I was going to do a “We Salute You” tribute, but I realized an interview would be better.  Besides, I’m honestly unsure about how to approach even an introduction to Godforbid.  Do I say he’s one of my favorite rappers?  After all, the dude has moved on from mere hip hop—he’s currently working with That Handsome Devil, making some of the most creative shit I’ve heard since Zappa was wearing tight pants and frowning at the audience. 

Shit...there I go, making music critic comparisons. Here’s the bottom line: this interview is some of the best stuff Brainsturbator has done in 2007.  That Handsome Devil is an amazing band, and I feel confident saying that checking out their music will radically improve your day.  Godforbid is a singular human being, and you’re about to find out why directly from him.

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In the past year, I’ve been becoming a much more optimistic human being.  This is due to two things: first, seeing several of my lunatic projects take on a life of their own (and even make me money), and second, meeting up with a small network of truly amazing people.  GOMAR2 is one of them—I find this fellah to be an inspiration.  I figured it’s only right to introduce him to the Brainsturbator audience, since this is a perfect example of the “win/win/win situation” structure that’s been fascinating me for the past 12 months.

I win, because I get to present you the reader with dope content.  GOMAR2 wins, because he gets his message and his art out through a new outlet.  And you win, because this is a great interview.  An incredible interview.  See, I only wrote the questions, so I’m allowed to say that. In related news, I’ve been snoozing on the depth and extent of my international network of power weirdos, change agents, and grey magicians.  There will be quite a number of interviews in the coming months, so I’d appreciate feedback or criticism if you have any. 

With that said, let’s commence the conversatin’...

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This will be an unconventional We Salute You.  If you’re new to Brainsturbator, we do an irregular series of profiles on folks I consider to be Important Humans.  In the past, that’s included such admirable primates as Aubrey DeGray, Jacques Vallee, Yoshiro Nakamatsu, even UFC fighter Jeff Monson.  These are all people who are, in their own way, making a positive contribution to the human species.

G. Clotaire Rapaille is not.  At all. Rapaille is a marketing consultant, one of the highest-paid, highest-profile experts on the hidden psychological forces that drive consumers.  He is a very wealthy and successful man, and he has no qualms about the serious social damage that his work has done.  So why write about him—why “salute” him, especially?

I am writing this because Rapaille is a con man.  Rapaille is, near as I can tell, one of the most accomplished, audacious and ambitious con men alive today.  He has woven a tapestry of pre-existing ideas into something he claims is radically new—and he’s convinced the many of the most powerful people in the world that he’s right.  Considering consensus reality is against me here, you might be thinking I’ve set the bar too high—if the Fortune 500 says Rapaille is right, who am I to say he’s wrong? Just a hick with a sharp eye, folks.  I’m not asking you to agree with me, but I do think you’ll enjoy chewing this over.  Let’s take a closer look behind this curtain.

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“I ask of cinema what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs.”

Is it any wonder this man is one of my favorite directors?  This has been a policy of mine for years—I’m not interested in a movie that’s not at least as weird as my own dreams. I do not watch films to see the subtleties of real-life relationships writ large, or to witness the human drama get re-interpreted....I want huge, insane and beautiful vistas that could only exist in cinema.  (For now.) Alejandro Jodorowsky not only agrees with me, he probably thinks I’m a sissy for not making even bigger and crazier demands.

A few years ago, Jodorowsky basically didn’t exist here on the Internets—thankfully, that’s changed quickly.  Best of all, he’s even working on a new movie, rumored to be funded by none other than Marilyn Manson.  Like any worthwhile human, Jodorowsky is way more complex than we could possibly give him credit for—but we’re going to give it a shot just the same.  Director, actor, magician, occultist, therapist, artist and comic book creator—and that’s just the first couple layers.  Say hello to Alejandro Jodorowsky.

