Sinister: my life without the sugababes

[Jan Imgrund]

Hey, this sugababes discussion is interesting. I think I'll take it as a
starting point and end up somewhere competely different. Let's see.

> 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.

I don't think so. Just randomly take one example among millions: me. I do
have a television, but it's only capable of  showing one single program, and
it's not MTV. I also own a radio, but i never use it because all it does is
getting on my nerves big time. The result of this reclusion is that i am
unaware of a lot of things that most other people in my country know about,
like who is most likely to win the next football championship, which local
actor has married/divorced/whatever which other one, etc. (We have the Big
Brother show here in Germany, too, and i've never seen that one either,
which i think is only a very tiny little bit of a shame). Also I often don't
know who is at the top of the charts here; sometimes i cause wonder and
amazement when i hear a song played somewhere and say "wow, that's really
catchy - I'm sure it's going to be a big success", when in fact it already
is...
I'm not a recluse, though. I'm reading daily and weekly newspapers, I'm
using the internet a lot to keep myself informed about the things i care
about, especially literature and music; I get my recommendations for new &
interesting stuff from all sorts of mailing lists and message boards.
Embrace and filter? I'd say, the big advantage of the internet is that you
don't have to embrace; you can start filtering right away.
But, I hear you say, are you not missing out on a lot of things? Well yes, I
guess so - for some time i vaguely thought that Destiny's Child was a metal
band because the name sounds a bit medievally-pretentious like Paradise Lost
or Blind Guardian...... but then I listened to them, and I was utterly
unimpressed. And while there *is* some good mainstream pop music (Briskeby!
they're fab. From Norway), it's just not worthwhile IMO to wade through all
this crap just to find something that *might* be a bit good. (I do miss MTV
sometimes, though. Some of those videos are really good. Especially those
with half-naked dancers).
The thing about ignoring mass-media-pop-culture is that it makes life
better; at least for me. I didn't consciously choose to step out of it, it
just happened, and it was good. It's strange how people have this idea that
pop culture is something unescapable that's got some *meaning* unto its own.
In fact, you just have to do a tiny little step to the side, and it all
vanishes, you can let this this multi-billion-$$-life-invading industry rush
you by like a high-speed train: *whoooosh*.

 Ok, it's very easy to appear arrogant when you have a different taste. But
I don't think i'm *better* just because i don't do or like what most people
do. I don't *hate* bad music, i just don't listen to it. Julie, you seem to
think that people who are "against" pop music do so because they want to
feel superior or something, when secretly they envy those who are out and
have space-age fun. I don't think that's the case. It's just that some
people don't find it worthwile to spend time with that sort of music, that's
all. There is no earthly reason why you  *have* to know a certain band,
there is no such thing as a GLOBAL PHENOMENON. For me, caring about DC would
be a waste of time. That's not arrogant, it's simply economic. It gives me
time to enjoy the things i love. And if you happen to enjoy DC, there's
nothing wrong with that either, of course.
But: people who don't want to take part in global pop culture, not even
ironically, are not sad loser recluses. At least not always*.

bonus comment: I had heard the expression "spirit ditch" in a sparklehorse
song and thought it was one of their genius lyrical inventions (in fact,
they are using it twice on their last record), until Jules enlightened me
about the fact that it's a normal english expression. Wow, what a language!
I think I'm in love. I should learn it sometime....

back to lurking for the next 6 months goes
Jan


*: I'm with a hot chick. In fact, I'm going to cuddle next to her after i've
sent this out and maybe fumble her tits for a bit.

--
Tindersticks page: http://www.tinder.org
"Lifestyle music for people maybe lacking in life, but never, ever in style"
--

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
        +---+  Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list  +---+
     To send to the list mail sinister at missprint.org. To unsubscribe
     send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to
     majordomo at 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                 +-+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+