I personally never got what is with all of the love for XXXTentacion; he was a robber (he got charged with home invasion, robbery, and aggravated battery according to vulture.com), he assaulted his ex-girlfriend, and he had absolutely no remorse for what he did to his ex-girlfriend.

I never liked rap either, which is part of the reason why I never liked XXXTentacion.

I know this isn't going to win me any fans, but I LOVE Christmas. 

I know this isn't going to win me any fans, but I LOVE Christmas.


Who doesn't?

Who doesn't?


I'm sorry.  :\'(

Streaming sucks because you don't get to keep the content that you throw away subscription money for that you enjoy.

Streaming sucks because you don't get to keep the content that you throw away subscription money for that you enjoy.


Agreed, agreed, agreed! How people ever fell for streaming is another on of those grand mysteries. Oh yeah, it was all in the almighty name of "convenience".

Agreed, agreed, agreed! How people ever fell for streaming is another on of those grand mysteries. Oh yeah, it was all in the almighty name of "convenience".

I was fine with it until Spotify took down various songs, and when Rdio fell. I don't regard it as bad as Netflix taking down Teen Titans though, which I'd now either have to pirate or buy box sets for.

I think we all should stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It was originally a campaign to sell flags. That would be like every school kid, every morning reciting "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun." (Ok, so that is dating me). And then they had to include "Under God" in the '50s because of those "Godless Commies."  ::)


Cat

I think we all should stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It was originally a campaign to sell flags. That would be like every school kid, every morning reciting "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun." (Ok, so that is dating me). And then they had to include "Under God" in the '50s because of those "Godless Commies."  ::)


Cat


Agree

I think we all should stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It was originally a campaign to sell flags. That would be like every school kid, every morning reciting "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun." (Ok, so that is dating me). And then they had to include "Under God" in the '50s because of those "Godless Commies."  ::)


Cat


I don't think they say the Pledge of Allegiance in schools anymore.

I think we all should stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It was originally a campaign to sell flags. That would be like every school kid, every morning reciting "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun." (Ok, so that is dating me). And then they had to include "Under God" in the '50s because of those "Godless Commies."  ::)


Cat
Hopefully people can refrain from saying this, especially under the next Democrat president. I've heard it's like how children in Nazi Germany had to pledge allegiance to Hitler.

Young folks have it a lot harder than I did.

The 'modern conveniences' do not make it better for them.
Cyberbullying makes it more difficult to get away from bullying.
I didn't worry once about being shot while in school. Not once.
My generation is jaded, but man, the young folks now have a much bigger reason than I ever had, looking at how things are going now.

I don't think they say the Pledge of Allegiance in schools anymore.


Yeah, they do. When I was teaching, it was said every morning. Also, our local select board starts their weekly meetings with the Pledge.


Cat

Yeah, they do. When I was teaching, it was said every morning. Also, our local select board starts their weekly meetings with the Pledge.


Cat

I'm part of a certain club that also starts their meetings with the Pledge.

Yeah, they do. When I was teaching, it was said every morning. Also, our local select board starts their weekly meetings with the Pledge.


Cat


Did the school use the "under God" part?

Did the school use the "under God" part?


Yup.

Cat

I'd rather pledge to hedley lamarr

It seems American pledges have a very short half life if they have to be repeated every 24h.... ::)


Hopefully people can refrain from saying this, especially under the next Democrat president. I've heard it's like how children in Nazi Germany had to pledge allegiance to Hitler.
That is exactly why it makes my neck hair stand up when I hear about that crap. It's brain washing children and is something that should be long forgotten.

Streaming sucks because you don't get to keep the content that you throw away subscription money for that you enjoy.


But don't forget free streaming.

Yeah, they do. When I was teaching, it was said every morning. Also, our local select board starts their weekly meetings with the Pledge.


Cat


Was it on the loudspeaker?

But don't forget free streaming.

I can tolerate that. At least I'm not giving them lots of money to not let me keep the stuff I enjoy.

But don't forget free streaming.


