RE: virus: How to Die in Three Easy Steps.

From: Blunderov (squooker@mweb.co.za)
Date: Sun Nov 30 2003 - 17:29:26 MST

  • Next message: Keith Henson: "virus: Unpublished 1977 letter to Science"

    [Blunderov]
    I'm curiously distraughtat the death of someone I didn't even know! Are
    you there Dr. Sebby...anyway this is an interesting site for
    insomniacs...
    http://www.acidlogic.com/warrenzevon.htm

    <q>
    How to Die in Three Easy Steps.
    By Wil Forbis
    September 16, 2002
     I can't say I was ever a huge Warren Zevon fan. I'm mean, sure, I dug
    his hit song "Werewolves of London" as much as the next lycanophile, but
    it was never enough to make me go out and buy the CD. (1978's "Excitable
    Boy" for those of you keeping track.) When I'd come across Zevon's
    albums in the $3.99 bin of the local record store I was never inspired
    to part with my hard earned dollars. For that matter, I've just never
    found much appeal in the whole of the "70's singer/songwriter" acts. I
    primarily think of Jackson Brown as the guy who beat up Daryl Hannah.
    Bruce Springsteen didn't show up on my radar until the eighties. And
    Warren Zevon was just a guy emitting sarcastic howls over a bluesy chord
    progression.

    Still, when I recently caught wind of the fact that Mr. Zevon had
    terminal lung cancer my curiosity perked up. You can't help but take a
    morbid interest in the final decline of a rock and roll star. It helps
    ease the raging jealousy fueled by the realization that their life was
    exactly 1,098 times more exciting than yours will ever be.

    How did I come about the news of Zevon's condition? In the most gentle
    way possible - by reading a USATODAY article on the subject while eating
    an "All American Slam" at Denny's. It was a standard journalistic send
    off - a summation of Zevon's musical contributions and personal
    tribulations peppered with several witty quotes of a lyricist known for
    his blunt tongue. The following stood out.

    ''Regrets are so far from reality. Would I like to tell someone, 'Look,
    if you don't want to die at 55, you might not want to smoke for 30
    years'? Sure. I'm a living example of that. But this is my life, these
    were my choices. I lucked out big time because I got to be the most
    (expletive)-up rock star on the block, at least on my block, and then I
    got to be a sober dad for 18 years. I've had two very full lives.''

    And that's when I realized: here's someone who gets it.

    "Gets what?" you ask. "Are you saying that Warren Zevon gets that we all
    have a limited time in this mortal plane before hurtling into a murky
    black void that swallows our souls for all eternity?"

    Well... uh, that too, I guess. But what I'm saying is that Mr. Zevon
    understands that after smoking for 30 years, he got cancer and it's
    nobody's fault but his own. That's pretty damn refreshing in a nation
    where a moron like Richard Boeken gets to smoke cigarettes for three
    decades then sue the Phillip Morris company for three billion dollars
    because he developed (surprise!) terminal cancer. (I think I've made it
    abundantly clear in previous columns what I think of people like Boeken.
    He should be killed*. Then his entire family should be killed. Then the
    city in which he lived should be struck by a nuclear bomb. Then we
    should blow up the earth, ensuring that no piece of Richard Boeken
    exists.)

    *Unfortunately, Boeken died of cancer before I had a chance to kill him.

    The truth is, I think we've gotten so used to people flailing about on
    their deathbed, blaming everybody and everything but themselves, that it
    kind of catches you off guard to see someone like Zevon show up and say,
    "I did it. It was me and I can live with that." And as I read through
    the USATODAY piece, I got the distinct impression Zevon will have
    something on his deathbed that overgrown babies like Boeken never have:
    peace of mind. Because, inherent in this final chapter on the life of
    Warren Zevon is a rather admirable treatise on how to die. He lays it
    out rather plainly, stating that in his final days he simply wants,
    ''Comfort, a sense of continuity and serenity, and people who are going
    to do the job of living better than you did.''

    Three things that Richard Boeken certainly never deserved. And three
    things that Warren Zevon, when the times comes, will have. Because a lot
    of how you die depends on how you lived.

    As for me, I think I'm going to pick up a copy of "Werewolves of
    London."

    But I better do it soon, because once Warren dies, I won't be able to
    find it in the $3.99 bin.

    You might also enjoy: Interesting Motherfuckers: Warren Zevon.

    What do you think America? Leave your comments on the Guestbook!

     

    Wil Forbis is a well known international playboy who lives a fast paced
    life attending chic parties, performing feats of derring-do and making
    love to the world's most beautiful women. Together with his partner,
    Scrotum-Boy, he is making the world safe for democracy. Email -
    acidlogic@hotmail.com

    Visit Wil's web log, My So-Called Penis, and receive complete
    enlightenment.
    </q.>

    ---
    To unsubscribe from the Virus list go to <http://www.lucifer.com/cgi-bin/virus-l>
    


    This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Nov 30 2003 - 17:30:15 MST