Y My Generation.

I am a student studying journalism and within the course we cover a wide range of subjects. Marketing is one of them. In class we have discussed adds, the then and now, along with that we discussed the term "Flapper" which is what you can describe as the working woman and then the house wife. We also conversed about the male equivalents. But what really caught my attention and made me sit bolt up right was when the teacher started to use words like "Conformity" and "consumerism". She explained how advertisements work and how they depict certain life styles, how companies try to make us want these life styles and tell us that their product can provide these lifestyles to us. Fight Club quotes just whizzed about my head like missiles and I wanted to start a Tyler Durden-esk  monologue right there, but I knew I couldn't. It'd be too weird, well cool to me but I doubt it would impress my class mates. My teacher asked "What does advertising do?". Instantly I had an answer, well it wasn't my answer but Tyler's "Advertising has us chasing sports cars, working jobs we hate, buying shit we don't need to impress people be don't like."
My teacher, Alison, went on to talk about IKEA as a brand and my mind almost ruptured. "Like so many I became a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct"- Narrator(from Fight Club). I mean this stuff is so relevant and true to me now. I'm more aware of it all. I mean IKEA is a mega brand, a monster of a retailer. It has 332 stores in 38 countries, as of October 2011. It employs roughly 139,000 people and has a net worth of over 32 Billion. But IKEA alone consumes 1% of the worlds wood making it Earth's largest consumer of wood. We all have IKEA products in our homes now. It is spreading. Yes the furniture is cheap and the style is relatively in fashion but you can not put a price on individualism.
People love to express themselves as individuals but isn't it counter-productive if you go out and buy the same pillows and chairs as all the other "Individuals" in your life? You can't be a group of individuals. "Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions". You can't afford to get hung up on meaningless objects "the things you own end up owning you". Just because your friend has one or because you saw your favourite celebrity holding it in their hand does not mean you need it. Celebrity is nothing. Anybody can be famous if they just let go of their self respect. Create your own life style. Don't become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct or everything will just become a copy of a copy of a copy. We don't want the mega corporations to own everything. We don't! The things you own end up owning you if you let them. If you let your guard down and get sucked into the operation MK Ultra experiment style of advertising.
Fuck off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns, I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say lets evolve and let the chips falls were they may.
You want to be famous but respected? Work at it don't buy it. Don't buy a tone of shit because you saw Angelina Jolie wear it. "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken."
"We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are the celebrity magazines, televisions with five hundred channels, some guys name on my underwear." You and I are not beautiful and unique snowflakes we are the same decaying matter as everyone else we are all part of the same compost heap." So before we die from exposure to the poisonous fumes excreted by the money hungry suits lets try break free and run from the herd. Once in a while make the choice, don't buy from IKEA, Starbucks, Nike or the others help the little guy break the chain. Buy what you need and what you really want not what celebrities on the T.V tell you you want.