Free streaming still doesn't negate the fact that THEY have it and YOU don't. "They" can still pull it off the site at a moment's notice. This leaves you high and dry, especially if it's a song you love. "They" could suddenly decide to sell the company or merge with another company who will emerge with an entirely different set of rules (or tech requirements) than the ones you have been used to. Not to mention they are keeping track of your listening habits. This apparently doesn't bother most people but it laves me with a creepy feeling. Especially when they try to parrot my taste back to me in the form of "suggestions" (algorithms), a large percentage of which are tacky songs I would never listen to.

I just can't fathom how this "access over ownership" paradigm took hold of everybody.

Free streaming still doesn't negate the fact that THEY have it and YOU don't. "They" can still pull it off the site at a moment's notice. This leaves you high and dry, especially if it's a song you love. "They" could suddenly decide to sell the company or merge with another company who will emerge with an entirely different set of rules (or tech requirements) than the ones you have been used to. Not to mention they are keeping track of your listening habits. This apparently doesn't bother most people but it laves me with a creepy feeling. Especially when they try to parrot my taste back to me in the form of "suggestions" (algorithms), a large percentage of which are tacky songs I would never listen to.

I just can't fathom how this "access over ownership" paradigm took hold of everybody.

Brainwashing - people got tired of hoarding CDs and flash storage when their MP3 players, iPods and iPhones couldn't hold their music collection any more. They've also been convinced that streaming prevents piracy, but it more just helps the big record companies assert rights over their content beyond the legalities and in a more practical level.

You'd have to be very picky like me with stuff like music to want to keep it. Most people don't give a damn.

You'd have to be very picky like me with stuff like music to want to keep it. Most people don't give a damn.


That's the difference between the generation I came up in and the world today. Music drove the culture back then.  Musicians, rock stars, were looked at as poets, prophets, giants. And often they were. They INSPIRED one to reach one's higher self. We really have nothing comparable today. I'm not sure why it slipped away in the first place, but it did.

We wouldn't have trusted the "overlords" to curate our music for us back then. We wanted it close to us, we wanted to own it, hold it, touch it, yes, even SMELL it (there was nothing like the smell of a freshly opened vinyl album).  And often albums came with booklets, librettos, posters, poetries...INSPIRATION!

I believe hipsters are hippies?  Is this true???

I believe hipsters are hippies?  Is this true???


No.

No.


What are they then?  Hipster=Hippie (ster)

What are they then?  Hipster=Hippie (ster)


I don't think I've heard hipsters compared to hippies before, despite the similar sounding moniker.  Hippies arose out of the 60s generation and sought a better world through a higher consciousness. In the end it proved far too idealistic and unrealistic, but for a moment there in the "Summer of Love" or the mud of Woodstock it seemed like ANYTHING was possible. Hipsters are a more recent phenomenon. The best description I ever heard of them was that they are "nostalgic for what they never experienced in the first place" (as opposed to hippies who felt they were creating a new world). Hipsters see everything through a scrim of irony, whereas hippies were nothing if not authentic.

I believe hipsters are hippies?  Is this true???


They're closer to hippopotamuses than hippies. They look more like beatniks than hippies, and beatniks can be found in the '40s and the '50s, so there's a disappointing dearth of Millennial fads and trends compared to past generations. Of course, there are offshoots of "hipsterism" that seem original. You can find quasi-hipster groups in all decades after World War I, and you could even make a case that you could go back further than that if you're loose enough with definitions.

I'm not a big fan of video games. Back in the day, when my best friends made beelines for their fave games at our local arcade, I went straight for the air hockey tables or the pinball machines. I played a few token games, but that was it. I feel a bit left out since video games are such a huge part of regular life for tons of individuals. 

That's the difference between the generation I came up in and the world today. Music drove the culture back then.  Musicians, rock stars, were looked at as poets, prophets, giants. And often they were. They INSPIRED one to reach one's higher self. We really have nothing comparable today. I'm not sure why it slipped away in the first place, but it did.

