your hair/Your teeth/Your knife will fall out of it's sheath/But you still don't like to leave before the end of the movie

4.  Ben Folds. "Song for the Dumped"

: So you wanted/ to take a break/Slow it down some and/Have some space/Well fuck you, too

3. Jeff Buckley. "Last Goodbye"

: This is our last goodbye/I hate to feel the love between us die/But it's over/Just hear this and then I'll go/You gave me more to live for/Then you'll ever know

2. Pearl Jam. "Black"

: I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a sun/In somebody else's sky, but why?/Why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine?

1. The Mountain Goats. "Woke Up New"

: And the world in it's cold way started coming alive/And I stood there like a business man waiting for the train/And I got ready for the future to arrive/And I sang/What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? - without you

It was particularly #7 - #3 that were hard to assemble. After hearing "Woke Up New" for the first time this past day and crying as much as I did - I knew that it was #1. It was able to bring out every sad feeling I was harboring. And Pearl Jam's "Black" will go down as one of the most depressing songs of our generation. It's the kind of song that leaves you lying in bed and no matter how much you shout, yell, and cry - the room won't stop spinning and life won't pause. #8-#10 I saw more as space fillers on the list, but don't count them out. They belong here. And I'd like to open the flood gates of discussion on these songs. I hope that you've found a new sound on here and that you may be able to get a nice, hard cry out of it.

I guess it's like Sam said: A situation like this isn't even deserving of rationalization.

Are there any songs about getting dumped? But also the song should be about getting dumped right before Christmas. And you guys had been dating for three solid years. Oh..and one last detail - the person who dumped you started dating someone else in less than a month after they broke up with you. Oh! And I alomost forgot that the song should also include the fact that the person they are dating is the same person that for the last four or so months had been texting, emailing, calling on the phone the person that dumped you. And for those four or so months you kept saying things like, "I don't like this guy. He's trying to get into your pants." 

Is there a song out there like that?

I was doing my usual Facebook stalking when I read in the news feed: Your ex-girlfriend is now dating the guy that you had been suspicious of for the last 4 months.

And I thought to myself. I said to myself. I said. "Damn you Facebook. Couldn't you soften the blow at all? You're heartless. And I pour all of my free time into you."

This is what I was talking about earlier when I was feeling inspired. It's what I was mentioning about technology. People don't tell people anything to their face anymore. They tell people to their Facebook.

I always see people in movies and how they react when they get broken up with, and I think - that's stupid. You're overreacting. Actually, they are under reacting. 

Here's what happened immediately following me reading the Facebook news feed:

I began to throw up. I literally started to throw up, and I couldn't control it. And that's weird. To throw up after reading something.

Then I got on my running shoes and shorts and all and I hit the door running. And I ran as hard as I could. Until I started throwing up again. The lyrics "Run until you're out of breathe, run until there's nothing left" apply.

I don't mean to whine. I know how when people read about how other people are being tortured on the inside, their immediate response is "You fuckin' pussy. Grow a pair." 

I've got a lot of questions, though. For now, I'll listen to some Ben Folds. Remember what I was saying about Fred Jones Part 2 and about how we could all relate to it? Fits like a glove here. "Life barrells on like a runaway train where the passangers change, but they don't change anything. You get off; someone else can get on." 

Or the classic "Song for the Dumped" which captures the angst of break-ups perfectly. "You said you wanted to take a break. Slow it down some and have some space. Well FUCK YOU, TOO!"

Coming Soon: Chuck's Top 5 Songs About Break-ups.

Feel free to comment on what your favorite break-up songs are and maybe you'll see them in the top 5!

It's a joke, right? Please tell me that it's a joke.

I heard the rumors recently about Joaquin Phoenix ending his acting career, and I thought "Hmm...that's odd." Then I heard that Joaquin Phoenix is quitting acting to persue a rap career, and I pinched myself a few times very hard. I let out a blood-curdling scream that was movie worthy. I thought that I was in fact having a nightmare, but as it turns out I was not. However, after having watched the following film, the theory on slipping into an alternate universe is still up for discussion. 

Without further adu, I present to you: Joaquin Phoenix with his uni-bomber inspired beard and casual country club outfit in a performance that can only be described as "If Kate Beckinsale went down on Rosie O'Donnell and then afterwards threw up on one of Rosie's adopted children - and then that adopted child started to rap. And oh yeah - Casey Affleck filmed the entire thing." 

Please, Joaquin, tell me that this is just a warm-up for April 1st. Say it ain't so. I was actually looking forward to seeing your latest movie, Two Lovers. 

This brings back bad memories such as this: A Canadian rapper named Snow. (Equally unacceptable is Vanilla Ice)

Hangovers And Hang Ups

Reporter: "Is there any advice you'd like to give to the kids out there who may be watching this interview, Mr. Creed?"

Apollo Creed: "Stay in school, and use your brain! Be a doctor. Be a lawyer. Carry a leather briefcase. Forget about sports as a profession. Sports will make you sweaty and smelly. Be a thinker - not a stinker!"

