So Let It Be. Let It Go.

Posted on November 17, 2011 by foley
“Rather than to live on in the hearts and minds of my fellow man. I’d prefer to live on in my own apartment” – Woody Allen
 

 

I have become a daily listener of the Adam Carolla Podcast. Adam is opinionated and complains (a lot) about pretty much everything and anything. However, he has the ability to draw parallels and draw conclusions that really make you think. I know he has the reputation of being “the caveman from The Man Show“ but he has the ability to say things right off the top of his head. He has a recurring segment “What can’t Adam complain about?” And he is never “stumped”. They are funny and end up being insightful. I also like the other segment he does with comedian Larry Miller called “The Hypothetical Road Trip Game.” The point of the game is you have to travel across the country with two different types of people and Larry has to choose which one HE WOULD NOT want to travel with. Larry sadly has yet to get one right. But he is not about to give up on the game.
 

 

This show has been a great exercise in helping me to really make deeper observations about my own thoughts. It helps me get going every morning as I am listening to on the MP3 player. You may want to give him a couple of listens. Once again, let me warn you though this – He is not for the “small minded hypersensitive” types out there.
 

 

I am going to highlight an idea Adam had on one of his shows. He often complains about how hard it is to getting anything done in Hollywood. Good ideas struggle and the shit gets the “green light”. If he had to get a real job in the town he would want to be not a “consultant” but an “Insultant”. He would just go into people’s offices and tell them their idea “fucking sucks”. And then hit the person in the head with an aluminum baseball bat.
 

 

 
 

 

If you are going to create anything in any form you are going to be labeled as “Egotistical”. The problem is that too many in our society label this condition as a mental illness. This diagnosis is usually supported by the people who do the least amount of everything. The truth is the “creative ego” is what it is. And it takes an “Egotistical Act” to create something that does not exist because the creator feels “it should be there”. This is a harder concept to come to terms with because “art” is created first out of speculation. The other problem is everyone in this society is becoming increasingly “narcissistic”. Too many people out there think that everything should be constructed to fit their desires. It is almost a “fast food mentality” where everything should be “served to me, my way”. The “Customer is always right” mandate has become corrupted to hyper-sense of “entitlement”. Not everything is meant for “easy” consumption. There are things meant to make you either work or think. The problem has become the people who easily offended or aggressively opinionated hold back society because they do not have the ability to move on. Plus, they are overly vocal and have to let everyone know. MEMO: If it is not for you. Fine. We will mark it down. So please move on. In other words, change the channel. Janet Jackson’s left nipple (or was it the right) in the grand scheme was not that big of a deal. It got more attention and debate time that it was warranted.
 

 

I realize that doing what I do is going to have my own “Battle with Ego”. I am quite aware of my own “narcissism”. I try to keep it somewhat in check. For example, I do not have a cell phone. I do not think I am a person who needs 24/7 instant contact with the world. Or the need to text minute by minute. I do not want to carry around a mini box and have to being typing into it constantly like the numbers in the TV series Lost. I overhear what others talk about their cell’s (I really don’t have a choice) and it really does have much substance to it. Although, it is a bit funny (sadly) listening to people being berated by their significant other. I like to walk about and observe things as I go. The other check I have is I will never achieve a level of narcissism that will ever make think I could raise a child. And at the 7 Billion mark in population I think my view should be promoted a bit more. Especially to anyone who is on the Maury Show.
 

 

Music is a form of art that always seems to generate instant outrage even before the music is ever heard. I think it draws this reaction because the medium is instantly available for listen (when available). I think it becomes even more “personal” listening via ear buds.
 

 

Metallica is band that seems to have as many hardcore fans as it has hardcore critics. And they are usually one in same person. There latest album which is collaboration with Lou Reed is keeping with their tradition with “fan reaction”. This is a prime example of the “bloated egotistical rock stars”. This is an album that is nothing but an example of “esoteric ego” in action. I have been listening to it. I have not made a firm opinion about how I ultimately feel about this album. My final decision is just my opinion and should not be taken as the mandate for anyone else. I realize that everything made out there is not always meant for me. I am developing a more of “take it or leave it” attitude. This is going against the grain of our society today which seems bent on “protesting everything and everyone”. Back to this album. There are a quite a few things working against this album. I can imagine what their management and record label execs thought when this heard this final product. “This is a concept album that is 2 CD’s based on 2 works by a German playwright from the late 1800′s. (Pause) (More Pause)(Still More Pause) Fuck! Now what do we do with this?”
 

