Suffering Fools

[zero]

Some of you may have noticed that one thing I have a great deal of difficulty with is suffering fools. I have an ultra honed sense of decorum and what I perceive to be good humanity and when people don’t live up to that I really lose faith in the whole species. I am starting to realize that some people are just genuinely ignorant of situations because their knowledge base does not permit them to understand. I dealt with this through the jazz fest where these volunteer boards just didn’t get how involved these situations can get (artists and such), at work right now I am delivering a champagne conference on a beer budget and getting absolutely sh!t on in the process, or even this weekend I took some people to see the Golden Dogs and not only did they not get that it was absolutely mind blowingly good music they shat on it too. Ignorance. I am trying to accept my fault in all of this whether poor personal relationship skills, time or stress management or whatever but I think deep down I know that they are the ones who are fu©ked in the head not me. Of course they want you to think you’re fu©ked in the head because otherwise their precious little world falls apart. I am seriously going to kill someone soon I am just about to fu©king lose it on the species postal style.

[guigsy]

it's comforting to know i'm not the only one.

[Esau]

I don't get it...

[zero]

It's a couple of different points. In terms of work I was ranting that people make excessive demands on me because they don't realize how challenging a lot of what they're asking is to pull off- if they did they couldn't justify paying me sh!t to do it. Or they couldn't accept that someone my age is fully capable of what I am capable of or else they're ineptitude would be overwhelming. People fu©k up and they have to keep telling themself a story to cover their ass and that increasingly becomes a big whopper of a lie(s). See George W. Bush. In terms of music I was refuting the view that taste is subjective by saying yes it's subjective but I don't tell you how to be an office temp so don't tell me how to be a rock critic. I am saying people are genuinely ignorant of in this case what makes great music because they don't spend as much time listening to music as I do, same for writing about music, hanging out with musicians, thinking about music, crying to music etc. I am saying they are ignorant not in the sense of dumb but they don't have knowledge of...

[shitidiot]

did some one say surfing?

Ignorance is bliss. some times you just have to say "fu©k it man"

[Esau]

I guess I should have used the purple font. ::

[snarfmaster C]

i know what you're saying, man.

i think you've got to have faith that your work and dedication is appreciated by some, even if you only hear the negative feedback.... and hope that in doing what you care about and doing it well you will eventually land a position where you aren't being shat upon by others.

as far as appreciation of music though, you really can't take that personally.

let the fools suffer, i say - there's only so much you can do. you can't let them bring you down or else you're the fool.

[Booche]

"Everybody loves chips and dip."

[boogieknight]

ignorant, suffering fools, are the downfall of the modern world (GWB and his puppet masters) but getting them to agree or even see your point does little to validate it. If you enjoy what you do and love the music in anyway that you do, then what the fool thinks is of little importance. though a little recognition is nice once in a while. hang in there captian zero, your day will come.

[zero]

The Golden Dogs are the greatest band to come out of Toronto (let alone Canada!) in ages and anybody who doesn't fu©king get that is a total tool.

[boogieknight]

can you give a better description? the make up, style etc... come on mr music journalist, hook me up.

[AdamH]

Ha ha. And to say that after a collapsed chest shows that are really being objective about their greatness!

I do agree with you though. Myself and a few co-workers are going through this exact sort of thing Luke, and I don't know how much of feeling worthless is due to the NGO environment ("well adam, we pay you so litle compared to what you do for us you must not need recognition, praise, or constructive input").

My big struggle is how to not come across as a pretentious wingnut when saying half the people I meet in a day are sexily (big up guigsy) ignorant. Seily because they're so blind to things that I can say whatever I want nomatter how ludicrous and they'll believe it. It's pretty sexy to have people agree with you for no reason other than to agree with you. The blueballs of it would be having people challenge your ideas with their own...sort of akin to pursuing what you can't have. So I guess that would be more sexy than the easy lay.

Wow...where did that come from? Anyway, I need to be challenged by the people I'm with.

[\/\/illy]

...this weekend I took some people to see the Golden Dogs and not only did they not get that it was absolutely mind blowingly good music they shat on it too.

