In honor of Border's bankrupsy and the loss of a book store I've been going to off and on for 15 years... here are some things I miss.
Video stores
Record stores
Dragon Magazine
Wizard Magazine (well more Toy Fare)
Pay phones (not really but they just look so sad now, all vandelized and no one cares)
Blockbuster (actually I liked Hollywood Video more)
Kay Bee Toys
Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine are available as PDFs on the main D&D website. You need to be an insider, but they are probably floating around somewhere.
Things we've lost in the last few years.... Imma go with respect. People don't get their asses kicked no more, coupled with the rise of the internet, they just don't connect their actions with consequences in any reasonable way. People need the gak kicked out of them a few times so they realize they have to treat everyone else okay.
The Sharper Image - Not my favorite store, but was good for picking up a Christmas gift for someone whom you had no clue what to get
Wicks Furniture - Never shopped there
Circuit City - Good!
Marshall Field's - A very sad day. They had really quality stuff, much better than the garbage Macy's carries.
Businesses come and go. Borders replaced Crown Books, which used to be a major books store. I remember back before Borders, when they were just Waldenbooks, and competed with Crown.
Waldenbooks created the Borders brand (and Barnes and Noble followed suit) and took a new approach to bookstores, making them places to hang out, rather than just places to buy books. Making them multi-media stores, rather than bookstores. Crown books didn't change their business in the face of this new approach, and went under.
Now Borders is in the same boat. They didn't get into eReaders early enough and didn't embrace the web like Amazon did. The paradigm has shifted again, and those who keep up survive, those who do not...
Circuit City failed to keep up, much like Service Merchandise.
Were record stores really that great? You get a much greater variety shopping online. Youtube provides a very convenient way to explore new music. Record stores were either corporate entities themselves with excessive overhead and pushed the schlock of the day, or were very hit&miss private shops that were, in my experience, usually not well cleaned or lit and had iffy stock. I know I found some gems sometimes, but I find more looking online.
Video Stores? Seriously? Whether you're talking about video rental chains like blockbuster, that never had the movie I wanted to see in stock, or video sales shops, which suffered the same problems as the corporate music shops, Netflix is far superior. They've got far more selection than any video rental store I've ever been in, and a decent number of titles that can be seen on demand.
Nostalgia for failed business models is misplaced. They failed because superior alternatives replaced them. I don't know anyone who would rather get in the car and drive to a bookstore, hoping they have a book in stock, than just download it to their eReader, or order it online. I don't know anyone who preferred the trip the video-rental store over just firing up a view-on-demand movie.
No worried Redbeard, I would not for one minute trade my cell phone for a roll of quaters and an address book, or my MP3 player for a box of cassettes and a walkman, or my smart phone for a newspaper or (insert here).
But I can still take a minute to miss them
I'm about to leave the US again for 3 years this time and I wonder what it will look like when I come back?
There's something about interacting in real space that virtual space, no matter how good, just can't equal.
When I return will only stores that sell food and clothes survive? Will there be gaming and comic shops? Magazine and newspapers? Surely something will survive but I think all our lives will just get a bit poorer and we'll all spend a bit more time staring at lighted rectangles.
Bromsy wrote:Things we've lost in the last few years.... Imma go with respect. People don't get their asses kicked no more, coupled with the rise of the internet, they just don't connect their actions with consequences in any reasonable way. People need the gak kicked out of them a few times so they realize they have to treat everyone else okay.
Good cartoons. Now I know someone is going to say "Your just looking through rose tinted glasses", but I am going to Internet Slap anyone who says that Sponge Bob compares to Animaniacs......
cyborg 009, grandpa, my social life, borders(sad), alot of friends, my atheism, my love of john wayne.
on the other hand, i gained new friends, new interests, a couple of inches and a faith that carried me through alot of hard stuff. i dont abotu you guys but i wouldnt give away anything ive got for what i had, except for granda, the new 'true grit' really brought some memories.
They can have my Fiero when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
Word. The best, most dependable car I EVER owned was a pontiac sunbird. Little 2 door 4 banger that thought it was a sports car. But I swear to god, that thing just wouldnt die, and always started, no matter how bad things were for it, and I could drive until I ran out of gas, which due to being a 4 banger took awhile. When I finally sold it, the stereo literally exploded and started smoking, the fuse panel caught fire and melted a few things (namely the stereo panel lol) the fas were hooked up to a kill switch otherwise wouldnt work, the drivers door panel was broken off, none of the tires matched, all 4 spark plugs were helicoiled in place, the radiator exploded once and I drove it home with the temp gauge pegged, and the brakes were so shot, one of them was stuck in full on clamp, so it took some throttle to get the car moving. But I still drove it like that from Michigan to Indiana and back in 1 day.
