Its almost 2005. It seems like time stopped on September 11th and hasn't really moved forward since. Everything since has been a dream... It doesn't feel like the decade is half over.

This decade doesn't have a style yet. It doesn't have a message. It doesn't have music. And its half over. The only thing about 200x is blogs and terrorists and camera phones. What the fuck? By 1995 we had seen the rise and fall of grunge rock. By 1985 we'd had Atari and Devo and MTV and Madonna and RunDMC. In 1975 we had disco and Ozzy. In 2005 we ain't got shit.

What are the cultural themes of this decade??

1. Strife - Terror. Fear. Security. War. Partisanship.
2. Marketing killed the human spirit - The new music sucks because its too marketed. Too much a product and not a statement. The spirit of the Olympic Games is hard to hold onto when people are getting fired for wearing the wrong brand of tennis shoes. The internet is a cesspool of pop up-ads and spam. You can't believe in anything anymore because the minute someone makes something worth believing in they try to use it to sell soda pop.
3. Bloggers.

Is that it? Am I being too cynical here? What am I missing?

[ No, that sounds pretty accurate. The only bright spot I see is that all this seriousness and stagnation will presage a serious explosion of creativitiy when it finally breaks. I think the Tens are gonna be pretty rad. -k]

Decius wrote:
] Its almost 2005.
]
] Is that it? Am I being too cynical here? What am I missing?

This is Tom getting old and losing touch with the Edge.

noteworthy wrote:
] Decius wrote:
] ] Its almost 2005.
] ]
] ] Is that it? Am I being too cynical here? What am I missing?
]
] This is Tom getting old and losing touch with the Edge.

Jesus. Seriously? What am I missing?

Decius wrote:

]
] What are the cultural themes of this decade??
]
] 1. Strife - Terror. Fear. Security. War. Partisanship.
] 2. Marketing killed the human spirit - The new music sucks
] because its too marketed. Too much a product and not a
] statement. The spirit of the Olympic Games is hard to hold
] onto when people are getting fired for wearing the wrong brand
] of tennis shoes. The internet is a cesspool of pop up-ads and
] spam. You can't believe in anything anymore because the minute
] someone makes something worth believing in they try to use it
] to sell soda pop.
] 3. Bloggers.
]
] Is that it? Am I being too cynical here? What am I missing?

4. Gas Prices
5. Atkins and "Carbs"
6. Most people assume whatever we do, we're still the good guys because the system we have prevents us from doing any evil. Even when the leadership mostly admits we're up to no good, we're still heros.
7. No viable outlet for any type of art. No way to get it popular enough to sell by self publishing and promotion, not enough creative control to make it safe enough for someone else to publish or sell.
8. Copyright and Privacy are both fucked for the same reason.
9. There is no usefull media for effective public discourse.
10. Most people think voting out the person they don't want in will fix these problems.

Decius wrote:
] Its almost 2005. It seems like time stopped on September 11th
] and hasn't really moved forward since. Everything since has
] been a dream... It doesn't feel like the decade is half over.

Get out of the house more often. Stop reading the news so damn much.

]
] This decade doesn't have a style yet.

No, it just doesn't happen to be YOUR style. You are old. You determine nothing.

It doesn't have a
] message.

Who needs messages when you can go online and convince yourself that your ramblings are a powerful message to the world. I could easily say that the 80s and 90s had no message either.

It doesn't have music.

Yes it does. You simply don't like the music. Anyway, you downloaders have destroyed the ability of decent underground artists to rise. Think about it, people will download their favorite music (usually music of substance). People who want Britney, Jessica and Ashlee will get their moms to buy it for them. It is easier. The fluff will survive downloading. The artists whose work needed the financial support most did not get it. If you download, then thank yourself!

And its half over. The only
] thing about 200x is blogs and terrorists and camera phones.

Terrorism as a concept for america to deal with was big in the late 70's and stayed that way until Sept. 11th caused most of the nation to feel that we should do something about it. Blogs are part of the reason why messages are lost (Why infiltrate and change the media when you can become it, on a budget with limited exposure!)

] What the fuck? By 1995 we had seen the rise and fall of grunge
] rock.

(It was no big deal. People who were 15-25 at the time cared. You are feeling the sting of knowing that a younger group determines the musical taste. Let's say you feel like a Poison fan at Lollapalooza '93!)
By 1985 we'd had Atari and Devo and MTV and Madonna and
] RunDMC.

(We've come a long way since then. Times have changed. Sorry you got left behind, old man.)

In 1975 we had disco and Ozzy.

(Gee, that was almost as swell as MTV and Madonna.)
In 2005 we ain't got
] shit.

(You have Modest Mouse, Queens of the Stone Age, Farenheit 911, the Michael Jackson trial, etc. Sorry if you don't dig it, but it seems like you are simply going through a midlife crisis.)
]
] What are the cultural themes of this decade??

(Uh, think for yourself or conform. They haven't changed much in the past...well ever!)
]
] 1. Strife - Terror. Fear. Security. War. Partisanship.