 

I like Lou Reed and I have a few of his albums. I have to admit for me his music takes quite a few listening to get a grasp on my interpretations of the lyrics. His album The Raven which the lyrics were based on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe is still a multiple listener on the MP3 player. I like “Concept Albums” because I like hearing songs working together to tell a narrative or revolve around a central theme. However, many of these albums need to include more information than the lyrics in the linear notes to explain the narrative. I have to also admit many of this style of albums reach for a premise that is just beyond the grasp of the material on the album. Lou Reed’s vocals are delivered with a spoken word cadence to them. Metallica is more of the backup band here. And that probably pisses their fans off the most. The lyrics are definitely not what are typical of Metallica song. The songs are long. It is funny that “hipsters” like long Phish/Grateful Dead style Jam songs but get pissed when bands (like on this album) play structured songs that last 10-20 minutes. This album has strengths and flaws but I have not made my own final conclusion. It is going to take a few thorough listening to get there. I think another problem is too many people want everything that they listen or watch to be “clear and forthright” to them. Too many people are afraid of anything that makes them think or challenge them to form an opinion. It should be instantly apparent.
 

 

I have to agree with most of the premise of Chuck Klosterman’s review of this album. This article made some other parallels which I am “awe” of. I wish I could think in those terms more often.
 

 

In the end, not everything can be (or should be) judged by their “sales chart” position. Some works need more time and thought than others. “Opinion Polls” more often than not are used to create a specific opinion outcome rather than represent actual opinion at that moment.
 

 

Taking a moment to think on your own for your own is not idea to be afraid of.
 

 

No matter what they tell you.
 

 

Here is where the collaboration got its roots.

 

This is a great example of a “Concept” song. It has a narrative and a structure to it that can be followed without being given notes.

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There is Outrage. Part of It is Ridiculous. And that is Just the Starting Point.

Posted on October 26, 2011 by foley
I have to throw a few ideas to start this post.

 

A theory: “Once you figure out life, God kills you.” Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast for 10-10-2011

 

I have been reading the book The Nostradamus Prophecies by Mario Reading. It is the book that caught my attention as I was scanning the shelves in the library looking for a new fictional writer to try. I wanted to go with someone I have never heard of this time. I am trying to “plough” throw it. The book for me has the basic framing to that in the DaVinci Code without the pacing. I am trying to finish the book because I have the “disease” that says I have to finish it. I found this passage in the book that made me think a bit on a philosophical level.

 

Calque took the cigarette, lit and inhaled. “Why does something which kills you can also make you feel the most alive?”

 

Villada sighed. “It is what is called by the philosophers a paradox. When God made us, he decided that literalism would be the bane of the world. He therefore invented paradox to counteract it.”

 

“But how do we counteract the paradox?”

 

“By taking it literally. See. You are smoking. And yet you understand the paradox of your position.”

 

My own personal “Silly without all the Laughs” Season will be here soon enough. I see what I want. I know what I need. And in the end what I am going to actually going to get. There is wide divide amongst those three things. As I shout out across the canyon. I can hear the echo of my voice. And it comes back saying “Ricola!”It is not easy when the sound of my own voice acts like a “smart ass” too.

 

I spent yesterday listening to the Dusty Show doing segments from the Occupy Wall Street protest. And then I saw this video segment. I am not sure about the whole thing. I also know nothing attracts a crowd more than a crowd. And at this point I am neither for nor against it. I think at this point in my life I am realizing I need to have more “Switzerland” in my personal politics. I have to say in my life up to this point protest shouting and banner slogans or bumper stickers have never cause a direct and immediate change in my own personal viewpoints. I am kind of like the plot structure to a South Park episode. The kids are the middle of two extreme points of view within the story. And at the end of each episode they point out how both of them are just a “bit nuts”.

