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What is Hip?!

I am truly ashamed of counter culture.

I think the death nail on the coffin was being blown off by Miriam and Billy of Norton Records who wouldn't even give me a chance to purchase rights to ( in my opinion ) one of the best punk songs ever written, "All Kindsa Girls" by The Real Kids for Scrapped. They didn't seem to get past the concept of a movie about scrapbooking saying they didn't want to work with a project that had no future / potential. They said it in a very nice way, I can't fault them for being scared off but they didn't even look at the promos, didn't even give it a chance. I've bumped in to this attitude a lot with people raising the alternative, counter culture, rockin' flag. I officially tear any badge of cool off my arm and am going over to the camp of middle American family types who, despite my alarming difference in attitude and appearance, have welcomed me with open arms and are bending over backwards to embrace a different culture and broaden their perspective.

Of course these are generalities but on the whole I've found more times in my life when seniors, mothers and minorities have been waaay more accepting of who I am and what I was doing than the artistic, tormented souls of counter culture. I remember a job I had in high school doing handyman stuff, painting and mowing for a retired white collar couple. It was more than two decaeds ago now and "punk" was still fresh to the midwest. I was the first kid in my urban school with a graduating class of 800 to have a mohawk and holes in my ears filled with anything i could fit on a wire. I would get crap from people at school, people in the street, etc. But the Brose's wouldn't bat an eye. I brought it up over lunch one day and Annie said, "Wes, I've seen it come and go with the rockers in the 50's and the hippies in the 60's. You haven't got anything new... it's just kids being kids and I know who you are on the inside." I ended up mowing lots of yeards those years, all for the older crowd because of word of mouth. Across the board they didn't understand it but didn't care much. They just noticed if I was a nice guy, responsible and worthy of respect. That spoke volumes to me.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago and I'm just another tattooed, goatee and earring wearing guy with a mac laptop haging out at a coffee shop checking email. You can turn on any TV and see "punk" shite like Avril Lavigne or Green Day and buy your ratted out clothes at stores like Hot Topic in strip malls. Who would've ever thought bands that couldn't get airplay back in the day are now immortalized as icons of rebellion. It's easier for me to buy Misfits T's and go see them play now than it was when they had Danzig in the band and released Earth A.D. What the Heck?!

The clothes don't make the man, the music doesn't make the man and the terms don't make the man. I like to hope it's thinking different, communicating a message to look past popular culture and keep searching for your own voice, your own values and your own fun. that's what I keep hearing over and over from these scrapbooking people I'm talking to. It's blowing my mind.

So I officially renouce being another stuck in a rut wanna be poseur who has been frozen in a decade of 60's, 70's or 80's perspective because that's what was cool when I was young. Screw that! It was great while it lasted, even profound but let's move on. I wanna know what's next? I'm not going to rename our cats or anything ( Sid and Nancy ) but I'm switching over to the other side and saying dammit, I'm a scrapbooker because it's not cool! :0) It's nerdy but it's full of creative, funny and completely transparent people who are expressing themselves and their stories on their own terms with their own voices. That's pretty damn punk to me.

posted by wes @ 11:23 AM