That didn't work out for you eh? Perhaps you should have stayed at Caution Jam. In any event, were not some of those people also members of this board? If so, I'd love to hear their take on the situation. Personally, I have not had the opportunity to listen to the Golden Dogs so I do not have an opinion as of yet.

[zero]

On the Golden Dogs front there is a good deal, a great deal that could be said about this group. To what Adam mentioned yes I flipped them the bird at Hillside (an ironic or post-ironic stop fu©king with my head salute) and yes Dave Azzolini the front man hoofed me in the chest (hard). It’s funny because like most bands (most) I got along with all the other guys. Basically I came into town to see the motherfuggin Golden Dogs and the Caution Jam Jerry show weekend was on so we went there and I tried to drag some fuggers over to the Dogs. They gave me a bunch of sh!t and were useless to motivate (did I mention we tried Salvia and were in the Salvia world which is a strange strange place). Anyways I dragged them out we went over and saw say the last 45 minutes of the set including an UNBELIEVABLY GOOD Helpless encore. I’ll get to what they sound like but basically after the show I approached Dave backstage (he was lying on the ground stretching) and asked the band if they’d protect me if he went ballistic. I told him who I was and his eyes lit up maliciously saying ‘I hate the ironic fu©k you’. I then told him ‘who I was’ (alluding to the legend in my own mind and how anybody who knows me would expect as much). Then I screamed ‘I fu©king love you guys and I already got hoofed in the chest how much do I have to suffer for your art!’. Then Dave and I made up. Then he hugged me profusely (he was very sweaty and then I was very wet) and began nuzzling his bearded face into my neck. I found this odd given that he had once assaulted me. I pulled back as much as possible and pleaded with his bandmates that I was way past my homo erotic threshold.

To answer what their music is like would be tricky. It is very good on record but better live. It is a raucous live sound that echoes aspects of the New Wave, particularly the Police and Talking Heads at points. That should be qualified by saying that in a fashion not unlike the Strokes say they reference 70’s music while completely reinventing it for themselves. I think a layman hears something else. It is at very least not clear to the passing eye how thought out, meticulous, composed and frankly brilliant this music truly is. They do things like play a bar and a half on one tangent, turn on a dime, play some other tangential riff, skid back into place, go off on an actual improvisation and on and on. The music is so fiercely rendered live it has to be seen to be believed. The front men are basically Dave and Jessica who plays an upright keyboard (some odd percussion too) and is very animated (kind of cute but only if you’re a guy. The rhythm section is sicker than dirt. Sicker than dirt. I came up with a way of describing them as the deep lake water cooling servicing Dave and Jessica’s twin towers (the sexual connotation is totally your addition pervo- okay I said servicing ha ha very funny). The drummer Beau is on fire in a Joules Scott Key Metric kind of way (looks like Jay Cleary oddly enough). The bass player Micah is a monster as is Michael the rhythm guitarist and sound engineer. They are all very laid back but very very potent musicians. To explain one song, incidentally they did a killer rave up of Men Without Hats Safety Dance at the end of the set, they did Helpless as an encore. So Dave is playing a tiny guitar with nylon strings that had the effect of being reminiscent of a George Harrison number. Jessica was playing a paper bag for percussion, the band had left the stage. Dave mentions having just been up north (they’re from Sudbury and Thunder Bay) and starts coaxing out Helpless. I thought I was dreaming. The indy scenesters wagged their chins, I wagged the dog. So not only are they playing a killer acoustic Helpless (extremely fitting) but the band comes out and starts to fu©king PULVERIZE THE sh!t OUT OF IT. I am talking Wilco or Sonic Youth style massive floods of distortion. I was right next to the speaker and could feel the big floods of bass pounding out. It was just that intense and anybody who didn’t get that they have never and will never hear that song done that way again is as I mentioned a first rate tool. So get the to the Golden Dogs and when you don’t understand what all the hype is about just pretend you can see the Emperor’s New Clothes. The emperor may be naked from time to time but let’s leave the outing of avant garde musicians as frauds to the pros. When the going gets weird the weird turn pro.

