Ginger's follies, foibles and fixations.
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| You Listen to Me, Mr. Kick-Ass Ginger's follies, foibles and fixations. |
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Wednesday, August 13, 2003 Something to Hold you Over Just like Uncle Willie, I will be out of town for the next couple of weeks, and therefore will have limited access to the usual means of communication. I may experiment further with audio-blogging, however, so keep an eye out. If you're here because of Flash Mobs: forget it, they're over. Except for Seattle's on Sunday, of course. Well, perhaps not, but it's leaning that way. The inklings of a backlash began at MOB 4 (one I missed) because of a suddenly significant media presence. My initial worry about the police dampening the sweet joy of the MOB event had been overwhelmingly replaced by cameras, microphone-hugging journalists and MOBsters reluctant to disperse. Media and participants alike eagerly explained the concept to anyone who might have been, at one time, an innocent passer-by. Questions arose as to whether or when it was appropriate to communicate with the media or take photos. The 'official' take, more or less, was that media attention was welcome as it brought more people to the MOB. Thusly reassured, MOBsters (yours truly included) happily delivered ample sound bites upon request. Then MOB was everywhere. Articles appeared in print and online on a daily basis. MOBs popped up in other U.S. cities, then quickly spread through heat-afflicted Western Europe. The unoffically official MOB information clearinghouse, cheesebikini.com, was slashdotted and crashed, then rose again, phoenix-like, to proclaim that there was too much MOB news to keep up with in any detail -- unless of course someone came up with a "truly original" take on the concept. It seemed that MOB was hitting a wall of creativity, and everyone (whether or not they had ever attended a MOB) had an idea about what would keep MOBs truly relevant: Make it political, make it social, make it MEAN SOMETHING. Meanwhile, the media kept churning out articles about MOBs that have happened, MOBs allegedly to come, and (finding themselves at a loss as to how to fill their column inches) took to speculating about the possible dire consequences if MOB went terribly, terribly wrong. Those of us who had been attending, enjoying, pondering and blogging about MOBs had by this time been immersed in MOB minutae for weeks now, many peppered with requests for interviews on a daily basis. By the time of MOB 6, participation had more than doubled. It seemed unlikely that anyone not confined to bed without access to electronic devices could possibly be unaware of the MOB and its social (in)significance. Indeed, your grandmother in North Dakota is likely to be subscribed to themobproject@yahoo.com. So, the question is, is the MOB still relevant? That's a trick question. Who said the MOB was ever relevant? I'm thinking that MOB is the Rorschach test of personal motivation. The specific times, dates, places and actions of the MOB are, in my opinion, intentionally neutral. It is up to those participating--and those observing--to create their own idea of why they are there and what they are doing. The actions themselves don't matter; it is meaning that humans truly crave, and that is not provided on any slip of paper. Is chanting "Na-ture! Na-ture!" in Central Park a comment on the inherent disconnect of a so-called "natural" environment in the middle of the nation's most populous city? Or is it meant to quite literally call out to passers-by that they should appreciate this oasis of green in their neighborhood? Or is it a way to create an aural landscape of 200 amateur bird-calls? Yes. Meanwhile, a vocal backlash has formed, and while some is gently teasing, some of it is shockingly hateful for something so benign. The most virulent backlash seems to originate from people who have spent a great deal of time and effort reading, writing and putting up websites about how much of a waste of time the MOB is. Hm. So is the MOB dead? I don't think so. Believe it or not, in spite of all the publicity, there are still a whole lot of people in the world who haven't heard of the MOBs, many even in this very city, who could stand to be discombobulated by an inexplicable MOB. Others who have been to just one or two are still feeling that first rush of the weird and the fun, and want to explore that more. As the media frenzy continues, undoubtedly some will be motivated by the possibility of attention and fame ("If I go I might be on TV!"), and other ways of exploiting the crowd for money or dates or whatever. Burning Man didn't die when the tourists began to show up, though some may argue that it should have. The people who no longer need the MOB are those who have experienced it enough to understand why the concept appealed to them in the first place. Those who have found whatever it is they didn't know they were seeking will move on--either evolving the MOB concept into something more to their liking, or simply finding another way to spend their time. posted by Ginger | 2:43 AM Tuesday, August 12, 2003 Seattle: August 17 Kick ass! I will be in Seattle in time for their very first Flash Mob! This is truly taking it to the next level. Nice work. posted by Ginger | 12:22 AM Monday, August 11, 2003 Flash Fame Blindly following orders at a moment's notice! Guzzling pre-MOB cocktails in two minutes flat! Spokesmodeling this nearly-dead