Interesting observations of differing levels of significance

The story of my third curmudgeon will have to wait, since this person

a) continues to add to the legend, meaning a written account would only provide a half-complete story

and

b) The push for employment, coupled with the end of a political campaign, have dominated my writing requirements

So I’ll offer a retreat from my regular attempts to push the culture forward (how’s that for pretension!) for some observations about recent findings. Here we go…

1. Doug Benson’s clever Twitter invention. Our Favorite Microblogging Platform is slowly evolving – not much longer will it deserve castigation as the home of banal statements of boredom that would even draw the ire of former Senator Bob Graham. If you follow the right people, Twitter serves as a rolling cornucopia of links to a mess of informative articles and podcasts. But we still remember the early days, when a world of early adopters decided to employ modern technology to inform the world about their decision to eat breakfast, or take out the garbage. Naturally, this screamed out for ridicule. As the founder and CEO of Social Media Killjoy, Inc, I compel the world to try harder in crafting their status updates and tweets. You had coffee this morning! You don’t want to go to work today! As Zach Galifianakis so deftly state in his interview with Jon Hamm (no relation to Jon Sausage or Stuart Turkeylink), “You can file that under ‘who gives a shit!'” While my Curmudgeonly Killjoy Attitude ™ is not shared by @dougbenson, he does provide some of the best meta-commentary on the vapidity of modern communication.

While the host of Doug Loves Movies largely uses his twitter account as a means of informing fans of his upcoming performances, podcast appearances, or recent pop-culture discoveries, he may have invented the best format for a wry re-casting of the inane tweet. While most people use the #hashtag as means for enabling their tweets to appear within that particular topic, he identified a far more practical use for such addenda. Some of my faves:

http://ping.fm/p/owobf – Guess where I am! #dontguess

People in the room next door to mine are having loud sex. I can’t sleep, because I want to know how it ends. #murdersuicide

I hate it when bars want to hold my credit card, because I hate having to drive back the next day. #notfunfact

http://ping.fm/p/c8VzI – Rachel Zoe is on my flight. I think she had to check her umlaut. #itgoesoverthelettere

Why does NBC have a show coming on in the fall that is about how American jobs are outsourced to India? #nbcyouintheunemploymentline

Didn’t get the part on WEEDS. But they said they like me! Or maybe they said they really like meat. Can’t be sure. #lotsofpeoplelikemeat

“They say that the road ain’t no place to start a family.” Sure, but it’s a good place to end one. #faithfully

I love AMERICA’S GOT TALENT and I don’t care who knows it! #pleasedonttellanyone

I don’t care what pizza you think is bad. It’s pizza, and therefore it is glorious. #exceptlittlecaesars

Benson is currently out there trying to convince Americans to Pot the Vote. I bet he succeeds.

2. Leaks of highly-anticipated albums and the resulting surprises. A few weeks ago, I was hosting a going-away party for some friends that were relocating to New York. When I was provided a leak of the new Arcade Fire album, I popped in on the backyard stereo, and saw a generally positive response from the attendees. Unfortunately, with the exception of the title track (“The Suburbs”), this album was not recorded by the Arcade Fire. Interestingly, the songs were anthemic enough to not alert my deeper suspicions. Not until I gave the fake “Empty Room” a deep examination did I figure out that I was bamboozled. That did not stop me from repeat listens – while lacking the lyrical complexity of our favorite Montral-based indie group to top the US charts, the songs “Stand in the Water” and “When I Get Home” just simply rocked. My attempts to find the artist were quite the challenge, especially with the lack of any Shazam or Songmeanings.com presence. Eventually, I located the actual band behind the tunes (one of the 47 bands calling themselves Wildlife, although the only Canadian entry that I am aware of). Which leads to the greater moral question: what if Wildlife were the instigators of the entire incident? Should I be providing them publicity for such deviant skullduggery? What if they had nothing to do with it, and are merely the object of affection for an overzealous fan? And does a consumer of an unauthorized version of an album, by hearing a set of counterfeit songs (and professing their devotion to said songs), get what they deserve?

In 2007, the internet was abuzz with tales of leaked version of Interpol’s third LP, Our Love to Admire. While most of the “leaks” were merely the early single “The Heinrich Maneuver” affixed to the second album from The Killers, one incarnation featured no Interpol at all – just a similar-sounding record from a group called Cut City, which I found more enjoyable than the actual release (sorry guys).