[Squinky]

Originally Posted by Hammerite

For good and original music, the underground's where it's at.

No, no, for good and original music, you can't beat the classics.

[Fairygdmther]

Wow, Scott! Sounds like you've had some bad experiences lately!

FGM

[Sage]

Originally Posted by Fairygdmther

Wow, Scott! Sounds like you've had some bad experiences lately!

FGM

Nah, just business as usual here on the buckle of the "Bible Belt".

[Squinky]

This is for you, Scott.

[Jatsie]

Originally Posted by Sage

Much as the original movie "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" played on the fears of encroaching communism in the immediate post-McCarthy era in the US, ie: you never know who's become one of them until it's too late, I wonder if the current popularity of zombie movies isn't due to the rise of the ultra-conservative religious right-wing in the US, eg: the sexlessness, the glassy stares, the inability to escape them no matter where you hide, and their desire to remove all your capability for individualized thought and to turn you into one of their own?

Oh god, now I've got an image of Ann Coulter stuck in my head!

[Spiwak]

Originally Posted by Squinky

No, no, for good and original music, you can't beat the classics.

There was definitely a time when I would have agreed with you, and I still listen to and appreciate the classics just as I would anything else. But the classics never move forward, never expand beyond the past. I'd rather keep and listen to it all and continue exploring current (good) music as it evolves. Only listening to the classics would eventually grow tiring, as I don't think I could ever fully appreciate the paradigm from whence it came.

Granted, if there's ever a time when I grow so distanced from contemporary music that I hate it all, maybe I'll retreat my words.

[Jelena]

This is the kind of good and original music I appreciate at the moment. OK, not that original, but this guy has his own expression and I really like it.
Check out the video for Dream Girl.

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

Eh. I know I used to throw a temper tantrum solely because I wasn't getting my way. In fact, I threw spoiled tantrums, and was easily riled to boot, all the way up until I was about 14, when a series of events led me to have an epiphany of what a brat I was being.

To Jeysie and TSAsie, yeah, I think the "get what I want" tantrums are true too, but happen later. The article was perhaps talking about younger children (just post-tolder, the terrible-twos, not the learning-to-push-parents-buttons 8-10 year olds). That's my impression anyways--I've never been a parent.

Unpopular opinion from me: If your child isn't yet aware enough of their behavior to know when to keep it to a dull roar, you just shouldn't be taking them to a venue where quiet and decorum are expected unless you absolutely need to. Not because I dislike kids, but, well, it's the same reason you wouldn't walk around a mall or theater performance carrying a stereo blaring Metallica at top volume. It's disrespectful to other people.

Peace & Luv, Liz

Aye!

ObUnpopular: iPods are dumbed down.

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Originally Posted by El Poppy

I agree! In my experiences the bicycle facilities in the UK are pretty diabolical when compared to parts of mainland Europe. Increased funding is supposedly being pumped into providing such facilities, and yet the local council annoys me by providing what I call ‘Token Bike paths,’ i.e. paths that only measure a few inches long and cut off onto a busy A-road. In numerous cases I’ve seen cars mount these paths! I’d love to use my bike more often, but in many parts it is simply too dangerous, plus, I have encountered frequent abuse at the hands of impatient motorists.

*exhales* Now I feel better!

It was good for me too--pass that to me for a hit, will ya?

I sometimes prefer trails to the street as there are no cars. We have a few long ones in the bike-friendly city of Seattle that are quite wide. The problem is that they're multi-use (kids, strollers, dog walking, 15mph speed limit), so the street is often the only place to get a good sprint on. So yes, even here we run into the skinny bike pseudo-lanes or none at all if you want to get a good ride.

Obligatory Unpopular: horns exist for a reason (whether it's the car horn in traffic, or my new 120db bike-mounted pump-filled air horn for the trail). We actually have a city ordinance here for which they can cite you if you use a horn in a non-emergency situation, but I say fuck'em--I'm using my horns. There's too many morons out there.

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Originally Posted by Spiwak

Granted, if there's ever a time when I grow so distanced from contemporary music that I hate it all, maybe I'll retreat my words.

There's always good contemporary new music in the world. I think we can all agree that the classics are good, and there are still people building on it (as well as the popular lot that are simply cashing in on both).

That said, there's also still some decent contemporary popular stuff out there.

I have some friends that are totally and stanchly entrenched in the past and I feel sorry for them.

[tsa]

Originally Posted by Jelena

This is the kind of good and original music I appreciate at the moment. OK, not that original, but this guy has his own expression and I really like it.
Check out the video for Dream Girl.