 

Greed is being called evil. But from what I am seeing is the opposite at the same time. I am not seeing much virtue in envy either as a counterpoint. I know the movement does not want to define its “demands”. However, until it does then this is all just a big “temper tantrum”. Anger cannot be resolved until its caused is firmly defined. People being people in mass will then turn on each other when the demands start coming out. I am not sure how to take this group as a whole. They claim being brought down by poor economic conditions. However, I see a lot of consumer electronics (i.e. iPods and cell phones) in use and quite a bit of subtle product placement. And none of those items come free or even cheap. Also I am quite sure mainly of them have not spent time trying to find a more cost effective phone plan. (Remember the corporations that run them can pull the plug at anytime and then put you into “Customer Service Hell” when you try to get a refund.) I guess I am looking for more details and less shouting before I can form my opinion. I do not believe everything “private” is evil and corrupt. And at the same time everything “public” is not benevolent. I wish there was more of case by case review rather than marching and shouting. I do realize that sometimes you need to do a lot of shouting in order to get a person’s attention. Any parent will tell you this. Or in an Adam Carolla rant or two. Lewis Black. Or Doug Stanhope.

 

I am not in the 1% but this group claiming to represent the other 99% made a mistake in their math. They are not representing me either at this point. But I will say it again there will never be an all encompassing singular belief system for myself. I also know that there is NO MOVEMENT on this planet that can perform any form of action without having “unintended consequences”. I was trying to find some point in history where place of land called an “Occupied Territory” lead to peace and consent. So far I have struck to find an example of one. I am not sure if hanging around in front of tent is going to lead anywhere or towards anything. I remember when I was kid at camp if I was hanging out in front of tent doing nothing it was going to eventually lead to ” a boot in my ass” to do something from an adult leader. And they would not accept my “taking up space” as being a valid activity for the day. I am also very skeptical of any gathering that has considerable contingent of “hippies and hipsters”. I remember one summer having a job that was down the road from KOA Campground. I remember the day before a Grateful Dead concert in town and how loaded the place was with their “fans”. The next morning after the concert and all of the “fans” had left all but the “cleaning up”. Let me say there is a reason why there is a reference known as a “dirty hippie”. I believe this world needs more on the “action” side rather that the “word” sides. The mountain never will come to you. You have to get up and go to it in order to “conquer” it. “Sitting around, waiting and shouting” is going to lead to the eventual “backlash”. And I going to guess it will be sooner rather than later. Prime real estate needs to be used soon for the shoppers and the tourists.

 

I also know if you want change you have to start with yourself. Therefore, I am planning to have “Occupy My Living Room“. First, I will have to recruit a maid or two to make some room for my potential “fellow occupiers”. My own personal “New World Order” needs to start with some cleaning. And on a side note: There will be no drum circles in my living room. Making random noise just to make random noise and then pass it off as “music” is just bullshit. It is not a “movement”.

 

I think the problem with the current numbers in the latest economic crisis is the fact they are so large that no one can fully comprehend them. I also hate when people complain that the “system” is broken and their solution to it is that even more of that “system” is broken. This “Too big to Fail” concept is getting out of hand. You can only pour so much into a flawed system before you have to take action. The economic system reminds me of my first car. In 1992, I bought a used 88 Chevy Beretta that had 19K miles for about $5500. For that time it was a lot for me. Here is the lesson. The first year I had the vehicle all it needed was regular oil changes. And after that it was nothing but “Hell” with that car and over the next 2years I would dump around $2000 into that piece of shit. It blew 3 transmission modules at $120 each. A pain to fix for it was behind the engine block and every time it happened was during the winter. Master brake cylinder twice. Bleeding brakes is so much fun. 2 Alternators along with the tensioner. Then the starter. I kept fixing it because it had such low mileage and every repair the “experts” said would help in the long run. Wrong. It seemed like 2K miles something else went. This car was making me feel like I know what “prison rape” feels like. 2 ½ years later and with just about 60K on this car (A cylinder lost compression) I had to admit my economic investment was no longer sustainable and the piece of shit was scraped for a return of $150 from the scrap yard. And I had to start over again. The lesson is that if the plan (whatever form it maybe) has to change with the conditions. Just because something is does not mean it therefore should be. (How’s that for a fortune cookie phrasing) And by the way when it comes to vehicles I am now starting over for a fourth time. Vehicles only last about at almost 6 months after all the payments are made.