It doesn't matter how many times AMC airs the Rocky movie series because more than likely I'll watch it every chance I can. And that goes for the film that started it all, too. The first Rocky movie may in fact be riddled with terrible acting from the entire cast all the way down to the bartender at The Lucky Seven Tavern. And it may in fact feature very awkward displays of social interaction which includes the majority of the dialogue between Rocky and Adrian, but Sylvester Stallone's breakthrough screenplay abruptly ended his amateur pornography career and is the embodiment of one of many versions of the American dream.

My understanding is that Rocky was born after a 72 hour coffee binge immediately following the Muhammed Ali - Chuck Wepner fight. Stallone sold it and became an instant success.

At any given time my web browser could have in upwords of 8-10 tabs going - all split between the internet movie database, the oracle of Bacon, AMC, Wikipedia, and youtube.

There was a time not so long ago when I thought that I had already watched every movie that I should see in my lifetime. Then I discovered Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, The Cohen Brothers, etc., etc. I saw that there were plenty of great movies out there if you look hard enough. And I've been really inspired to write something. And watch more. I was thinking that for the next little while I would try on a different hat and go back in time a bit to explore Clark Gable starting with the movie Mogambo which stars Gable alongside Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly.

I feel like going on one of those coffee binges and writing something substantial. I don't know about you, but I've always thought that I was born in the wrong time period. Maybe it's all this technology that's at our fingertips. And I know that sounds weird. Technology is supposed to be a good thing, but that's very debateable. You can make cases for technology advances in the medicine field, space exploration, and so on - but I think technology has an absurd way of cutting people off. And I know that sounds weird, too. 

So I feel like finishing a screen play. And I will. I know I will. Because that was all part of my New Year's resolution. Then I think about what happens after it's written. Where do you go from there? I feel like expectations are getting higher and higher, too. It's all that technology being thrown around.

The idea of being a writer, novelist, actor, comedian, - a performer, if you will - has always plagued me. It's a piece of my American dream. It's what makes me a perfect candidate for a modern retelling of Death of a Salesman. I'm a dreamer. I covet the American dream. And it's thinking like that that gets in the way of reality sometimes.

Tremendous, Horrendous, Stupendous, & Hazardous!

Have you read this? How embarrassing! - not to mention he looks like an elderly woman that the hand of time has not been kind to.

There's only four words in the English language that end in -ous.

It's January...why am I stuck listening to The Decemberists? I guess that "I Don't Mind".

RE: Letter From A Birmingham Jail

It should not go without mentioning that today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Over the last few days I've seen all throughout cable television the thoughts of Obama, Lebron, Tiger Woods, Oprah, - people of celebrity status who also happen to be black - their thoughts about Dr. King. Everyone seems to want to talk about his famous "I have a dream" speech. If you really want to read a fine piece of the civil rights puzzle, then what you'll want to do is look up Dr. King's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail". So rather than going into my thoughts about the black community's progression - or in some areas digression - I thought I would just share an essay I wrote that explores one of the many letters that Dr. King had written throughout his mission to see that the United States was truly a land of the free and that all men were created equally.

In his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., rejects cultural relativism and the identification of morality with laws and customs. Instead he argues that there are certain universal moral principles regarding respect for the dignity and equal rights of all people that must be acknowledged by a good society. When society’s laws are inconsistent with these universal principles, King argues, civil disobedience may be the morally appropriate response. It was because of his participation in a nonviolent demonstration that he was thrown into the jail in Birmingham, and the letter he wrote was a response to a group of clergy who criticized King for his illegal actions.

His response is so eloquent and his words are so well-said. The clergy criticize his actions as being “untimely” or “against the law”. King’s approach to this is very systematic. He says that “we know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor.” King told them that direct action was the final step in the process of a nonviolent campaign after the determination of injustice, negotiation, and self-purification.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is absolutely amazing for how he approached the civil rights movement and lead it with amazing temperament and grace. Obviously the situation that blacks were in at this time period was frustrating to say the least, but instead of flying off the deep-end he stayed his course when negotiations were useless. He devised the non-violent concept of creative tension.

And King’s responses to the clergy being unhappy about him “breaking laws” to achieve his message were so simple in concept yet remarkably put together with biblical and historical references. Like I’ve stated earlier, he throws out the notion that laws are culturally relative. If that were the case, he says that the things that Adolf Hitler did in Germany would be legal and aiding a Jew would be illegal. However, that is preposterous. Moral laws are universal is his argument and King says it beautifully when he says early in his letter that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. And he spends a great deal of time discussing what the differences between just and unjust laws are. He sides with Saint Augustine by saying that “An unjust law is no law at all” with the definition that “an unjust law is a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating because they did not have the unhampered right to vote.”

It truly is amazing King was able to establish and lead a civil rights movement through so much subjugation and do so nonviolently with always an ethical and good-natured response to his surroundings. His letter from the jail in Birmingham opened my eyes immensely to why Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is such an icon for not only the civil rights movement but for the history of the nation.

I'd say that in hindsight it would be awfully hard not to acknowledge the strides that the African American community has taken. There have been a lot of heartfelt firsts for blacks. Tomorrow Obama will be inaugurated as the United States' first black president. I'm hopeful. Not because of all of the hype that has surrounded Obama in his very brief political career, but because during these times of economic uncertainty I think a lot of people are trying to remain optimistic no matter who they had casted their vote for this past election.

I feel as though now more than ever all men are created equal - until they open their mouths.