The R.M.S. Titanic hits an iceberg and the 20th Century will never be the same.
Imagine how different 1997 would have been without this megalith of a movie hitting the screens?We might not even have the same Kate or Leo we have today?! Winter of 1997/98 wouldn’t have been consumed by 12 theatre viewings of “TITANIC”!!!
We shudder to think . . .
+TITANIC 4 LIFE +
On a serious note; I’m not sure what it is about this majestic ship that has always captured my imagination. I’m guessing its a mixture of the Edwardian elegance, decadence, and grandeur of the ship – the microcosm of society contained within it – and the hubris of the upper echelon whose powers control the world to this day, and the tragedy that ensued as a result.
There are many many many fascinating details regarding this ship, but perhaps the most stimulating aspect of the Titanic’s untimely fate is that it was predicted 14 years earlier by a pulp novella entitled The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility which I was lucky to read before the film had even been in production.
Talk about psychic premonitions; author Morgan Robertson (also the self proclaimed inventor of the periscope) chillingly predicts much of the Titanic’s destiny with his fictional telling of an enormous “unsinkable” triple screw British luxury ocean liner named the S.S. TITAN which meets its untimely demise on a cold April night in the North Atlantic after it hits an iceberg losing almost everyone on board due to a lack of lifeboats.
CRAZY, RIGHT?! This is 14 years before the infamous disaster! Designs for Titanic‘s sister ship didn’t even go into production until 1908. How was it that Morgan Robertson could right a tale so shockingly similar to the Titanic’s actual events. Was he psychic? Was it planned?
TIME TRAVEL???
The whole thing is absolutely incredible, and definitely worth looking more into.
“I came from a very hardened punk background in the late 80’s and early 90’s and my early films really projected that. Of course there have been aspects of the more mainstream-type stuff I’m currently doing that, at first, have been difficult to navigate due to my past. But I’m learning. It’s a very rewarding process and I’m loving it.”
-Johnny Terris
Johnny Terris is one bad ass dude.
A true Renaissance man, Johnny has engaged in roles as actor, film maker, author, model, photographer and painter. Best known for his transgressive, violent punk-influenced films that were far from mainstream, even in the indie sense; Johnny would distribute his earliest on VHS in the streets of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to strangers. He even went as far to use his own blood in scenes!
Legendary for being asked to be Johnny Depp’s double in the early 90s – Johnny, in true rebel fashion, turned it down. Now he continues his work as an actor (AKA Edward Terris) in the TV miniseries “Sex & Violence”, which co-stars Academy Award winning actress, Olympia Dukakis.
The Eye of Faith is honoured to post this interview with a true pioneer of the subversively cool right here in the True North Strong and Free!
Special thanks to our correspondent John Wisniewski for the interview.
JW: When did you begin making films and and acting, Johnny?
JT: I started doing movies around 1987 when I was 14 years old. Basically out of boredom living in a small town. My cousin, who was also my best friend, would film various things typical boys would do and then just decided to make a movie one day. We were heavily influenced by retro horror and grind house style film and my work of course reflected that. I never fit in with anyone in the small town where I lived and neither did he, so doing films were an outlet for us, an expression. When I left home at 16, I became angrier and had an axe to grind with the world, so they eventually became more graphic and explicit and transgressive.
JW: Why did you decide to write an autobiographical novel?
JT: I started writing Sinister Splendor & Broken Glass back around 2002 but shelved it for many years. I originally started to write it for myself only, basically for therapeutic purposes because in 2001, the love of my life became a missing person and was never found so I thought writing about it would help with dealing with it. From there it just kind of spiraled into writing about my life from childhood, my early years on the street doing underground films and present stuff. The next thing I knew I pretty much had a book.
I compiled it together and released the first draft in 2011. It has since changed direction. Instead of an autobiography, it’s now more of a fictional character story that is set in the 1970’s and 1980’s, about a guy named Aaron, that is heavily based on my life instead of being about my life. That’s the third and final draft and the most recent one.
