Henry Rollins speaks to Pete Holmes about the possibility of "death by misadventure" - the thrill and threats of travel

Henry Rollins not versus the World

Henry Rollins explains to not-so-adventurous Pete how he travels and why he enjoys it:

'You Made it Weird' with Pete Holmes: Episode 243 - Henry Rollins
HENRY ROLLINS: (1h 43m 20s)... You'll be introduced but you wait. You don't go (gregariously) "Hey I'm Henry" . You don't mean any harm and they know you don't but [they'd think] "It's really not how it rolls here". So just know where you are.
And talk to the men "Hey what are you doing?" and if they speak some [English] they'll bend over backwards to show you what they're doing. And I've been invited to homes for tea and fruit and coffee and met the kids who thought the tattoos were hilarious and I've done this all over the world with great success cause I lead with my curiosity not with my (obnoxiously) "I'm gonna go here cuz I'm a tough guy". Cause I'm not. I'm not a tough guy nor am I brave. I'm neither, I'm just curious. And if you get your head cut off in one of these places well that's how that went. At least you died doing what you wanted instead of people who spend many years in a place that they don't like but they kind of learn to accept the gut punch that the job gives them and they tough it out. And one day I'm gonna retire.
So you're basically living for the cessation of the work but not the work itself?... I have found that a lot of people as [Black] Sabbath used to say "Kill themselves to live" and so if I get slaughtered in one of these places with death by misadventure. I don't wanna. I'm not looking to get hurt like that but if it happens.
Eh! Was it worth it? Yeah, definitely. I definitely would rather die on the streets of "name the place" cause I shouldn't have gone there than...

"The most important things are the hardest to say". The trouble with language

The language barrier has been tough in South America, truth be told I'm enjoying the challenge also. Ultimately though "words are inert"

VIDEO: Waking Life (2001)

Waking Life (2001)
KIM KRIZAN: Creation seems to come out of imperfection. It seems to come out of a striving and a frustration. This is where, I think, language came from. I mean, it came from our desire to transcend our isolation and have some sort of connection with one another...

I found an excerpt of this quote in a bookstore in Germany at the start of my EuroTrip in 2011. It's always stuck with me. Didn't realise how awesome it was in full.

“The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a tellar but for want of an understanding ear.”
- Stephen King, 'Different Seasons'

It captures the feeling I have when I can't quite impart the experiences I've had traveling and partly why I don't bother so much with photos.

Sourced from amigo: 'Nada en Realidad' Tumblr

It's why I take stock in living in the moment and valuing the fact experience is felt in the bones.

- When words fail: Language and Connection in South America
- 'Loz in Transit' on the radio: Talking 'Waking Life' and existentialism

Harmony Korine talks to Marc Maron about "Plotting" and The Joker talk to Harvey Dent about "schemers"

L'enfant terrible Harmony Korine

Marc talks to 'Spring Breakers' director Harmony Korine about the value he places in plot for his films and life

WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 374 - James Franco, Harmony Korine, Nate Bargatze, Peter Sagal
MARC MARON: (59m 30s) So story initially is not that important?
HARMONY KORINE: No I mean story is always important. Characters are always important. Sometimes I have a problem with like the idea of plot
panel and audience laughter
Cuz life never seems plotted or people who plot things seem horrible. Right? If you're a person who's gonna plot your life I don't want to be around you. So why would I want to plot my movies?
MARON: You might want to be around them when the plot starts failing cuz that's always interesting. Well that plot didn't work out now its...
KORINE: Story and characters are what I like

The Joker reasoning with Harvey Dent (Two-Face) on the merits of chaos over order

VIDEO: The Dark Knight - Hospital Scene (Two-Face and Joker)

The Dark Knight (2008)
THE JOKER: [speaking to Two-Face] Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just, do things. The mob has plans, the cops have plans, Gordon’s got plans. You know, they’re schemers. Schemers trying to control their worlds. I’m not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how, pathetic, their attempts to control things really are. So, when I say, ah, come here, when I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal, you know that I’m telling the truth. It’s the schemers that put you where you are. You were a schemer, you had plans, and uh, look where that got you. I just did what I do best. I took your plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did, to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hm? You know what, you know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press that like a gang banger, will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it’s all, part of the plan. But when I say that one, little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!
[Joker hands Two-Face a gun and points it at himself]
Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. Oh and you know the thing about chaos, it’s fair.

Find other Marc Maron posts below:
- AV Club's Nathan Rabin talks about Podcast Culture on Marc Maron's 300th episode of WTF
- Actor, Writer and Traveler Mike White speaks to Marc Maron about Adventure
- Dan Harmon talks Television with Marc Maron on GT4: "Hamburger" Art and living in a "concrete, Orwellian Honeycomb"
- Is Andrew W.K a persona that has been played by multiple actors? Marc Maron in conversation with Andrew W.K.