The ability to not hear the line "OMG how can you NOT have Facebook?"
...repeatedly, from pretty much everyone I meet on a night out. Once, literally pronounced "oh em gee". Another time, suffixed with ".. is it because you want to cheat on your girlfriend?".
Pub culture, and friends that actually want to leave their front door every once in a while instead of larding out on WoW/ repeatedly mashing f5 on Facebook.
I liked the internet more before it went mainstream, it's just a pain when idiots post every detail of their private life online by default and expect everyone else to do the same.
Cow & Chicken/I am Weasel - The last time I saw that show I was about 13. Then the poopstorm of Political Correctness and fingerpointing>parenting really started in force. Haven't watched a good children's show in a long time (Though Cow and Chicken was really, really provocative for youth programming)
Buck-A-Beer - Remember when a 24 pack of domestic beer -actually- cost $24? Am sad naow.
Dial-A-Beer - Not only was beer only a buck, but if you were too drunk, or too fat and lazy to actually go to the liquor store yourself, you could call dial-a-beer and they would deliver it to you. Haven't seen anyone offer that -anywhere- since about 2005.
Unlimited internet access - Thanks for bending over and taking it from Bell, CRTC. You're really doing a stand-up job of representing the Canadian Government's ability to protect it's citizens from corporate exploitation.
James Cameron not making movies - Remember how Titanic came out, and then he did -nothing- for like 5 years? Then he put out a couple crappy movies and did -nothing- for another 4? Why can't he just keep doing nothing and have a stroke or something?
And +1 to Pontiac. I have a Grand Prix. It is my baby, and it makes those kids with blingy, douched-up Civics feel bad about the car their parents bought them. Noisy fart tube that sounds like a cracked manifold, meet 3.8 Turbo
Good cartoons. Now I know someone is going to say "Your just looking through rose tinted glasses", but I am going to Internet Slap anyone who says that Sponge Bob compares to Animaniacs......
In all fairness, up until Animaniacs, there was nothing that could compare to it, and after it, there's still nothing that can compare to it. It did so much that you just can't normally do with children's cartoons because it had the balls to do so. It's not a sign of an exceptional generation, it's a sign of an exceptional studio and production team.
Redbeard wrote: I don't know anyone who would rather get in the car and drive to a bookstore, hoping they have a book in stock, than just download it to their eReader, or order it online.
While I agree with the rest of your post I have to clear my throat for this one. I absolutely hate trying to read anything in a book format from a screen, and I've never been one to purchase anything online that I couldn't get at a brick and mortar store, even if I had to order it. Including GW stuff even though you can get great online discounts. I dread the day when you can't go to a bookstore anymore; The experience is only surpassed by the library, where you can read for free indefinitely.
Good cartoons. Now I know someone is going to say "Your just looking through rose tinted glasses", but I am going to Internet Slap anyone who says that Sponge Bob compares to Animaniacs......
In all fairness, up until Animaniacs, there was nothing that could compare to it, and after it, there's still nothing that can compare to it. It did so much that you just can't normally do with children's cartoons because it had the balls to do so. It's not a sign of an exceptional generation, it's a sign of an exceptional studio and production team.
Good cartoons. Now I know someone is going to say "Your just looking through rose tinted glasses", but I am going to Internet Slap anyone who says that Sponge Bob compares to Animaniacs......
In all fairness, up until Animaniacs, there was nothing that could compare to it, and after it, there's still nothing that can compare to it. It did so much that you just can't normally do with children's cartoons because it had the balls to do so. It's not a sign of an exceptional generation, it's a sign of an exceptional studio and production team.
Good point.
Are you Pondering what I'm Pondering?
Yeah, more studios need bigger balls.
Thing is, Animaniacs had Steven Spielberg to back them up. Most studios don't have that kind of executive power behind them.
I will cut you and stab you and flay you alive. I will tear you limb from limb, and feed each piece to alligators. I will then kill and burn the alligators, and bury them miles below the surface of the earth.
That is your fate and just punishment if you ever mention the name 'Micheal Bay' ever again.
I will cut you and stab you and flay you alive. I will tear you limb from limb, and feed each piece to alligators. I will then kill and burn the alligators, and bury them miles below the surface of the earth.
