I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF with Michael Landon

Exclusive interview with Mike Peralta

1. Tell us, what made you get so much inspiration from Nirvana? What are your other influences?

 I was always somewhat into Nirvana from the moment I first heard them. Something about the lyrics, style, attitude, emotion, and sound always said to me that this was music from a guy in pain, a guy who resents his life and self so much that he has stopped "buying in" to the whole idea of what the world is supposed to be, what people are supposed to be like, what we're supposed to feel, what is considered cool, lame, good, bad, etc. I had a similar pain throughout my life and although it wasn't the result of Ritalin and the divorce of parents, it ran very deep in me for many years. I felt like I connected with Nirvana on that level, and thus on a level that I felt at the time no one else could truly share. Like me and Kurt were laughing in an awful horrible joke against the whole world, and at the same time ourselves as well. So yeah, beyond that emotional stuff, the music was easy to mimic, too. I sucked at guitar, AND was a horrible singer with little to no range, and to top it all off I was learning to play with my mom's 3/4th sized acoustic guitar that had strings literally a half inch off of the fretboard. I was a very very strong kid, and even then it took all the strength in my hands just to hold a chord on that guitar. Plus I was only able to strum "power chords", which are basically one simple shape that you can use to make all chords just by moving your hand around in the same shape. Because of that, Nirvana was one of the few bands I was even capable of playing, which fit in nicely with my desire to play them. I absorbed myself in their music, day and night, practicing that stupid guitar, singing them in the shower, blowing out headphones laying on my bed at night, and falling asleep in the middle of the day to them on my stereo. I was hooked for a long long time.

I've always been the kind of guy to absorb himself in what he is doing, and shut everything else out. So while I enjoyed other bands occasionally, it wasn't really until my hands got so strong that I could form actual chords on my guitar, that I started to branch out musically. I slowly got into Offspring, Green Day, Cranberries, Soul Asylum, Counting Crows, Aerosmith, and a ton of other random bands. Today I'm into Colin Hay - the guy fromMen at Work, and regularly play his songs "Beautiful World", "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin", and "Maggie" at gigs. I'm also into John Mayer right now too - his song "Who Says" is a masterpiece and basically makes me want to get stoned constantly, even though I don't smoke pot at all. Not that I'm against it, I'm just such a damn lightweight that the few times I tried it, I literally completely forgot who I was with and what I was doing, ignoring everyone around me pretty much the entire night just to focus on not making silly faces lol. I also love Bob Dylan, Oasis, Coldplay, Deathcab, Social D, Jimmy Eat World, and dang, I guess a million others.

2. Do some of your songs depict stories based in your own life events? Can you share one with us?

Yeah pretty much every single song I've written was about either a real story or at least a real temporary feeling I've had. That goes back to the whole Nirvana / My-Life-Sucks thing I had going for me through most of my childhood. I was so messed up that I regularly turned even people who liked me, against me. I would magically not be attracted to nice/good girls who were into me, and good friends who wanted to build me up... and attracted to anyone who would hurt me. And sometimes when I was wrong and picked a girl or friend who was good to me, I would somehow screw it up or abandon them. The self sabotage was just part of how messed up I was back then. So that's basically why I have so many songs about lost love and heart break - it was a constant element in my life. Even today, even though I've come a huge long way towards being able to love myself and be happy, I still have a tendency to be anti-social, or naturally gravitate towards the corner of the room, or become terrified when a nice girl asks me out. Because of that I usually only hang out with people that I have a specific purpose to be with, like if we're doing a project together, I'm helping them with something, or we both have to be at the same place at the same time for some reason. And as for girls I'm pretty much hopeless ha ha. I can think of about 5 times in the last 2 months where a really nice girl tried to get my number or hang out, and all I did was blow it by saying something stupid or acting scared or uninterested, then later regretting it.

