So here's a lazy idea for a new series, in which I dig back into the archives of my previous blog and mine it for content, thereby allowing myself to make sarcastic commentary on my younger self, with new tunes. Let's start by looking back at the first blog post I ever wrote...
I used to think blogging was pointless. I'm starting to think it'll soon be essential. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but it may be unavoidable.
For my first post, I considered a huge essay on how the Internet might be a champion of the individual, leading us gloriously forwards to a true democracy of opinion... or it might be the beginning of a collective loss of identity and privacy, a hive mind that eventually erases the individual altogether.
But I'm not smart enough to write that essay, especially when far more incisive social commentators have been there already. In her book, 'Tomorrow's People', Professor Susan Greenfield suggests:
"In brief, the notion of an independent individual, with a private life and a unique portfolio of thoughts, knowledge and opinions, is finished."
The future scares me. "Maybe the Unabomber had a point." But we can't go back now.
Ironically, I reckon I joined the blogoverse just as it had ceased to be essential, and the tastemakers were already starting to move on. I couldn't see that at the time. Maybe my arrival was the first nail in the coffin...
I don't know where I got that quote from, as I don't recall reading that book. Maybe I did. I read a lot more books 18 years ago. Of course, that quote seems all the more apt - and eerily prescient - looking back at it now. I'd like to claim some kind of foresight there, but as usual, I was just regurgitating what I'd read elsewhere, with added jokes.
The more things change, the more they stay the same...
At which point, I could have linked to this... but I figured you might prefer...
Last week, we talked about hating people, and I came to the conclusion that I didn't really hate people, but actually it's "all just an act to paper over insecurity, a tragic lack of self-confidence and a Grand Canyon of loneliness in perpetual conflict with an innate desire to be on my own".
Just as I thought I'd talked myself out of misanthropy, C replied...
You're in good company Rol, I think nearly all the best people I know are people-haters, which doesn't really make a lot of sense and yet somehow it does!
And then I remembered the postcard at the top of this page, which Louise bought me some time ago; it's pinned on the wall next to my desk. You may find it interesting to note that Louise ordered two copies. There's also one pinned up on the wall next to her desk. Make of that what you will...
I can't understand What makes a man Hate another man Help me understand
Not that MC. Here's MC Flux, psychologist, neuroscientist and science communicator from the University of Colorado, as quoted in the Grauniad. He says annoyance is “moderately negative, and moderate arousal... it’s basically a flag, saying: ‘Something is wrong, and I should probably do something about it.’”
Now, I'm tiptoeing around this subject because I don't want to get onto anger until I've read sweary Dr. Faith's next book on my reading list, Unfuck Your Anger. And clearly anger is the next step on from annoyance. However, it should come as no surprise that our old friend the amygdala is the main culprit responsible for such emotions. Healthline says,
Anger starts with the amygdala stimulating the hypothalamus, much like in the fear response. In addition, parts of the prefrontal cortex may also play a role in anger.
Frustration, such as facing roadblocks while trying to achieve a goal, can also trigger the anger response.
Now we know what's going on in our brain... but we've still not answered the big question: why are people so annoying? Or should that be: why do I find people so annoying? Are they the same question... or two very different questions?
That Guardian article I mentioned earlier highlights four key answers to the first question: "uncouth habits, inconsiderate acts, intrusive behaviors and norm violations". I think a lot of these come down to what I'd label a lack of empathy, emotional awareness... or just plain arrogance. And once we get onto the subject of arrogance, I need another post. Or ten.
Meanwhile, therapist Julia Kristina has an uncomfortable answer to the second question...
Those unfavourable qualities, habits, or tendencies of someone else we react negatively to are really just our own shortcomings that we have turned our back on and refuse to own up to.
They always clap on the wrong beat They're wearin' loafers on their feet Greedy awful people!
Ouch. I think I'm going to have to come back to that one as well. But just in case anyone here thinks of me as an annoying person, I consulted Indeed for some tips on how to eliminate my own annoying behaviour...
