As a geek i can tend to find solace, at times, in numbers. i have done just that over the weekend. Here is a map of how i got there before i further elaborate on my calculations. A little set up if you will.
i have been very appreciative as of late realizing just how good it is to be me this summer. There have been some great experiences so far and several are still planned, not accounting for any surprise greatness which may lie ahead. One category of planned enjoyment this summer involves shows coming to my general area of the country.
My ladyfriend and i decided last year to cut back on our number of shows attended as we tighten our belts during these turbulent economic times. We agreed to only see special and unique shows that we could not stand to miss. i have indeed turned down quite a few shows but man this summer has some real hum-dingers i could not afford NOT to see.
Rise Against and Rancid (after one had a mediocre album the other put out a career best), Rival Schools back together and opening up for someone, and the return of all original Sunny Day Real Estate band members... good summer to be me.
Still no math? It is coming.
i got thinking about which show i was looking forward to the most with all these amazing tickets sitting in my desk drawer. Rise Against and Rancid: two great live bands i have seen before. i really am partial to Rise Against's last guitarist but know they put on consistently good performances, seeming to get better every time i see them. Rancid too is a solid live show and i am sooo addicted to their new album. Both bands, however, have seen considerable success over the years so although the show should be great it is inevitable that there will be some "goofers" at the show either becoming fans through Guitar Hero or other such sources. Still very excited though and i am quite happy that both bands are able to make a comfortable living making great music.
Next in chronological order comes the Rival Schools show. These tickets will go down as one of the best birthday presents i have ever received. i made peace with the idea that Walter had moved on to other projects when out of nowhere came these tickets... SWEET! i will most likely buy one of each type of merch at the show. The weakness, however, is they are opening up for Eagles of Death Metal. i do not like death metal, serious or ironically used. i will be leaving that show early and have made peace with it not being a Rival Schools headline show. This is indeed the set that i am looking forward to seeing the most this year... that is right: this year.
Lastly comes the return of Sunny Day Real Estate in their original line-up. Diary is one of the best albums to come out of the 90's and is responsible for truly defining a new genre. Y'up, emotional hardcore was really defined by this album more than any other single album. You want to argue it with me? Go ahead, you do not stand a chance.
Now as excited as i am about this incredible show i still am more excited about seeing Rival Schools live. But there is something extremely special i feel when thinking about this specific concert. It is truly a Sunny Day Real Estate show. They are not opening up for another band. The people who go are going, are going to see them. Not someone else. Even more unique is that Sunny Day Real Estate have never seen the successes of bands like Rise Against or Rancid. The people going to this show are going to just be true Sunny Day Real Estate fans.
How fucking cool is that crowd going to be? Really! If your are me (and you probably are not, but you could be as i am sure someone has pulled off human cloning in some secret lab somewhere) this is going to be a pretty comfortable group of people to spend an evening in a room with. The asshole factor at this show should me near nill.
This is how the math began. Our planet is horribly overpopulated with approximately 6.9 billion people. No matter what your particular interest or set of interests at least 1% of the population must share at least similar types of interests. In selecting 1% i figured that this is a safely conservative percentage to go with.
Without getting into a full dissertation explaining the 1% it seems fairly safe to say that 1% of the population shares much in common with you from interests, to illnesses, to beleifs and ideals. That is approximately 69 million people. 69 million! Even if i just look at the country i live in with about 307 million people that still leaves 1% just over 3 million people. That is right, in my own country there are that many people who have similar interests or feelings or troubles.
Fuck... i am really not as alone as i might feel at times. Now that 1% may not be enough to take over the world and although they could potentially change things it is improbable on a large scale. But i was not intending on masterminding a coup (at least not this weekend). i was just helped in finding a little more peace with the aid of math. None of us are all that alone in this world.
Whenever i bump into someone i believe may be a part of my 1% i am going to try and enjoy it for all it is worth. i will keep an eye out for them like pennies on the ground, previously overlooked and unnoticed.
