What makes a man start fires?

Better gear up for at least three months worth of hand-wringing and finger-pointing, because this latest teenage atrocity is bound to throw pundits into a self-satisfied bluster. It seemed like school massacres were out of fashion, like Marilyn Manson or the Spice Girls, but there's one thing that the human race will never conquer and that's simple madness. What can you say about a 17 year old who kills his own grandparents and figures he's got nothing to lose so why not fuck up all those assholes at school too? Was he just nuts? Did he follow a dark path he'll be paying for eternally? Or is he the same as any of us, ready to become a monster whenever one of our synapses misfires or the pesticides in our breakfast cereal react badly with our allergy medicine?

At what point does evil, the conscious choice of wrong over right, cross over into insanity, a human being overcome by brain chemistry and frustration? Too often I fear we're all just slippery, stinking bags of chemicals at the mercy of biology without the sentient souls we like to pretend we have. Will God have mercy on a man who hears voices and does what they tell him? Will Jeffery Weise go to hell for his actions? No one yet understands exactly what triggered this latest Columbine, so I'm not basing this rambling ramble on anything other than my own obsession with the nature of our thoughts and decisions. It would be nice to believe that each man has the choice to either create or destroy, to strive for good or succumb to evil, but it gets harder to swallow with every year I live.

Hiya.

Hey, has anyone else noticed that Mobil commercial that used a bowlderized version of the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner" as background muzak? How do you all feel about being a fucking demographic?

It's been a lethargic weekend, notable only for ... for ... well, I guess I saw a good movie on Saturday night, Alone In The Dark, which features Martin Landau and Jack Palance as psycho killers on the loose. Hell yeah, what a cast, right? It's probably not so easy to find, but it's worth hunting for, a real laff riot and actually scary to boot. Donald Pleasance is on hand as a pot-smoking psychiatrist, "Murdock" from the old A-Team series is the nominal hero and there's a quickie appearance from the Sic Fucks as well doing their deathless hit "Chop Up Your Mother."

I love you all.

Finally, some recognition.

Program Details for Preventing the Spread of Disease

Hello to everyone who might actually check this thing from time to time. I've been working on and off, here and there, once in a while on this article for Resonance about ephemeral films and really haven't had words to spare here. Everything's pretty cool around Seattle, tho ... Lori and I are very happy and in love in our relatively swanky slightly hi-rise apartment on University Way where the vivacious energy of the street junkies and boozy tough boys enlivens our spirits whenever they threaten to ebb.

After tonight I'll be basically done with this fucking thing. Til then, check out another great, weird health-ed film circa 1940. We can discuss its importance another time.