Be an active listener
This is actually really easy if you don't have much to say for yourself.
Louise does sometimes get embarrassed when we're out in public (not often, to be honest) as she claims I speak louder than I need to. I don't think I do, but then I am partially deaf...
Many annoying people don’t even realize they’re being annoying in the first place. Annoying people might violate various social norms, be incompatible with others, try too hard to make others laugh, or even take a phone call while in a quiet library.
Did you know that you could even be the “irritating person” because you’re too positive?
Oh, yes. I knew this.
This type of positivity is known as toxic positivity—and it’s a real thing.
You don't need to tell me twice. There's a post in that as well.
Last week, we looked at Dean Wareham's band, Galaxie 500, and another group that chose exactly the same name. When Galaxie 500 broke up, Dean went on to form Luna. And... you can guess the rest.
LUNA #1
Free Jazz. 1967. USA. Free Jazz. Jazz Free. FrJaeezz. The composer tells us, "This piece is about getting smaller than getting bigger then getting smaller." JFraezez.
LUNA #2
Boston rockers from 1978, formerly known as Orchestra Luna.
LUNA #3
Italian "Space Rock" from 1983. Clearly Luna-tics.
LUNA #4
Spanish synth-pop, also from 1983. Youtube compares their sound to OMD. Can't really hear it myself.
LUNA #5
"Cult dark-wave band" from the former Yugoslavia. I'm guessing they owned a Joy Division record or two. This is what they sounded like in 1984...
LUNA #6
Japanese duo from 1985 who had clearly taken a couple of French lessons before taking over the asylum.
LUNA #7
Rolling Stone described Dean Wareham's Luna as "the best band you’ve never heard of", though I swear I've heard that epithet applied to hundreds of bands over the years, and I've probably used it myself multiple times. They made some fine records between the early nineties and the mid noughties, and apparently they reformed in 2015 and are still touring today.
LUNA #8
Serbian Euro-pop-pop-popsters, formed in 1996, but have released a heck of a lot of "bangers" since then.
LUNA #9
"Funeral Doom Metal" from the Ukraine. I wouldn't have included this were it not for the song title, There Is No Tomorrow Gone Beyond Sorrow Under a Sheltering Mask, which is about as "Funeral Doom Metal" as you get.
I'm going to stop there, although I could go on. And on. And on. Discogs appears to have more than 150 different credits for the name Luna, although a lot of them appeared to be dead ends. Which Luna sends you into orbit?
At risk of stepping on Rigid Digit's toes (if you've not been following his excellent series on car-related songs, you're missing a treat), this week we're looking at the Ford Galaxie 500. It looks like a pretty nice ride, and I'm sure it's no surprise to learn (even if you didn't know already) that there was a band named after it. But what are the chances of two bands picking that exact moniker...?
GALAXIE 500 #1
Dean Wareham, Naomi Yang, and Damon Krukowski formed the original Galaxie 500 in Boston in 1987. They released three fine and well-respected albums on Rough Trade until Dean went off to form Luna, before pairing up with (and eventually marrying) bassist Britta Phillips. They went on to make some fine Dean & Britta records together, with Tony Visconti twiddling the knobs. I've been getting into Dean's 2021 solo album I Have Nothing to Say to the Mayor of L.A. recently, but here's a classic from the Galaxie 500 days...
GALAXIE 500 #2
Completely oblivious to the fact that there had already been a reasonably successful band with this name within the last couple of decades, a bunch of French Canadian Millennials chose to paint the name of their favourite car on their drumkit in 2001. They released two albums as Galaxie 500 before Dean Wareham's record company became aware of them and sent some lawyers round for a chat. Hereafter they scraped the 500 off their drumkit and became known as just Galaxie. They appear to be still around today, making music that is best described as "aux limites de l’électro keys et appuyé par sa souche stoner-rock fondamentale". I love the fact that the French for "stoner rock" is "stoner rock". Like they couldn't be arsed to come up with anything else, man.
Personally, I think it's a pretty easy win for #1 today, but you are, of course, entitled to disagree...
