Hullo Sinister children, So, is it in any way possible for the list to go on for a week without some MAJOR bloody disturbence that gets everyone's knickers in a twist? I guess not, eh? For the record, I like to give poor Lauren a vote of full public support for her indie rantings post, not so much because I fully agree with her (and I do agree a great deal with her) but because I've read enough slagging of the 'masses' and the 'hard kids' and the 'townies' to be well pleased when someone gives the pretentious few a good, hard slgagging. Oh, and what's the problem with hippies, I've seen them given a bit of a slagging as well, I like hippies. Pretty girls, good music, and a nice philosophy. All anyone wants is a bit of respect, and I don't care if you're agnostic or atheist (like me) or buddist or whatnot, if you honestly think the music one listens to is an indicator of the type of person they are, you are in desperate need of a fucking life. If anyone actually belives that; "It is not what you are like, it's what you like" you are a pretentious twat. High Fidelity was a good book, and a good movie, but I'm not basing my world view on what Nick Hornby thinks, thanks. Besides the fact that I thought the whole thing was a pisstake and a fairly accurate slagging of music snobs. Oh, woe is me, the hard kids made fun of me, people don't bloody understand me, the masses listen to shit music, 'those people' control the world...what absolute crap. I've taken plenty of shit from people on a wide range of subjects, but you know what, the 'indie' movement is not a disenfranchised minority, any attempt to compare them to the civil rights movements of blacks or gays is downright insulting. The masses? You take their individuality away everytime you refer to them in that sense. Yes, they are individuals, believe it or not. You learn these things when you take the time to give a damn about people instead of your own world view. People use indie style to get girls? I don't think I have a style, or if I did, it most likely be a pretty square style. Funny, I've gone out with and been friends with girls from all across the spectrum, indie girls, punk girls, abercrombie girls. You know what? They were all sweet, vibrante, lovely young ladies, regardless of what music they listened to or what clothes they wear. I don't really think I'd like a person, girl or otherwise, to whom clothes or music were the deciding factor in whether they talked to me/liked me, etc. I'd probably think they were very shallow. Not that people shouldn't have things in common, but there's a lot of things besides music and clothes to have in common. Look, it's just about respect, and I don't respect any of you on your choice of music. I don't respect you based upon the clothes you wear. I respect people on the choices they make and why they make them. When a person comes up to me they are a cipher until they open their mouth, then they earn or lose my respect. I think what annoys some of us, is that the idea of indie, just like the idea of 'alternative' was that the scenes were supposed to be free of all that crap. It wasn't supposed to be about what you wear or the exact music you listen too, it was supposed to be about breaking molds, not forming new ones. You're all wonderful, intelligent individuals. Bright, sometimes warm, sometimes funny, and mostly very nice people. Don't let your own insecurities cut you off from the world, because you are no different, no better, no more or less pretentious or worthy than anyone else. My sig quote at the bottom pretty much sums up my feelings on the whole mess. There's a big, wonderful, multiplex world out there that we can all live in. All it takes is being respectful and smiling a bit. A smile and a bit of respect will take you farther than you would have thought possible. Personally, I think we need a new topic to get in a huff about. I present; "Ribena is over-priced Kool-aid and tastes like piss". You may commence posting your rightious indignation to my slander of Ribena. Be happy people, go out and play in the sunshine with pretty boys and rude girls. Jim "I haven't feel geeky or dumb since I was 17. I don't feel marginalised or outmoded and neither should anyone else in this thriving, multiplex society. When will successful, creative, intelligent people stop thinking of themselves as childlike outsiders and start engaging with the real high-stakes world? Wake up fanboy, wake up fangirl. Don't you want to rule the world?" - Grant Morrison _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+