It's been a while since I've seen Dig, and that post reminds me I should re-watch it. Watching Anton Newcombe is like watching a car crash in slow-motion. If it weren't a documentary I'd write his shenanigans off as a poorly executed cliche. But I guess he is the real-deal as far as self-destructive rock stars go.

I remember watching the film and being fascinated by how immature Newcombe is. He's obviously got some brilliance in him, but he acts like a little boy. This is reaching pretty far, but it's almost as if he spent so much time developing his musical abilities, he neglected to develop emotionally. Rocstars often seem imbalanced. Maybe they overcompensate in their music for what they lack in their ability to be a "normaly" functioning person. I guess it's pretty selfish, thinking that because you are a gifted artist you can shirk certain responsibilities most people are beholden to, and the fact that you are a "genius" excuses your behavior.

I wonder why the hell people in Newcombe's band didn't just fucking quit immediately. You see him fighting his bandmates in this video, and obviously this is shit they have had to put up with before. How come they keep tolerating Anton's behavior? He makes me angry when I see him because he comes off as being totally selfish. But yet he has something to offer I want to hear, or I want to know about. Something about his character is just as enticing to me as it is repelling. And at the end of the video I kind of feel sorry for him. He's so clueless, he almost shakes any responsibility for creating the melee. It's like the only way he knows how to tell with the messes he causes is by victimizing himself. It must be incredibly confusing and exhausting to see things that way.

The Tom Waits post is awesome. I have to be honest, I can't figure out if it is all one big gag, or sketch, or if it is really a T.V. interview gone wrong. And that's just a testament to how well Waits can really create a persona, and manipulate whatever media/medium he is working in to perpetuate this persona.

Shannon talked about this in an earlier post, but it is a really cool power reversal, or role reversal of the interviewer/interviewee relationship. These dumbasses in the polyester suits are trying so hard to make-fun of or bully Tom Waits, but Tom waits is like consistently three steps ahead of them and totally beats them at their own game.

I think I talked about this a little bit in the earlier Thruston Moore post, but it's obvious Tom Waits feels really comfortable in his role of dismanteling this two hosts (one of whom is Fred Willard, right?). But it's obviously a character Tom Waits is playing, and so for me, the fact that he is putting on a show alleviates the awkwardness or tension, because I'm kind of clued in to what he is doing, and i kind of know it's not real.

I like the idea of being betrayed in a situation like that. I'm really drawn to the emotions that come out of public meltdowns, ones you can't hide over. I really get the sense Tom Waits was in full control of his performance and his environment, and if I were hypothetically in that situation I would love to imagine myself acting like him, and handleing myself like him, but I think the truth of the matter is I would get really frustrated in a situation like that, and i would probably feel betrayed and angered by people cheating and using their "media advantage" to try and make me out to be a certain way that I'm not really like.

Remember when Tom Waits is playing the piano, and really he is just playing this absolutely beautiful song, and the camera keeps cutting back to that d-bag blond host, and he is covering his face like he is mortified for Tom Waits, and absolutely telling the audience how they should feel, and Tom Waits couldn't give a shit because either a.) he isn't even paying attention to the host or b.) is so confident in what he is doing, and so confident in his knowledge that the host is TOTALLY full of shit, it doesn't even phase him.

I feel like, if I were in Tom Waits position everything from thought b.) would be running through my head, but still the dumbass blond host would get the best of me, and it wouldn't be fair because it is totally a misrepresentation of reality, but the dudes in charge of the cameras usually the ones who win. I hope this makes sense.