That is your fate and just punishment if you ever mention the name 'Micheal Bay' ever again.
Redbeard wrote:They didn't get into eReaders early enough
Considering they've sold the Sony e-reader(at least in California) since Sony released it, this statement makes no sense to me. Are you sure you're not thinking of Barnes and Noble, who only got in with the Nook in the past year or so?
Redbeard wrote:They didn't get into eReaders early enough
Considering they've sold the Sony e-reader(at least in California) since Sony released it, this statement makes no sense to me. Are you sure you're not thinking of Barnes and Noble, who only got in with the Nook in the past year or so?
But that's the difference. Borders sells Sony's eReader. Amazon sells Amazon's Kindle. Barnes & Noble sells Barnes & Noble's Nook. I think that the money in eReaders is not in selling the device, which is small potatoes, it is in locking the customer in to your distribution system, and ensuring that you get the sales. I don't think Borders did that.
Lordhat wrote:
While I agree with the rest of your post I have to clear my throat for this one. I absolutely hate trying to read anything in a book format from a screen, and I've never been one to purchase anything online that I couldn't get at a brick and mortar store, even if I had to order it. Including GW stuff even though you can get great online discounts. I dread the day when you can't go to a bookstore anymore; The experience is only surpassed by the library, where you can read for free indefinitely.
Every library I've ever gone to had a closing time when they kicked you out. On the other hand, with an eReader, you can access Project Guttenberg, and read for free all day, and all night, and all the next day, and, really until there's nothing left to read. I mean, I know what you're saying, and I'd be sad if there were no more bookstores, but as a distribution mechanism, it really is a dated concept.
..remember all that waiting for the new/next Guns 'N' Roses album ? All the rumours and line up changes and stories of their entire back catalogue having been remixed by Moby and.. and....
..yeah....
Seems really, really weird to me that ther's no ongoing Star trek tv series of any sort at all.
Oh and of course : in thUK anyway, we can no longer smoke inside pubs/bars etc etc. On the whole that's been an improvement I guess, but it still seems weird even after ..what.. 5 or 6 years. It also means that people no longer acquire pub ashtrays to use at home... where the hell do you get them from anyway ?
I feel old when I wind up drinking with people who've never been out and about when one could smoke in a pub, gets even worse when I recall that as a teenager we could even smoke in parts of MacDonalds ... those crappy little golden foil ashtrays.
Redbeard wrote:They didn't get into eReaders early enough
Considering they've sold the Sony e-reader(at least in California) since Sony released it, this statement makes no sense to me. Are you sure you're not thinking of Barnes and Noble, who only got in with the Nook in the past year or so?
But that's the difference. Borders sells Sony's eReader. Amazon sells Amazon's Kindle. Barnes & Noble sells Barnes & Noble's Nook. I think that the money in eReaders is not in selling the device, which is small potatoes, it is in locking the customer in to your distribution system, and ensuring that you get the sales. I don't think Borders did that.
Ah, ok. Yeah, I get what you're saying now. You essentially mean they should have developed their own device to sell their own books instead of letting Sony reap all that e-cash.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Kilkrazy wrote:I've been teaching my wife and daughter to say "omg". It's much cooler than Oh Em Gee.
SlaveToDorkness wrote:
Teenagers that aren't total idiots
Never existed.
I can name a good number of people i've met who can be put into the categories "Idiotic Teenager" and "Mature Teenager". I wouldn't say non-idiotic teenagers never existed, only that the differences were subtle, as opposed to today's teenagers (myself included) who are easier to split into "Idiots" (zomfglolomgroflmao-gimmie-a-cigarette-a-shag-and-a-bottle-of-vodka!!!111) and "Mature" (basically the opposite of the "Idiots" example).
Good cartoons. Now I know someone is going to say "Your just looking through rose tinted glasses", but I am going to Internet Slap anyone who says that Sponge Bob compares to Animaniacs......
In all fairness, up until Animaniacs, there was nothing that could compare to it, and after it, there's still nothing that can compare to it. It did so much that you just can't normally do with children's cartoons because it had the balls to do so. It's not a sign of an exceptional generation, it's a sign of an exceptional studio and production team.
I presume you never saw ren and stimpy? that was a great cartoon.
Good cartoons. Now I know someone is going to say "Your just looking through rose tinted glasses", but I am going to Internet Slap anyone who says that Sponge Bob compares to Animaniacs......