Interesting: to me he sounds a bit like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Gilbert O' Sullivan rolled into one.

[tsa]

Originally Posted by Not A Speck Of Cereal

There's always good contemporary new music in the world. I think we can all agree that the classics are good, and there are still people building on it (as well as the popular lot that are simply cashing in on both).

That said, there's also still some decent contemporary popular stuff out there.

I have some friends that are totally and stanchly entrenched in the past and I feel sorry for them.

I have friends like that too. Totally stuck in the 1980's or early 1990's. It's sad.

Last year I discovered American internet radio stations as a way to learn about new music. It's amazing how all Dutch (internet) radio stations sound exactly the same. I guess it's the influence of Buma-Stemra, the Dutch version of the RIAA. Thanks to Radioio, KZAM, KCRW and SomaFM I have found some interesting new music.

[After a brisk nap]

Originally Posted by tsa

I have friends like that too. Totally stuck in the 1980's or early 1990's. It's sad.

I don't see why. There's a hundred years of recorded music to choose from. Excluding the last decade isn't going to make anyone musically deprived. It's quite possible to keep exploring new music and broadening your horizons just by listening to different genres and lesser-known artists, even if you stick to a given time period.

I don't personally eschew new music, or films, or books. But if the world output of art and entertainment dried up tomorrow, it wouldn't really matter that much to me, given the huge back catalogue available. (Also true of computer games, by the way.)

Besides, when you look back it's much easier to choose the works that have stood the test of time and become classics, and avoid all the junk and ephemera of contemporary culture.

This is the same reason I don't read daily newspapers.

[tsa]

It's sad because history doesn't develop like the world around you. And you need to hear some of the crap that is produced to be able to filter out and appreciate new music that is 'good' for you. Besides, the people I know that are stuck in the past usually play the same songs over and over again. And it's hard to find 'new' music from the past, because only the classics, the songs everybody liked, are readily available. Songs that are liked by everybody are not usually the 'best' songs out there. What I mean to say is, whilst you may not become musically or otherwise deprived by being stuck in the past, it is harder to develop your taste and to appreciate the development of new stuff.

[tsa]

Originally Posted by Not A Speck Of Cereal

To Jeysie and TSAsie, yeah, I think the "get what I want" tantrums are true too, but happen later. The article was perhaps talking about younger children (just post-tolder, the terrible-twos, not the learning-to-push-parents-buttons 8-10 year olds). That's my impression anyways--I've never been a parent.

The girl I talked about was four, I think. I also once saw a two-year-old having a tantum because she wanted to go home

[Sage]

Originally Posted by After a brisk nap

Besides, when you look back it's much easier to choose the works that have stood the test of time and become classics, and avoid all the junk and ephemera of contemporary culture.

Unfortunately, some people choose to do nothing but this. Heaven forbid they form an opinion on their own, or step outside the mainstream.

Cases in point: Elvis and the Beatles. Forty or fifty years on, it's very easy to appreciate their contributions to popular music, but when each of them were first gaining popularity they faced strong opposition from the established mainstream and were considered talentless hacks and harbingers of the downfall of civilization.

How many people who profess to just love Elvis or the Beatles NOW would have espoused that same sentiment back when having that opinion would have garnered them more than a few quizzical looks?

[Spiwak]

Originally Posted by Not A Speck Of Cereal

There's always good contemporary new music in the world. I think we can all agree that the classics are good, and there are still people building on it (as well as the popular lot that are simply cashing in on both).

That said, there's also still some decent contemporary popular stuff out there.

I have some friends that are totally and stanchly entrenched in the past and I feel sorry for them.

It was a pretty big if. By nature I'm very much about experimentation in the arts and typically grow a little weary of the same sound if I listen to it too much (despite continuing my appreciation).

[stepurhan]

Unpopular Opinion. Elvis and The Beatles aren't really that good.

This may of course have a lot to do with me personal taste in music but I really don't see why either of them are as popular as they seem to be. Miind you, the extreme fans "celebrating" 30 years since Elvis' death probably don't help on that one. I have a gut reaction against anything that makes people act like that.

[Jatsie]

I think Kate Moss is ugly as sin.

[Squinky]

Originally Posted by stepurhan

Unpopular Opinion. Elvis and The Beatles aren't really that good.

This may of course have a lot to do with me personal taste in music but I really don't see why either of them are as popular as they seem to be. Miind you, the extreme fans "celebrating" 30 years since Elvis' death probably don't help on that one. I have a gut reaction against anything that makes people act like that.

I agree with you. And something tells me that Elvis and The Beatles would agree with you too.