(you think this is unique to this time? Remember the Cold War? Partisanship is a good thing. It keeps us from feeling North Korean. The day when the political parties become one all-encompassing monopolizing entity is a scary thou...oh wait! It IS like that, already. Silly me!)

] 2. Marketing killed the human spirit -... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

Vile wrote:
] Get out of the house more often. Stop reading the news so
] damn much.

This is what I don't get about you. One minute you are spewing insipid garbage all over the site like a 12 year old whose pissed off at his dad and needs attention. The next minute you send something reasonably well considered which I presume you expect to be taken seriously. Why should I listen to anything that you have to say? I certainly don't expect you to listen to me. I expect you to take this reply and throw it back in my face.

] Anyway, you downloaders have destroyed the ability
] of decent underground artists to rise.

You sure do make a lot of assumptions. You ought to careful about that. I'm sure you know a lot of wanna be computer weenies back home. I'm sure they download music. I'm sure you think that because the people on this site are technical that we're just like the wanna be computer weenies that you know. You're wrong. You don't know anyone like me.

No, I don't download music.

No, I don't think downloading music has anything to do with the ability of underground artists to rise. Thats the sort of attitude usually expressed by people who are accustomed to the old world of broadcast media technology and haven't spent an iota of time thinking about how things evolve.

Artists do not "rise from the underground" by their bootstraps selling CDs. They get signed. They get financed. They get promoted. They get signed because they are marketable and because they were in the right place at the right time.

Downloaders cannot and do not prevent something that never actually happens, and never did happen. Nor are they responsible for the economic situation that record companies face. Thats a gross oversimplification that the media managers have sold themselves because its a lot easier to face then the truth. The truth is that music does not play the same role in our lives that it used to, because we have a wider array of entertainment options available to us. And thats part of the reason that it has sucked so much recently.

] Terrorism as a concept for america to deal with was big in the
] late 70's and stayed that way until Sept. 11th caused most of
] the nation to feel that we should do something about it.

So you don't think the country is more partisan then it used to be? You don't think people are maybe just a little more focused on Terrorism then they were in the early 90's? I think they are. I think we tried to ignore it before. Tired to shove it out of our heads and paid attention to our own lives. Now we can't do that anymore, and that has had a huge effect on who we are.

] (You have Modest Mouse, Queens of the Stone Age, Farenheit
] 911, the Michael Jackson trial, etc. Sorry if you don't dig
] it, but it seems like you are simply going through a midlife
] crisis.)

I'm not saying there aren't some interesting things out there. I... [ Read More (0.4k in body) ]

Decius wrote:
] Vile wrote:
] ] Get out of the house more often. Stop reading the news so
] ] damn much.
]
] This is what I don't get about you. One minute you are spewing
] insipid garbage all over the site like a 12 year old whose
] pissed off at his dad and needs attention.

[THat is a popular saying among computer weenies. They love the number 12 and the needs attention thing. Personally, I would love to call you and refute your posts, face to face, but I do not have your phone number. I need no attention among the ten or so regular denizens of memestreams. You simply incense me, usually. There have been posts of yours that do not get under my skin. I read those and choose not to respond. Clarified?]

The next minute you
] send something reasonably well considered which I presume you
] expect to be taken seriously.

[was that the thing I wrote about lara roxx's asshole?]

Why should I listen to anything
] that you have to say?

[You shouldn't. I have never spoken anything out loud to you. You should read it because you may learn to think outside your box by entertaining a different viewpoint for once. Then maybe you can relax in your times and not sound so old and pissy. That is all.]

I certainly don't expect you to listen
] to me.

[You have never spoken to me, but I read this shit, now don't I?

I expect you to take this reply and throw it back in my
] face.

[My arm is not so good.]
]
] ] Anyway, you downloaders have destroyed the ability
] ] of decent underground artists to rise.
]
] You sure do make a lot of assumptions. You ought to careful
] about that. I'm sure you know a lot of wanna be computer
] weenies back home.

[All I know is rattle, so I suppose you are calling him a computer weenie. You seem like one too.]

I'm sure they download music. I'm sure you
] think that because the people on this site are technical that
] we're just like the wanna be computer weenies that you know.
] You're wrong. You don't know anyone like me.

[How can you accuse me of being presumptuous, and then go on to presume so much about me? I know plenty of assholes like you. They bore me. Thank god I exist to provide a counter-balance to those with sticks up their asses and monitors glued to their eyes.]
]
] No, I don't download music.
]
] No, I don't think downloading music has anything to do with
] the ability of underground artists to rise.

[Think again! My point was made clear regarding this manner and I am correct. Although I could go point for point with you over the next paragraph, I won't. My point was made crystal clear and I am correct in my findings. Sorry.]

Thats the sort of
] attitude usually expressed by people who are accustomed to the
] old world of broadcast media technology and haven't sp... [ Read More (1.2k in body) ]