Eric Victorino – Your Next Substitute Teacher
January 28th, 2009 - Written by Angel
About halfway through our conversation, I decided to be brave and broach the subject of religion – a topic I knew we didn’t see eye to eye on given his more than direct viewpoints – hoping to perhaps get clarification to questions that had come to mind while reading his MySpace page. This is a subject that I know Eric has discussed and studied at length and as such I wanted to seem knowledgeable.
Armed with what I thought were iron-clad arguments, I launched into my intro which went as follows: “I’m not a religious person by any means other than to say that I enjoy the knowledge aspect of it. I enjoy its study be it forms of Christianity or Hinduism etc… That said I think I have faith that there is something regardless of what that might be. Yet you often equate faith with fear or am I over stating that?”
Eric’s reply came quickly. “I think [faith's] lazy. It’s a cruel joke. The bastard child of hope and ignorance.”
“Can’t that also be said of any type of faith though? Faith that love is real? Faith that you made the right decision?” I countered.
“Certainty with no basis in evidence is faith.”
“Ha!” I thought to myself. I had the perfect comeback for that. “Evidence can be subjective though. What I see, you might not and vice versa.”
“Pshhhh,” he said to that. “Without all the squashy, pseudo philosophy, no, evidence is not subjective.”
Eric Victorino had just pshhh-ed me. That couldn’t be good.
“Of course it is to the outside person looking in.” I continued adamantly. “I’ve experienced weird things that I know happened. Nobody else experienced it but me and my husband. You believe deeply in love.”
“Sure. Love isn’t evidence of anything.”
Certain of my point, I barrelled ahead: “I assume you have faith your family loves you because you have evidence. Yet to me, the same acts you consider evidence of love could mean something entirely different; if let’s say I was abused. Subjective.”
And then I got the peanut butter argument. That’s when I knew I had lost all hope off ‘winning’ this discussion. “I believe it feels awesome when I eat a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but it doesn’t mean there’s any more to it than me and the candy.”
If you don’t know what the peanut butter argument is, visit Eric’s MySpace page and have a read. It’s the unspoken equivalent of being told “That’s it, you’re a stupid ass”. And then he more or less went on to prove it.
Reading the transcript of our interview after the fact, I realized that in my eagerness to make him see my point, I wasn’t explaining myself clearly and had given counter-arguments to my own position, thus validating his. Not my best hour. Yet, Eric took it all in stride.
There is a quote in the treatise I’ve been referencing that says: “I’m not a believer – I’m a questioner. NEVER EVER let ANYONE form your opinions. Form your own.” It’s obvious the man truly believes and lives by this.
In order to form opinions, it’s essential to educate yourself and that’s something Eric advocates whole-heartedly. When on his MySpace he said: “I think I want to go to college someday. Maybe I’ll do it online. Who knows, maybe I’ll be your next substitute teacher” I don’t think he realized just how much that is already the case for many. Teachers aren’t only found in the classroom and having a conversation with Eric is usually a good learning experience.
As our conversation drew to an end, I asked Eric what his plans for the future were. “I’m hoping to put out a limousines CD, go on tour a bit and start a new writing project” he said. Curious, I asked if he was considering writing a novel rather than a book of poetry as his next literary project, to which he answered: “I haven’t made that commitment to myself yet” but he did confirm that he had dabbled in the medium.
It’s now close to midnight – more than twelve hours since I first sat down to write – and I’ve been reading this article over and over again, wondering if it’s good enough. There is no real way of including nine pages of interview transcript into a four page essay, nor do I think I would ever be able to truly do justice to the brilliance I see in the man I’m writing about. So, this will have to do. I know I come off as having a gushy crush on a rock star with a penchant for the bohemian ideals of beauty, freedom, truth and love and I guess I kind of do. Anyone who manages to stay true to themselves despite every effort of our consumerist society to remove our freedom of will, is fascinating to me; as are those who can create beautiful things out of paint, words, thoughts and imagination… even love.
In discovering Eric Victorino’s works, I rediscovered a passion for self-truth and knowledge and have been boasting about him as an artist ever since. If you haven’t already, take the time to read either of Eric’s books or at the very least, his Myspace page. If music is more your style, check out the Limousines… Their sound and lyrics are sure to hook you right away.
I’ve made th
e full interview transcript available by clicking here, so should you want to read more of our discussion, feel free.
On a final note, I have to add one last bit of gushy admiration. Given our less than elaborate knowledge of graphic design and softwares like Photoshop, we often times struggle to create the artwork featured on this site. Such was the case with this month’s cover. In an effort to help out, Eric offered to do it himself. With intellect and artistry sometimes comes arrogance and superiority; not often does it is spawn kindness and consideration. Rare are those who equate Eric Victorino’s combination of all things nice.
Editor’s note:
photo credit for the image of Eric Victorino : Steven Duchene
photo credit for the Limousines image: Beau Roulette
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