Went to the Internet movie database, as one often does when needing a bit more data, to read what others have said about la dolce vita so I could perhaps gain a keener appreciation of the film. many people have it actually placed on their top ten or top five lists. [This site is brilliant and essential by the way if you do not know it. I’ve been digging it since ‘98. Go here and check it: www.imdb.com.] Best movie lists are impossible of course but always fun. its always interesting to read other peoples lists. you read about movies you’ve never even heard of before. You can then jump right over to netflix.com and order the DVDs to come sit in your player for a night.
My top five if I absolutely had to, but only in this moment, with very little thought and in absolutely no order; in fact they are all tied for first place:
raging bull, sound of music, my fair lady, schindlers list, 8 ½, the matrix, fight club, godfather 1 and 2, but 3 gets nowhere near the top 1000. royal tennenbaums, of course, and life aquatic of Steve zisou, star wars and empire strikes back are always fun, until the end of the world and the two angel movies Wim Wenders did, far away so close and that other one. and then give me any early Cary grant movie just to have him in there. I don’t really care which one. take Philadelphia story. That’s a good one. and would have to get eternal sunshine of the spotless mind in there because I think it may be one of the best screenplays ever written in humankind’s history. of course apocalypse now, since along with citizen Kane, it just may be actually in the top two of all time. oh yes and also the top two would have to include at least three of Woody’s, say, Annie hall, deconstructing Harry, and stardust memories, off the top of my head. Solaris comes to mind for its tone and vibage, but prob not top fifty. But good flick because it speaks to US and not the common masses like most movies do these days.
For tonight that would be it and that would be a fine list for any desert island experience.
For fun we took our IQ tests on this website, www.tickle.com. I missed 4 questions out of 40. Scored a 136. Not bad. Not as good as I expected but not bad. Top 5% overall percentile. Top 100 percentile in visual-spatial, logical, and linguistic intelligence, which means that out of the one-million people who have logged on and taken the test on this site, the score is higher than 100% of all of them – however they figure that??? Or that 0% have ever scored higher; so where did I fuck up? The glitch is that I flubbed some math; only top 95% in mathematical intelligence. All four of my wrong answers were math related. Princess Little Tree on the other hand was so good at the math problems that she didn’t even need to see them. I would just call them out to her and she would answer them correctly in a few seconds. I was impressed. She is after all she reminds me an engineer. I have no idea what engineers do actually but I assume it must have something to do with being good at math.
Stats are as follows:
In fact, 95% of all people have IQs within the range 70 to 130. 68% of people score between 80 and 120. The following chart to your right, shows these percentages and where your IQ score is on that scale. You scored in the top 5% of all participants.??Fucking math. Always been my weakness. But not bad for a kid who was by all accounts a complete fucking idiot in school and never got a grade above a D in twelve years. [this is the truth. I’m not even making it up for dramatic purposes or poetic license. I just never could do school. Always felt lost in it.]
I have always believed, despite what experts claim, that our IQs are constantly changing. Or better, are constantly able to change, depending on our up-bringing and our desire and ability to change the results/outcome of that upbringing and of course our present circumstances play a minor role in it such as how much sleep we’ve had or how much caffeine or how we distracted we are in the moment etc…
I’m pleased with the results of today’s test because I take good care to exercise which I think keeps you smart, I stay in a constant state of learning – for me its certainly prioritized higher on my list than any social concerns – I’m always going to choose reading or writing or working or studying to going out — taking classes of any kind on a regular basis and always learning new languages and staying in this constant state of learning is not only going to keep you smart, but I believe, makes you smarter.
I have also been taking the right nutriceuticals for about fifteen years straight now without fail. And I stagger my intake of certain nutrients depending on what I feel is going on in my mind or body at the time, which I think is also important, the secret weapon. I used to be really into smart drugs and nutrients, in the nineties if you remember, but haven’t been touching them for a few years now since, one, I started intuitively postulating the theory that they could have a tendency to make one more depressed – why I don’t know for sure but could have something to do with their potential to increase acetyl-Choline in the brain, and two, one day I just realized I didn’t need to get any fucking smarter. I took this amazing brain formula about a year ago for the first time in years and I was just flying on it all day, but I just had this thought that said what the fuck, the last thing I need right now in my life is to have any more ideas or to have any better of a memory than I have, or be any more creative than I already am. It wasn’t to ‘be smarter’ that I was in need of; instead it was to be more disciplined, to have more will, to have more follow through… things like that I realized were more important to me now.