In all fairness, up until Animaniacs, there was nothing that could compare to it, and after it, there's still nothing that can compare to it. It did so much that you just can't normally do with children's cartoons because it had the balls to do so. It's not a sign of an exceptional generation, it's a sign of an exceptional studio and production team.
I presume you never saw ren and stimpy? that was a great cartoon.
Agreed...I loved Ren and Stimpy, Animaniacs as well...
Personally I don't care for the " Anime-esque" trend in most recent cartoons.
Redbeard wrote:, but as a distribution mechanism, it really is a dated concept.
Nostalgia for things lost is a natural thing, and has nothing to do with the quality of the options that replace said thing. Nostalgic things take us back to times in the past that we remember fondly.
Yes all of our current electronic/web-based ways to find and collect music are quick and user friendly, but that does nothign to change the fact that record stores (especially the kind that used to have massive collections of LPs that some people enjoyed leafing through, looking at album art, reading lyric sheets, etc., etc, It wasn't about the efficiency of the process, it was the atmosphere, and the love of the hunt, and hanging out talking about music with fellow collectors, and the tactile stimulation that was so enjoyable.
Redbeard wrote:, but as a distribution mechanism, it really is a dated concept.
Nostalgia for things lost is a natural thing, and has nothing to do with the quality of the options that replace said thing. Nostalgic things take us back to times in the past that we remember fondly.
Yes all of our current electronic/web-based ways to find and collect music are quick and user friendly, but that does nothing to change the fact that record stores (especially the kind that used to have massive collections of LPs that some people enjoyed leafing through, looking at album art, reading lyric sheets, etc., etc, It wasn't about the efficiency of the process, it was the atmosphere, and the love of the hunt, and hanging out talking about music with fellow collectors, and the tactile stimulation that was so enjoyable.
Very true...I for one miss the smell of vinyl,the atmosphere of the record shops..hanging out and discussing bands and such...the feeling of "contact".
Downloading may be more "efficient"...but it certainly isn't as interesting.
Good cartoons. Now I know someone is going to say "Your just looking through rose tinted glasses", but I am going to Internet Slap anyone who says that Sponge Bob compares to Animaniacs......
In all fairness, up until Animaniacs, there was nothing that could compare to it, and after it, there's still nothing that can compare to it. It did so much that you just can't normally do with children's cartoons because it had the balls to do so. It's not a sign of an exceptional generation, it's a sign of an exceptional studio and production team.
I presume you never saw ren and stimpy? that was a great cartoon.
hey, i don't drink/smoke or do drugs, I have good friends and am doing well at school. I also hold a provisonal bike license and i'm a part time scout leader, an idiot couldn't manage all that, trust me I know alot of idiots
__ i had one just like this, then it 'dissapered' (parents)
FM Ninja 048 wrote:hey, i don't drink/smoke or do drugs, I have good friends and am doing well at school. I also hold a provisonal bike license and i'm a part time scout leader, an idiot couldn't manage all that, trust me I know alot of idiots
__
i had one just like this, then it 'dissapered' (parents)
Ah, ye olde gameboy. My sister had the original, I had (and still have) a pocket, colour and advance (my brother also has a colour and advance (normal and SP) and also a DS.
FM Ninja 048 wrote:hey, i don't drink/smoke or do drugs, I have good friends and am doing well at school. I also hold a provisonal bike license and i'm a part time scout leader, an idiot couldn't manage all that, trust me I know alot of idiots
Well argued, although you did manage to demonstrate the second biggest problem with teenagers: they take themselves way too seriously.
Laughter has been replaced by lolling.
Lounging around has its merits but cannot replace the shot of endorphines released by a good old fashioned belly laugh.
Good cartoons. Now I know someone is going to say "Your just looking through rose tinted glasses", but I am going to Internet Slap anyone who says that Sponge Bob compares to Animaniacs......
Good cartoons. Now I know someone is going to say "Your just looking through rose tinted glasses", but I am going to Internet Slap anyone who says that Sponge Bob compares to Animaniacs......
Spongebob is surprisingly witty.
Spongebob has side effects. And yes, Bad Side effects.
It may be "witty" but it is also in poor taste. In older cartoons, you had to actually get the jokes they threw at you, in Spongebob, all the episodes I've seen are "HEY GUYS, LOOK! WE HAVE A MILE LONG SPANKING TUNNEL!". You know, where you crawl under peoples legs and get spanked as you pass them.