 

I also think the large economic numbers are also buying a false sense of loyalty and overbearing amount of criticism. In other words, people in charge want to remain as is. The people who are not running things are making demands of things that are not always possible. Example, it is a like Big budget Hollywood movie. People assume it has to be good because the people behind it would never have spent all that money. They are buying loyalty. There is the crowd that always hates this movies and bitches about what is being spent. However, a lot of them could not tell how it could be spent better. The more venom there is in criticism the more likely the person behind does not have a clue on how to fix the problem. Example of this, listen to people watching a game at a sports bar.

 

This is what I moving towards in my watching of movies (and even TV series). I do not care about the budget or the star quality in it either. I am not going to qualify a movie by those two things. I want to experience the story that is trying to be told. Avatar for me looked great but the story and plot was basically the same as Dances with Wolves. I have not seen the third Transformers movie but I will someday though to see how a film can have three parts without any real character development. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was nothing special. Big budgets do not guarantee anything. You cannot buy your wait out. I am becoming more interested in how people make films with lower budgets and the creative decisions and actions it leads to. Example,

Clerks where they could only film in the convenient store at night when the place was closed so the”Savages” put gum in the lock of the security shutters. This allows them to act as if there was daylight. So they had to make sure the front door was never in the camera shot.

Here is a clip from comedian Bobcat Goldthwait. (In 1980′s he was best known for his role in the Police Academy movies.)

 

This is the source behind two movies I recently watched that he wrote and directed. These movies are not for the “over sensitive and easily outraged”. Neither of these movies has big dollar productions behind them. And this is a good thing because they both can take more chances with the scripted material. This is where creativity can really be seen. An “outrageous” premise can really draw a person into a storyline if it is done right. It can go there because the financial risks are much lower.

 

The first movie is Sleeping Dogs Lie.

 

This movie deals with aftermath of “youthful experimentation”. In this movie, a young woman showed some “admiration” to her dog in college. And it did not involve peanut butter. This movie deals with how people condemn other’s “experimentations” and yet at the same time are willing to accept their own. It is also about who is really honest and who is not within relationships.

 

The second movie is World’s Greatest Dad.

 

I have to say this about the movie. This one is a bit trickier with its premise. This movie is about a father who son accidently kills himself performing the same act the leader singer of INXS did. So not to be caught in people’s judgment he decides to make it look like a suicide. I know in this day where teen bullying and suicide is front page news this may seem harsh and no laughing matter. As someone who has know a few victims of suicide over the years I will say the whole act in of itself is “absurd”. This movie goes to another level with the material. This is about the truth and what we expect it to be.

 

Every now and then take a chance and watch a movie you may not have heard about.

 

And finally as usually I need to find some song to be the “Closing Credits” to wrap up a posting. I found this song on The Best of Miami Vice soundtrack that came into my collection. I just want to say “The Best of” part does not always hold up with time.

 

I liked this song because I think everyone wants to find or have “a good and honest” person to be around. And I like throwing in a “curve ball” selection every now and then.

 

 


Posted in General thoughts, Human St(r)ain, Listening To, Movies, The Mind Wanders | Leave a comment

Out of Rhythm

Posted on October 24, 2011 by foley

And you can just skip the obvious joke.

I took a few days off from work last week in order to tackle the various projects that I needed to. However, the “Forces That BE” decided otherwise. I wanted to be productive. I wanted to tackle a bunch of small projects around the apartment. I really need to be better at housekeeping. I am very close to being required to change my name to “Oscar”. I wanted to write out some postings. Make some more notes on future projects.

That was the plan.

The “Forces” that be decided I need to get sick with a sore throat, congestion, fever. So I spent most of the time in bed sleeping. Or trying to. But ended up on the couch watching Netflix. Burning fever makes the eyes have a hard time reading or trying to look at a computer screen to write. It is also hard to get any sympathy since I do not live with an audience. People win awards for portrayal of “sick and dying” characters. On your own it is just a pathetic act. It was just a nice way to waste 4 days doing nothing.

