Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Friday, March 27, 2009

The Cool Observer Interview: Michael Greenwell

(All questions chosen by the regular visitors here, a.k.a. The Expendables)

1. What skill(s) would you teach a child to aid their passage through this world?

MG: To help them see when they are being lied to, which is not easy and nobody has perfected it yet. Start with 3 questions:
Who is telling me this?
Why are they telling me this?
And the third flows from the second:
What will they gain from telling me this?

2. If you could have a new society tomorrow, how would you describe the relationship of its citizens in this new society?

MG: I think we should try to stop the carnage being created by the current one before we worry about the next one.

3. What are you going to write a song about tomorrow?

MG: A heart-rending lament about the fact that it has always annoyed me that I have no real talent for music.

4. Have you heard of anyone yet having a satisfactory explanation for the success of P. Diddy (a.k.a. Puff Daddy or Sean Combs)?

MG: The only thing I can think of is that it is the perfect example of a society that values business acumen over having any actual useful talents.

5. It’s time to make a choice. Would you fight or flee, and why?

MG: I think the point about the flight or fight mechanism is that you never know which one you are going to do. In my personal life I have done both at different times.

6. When did the first monkey go to hell?

MG: I like evolutionary history. I think it was when she told the lemurs that they didn’t have to do what the apes told them.

7. If you were a stock character in a dystopian sci-fi film/novel which would it be: the overlord, the scientist, the ultimate warrior, the lone explorer, etc.?

MG: I think I have actually become the lone explorer in real life in an attempt to destroy any overlord tendencies I once had. As for ‘Mad Scientists’ - they can be positive or negative characters.

8. What food/meal do you make that requires the most effort to prepare?

MG: I make lots of different kinds of soup, but that is easy. I suppose it would be Indian food, which I absolutely love.

9. What was your last moment of clarity?

MG: A very depressing one. When I realised that because of the way the world is organised it is almost impossible to ‘opt-out’ in any meaningful way.

10. Are we all fucked?

MG: We are as fucked as we are prepared to put up with being.

If you want to tackle these questions in 25 words or less, please do so and e-mail me your answers