Music and Me

(Yes. I know that I didn't get back on the horse very quickly. I've thought about getting back to writing blogs, though. Which is a step in the right direction. Unless you don't want me to start writing blog entries again. Then it's a step in the wrong direction. I've got a few partially-written entries that I might finish up this week. I hope. In the mean time, please enjoy this moment of me writing about how old I feel.)

Politica is managing a campaign this spring/summer. She's done this sort of thing before, but she and I weren't together when she managed the campaign process previously... and that's resulted in an interesting experience for me.

This entry, though, isn't about politics or the political process. It's about music.

I am not a politically active person by any stretch of the imagination, but I want to do what I can to help make her job easier, and yesterday I volunteered to help her shoot a video for her candidate.

So. Music.

We gave another volunteer a ride to the shoot location and conversation turned to upcoming activities, specifically the shows that the volunteer was planning on attending in the next few months. And the bands that would be performing. The conversation went something like this:

Politica: So you're going to Sasquatch, right?
Volunteer: Yes.
Politica: Who's performing this year?
Volunteer: Tenacious D. Jack White.
Me: Ah! Jack Black and Jack White, huh?
Politica and Volunteer: [polite chuckling]

As someone who likes to think he knows a little something about most things, part of me was thinking, "Yeah. Sweet. I know what Sasquatch is. I know who those musical artists are. I still got it." Unfortunately, I was cast adrift quickly.

Volunteer: But I'm really looking forward to the other acts.
Politica: Oh, yeah? Who are they?
Volunteer: Blahblahblah, Yadda Yadda Yadda, Somethingsomethingsomething.
Politica: Mmm hmm.
Volunteer: Somethingsomethingsomething. Yadda Yadda Yadda...
Politica: Oh, nice!
Volunteer: Yadda Yadda Yadda. Starfucker. Somethingsomethingsomething.
(etc.)

Whether Politica really knew the bands or not, she at least seemed to. I had no clue what was going on. As Volunteer rattled off the bands, I was thinking one of three things:

1. Who?
2. That would be a great name for a band!
3. Ah, I know Starfucker!

It was perhaps even more demoralizing to my "I've still got it" internal checker that I don't know Starfucker. I knew they existed, but I didn't know what kind of music they played, let alone a song of theirs. I didn't even know whether it was one word or two. (For the record, it's one word. Or STRFKR. At least according to Wikipedia, which once told me that hornets were the spawn of Satan, so I always take it with a small grain of salt.)

It might be a slight overstatement to say that I was humbled, but I definitely felt out of touch with the music scene. I will have to take solace that I can still do well on the Mosquito tone test.