Live Through This
Fuse TV has a new series called Live Through This about rock stars who have bad things happen to them. The show "takes a look at some of your favorite musicians and their heroic tales of recovery."
I was interviewed for the pilot show that featured Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue--remember them, 1980's, "Smoking in the Boys Room?" In the show, Sixx talks about the addiction problems that almost killed him. Since getting clean, Sixx is now working with Covenant House California to raise awareness of addiction in youth. He is also the author of a new book, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star
and has released a new CD, The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack.
The next episode airs on Fuse TV on Sunday, March 2nd at 2:00 pm Eastern.
You can watch a YouTube clip with some of my interview here:
I was interviewed for the pilot show that featured Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue--remember them, 1980's, "Smoking in the Boys Room?" In the show, Sixx talks about the addiction problems that almost killed him. Since getting clean, Sixx is now working with Covenant House California to raise awareness of addiction in youth. He is also the author of a new book, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star
and has released a new CD, The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack. The next episode airs on Fuse TV on Sunday, March 2nd at 2:00 pm Eastern.
You can watch a YouTube clip with some of my interview here:
Labels: interesting books, media stuff, music
posted by Helen at 7:13 PM
24 Comments:
If I call you a hottie, would that be totally inappropriate for this blog?
Seeing and hearing you makes me think of Andie Macdowell.
Memphis Steve,
People have told me I look like Andie Macdowell for as long as I can remember... I take it as a compliment. I think she looks great.
Sorry to disagree Doc. You look better, sound better and just outclass her in every way imaginable.
Bummer, I don't get that channel. Let us hope this is the start of a brilliant side-career as one of those TV expert-commentators you always see on shows on the History Channel and Discovery, etc.
Regarding your introductory comment about children that frequently move, I wonder if that holds true for "military brats." Is it the move, or is it an unstable family situation that causes the issues (family issues causing moves)?
Or is it society not easily accepting new people? Perhaps schools near military bases have more churn of students, so the other children (and teachers) are more mentally flexible (accepting?) of new kids, so there are fewer issues.
I also perked my ears up when you mentioned moving, as military brats are special cases of that. The best case is the multiple generations of military folks serving; the worst is a kid who grows up like this one did.
Have you any observations you'd point to for military families?
You do some pretty cool stuff, Helen.
Richard and Chap,
Yes, the context is left out of the clips. Certainly a stable or unstable family life comes into play in regards to moving. Feeling that one has "no roots" and no stable parental figures might cause some kids to feel angry, frustrated and alone. I would say that military brats would feel a sense of groundedness in that their father or mother (whoever is in the military) is serving their country and has a purpose that helps the child to understand why they have to move or why their parent is not there. The separation or move is understandable in that context. That said, it can be hard on military children to move because they are always the new kid on the block and many of them live in schools and communities off the military base where other people might not understand military life. Here are some remarks about military kids made by Laura Bush that ring true:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/20030430-12.html
As a military brat, I changed schools/states annually until my sophomore year in high school, when dad retired, moved back to SOCAL, and I moved in with a friend to finish high school in Seattle.
Having a community of faith is an essential, tragically underrated, component in growing up.
And I don't mean 'faith in the nanny state', either.
Reading about this has gotten my gears turning. I'm thinking of calling old friends from way back, and starting up the band again.
Of course, we would have to dye the gray out. But we could call ourselves "The Snot Puppies", play crappy, and play loud, and probably make millions.
" Smoking in the Boys Room " was a huge hit for Brownsville Station ,a power trio out of Michigan in late 1973. It reached # 3 on the charts in January of 1974.
Teen-age rebellion on a tiny scale, heavy guitar with a harmonica solo - for those of us in high school at the time, like Alice Cooper's ' School's Out ". it was a glorious and timely song. They always patrolled the bathrooms for "smokers" back then, when fags were 40 cents a pack.
Doc: Thanks. I figured the nuance got soundbitten out. It might be worth it if more folks looked at brat culture; they might see something interesting.
And since we're going waaay off topic, Brownsville Station was led by a fella name of Cub Koda, who was a gifted writer and passionate advocate of those rockers who showed true passion. I followed his writing in Goldmine for decades.
About the military kids ... once when I was attempting to sneak out of a party this guy who'd been a psych major caught me, and he asked if I'd been a military brat. I admitted growing up Air Force.
He claimed that yep, people who moved a lot as kids tend to avoid goodbyes and just quietly leave. I don't know about the theory in general, but he sure had my number.
By the way I got my revenge on that psych major. Years later I interviewed him for a job, and we didn't hire him. Heh!