Redbeard wrote: I don't know anyone who would rather get in the car and drive to a bookstore, hoping they have a book in stock, than just download it to their eReader, or order it online.
Well, now you do.
I got a nook for Christmas and I hate the damn thing. Read one book on it and haven't used it since.
Reading isn't just about the words. It's also a tactile experience, with the feel of the paper and the act of turning the pages; an experience that eReaders fail to replicate. And staring at that screen for hours on end isn't exactly easy on the eyes.
And one of my favorite things to do on a sunday afternoon is get in the car and drive to B&N and peruse the shelves picking out books that look interesting. Sitting on my ass in front of the computer just can't compare to actually walking through the rows and picking up and touching the books that I'm looking at. And the mixed smells of paper and coffee is intoxicating.
So yeah, eReaders are really just all flash and no substance. Give me a real book.
I got a Sony one a couple of years ago when they were launched -- there was a staff special offer so I got it half price.
You do lose the tactile experience of paper, but the screen is amazingly good. The key benefit for me is being able to carry hundreds of books on holiday in a package the size and weight of a medium paperback.
You do lose the tactile experience of paper, but the screen is amazingly good. The key benefit for me is being able to carry hundreds of books on holiday in a package the size and weight of a medium paperback.
This. Being able to carry your Library with you is too much of a benefit.
That said, I've yet to get one and no plans for the foreseeable future. I really don't read much anymore.
I use the heck out of my Kendle now that I'm traveling for work so much. It's a 5 hour plane ride from Houston to Portland. Angry Birds gets old after a while...
kronk wrote:I use the heck out of my Kendle now that I'm traveling for work so much. It's a 5 hour plane ride from Houston to Portland. Angry Birds gets old after a while...
Try moving countries every 2-3 years knowing it'll be 2 months till your stuff catches up with you. Right now my Kindle is nice, but I can see it becoming essential real fast.
Hmmm, am i the only one who finds this obsession with childrens TV shows quite distasteful? I did watch childrens tv, when i was a child, but see no utility in doing so today. Oh and dont say 'Dey is Rightious wen u'rez stoned lulz' it just shows everyone that you have never smoked in your life.
Personally i miss the culture of the 90's/earlier and the general world view of the youth. It's hard to explain what has changed it's like the majority are afraid to say something clever or different, all the youth speak about is booze/drugs(and the 'amazing' anecdotes), how 'crap' uni/school is (regardless of their striaght A's), sport and american TV as they are the only 'SAFE' topics that you can get away with talking about.
I think we've lost youth subcultures and I mourn that. I used to like the various tribal identities that young people took up. Nowadays instead of rebelling and breaking away and staking their identities, youth seem more intent on commercial assimilation and subculture-lite. Even those subcultures that still retain some instant visual recognition have become clichés of themselves.
EG - goths, goths in my day were amazing pointy shoe wearing folks with bizarre hair and frilly shirts and out all night drinking snakebites and taking speed, the girls were amazing to look at and took hours to get ready to go out to the goth clubs. Nowadays the 'goth-lite' types pay insane amounts of money for brand name platform boots and wear black T-shirts with 'rebellious' and 'dark' slogans that some grey suit wearing PR guy cam up with, instead of something of their own design.
It all reminds me of a Sheep on Drugs lyric.
"I can see a nation of blue jeans and T-shirts, I'm so ashamed of British youth that it actually hurts"
Rave culture all went mainstream, no more illegal parties in fields at 4am, now it's all euro-pop and overpaid preening DJs with little skill.
Metal... Metal became narcissistic and bloated and metallica cut their hair and became more interested in their records being illegally downloaded than actually playing good music.
Rap lost it's teeth, became mainstream and mated with mamon to give us that fethawful pile of newjackswing and garage and all the other 'urban' music that is actually just 'urbane' (and dares to call some of it's work 'soul'...), more obsessed with preening than raging it's disapproval at the powers that be.
I must agree with you 100% ..Sad really,I myself look back on my days in the "Punk sub-culture" of the 80's and 90s with an certain degree of pride...and now even at 41 carry some of that youthful attitude with me.
It seems that for the most part youth subcultures are indeed a thing of the past.
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I think we've lost youth subcultures and I mourn that. I used to like the various tribal identities that young people took up. Nowadays instead of rebelling and breaking away and staking their identities, youth seem more intent on commercial assimilation and subculture-lite. Even those subcultures that still retain some instant visual recognition have become clichés of themselves.