Nobody really knows who I am, and I’m sure most of the world wouldn’t care anyway so I decided to make it fiction that is based on me with characters based on my friends an family instead of the standard autobiography. It made it more interesting to me that way. And I think to others reading it too. The book is still my life, but the characters are different.
JW: Any artists that have influenced your work?
JT: A few artists have influenced me in big way, Richard Kern and The Cinema Of Transgression were probably the biggest influence on me in terms of my own films. Retro 70’s and 80’s horror played a huge part as well. Early Dario Argento played a huge part. Grindhouse flicks, drive-in movies form that period.
From a very young age I was really influenced by a lot of vintage heterosexual porn too like Devil In Miss Jones, Devil Inside Her, Behind The Green Door etc. All the really strange and surreal X-rated films of that period. Early John Waters of course played an influence, especially in my early work.
Musically I was, and still am, obsessed with the NWOBHM/New Wave Of British Heavy Metal from the late 70’s and early 80’s. Bands like Girlschool, Motorhead, Plasmatics/Wendy O Williams, Saxon, Turbonegro, Judas Priest, bands like that. Tight jeans, white t-shirt, spiked wristband, leather jacket wearing, sneering bands. A lot of punk-tinged heavy metal from that period. Listening to that stuff gets me in writing mode immediately.
JW: Do you enjoy acting?
JT: Yeah of course, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it. I’m actually more comfortable in front of the camera being someone else than I am in my personal life. It’s always been that way. When I was a little kid I used to memorize scripts at the age of 9 or 10 years old and perform every character in my bedroom by myself for hours on end. Acting has always triggered something in me, as far back as I can remember.
JW: You once doubled for Johnny Depp. What was that like?
JT: I never doubled for Johnny Depp. I was asked to when I was younger and living in Los Angeles but I was moving back to Canada at the time. I wouldn’t have done it anyway. I have no desire to be another actor, or anyone other than myself.
JW: What is your opinion of Hollywood and Hollywood movies?
JT: When I first went to Hollywood it was nothing like I expected it to be. It was actually pretty grimy and trashy. The Rainbow Bar & Grill was always fun. The Whiskey was fun. I don’t have a problem with mainstream cinema or the Hollywood stuff; it’s not exactly my thing, but being older now I’m not as ferocious against it like I used to be.
I used to revolt against it in a really hardcore way. But I’m currently one of the leads in a television series with Olympia Dukakis (who is an Oscar winner) so I’ve obviously tamed a bit in the old age and don’t care about that as much haha.
Most Hollywood films are formula and neatly packed for selling purposes and because of that it’s the same stuff just rehashed over and over again with a different title, and I personally find that very boring. Hollywood is very loud and explosive and action packed. They make and market their films that way. I prefer psychological films that are slower in tone and make you think.
JW: Are you a horror film fan? Any favorite horror films, Johnny?
JT: Yeah I am a huge horror fan, I grew up on them and they are a huge influence. My mother was a huge lover of horror movies and nothing was really ever censored from me so I was watching stuff like ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ when I was just a little kid. I usually prefer the physiological ones over the gore. I have lots of favorite horror films, though my favorite one would have to be the original ‘Carrie’.
JW: Are you working on any screenplays, Johnny?
JT: Nothing really big right now, no. I’m very slowly writing a screenplay/script which is a greaser-style drama film about two brothers and their alcoholic father. But that’s a work in progress and who knows how that will evolve; too early to tell right now. I am though, currently helping a friend of mine shoot his apocalyptic style film.
Apart from being one helluva guy, Greg Prato is a New York based journalist, author, and contributor at Rolling Stone Magazine. He is the author of several unique publications including ‘A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon,’ ‘Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story,’ ‘Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music, ‘No Schlock . . . Just Rock!,’ ‘The Eric Carr Story,’ ‘MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video,’ ‘Sack Exchange: The Definitive Oral History of the 1980s New York Jets,’ ‘Too High to Die: Meet the Meat Puppets,’ ‘Dynasty: The Oral History of the New York Islanders, 1972-1984,’ and ‘The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion.’
We were honoured to get the chance to pick his brain with the help of our trusty correspondent John Wisniewski.
JOHN: What ended or contributed to the end of “grunge”?