I am trying to get back to getting things done. I have a new tenant that brought forth issues I need to deal with. I just wish my plumbing skills were better. I have a garage that the town is making repair and the project has been delayed that I am not sure if the town’s patience is going to last. And I wish the nice weather would just a bit longer to get it done.

As I was staring at the ceiling last night. I was thinking about the universal forces at work and wondering. It would be nice if they just went with my “flow” for once. Not presenting problems but offering up solutions. It would be nice if the time, the money and the materials were there before the problem for once. Scrambling about is not a fun form of exercise. It has always been a problem of getting “the horse and the cart” in the right order. Everyone yells that the “cart” needs to move. But no one wants to help find the “horse” to get the job done.

I wish there was times in which the effort was noticed more upfront than the results.

But then again, these thoughts are the lingering side effects of the illness. Or the NyQuil.

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In Repair

Posted on October 8, 2011 by foley
 
 

 

Thursday night, I had a “moment of dread” and hours of anger that followed it. Lately, I have been having been getting a lot of ideas down on the notepad. I wanted to get them into “shape” on my laptop. I was making some progress when it for reasons unknown the screen went all blurry and crashed. 10PM and this was the last thing I needed. I was mad and did not get a good night’s sleep at all. Friday, after work the computer was able to reboot and I spent a lot of time backing up files to the external hard drive. (Backing up files needs to become more habitual for me) They say you need to know a good auto mechanic. I would also say you need to know a reliable computer repairman too. And if anyone knows of one in the Buffalo NY area please let me know for I will probably need one in the future. If not repair then data retrieval would be vital.
 
 

 

I have been carrying in my backpack a copy of The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. The book talks a lot about the concept of “Resistance” to the “Creative Side.” It is something that I have been struggling with. Some of it is internal and then there are the frustrating external ones that seem to come at the very wrong times. This made me think about my grade school education. Grade school that is suppose to give you foundation of preparedness for life. Remember the Hard Rule of “Sit there quietly and get your work done without any distractions.” Raise your hand if you have ever had a job in that type of environment. Anyone? I live alone and cannot get that work environment.
 
 

 

I was also in the library last week. I was going through the stacks looking for a new fictional author to read. I was looking for the final in The Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan but it has not been released as of yet. While he was not a totally new author to me I decided to read a book Chuck Hogan authored by himself. He is known for Prince of Thieves which is the book the movie The Town was based. That was a good movie and believe it or not Ben Affleck is showing the potential of a very good film director. His debut as director in Gone Baby Gone is also worth checking out. So I wanted to find a Chuck Hogan novel that I had no experience with. I decided to go with The Devils in Exile. There is a passage in the book that fits into this week’s “challenges and headaches” that I am experiencing. A character tells the concept of the “Tomorrow Man Theory”. I am not going to quote it directly from the book. I found it somewhere else on the Internet.
 
 

 

The Tomorrow Man theory.*
it’s pretty basic. today, right here, you are who you are. tomorrow, you will be who you WILL be. each and every night, we lie down to die, and each morning we arise, reborn. now, those who are in good spirits, with strong mental health, they look out for their Tomorrow Man. they eat right today, they drink right today, they go sleep early today – all so the Tomorrow Man, when he awakes in his bed reborn as Today Man, thanks Yesterday Man. he looks upon him fondly as a child might a good parent. he knows that someone – himself – was looking out for him. he feels cared for, and respected. loved, in a word. and now he has a legacy to pass on to his subsequent selves.
but those who are in a bad way, with poor mental health, they constantly leave these messes for Tomorrow Man to clean up. they eat whatever the hell they want, drink like the night will never end, and then fall asleep to forget. they don’t respect Tomorrow Man because they don’t think through the fact that Tomorrow Man will be them. so then they wake up, new Today Man, groaning at the disrespect Yesterday Man showed them. wondering why does that guy – myself – keep punishing me? but they never learn and instead come to settle for that behavior, eventually learning to ask and expect nothing of themselves. they pass along these same bad habits tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and it becomes psychologically genetic, like a curse.