But back at the peak of my experimentation with smart-nutrients, about 1998, a friend who was in graduate school for psychiatry asked me to take an IQ test for her so she could fulfill some requirement for a class. I happily obliged since I was curious to see if the benefits I thought I was feeling the last few years prior were merely anecdotal or if in fact they were having a measurable effect; I upped up my dosages of smart nutrients for about a week before the test date. I scored a 147 on the test which she told me was a good score. Comparing that with my recent score of 136 would lead me to believe that I have actually gotten dumber. But since I am happier than I’ve ever been I would tend to believe that the old adage that ‘ignorance is bliss’ may have some truth to it and we should all be trying to dumb down rather than get smarter.
For the record for those who are interested, the nutrients I am referring to are the following: Choline – the PC kind, PS – phosphatidal-serine, PGA – pyroglutamic acid, DMAE — dimethylaminoethanol, ginkgo biloba, Bacopa, vinpocetine, galantamine, l-carnitine, L-phenylalanine. That’s a good start. From there you could move up to actual nootropics, which are drugs not nutrients. But the line is pretty blurred between the two. The smart-nutrients work just as well as the drugs at this point. Again, for me, I’m off them all now. And if that means I drop a few points in IQ, that’s cool. if I have any more ideas than I have now I’m going to fucking go crazy as it is.
For Sir Richard:
But while we’re on it, as far as supplements go, which of course is a major passion of mine, and should be for everyone, my current regime consists of the following:
• a greens drink once or twice a day to alkalize and get foundational nutrition since I don’t eat very well right now.
• a Myoplex protein shake because I’m poor and lazy and it provides me with 25 grams in a 2$ one shot with only 5 carbs,
• a calcium and magnesium with boron and other minerals supplement (I use advacal by lane labs because it is the best form available now) a good calmag is one of the essentials. It keeps you calm, helps you sleep, prevents kidney stones from forming, and most importantly prevents your bones from weakening as most peoples do as we get older so you don’t have to have a fucking hip replacement like Eddie van halen or nikki sixx just did, both in their mid-forties. fuck that.
• I also like Jarrow formulas advanced bone up which combines the same calcium as advacal with anti-inflamatory nutrients to prevent arthritis or sore and stiff fingers from playing the guitar and piano for hours. [coffee and soda cause arthritis, that’s it in a nutshell, and I love coffee and don’t want to give it up. so a good joint formula like this is important or else.
• a good B complex with coenzymes – this is the better form, much more absorbable. By far the most important for me. B vits saved my fucking life. alcohol coffee and smoking all leech the b vitamins from your body and so does stress. And my life is filled with all four. And guess what happens when you don’t have enough b vits in your body? panic attacks, anxiety, feelings of stress, depression, irritability, inability to sleep or concentrate, low energy… etc…. also the food we eat here in the states has all the vitamins ripped out of it in the processing stages so a good b vit at least twice a day is essential. But don’t take them at night because if they are good they will give you energy. But at the same time overall calm you down and prevent anxiety. Crazy but true. good stuff. essential. Your life will change within a week of going on a good b complex.
• Food for life by rainbow light. A phyto-nutrient formula from fruits and vegetables. Lycopene for the prostrate; lutein and carotenoids for the eyes, etc. good stuff. this is the best phyto-nutrient, the most natural one, out there.
• Alpha-lipoic acid and acetyl l Carnitine combo. Great for energy, memory, male performance, clear thinking, insulin balancing, powerful anti-oxidant protection. On and on.