techno-fad! It's a bored white webnerd! It's an underemployed loser! It's Ginger Dzerk: FLASHMOBSTER!!! Let me just get this out of the way before y'all start -- I cannot BELIEVE that I plugged Toys R Us!!!!! As if they need more freakin' publicity. I wasn't really expecting to have to describe the MOB experience (hasn't everyone else already done that?) and it just sort of fell out of my mouth, instead of the much preferable "gigantic horrible corporate retailer with a scary dinosaur" or something...arg. But I wish I HAD been on camera when mr. host guy called us "losers" - much eye-rolling ensued. At least the folks in the control room saw that. I'm fairly happy with how it went. I got to touch on most of the points I wanted to make that I felt were underrepresented in other stories and I think (hope) that other MOBbers would generally get behind at least the tone if not the fact of what I was going on about. But my primary concern was, as always, how I looked (for those just joining us - just kidding! - but really not. Not kidding at all) and that seemed to be okay despite getting all of 4 hours of sleep last night (obsessing over Hanson does so make the time fly by) and having like 8 pounds of makeup on. That was the crazy shit right there, my friends. They sent a car to come get me. A car! To my house! In Brooklyn! And a genuine professional did my makeup so I'd look all purty for the folks at home (thankyouthankyouthankyou), and they took me back home! I was in some sort of two-hour celebrity universe, where I didn't have to use up two rides on my Metrocard and all I can say I did was sit alone in an empty room with a thing in my ear talking to a camera for a couple of minutes. I even got parting gifts! But WHY? It's so utterly pointless. I mean, [A] I can think of few things less newsworthy than MOB, and [B] There's really no reason why they'd choose to interview me over the other 499 (or so) people who were there last week. Utterly random. Perhaps...inexplicable? ;) But it did confirm one thing that I feared about myself, something this blog has brought to the surface and is making it ever more difficult for me to fight: I want to be a pundit. Imagine: you spend your whole life just... holding forth on things. Y'know, stuff. Whatever's going on. I don't have to be an expert or knowledgeable or gifted. Just look OK on camera and, as my friend Mike once wrote about something totally unrelated, "It's an endurance race...if you just keep talking, you win." That is SO my unfulfilled purpose in life, and I will spend the rest of my sad days longing to recapture the glory of being openly mocked on some cable news show that nobody watches. But that's OK, it was way cool! If you liked what you saw, come say hi if you can recognize me without the makeup. But if you thought I sounded like a goon and an embarassment to my people -- it's all Fred's fault. posted by Ginger | 10:24 PM Whatchoo Talkin' Bout? In what may possibly be a colossal embarassment, I'm scheduled to be interviewed tonight - LIVE - on the MSNBC News-type programme "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" re: the latest fad of the techno class, "Flash Mobs" Apparently I'm sharing the airwaves with Gary Coleman. Heh. The show airs 8-9pm EDT. Please check your local schedules. I believe I'll be on near the end. posted by Ginger | 4:51 PM Random Notes: Hanson Concert August 9 girls behind me: "I feel so raped. Financially raped." Mom (42) - "How old are you?" "and you just like them?" -- bring mints next time - beer breath -- 9:00pm Drunk girl behind me freaking the hell out. 9:04 Security - "if you don't come with me I'm gonna make you go with me" yay 1. Strong Enough to Break Can't see! 2. River They are sitting = sucks 3. Deeper Taylor: "step back or we can't go on" 4. Runaway Run 5. Rock and Roll Razorblade really don't like this song but Ike's haircut is better 6. ? Zac alone @ piano! echo effect - his voice is a little reedy Walker [Hanson Dad] up on the right videotaping Taylor: "Did that kick ass or what?" eee! 7. Teach Your Children another "back up" message 8. When You're Gone *"Underneath" coming out in FEBRUARY!* Ike: "This one's not on any record." 9. ? - Zac singing w/ guitar - ALL THREE have guitars! Z's voice sounds great when he has POWER behind it. Ike plugs M. Sweet's The Thorns 10. Underneath = REALLY nice song - recorded a bit on my answering machine Taylor alone @ piano: "I've hardly rehearsed this at all" "You guys seriously rock, do you know that?" 11. Crazy Beautiful Amazing voice - more angsty Ike: "This one is about fear and self-loathing." 12. Being Me: What am I supposed to do? Here I am losing you This here's more than I can take ...I'm sorry for being me Collective ooooooooohhhhhhhhh... *hearts melt* -> people shushing each other during the quiet moments Taylor re: glow sticks - "Don't bite into those things; it doesn't taste like Jello." 13. New single = "Penny and Me" 14. Zac - lead vox = "Misery" 15. Hey "The Music Live?" Lives - Tay's homemade t-shirt 16. "Rip it Up" - Little Richard 1957 "Gonna rip it up and ball tonight" Taylor: "Everybody take their clothes off right now." squeal! 17. ? - bouncy "Don't go?" Taylor: "This is sorta sad news for me because I want to keep going all night [winks]" omifuckinggawd! 18. This Time Around 10:31 - off stage HAN-SON HAN-SON HAN-SON - stomping 10:33 - HUGE SCREAMS as they come back 19. MMMBop posted by Ginger | 12:45 AM |
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