Hey cats,
Sorry for the long absence. Life’s one time-drainer after another, as y’all know, so I return (after some gentle prodding from the extremely patient Gary Curtis) with a very short statement and some suggested reading.
Once every other week, one of my oldest friends and I go out and spend an evening yammering about all the things that interest us. What doesn't interest us - unfortunately - is what many of our peers find interesting. Long ago, many friends in our age group moved on to more "mature" interests - family, gardening, investment portfolios. Don't get me wrong - I'm a father and I have investments. However, a discussion about my investments would hold my interest for about thirteen seconds. After that, my eyes would glaze over and in my head I'd be sailing through the clouds like that dude at the end of "Brazil."
Ahem. Anyway, my friend and I talk about our interests. Due to our personalities and chosen fields, one of our interests is the concept of ‘cool.’
Now, believe me, neither of us thinks we’re cool. Cool is relative at best, meaningless at worst. Many friends my age are puzzled by my interest in horror flicks and ‘70s psyche rock from Japan. Hence, amongst many of my peers, I’m uncool. Likewise, I’m fifteen years older than most of my staff here at CFMU. On a good day, I qualify as “cool for an old guy,” but I’m certainly not hip to extent that they are.
All of this to say that I’m interested in theories about what makes you ‘cool,’ what ‘cool’ is, and whether or not anyone should give a good goddamn. Hence, I was interested in this A.V. Club interview with The Globe and Mail’s Carl Wilson. In it, they discuss Wilson's new book, the concept of cool, and music.
www.avclub.com/content/interview/carl_wilson
Talkbackers are usually a prime example of irritating idiocy, but read ‘em in this case. Some interesting thoughts there.
And I leave you with a line from Almost Famous…“The only true currency in this bankrupt world . . . is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.”
JT
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