28 Questions - A Meme Response

So, a friend of mine tagged me on this meme questionaire.  I don't usually do these (I didn't actually know they were called memes), but what the hey.  So, here goes...

1. Was your dad named after anyone? I don't think so.
2. What do you think is the minimal age to get married? I don't think anyone should rust into marriage before they're ready.  Age will be different for each person.
3. What’s the longest time that you’ve been involved with the same person? I guess it's been 7+ years.
4. What actor/actress do you consider hot at the moment? The wife from the modern family television show (Julie Bowen).
5. What is you favorite album by a band? I have many, but this is the first to come to mind:  Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol
6. What is your favorite album by an individual artist? Alice - Tom Waits
7. What is something that you’d rather be a bit dirty? Not sure.
8. What was the last TV show that you watched? So you think you can dance (Last night).
9. How many people have you met from the blogosphere? Who are they? Zero.
10. What’s your philosophy on life? Medium.
11. Do you think prescription drugs are over prescribed? Yes. And I think there are many consequences to this over prescribing.
12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest? Maybe. Depends.
13. What is your favorite memory in the last year? Can't think back that far.
14. What is your favorite guilty pleasure? 1. ice cream, 2. video games, 3. eating out
15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you: I am an odd/interesting fact. One of my spiritual gifts is "getting songs stuff in peoples' heads".
16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the ‘world peace etc’ malarky) – what are they? I would wish for 1. Contentment, 2. Not needing to sleep, 3. Magic
17. Who would you want to get together with and make a cake? My wife or Tom Waits.
18. Which country is your spiritual home? Maybe New Zealand.  If I ever go there, I'll verify.
19. What is your big weakness? Perfectionism.
20. Do you think Judd Corizan is a good person? I don't know Judd Corizan well enough to answer this question.  Is this question a way to track peoples' participation in this meme?
21. What was your best/favorite subject at school? Math, Science, English, Art, Music... Is that too many?
22. Describe your accent: Philly suburban/Delaware Valley + whatever else I may have picked up along the way.
23. If you could change anything about yourself, would you? Less thinking/More doing.
24. What do you wear to sleep? T-shirt and soccer shorts or lounge pants.
25. What is your favorite casual outfit to wear? Jeans and t-shirt.
26. Do you use cigarettes or alcohol? Yes to alcohol. Not anymore to cigarettes.
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together? (If you have no idea, just say something crazy, it’ll entertain me!) Drive down to Ocean City, NJ, get some Mack n' Mankos pizza, sit on the beach, maybe take a nap, read a short book.
28. Rate the memes that you play generally. Use any scale or just in order. Not sure.

Bill Murray Versus John Cleese

I was thinking the other day about Bill Murray, and a thought occurred to me that Bill Murray is America's John Cleese.  Can you think of anyone else from the United States, in the world of comedic acting, who compares with the longevity, influence, and shear mass of work of John Cleese?  A friend of mine seemed to think that Bill Murray might even surpass John Cleese, but the resumes tell a different story.  See below a summary of credits of each (shamelessly gathered from IMDb):

Bill Murray          Category                  John Cleese
7                         Writer                      55
57                       Actor                       108
5                         Soundtracks             3
3                         Produced                 42
1                         Directed                   3
1                         Edited                      0
3                         Thanked                   2
60                       Played Himself          161
35                       Archived                   35

The numbers tell a story which is decidedly in favor of JC.  JC is eleven years older than BM, but they began their careers only one year apart, so the comparison is pretty fair.

My name is Nick and I have a problem...

I have often heard that the first step in working through or defeating a struggle is to admit the struggle.  To that end I have, for a long time, struggled with self righteous angst against petty things not worthy of angst.  I boil up with rage against anything main stream just because it's main stream.  Liking things that most people don't like (i.e. acquired taste music like Frank Zappa or Tom Waits) and disliking things that too many people like is a badge of honor that I often wear with pride.  Long ago I realized that disliking something just because other people like it is pretty much the same thing as liking something just because other people like it.  However, this realization alone has not been enough to squelch my snobbery.  Ultimately, that's what it is.  I use this cultural elitism to build myself up and to judge others.  It is a club of my own concocting to give myself worth... to fight against those who didn't let me into the clubs they concocted.  This hasn't resulted in happiness though.  So what if you like Phil Collins... think his music is great.  So what if you buy the latest popular album only to find it an embarrassment later (Do you have a Limp Bizkit album?).  This shouldn't make me angry.  This is not a proper measuring stick of someone's worth.  I think I can still enjoy the tastes I have acquired over my life without belittling the tastes others have acquired over their lives.  I also don't think the angst I have over felt over these petty trivial things is worth while.  Life is too short to waste so much of it upset for no good reason.  So I am going to give it up.  I feel better already.

My latest question

I often have a question that I ask people in an effort to prompt discussion that gets a little past the usual introductory chat and get to know people in a different kind of way.  Those who have known me for a while have likely been asked the following: "If a wizard approached you and told you that he was going to turn you into an animal, and you couldn't get out of it, but he would allow you to choose the animal... what animal would you choose?"
This has resulted in some pretty great responses that run the gamut, as you might imagine.
I have recently started asking a new question, which has two parts:
Part 1:  If you could destroy 3 bands/musical acts/artists from all history... which would you choose?
Part 2:  If you could only save 3 bands/musical acts/artists for all history... which would you choose?
I have really enjoyed a lot of the discussion that has resulted from these questions.  Ultimately, someone will choose to destroy a band that someone else likes or save a band that someone else dislikes, but it's all in good fun.  I almost like that part of it because it's a small way for people to work on disagreeing without fighting or getting angry (something that many us of could work a good deal on).
P.S. - I would destroy: Nickelback, Janis Joplin, & Cher and I would save: Tom Waits, Radiohead & Led Zeppelin