EG - goths, goths in my day were amazing pointy shoe wearing folks with bizarre hair and frilly shirts and out all night drinking snakebites and taking speed, the girls were amazing to look at and took hours to get ready to go out to the goth clubs. Nowadays the 'goth-lite' types pay insane amounts of money for brand name platform boots and wear black T-shirts with 'rebellious' and 'dark' slogans that some grey suit wearing PR guy cam up with, instead of something of their own design.
It all reminds me of a Sheep on Drugs lyric.
"I can see a nation of blue jeans and T-shirts, I'm so ashamed of British youth that it actually hurts"
Rave culture all went mainstream, no more illegal parties in fields at 4am, now it's all euro-pop and overpaid preening DJs with little skill.
Metal... Metal became narcissistic and bloated and metallica cut their hair and became more interested in their records being illegally downloaded than actually playing good music.
Rap lost it's teeth, became mainstream and mated with mamon to give us that fethawful pile of newjackswing and garage and all the other 'urban' music that is actually just 'urbane' (and dares to call some of it's work 'soul'...), more obsessed with preening than raging it's disapproval at the powers that be.
Here, here! +1000
one question though. isn't "Goth-lite" = Emo? i don't really follow either, so it's hard to guess.
and thankfully my kids have gone different directions.
Automatically Appended Next Post: and a PS i feel for KK. i don't know if i could handle my life being turned upside down every 2 - 3 years!
I must agree with you 100% ..Sad really,I myself look back on my days in the "Punk sub-culture" of the 80's and 90s with an certain degree of pride...and now even at 41 carry some of that youthful attitude with me.
It seems that for the most part youth subcultures are indeed a thing of the past.
I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, we have metal-heads, punks, skaters and rap kids hanging out at the "smoke-pit" the band-room, computer labs, library and science halls are filled with geeks. Motor-heads and grease-monkeys are
tweaking their cars in the shop classes, there's hipster's, emo's, preps, jocks covering the lower floor and hippies dotting the photo room. Seems like plenty of sub-cultures to me.
halonachos wrote: and I also miss the pride being an american used to bring to people.
Assuming (Carefull.... It makes an ass out of u and me) it was there in "the last few years", it is to be expected. The Founding Fathers said during the writing of the Constitution that it would only last 200 years.
I miss the usual...Animaniacs, Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, Dexter's Lab, etc. I must also say I miss it when Pokemon was just the original, and didn't have all this extra crap it does nowadays.
I miss it when you could make jokes like they did on those shows, and not have to worry about getting sued. I miss when PCness had yet to fill every level of our society. (
You're marking me down for using the word 'he'?" "Yes. It's sexist. You should have used, he/she." "He/she sounds stupid.") I also miss not being a total cynic who still had SOME faith in humanity and democracy...
Oh nostalgia....ah well, at least we have one constant. We all have nostalgia!
Businesses come and go. Borders replaced Crown Books, which used to be a major books store. I remember back before Borders, when they were just Waldenbooks, and competed with Crown.
You're completely right IMO. We need to let businesses die so new ones can take their place. Yeah we'll temporarily lose jobs but in the long run it will let things actually develop, which capitalism needs if we're going to pretend it works.
Shadowbrand wrote:
I lost a lot of friends because I just couldn't deal with how different I am too them now.
This happens. It really sucks. The good ones come back around though, and the others aren't worth the sympathy.
Slarg232 wrote:
Fafnir wrote:
Slarg232 wrote:
Micheal Bay?
NO, I did NOT just go there.
I will cut you and stab you and flay you alive. I will tear you limb from limb, and feed each piece to alligators. I will then kill and burn the alligators, and bury them miles below the surface of the earth.
That is your fate and just punishment if you ever mention the name 'Micheal Bay' ever again.
Sorry
You just wrote a Penny Arcade strip.
FITZZ wrote:
Very true...I for one miss the smell of vinyl,the atmosphere of the record shops..hanging out and discussing bands and such...the feeling of "contact".
Downloading may be more "efficient"...but it certainly isn't as interesting.
Blockbuster Music, later Wherehouse Music, used to have knowledgeable employees and a great atmosphere. I remember trying to get a limited release concert DVD and they had a used copy on hand and for a bit cheaper than I could find it online. That pretty much summed up my experience with them.
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I think we've lost youth subcultures and I mourn that. I used to like the various tribal identities that young people took up. Nowadays instead of rebelling and breaking away and staking their identities, youth seem more intent on commercial assimilation and subculture-lite. Even those subcultures that still retain some instant visual recognition have become clichés of themselves.
