Promo, our Missionary, has promised me he’ll watch The Goonies and report back. He’s about to wonder what he did with his life since June 7, 1985 when that beautiful piece of film saw the light of day.
On with the Monday Mission:

1. Have you ever had, or known someone who has had, a “Mid-Life Crisis?” What happened? Is there such a thing or is it just an excuse?
Not really, no. I’d be more inclined to think that a mid-life crisis is just the public exposition of thoughts and feelings someone has always had but never felt comfortable sharing. You don’t just wake up one day with the desire to date a teenager and buy a sports car – you just find something to blame it on when you’re ready to “take the plunge”.
2. Have you ever had a dream so vivid, that you woke up with certain emotions towards a person for what happened in your dream, even though they didn’t do a thing to deserve it in real life? What did you feel and and what was the dream?
I haven’t, no – I love any kind of dream I can remember, and I don’t find it difficult to separate it from reality once I’m awake. I know Mary was mad at me a while back for something that happened in a dream. Not sure what. Probably something about me not listening or whatever. ;)
3. I think everyone is creative in some way or other. Some people draw, some play music, some write, some cook, some build or sew. How do you express your creativity? Have you ever made money from it?
I guess I express my creativity best through music/writing. It’s the only place I can put my real thoughts down without having to worry about the repercussions of them. It’s always been a good outlet.
4. Has anything you created ever been stolen? How did you handle it?
When I was doing the Charlize Theron website it was the second one online, and definitely the largest/best. I had written the first biography on her and it was consequently stolen and reprinted/used on websites, the L.A. Times, and even Regis and Kathy Lee. Only one person ever asked me for permission, and he was a journalist with the New York Times writing a story on her upon the release of The Devil’s Advocate. The larger people I ignored, but the websites would always get an e-mail from my fake lawyer telling them to cease and desist. They all complied except one guy who said you couldn’t trademark a bio and I told him “I guess we’ll find out in court”. He complied. I never cared about people using it, I cared they wouldn’t ask first.
5. Do you think downloading music via file sharing is “stealing?” Is taking songs without paying for them any different than someone taking your work without your permission?
No, it’s “copyright infringement”. These RIAA lawyers need to look up some law definitions. Downloading a song is NOT the same as walking into a store and taking a CD. It’s the same as walking into a picture store and taking a picture of a painting. File sharing is just a larger-scale listening station, and if you make good music you really have very little to worry about. People will pay money for CDs of bands they enjoy who make a 12-song CD with 10-12 good songs, rather than 1-3. People will also pay for value-adds, which a scant few bands have begun to figure out.
6. How do you feel about the RIAA targeting everyone (parents, teenagers, grandparents) who share songs over the Internet with expensive lawsuits? Should they be selective in who they subpoena, or should all who violate copyrights be treated equally? Or are they going too far? Should the music be free?
Unfortunately, for all my personal beliefs, if they’re hitting them with lawsuits for copyright infringement then they’re within their rights. Are they going too far? Definitely. I have not yet seen someone present a decent argument on how suing your clientele is sound business management. This is healing a bullet wound with band-aids – until they determine the problem, and effectively treat it, they will not stop file sharing. People are already moving off Kazaa on to IRC and newsgroups, which is going to make them one heck of a lot harder to track down.
7. On the same thought, what do you think pay-per-song concepts such as iMusic and BuyMusic.com? Will they succeed? Is this the solution? If not, what is?
I think they’ll do ok for the casual music fan, but the hardcores like myself won’t tolerate lesser quality tracks at an almost retail cost. Apple wants me to pay $9.99 for a 128kbps AAC MP3 album that would cost me $14.99 (we’re speaking in USD) for a CD of 320kbps WAV with some nice sleeve art and a case. So as someone who can tell the difference between 128kbps and 320kbps, why would I do this? Besides the fact that, judging on the prices they’re charging, the music industry is STILL blissfully unaware of the problem plaguing their industry in the first place.
Cheers!