Posted 2 years, 10 months ago late at night by oso
Thank you Eddie, EMC, Patti, Julissa, and Mariposatomica for commenting on yesterday’s post. If anyone else has anything else to say, I’d love to hear it.
Today is my little sister’s sweet 16th birthday. I won’t bore you with wordy, exaggerated reflection … I already subjected her to that this morning in a bday card turned novella. But I will say that I clearly remember the day when I was mildly irked at my grandmother for interrupting Doogie Howser, M.D because some rodent looking kid decided to pop into the world just as Doogie was getting ready to type out his nightly reflection on his monochrome green computer monitor.
For quite some time now, the titles to my posts have been taken from lyrics of songs I’ve been listening to. Some of them are poppy and trite, others more obscure and meaningful. If you know where they come from, let me know, it’ll bring a smile to my face. It should be easier now that you can see exactly what I’ve been spinning.
I love Flickr. I love the junior high memories from Abogado’s mom (can you spot him?). I love seeing how excited Revaz gets when he’s eating Nutella or me when I’m hangin’ with Mei and Nat. I love becoming friends with Jennifer and Shimona.
This isn’t a new idea for me … it first really sank in when I went to Cuba a couple of years ago. But the more I tink about it, the more it’s reinforced in my head: this false dichotomy we invent between “liberal and conservative” really breaks down to an emphasis between equality and progress. (let’s not get into semantic debates of defining equality and progress). It seems to me that human nature says we all look out for ourselves first. But then, once we get into a comfortable position (middle class and above; ie. just about everyone who reads this), we look at all of humanity and decide how it should develop. Somehow we’re pushed into one of two camps: social-equality/liberalism or economic-progress/conservativism. And then, from there, somehow the debate devolves into “stupid, paternalistic liberals” versus “greedy, bigoted conservatives.” I hate how I still manage to get caught up in that useless debate when we can all agree that both social equality and economic progress are worthy goals and that we should encourage policy and projects that achieve both. This is what I love about WorldChanging - they cut through the ideological bullshit and just talk about new projects and research that aim for both social and economic progress. (this very random point was inspired by Steve Forbes’ excellent tribute to Peter Drucker in today’s Wall Street Journal)
Finally. I admit, I am an internet elitist. I never frequent such prole cyber-gatherings as Friendster and certainly not MySpace. Neither one meet my most discerning Web2.0 prereqs. But just as I love Flickr, the more I’m playing around with, the more I’m becoming completely addicted to Last.fm (which Gustavo’s been sportin’ for months now, but I just picked up on a few weeks ago) It’s simple, you just install a plugin on your computer and then whatever program you use to listen to music (I use iTunes) sends your recently played song info to the website where it’s displayed for everyone to see. It does much more than that though. It also introduces you to other users that have similar musical tastes. For example, the person pictured is “Sasha.” Like me, she listens to lots of Dylan, Buena Vista Social Club, Bach, and Miles Davis. Her “about me” you ask …
..i dig the beat. i take chances. i get easily amused. i waste time. i love thai food. i am messy and im ok with it. i drink profusely. i love cigarettes and the smell of gasoline. i love to kiss complete strangers. i cant sing but i do anyway. i live life for the moment. i have a strange fascination with rod stewart. and his pants. they would look good on me.
I would like to thank Last.fm for telling me about Sasha. Here are what some familiar faces have been listening to:
Me:
Cindylu:
Gustavo:
HP
(it seems HP does not listen to music)
EMC
If you end up signing up for an account, make sure to add me as a friend. Left side.
Happy Birthday Hermanita de Oso!!
And then, from there, somehow the debate devolves into “stupid, paternalistic liberals” versus “greedy, bigoted conservatives.” I hate how I still manage to get caught up in that useless debate when we can all agree that both social equality and economic progress are worthy goals and that we should encourage policy and projects that achieve both.
That’s what I’m talking about. Reading your blog has taught me not to despise conservatives but simply dislike (i kid, i kid). It has really opened my mind. Have you noticed though that the extremes are really what gets played out? You think “right wing” and you see Ann coulter and Bill O’Reilly…that’s not necessarily representative of all conservatives. I’m definitely going to check out that site (worldchanging). It sounds like a step in the right direction.
By the way…ahem.. I don’t really listen to Juanes…it must be some glitch or something like that.
I am not ashamed of my love for Juanes.
I always learn so much about new-fangled things from your blog, Oso! I will have to check out last.fm.
Thanks for the tip about Last.fm, I am signing up right now!