EG - goths, goths in my day were amazing pointy shoe wearing folks with bizarre hair and frilly shirts and out all night drinking snakebites and taking speed, the girls were amazing to look at and took hours to get ready to go out to the goth clubs. Nowadays the 'goth-lite' types pay insane amounts of money for brand name platform boots and wear black T-shirts with 'rebellious' and 'dark' slogans that some grey suit wearing PR guy cam up with, instead of something of their own design.
It all reminds me of a Sheep on Drugs lyric.
"I can see a nation of blue jeans and T-shirts, I'm so ashamed of British youth that it actually hurts"
Rave culture all went mainstream, no more illegal parties in fields at 4am, now it's all euro-pop and overpaid preening DJs with little skill.
Metal... Metal became narcissistic and bloated and metallica cut their hair and became more interested in their records being illegally downloaded than actually playing good music.
Rap lost it's teeth, became mainstream and mated with mamon to give us that fethawful pile of newjackswing and garage and all the other 'urban' music that is actually just 'urbane' (and dares to call some of it's work 'soul'...), more obsessed with preening than raging it's disapproval at the powers that be.
I think that subcultures have just changed. They may not be as diverse or genre-defining, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing as people are finding to new ways to acquire identity. I do think it's odd that in my particularly gay moments I can go out in skinny jeans, eyeliner, a rainbow belt and matching bracelet and a female cut tee and people still don't get that I'm also into boys. How much of a sign do I need to give? I went to a rave recently and was greeted by cops shining lights in everyone's eyes. It sucked. Most of the people stood by the bonfire and I had to, in a completely sober state, tap into my bardic skills to rile the crowd. I led a few charges on the stage that night, but of the few most into it the British dude was the one who kept going the whole night. I also went to a Burning Man "rave" in an abandoned warehouse and it was absolutely horrible; it was all people standing around trying to look self-important sipping fancy beer. I ended up having to babysit my female friend cuz she got stoned with some random creepers who were trying to bang her and she had driven her car... after chilling at Whataburger for 5 hours to let her sober up I was so freaking done.
I think in many ways we've lost a good chunk of our fear of things that are different. Be it gay issues, attitudes toward muslims, or even just the idea of having a "dark" president. On that note...
It might just be me, but it seems like after GWB, we've lost any respect for the presidency. I can remember people who didn't like Clinton at least having some degree of reservation when it came to slandering him (perhaps the jokes were followed up with a "that's awful"). It may just be that I'm older but it seems that way (isn't there a word for "something that seems a certain way?").
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I think we've lost youth subcultures and I mourn that. I used to like the various tribal identities that young people took up. Nowadays instead of rebelling and breaking away and staking their identities, youth seem more intent on commercial assimilation and subculture-lite. Even those subcultures that still retain some instant visual recognition have become clichés of themselves.
EG - goths, goths in my day were amazing pointy shoe wearing folks with bizarre hair and frilly shirts and out all night drinking snakebites and taking speed, the girls were amazing to look at and took hours to get ready to go out to the goth clubs. Nowadays the 'goth-lite' types pay insane amounts of money for brand name platform boots and wear black T-shirts with 'rebellious' and 'dark' slogans that some grey suit wearing PR guy cam up with, instead of something of their own design.
It all reminds me of a Sheep on Drugs lyric.
"I can see a nation of blue jeans and T-shirts, I'm so ashamed of British youth that it actually hurts"
Rave culture all went mainstream, no more illegal parties in fields at 4am, now it's all euro-pop and overpaid preening DJs with little skill.
Metal... Metal became narcissistic and bloated and metallica cut their hair and became more interested in their records being illegally downloaded than actually playing good music.
Rap lost it's teeth, became mainstream and mated with mamon to give us that fethawful pile of newjackswing and garage and all the other 'urban' music that is actually just 'urbane' (and dares to call some of it's work 'soul'...), more obsessed with preening than raging it's disapproval at the powers that be.
Hmmm, I can say that there are still plenty of youth "sub-cultures" or whatever, but they aren't as defined as they once were; personally, I think that this is a good thing.
Letting a single thing define you like that would be terribly limiting, imo. The whole idea of youth sub-cultures seems divisive, and to be frank, rather silly. I can't imagine voluntarily limiting myself like that.
I miss when adults did adult things and didn't obsess over their childhoods. When people would remember watching [cartoon] instead of wanting to buy all the seasons of it as an adult and getting the toys and wallpaper. I regret that an emotionally slowed generation (80's kids) has lead to even more emotionally slowed people that treat adulthood as an extended childhood.
