Electronic Music 411 - Sports - male bonding, confusion, alienation

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Sports

StoreTags: male bonding, confusion, alienation

Author: license on June 05 2008

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--> They're very important, apparently. But I don't understand them. Or maybe I do but I just don't like them or I don't care.

I imagine that most of us here don't. I was thinking this morning that the part of my brain that is traditionally devoted to sports teams, plays, and players in normal American males is devoted to artists/bands, songs, and synth manufactures, models, and architecture/parameters. Probably why most of my male friends are either synth nerds or are gay (sometimes both). Come to think of it, it's a little odd that I can't think of any gay friends who are sports fans.

Anyway, I find this a little depressing since I cannot relate to other males in everyday life. Just my small group of friends which is slowly dissipating from Spokane, and you guys (and 3 or 4 gals). Since I don't think that my awareness of different synths is doing me any favors I was thinking maybe I should start studying sports. But that strikes me as even more sad and nerdy. Plus it seems like an all or nothing kind of thing - either you don't watch sports and don't give a shit, or you watch them obsessively, as much as you can.

If I start watching them it would be like an alien studying Earth culture. Plus I would always feel like I was watching The Family Guy ... something intended for a wide audience that somehow doesn't include me that has all aspects of what is widely accepted as entertainment but which provides me no satisfaction on intellectual, aesthetic, or, well, entertainment levels.

The fact that I'm thinking so hard about this seems to tell me that this would be a futile exercise and that it would probably just make me feel more depressed. So here's to finding more gay guys and synth nerds to hang out with in Spokane. And accepting that I'm just another sensitive artfag that will always have trouble bonding with the everyman, which I acknowledge with both sadness and, frankly, condescension.

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Comments

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06/05/08 + jarvis

i've got nothing against sports or athletes or enthusiasts, i just don't understand pro sport fanatics.

i have a hard time making small talk with people. i don't follow sports and don't play video games. i'm bad with names and only loosely follow politics. i'm pretty good at making people feel awkward.

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06/05/08 + cbit

re. main sentiments of OP: same here.

mlbot said: "The inherent need to compete that is so strong in people, men especially, draws many to sports."

Absolutely. I'm pretty sure that I'm drawn to making electronic music partly because its a competitive field I reckon i can do ok in (compared to other areas at least). While i enjoy noodling with synths, that playful enjoyment certainly isn't enough on its own to fuel the completion an album or some other biggish project. I think the competitive model in the back of my head is what makes it possible to slog through those kinds of things.

Aside from the clear examples of daw X vs daw Y, there are more subtle facets of interaction that make sense when viewed through a competition-coloured lens too, eg the energy we invest in building and maintaining a 'good reputation' (in the broadest possible sense of the term).

For any given activity it might be tempting to say we engage in it simply because we enjoy it. But if we start asking why we enjoy activity X and not Y many times a plausible account can be spun which involves competition and reputation building.

(I'm not committed to this view, and am open to being persuaded against it, but it seems to have a lot of explanatory power).

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06/05/08 + adcBicycle

who here hates macs?!!!

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06/05/08 + jdg

me!

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06/05/08 + mlbot

me too. And pants.

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06/05/08 + astroid

i hate micks too!

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06/05/08 + Roshi

jarvis said: "i have a hard time making small talk with people. i don't follow sports and don't play video games. i'm bad with names and only loosely follow politics. i'm pretty good at making people feel awkward."

You've pretty much described about 99% of the population here, jarvis, myself included.

So is really the issue wanting to relate to what you percieve as 'normal' people, license?

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06/05/08 + bla

normal people are weird

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06/05/08 + Roshi

In terms of relating to people, I just like to ask them what they're passionate about, whether it be cooking, a hobby, or whatever. They tend to open up and there's usually something you can relate to. This is usually why people ask "what do you do for work?" - they're just looking for some common ground to talk about.

If not, there's always the weather.

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06/05/08 + astroid

try moving to los angeles. all you talk about is 1. traffic 2. housing and 3. hitler

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06/05/08 + astroid

astroid said: "try moving to los angeles. all you talk about is 1. traffic 2. housing and 3. hitler"

OOPS i meant 3. the weather

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06/05/08 + sweettrip

i watch MMA fights. and i'm glued on the TV during World Cup. i play Prince of Persia on the PS2. i dont sniff the coke i only smoke sensimilla. and i like to dance. i like to make dorky jokes. and what do i learn from all these activities? nothing. why i do it? because it's fun.
but that's just me.

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06/05/08 + adcBicycle

you should start sniffing coke, you may learn something.

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06/05/08 + license

Roshi said: "So is really the issue wanting to relate to what you percieve as 'normal' people, license?"

Pretty much. I love Spokompton but she sho is getting lonely

Good thing my wife is still around. She and I are game dorks, though I tend to gravitate toward "classics". Because I'm cheap. And Super Metroid still feels like a religious experience.

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06/05/08 + frnortnr

men likes sports, women like shopping. just watch tv, that's what it tells us.

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