looking at you now, I can see exactly where you fall on this spectrum. you are a man constantly trying to fix today what Yesterday Man did to you. you make up your bed, you clean those dirty dishes from the night before, and pledge not to start drinking until six, thinking that’s the way to keep an even keel. but in reality you’re always playing catch-up. I know this because I’ve been there. the thing is – you can’t fix the mistakes of Yesterday. Yesterday Man is dead, he’s gone forever, and blame and atonement aren’t worth a damn. what you CAN do is help yourself today. eat a vegetable. read a book. cut that hair of yours. leave Tomorrow Man something more than a headache and a jam-packed colon. do for Tomorrow Man what you would have wanted Yesterday Man to do for you.

Imagine trying to write that on a wish inside of Chinese Fortune Cookie.
 
 

 

It is also a concept that will make you lie at night and stare at the ceiling.
 
 

 

The forces of Karma can be strange and we can do strange things to ourselves.
 
 

It reminded me of this clip from the Drew Carey Show.


Posted in Brain Fried, General thoughts, Human St(r)ain, Reading | Leave a comment

The Status Quo for Anything is Never Going to Be a Stable One

Posted on September 30, 2011 by foley

 

“Tradition and heritage are all dead people’s baggage.

Stop carrying it. Move Forward.”


Doug Stanhope, Track 4


Oslo: Burning the Bridge to Nowhere

 

A co-worker of mine leaves copies of Rolling Stone magazine in the break room. It has been about 15-20 years since I was a regular reader of that magazine. I do not have any really opinion about it either. It is just something to read to kill time while on break or lunch. However, compared to the local daily paper it has a little more substance to it. The back of each issue lists the top 20 album sales for the week. I looked over the list and most of the music I have never heard of. If this is a measure of where one place’s in comparison to modern music then I am way out of place. The thing is twenty years earlier and for reason now “unknown” I had the desire to investigate more of that music. Today, I just don’t care about most of music for the masses. A car payment and a mortgage did an effective job of taking up a good portion of my “entertainment dollars”. The other thing is I have developed better “filters” to either tune in or tune out music. There is also another chart on that page that lists the Top 10 songs from a decade or two earlier. I remember those popular songs and most of them are no longer played. I have come to the conclusion that most pop culture items, in this case music, is not made to last. There is not a vehicle that is more inefficient and does not carry good distances when it comes to mileage than “The Bandwagon”. So do not waste a lot of effort trying to “hitch on to it”. (Thoughts like this are why I could never go into “marketing” as a full time job.)

Art in its various mediums is basically an effort by “mortals” hoping by chance they might stumble on to “immortality”. This must be accomplished within certain frame of time which is a value unknown by the particular artist. In other words, the sun only shines so long. I began to think about this when the band R.E.M. called it end to their group after 30 years. It is also another “marker in time” when the major music groups that endured from when you discovered them in your youth come to their end. I heard it mentioned it was because of poor album sales. They may not have been selling like they did in the late 80′s and the 90′s. It does not mean they were putting out bad albums. I think they were still creating some good music and the last two albums showed no letting up. However, it was their call to make no matter how I felt. R.E.M. was one of the bands I found in high school that I was a “secret fan” of then. The crowd I was with at the was “Heavy Metal Only!” This band got me going into other music because back then “alternative music” and the mass population had not been introduced to either other at that point. I remember buying R.E.M.’s Green album while at the same time buying Never Surrender by Triumph. (Although that was not my biggest purchase of diverse music at the same time. That would be Strays by Jane’s Addiction along with Songs of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle.) The Internet did change how music was distributed. Album sales are no longer a good measurement of music’s popularity and quality. Radio is now program to be “boring and repetitive” with a condense playlist. Most bands now publish the number of Twitter followers they have rather than how many actually album copies they sold. It is also a shift by not only technology but generational one too. Internet streaming and digital storage means you no longer have to hold an actually physical copy. It is now more about the “experience” of the art. Remember making mixed tapes in the 80′s and early 90′s? I am a bit nostalgic for that “passion” in creating them. But I do not miss how much actual manual labor was involved in the process.