So as far as the song goes, song,  I'll go to "I Heard". The lyrics in it are pretty self explanitory - "I heard that you didn't smile at my name. It hurts to think of your gentle face. I heard you told someone else to call you, instead of me". I won't name names but this was a girl in highschool that I had a huge crush on. She was actually one of the good ones, not a bad person or anything. She was really pretty and always nice to me in spite of my incessant awkwardness and clamming up that I did around her. It took me months and months of wanting to be with her, and talking about her to all my friends before I had the guts to even ask her to hang out. We ended up hanging at her place, in her bedroom watching TV and talking about school and friends and life while her parents ate dinner in the living room. I was so scared that I didn't make any sexual or suggestive comments, or make any moves on her or anything the whole time. I didn't even try to make plans for a second hangout. I had a slight cold at the time, so I also stayed away from getting close to her, to not get her sick. Then at the end of the night, still worried about getting her sick, I made my final fatal mistake. She was holding my hands, saying goodbye to me at her car after dropping me off at my house, and giving me the "i want a kiss" gaze deep into my eyes. I leaned forward and gave her a small peck on the lips and that was it. She drove away and although I hadn't yet realized what I had done wrong, that was the last time we would ever hang out. I have a tendency to build things up in my mind to magical proportions, and to romanticize everything and everyone, so although our hangout wasn't that great and I blew it at the end, I convinced myself that she was the perfect girl for me, and that we were only steps away from being a couple. Weeks after her not calling and me being too afraid to call, I heard from a friend of a friend that she saw one of my good buddies in the supermarket and gave him her phone number. My heart sank, I wrote "I Heard", and that was that.

3. I noticed that you are a very creative writer and coming up quickly with new ideas are already a part of your nature. Your previously described dream with Jay Leno caught my attention. If you were offered an opportunity to go to his show, would you present yourself in the same way as you did in your dream, and why?

Ha, thanks. Hmm.... that's a tough question. Its not really a question of whether or not I would WANT to, so much as whether or not I would have the nerve. I've always been a fan of the "joke? what joke?" Andy Kaufman es que humor, where instead of telling an actual joke or being purposely funny, you present yourself as if you're crazy or deranged in some way, and stick to your character with such dedication that your audience is half laughing because they're laughing, and half laughing because they can't tell if you're actually crazy or just a comedic genius. When I was in school I used to pull pranks like that all the time - tripping on a chair and then getting my foot stuck in it, and flailing around like a mad man in a futile attempt to shake it off, then pretending to get super angry at the whole situation. Only after everyone was done laughing would I tell my friends around me that it was all just a put-on, and sometimes I did so well at it that they wouldn't believe me. A few times I walked briskly in the rain and took a huge fake fall into a big puddle, then got up quickly and looked around nervously to feign embarrassment that someone else might have seen (which of course caused EVERYone in the immediate area to laugh quietly). Several times while drunk at parties I would walk face first into a wall just so the people around me would laugh, "Oh my god!!! That guy is so drunk he just walked into a wall!!!!".

So to answer your question... I think if I were feeling very brave, centered, confident, and focused, I could probably do it. I know that half the audience would LOVE the sheer madness of it all, and the other half would be entertained because they would have someone to complain about and make fun of to all their friends for the next few months. I'm hoping Jay Leno would secretly appreciate it too for the entertainment value. However, sometimes other people can make me nervous. If all the back-stage people and handlers started to give me too much of the impression that I had to be professional and that comedic shenanigans wouldn't be appreciated, I might chicken out. Maybe I should just keep a photo of Jim Carey in my pocket if that ever happened.

4. Tell us a little about your new CD. Did you write all of your songs?

I've got two CDs out. The one with all the acoustic tracks is "Music of My Youth". That's basically a collection of my most favorite songs that I've written throughout my youth all put in one place, with some strings in the background. I had to do that one on a tight schedule - took me about 2 weeks only to record because one of my old buddies wanted to throw a bunch of money at it to help promote it, and he also wanted to feature it in his online magazine. I came home after work every day for 2 weeks and would record on my little computer chair, with my stupid little mixer plugged into the back of my noisy PC soundcard. I even used a program to mix everything that was actually designed NOT for rock type music, but for electronica, lol. I basically did everything wrong except sing softly, but it still came out alright. I've been singing every song on that CD for such a long time. Each track is a part of me, a story of my life, a small secret pain that only I know about. Well I guess except for "I Heard" at this point lol. For a long time after I released it, I would drive all around up and down Anaheim and Orange singing to it in my car, trying to figure out how I could have done better, how I did better than I expected, and what it all really meant to me. Those tracks now are like a message from the past... like the Mike Peralta of my childhood, a lost boy in so much pain, speaking his stories to me so that I can learn from them and move past him. I used to think that the old me could never be fixed, and that the only thing I could ever do was just to die. Eventually, my own CD has helped me to realize that the old me needed to die in order for the person I am now to emerge. So I left him behind. And now when I sing my songs, it is my tribute to him.