Jul 13, 2009
Jul 12, 2009
No Retractions For My Reactions
That last one felt good but seems uselessly unproductive. i will work on another soon as so it does not linger around like one of those celebrity death stories.
That previous sentence's word choices brought about the thought of a horribly rancid smell. Yuck!
Up until recently i had mostly thought of Rancid as a noun (the band) until a non-punk listening friend reminded me of it's use as an adjective. Now i am dedicated to using it in it's adjective form more frequently, possibly while listening to the band.
That previous sentence's word choices brought about the thought of a horribly rancid smell. Yuck!
Up until recently i had mostly thought of Rancid as a noun (the band) until a non-punk listening friend reminded me of it's use as an adjective. Now i am dedicated to using it in it's adjective form more frequently, possibly while listening to the band.
Celebrity Deaths: The New Reality Television
Apparently dropping cable for the summer was not enough. i was quite enjoying the ability to just scan through a handful of stations to see if anything worth watching was on and then turning the TV off if nothing was on those few channels. Although a few home shopping channels somehow survived the cut i am markedly happier not having to ever skip though those cable news channels. They ALL regularly over-sensationalize some story (and they all seem to always pick the same story... intriguing) and cover it for an entirely inappropriate length of time. i have always found it to be down right badgering.
Unfortunately lately, even with the removal of myself from the cable news world i am again feeling utterly badgered by the media. No, the paparazzi are not digging through my garbage or taking pictures of me and my ladyfriend as we leave the movie theater. i am referring to the death of Michael Jackson.
Soon after his death i decided i would not rant about him. i would not rant about him being a broken human being likely due to his abuse as a child. i would not rant about his being a child molester (yeah he was not found guilty but neither was OJ). i would not rant about his medically altered appearance/transformation. Whatever beefs and problems i may have had no longer matter. He is dead. He is no longer causing problems, he is no longer experiencing problems. Picking a fight with a corpse is pointlessly one sided and unfair.
Picking a fight with a ghost however is a completely different story. How would that work? i could not throw punches but do ghosts have feelings to hurt? Where could i get my hands on a proton gun like the Ghostbusters? Would i have to sign a waiver stating that i promised not to cross streams?
Michael Jackson is not my problem right now. The media coverage of his death is. As i am attempting to mature and become a better person i am trying to be more patient, more meditative, attempting to let things go, allowing things to just run their course. This just will not fucking go away though!
i have tried very hard but tonight i finally reached my tipping point. i have avoided the TV. i have skipped viewing online news sites (figuring someone would tell me if we entered a third war... or are we up to three already? i keep losing track). But today while grocery shopping it happened. While rolling (yes rolling, one foot on shopping cart/trolley the other kicking) down the chip/magazine isle i snuck a peak to see if anything good was in the new issue of Thrasher Magazine. It was as if i was wondering through an amusement park's Hall of Mirrors and ol' MJ himself were standing right behind me. His face was EVERYWHERE.
The week of his death: to be expected. The week after his death: sure, this was their last chance - last opportunity to use him to continue selling magazines. i figured they would milk it but how many weeks do we have to endure? Magazines with nothing to do with music or celebrities still have him on the cover.
A few years back, some of you may remember the days and weeks following September eleventh. We were told "United We Stand", light a candle and put it on your front steps, then go back to shopping at the mall otherwise the terrorist will win.
Here we are WEEKS after the death of a pop star (that is right: a pop star, no matter how much you fucking liked him as an artists he was still JUST A POP STAR) and it is still getting more media attention than this same number of weeks after the United States was attacked by a terrorist plot.
At this point anyone who views the media as a credible source for knowledge deserves to have their head examined... no, strike that. Save the money of getting their heads examined (as these are tough financial times and all) for i can tell you, expensive scan free, that their heads are empty. Buying and watching this shite only encourages the media, but of course this would not still be going on if people did not continue to eat this shite up and spend ridiculous amounts of money along the way.
