SevenQuestions: John Orr

Interviewed by Tom Mangan

Seven answers on 7Q (also known as the FAQs of life.)
John Orr, newsguy, guitarist, online veteran (aka Dr. Gone).

His Web works are online here.

AUTHORS

Michael Fuchs
Elizabeth Hilts
Paul Riddell
Gary Rivlin
Jim Motavalli
Barbara Shafferman
Jules Siegel
Keith Snyder

ARTISTS/POETS/
PHILOSOPHERS

Jon C. Allen
Will Baker
Mike Leung
Jon Sarkin

COOL SITE KEEPERS

Mike Cash
Scott O'Neal Colf
Godfrey Daniels
Cliff Davis, DDS
Tammy Hocking
Wes Modes
Frank Rogan

DIARISTS

Ralph Becker
J. D. Bruns
Linda DeVault
Mike Reed
Moira Richardson
Jessamyn West

FILMMAKERS

Ben Kufrin
Dean Mermell

JOURNALISTS

Bernie
Mary Cooley-Jones
Lindsay Crysler
Jamie Dupree
M.O.A.T.M.A.I.
David Moll
Robert Niles
John Orr
Steven Ovadia
Pierce Presley
Mack Reed
Rip Rense
Curtis Ross
Neal Ross
John Scalzi
Catherine Seipp
David Sheets
Dwight Silverman
Matt Welch

MOVIE MAVENS

MaryAnn Johanson
Brian Koller

HUMORISTS

Debbie Farmer
Mike Jasper
Madeleine Begun Kane
Patrick Keller
Bob Sassone
Valerie Sprague
Ken Swarmer
Ian Wolff

SOLDIERS

Maj. Jon Anderson, USAF

TEACHERS

John Warner

TECHIES

Chris Adamson
Mike Gunderloy
Michael Ivey
Greg Knauss
Floyd Maxwell
Ellen McDonough
Mike Pingleton
Wayne Thume
John Worth

TEENS

Gary Baum
Marty Beckerman

UNDECLARED

Bev Gibbs
Beth Reid

WEBLOGGERS

Jason Kottke
Jish Mukerji

ONE
It's taken as a given that the blues gave birth to rock 'n' roll. For the unwashed out there, how does the mother blues differ from the child rock?

There are no absolutes, but blues is driven more by soul and primal needs; rock is driven more by posing. I remember once discussing guitar players with John Lee Hooker, and we mentioned a guy who knew pretty much every lick anyone had ever heard. But "He don't have no soul," as John Lee put it.

Another example: The Rock Hall of Fame inaugural show, wherein some rock guitar fool -- I believe it was Slash (a name that is another pathetic example of posing) -- attempted to play a blues song -- the only real tribute to the blues in that show. It was disgusting. He was clearly concentrating on posing his body, not putting soul into his playing. He managed some simple blues licks, and threw in some other examples of technique, as I recall, but soul was missing. He gets laid via his posing, not via his soul.

The blues combines sex, love, fun AND sad needs better than any other form of non-orchestral music. Beethoven described the entire human condition in his Ninth Symphony. The blues covers it all, too, but just not in one song.

TWO
Whom would you recommend to anyone new to the blues?

The greatest: B.B. King. Go see this man LIVE while you can. There is no better live performance of anything you are likely to see while he is still alive and making music. His albums "Live at the Regal" and "Live at the Apollo." (One of my main irritations in life is that most people have only seen B.B. King perform "The Thrill is Gone" on TV shows, usually with some studio band. Those people have NO IDEA what B.B. King is about, and what they are missing.)

John Lee Hooker doesn't have as good a band anymore (since he foolishly lost Michael Osborn as his lead guitarist; Osborn records for Blue Rock'It), and doesn't perform much anymore anyway, but "The Healer" album is great.

Etta James can be painful to watch, but on her albums, look for "I'd Rather Go Blind" and "At Last," which are magnificent performances. Bonnie Raitt is incredible, live or on albums.