Now that you mention Friendster and MySpace, I’m really bored by those two “friend-seeking”,”networking” sites. I’ve considered getting rid of my friendster account, I didn’t even bother with MySpace. But I’m confused about LastFM. I like it, but it’s creepy that you can check out what I have been listening to. Why not ask me directly?
“Oyes, Ces, what’s on your playlist?”
But the Web2.0, CSS loving, Music Geek enthusiast that I am keeps me interested. Haber que.
Is there a reason I was last on your list? Is it my music? Is my music even worse than HP’s empty playlist? Que onda con eso?
If I posted my listening habits people would think I should be embarrassed.
Maybe I should.
Ohmygod! Do you really listen to Sui Generis? I actualy own some really old vinyl of them. Picture me at 10 years old, singing along to Rasguña las Piedras. The sense memories are making me spin.
I will certainly try that Last.Fm thing, that’s for sure. And I didn’t remember Doogie Howser until you mention him. Wow! that was a travel through ages!
Also I wanna thank you for your kind visit to my blog.
Well ’till next time
Salute!
P.S.
I’ll be reading you.
Damn, Gustavo’s music list is the only one that I somewhat recognize all of the songs (except Juanes, of course
), the rest of yours, most of the music is greek to me.
Also, I use my radio player for all sorts of stuff, *cough* porn *cough*, I wonder if it shows everything I play on it. Hmmmm Only one way to find out…
I have my midterm tomorrow at 8am, so I haven’t been on the computer much, except for here and there, but expect some (The Game!!!) music after tomorrow morning.
Ay because I need another distraction on my computer while I try to get work done!!
Gustavo,
I think it’s funny that I’m held partly responsible for your venturing away from the radical left when most people say I’d be better off living in Cuba. And maybe they’re right … I could write pages on why I personally would rather emphasize “equality” over “progress” (defining those two gets hairy), but I would never force my views on others like Fidel and Chavez do. Not that I’m planning on being a dictator any time soon.
And Juanes is not nearly as embarassing as Tracy Chapman in the number 5 slot. My list is actually pretty skewed because I only listen to music on my computer in the morning and at night … the rest is all on my iPod during the day. So what’s on last.fm is mostly my starting out and my winding down music. I know there’s a way to get your iPod songs uploaded also, but I haven’t looked into it.
e,
Juanes es un enano.
CJ,
Look forward to seeing what you spin … most people I could at least guess, but I have no idea with you.
Cez,
There’s a small chance that last.fm keeps us more honest. I have a hunch that if I woulda asked Gustavo what’s been on his playlist, Juanes would not make it into his reply. Besides, it’s also a good way to find out about new music listened to by people with the same taste. You’ve certainly got me interested in some stuff I’ve never heard of. I should play that Sparklehorse CD in my computer instead of CD player so it shows just how much I’ve been listening to it.
Derek,
Entertain us my friend. I’m picturing the Vincent Gallo album.
Mekishiko-Noneko,
I’m pretty sure Doogie Howser was the world’s first blogger. He just didn’t know it yet.
HP,
I was playing some slEazy E for you this morning.
Mami,
Didn’t you hear? Al Gore invented the internet as part of a a vast leftist conspiracy to stop global production. Don’t forget to add me as a friend!
My head hurts. I don’t think my Last.fm most listened to list is going to do much for your perception that I have white music taste. Oh well. It could be worse, I could think The Game is the greatest and not listen to much else.
Google quote of the day:
I signed up for http://www.last.fm and am elenamary on there.
It is funny you call yourself an internet elitist. I am not a fan of friendster but I am of myspace (it used to be the reverse). I really like that I can download music on myspace.
It is funny to me though I’ve been in very much of a blog slump. I am unsure what to write and am also not so interested in reading blogs. I am disapointed with my own apathy.
Dude, I’m listening to Bebel Gilberto, Tanto Tiempo right now at work. Last.fm should have some sort of commenting scheme. How else am I supposed to make fun of Cindylu? (kidding!)
sui generis? I cant belive it, its so funny!!!. Habia un hombre bueno, si hay alguine bueno en esta ciudaaaaaaaaddddd, also a good surprise of reading la Ley.
OK, so I admit. I’m totally busted by Rosario and Swercurve. For those of you who don’t know, Sui Gemeris is essentially Paul McCartney and John Lennon as gay lovers and singing in Spanish. In fact, whenever someone asks me who I’m listening to, I tell them it’s the only album the Beatles ever recorded in Spanish and they buy it every time.