My new / latest CD is actually just a single. Its called "I Want to Be Sad" and its available on iTunes now. You know how they say people often get addicted to emotions, just like a drug? I was sad for such a long time in my life that I actually was addicted to it. It was like a drug. I was so hooked that no other emotions felt valid, real, or right. Some alcoholics have difficulty kicking their habit, because deep down they WANT to drink - they're so addicted to the alcohol, it makes them feel so good, that they feel their best / happiest when they're drunk, regardless of how it effects their life.... Deep down, some alcoholics (maybe many or most for all I know) WANT to be drunks, because its the only thing that feels right to them. Well, sadness was my alcohol, for a very long time. Even years after I had set out to become a happier/better person, when I had made worlds of progress, I still missed it. I still missed the comfort that being sad gave me. It was like a warm blanket or something. So my track "I Want to Be Sad" is a tribute to that. Its a tribute to the tiny voice that still lingers in my heart, yearning for sadness. And its a tribute to all the situations that I subconsciously created out of thin air in order to achieve situations that made me so sad throughout my life. Again, putting these emotions into a song is more like allowing that part of myself to die off than anything. I have a tendency to do that - to use songs as my therapy (who doesn't, I guess). I still struggle with those feelings from time to time, but then again "I Want to Be Sad" is a relatively new song.

5. Where can your fans go to download your music?You can search for "Mike Peralta" on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Limewire's Store (if its still up), Napster, Jango, and a bunch of other links. More easily you can simply go to MikePeralta.com and just sit on the homepage for awhile - I have an mp3 player there that cycles through choice tracks off "Music of My Youth" and my new single. Also I have a discography page on my website that has links to all the other digital distributors. You can also subscribe to my newsletter on my website to earn a free instant Mp3 download. Also, I have a "Tracks for Tweets" section on my website that earns you a download of my new single just for tweeting about me. Or you could just post in my forums asking for a copy.

THE CISCO KID

52 Episodes in all available to fans of Leo Carillo (Pancho) and Duncan Renaldo (the Cisco Kid).

TALES OF MANHATTAN (1942)

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THE THING from another world.

THE RETURN OF DON CAMILLO (Italian in 13 chapters)

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The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Two drag-queens (Anthony/Mitzi and Adam/Felicia) and a transexual (Bernadette) contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a resort town in the remote Australian desert. They head west from Sydney aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla. En route, it is discovered that the woman they've contracted with is Anthony's wife. Their bus breaks down, and is repaired by Bob, who travels on with them.Written by Randy Goldberg

The Informer by John Ford (1937)

Dublin, 1922. Gypo Nolan, strong but none too bright, has been ousted from the rebel organization and is starving. When he finds that his equally destitute sweetheart Katie has been reduced to prostitution, he succumbs to temptation and betrays his former comrade Frankie to the British authorities for a 20 pound reward. In the course of one gloomy, foggy night, guilt and retribution inexorably close in... Written by Rod Crawford

^^RAT^^

PATHS OF GLORY (1957)

Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory is among the most powerful antiwar films ever made. A fiery Kirk Douglas stars as a World War I French colonel who goes head-to-head with the army’s ruthless top brass when his men are accused of cowardice after being unable to carry out an impossible mission. This haunting, exquisitely photographed dissection of the military machine in all its absurdity and capacity for dehumanization (a theme Kubrick would continue to explore throughout his career) is assembled with its legendary director’s customary precision, from its tense trench warfare sequences to its gripping courtroom climax to its ravaging final scene.

"Hello there soldier! Ready to kill more Germans?"

Satyajit Ray's - Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players) - (1977)

Sorry, but it's in Hindustani without subtitles, but I always have contended that great films need no verbal cues.
It is 1856, the eve of the first Indian struggle for independence (The Mutiny of 1857). A British firm, "The East India Company" rules much of India; directly or indirectly through 'treaties of friendship.'The kingdom of Avadh is under such a treaty of friendship with the British Company. Its ruler, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (Amjad Khan), is an indifferent ruler, who prefers arts to the matters of state or politics. He is a poet, composer, singer, dancer and a choreographer. In reality, he is merely a figurehead. The British Company has allowed the landlords to become fairly independent of the state. The Company, in addition to collecting the riches from the state, also takes a share of the taxes collected by the landlords.

Exclusive interview with Nikita Tyree

Nikita Tyree was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. This down to earth and stylish  singer /writer ( Hip Hop and R&B ) is also the CEO of:  Entertainment Company N.T.M 12 Entertainment and N.F.L Studios.  She currently has 13 songs on her repertoire under her Reverbnation profile. Be sure to check them out! Today I had the pleasure to interview her, and this is what she had to say:
(Exclusive and only on: Whoops, it is what it is!)