GREG: A few different factors contributed to the end of the grunge movement – tops being Kurt Cobain’s death, followed by the break-up of Soundgarden, Pearl Jam not touring as much for a while, and Alice in Chains grinding to a halt due to Layne Staley’s drug problems. Also, add in record companies signing horrific grunge rip-off bands (Bush, Silverchair, Candlebox, etc.) that stunk to high heaven. It was rather sad to see how quickly most rock fans flocked right back to acts of the mid-late ’90s/early 21st century that embraced the same overindulgent “rock star” grossness that hair metal bands flaunted in the ’80s.
JOHN: What made grunge so popular?
GREG: Because most mainstream rock fans seemed fed up with the same predictable/stinky mainstream rock bands that were stinking up MTV and radio at the time. And in my humble opinion, there is nothing better than a hard rock band sounding like real human beings playing their instruments in a “live” sounding manner (a la early Led Zeppelin, early Kiss, Ramones, Sex Pistols, etc.)…something that more artists nowadays (who are under the spell of Autotune, meddling outside songwriters and producers, etc.) should wise up and take note of. Also, I always appreciated that such gentlemen as Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder weren’t afraid to speak their minds on a variety of touchy subjects in interviews – something that most rockers post-grunge would never have the cajones to do, because they wouldn’t want to risk losing their sponsorship, commercial ads, clothing line, etc. But most important was the quality of the songwriting – I probably still listen to more bands of that era (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Faith No More, Primus, Jeff Buckley, Blind Melon, Meat Puppets, Melvins, Truly, Radiohead, Morphine, My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins, Fishbone, Sonic Youth, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, etc.), than I do of any other.
JOHN: Can we speak about the Meat Puppets next, Greg? Did the band anger the hardcore fans, when they began to mix elements of country and psychedelia into their musical sound?
GREG: According to the band when I interviewed them for the book ‘Too High to Die,’ yes, they seemed to anger (or confuse) fans…probably not so much fans of theirs, but fans of the bands they were playing with – specifically Black Flag. Black Flag’s fan base didn’t want to sit though Grateful Dead-like jams, which is what Puppets drummer Derrick Bostrom said they were doing in ’84, during an opening stint for Flag. Personally, I thought it was fantastic for the band to merge punk with country and psychedelia, and many of my subsequent favorite bands seemed to agree – Soundgarden, Nirvana, Melvins, etc. You can certainly hear the proof in ‘Meat Puppets II’ and ‘Up on the Sun,’ two of my favorite all-time albums, that never seem to grow old.
JOHN: What was the relationship like between producer Paul Leary on “Too High to Die”, with The Meat Puppets. Why did they decide on Leary as producer?
GREG: The relationship seemed to be good between Leary and the band on ‘Too High to Die.’ They were friends beforehand (Leary is a long-time member of the Butthole Surfers, for those who don’t know) for a long time. Interestingly, I found out from speaking to Leary for the book that when the Surfers hooked up with Led Zep‘s John Paul Jones to producer the 1993 album, ‘Independent Worm Saloon,’ the Puppets asked Leary to put in a good word with Jones re: if he would produce the Puppets‘ next album (which turned out to be ‘Too High to Die’). Surprisingly, Jones supposedly didn’t care for the music, which is quite shocking, as I would think that the Puppets’ music is more in line with what Mr. Jones would be into.
JOHN: What was the relationship like between Kurt Cobain the Meat Puppets?
GREG: The relationship between Mr. Cobain and the Puppets seemed quite swell, after all, he was kind enough to invite them to tour with Nirvana in ’93, and to play a few of their songs on Nirvana‘s now-classic ‘Unplugged’ performance. But according to Curt Kirkwood, he and Cobain weren’t best friends that hung out – more acquaintances. Either way, I’ll always think it was cool that Cobain made it a point to help promote the Puppets.
JOHN: Can we speak about Shannon Hoon-what contributed to his death at a young age? It was a shock as was Kurt Cobain’s death, to the music world.