The odder of my Irish American relatives have always seemed oddly overjoyed at the prospect of going to funerals. It appears that the rest of America has (hopefully only temporarily) caught this same odd personality tick. Maybe it is just society using one of it's artist to live out their emotions once again. With the globe in a financial pit, our planet's environment degrading, and seemingly endless wars people were possibly looking for an excuse to vent their grief, their sadness. Were they all just grasping for some unifying tragedy to express themselves through?
Ah fuck it. We are not a bunch of two year olds. Quite your fucking whining. When it comes to serious issues everyone claims ADD. Now all of a sudden these same people have been focused on one issue for weeks on end. This is just like a fucking baseball game: excruciating to witness and having no set time limit. Was that lightning? Lets end this game.
Unfortunately lately, even with the removal of myself from the cable news world i am again feeling utterly badgered by the media. No, the paparazzi are not digging through my garbage or taking pictures of me and my ladyfriend as we leave the movie theater. i am referring to the death of Michael Jackson.
Soon after his death i decided i would not rant about him. i would not rant about him being a broken human being likely due to his abuse as a child. i would not rant about his being a child molester (yeah he was not found guilty but neither was OJ). i would not rant about his medically altered appearance/transformation. Whatever beefs and problems i may have had no longer matter. He is dead. He is no longer causing problems, he is no longer experiencing problems. Picking a fight with a corpse is pointlessly one sided and unfair.
Picking a fight with a ghost however is a completely different story. How would that work? i could not throw punches but do ghosts have feelings to hurt? Where could i get my hands on a proton gun like the Ghostbusters? Would i have to sign a waiver stating that i promised not to cross streams?
Michael Jackson is not my problem right now. The media coverage of his death is. As i am attempting to mature and become a better person i am trying to be more patient, more meditative, attempting to let things go, allowing things to just run their course. This just will not fucking go away though!
i have tried very hard but tonight i finally reached my tipping point. i have avoided the TV. i have skipped viewing online news sites (figuring someone would tell me if we entered a third war... or are we up to three already? i keep losing track). But today while grocery shopping it happened. While rolling (yes rolling, one foot on shopping cart/trolley the other kicking) down the chip/magazine isle i snuck a peak to see if anything good was in the new issue of Thrasher Magazine. It was as if i was wondering through an amusement park's Hall of Mirrors and ol' MJ himself were standing right behind me. His face was EVERYWHERE.
The week of his death: to be expected. The week after his death: sure, this was their last chance - last opportunity to use him to continue selling magazines. i figured they would milk it but how many weeks do we have to endure? Magazines with nothing to do with music or celebrities still have him on the cover.
A few years back, some of you may remember the days and weeks following September eleventh. We were told "United We Stand", light a candle and put it on your front steps, then go back to shopping at the mall otherwise the terrorist will win.
Here we are WEEKS after the death of a pop star (that is right: a pop star, no matter how much you fucking liked him as an artists he was still JUST A POP STAR) and it is still getting more media attention than this same number of weeks after the United States was attacked by a terrorist plot.
At this point anyone who views the media as a credible source for knowledge deserves to have their head examined... no, strike that. Save the money of getting their heads examined (as these are tough financial times and all) for i can tell you, expensive scan free, that their heads are empty. Buying and watching this shite only encourages the media, but of course this would not still be going on if people did not continue to eat this shite up and spend ridiculous amounts of money along the way.
The odder of my Irish American relatives have always seemed oddly overjoyed at the prospect of going to funerals. It appears that the rest of America has (hopefully only temporarily) caught this same odd personality tick. Maybe it is just society using one of it's artist to live out their emotions once again. With the globe in a financial pit, our planet's environment degrading, and seemingly endless wars people were possibly looking for an excuse to vent their grief, their sadness. Were they all just grasping for some unifying tragedy to express themselves through?
Ah fuck it. We are not a bunch of two year olds. Quite your fucking whining. When it comes to serious issues everyone claims ADD. Now all of a sudden these same people have been focused on one issue for weeks on end. This is just like a fucking baseball game: excruciating to witness and having no set time limit. Was that lightning? Lets end this game.
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