[SaggyBalls]

Luke...not too many people have the spark that you and many people around these parts have.

sure they could have it but it's going to take them years of living to get that spark. To some people it comes naturally.

on the other hand, dullness comes naturally to a lot of people too.

are you really suprised these people either lack or fake that spark?

[zero]

I guess I kind of am surprised or I am realizing this doesn't come natural to people (this being in this case listening and feeling passionately about music). It's like if you watched a golf match with someone who had been to tonnes of PGA tour events, worked as a golf pro, commentator etc. what would they remark about that would be lost to the passing eye. There is another element here which is getting the recognition I feel I am due or at least not getting sh!t on when I state something bordering on fact. So I maybe am appreciating that if you're idea of a great bass player is Mike Gordon (from Phish) that you likely will not be able to understand what really good bass playing is all about (because you know only one 'style'). It's like not knowing the difference between a good chip shot and a bad chip shot.

[MarcO]

Sometimes it's just a matter of set and setting, as well less tangible, more personal factors. Some days I am more "open" than others, and I imagine it must be the same for a lot of people.

Sometimes you hear that song you've heard dozens of times before but suddenly the true beauty of it is revealed to you. That happens to me quite a bit.

On the other hand, some people have an unconscious (or alternatively, blatantly overt) set of "rules" that must be adhered to before they can acknowledge appreciating something. Hopefully, their musical journeys through life will reveal the limits of this appraoch to them.

My $0.02.

[bokonon]

i totally agree that taste is not totally subjective. there are some things in this world that are undeniably good. like led zeppelin, aretha franklin (whom i am listening to now), bob marley, sunny days in the fall, dreams where you get to fly, pasta (everyone's gotta like at least one kind of pasta), cicadas, the sound that chickadees make, butterflies, clean air and water, cuddling, echinacea, lillies, daffodils (guess what's going to grow in my garden this spring ) oscar wilde, mark twain, and of course.....jambands.ca wow, now that i am done that happy rant i am going to get some more ether.

[Sunshine]

Zero - I understand your concern about being appreciated at your job. When I was a conference coordinator my boss constantly took credit for my work - It sucked hard....so instead of staying there and being unhappy, I left. Life isn't about work for me...so I'll just keep moving around until I find something right. You have the power to change things.

I hope your week gets better for you, cause lately you've seemed a little down.

[zero]

Set and setting nails the dilemma to a tee. In fact when I quizzed the people who didn't enjoy the Dogs more it became clear with one remark what the challenge was 'I get enough of the real world at work'. PHILISTINES!

This is what I am struggling with though precisely. Just because you don't want to open yourself to a potentially tragic or destabilizing experience doesn't mean a band isn't as magnificent as all get up. You have the problem not me or them (dickwad).

[bokonon]

aaahhhh, it sounds like you were forced to hang out with uptight, closed minded boring dillholes, i feel your pain, i went to an uppity catholic high school and was virtually surrounded by them for three and a half years. honestly, inibriation helped to tune them out quite a lot. i'd say leave the situation you're in, it sounds like crap! and it also sounds like you know you can do a whole lot better, so fu©k IT!

[zero]

....worse they were Deadheads!

And you're right I should leave the situation I am in....

[shitidiot]

all people are equal. sometimes it's hard to see the good in all people but it's there if you look. just because you and them don not see eye to eye, does not mean they can't see. it might be your eyes that need glasses. take a step back and look on things with new eyes and every thing might becomes clearer.

[meggo]

To explain one song, incidentally they did a killer rave up of Men Without Hats Safety Dance at the end of the set, they did Helpless as an encore.

well. now i am impressed. [notice what my nero request was? ] bring those dawgs to ottawa!

[zero]

Yeah but the thing to get was you wouldn't have even noticed it was Men Without Hats. I mean they do this thing where it's calypso, then country, then psychrock and it's all Golden Golden Golden Dogs Dogs Dogs. It is just that good no doubt about it. Don't be a fool and see these fuggers whenever you get a chance.