April 2024

 Haven’t posted in a long time. Stayed for awhile at an Air BnB in Chester, Nova Scotia. Basically living the life and chilling. I’ll post again soon. Thanks everyone.

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 👀 Clip from Colin Brunton’s The Last Pogo Jumps Again.

I WANT TO BE A YANK WITH LYRICS

 

I Want To Be A Yank

This of course is the 1977 iconic CARDBOARD BRAINS White EP with I Want To Be A Yank, Living Inside My Head, Can Stress Kill, and of course our pre-pistols cover of the Monkees (I’m not your) Stepping Stone. The Canadian punk outfit FUCKED UP did a successful cover of I Want To Be A Yank, however the lyrics aren’t correct. So I would like to take this opportunity to present them in their full glory.

“WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT MAGGIE T.?

I’M REALLY SICK OF THE CBC.

THE KIDS ARE ROTTING AT U. Of T.

JUST TO WORK FOR THE U.I.C.

RENE LEVESQUE’S THE MISSING LINK

CBC TV PROGRAMS REALLY STINK

YOUR MONEYS ALL DOWN THE DRINK

I WISH I DIDN’T HAVE TO THINK.

U.S. THEY GOT TAINTED HAM

U.S. THEY GOT SON OF SAM

U.S. THEY GOT SIRHAN SIRHAN

U.S. THEY GOT VIETNAM

I WANT TO BE A YANK!

WHO REALLY CARES ABOUT MAGGIE T.?

I’M REALLY SICK OF THE CBC

THE KIDS ARE ROTTING AT U.of T.

JUST TO WORK FOR THE U.I.C.

U.S. THEY GOT JIMMY CARTER

U.S. YOU CAN BE A MARTYR

U.S. THEY GOT WORLD SERIES

U.S. I CAN LIVE ON TV

I WANT TO BE A YANK!

Maybe the Canadian punk band FUCKED UP didn’t want to use the real lyrics at the risk of offending the CBC (they CBC aired a segment on them featuring the song, but I think The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation would see the ironic humour inherent.

That version of CARDBOARD BRAINS 1977-1978 should have put out an LP instead of an EP. The band comprised Paul O’Connell on bass, a Brit by the name of Rich Miller on Drums, Vince Carlucci and John Paul Young on Vocals and lyrics.

BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE: BUSTED AND SHACKLED

 

I will get into this in much more detail at a later time, but for now I want to expose some initial truth.

My brother passed away July 1996. I reformed CARDBOARD BRAINS in April 2000. I did the movie KILLER RATS in March/April in Bulgaria with Ron Perlman. 

After an abysmal and unproductive 1990’s I was approaching 45 and hitting my stride by the time I was back in Toronto. I had money in the bank (MEG Entertainment in my mother’s name), I was buff and at my physical peak of health. I had a martial arts trainer, I did one hour of cardio each day plus weight training. Bruce Lee had become my new role model and I was adopting the philosophy of Jeet Kune-Do.

I was at John Gundy’s house, formerly owned by producer Bob Ezrin. John Gundy was a patron who was Executive Producer of the White and Black EP’s of CARDBOARD BRAINS.

His being knowledgeable in legal and financial matters, I told John I was slated to inherit a great deal of money and I thought I should put my affairs in order so to speak. I asked him what I should do. He advised me to put everything under one umbrella and go see HEENAN-BLAIKIE LLP. Where coincidently David Quinten Steinberg, drummer for THE MODS who appear on THE LAST POGO. (BOMB RECORDS), film by Colin Brunton, works as a Senior Entertainment Lawyer.

I  subsequently met with Christina Buchlie, a former Line Producer, then a Junior Entertainment Lawyer with Heenan-Blaikie. Heenan-Blaikie is a prestigious Bay Street law firm.

Christina Buchlie was extremely nice and extremely helpful when I gave her an overview of myself and my family and the wealth that was rightfully to inherit. She told me what to do, such as making a will, incorporating myself as an artist and how to make myself litigation proof. I left the offices of Heenan-Blaikie elated on a June bday in 2001and decided to check out one of my passion's, books, particularily books on film. I jaunted through downtown Toronto first to Theatrebooks and then onto Chapter’s on Bloor Street by Bay Street.

I went to the magazine section where the film mags were situated, and picked up magazine entitled POV. To my surprise, the cover of POV advertised an article on my old friend Director Peter Mettler. I hadn’t seen or heard of Peter Mettler since I served in some capacity as a consultant for some world spiritual journey film he was working on. That was in 1996, immediately after the death of my brother.

Opening POV and reading the article on Peter Mettler, I was awestruck to read the article which began something like this: “Rarely does a journalist get to view unedited footage of a filmmaker's work but this is the case for Peter Mettler’s new documentary. The film begins in Mettler’s hometown of Toronto with a walk and a talk with a friend who vividly describes his battle and experience with HEROIN ADDICTION…”

I was outraged. My regretful experience with heroin took place after the tragic death of my mentor Charles Luna M.D. in 1993 and lasted only three horrible years and the again tragic death of my younger brother William Robert Stuart Young in July 1996 and my subsequently going to REHAB at Homewood in Guelph Ontario.

I grow fatigued now. It’s been a productive early morning session. CIAO.

In September 2001, EXACTLY when the twin tower 9/11 attacks occurred…

Let me fast forward. I want to put some spice in this blog. All astoundingly true. My mother suddenly died, my father turned into Satan incarnate. He amassed an army against me. I was kidnapped and my murder attempted. Then after the premiere of Gambling Gods and LSD I was falsely arrested an astounding six times and falsely imprisoned four times.