When did your passion for music begin?
My passion for music began when I was 14 yrs old. That's when I actually started writing and arranging my own songs. Singing has always been a part of my life. Attending a school of Arts and Vocal Training throughout my 4 years in high school was something that made me learn a lot more and increase my interest each day. I definitely have a story to share with the world!

Continue below...

What is your dream?

As a poet who has learned to transform my pieces into melodies, I have a hearts desire to be a song writer; then a singer. Maybe both together!  Writing is where my heart is.

Check out the slide version promo of her upcoming music video: "Reach Down":

THE COLLECTOR ~TERENCE STAMP (1965)

For the weirdo in this melodrama, a young man who kidnaps a girl and keeps her locked in the cellar of an old English country house, is a puzzler if ever there was one. He violently captures the girl by cornering her in a vacant alley and knocking her out with chloroform, the way he does the butterflies he also gathers. Then he hauls her off in a small van.

But once he has got her in the cellar, he treats her with soothing gentleness, brings her trays of food with flowers and begs her to fall in love with him. Stern though he is about insisting that she not go beyond the door, he is equally as lenient and indulgent in trying to be agreeable to her.

No wonder, the girl, an art student, is more bewildered than frightened by him, more inclined to be cautious and analytical than to try to crack him over the head. And no wonder she is altogether baffled and terrified now, indeed—when she finally offers to give herself to him and he shuns and reviles her hideously.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN (1961)

THE GREAT DICTATOR (Charlie Chaplin)+++

Sincronia "The Great Dictator" e "The Wall" pt.1/14
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Kanye West is wrapping up his album today!

Long time known and fully admired hip hop star Kanye West is delighting his fans by announcing that today he will  be wrapping up his new album. In addition to that, he will be adding the voice samples from his VMA performance as part of this process. The inclusion of this samples will give "Runaway"a special ingredient for various reasons. First, that all his fans (including me) would like to live one more time what is like to hear the song live just as it was performed during the VMA of this year. Second, despite this song will probably end up being 8 minutes long, listeners will still enjoy the beats and the voices that are being retrieved from the VMA performance. Such continuous song special effects, combined with the voice, talent, and Kanye's unique assertiveness, will only direct this album to extreme and expected success. This October 23, 2010 everyone that tunes in to MTV and BET will experience Kanye West's 35 min in length film: "Runaway", which will premiere simultaneously at 8pm US eastern time. Basically about  90 % of the songs featured in his film will be included in his upcoming album: "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", which is scheduled to be be released on November 22, 2010. Kanye's dream is to rebuild, revive, and broaden the pop culture  (which is inspired by the passing of Michael Jackson and painters such as Picasso.) 

LADY FRANKENSTEIN (1971)

When Dr. Frankenstein is killed by a monster he created, his daughter and his lab assistant Marshall continue his experiments. The two fall in love and attempt to transplant Marshall's brain in to the muscular body of a retarded servant Stephen, in order to prolong the aging Marshall's life. Meanwhile, the first monster seeks revenge on the grave robbers who sold the body parts used in its creation to Dr. Frankenstein. Soon it comes after Marshall and the doctor's daughter.

BALLAD OF A SOLDIER (Russian 1959)

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Ballad of a Soldier (Russian: Баллада о солдате, Ballada o soldate), is a 1959 Soviet film directed by Grigori Chukhrai and starring Vladimir Ivashov and Zhanna Prokhorenko. While set during World War II, Ballad of a Soldier is not primarily a war film. It recounts, within the context of the turmoil of war, various kinds of love: the romantic love of a young couple, the committed love of a married couple, and a mother's love of her child, as a Red Army soldier tries to make it home during a leave, meeting several civilians on his way and falling in love. The film was produced at Mosfilm and won several awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source and was nominated for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay.

THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH (1957)

Which film or tv personality would you have dinner with?

Wouldn't it be nice to get to meet in person just any film / tv personality that you admire at a dinner event and ask them everything that you would like to know regarding their goals, or things that they like? If you have been following my blog, you can probably tell the first names that will come up to my mind if you ask me that question, which are: Kanye West, Wendy Williams, Kendra Wilkinson, George Lopez, Drew Barrymore, Channing Tatum, and many, many more!  They're all very special to me. How about you and why?