Don't Be A Sheep

I've been reading a lot lately, a lot of poetry, anti-conformist literature, indie-articles and yes they're pretentious but I believe they make some good points on how materialistic and conformist our world has become, in terms of people following and buying what they are told is cool. Ever since I saw the movie Fight Club and subsequently read the book I have been on this self made, self righteous path of independence and non-conformity. I was sort of on that path before the Fight Club induced epiphany, due to the other influences i.e. Nirvana(not original I know)but that movie gave me the real kick I needed. I used to try desperately hard to fit in but now I'm the opposite. I'm happy on the outside. I like being on the other side of the fence looking in at the sheep. Don't get me wrong I like nice things and I buy from high street shops, which is hypocritical I'll admit, but I know I don't need it all. I'm not attached to any of it. I don't buy anything because it's what is fashionable, ever! I try not to fall into any category. I'd hate to be given a label and sorted into a box.
I believe that we need a bit more diversity in today's society. The vast majority of people I see in the city are all wearing the same cloths. I walked past Trinity College last week and three girls walked pass me at the same time in a line with the same coat, similar hair styles, light blue jeans and some hipster variation of brown boots. I saw a picture of something like it on the Internet but I did not truly grasp the severity of the issue until I saw it for myself that day outside Trinity College. I've been seeing it more now since my mind is aware of the phenomenon. I often feel like going all Tyler Durden (Protagonist in Fight Club) on the asses of the trend followers, the "wanna be's", the hipsters and the image obsessed Starbucks crowds.
The worst thing about all the sheep is that none of them have their own opinion on anything and just follow the words of the group leader or look on twitter for the majority vote and they then go with that. Even worse, they then try to pass that opinion as their own original thought. We all know it's the general consensus that a remake is  never as good as the original, right? Well as I was walking out of the cinema after watching James Wan's captivating Insidious Chapter 2 a while back I heard a group of young girls behind me already analysing the movie and one girl with the typical hipster get up on loudly proclaimed with a slight patronising and self righteous tone "Yeah it was good but you can never beat the original". I was ready to turn around and dish out a can of verbal wop ass on her for that unoriginal and wrong opinion. Everybody is entitled to their opinion but this was not her opinion. Firstly it was a squeal not a remake so her remark was invalid. Secondly I thought it was better then the first movie. Thirdly her tone was so patronising toward all the girls around her, whom I suspect were her friends, that it was just plain rude and belittled her supposed friends, which is actually common nature of the hipster(Imaging that in David Attenborough's voice). And lastly I, along with everybody else, knew she was just saying that to try and sound cool. (F.Y.I it didn't work.) That shit just makes my blood boil for some unexplained reason. I understand it's easier and less scary to follow then to break away from the herd but people need to be individuals otherwise the world becomes a very dull, boring and annoying place. By all means if you see something in a shop that you like buy it but don't buy it just because it's what is trending right now. Really think about it and ask yourself do you really like it. Then buy it. "The things you own end up owning you" - Tyler Durden. You'll become something you're not. Sheep are ascetically nice, with all that fluffy wool, but nobody aspires to be a sheep when they are a kid. We all wanted to be big loud dinosaurs or lions. Go out and be a lion. Voice your opinions don't plagiarize. Do not do that!

A Higher Standard of Listening.

I don't want my first blog to be just me moaning about the state of today's popular music, so I am going to say what I think and then ask you all for your opinions. Opinions on today's music vs. the masters like The Cure, Nirvana, Radiohead, The Smiths, The Pixies and your opinions on what I've said. I know some of the greats are still making music and I don't mean to talk about them as if they're dead but the culture, the art form, is out of the spot light and it's been replaced by a simple, processed, uninspiring, money hungry business. I'm well aware that there are some very talented bands and musicians out there such as Muse, John Mayer, CHVRCHES, The 1975, The Weeknd and the list goes on. They are making brilliant music but my one big problem is that the Morrissey's, Cobain's, Sinatra's guys like Robert Smith have been replaced by the Miley Cyrus's,Justin Bieber's and something called a Nicki Minaj. Most of the top ten songs in the charts were not written by the people that perform them. They were drummed up by a group of trained song writers with just two aims. One make a song that is up beat and will catch the attention of teenage girls. Two it has to generate profits. Big, big profits. Money Money Money Money Money. Dollar signs appear in the eyes of these fat cat record labels when they hear a song they know will makes young women's hearts melt. I do believe there are people and musicians alike out there who still keep the art alive and there is a vibrant quality music scene but it is just an abomination against what music is to have the mind numbing repetitive passionless noise we hear on our radios today. Music is, like all art forms, an expression of the soul and that used to present itself loudly and proudly and it was heard and rightfully made a big deal of. But now what is held up to praise is the mindless spewing of a drama whore, the moronic lyrics of a simpleton and the musical dynamics of a rhythm-less spoilt child. I want to bring to the attention of the people that it seems to me the bar has been lowered for the standard of music my generation and the ones that follow have been handed. In general the bar it has been lowered but I think we deserve better. A better filter for what is broadcast on our radio's and music channels. We almost did it back in 2009 when the incredible "Killing in the Name" by the awe inspiring Rage Against The Machine stopped the X Factor winners song reaching the Christmas number one. We need to start another campaign like that but on a grander scale. Is anybody with me?

Please Comment on what I've said I really want to hear from you. What song should we try get to number one this Christmas? I'm on twitter @Chriscwduff so catch me there if you can.