When I use the word slowed I mean delayed or slowed, not the slang for a mentally handicapped person.
Ahtman wrote:I miss when adults did adult things and didn't obsess over their childhoods. When people would remember watching [cartoon] instead of wanting to buy all the seasons of it as an adult and getting the toys and wallpaper. I regret that an emotionally slowed generation (80's kids) has lead to even more emotionally slowed people that treat adulthood as an extended childhood.
When I use the word slowed I mean delayed or slowed, not the slang for a mentally handicapped person.
Hey just because I've got every episode of transformers, from arrival from cybertron to beast masters.
Ahtman wrote:I miss when adults did adult things and didn't obsess over their childhoods. When people would remember watching [cartoon] instead of wanting to buy all the seasons of it as an adult and getting the toys and wallpaper. I regret that an emotionally slowed generation (80's kids) has lead to even more emotionally slowed people that treat adulthood as an extended childhood.
When I use the word slowed I mean delayed or slowed, not the slang for a mentally handicapped person.
Toy soldiers anyone?
Although admittedly I didn't really play with them as a kid...
Ahtman wrote:I miss when adults did adult things and didn't obsess over their childhoods. When people would remember watching [cartoon] instead of wanting to buy all the seasons of it as an adult and getting the toys and wallpaper. I regret that an emotionally slowed generation (80's kids) has lead to even more emotionally slowed people that treat adulthood as an extended childhood.
When I use the word slowed I mean delayed or slowed, not the slang for a mentally handicapped person.
Personally I think people should pursue things that they enjoy even if the means reliving their childhood, I say so long as they're having fun why criticize their taste.
Shadowbrand wrote:Nothing like being a pirate out at sea with scurvy and Gonorrhea from the wentch you boned at Port Royal.
...Hey now you have to be tough if you want to go for the real-thing not just a reenactment.
Yep, there's nothing that gives me more nostalgia than an strange STD that produces odd, pus-filled lumps and scarring on my genitalia. If I'm not vomiting or rotting away after my experience then it's not worth remembering.
Meh, just sounds like a guy in his late-30's who's been hit early with "bitter old-man" syndrome.
Well...seeing as I'm a guy in my early 40s ,it should be understandable as to why I agree with some of his points..
I don't know fun to me is only as good as the amount of effort I put into it, sitting there whining about "how life sucks" is a waste of time that could be better spent doing more exciting activities.
FITZZ wrote: I think you might have missed the point that Mr. Stanhope was attempting to convey.
Well the message I got out of it was this "generation sucks so I'm going to bitch about it and tell everyone how awesome it was to be me when I was a kid" despite the fact that it's still entirely plausible to find ways of entertaining yourself in this
FITZZ wrote: I think you might have missed the point that Mr. Stanhope was attempting to convey.
Well the message I got out of it was this "generation sucks so I'm going to bitch about it and tell everyone how awesome it was to be me when I was a kid" despite the fact that it's still entirely plausible to find ways of entertaining yourself in this
day and age. What did you get out of it?
Basically a commentary on shifting attitudes and perspectives...mixed with observations on a society more willing to embrace complacency and mediocrity.
FITZZ wrote: I think you might have missed the point that Mr. Stanhope was attempting to convey.
Well the message I got out of it was this "generation sucks so I'm going to bitch about it and tell everyone how awesome it was to be me when I was a kid" despite the fact that it's still entirely plausible to find ways of entertaining yourself in this
day and age. What did you get out of it?
Basically a commentary on shifting attitudes and perspectives...mixed with observations on a society more willing to embrace complacency and mediocrity.
Doug Stanhope sounded more complacent when he started talking about his personal nostalgia, than the generation he tries to mock.
FITZZ wrote: I think you might have missed the point that Mr. Stanhope was attempting to convey.
Well the message I got out of it was this "generation sucks so I'm going to bitch about it and tell everyone how awesome it was to be me when I was a kid" despite the fact that it's still entirely plausible to find ways of entertaining yourself in this
day and age. What did you get out of it?
Basically a commentary on shifting attitudes and perspectives...mixed with observations on a society more willing to embrace complacency and mediocrity.
Doug Stanhope sounded more complacent when he started talking about his personal nostalgia, than the generation he tries to mock.
(edited due to grammar )
Perhaps so...that doesn't make his observations any less accurate...at least from a certian point of view.