My father was a career Air Force NCO (1954-1974). I was born in 1956. I went to three different schools in the sixth grade alone (Marietta, Ga., Honolulu and Waiahole, Hawaii). Two different high schools (Shreveport, La. and Little Rock, Ark.) I have three brothers and a baby sister who was born in Tripoli, Libya.
I'm certain that they would all agree with me: we took it all as an adventure. We got to see and do things that most kids never would, and got a big-picture view of the world and America. Some of it was unquestionably hard: when Dad went TDY to Goose Bay, Labrador for a whole year by himself, it marked our youngest, Stevie (eighteen months old on Dad's return), for years afterward and Dad had to work especially hard to heal that up. He did a splendid job.
For us, it was the family itself that made it work. We had the best parents in the world: the loves of each others' lives for forty-seven years until we lost Dad in 2003. Because of all that, we all got the very best out of Dad's service and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Brat life is a mixed blessing, and its effect on the brat in question depends on many factors: the branch of service (they have different policies and attitudes about dependents); the rank and length of enlistment of the serving parent; the personalities of both parents; living and going to school on- vs off-post; how closely the brat identifies with the serving parent and the service.
And of course a lot depends on the brat's personality and the experiences they have during their "enlistment." Some brats learn to be flexible and adaptable. Others tend to fall back heavily on the family and the service. Some can't wait to become independent and start living a "normal" life. Others find it more or less difficult to adjust to "civilian" life. It's usually a mixture of results.
A book that helped me with my own dependent-related issues was Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress by Mary Edwards Wertsch.
I would also recommend The Great Santini by Pat Conroy. It gives you feel for what it's like to be a sensitive kid living with a larger-than-life warrior.
Dr. Helen,
Watched the show - you were great. I was so impressed with Nikki's tale and the sound from his new band I went to iTunes and bought that song they featured, "Life is Beautiful". Great song.
As for the Brat discussion, I did 21 years as a USAF Brat. 18 as a son and 3 as a husband. There is a great documentary out - http://www.bratsourjourneyhome.com/index.htm that really hits home.
My dad was in sales, and we moved quite a bit during my teenage years. Born and raised in Michigan, where most of the extended family still lives, but when I was 13 we moved to Lawrence, Kansas and lived there just one year. Then it was off to Washington state for two years, then to southwest Virginia, where I graduated from high school.
The hardest move was from Washington to Virginia; I had made friends there that I still keep in touch with, and I was very involved in the drum corps. Nevertheless, it was all an adventure, I learned to adapt and make friends quickly, and I saw some really neat places.
The key to all this, for me, was the fact that I knew Mom and Dad loved all us boys and were trying to do what was best for the family as a whole. I had a very loving, stable family life. I can't imagine what it would be like if my parents had not been so engaged in our lives. They knew that moving was hard -- heck, they were leaving friends and family, too -- but we were all in this thing together.
Now I'm starting to feel all squishy inside. Dad is struggling with mesothelioma right now, a circumstance which has prompted me to reflect a great deal lately on what a blessing I have in my parents.
One more thing.
Helen, you are a complete and utter babe. Pretty, smart, funny...the total package. Glenn is a lucky man.
But then, my wife is a complete and utter babe too, so I'm a lucky man as well. ;-)
Well, I am waiting t omeet a very attractive and smart woman like helen, but, no luck in AnnArbor, so far.
BTW, 2ndLt Murphy and Chap- living in Ann Arbor, I have had the opportunity to take guitar lessons with Mike Lutz, who , Played guitar for Brownsille Station. And this past saturday, iwent and saw bill Kirchen, who was the main guitar player for Commander Cdyand The Lost Planet Airmen? remember them? (Another band started by Univ of Michigan students in the late '60s.)
Hot Rod Lincoln!!!!!
{hah} I remember Kirchen:
Barricaded in the theater stairway right at the stage door: no matter who you were, you didn't get through without him jamming a guitar-pick load of crystal meth under your nose.
Strand Theater, Ithaca NY, c. 1978 with the Commander and the Airmen.
He played his ass off that night.
Lost in the Ozone Again...
Yes Indeed - I remember Kirchen as well, In fact I remember the incident all too well as I never - that whole night, during set-up or the performance, used that stairwell.
Hi Bill
0951成人頻道下載080聊天室080聊天室080聊天室080cc成人色網080cc成人色網080cc成人色網0204movie免費影片0204movie免費影片0204movie免費影片0204movie免費影片080aa片直播080aa片直播080aa片直播18jack主入口18jack主入口18jack主入口
Post a Comment
<< Home