Harmony Korine and James Franco in conversation with Marc Maron: Taste, performance art and playing a character

'Spring Breakers' Harmony Korine and James Franco
in conversation with Marc Maron on a live WTF in Austin

Marc Maron talks to renaissance man James Franco about how much of his projects are genuine. As someone who navigates the world of Blockbuster movies, Arthouse, Soap Operas, Tabloids and Art, Marc tries to understand where Franco's "performance" starts and ends:

WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 374 - James Franco, Harmony Korine, Nate Bargatze, Peter Sagal
MARC MARON: (1h 06m 30s) Why did you do the 'General Hospital' thing was that an experiment?
HARMONY KORINE: You just wanna ask why he does so much shit
MARC MARON: No no because after he hosted the Academy Awards, afterwards people were like "Is he f*cking around?" What was going on with that. You do the General Hospital thing and you make a documentary on that. Where does the goof end?
...
JAMES FRANCO: There's just different levels of engagement. There's no reason not to be able to do all different sides. When I go and act in a film like 'Oz'. I Play the Wizard of Oz and the goof ends. I wanna fit in that world. I'm not trying to wink at the audience and say hey its me the actor behind the character. I want that character to fit into that world. But as soon as I'm done with that project there's no reason why I have to stand behind the facades of these characters and be noone...
MARON: So when you were doing the General Hospital thing, was that funny to you?
FRANCO: I mean it started off like as you said an experiment. I was talking to an artist friend of mine and we were gonna do a movie where my character had formerly been in a Soap Opera. And that got us talking about "Hey what if you were really in a Soap Opera?". And I'd also been reading this book by this guy called Carl Wilson called something like 'Journey to the End of Taste'... the conclusion he gets is that different people get different things from art or culture...

It strikes me that Franco is embodying the privilege that Camus envisions of the Actor in 'Myth of Sisyphus', someone who truly embraces the absurdity of life. Marc in typical comedic fashion takes a shot at Franco for being too precious but to the Actor's credit Franco reiterates the importance of "staying in character".

JAMES FRANCO: (1h 11m) Before I went on, I thought "Oh am I going to have to act Soap Opera style?". And when I got there, a big lesson for me was how important context is and how context transforms a performance...
MARC MARON: And sometimes you just can't transcend the context
FRANCO: No it transforms you. You can never transcend the context to a certain extent and nor do you really want to. If you're trying to transcend the context then you're just making the movie about you and your performance. I see movies as a Director's medium, I always want to serve the Director and the film so I don't want to transcend the context, its just that sometimes the context is weird 

VIDEO: Marc Maron Talks Accidentally Offending James Franco During Live 'WTF' Podcast At SXSW

Find other Marc Maron posts below:
- AV Club's Nathan Rabin talks about Podcast Culture on Marc Maron's 300th episode of WTF
- Actor, Writer and Traveler Mike White speaks to Marc Maron about Adventure
- Dan Harmon talks Television with Marc Maron on GT4: "Hamburger" Art and living in a "concrete, Orwellian Honeycomb"
- Is Andrew W.K a persona that has been played by multiple actors? Marc Maron in conversation with Andrew W.K.

Pete Holmes on "getting into it" - People watching, connecting and conversations

New Yorker Cartoon by Bruce Erik Kaplan

Episode 77 - Pete Homes on 'Who Charted?' (Plant-Based Dick)
(1h 27m) PETE HOLMES: I love how they were making fun of this sort of... I've always been interested in how bad conversation is. It's so bad. Most people never talk, ever, never - You understand? Never have a real conversation. Its just transferring, passing this hockey puck back and forth of being like "So how are your kids? Well Tommy's..." Shut the f@ck up! What happens when we die?! Whatever or what are you afraid of?
...
HOWARD KREMER: Pete is speaking about something I think about often. I can't even pay attention to waiters when they're talking to me. Cuz I'm looking at the real guy, where does this guy live?
HOLMES: That's why I can't get into strip clubs. I can't just look at her as a body, I'm not even trying to impress women or be a feminist. Like "What kind of car does she have?", "What kind of breakfast is gyrating in front of me?"
KREMER: Its people watching

Find previous Pete Holmes podcast references below:
- Pete Holmes collection: Adjacent experiences
- Zach Cregger: Being a kid again and the power of "play"
- Matt Besser: Travel coincidences and Counting the serendipities
- Duncan Trussell: Traveling, living the dream and remembering it
- Kyle Kinane: Being excited everyday
- The Sklar Brothers: Performing, possibly failing - That's living the dream
- A question answered with a quote: Comedy Podcasts