this is about character-shaping memories, music and saving the world:
only just realizing how deep LP influence is in my being. the music, the visuals, the individuals courageously expressing real shit. remembering how i began learning guitar in 6th grade with the neighborhood kids wanting to start a band, which was obvi inspired by soaking in the early 2000s music we got from cds or downloaded from sketchy sites. finding them through myspace profiles, AIM & IRC chats, and video game montages on early youtube & warcraftmovies made with Windows Movie Maker.
But i moved away for 8th grade and the dream died. the “Make White Boys Play In Garage Bands Again” made me remember this and how i never pursued it again, never really considered it would be my thing after that. yeah we had cd players and mp3 players, but to find music was an adventure of its own. there were so many custom made corners of the internet. there were many video streaming websites, flash games & animation websites, lots of educational info, lots of crazy stuff. i did go outside, had a lot of friends, played baseball k-12, surfed and other sports through those years, and i also experienced a lot through the internet. through wikis, forums, torrents and large downloads which were commonplace (or i was among the minority hoarding data, sorting it, writing posts & info content). i talked with ppl all over the world through skype and multiplayer game chats (those fond yet sad memories making those ephemeral friendships with people on PC games and Xbox Live).
it was a different time. a special time. before the smartphones attacked. before silicon valley attacked. this oft-complained about sterilization of the internet was inevitable though, especially with the culture of it all. As the internet and the number of developers grew (more accessibility world-wide in hardware & education), so also grew the design patterns for cloud computing, programming languages and mobile design. how to work on websites and apps with teams? “keep it simple, stupid.” it’s fair. but if the cultural aesthetic sense were tuned differently, perhaps we’d have an art nouveau/deco internet. perhaps it is limited to the “market research” for reaching broadest possible audience, prioritizing ads and profits (so I guess, what does that say about the general pop?). what does their sacrifice for money have in common with street gangs who once were united against the state? the centralized corporations, with the highly protested public-private partnership, amping up their sacrifices for money and surveillance. how we didn’t do more with Snowden’s warning, the endless hacks on institutions with sensitive info, the twitter files, or the more obvious agency-waged wars & presidential tyranny (too many EOs, for one). but in terms of design and fun of the internet, idk. but we have a lot going for us. there is DIY youtube and forums, there are great pockets of the internet, you can find the friends you algorithmically resonate with, there is black twitter and milady twitter, and there exists at least few channels of free speech wherein we can expose & discuss things. where we can educate & support ourselves. where we can learn to code and build open-source software tools & platforms for our communities & governments, where we can figure out how to meaningfully organize and lead ourselves in broader communities without the need for a seemingly always inevitable corrupt central set of institutions. philosophies like Greenpilled, Mycofi and many cypherpunk/crypto manifestos should be guiding philosophies. one should move with lunarpunk in mind until we’re really in a solarpunk world, which i choose to be an optimist about. we could have a better world. i see visions of a golden celestial age.
so anyway i think boys playing in garage bands could save the world. make this a school thing. and making computer literacy first-class and teaching how to make our world’s electrical components so we don’t lose them in unfortunate events, and—
if only we could rally in our sentiment for what’s expressed in music. if only we could stand in that power, that they deliver and we embody.
shoutsout system of a down, run the jewels, public enemy, immortal technique, bob marley, 2pac, kendrick, eyedea, sage francis, jellyfish brigade, eminem, micheal jackson, the clash, chevelle, flobots, lacey sturm, fireflight, rise against, protomen, flogging molly, pink, list goes on
i’m also referencing this sort of thing, how the golden ecosystem of early internet & games showed me a glimpse of what could be if shit wasn’t fucked
P.S. I did write all the OP with some tongue in cheek, it ended up a mix of a few quick jokes and life story and riffing again to connect dots to clarify changes needed in society lots of good things are already in motion to promote & adopt! how to make the shit cool tho?
there’s a proper essay or two to grow from here.