All products must evolve with the times. However when the people behind them announced changes their audience (customers) react with “Outrage and threats”. Netflix change their fee structures and may lose some content for streaming. I like the service for now but it does not mean I am “indentured” to them for life. I started with AOL which was the biggest and best at one point. Busy signals and price hikes made me change. Facebook changed their page layout in how you interact with it. I read a lot of people on there who were “pissed off and ready to quit”. None of them did. In fact, most of them still are posting with the same frequency they always did. MySpace did not update their interface and look what happened to them. The interface is going to change. The phone was a great new communication tool for the time. So does that mean they were to stop with the “rotary dial” as the way to operate it? Remember when you had to actually get up and change the dial on the TV to get to another station? (Actually given the “overweight” problem this might be a good thing to return to for some form of exercise.) So see what is actually happening before you go into some sort “self righteous outrage rant.” Make the change if necessary but stay off the soap box. Here is my example. I used to like to get my Sunday morning coffee and breakfast sandwich from a popular local “north of the border” chain outlet. I began to hate navigating their parking lots. I hated waiting in lines that consisted of only ONE person in front of me. Ordering a simple cup of black coffee only to get it with cream and sugar. A gift card (that came with a receipt) that the manager could not fix and was told I had to take it back. I began to dread their places. And by the way their corporation does NOT monitor their Facebook page so do not go there looking for customer service. I could have written a complaint letter and would have probably received a bunch of coupons to their establishments. So the message would have been, “The next time you come here. Your Poor Customer Service Experience is ON US.” I did not tell others not to go there. I just “Un-liked” their Facebook page and went somewhere else. “High Vocal Outrage” does not carry across the masses as far as you think it might. Besides enough “smart” customers walking away from them will make them change or die out.

There is no such thing as the “Status Quo”. Calling out for its “defense” is like saying you are willing “to take a bullet for the Easter Bunny.” It is feels good to sound “Very brave and moral” when you really do not to actually prove anything. Nostalgia is powerful but can be very draining thing to hold on to. Any form of social interaction will never make 100% of the people “happy”. That’s on them. Not you. And not me either.


I know I am arguing against “Nostalgia”. But I have to admit I am not immune to its effect. I got pissed when Miley Cyrus covered Smells Like Teen Spirit. She is “pop culture candy”. Twinkies have a longer shelf than her and more substance. That song was an anthem for “the disenfranchised” not for someone who comes from privilege. It is hard to believe it has been 20 years since the release of Nevermind by Nirvana. It was an album than change the cultural landscape when it comes to music.

Here is a link to Alan Cross talking about this album and why it mattered.

1991 was the year the big rock albums came from Metallica, Guns n’ Roses and do not forget Jane’s Addiction or Soundgarden.

I remember when I first heard this album. And Smells Like Teen Spirit was not the first song I ever heard from them. The album was being played on the local college station. It was Breed and it grabbed by the attention of my ears’ immediately. I had to get this album and bought at the local chain “Cavages” (And they have been out of business for almost 20 years now.) I bought the album and at the check-out. The young woman working the counter said, “There is something going on with this. It is the fourth copy I have already sold and we opened 30 minutes ago.” Smells Like Teen Spirit was just getting MTV play the same week and commercial radio was not far behind.

There most likely will never be a music album that will cause a major cultural shift like this. This is the album that knocked Michael Jackson out of Number 1 on the sales chart. And after this his music for the most part would never have the mass impact that it did in the 80′s. (Plus he became more of “circus act” in his own life.)

I still play this album today although on an MP3 player. The format may be different. But the music has endured so far.

That may change.

Then again it might not.

I cannot predict a future. I surely did not predict this one.

But I can at least guarantee this.

The Status Quo will still be elusive.

And politicians will still be promising to deliver it.


“Once you start laying back on your resume. The more you hear a country talking about their history. The more likely they’re not doing a fucking thing anymore. You always have to progress as a society. As a people. As a species. Egypt they created the pyramids. Fantastic! What have you done since then? Nothing?”

                                                Doug Stanhope, Track 7

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