Re: Plethora of hotfooting

Brian Fenton (fentonb@mathds1.maths.ul.ie)
Fri, 31 Oct 1997 17:37:56 +0000 (WET) 

Malcolm wrote:
>Over here, mate. Angry isn't nearly as interesting as what happens when 
>it finally burns itself out and becomes sad. 
+ loads more great stuff.


Well said Malcolm,
	I found your points very convincing and well thought out; 
said a few things I thought myself but hadn't thought through to 
completion. Just a few other comments.

	I guess we have to differentiate (spot the mathematician anyone?)
between appreciating the emotion within oneself and within others 
(whether they be fictional characters, rock 'n' roll stars or "real" 
people). 


	When I said I like sad, I certainly didn't mean I particularly
enjoy *being* sad (in fact, I've had 7 months of it, B( and I jolly well 
wish it would push off and piss someone else for a change, preferably
before Christmas). I like sad music like Red House Painters, Low,
Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Veneer and other party-sinkers. It uplifts me 
where it makes other people writhe in discomfort. At first I thought I was 
weird but then I met others with similar ideas which was a great comfort
to me and helped me to understand myself a little more. I am weird but 
not in musical taste;  I have impeccable musical tastes, in fact. 8) So
there.  


	Sorry, drifting into self-love there again. Anyway, that's sad
dealt with. Angry on the other hand, bores me senseless in music where 
it might get others all excited and breathless and prone to trip over 
the drawstrings of their combat trousers or their 2 litre bottles of 
cider. But as Malcolm pointed out, it may be a hormonal thing; I 
remember as recently as 3 years ago howling in outrage along to some 
dreadful Rage Against The Machine song which just makes me laugh now. 
"Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me"? Fair enough, just take your 
belongings and get out of my house and I'll let you back in when you've 
learned some manners, and let's see how far you get without any pocket
money for a month. That'll cool your rage down for you. 


I mean, take the bloody name: Rage Against The Machine! I guess when I 
first heard the name I thought they might be a Quaker acoustic act who 
refused to wear anything other than handwoven cotton and rabbit-skin 
sandals and whose lyrics were only available on papyrus or stone tablets 
(which they probably ended up breaking in a  Moses-like occasional 
outburst of Rage). I mean, they use electrical equipment, they record in 
fancy studios, go on massive world tours in huge buses on top of enormous
stages, they make CDs which are played in radio stations etc etc. So 
which machine exactly are they raging against? The washing machine by 
the looks of their clothes, I reckon.


	Right, sorry if I've offended any anger fans. In fact, I like 
being angry - I scare the shit out of everyone I know, even myself. It's 
like the Incredible Hulk or something. It's not very funny at the time, 
but I can laugh about it afterwards (after I've cleaned up any damage I've
done). It's good, it keeps people on there toes around the house. They
respect me, cappice? I-a say-a to-a my-a friends, I-a say "You respect-a
me and I-a take-a good care of you-a. Ok? Cappice? You-a do-a whatever
I-a aks(sic) you-a to do-a and we'll-a have-a no-a problemo. You-a 
unnerstand? Cappice?" It works for me. That way, I have no need to get 
angry, but every now and then a little lesson must be learnt, and 
unfortunately I must do the teaching. But afterwards, we all love each
other again like a good familia (those of us still alive that is). 
Sorry, I have no idea how to spell cappice.

I guess I should get out more often. Anyway, 3 cheers for sad!

just wastin' your time...
-- 
Brian

VENEER homepage: http://mathds1.ul.ie:8080/