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Thanks to Kory for the heads up on this guy—a goofy, lovable and generous mad scientist from Japan who’s working towards 6000 inventions before he dies at age 144.  He has built an elaborate daily ritual which keeps him energized, loving life, and creating brilliant ideas left and right.

“In my country, the drive to succeed-and the competition-is unbelievably intense. From early on, Japanese children are under enormous pressure to learn. I was fortunate that my parents encouraged my natural curiosity along with my academic learning from the very beginning. They gave me the freedom to create and invent-which I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember.”

This began as a quick “We Salute You” post, because it’s been over a week since my last entry—but Nakamatsu’s beautiful brain has covered so much territory that I wound up with a badass article despite myself.  Please enjoy the ride.

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It’s been a long time since we did up a We Salute You—and I’ve gotten a ton of outstanding suggestions for who to feature next.  I have a list in my notebook of over 50 people we’ll cover by 2008, all of whom are truly incredible specimens...intellectual giants, humanitarian saints, revolutionary daredevils, occult masterminds, superhuman atheletes, and forgotten geniuses.

Instead of all that, I decided to go with a relatively unknown acidhead surfer named Kary Mullis.  He also happened to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, so this article will only partially be a profile of Mr. Mullis.  I also want to explore the immense benefits of psychedelics, the current state of acid science and hallucinogenic research, and the semi-secret history of LSD and it’s use by scientists, artists and creative types from all walks of life.  I think is a path worth exploring, but then again, I’m something of an acidhead myself.

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I’ve rejected a lot of ideas for the “We Salute You” series because we need to keep it at least relatively sacred.  So to drive the point home --- more for my own benefit than as some e-lecture to our diverse and amazing readers --- today we’re going straight to the peak of the mountain.

Jiddu Krishnamurti is more important than Jesus to Brainsturbator.  This is for two primary reasons.  First, Jesus Christ’s actual teachings, aside from fragments like the Gospel of Thomas, are almost entirely corrupted and lost today.  Second, so far as I know, not a single person has been killed, nor a single war begun, nor a single child molested in the name of Jiddu Krishnamurti.  Although it is of course no fault of Yeshua ben Josef’s what has been done to his legacy after his, uh, “death”, that’s still something which must be weighed when considering the legacies of the two men.

Now that we’ve cleared out the room almost completely, let’s begin.

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We’ve mentioned the fruity genius several times now, once as “the only guy we trust on UFOs”. 

Why do we trust Jacques Vallee?  Because he admits he has no idea what’s going on with UFOs. There are a lot of people who do research on UFOs, but that’s not science, because they’re doing research with their conclusions already drawn. Jacques Vallee dug as deep as anyone, but he kept an open mind, and he kept his eyes focused on the evidence --- not his brain’s own pattern recognition reflexes. 

What he found is some of the most disturbing and interesting material you’ll find anywhere.

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Jeff Monson is a singular dude.  The man is an eloquent and thoughtful anarchist, and a dedicated social justice activist, who happens to beat the living f**k out of people.  He does it professionally, on pay-per-view, with the Ultimate Fighting mixed martial arts league.  If you’re manly enough to pay attention to that sort of thing --- and really, who doesn’t love Ultimate Fighting? the terrorists, that’s who --- then you know that Jeff Monson is considered the Next Big Contender, with a fight coming up November 18th against Tim Sylvia which should be insanely entertaining. We wish him the best of luck, because when he wins, he can grab that mic and say whatever he wants.

He does have losses on his record to Chuck Liddell, but then again, so does everyone else in the UFC.  Monson, at least, was not knocked out and made it to the end of the match to lose by decision. 

But I promise that’s the end of the fight-geekitude --- let’s take a look at what Jeff Monson actually has to say.

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This post is a doozy --- we might even expand this into a full-fleged gallery wing, like we did for Paul Laffoley.  Kris Kuksi is a visionary artist who deserves to be better known here in the US --- and we’re going to our part by etching his work across your retinas for a few heady minutes.  Pound the rest of your coffee and light up that roach --- we’re going in.

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