Today's venture into Dublin city resulted in a moment of thought provoking comedy.
The Comedy:
I decided as it is a Saturday and (at that point in the day) the weather looked good that I'd gather a few Jabba The Huck players together for a little Frisbee throwing, in my favourite park The Iveagh Gardens. well the first problem was that someone it seems had discovered this secret park (which is very well hidden from the rest of Dublin) and they had decided to hold some sort of comedy festival there. So myself and my Jabba buddies had to settle for the tourist infested St. Stephens Green. To be honest i have a lot of time for tourists, but a few years ago i militantly hopped on an anti-tourist band wagon and soon found myself steering it.. so I'm going to have to remain in that position to avoid many difficult questions.
Stephens Green was great. despite is being about as Indie as Christina Aguilera's thong. Because things were going quite well i decied to do more complicated and longer throws... one of which over shot a bit while QED was chasing it so of course he tried to stop, at that point he slid on VERY sloppy mud and turned horizontal. this would probably have been fine if he wasn't going at speed. QED became feet first human missile. Luckily for the other people in the park, he wasn't aimed at any of them. But he did manage to disappear into a large bush. He emerged a few seconds later to uncertain laughter and sporting some recently disturbed leaves.
The Thought:
While this was amusing, it could so easily have been a disaster! QED is certainly not Indie, in fact i'm pretty sure he only tolerates me being around it to reassure himself that he's doing nothing Indie. well what if he HAD been Indie! well a good pair of flares could have been ruined, a snazy second hand hat would have had to be washed, loosing that "old" smell that makes Indie hats so unmistakable. what if it had been ME! it's a thought to terrible when you consider i was wearing my oldest and favourite, green belle and sebastian t-shirt.
my message to you.. try to compromise when playing sport, you may fly unexpectedly into a bush!
Saturday 28 July 2007
Tuesday 24 July 2007
How The Indie Philosophy Will Save Africa
I've returned to my Indie hub after my Indie detox in Africa. There have been some nice revelations that have come from my seemingly anti-Indie experiences in and around the Pretoria suburbs. Now i shall share with you my discoveries.
Africa has problems; Health, Crime and Dictatorships are certainly up there. As we know for the vast majority of problems in Africa there are at least 30 groups (charity or otherwise) that are working effortlessly at combating these. this has brought my attention to the lack of support groups aimed at the chronic state of Indie apathy throughout the continent.
Some (perhaps uneducated) people may think that with all of the other apparently "more serious" problems in Africa that focusing any sort of time on the devastatingly disturbing disinterest in Indie Philosophy would be a waste of time and even perhaps insulting. I shall now enlighten them to only a few of the many benefits of bringing the Indie Philosophy to troubled Africa.
Case Study 1)
Imagine an everyday Indie follower; full of life, vigour, greeting each day with a sense of quiet optimism, that perhaps there will be a question on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" about Of Montreal, or a band equally likely to stump an audience that until that point, had felt that "General Knowledge" would get them out of even the toughest spots.
Now put this guy in an African nation that perhaps is going through a some sort of political turmoil.
Now what is this guy most likely to do?:
a) Join an anti-government guerilla group?
Ans)
Not likely. What if the guerilla group actually overthrows the establishment! it'll be in the same region of pain that any Indie follower would feel after losing a great Indie band to Universal Records. No self respecting Indie fan would set themselves up for that kind of punishment.
b) Lock themselves away until it all blows over?
Ans)
I don't think so. this would mean that you would run the risk of missing any number of charity festivals aimed at bringing peace to your particular region. Worst case scenario being that while in your basement exile, Pavement suddenly reform and play at the local refuge camp. Followed of course by the band re-realizing that Stephen Malkmus is still a jerk and promptly breaking up again.
c) Leave the country?
Ans)
Of course not! They would of course stay true to the knowledge that despite the ruling governments recent indiscretions, their early stuff was pretty good and enjoy reminding people of that, as well as holding out hope that maybe before being overthrown, they could release at least one policy that reminds you how good they were before they got famous and corrupt (despite the grave unlikelihood).
d) Campaign for a secure middle-of-the-road political party.
Ans) BINGO! Any self respecting Indie person would gladly align themselves with a pretty decent political party (Assuming the party has very little real support or funding). Mainly due to the fact that in Africa middle-of-the-road parties have had little history of success. BUT! eventually like all things great and Indie, it'll be discussed. non-Indie folk will find out and tell other non Indie folk until the party has gained support from the majority at which point the original fans will leave the party sighting reasons like "They were great in smaller venues" and "The new manifesto isn't a patch on their early ones".