And that took up ten years of my life. And when I was imprisoned in the MAPLEHURST CORRECTIONAL COMPLEX I was actually shackled with leg irons everyday to go to court. That’s when I wasn’t locked in the HOLE.

There I said it. I’ve been beating around the bush for a long time. But I haven’t anything to hide or be ashamed of. Let the shame be upon all those responsible. I believe in full transparency and full disclosure.

I’ve got a sprained wrist from falling on the ice the other day, so I have to take a break from writing. I read this just now on my iPhone, and it sounds pretty crazy. But true.

When Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked with a hammer, allegedly, the media analyzed the accused man's blog and said it contained posts that had titles and no body. This they said indicated he was mentally unstable. I’m posting this from my iPhone with a sprained wrist. So there, say what you will.

MEMOIR

 This blog is of course a work in progress. Just know I increased the font size in order to make the copy more readable.

When I consider what to do with what is left of my life, the next and most logical conclusion is to write and publish my memoirs. I have to figure out how to divide my time between this blog and writing drafts for the memoirs.

The way I see it, I can use this blog as a precursor to the book.

In a recent post on Facebook, I lamented the absurd censoring of myself and CARDBOARD BRAINS out of Liz Worth’s book TREAT ME LIKE DIRT. In response to the post I received support from various Facebook friends, many of them entertainment professionals like published  author Peter Vronsky. They admonished me to write my memoirs in a tell all fashion.

Which I have been working on for a couple of years, initially with Scott Edward Patterson of UNCOMMON FRANK in Melbourne, Australia.

Today I have begun my writing as soon as I awake as I and Julia Cameron and so many others swear by. I find later on I feel to burned out and lackadaisical to start writing on my little iPad.

The question is autobiography or memoirs. As usual I chose a mixture of column A and column B. An ensemble of memoirs covering my wild ride on earth for 67 years. Probably seventy years I'll be by the time the book is written and published and promoted.

Considering a book is about 100,000 words, I will have to write about 1000 words a day for a 100 days.That’s doable, but I have to get out of sloth mode and put some discipline and purpose in my life. Again, it’s doable I have done it before and I’ll  do it again.

I need an editor and what I have always needed is a lawyer. But money is currently tight. However I believe where there is a will there is a way.

I usually list myself as Actor, Writer, Composer. Now I simply list myself as “Artist”.

I am an actor of course having been on since a child. Some who know me would say since birth. Which sort of fits that with acting and writing and the arts your born with it. You either have IT or you don’t. Stephen King says this concerning  writing.

My first acting gig was when I was in Grade 2 or 3 when I appeared on Razzle Dazzle with Howie the Turtle and Alan Hamel. I think that was the CBC ( Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Then it was an endless succession of plays, radio and film. I became a member of ACTRA under the professional reputation clause in 1986. I could have joined earlier.

And of course as a singer-songwriter musician composer producer starting in 1976-1977 when I formed CARDBOARD BRAINS. 

TIBOR TAKACS produced th Black and the White Cardboard Brains EPs but I produced my solo venture THE LIFE OF ERMIE SCUB (with help from Stanley A. Viezner who was invaluable especially in th peer-production of THE LIFE OF ERMIE SCUB.

For years TIBOR TAKACS admonished me to write. I once told me while I was staying with him in Los Angeles: “Of all the people I know who write, the one person that should doesn’t, and that’s you.”

In 1975 and 1976 I co-wrote two plays with Rich Allen on entitled “Stranger Gets Closer” and the other entitled “Stranger Gets Closer”. I wrote dialogue for TIBOR TAKACS and STEPHEN ZOLLER’s play “Metal Messiah” and subsequently for TIBOR TAKACS first feature film METAL MESSIAH.

I was Vice President of International X-ray Company from 1969 to 2002 which involved a share of writing, copywriting and legal work and that sort. But in 1984 I started two corporations with my mother and became President of Micro-manipulation Research Inc. And a USA corporation Youngstown-Universal, Inc. 1984to 1989. Also John Paul Young Productions Inc.

With Micro-manipulation Research Inc. I wrote extensive direct marketing pieces every month and had them mailed them to literally every known chiropractor and chiropractic student in the world. Each and every month. I was marketing and administering a technique my father developed entitled MICRO-MANIPULATION. I was published in TODAY’s CHIROPRACTIC on three occasion's, a series of articles entitled MICRO-MANIPULATION by John Paul Young. But the articles were so well done (if I may boast) that I received myriad letters from chiropractors all over the world. They were addressed “DR.” John Paul Young. The articles were technical in nature and they just assumed I was a doctor. I thought that was pretty good. From 1984 to 1989 I was a direct marketing king.

More on all this later, I am simply trying to establish my background with the title “WRITER”.

My academic history is fragmented, but after graduating from high school from the Toronto High Park area HUMBERSIDE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE (where amongst other things I was President of the Student Council) then I enrolled at RYERSON POLYTECHNICAL UNIVERSITY briefly then on to the University of Toronto where I took Psychology, then later To The University of Western Ontario where I took English Literature, Cinema Studies and Theology.  I have a lot more education then that but its feeling a little tedious. My point was establish my background as a writer (artist).

What will my memoirs entail? Well one learned person who I gave an overview of my would be memoirs, and this was twenty years ago said my memoirs would be Mickey Spillane meets Carl Gustav Jung. I think nicely put. In the meantime, until publication this blog will serve as a prime indicator of the contents. 

And so it goes.