Alright, I can't help myself.

The Midge-

If you could have explored a career in a different musical genre than rock, what would it have been? Jazz? Hip-Hop? Country? Metal?

The BMI thing is actually used a lot in the diagnosis of eating disorders, or so my psychology instructor told me.

For example, if someone is "binge-eating," which is consuming food almost to the point of incessance where it becomes nearly impossible for the patient to stop (sometimes while consuming 4,600 calories a day), the BMI index is used to gauge whether or not they are edging towards obesity, which is a DSM IV criteria.

It is also used in bulimia, where people will binge eat but compensate for it by throwing it up (purging type, either by vomiting or using laxatives), because the difference between bulimia and anorexia purging-type (in addition to starvation, vomiting and use of laxatives) is that anorexics have a weight 15% lower than normal while still being convinced they are fat, whereas bulimics will stay right around a normal BMI based on whether or not they just purged (lower) or binge ate (higher). This is all based on DSM IV criteria.

The BMI is a quick reference more so than anything. The calculations have never changed.

Weight divided by Height (inches) squared multiplied by 703.

As the weight of the ideal body decreases, the average weight of people (in the US) is rising.

I lost a lot of weight since I topped out at a high number which I still cringe thinking about. I am 6'5" and weigh 230. By the BMI, I am overweight. Meanwhile, I go to the doctor and they say I am thin for my frame (very wide shoulders). So it is a quick reference type of thing more than a exact measurement scenario.

Hey Tim,

When you were young, did you have a problem with insecurity? I'm barely 22, and I have realized that through out my life, up to this day, I often relied on others to make me feel good/worthwhile. This is clearly a sign that I have this unnatural amount of feeling, as described as feeling insecure about myself as a person of being. Do you have any tips as to how to reverse this condition that has long plagued me?

Hey Tmidgett -

I finally finished that project I was working on with the Japanese game shows clips. It's at the bottom of this page:
http://nadir-novelties.net/
and it's called "nut abuse".

"Thought" you'd be "interested".

Dear Mr. Midge,

Why did I stupidly trade this for this so many years ago? If I remember correctly, I also received a pouch of Drum tobacco as part of the trade because I was a shrewd negotiator.

Have you ever sold records that you regretted later?

Why the "no mastering" edict on BCF?

Money.

C/Z wasn't particularly concerned w/qual when it came to the music they released. It was more about getting prod out there and creating a buzz and all that.

Some good records happened to be on C/Z. I think In the West is a good record. Bear Catching Fish is a good record. Dirt Fishermen's Vena Cava album is a good record. Something Vicious for Tomorrow is a very good record. And the first Built to Spill record is incredible.

Then there are maybe four or six records on C/Z that are OK. Everything else on the label ranges kind of shitty to terrible.

Tim, I had the shittiest day I have had in some time, and upon reading this I did the stoopid movie cliche of laughing so hard I started to cry.

Salut, Tim, for making it OK for me to cry like a woman.

Doesn't 'crying like a woman' mean tears of sorrow over something of minor consequence? Then again, if you ARE a woman, as you are, I suppose all crying is like a woman's crying.

Anyway, glad I could help!

If you could have explored a career in a different musical genre than rock, what would it have been? Jazz? Hip-Hop? Country? Metal?

I am not a genre guy--I don't even really think of myself as a rock musician, though certainly that is what I am.

I cannot imagine doing anything other than what comes to me naturally. Which has much more to do with selfishness and a desire for instant gratification than anything else.

Maybe laziness, also. One man's laziness is another man's efficiency.

When you were young, did you have a problem with insecurity? I'm barely 22, and I have realized that through out my life, up to this day, I often relied on others to make me feel good/worthwhile. This is clearly a sign that I have this unnatural amount of feeling, as described as feeling insecure about myself as a person of being. Do you have any tips as to how to reverse this condition that has long plagued me?

These are serious questions. Well, it helps if you can start with one little area of your life that you can claim for yourself, unequivocally.

For example, I did this with music at an early age, probably 15 or so. Just went my own way w/it, aligned myself only with people with whom I felt a strong kinship, and got stubborn about doing things the way I wanted to do them.

Doing something like that will help you build self-reliance and in turn self-confidence. You can do this with absolutely anything that interests you--writing, painting, motorcycles, mathematics, whatever.

Also, you will tire of hearing this, but nothing can have 'long plagued' you when you are 22. I thought I knew a lot of things when I was 22. I wish I knew what I know now back then. Things are a lot better now.

Hey Tmidgett -

I finally finished that project I was working on with the Japanese game shows clips. It's at the bottom of this page:
http://nadir-novelties.net/
and it's called "nut abuse".

"Thought" you'd be "interested".

I am and I am afraid to go to this link. But I will do so later.

Dear Mr. Midge,

Why did I stupidly trade this for this so many years ago? If I remember correctly, I also received a pouch of Drum tobacco as part of the trade because I was a shrewd negotiator.

Have you ever sold records that you regretted later?

As you know, that is a pretty bad trade. But Love Buzz isn't that great musically.

I have had to buy a couple things back. Cult _Electric_, I think. Probably a couple of other things.

I sold some Miles Davis double-albums when I got the Japanese CDs. That was dumb. I didn't make the fatally retarded CD-for-vinyl swap too much.

Oh, the worst was selling an awesome original German issue of Faust _So Far_ when I got a pretty nice CD version of it. Jesus H, what a dumbass. "Woo hoo, I bought this for $10 and sold it for $30. I'm a genius." DUMB.

That said, I have about 300 LPs to sell right now.

Honestly, when am I going to put an Aerosmith record on? Or the first couple Beastie Boys 12"s? Or Eminem. Or anything by Jerry Jeff Walker.

Never, that's when. I still like that music, but I'm not going to sit around and listen to any of it. I don't know what would cause me to do such a thing.

tmidgett wrote:Never, that's when. I still like that music, but I'm not going to sit around and listen to any of it. I don't know what would cause me to do such a thing.

Retrograde amnesia maybe?

Braden wrote:

tmidgett wrote:Never, that's when. I still like that music, but I'm not going to sit around and listen to any of it. I don't know what would cause me to do such a thing.

Retrograde amnesia maybe?

You're right! Or senility. Though in both cases, I might as well recreate the entire experience of buying the record etc.

tmidgett wrote:

Braden wrote:

tmidgett wrote:Never, that's when. I still like that music, but I'm not going to sit around and listen to any of it. I don't know what would cause me to do such a thing.

Retrograde amnesia maybe?

You're right! Or senility. Though in both cases, I might as well recreate the entire experience of buying the record etc.

If you were senile, you would probably think you were in Aerosmith.

Hey tmidgett,

I was re-reading Despair this w/end, which prompted an internet search resulting in this:

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/03/27/despair.html

Thought you might be interested.

And no, of course it's not available on DVD.