Well, I just woke up and need to jet off to the library, but there is a fat man in my living room who wears vinyl pants and listens to the Beach Boys. So, while I'm waiting for him to leave, I can filibuster some more. Also, I thought it would be bad form to not respond after my piffle was expanded upon.
1. What did she mean about 'embrace and filter'? These are very different things: virtually antithetical, one might say, in some contexts.
I thought this was pretty obvious. There's going to come a time where we realize that, futuristic-movie-style, pop culture has crept into all corners of our lives and we can't really escape it without becoming total loser recluses. If you admit this, if you embrace it, then you can decide what's worth keeping and what's gotta be tossed. Remember when I said that chick in my class was not ironic? Irony is the key. There is no reason to not like top 40 pop music that is GOOD and AMUSING (ie Sugababes, Destiny's Child, and I have a personal penchant for A1 although the Norwegian one scares me) as well as the sad, sad indie music that makes your heart flutter and the corners of your mouth turn down. It's like the DDR/PUMP debate. I used to be a big fan of PF's beloved Magnetic Fields, I thought Stephin was super rad. I think Distant Plastic Trees is one of the saddest most beautiful albums I own. I think what turned me off of MF is 1) the fact that they've done the same show the last 5 or 6 times I've seen them and it's boring as FUCK and 2) the fact that they are really pretentious. And as you might have noticed, pretense leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The Three Terrors should be slapped about, going to see them last year was (as I've described it before) just watching three old pretentious men sing old pretentious songs and expect us to lick it all up. The only good thing was that Daniel Handler read from the Basic 8 and what a grate book that is!
2. Looking at the cover of a magazine doesn't tell you what a band sounds like. (Unless the cover is written by Simon Reynolds.) I don't know what Destiny's Child look or sound like. I don't think they have much of a reputation or profile in my country. We have this silly band 'Sugababes' instead, see.
No, it won't tell you what they sound like, but you didn't know one from the other, and this could help with embarrassing mishaps like that. Last fortnight's Smash Hits had Destiny's Child on the cover, nicely captioned "INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF DESTINY'S CHILD!" Sugababes have never appeared on the cover of Smash Hits. Also, you are absolutely wrong about Beyonce, Michelle, and Kelly not having a reputation in the UK, they are a GLOBAL PHENOMENON.
3. We don't have MTV where I come from.
You don't have cable? Oh I forgot, you can watch porn on Channel 4 there, who needs Showtime or even USA. You lucky bastards in the UK get the Box too, Smash Hits You Control! I only suggest watching it once every month or so, though, because it's the same videos all day long. But good videos, like the one where Westlife shake their tiny fists at the unfairness that is the heterosexual relationship while perched atop a scenic cliff (I know I've used that description before but it's SO ACCURATE!)!
4. To talk about Salman Rushdie was a nice touch - but have SR's pop-cultural admissions done him much good? I think my editor would disagree. He never liked SR that much in the first place, but what respect he had paled and palled once SR started expounding about very well-known Van Morrison records and the like.
That's true, I've heard that The Ground Beneath Her Feet is sort of mediocre compared to Salman's earlier "masterpieces". But like I said, he's alive. And dating a hot chick.
5. Still, I like the near-synasthesia of 'knowledge is golden', green, etc.
In girl scouts we used to sing this song: "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold!" This has nothing to do with what I was previously talking about, but is still a valid bit of wisdom. Thanks Gordon for the ice cream description compliment, I will never again question my abilities in this department. Everyone should join popbitch, www.popbitch.com, I think. Especially you PF, since you don't like pop you may as well get a newsletter that makes fun of it. Anyway, this is a conflict that may never be resolved, as those who are anti-pop music aren't easily swayed. And PF and I are from different generations and upbringings. At this point, I'd like to thank my mom and dad for buying me Rick Astley and Bangles tapes when I was in second grade. xoxo Julie +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+