We wouldn't have trusted the "overlords" to curate our music for us back then. We wanted it close to us, we wanted to own it, hold it, touch it, yes, even SMELL it (there was nothing like the smell of a freshly opened vinyl album).  And often albums came with booklets, librettos, posters, poetries...INSPIRATION!


Blame Madonna and Britney Spears. They taught artists to sell their bodies, not their music!

I personally never got what is with all of the love for XXXTentacion; he was a robber (he got charged with home invasion, robbery, and aggravated battery according to vulture.com), he assaulted his ex-girlfriend, and he had absolutely no remorse for what he did to his ex-girlfriend.

I never liked rap either, which is part of the reason why I never liked XXXTentacion.


I don't have a strong opinion of XXXTentacion. I care about him as much as he cares about me, even if he was alive. Which is not a lot. It's possible he was severely mentally ill when he did those things, but he would have had to go through an era of making up for his actions for the public to forgive him, if he was still alive. I guess people may feel bad for him, partly because he died.

I'm not a big fan of video games. Back in the day, when my best friends made beelines for their fave games at our local arcade, I went straight for the air hockey tables or the pinball machines. I played a few token games, but that was it. I feel a bit left out since video games are such a huge part of regular life for tons of individuals. 

I like some of the "oldschool" ones, but not any more recent ones (they don't interest me).

Blame Madonna and Britney Spears. They taught artists to sell their bodies, not their music!


It started to happen before Madonna, but yes Madonna was one of the first major harbingers of it. That's when I knew the 80s shallowness had really taken hold and artifice had replaced true art. When I first saw Madonna on MTV she was being sold as a rock star or some sort of creator of rock and roll. I thought to myself (and probably said out loud to anyone who would listen) "this isn't rock and roll. All these dancers and choreography and costumes and everything. This is like a Broadway show or something." By the time poor, dim, dull Britney (a manufactured star) came along, it had already been going on for a long, long time.

It started to happen before Madonna, but yes Madonna was one of the first major harbingers of it. That's when I knew the 80s shallowness had really taken hold and artifice had replaced true art. When I first saw Madonna on MTV she was being sold as a rock star or some sort of creator of rock and roll. I thought to myself (and probably said out loud to anyone who would listen) "this isn't rock and roll. All these dancers and choreography and costumes and everything. This is like a Broadway show or something." By the time poor, dim, dull Britney (a manufactured star) came along, it had already been going on for a long, long time.


I tend to agree with you, Rock has waxed, waned, come back full force and then dwindled depending upon the demands of consumers at the time. We had rock n roll, then it died when Elvis went to the Army, then came back with the British invasion, then went away again and came back in the 70s, went away..again..then reformed with the grunge era...there was post grunge. For me it has gone underground since. If I want to find music with meaning I won't find it on the charts- it is more than time for it to resurge and hopefully we will see something new in rock soon.

I like some of the "oldschool" ones, but not any more recent ones (they don't interest me).


I enjoyed the old school video games too.

I enjoyed the old school video games too.

Yeah, those of the puzzle nature, such as Tetris or Dr Mario. Also those which can be played on the classic Gameboy.

It started to happen before Madonna, but yes Madonna was one of the first major harbingers of it. That's when I knew the 80s shallowness had really taken hold and artifice had replaced true art. When I first saw Madonna on MTV she was being sold as a rock star or some sort of creator of rock and roll. I thought to myself (and probably said out loud to anyone who would listen) "this isn't rock and roll. All these dancers and choreography and costumes and everything. This is like a Broadway show or something." By the time poor, dim, dull Britney (a manufactured star) came along, it had already been going on for a long, long time.



I don't want to play devil's advocate here, but people could blame the sex revolution as to why music is crap these days. I'm partial to 2000s music though so I wouldn't consider this an issue, since the stuff I like would be derided for being manufactured crap. But as the saying goes, TV killed the rock star - musicians must look good to make it or sound exceptionally good to make it. The 1980s in my opinion is the reason why this world even sucks in the first place in terms of capitalism and morals/ethics, and when religious fundamentalism had some resurgence.