• I take an hgh formula about five times a week to keep the level high in my system. I use UltraMax HGH for obvious reasons. It’s the best one out there. great for skin, hair, nails, male performance, libido, fat reduction, increased lean muscle mass, etc. best overall anti-aging combo on the market today. at three bucks a does it better be.
• I am really into hormones right now. I can honestly say I have never felt better in my whole life. I switch back and forth between DHEA one day and pregnenolone the next, always taking Sundays off. Talk about massive amounts of energy and sharp clear thinking. makes you feel like superman these two do. most days I am just on fire.
• Deer antler velvet. I don’t take it very often right now because I still think it fucks with my singing, increasing my testosterone levels too rapidly lowers my range, but if you aren’t a singer you will love this nutrient. Super-high in IGF-1 and other cofactors. I still like it every now and then when I need to kick ass. if you are an athlete you will love it.
• For more energy I take rodiola occasionally. Maybe a half sometimes. But lately I just haven’t needed any more energy. The city energizes me enough.
• Also NADH is amazing for energy. But be careful, it sneaks up on you. you can get very wired from NADH. And it lasts. Again, I just don’t need it right now. Sublingual formula only seems to work.
• Fiber. I don’t take it everyday. But its great to fill you up so you don’t eat as much, lowers bad cholesterol like a mother, and keeps you regular when needed. I take it once a week or so. as we get older the need seems to increase. If you eat like shit your need is higher.
• A lot of people may ask where is the multi-vitamin or anti-oxidant. But by the time you’re done with this list there are plenty of vitamins and anti-oxidants in here for more than your required daily need.
• One or two caveats: Arginine and glutamine are great for lean muscle increase and fat reduction but UltraMax HGH has plenty of both.
• also, switch your supplements every month. This is the key. This is the secret weapon of the knowing few. You don’t have to take them every day or every month.
• Also, what works for me may not work for you. everyone’s needs are different. You have to study the shit like crazy for a few years and experiment to discover what your own needs are.
• Also, switch brands to see what works best for you. you can’t believe how different each brand is going to feel.
• Also, there is no need to follow the directions. You may only need half doses of many nutrients.
• Also, take Sundays off. Give your system a complete day of rest off all supplements to relax and reset itself.
• One more thing: sleep. I know it’s not a supplement, but I consider it just as important. anyone who knows me knows how much I love sleep. I think sleep is highly under rated by most people. everyone has a different need. some people I know need only six hours a day instead of the average eight. But me, I like a good eight to ten hours most of the time. not every night but I can easily sleep like a rock for ten hours and wake up feeling raged and wild and ready to rock the world. Sounds crazy I know but that’s where I’m at and I’m super defensive of my need for it. people say that’s too much sleep and that you’re sleeping your life away. sure. Keep on thinking that, but I’m more than happy with my productivity, daily output, and overall performance. just ask any of my bandmates. Try waking me up in the morning. It’s not pretty. On sleep also, for some reason I notice that my clock is set to go to sleep late and wake up late. don’t know why but its always been this way. no matter how early I go to sleep I still feel tired before 10am.
• One more thing since we’re on it and I’m feeling generous. Hair. In the music and entertainment biz, hair is everything. so how does the Ambassador maintain his lion’s mane of curly locks? Well besides the above mammoth list, which I am sure certainly helps, the secret weapon in this department is not a supplement but a topical solution called KEVIS. Little vials of an enzyme extracted from sheep semen from Italy actually. Don’t ask me how it works but it can take a receding hairline or a bald spot and go to town on them like nothing on the market. Rogain is for the unknowing masses. leave it for them. Go on eBay and pick up a few hundred vials of KEVIS and rub it into your scalp everyday for a few weeks and watch what happens. your hair will grow like a fucking weed. Now you know. If you’re balding and hate it, don’t ever say no one told you.
Current spin: an ipod arrived today. I loaded it up and man walking down the street with this baby in your ear makes walking in New York is a whole different experience. Subways are boring and routine? Not anymore. You aren’t even aware you’re on a subway. The music is so loud and boomy and you are just fucking transported to this sound inside your head. Its way fucking hot, an unbelievable invention.