Chris Cain is the best of the younger guys. "Cuttin' Loose" is a great album. Vala Cupp is my favorite of the younger women blues singers, but I am not sure where she is performing these days. She moved to Austin, last I heard. The late Albert King's "Wednesday Night in San Francisco." The late Albert Collin's "Frozen Alive." James Cotton's "Mighty Long Time." Buddy Guy is great live and on the album "Damn Right I've Got the Blues."

THREE

Who are the trivians, and where did they come from?

Thousands of years ago, before there was light, there was an online network called Q-Link, for Commodore users. (Remember them thangs? Most of us thought of them as toys.) A woman now known as msstique@aol.com started The Trivia Club there.

I came across her wonderful community of "Triviots" about eight years ago, when Mercury Center was looking at AOL as a possible online home. They were, overall, wonderful, witty, warm and fun-loving people. A great way to socialize and have fun in the middle of the night after work.

When AOL foolishly broke up The Trivia Club, I started Mercury Center Trivia, which became a kind of freelance second job for me. When Mercury Center left AOL, I stayed on AOL, starting Triviana -- about seven years ago. We called ourselves "Trivians," which is a word I coined (along with "Triviana"). Eventually I began a web site as well, which survives.

Triviana has left AOL because it was a huge amount of work, and the money had dried up for it.

FOUR
What is the fundamental appeal of finding and distributing trivia?

The online community. At its largest, Triviana on AOL had an active staff of about 80 people, and thousands of regular players all around the world.

We entertained and amused each other and had offline parties all over the United States, from "Lawn Guyland" to California. I don't really care about trivia per se, although many online trivia players DO love it for that. Also, for me, it gives me an audience for other things I want to do: Online I have written about blues music, movies, personal issues. I have given a creative forum to many other people as well. That's the great thing about the web: Anybody can be a publisher.

FIVE
Give us the short version of how you met the love of your life.

I met her online, natch!

In real life, I am 6-foot-2, way overweight and shaggy. People have been known to run in horror from me just based on my looks. Online, I can charm people before they are terrified or otherwise put off by my physical presence. We met online, chatted; moved to telephone conversations; then met in person.

She WAS horrified by my physical presence at first, but learned to love me anyway. That's the short version! You can read more about my marriage in The Book of Gone in triviana.com.

SIX
Your Web site covers movies, books, food, trivia, your wedding, to name a few. What part of your life stays offline?

I don't write about the really personal stuff, such as my marriage, anymore. I like writing about my deep personal issues, but I would rather stay married, and much of that stuff is JUST for my wife and me, which is how it should be.

SEVEN
Many have said journalism is a young person's game. What keeps people at it long after they've gone gray?

Well. It is not only a young person's game and never has been. That is not something a true believer would say. That is a misapprehension.

But, I like what my pal Stephen Whitty said about it (Quoting someone? I dunno): "Journalism's like sex. First you do it out of curiousity, then for love, then for the money."

I like writing, I like finding out things and writing about them for an audience. I like creating things for an audience. I would do that no matter what, I think. I don't need to do that via "journalism," but it can be a good way.

I have plenty of gray hair now, and at the Mercury News I am not doing work I really want to do most of the time. But I am still a wage monkey, as one of my co-workers pointed out yesterday, on the occasion of my 12th anniversary at the MurkyViews. And, occasionally, I DO get to do work I like and can feel good about there.

During the six and a half years I was busting my butt for Triviana on AOL, in my non-MurkyViews time, I mostly just accepted whatever work I was given at the Mercury News, and fed my creativity jones in Triviana.

Now, I still have a little audience at triviana.com, where I CAN do the writing and graphics I want to do, and have fun doing so, but I no longer have to manage a staff of 80 online volunteers, so have much more time and energy available.

I am using part of that time and energy to get back into freelance newspaper and magazine writing, and in trying to improve my situation at the Mercury News. Maybe I will do so. Ya never know.

THE BIG INDEX...
Who they are, what they do, how they think. Go there now.

A TO Z ARCHIVE...

Everybody here, with quickie bios. Go there now.