THE MALTESE FALCON (1931)

That's it, behind the eight-ball.

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BARBARELLA (1968)

A sampler from the camp sci-fi hit starring Jane Fonda.
Join Barbarella as she battles the evil DURAN DURAN. 
http://www.duranduranonline.com/

SHAME (Skammen) ~Ingmar Bergman) 1968

The story follows two musicians, who, as a result of civil war, have moved away from society to a farm on a rural island. They are apolitical and indifferent to the war. As the film opens, Jan has had a dream: "I dreamed we were back in the orchestra, sitting side by side, rehearsing the 4th Brandenburg Concerto, the slow movement, and that everything we have now we had behind us. We only remembered it like a nightmare. I woke up crying. I started to cry when we were playing." Although they are in love, Jan (Sydow) is very sensitive and cries frequently, irritating his wife, Eva (Ullmann). When their farmhouse is the site of a siege wherein Jan and Eva treat the injuries of both sides' men, the two are rounded up by the invading force, interrogated and only spared when Eva provides sexual favors to the commanding officer, Colonel Jacobi. An investigation into Jacobi's corruption intensifies the frustrations and tensions between Jan and Eva, who sink further into depression as they attempt to flee.

As the film closes, Eva has had a dream: she walks a beautiful city street, until planes come and set fire to the city and its rose bushes. Jan and Eva walk their daughter to watch the rose petals burn in the water, "And I knew there was something I should remember. Something one of us had said, but which I had forgotten. I started to cry as I remembered."

D.W.GRIFFITH'S "INTOLERANCE" (1916)

From http://rottentomatoes.com >>
After Birth of a Nation, what do you do for an encore, especially after said film has branded you a racist? D.W. Griffith, the silent era's "king of the world," mounted this melodramatic spectacle of "Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages," four stories that illustrate "how hatred and intolerance have battled against love and charity." Critic Heywood Broun, upon the film's release, probably said it best: "Quite the most marvelous thing which has been put on the screen, but as a theory of life it is trite." But what's on the screen is dazzling!

LA DOLCE VITA ~FEDERICO FELLINI (1960)

A family that truly inspires!

Kendra Wilkinson recently posted in her website photos of her husband’s birthday celebration, of both of them on their way to dinner, and of a recent visit to a park in Philadelphia. It’s just fascinating how we all have seen Kendra’s life be transformed in no time. This wonderful woman gives each one of us (her fans), a reason to keep following her steps: her consistency in succeeding without letting anything get on the way. In other words, she has demonstrated that no matter what, you should always follow what your heart says. Kendra Wilkinson is living now in a lovely family circle; and there is a little boy that strengthens that love: Kendra and Hank’s son.

Kendra, Hank and their son will be going through several transitional changes. Hank will no longer be playing for the Eagles, but he will be playing now for the Minnesota Vikings! Kendra and her husband are very much in love, and this fact is what keeps Kendra’s fans always checking up on them. We are all very confident that despite any sudden changes that this family might face at any point in their lives, there is a reason to it, for the better.

Kendra is an exemplary woman. She has done everything in her power to be someone who has made a positive difference in others lives (including her own fans), while enjoying her own life with her family as well. If she wasn’t famous, she would still have been the same simple Kendra: a sensitive and loving woman that has faced obstacles and challenges in her life just like anyone else, but always keeping her head up, no matter what. We love you Kendra and keep being who you are! Here's a video I found on You Tube of a book signing in Philadelphia, enjoy!

NOSFERATU (1922)

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LENI RIEFENSTAHL (documentary in German[no subs])

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What's my favorite Drew Barrymore movie?

My answer to a question made on the website of Lopez Tonight: This is a very hard question for me to answer, considering that Drew Barrymore is my favorite female actress. She played in the first movie that ever made me cry, although I watched it 6 years after it was made. That's how old I was. I remember still like yesterday how my father saw me crying. I was feeling a little embarrassed for some reason, but one thing I will never forget about that day I watched E.T., was that my father said: "It's okay to cry". Of course, I didn't know the little girl in that movie was Drew Barrymore, but later on in life as I kept researching about this awesome actress I came accross the information that revealed that my favorite actress Drew Barrymore was the little girl in the first movie that made me cry. So now, my real answer to this question is: "Never Been Kissed". Now this would take me hours to answer why, but, what I can say, is that I identified myself with her character in the movie in so many ways! If you knew me you would know. I love Drew Barrymore, always will! What's your favorite Drew Barrymore movie?