I was having a discussion with Mr Porretto yesterday, the gist of which was, what is that indefinable something that draws us to read or watch or see the work of some and not others?

I love movies that are full of slapstick, sight gags, scatologiocal humor. Until he died, Chris Farley did this in spades. And yet, I couldn’t watch him, his movies drove me mad. Adam Sandler, a great actor in his own right, has made some movies that redefine slapstick- and yet, again, I cannot countenance his stuff, it’s painful for me to watch.

No, I’m a HUGE fan of Mel Brooks. Anything by the knuckleheads. groucho Marx. I cannot turn away from Takashi’s castle. Monty Python? I’ve memorized most episodes. What makes those things resonate with me? Why don’t other movies resonate so clearly?

Authors too. Dan Brown can write compelling interesting fiction which begs to be read in marathon sessions. It’s formulaic crap, but it’s entertaining. Ayn Rand is also entertaining and formulaic, but I have not read anything by her that didn’t make me want to ressurect her just so I could bitchslap her to death again.

Same for musicians. Bruce Springsteen. great musician, technically. Legendary concerts. Other than a few songs? crap. Bob Seeger, on the other hand, not so talented, but I enjoy his work immensely. But for that ‘old trime rock & roll” shit. Even he’s probably embarrassed by that. The only song, I think, played at more weddings than the chicken dance.

Blogging is like that. I read Steve H, daily. There are others much like him. Why does he resonate? why does his stuff make me laugh and Maddox and Tucker Max make me cringe?

There are also half a dozen gunbloggers. Kim Du Toit has held my attention from day one. others do similar things, and some are every bit as talented as Kim, but they leave me cold.

Finally, what was it with Rob Smith that made him resonate with so many people? there were folks of all stripe that read him and it seems as if each person showed up there every day for different reasons. yeah, he was rough around the edges. yeah, he was a different voice. That can be said of most.

All i know is, if you could put that in a bottle, you’d be in like flint.

By the way, if you haven’t downloaded the songs by rob, you’ll want to do so. If you never met him, (like me) you look at the pictures and expect him to have a tom-waits gravelly voice. Instead,it’s surprisinly nice and controlled. I’ll burn these off and play them in my car and remember.