Return to the main Seven Questions page
See the original Newsies 7Q project

Contact info@sevenquestions.com
Copyright 1999-2002, Thomas L. Mangan

	Interviewed by Tom Mangan

Seven answers on 7Q (also known as the FAQs of life.)	John Orr, newsguy, guitarist, online veteran (aka Dr. Gone). His Web works are online here.	AUTHORS Michael Fuchs Elizabeth Hilts Paul Riddell Gary Rivlin Jim Motavalli Barbara Shafferman Jules Siegel Keith Snyder ARTISTS/POETS/ PHILOSOPHERS Jon C. Allen Will Baker Mike Leung Jon Sarkin COOL SITE KEEPERS Mike Cash Scott O'Neal Colf Godfrey Daniels Cliff Davis, DDS Tammy Hocking Wes Modes Frank Rogan DIARISTS Ralph Becker J. D. Bruns Linda DeVault Mike Reed Moira Richardson Jessamyn West FILMMAKERS Ben Kufrin Dean Mermell JOURNALISTS Bernie Mary Cooley-Jones Lindsay Crysler Jamie Dupree M.O.A.T.M.A.I. David Moll Robert Niles John Orr Steven Ovadia Pierce Presley Mack Reed Rip Rense Curtis Ross Neal Ross John Scalzi Catherine Seipp David Sheets Dwight Silverman Matt Welch MOVIE MAVENS MaryAnn Johanson Brian Koller HUMORISTS Debbie Farmer Mike Jasper Madeleine Begun Kane Patrick Keller Bob Sassone Valerie Sprague Ken Swarmer Ian Wolff SOLDIERS Maj. Jon Anderson, USAF TEACHERS John Warner TECHIES Chris Adamson Mike Gunderloy Michael Ivey Greg Knauss Floyd Maxwell Ellen McDonough Mike Pingleton Wayne Thume John Worth TEENS Gary Baum Marty Beckerman UNDECLARED Bev Gibbs Beth Reid WEBLOGGERS Jason Kottke Jish Mukerji



ONE	It's taken as a given that the blues gave birth to rock 'n' roll. For the unwashed out there, how does the mother blues differ from the child rock? There are no absolutes, but blues is driven more by soul and primal needs; rock is driven more by posing. I remember once discussing guitar players with John Lee Hooker, and we mentioned a guy who knew pretty much every lick anyone had ever heard. But "He don't have no soul," as John Lee put it. Another example: The Rock Hall of Fame inaugural show, wherein some rock guitar fool -- I believe it was Slash (a name that is another pathetic example of posing) -- attempted to play a blues song -- the only real tribute to the blues in that show. It was disgusting. He was clearly concentrating on posing his body, not putting soul into his playing. He managed some simple blues licks, and threw in some other examples of technique, as I recall, but soul was missing. He gets laid via his posing, not via his soul. The blues combines sex, love, fun AND sad needs better than any other form of non-orchestral music. Beethoven described the entire human condition in his Ninth Symphony. The blues covers it all, too, but just not in one song.



TWO	Whom would you recommend to anyone new to the blues? The greatest: B.B. King. Go see this man LIVE while you can. There is no better live performance of anything you are likely to see while he is still alive and making music. His albums "Live at the Regal" and "Live at the Apollo." (One of my main irritations in life is that most people have only seen B.B. King perform "The Thrill is Gone" on TV shows, usually with some studio band. Those people have NO IDEA what B.B. King is about, and what they are missing.) John Lee Hooker doesn't have as good a band anymore (since he foolishly lost Michael Osborn as his lead guitarist; Osborn records for Blue Rock'It), and doesn't perform much anymore anyway, but "The Healer" album is great. Etta James can be painful to watch, but on her albums, look for "I'd Rather Go Blind" and "At Last," which are magnificent performances. Bonnie Raitt is incredible, live or on albums. Chris Cain is the best of the younger guys. "Cuttin' Loose" is a great album. Vala Cupp is my favorite of the younger women blues singers, but I am not sure where she is performing these days. She moved to Austin, last I heard. The late Albert King's "Wednesday Night in San Francisco." The late Albert Collin's "Frozen Alive." James Cotton's "Mighty Long Time." Buddy Guy is great live and on the album "Damn Right I've Got the Blues."



