could be a totsean could be anybody. living or dead. fictional or real.

for me it was a toss up between robert de niro or

To start off, i think Robert De Niro and how he protrayed the role of a misanthropic, sociapathic, individual perfectly, and the dedictation and hard work he put into making that role work is one of the most interesting things that happened in 1976. It may seem shallow that im picking a movie star, but I was reading about the almost insane dedication he had to portraying Travis Bickle, is awe inspiring. Apparently after finishing shooting in rome, he would fly out to NYC, where he got a cab drivers licsense, and drive around for hours and hours around various areas of new york trying to get into the mindset and understand the hostility and contempt he has towards the city. I think its fascinating how somebody like robert de niro could even consider doing that (putting himself into the shoes of psychopath and try really really hard to get into that role)

(also i want to add, that scene where he takes the girl on a date to a sex theatre is one of the most chilling scenes i have ever seen in a movie)

That kind of dedication is never seen anymore, and I would have to say Robert Deniro is probabley one of the greatest actors of our time.

What makes his portrayal of bickle even more fascinating is that a less fascinating more deranged person, john hinkley jr became so enthralled in his acting ability and the how the movie protrayed him as a hero and general bad ass, he took it upon him self to become exactly like him and stalked jodie foster and tried to assassinate ronald reagon.



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Taxi_Driver_still_5.jpg

honorable mentions:

genghis khan gets an honorable is also extremeley cool, i heard that to feed his massive army , he would go to a huge plain or field or w/e and line up thousands and thousands of riders and eventually curve into a gigantic circle thus trapping thousands of animals. i would loved to have seen that in action.

another fascinating thing about genghis khan, he is known to have sired hundred of kids and genetic researchers have discovered his Y chromosomal haplogroup in about 0.5 percent (that is a huge amount of people, not just asians either russians, lithuanians, uzbeks, yugoslavs, etc, etc )

moving on... growing up i thought ford prefect in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy to be the coolest person in the universe and i often fantasized about being a researcher for the largest universal encyclopedia. seriously that would be the most awesome job ever. (if it were real)

ps: if you are really really cool you noticed the relationship between my last paragraph and the second last . (this one doesnt count as my last paragraph the one before it is the last, btw)

Andre Stander and Miyamoto Musashi come to mind.

The totse user named Billy. I remember he used to videotape girls getting changed and doing shit, by sneaking into their backyards and filming through their windows. That guy was crazy. They're still on YouTube I'm pretty sure.

I just read the wikipedia on both those guys.

I found stander to be moderatley fascinating, he was indeed very impressive, but the other guy, i found to be extremely interesting.
I'v often thought about how different things must've have been back in the day where strength of character and skill in fighting deteremined the measure of a man and how sucessful you were. It may seem very barbaric and archaic, but i think its very elegant
how these people had to couple there intelligence with physical prowess/hand eye coordination.

This guy must really have been a genius to have, at the age of 13, to already mastered the swoard.

The advent of the gun, really fucked shit up, although accuracy i guess replaces physical prowess, and thats only if you're in the army. Nowadays thres really no need to get fit, except to snaggle puss

Which brings to mind another point, its interesting how countries eventually developed a system where they (voluntarily in most cases) elect a minority (whether it be miltary or police) to protect its citizens so that they no longer have to worry about 'honing their sword skills'.

interesting people, and i plan to pick up the book, ancient philosophy is fascinating in its own right.

The totse user named Billy. I remember he used to videotape girls getting changed and doing shit, by sneaking into their backyards and filming through their windows. That guy was crazy. They're still on YouTube I'm pretty sure.

yeah ive seen those, they are badly filmed, but crazy none the less.

I just read the wikipedia on both those guys.

I found stander to be moderatley fascinating, he was indeed very impressive, but the other guy, i found to be extremely interesting.
I'v often thought about how different things must've have been back in the day where strength of character and skill in fighting deteremined the measure of a man and how sucessful you were. It may seem very barbaric and archaic, but i think its very elegant
how these people had to couple there intelligence with physical prowess/hand eye coordination.

This guy must really have been a genius to have, at the age of 13, to already mastered the swoard.

The advent of the gun, really fucked shit up, although accuracy i guess replaces physical prowess, and thats only if you're in the army. Nowadays thres really no need to get fit, except to snaggle puss

Which brings to mind another point, its interesting how countries eventually developed a system where they (voluntarily in most cases) elect a minority (whether it be miltary or police) to protect its citizens so that they no longer have to worry about 'honing their sword skills'.

interesting people, and i plan to pick up the book, ancient philosophy is fascinating in its own right.

Yeah it would be pretty awesome to be born back in the day but then again I really love medicine, porno, LSD, and basic everyday modern laziness. Musashi was the man and the book is a long one but still my favorite novel. It's basically my bible.