Result: The party takes power, the country is stabilized and it had the hard work and doctrine of the Indie folk to thank for it.
Africa has problems; Health, Crime and Dictatorships are certainly up there. As we know for the vast majority of problems in Africa there are at least 30 groups (charity or otherwise) that are working effortlessly at combating these. this has brought my attention to the lack of support groups aimed at the chronic state of Indie apathy throughout the continent.
Some (perhaps uneducated) people may think that with all of the other apparently "more serious" problems in Africa that focusing any sort of time on the devastatingly disturbing disinterest in Indie Philosophy would be a waste of time and even perhaps insulting. I shall now enlighten them to only a few of the many benefits of bringing the Indie Philosophy to troubled Africa.
Case Study 1)
Imagine an everyday Indie follower; full of life, vigour, greeting each day with a sense of quiet optimism, that perhaps there will be a question on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" about Of Montreal, or a band equally likely to stump an audience that until that point, had felt that "General Knowledge" would get them out of even the toughest spots.
Now put this guy in an African nation that perhaps is going through a some sort of political turmoil.
Now what is this guy most likely to do?:
a) Join an anti-government guerilla group?
Ans)
Not likely. What if the guerilla group actually overthrows the establishment! it'll be in the same region of pain that any Indie follower would feel after losing a great Indie band to Universal Records. No self respecting Indie fan would set themselves up for that kind of punishment.
b) Lock themselves away until it all blows over?
Ans)
I don't think so. this would mean that you would run the risk of missing any number of charity festivals aimed at bringing peace to your particular region. Worst case scenario being that while in your basement exile, Pavement suddenly reform and play at the local refuge camp. Followed of course by the band re-realizing that Stephen Malkmus is still a jerk and promptly breaking up again.
c) Leave the country?
Ans)
Of course not! They would of course stay true to the knowledge that despite the ruling governments recent indiscretions, their early stuff was pretty good and enjoy reminding people of that, as well as holding out hope that maybe before being overthrown, they could release at least one policy that reminds you how good they were before they got famous and corrupt (despite the grave unlikelihood).
d) Campaign for a secure middle-of-the-road political party.
Ans) BINGO! Any self respecting Indie person would gladly align themselves with a pretty decent political party (Assuming the party has very little real support or funding). Mainly due to the fact that in Africa middle-of-the-road parties have had little history of success. BUT! eventually like all things great and Indie, it'll be discussed. non-Indie folk will find out and tell other non Indie folk until the party has gained support from the majority at which point the original fans will leave the party sighting reasons like "They were great in smaller venues" and "The new manifesto isn't a patch on their early ones".
Result: The party takes power, the country is stabilized and it had the hard work and doctrine of the Indie folk to thank for it.
Monday 2 July 2007
Africa: Pop Music or Pop Flares? (part 2)
My quest in this country to explore the deepest darkest parts of indie africa is becoming more and more depressing by the day. i have more or less given up my search for the existance of the fabled "south african indie scene". here are some reasons:
this is a list i found of the indie bands in South africa. The list contains about 100 bands.. All over south africa. not too shabby. Sadly this gave me hope.. FALSE hope.. according to this gig guide there are only about 10 indie/alternative gigs in the entire country.. for the rest of the week. this is pretty depressing especially considering many of them are happening about a 2 hour flight away from where i am.
that is why i've decided to try to get more gigs going in this country.. sadly this will go against the grain of my teachings.. i have to try to make indie music more popular in south africa... but i have to destroy it again before it gets too big. this is probably going to take a lot more work than i can handle alone, so it looks like i'm going to need to get some south africans involved..
so.. anyone have any idea where indie south africans hang out? my guess is europe.
this is a list i found of the indie bands in South africa. The list contains about 100 bands.. All over south africa. not too shabby. Sadly this gave me hope.. FALSE hope.. according to this gig guide there are only about 10 indie/alternative gigs in the entire country.. for the rest of the week. this is pretty depressing especially considering many of them are happening about a 2 hour flight away from where i am.
that is why i've decided to try to get more gigs going in this country.. sadly this will go against the grain of my teachings.. i have to try to make indie music more popular in south africa... but i have to destroy it again before it gets too big. this is probably going to take a lot more work than i can handle alone, so it looks like i'm going to need to get some south africans involved..
so.. anyone have any idea where indie south africans hang out? my guess is europe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)