GREG: Blind Melon drummer Glen Graham has a theory (which he discusses in my book, ‘A Devil on One Shoulder…’), that Shannon was bipolar, and was medicating himself with drugs. I believe I remember hearing others say the same about Kurt Cobain, as well. Shannon ultimately wound up dying from a cocaine overdose.
I remember being saddened and shocked by both Cobain and Hoon’s deaths (in 1994 and 1995, respectively), but I think Hoon’s may have hit me hardest, because I was more of a Blind Melon fan at the time than a Nirvana fan (since then, I probably like both bands equally). Regardless, some of my favorite all-time singers/musicians/songwriters died during that decade – Cobain, Hoon, and Jeff Buckley, among others.
JOHN: What was the reaction by fans of KISS, when Eric Carr joined the band?
GREG: I remember it being quite positive. I think most fans – myself included – thought the arrival of a new member may get the band back on track and their next album would be a return to glorious heavy metal, a la ‘Destroyer’ or ‘Rock and Roll Over.’ But instead, Gene and Paul went off the deep end, and Kiss did ‘(Music From) The Elder,’ which was a bombastic rock opera, which turned out to be the band’s worst-ever selling album. And to Eric’s credit, he expressed concern to his new band mates that this was a bad move. Their next album, ‘Creatures of the Night,’ was the return-to-metal album most fans had been waiting years for, and Eric’s drumming was a huge reason why the album sounded as great as it does.
JOHN: Could you name some of your favorite bands, Greg?
GREG: I listen to a wide variety of music, but if I had to pick a single favorite rock band of all time, it would have to be Queen, since they could pull off just about any musical style, and all 4 chaps were superb songwriters. But off the top of my head, some of my favorites include Soundgarden, Faith No More, Nirvana, Meat Puppets, Blind Melon, Jeff Buckley, Primus, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Stevie Wonder, Sly & the Family Stone, The Stooges, Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, The Pretenders, Joan Jett, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Bad Brains, Talking Heads, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, The Ramones, Neil Young, AC/DC…I’m sure I’m leaving too many others out, I apologize to those artists!
Waldo Tomosky is one of our regular visitors here at The Eye of Faith, and wished to share this short story with us, citing it as both unique and divine – two very important words we hold close to us here at The Eye.
We couldn’t agree more, and decided we’d share it with you all here at The Eye of Faith.
This story entitled “The Old Man on the Corner” plays off Waldo’s own memory as a boy living in a small town, and how the simplest things in the world can come to be the most profound in the end….
+ THE OLD MAN ON THE CORNER +
by Waldo Tomosky
There is a state that is not what it used to be. There is a village within that state that falls into the same category. Families have an obligation to prepare the next generation for a better life. Political regions apparently do not have that same obligation.
The village has a city name; Johnson City. From the period of my first memories of village life, until the time when I entered the army, I always remember one specific street corner.
At one time a large store was located there. If my memory serves me correctly it was a hardware store. I do clearly remember, I am sure, that to enter the store you had to climb three massive concrete stairs that wrapped around the entire front.
The store no longer exists, due to a fire. A silvery aluminum diner was finally placed on the site. It has always been called the “Red Robin Diner.” But this story is not about inanimate objects; it is about people, or, more succinctly, it is about one man. This man was one of several that were, and are, always located on that corner. Their faces change and their manner changes but they are the same men.
They are retirees, older men living off a pension, a government dole, or off their savings. When I was young they sat on an old wooden bench that was painted red. It probably belonged to the village. The men smoked, and talked about something that I was never privileged to hear. They also had a bottle of something or other that was wrapped in a brown paper sack. In between cigarettes, or cigars, they would pass the sack around and each man had a swig of whatever was hidden in it.
They were nice friendly men. There were no loud voices or harsh words. They simply enjoyed each others company and nodded “hello” to the folks that passed them by. A nice toothy (or toothless) grin usually accompanied the “hello.”
I previously stated that the story is about one man. Possibly my memory has played some tricks on me over the years and this one man is a composite of all the old men that have located themselves on that corner. It makes no difference. This singular or composite soul was friendly, cheerful, unshaven, had a hole in his pants, and his shoes (that were once meant for work) were never polished. Yes; that is a good analogy. His shoes were like he was, unpolished but substantial, faithful, ready to serve.
This man smoked a pipe (in between nips). It was not a beautiful meerschaum pipe. It appeared to be made of briarwood and had a plain shape. He lit his pipe with what us youngsters called “farmer matches.” They were not your modern safety matches. They were more functional for a pipe smoker. The matches were singular (not in a pack) and had a hefty piece of wood (not the cheap paper stick that we now use). The heads had a section to burn and a section to strike. The striking portion was on the end and was typically white in color. Once struck, the burning section would be ignited which in turn would set the hefty wooden stick aflame.
Once again we are not here to compare the old with the new but rather to set into motion the details about this old man and his wooden matches. Keep in mind the attributes of this old man. He was wise, somewhat the worse for wear (as we all would be if we had completed the tasks that he had), a little unkempt, but most importantly he loved the people around him. In fact he loved them almost as much as he loved lighting his pipe. I really believe he enjoyed lighting those farmer matches. He was constantly at it.
The match would appear from nowhere. He would be inspecting it before the casual observer even knew he had one in his hand. The old man would test the wooden section for sturdiness. Then he would spin it between his fingers and inspect the white striking end. This would be followed by an inspection of the secondary lighting section (which was usually red but sometimes blue). Once he was satisfied, the match would be struck against some hard surface. The striking end would burst open into a star like pattern with other minor star patterns being created from the original one; then additional star patterns were created from the secondary ones. You could never tell how many star patterns were created due to the fact that it happened so fast. Yet, you knew that several patterns existed before they died out. At that same moment the secondary fire (blue or red; it makes no difference) would occur. This would create yet another burst of energy that exceeded what was necessary to light the pipe. The old man would keep the creation at a safe distance until the wooden section was on fire. Only at that time would he light his pipe.
I must repeat that he appeared to enjoy lighting the matches as much as smoking the pipe. I say this because he would always use about five matches for every pipe-full of tobacco. Additionally, his eyes would gleam with joy whenever he lit a match. It was not the gleam of a pyromaniac but rather the gleam of someone who created something. He appeared proud like a new father, or, had that “ah-ha!” moment of someone who had a new insight. It was something that I never understood but always was amazed at observing. How could an old man on a corner get such satisfaction out of lighting his pipe?
It was only when I had my own “ah-ha!” moment (years later) that I understood the old man on the corner. The ceremony of the pipe was his creation yet every time he accomplished that act he knew exactly what would occur. Oh, I don’t mean that he knew how many star patterns there would be, and he sure didn’t know what was located on those minute cinders that resulted from the burnt out star patterns. He only knew that he could create them and that the results would take care of themselves. It was only natural that there would be star-cinders, flame energy and gases, and finally the wooden stick that would serve as the means to the end.
Therefore I believe that somewhere beyond all the galaxies, their stars, the gases, the unbridled energy, the cinder-like asteroids, the unknown black holes, there is an old man standing on a corner lighting his pipe. There is, most likely, a hole in his pants. There may be some friends that he shares nectar with; although I can not quite picture it being hidden in a brown paper sack. He is friendly and benevolent but does not care to guide our every move. He simply likes to create a stir with his farmer matches. He loves the explosive star patterns, likes to watch the flames and gasses that are created by the red and blue sections, and is somewhat disappointed when the wooden section finally burns out.
He knows that he will need to re-light his pipe in a few minutes and also knows that the residue of the last match will have to take care of itself. He doesn’t know that we are riding on one of the smallest cinders and that we treat the last burning ember of the striking ember as the center of our system. Time to him is irrelevant. Time to us is in light-years.
We have made such a big thing out of someone lighting a pipe. It is really very simple. We do not know (and will never know) where the beginning and end is. It is not really our beginning or our end; they are His matches and His pipe. So therefore the creative act of lighting farmer matches goes on. The center of the sphere of sparks is everywhere yet nowhere. The length of time for a match to exhaust itself is both future and past (of which neither really exist). Yet we continue to attempt to identify the past through something we call history and the future through something we call science.
