Thoughts on Adrenaline

Psychedelic Road Trip

You're driving along a coastal highway. An eighteen wheeler slams into you, pushing you into the guardrail just inches from an ocean cliff.

You are alone in the woods. A bear appears out of nowhere and belches a hungry growl just inches from your face.

You are caught in a tornado. Your house is pulled off its foundation and thrust into a colorful fantasy land, crushing a local witch.

Adrenaline pumps into your veins and yells, 

"Lift the house off of that witch!"

Witch legs are these?

Logic would tell you that lifting a house is impossible for a single human being with regular-human strength, but your ears are deaf to logic! You lift the house off the witch! You punch the bear in the face! You jump out the sunroof just before your car plummets to its watery grave.

Globule

Adrenaline 

(AKA Epinephrine)

Nature has a way of giving terrifying situations a run for their money, and it's a definite performance enhancer. Even professional athletes are finding new ways to harness this phenomenon for their own gains. Just before a match, star athletes typically watch a scary film in the locker room. They watch The Exorcist then they go out and win big! Now you know why there are movie screens in all locker rooms! Does your local gym have one? If not, you can write a letter to your local congressman, congresswoman or congressperson. Here's how!

Real

P.S. Punching a bear's face might hurt your hand after the adrenaline rush has worn off. I'm icing my hand right now to reduce swelling.

That is all.

Next time I'll tell you about the time I went waterskiing with Botticelli's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandniece.

I also might decide to show you how to put snakes under your bed sheets to create the "snakes under the bed sheets" look that is so popular these days.

Mozart vs. Hunter

Wolfgangus?

September 30th, 1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (AKA Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, AKA Moatsy, AKA Golfwangus, AKA Wuss in Boots) conducted the first performance of The Magic Flute at Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, Austria. This would be the last opera by Mozart to make its debut, as he died about two months later.

He was only 35 years old! (That's my age!)

Mozart was a child prodigy, born in the 50s. The 1750s. According to a popular online encyclopedia of knowledge (albeit a publicly editable one, and therefore dubious and subject to scrutiny), Mozart "composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music." If you beat yourself up about not writing more "pinnacle" songs (as I do), Mozart is someone you might masochistically compare and contrast yourself with. I made a fancy chart to illustrate this:

Tranquil Mammoth Challenge: Mozart vs. Hunter

	Mozart	Hunter	point
Age 0	Born in "Salzburg"	Born in Long Beach, USA	Mozart
Age 3	Learns to play the harpsichord	Learns to play with toys	Mozart
Age 5	Begins to compose	Enters kindergarten	Mozart
Age 6	Visits Paris and London	Performs publicly for the first time (Louie Louie on piano for 1st grade class during recess)	Hunter
Age 8	Composes first symphony	Learns to play clarinet (actually age 9)	Mozart
Age 12	Premieres first opera in Vienna, Bastien und Bastienne	Forms first band, Taurus	Mozart
Age 14	Receives the Order of the Golden Spur from Pope Clement. (Order of the Golden Girls would have been cooler)	Forms second band, Little Seizures	Hunter (Who cares about a Golden Spur?!)
Age 21	Toured with his mother hoping to find a court position	Joined AFI and toured the USA, Canada, Japan, Europe and the UK for the first time (not with his mother)	Hunter
Age 20s	Composes some of his finest works that would continue to influence Western music for centuries	Wrote 24 Hour Party Zone and many other less influential songs	Mozart
Age 29	Meets Haydn who praises him as "the greatest living composer"	Meets Paul McCartney and challenges him to a "bass off"	tie
Age 35	Dies on December 5th in Vienna and is buried in an unmarked grave	Still alive in Los Angeles (as of this moment)	Hunter
Total	7	5	Winner: Mozart

So as you can see, Mozart wins. That jerk Mozart always wins! I'll catch up to him someday!

Mozart always wins!

As a modern man in a modern world, I have a few advantages over Mozart:

1. I'm still alive. Mozart can't say that!

2. I can play drums. Mozart probably never learned to "pound the skins"!

3. Modern medicine. Mozart could have used it!

4. Google.com Mozart would've had to use this.

5. Mozart was probably a total wuss. He is one of the most revered composers of the Classical era, but I doubt he could hold his own in a no-holds-barred street fight. Although I've never been in an actual street fight, I've seen way more movies about fighting than Mozart ever has. I bet I could use the crane move from the end of Karate Kid on him and he wouldn't know what hit him...he's THAT FAR behind the times!

Alex "Neon Shark" Masi

Next time I'm going to compare Mozart's life to that of Alex Masi (pictured to the right). I don't want to spoil it for you, but Mr. Masi has a few tricks up his leather sleeve. He has a trick on his chest as well.

And either the time after that or three times from now, I'm going to compare my life to Strawberry Shortcake's life and share a recipe for vegan strawberry shortcake that will make you want to vomit in ecstasy.

That's all for now.

Press Release: Steve Jobs Steps Down

PRESS RELEASE: Letter from Steve Jobs

August 24, 2011–To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Mr. T as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Poison Oak? No. Questions answered with videos instead!

Hunter Revenge - Little Baby - Yo Gabba Gabba

Here's Hunter Revenge performing the song "Little Baby" from this week's episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life? I can't say enough great things about the folks at Gabba, or about babies in general. This was a really fun opportunity and I will jump at the chance to do more things like this in the future. In fact, I'm going to go practice jumping at the gym right now so I'm ready when I get the call.

P.S. Thanks to AFI News HQ for putting this up on youtube.