THREE	Who are the trivians, and where did they come from? Thousands of years ago, before there was light, there was an online network called Q-Link, for Commodore users. (Remember them thangs? Most of us thought of them as toys.) A woman now known as msstique@aol.com started The Trivia Club there. I came across her wonderful community of "Triviots" about eight years ago, when Mercury Center was looking at AOL as a possible online home. They were, overall, wonderful, witty, warm and fun-loving people. A great way to socialize and have fun in the middle of the night after work. When AOL foolishly broke up The Trivia Club, I started Mercury Center Trivia, which became a kind of freelance second job for me. When Mercury Center left AOL, I stayed on AOL, starting Triviana -- about seven years ago. We called ourselves "Trivians," which is a word I coined (along with "Triviana"). Eventually I began a web site as well, which survives. Triviana has left AOL because it was a huge amount of work, and the money had dried up for it.



FOUR	What is the fundamental appeal of finding and distributing trivia? The online community. At its largest, Triviana on AOL had an active staff of about 80 people, and thousands of regular players all around the world. We entertained and amused each other and had offline parties all over the United States, from "Lawn Guyland" to California. I don't really care about trivia per se, although many online trivia players DO love it for that. Also, for me, it gives me an audience for other things I want to do: Online I have written about blues music, movies, personal issues. I have given a creative forum to many other people as well. That's the great thing about the web: Anybody can be a publisher.



FIVE	Give us the short version of how you met the love of your life. I met her online, natch! In real life, I am 6-foot-2, way overweight and shaggy. People have been known to run in horror from me just based on my looks. Online, I can charm people before they are terrified or otherwise put off by my physical presence. We met online, chatted; moved to telephone conversations; then met in person. She WAS horrified by my physical presence at first, but learned to love me anyway. That's the short version! You can read more about my marriage in The Book of Gone in triviana.com.



SIX	Your Web site covers movies, books, food, trivia, your wedding, to name a few. What part of your life stays offline? I don't write about the really personal stuff, such as my marriage, anymore. I like writing about my deep personal issues, but I would rather stay married, and much of that stuff is JUST for my wife and me, which is how it should be.



SEVEN	Many have said journalism is a young person's game. What keeps people at it long after they've gone gray? Well. It is not only a young person's game and never has been. That is not something a true believer would say. That is a misapprehension. But, I like what my pal Stephen Whitty said about it (Quoting someone? I dunno): "Journalism's like sex. First you do it out of curiousity, then for love, then for the money." I like writing, I like finding out things and writing about them for an audience. I like creating things for an audience. I would do that no matter what, I think. I don't need to do that via "journalism," but it can be a good way. I have plenty of gray hair now, and at the Mercury News I am not doing work I really want to do most of the time. But I am still a wage monkey, as one of my co-workers pointed out yesterday, on the occasion of my 12th anniversary at the MurkyViews. And, occasionally, I DO get to do work I like and can feel good about there. During the six and a half years I was busting my butt for Triviana on AOL, in my non-MurkyViews time, I mostly just accepted whatever work I was given at the Mercury News, and fed my creativity jones in Triviana. Now, I still have a little audience at triviana.com, where I CAN do the writing and graphics I want to do, and have fun doing so, but I no longer have to manage a staff of 80 online volunteers, so have much more time and energy available. I am using part of that time and energy to get back into freelance newspaper and magazine writing, and in trying to improve my situation at the Mercury News. Maybe I will do so. Ya never know.


	THE BIG INDEX... Who they are, what they do, how they think. Go there now. A TO Z ARCHIVE... Everybody here, with quickie bios. Go there now. Return to the main Seven Questions page See the original Newsies 7Q project Contact info@sevenquestions.com Copyright 1999-2002, Thomas L. Mangan