Grounding Oneself

Its tough being a guy who doesn't appreciate sports in a country where it would be reasonable to assume it comes with the penis. I guess I could dedicate a few hours of my life to studying relevant stats just so I could talk it up with the bros instead of doodling in the corner or writing "important notes" on my own stomach, but I decided a long time ago that trying that hard just to fit in is not my style.

This has become the way I feel about indie/old music and bands. Don't get me wrong, I definitely went through that phase where you start going back to musical eras before you were born just so you can be pretentious and hip, claiming that you don't get how people could not have known about the Pixies or At The Drive-In. Eventually you realize that you have a whole iTunes playlist only there to show other "more-indie-than-thou", Iron-Maiden-Vans-wearing D-Bags. All that effort just so that you can claim you were totally into the Misfits back in the day, when in actuality you're parents were only beginning to consider fucking for procreation. Doesn't seem worth it...That is when you trim it down to only the stuff you genuinely enjoy listening to and you start looking for contemporary shit that gets your musical rocks off.

We independent music fans can get a little uppity sometimes and we just need to be reminded of our humble, unassuming roots; to be grounded. For instance, I used to tell my friends that they were all pussies because they couldn't handle my Jager pounding/Pig Destroyer listening/drunk driving sessions, but now I understand they were scared for their lives/totally confused that someone would choose brutal death metal over Lil' Wayne, a vocoder, and an unused guitar. See! I can't even avoid telling someone else their music choices are stupid for more than 30 seconds.

The point is: be indie, be underground, even be hip if you want; but don't tell anyone else that they have a problem because they don't share your passion for being the first to know. Besides, if everyone started doing it, then what would be left for you? You would just be listening to pop, while underground blogs discussed how unfair it is that nobody "gets" Lady Gaga. We all need to be grounded and here is a great way to remind us that we are all the same:

Not too long ago we were all just little BMX/Skateboarding punks who loitered outside of sub shops and convenience stores. During that time we never could have foreseen comedy getting any better than this: