Bloody Morrisey!

http://www.nme.com/news/morrissey/57992

This is too good!

 "this is the first time he has insisted that gig-goers be searched for meat"

Women laughing alone with salad

An oldie but a goodie, was talking about this website last night

http://thehairpin.com/2011/01/women-laughing-alone-with-salad  

News Of the World

Angry at the News of the World after the hacking of a murdered girls moblie phone? Twitters can take action here: http://www.pint.org.uk/notw.html

Tweet the advertisers in the News of the World and follow the money all the way to the top.

Dear photograph

http://www.dearphotograph.com/

what a beautiful idea, makes me want to do it too!

White Whine

A hilarious website that had me laughing for ages!

http://www.whitewhine.com/

How alternative is Alternative?

I have always been a big fan of “alternative culture”, and, in varying degrees in various stages of my life have been a part of the lifestyle.

In my teenage years, and perhaps this is a phenomenon localised to the area I grew up[1]; we had many categories of “weirdo” who made up the alt scene. Grungers, who were defined often by their Criminal Damage jeans and baggy band t-shirts, tended to hang their hair in their eyes and listen to Nirvana, Pearl Jam and other such wonderful alt rock. There were also Grebos, a less than affectionate name for those that were considered try-hards by the holier than thou ranks of alt kids; that had a certain set of rules that existed only in their minds for what entitled a person to be part of the scene. There were of course, the Goths, who scarce need explaining but were, and seemingly have always been reticent if unapologetic members of a group they seem to despise. The crowd which seems to have a lot to answer for, being the faction that invented the term “emo” are the pop/new wave punkers. A bouncy, colourful breed in Vans and Converse who enjoyed ska, punk, pop punk, new wave and indie were thoroughly elitist albeit looked down on by everyone else. Metallers in the mid 90’s were overwhelmed by the nu-metal scene and forced to swear allegiance to the likes of Korn and Limp Bizkit in times when leather pants were a sign of a deep seated mental condition. 

I am a fan of all these sub-genres and hold both the music and unwashed legions of fans close to my heart (and often, closer to other areas than seems wise). Now, you may consider me out of touch with the alt scene of today, and perhaps I have missed something but today’s alternative subculture seems to me[2] to not be much of a subculture at all. I work in a school and so have the misfortune of spending most of my days with teenagers and getting to observe them in their natural habitat. I noticed that the “emo” group of 6^th formers all had on the same wristband that said “Live Fast, Drop Dead”. I actually quite liked it, the sentiment and the style appealed to me, which is no surprise as I normally purchase most of my jewellery by going on eBay and typing in “kitsch rockabilly”. Being the amateur sleuth that I am not, I Googled the phrase and was lead to the Drop Dead Clothing[3] website. The site is the inspiration for this ranting diatribe. I realise that this a clothes website and therefore about fashion and looking good, as well as getting a whole subculture of kids to dress the same way and in your clothes line, but, speaking from an era when all of your clothes either came from a catalogue or a monthly trip down Camden Market, it was a shock to realise that dressing differently had become so similar to dressing the same. There is no difference as far as I can see between this website and, say Topshop’s or Very.co.uk and yet, as far as my experience with the teenagers with which I work, they still feel the sense of belonging to a subculture that goes back as far as teenage rebellion itself. But unlike the hippy 60’s, politicised 70’s and the drug fuelled 80’s, have these fashionista kids just run out of things to complain about? The rebellious scenesters of times pasts have generally been made up of the middle classes so not a lot has changed there. The fact that we are living through a depression, war and Conservative Government means that the youth have plenty to be unhappy about.

Music has always, to me, been an expression of discontent as well as an outlet for emotions. That may sound quite emo but I am a lot more  AC/DC then Taking Back Sunday and I would never apologise for bleeding on anyone’s shirt![4]

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a lot of new music though the new bands I get to hear through my transistor radio are fewer and farther between these days. Bands like Malefice, Alexisonfire and The Pretty Reckless I personally enjoy and I can also candidly state my dislike for Metro Station, Bring me the Horizon and Black Veil Brides.

The argument I guess I am trying to make is that, whilst most sub genres of my youth dealt with strong emotions, deep thoughts or politics (with even pop punk lamenting the loss of girlfriends and exploring the complex relationship between their mothers and donkeys[5]) the “Scene” scene seems to actively pursue the goals of looking good, being a dick and getting laid[6].

Though the getting laid part is nothing new, it seems even rock stars today seem to be more concerned with straightening their hair and steering clear of booze and dairy. Imagine a straight edge, vegan Lemmy, that’s the day the music dies. We have enough manufactured saccharine bands to negate their appearance in the alternative scene however music execs have long cottoned on to the gap in the market where they could bottle youth and isolation and sell it to the young and lonely.

I’m by no means suggesting that all teenagers are that apathetic and naive. If the student demonstrations and UKUncut, ActionAid and other such organisations have shown us, many teenagers are more passionate and well informed then many of their contemporaries, but it is not these teenagers that I have on mind. It’s the ones that go on sites like Iron Fist[7] and see the sexy blondes there as the face of the alt generation. It’s not even that I don’t have love for these clothes, I DO! And for the beautiful women that wear them. They are after all, just clothes but it’s what they say about the industry that highlights to me the differences between the alternative scene when I was young and what it is now.

Perhaps I’ve missed the point; perhaps young people today can spend £100 on a jacket and save Africa via the Facebook IPhone app at the same time. Perhaps nothing’s changed, douche bags are still douche bags, geeks didn’t inherit the earth[8] and the kids that we once were are probably looking around with the same lofty despondence as we did, thinking the world was against us and this one piece of music was the thing that made it all make sense. Well the music, a bottle of White Lightening and lots French kissing. But that’s a whole different story.  

[1] http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=arse%20end%20of%20nowhere

[2] a married mother with aspriations above her station

[3] http://store.iheartdropdead.com/

[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAKH2M9gJIc

[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VG41DrNjtU

[6] http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Scene-Kid

[7] http://www.shop.ironfistclothing.com/Womens-at-Iron-Fist-CID254.aspx

[8] http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/01/sexy-geeks-2010/  

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Well, i'm not really sure what's happening here...

But here we go.

I have been talking about starting a blog for a long time. I studied writing at University and so always had lofty aspirations of becoming a writer as long is it wasn't too much work! Obviously I would prefer to be a rock star but for the fact that I have the stage presence of a rabid Raccoon and the voice of one too.
So I have finally started, and I really it is just a conduit to get me writing again, something that I haven't done for a long time as CBeebies overload has melted my student rage and I now drink more wine in my living rooms than straight vodka at gigs.

I'm not really sure how to work all the technical gubbins, I'm sure I'll get the hang of it, I'm not a complete technophobe, it just takes a little while!

I have an awful habit of changing my mind about things and contradicting myself but I do change my mind weekly, from my favorite band (currnelty the Foo Fighters) to my favorite food (currently Sushi) so don't expect anything coherent.

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