It started to happen before Madonna, but yes Madonna was one of the first major harbingers of it. That's when I knew the 80s shallowness had really taken hold and artifice had replaced true art. When I first saw Madonna on MTV she was being sold as a rock star or some sort of creator of rock and roll. I thought to myself (and probably said out loud to anyone who would listen) "this isn't rock and roll. All these dancers and choreography and costumes and everything. This is like a Broadway show or something." By the time poor, dim, dull Britney (a manufactured star) came along, it had already been going on for a long, long time.


How fitting that the first ever video on MTV was called 'Video killed the radio star.' It's a bit eerie, to be honest!

I don't want to play devil's advocate here, but people could blame the sex revolution as to why music is crap these days. I'm partial to 2000s music though so I wouldn't consider this an issue, since the stuff I like would be derided for being manufactured crap. But as the saying goes, TV killed the rock star - musicians must look good to make it or sound exceptionally good to make it. The 1980s in my opinion is the reason why this world even sucks in the first place in terms of capitalism and morals/ethics, and when religious fundamentalism had some resurgence.


I see what you're saying, but I don't think it's expressed completely accurately. The 1960s sexual revolution was, in fact, one of the reasons music of that era was so fantastic. The introduction of the oral contraceptive ("the pill") was on of the defining factors that made the 60s the 60s. Young people were unbridled and free for basically the first time and creativity flowered.

I would say that what you are talking of is more the "shallowness revolution" of the 80s, rather than the "sexual revolution" of the 60s. With the advent of MTV suddenly everybody had to look gorgeous and actual musical content became secondary in many instances.

As for "the 80s being the reason the world sucks in the first place" you are 100% correct. Everything went to hell in the 80s. Shallowness reigned and greed was legitimized.  And as such it was reflected in the music of the era. I was a witness to it and we have yet to recover from it.

How fitting that the first ever video on MTV was called 'Video killed the radio star.' It's a bit eerie, to be honest!


Nothing eerie about it. Like everything about MTV it was completely contrived and planned to be that way. It wasn't even a new song. The song was already two years old by the time it made it's MTV debut. They just wanted to start with a song that basically announced that a new era had begun.

Nothing eerie about it. Like everything about MTV it was completely contrived and planned to be that way. It wasn't even a new song. The song was already two years old by the time it made it's MTV debut. They just wanted to start with a song that basically announced that a new era had begun.


Ooh, I'm itching to know when you thought music became commercial. What/who started it?

I'll never understand how some people can dislike hip-hop/rap. Old school or not. If you ain't gonna play some bomb ass hip-hop songs that'll make people twerk their asses off then your parties are boring as hell. Sorry, not sorry.

I only think the first four Harry Potter books are great. The last three Harry Potter novels were stale, and the quality could be found in any other cliche fantasy novel.

How fitting that the first ever video on MTV was called 'Video killed the radio star.' It's a bit eerie, to be honest!



Did video actually kill the radio star?

I actually don't like eating pizza. Whenever there's a pizza party I hide in the bathroom.

Did video actually kill the radio star?


In some ways, it did. Music post 2000 isn't as great as pre-2000. Part of the reason is MTV. The music industry is just reaping what is has sowed since the 70's/80's!

Did video actually kill the radio star?


Not really. It didn't kill the radio star but it killed music to some degree. Form took priority over substance. Looking good was more important than the quality of the music. But during the MTV era radio kept right on playing this crapola. In fact, during the MTV monoculture a lot of these stars were bigger than ever. It was much later that terrestrial radio itself took the nosedive that it is now in. So one might say the internet killed the radio star. But, at this point, that's not such a bad thing.

I actually don't like eating pizza. Whenever there's a pizza party I hide in the bathroom.


You don't like being around others?

You don't like being around others?
No, he doesn't like Pizza. ;)

I actually don't like eating pizza. Whenever there's a pizza party I hide in the bathroom.


You might want to check out the kitchen.  ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9zdilFwHxY