New Yorker in his forties. His counsel is sought by many, offered to few. Traveled the world in search of answers, but found more questions.
In a world where there are no politicians left to look up to, there are few places to turn to for leadership. CEOs of successful companies have guided my thought process and belief systems as far back as I can remember. From the time I was 13, my father would regularly buy me books on famous CEOs. Till this day I continue to consume their wisdom. These are the best CEO quotes that have given me continual inspiration and wisdom.
It's exhausting. When you feel like you've done just about everything there is to do in a town like America you suddenly (or gradually) realize you are tired. Wasted? I've just finished suffering through the true consciousness of a hot grinding time like a lot of others. A decade and more of trying to catharize the impacted shit of the decades and millennia before. It's rough for people my age who are doomed to follow war babies through history.
For a while, at the beginning of his journey especially, some thought he was another Elvis Presley rip-off. That was, of course, before they heard him. He had his name long before the King died. Elvis Costello initially broke out in England, and remained a mystery in America for the first few years of his success.
Revisiting Boiler Room after watching The Wolf of Wall Street is like being lied to after a horrific accident. Both movies are based on Jordan Belfort’s misadventures at the Long Island penny stock scam factor Stratton Oakmont but that’s about where the similarities end. Boiler Room is the movie for those outraged at Wolf’s lack of redemption. It’s the happy ending version of a tale that really has no happy ending. But it still is not too bad, even if their version of Belfort, named Michael Brantley, is played by a mealy-mouthed Tom Everett Scott. He shows up every half hour or so before skulking back to his office. Not a very bad boy compared to Leonardo DiCaprio’s whoring, coke-snorting Belfort. Instead, the focus is on a conscience-stricken junior broker, played by Giovanni Ribisi, who acts as a sort of audience surrogate. In this sense, Boiler Room is rather traditional. No morality here. The really bad guys get punished, and the audience is left feeling righteous.
I am not a hoarder though I would like to be, one day. Not like forever just for a few months until my family calls the TV show and does an intervention. When they dig me out from beneath a mound of stuff, I envision a mountain of Funko Pop! figures. I can't get enough of them. It's like crack for action figure collectors, and for the rest of you it's like a whip-its. For those of you who don't know what whip-its are they make you feel good for a minute. You say a few dumb things in a dumb voice and then you want to do it again. Same exact thing with buying Funko figures. I don't think anyone owns just one Funko. Literally, I have never met anyone who owns just two. Once you start on Funko, you don't stop. I go through phases of collecting. My most recent additions were specific to TV series. They sit on shelves, still in original boxes where they will stay till the collection gets passed down to my grandchildren, (in my mind that actually happens). But I will really enjoy looking at them until then, "then" being death. Though I have taken Raymond Reddington, of Blacklist fame, out of the box a few times for advice.
Iconic illustrator Al Hirschfeld was drawn to Star Trek. His first vision of the classic Star Trek came at the behest of TV Guide who commissioned him in 1966 to be part of a review of the premiere. The Image was of Kirk and Spock holding ray guns and what looks like a fluorescent lightbulb. Hirschfeld Hirschfeld said his contribution was to "take the character, created by the playwright, script or portrayed by the actor, and reinvent it for the reader".
I will not forget the first season of Spartacus. Blood and Sand starred Andy Whitfield as the legendary Spartacus and Manu Bennett. The show was something original, best compared to the epic 300 series from Zack Snyder. My son and I watched the entire series together. He was 14 when the series premiered. I remember taking him to see Manu Bennet at a NY comic con who I had been introduced to through friends in the industry. Manu signed the original helmet he wore during many of the fight scenes. I had bought it from STARZ' auction after the series ended as a gift for my son.
Bringing Larry Blamire's tale to life through the amazing medium of comic books was an important experience for me. I had a chance to work with Larry directly and get to know a universe only creatives like Larry can imagine in their minds. Involving Tyler Kirkham in the mix gave me an opportunity to work with someone whose skills have been honed at one of the great iconic comic book empires, DC Comics.