How does one block out the sense of hearing? I ponder that now. Or rather do they distract with those tethered apparati hanging from their ears? The mp3 player, the portable CD player (dead as much as we know), even the personal DVD players or radios (though less frequently witnessed).
These poor bodies, seemingly drained of content, filled by recycled sound, poured into their brain to quiet the tumultuous torrent that otherwise would ebb and swirl therein. One seems not unlike a robot clutching it’s batteries or an invalid grasping it’s intraferon. A baby cries out as I sit on the bus, they sit vacantly starring off – it jostles them half awake, one immediately looks down and increases the volume/dosage.
Are the thoughts prevented and the reality of sound so torturous or lacking thrill that countless hours must be spent separated from us all? Surely some might take it as a personal insult. The he, me, you or the other and the sounds that result from us are a nuisance it seems. But I see those trapped in that false reality, headphones in ears, to be weak of demeanor. One appears unable to confront the world with all the senses blazing. The few of us who still dare, pull it all in, suck it all in, whether we simply cherish what we process or analyze and loathe it, is a matter pf preference… that preference is independent of my point..
My point is simply thus: we are tool using animals, this device which was intended as a convenient form of entertainment is now an addiction, torture it seems lies outside our doors, inside our heads and if we do not confuse the raging tempest with a battery of pandering repetitions of base pleasures then we could possibly be doomed to acknowledge the obvious truths. Those truths are as such: we are unsatisfied and we do little about it.
Increase the volume/dosage, it soothes the wild beast within and gives a rhythm to march towards directions one refuses to acknowledge they may not prefer. —Icarus
This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2010.
Don’t be mad at me. I’d heard the stories and wanted to see if they were true soI looked into my bathroom mirror and said “Montrealman, Montrealman, Montrealman”. I’m so sorry.
(Chambers 9 mm round and presses Browning Hi-power to temple. Pulls trigger)
OWWW!, THAT FUCKING HURT!
I use them to block out, pretentious little shitheads like you
i like this one, but then i am not plugged in…i think it’s time for bodf. really loud
For some I imagine it has less to do with blocking out the world around them (although a welcome diversion in the presence of screaming spawn of someone else’s loins) and more to do with a preference for adding a sound-track to one’s life as one goes from point A to B. Being plugged in to tunes discourages communication with the other rats in the race. Maybe some of the audio-engaged rats prefer it that way.
I love the look on the faces of those who’ve tune out the world, when the world abruptlyre-enters. If you’ve ever seen someone almost taken out by a car or in another situation where their lack of attention almost gets them taken out…its a beautiful thing, fear…& the couple of times I’ve witnessed it ‘deer in headlights’ doesn’t come near enough to describing the look on their stund face ! L O L ….good memories ~:)
Whatever happened to just liking music? I mean, I love music, but am I bundled into this group just because I choose to take my mp3 player to just about anywhere I go?
Also, I think the Icarus reference was poorly implemented.
This bitch reeks of trying too hard. It borders on being pretentious, but then falls flat on its face in a tedious and uninteresting puddle. Sorry OB that your outdated writing style won’t get you any freelance work and sorry I didn’t tip you at McD’s last week. Better luck next time.
Moi aussi Fever. I couldn’t live without music during my waking hours, and even when I’m sleeping. It is like oxygen. Portable music is a lifeline. Who really cares what anyone thinks about that? As a particular eclectical fave Alpha Blondy’s “Ne Tirez Pas Sur L’Ambulance’ is blasting from the speakers right now. How bereft would be the world without good music to fill the mundane void.
I have had headphones in my ears since elementary school. From my first walkman to my iphone, I’ve always learned to work better, walk/run faster and generally be more productive when there’s music involved. Not having to talk to crazy people at the bus stop is just a bonus.
I’m a little more mainstream, but I’m more than happy to listen to AC/DC endlessly. But, it helps me get through times like the bus, or just a walk. To each their own, and the OP is way off with the allusion that music is some sort of opiate. I think they’ve been reading too much Marx.
I always thought the opiate of the masses was…opium? But then I was always pretty loaded all through Poli-sci 101
funny, I’m the opposite.
I’ve got several mp3 players but never really use them.
on occasion, I’ll get into the music kick but really… usually it’s not so much.
I used to listen to the engine of the car over having to listen to radio blather on and on…
I’ve been gaga free for over 50 days now and am quite happy about it.
“Whatever happened to just liking music?”
“This bitch reeks of trying too hard. It borders on being pretentious”
Those two quotes pretty much sum up what I wanted to say.
I wish I had an iPod for my eyes, so I could have blocked out reading this…
When I lived in Calgary, I wouldn’t leave the house without my walkman. Whenever I walked around I would get harassed by rednecks and the music provided a buffer.
In Halifax, I don’t use my MP3 player much. Unless I really feel the need to tune out the rest of the world, I leave it at home. I spend so much time at home with my son that I really appreciate the opportunity to be outside on my own, seeing and hearing whatever there is to see and hear. And I don’t dare take the MP3 player out at night – I need to be on alert then.
citizens: remain alert and vigilant
when the shit they or you have going, reaches me, from back to front of a double bus, it is tooooooo fucking loud. i don’t give a shit if you fuck up your ears, but i don’t want to be subjected to your fucking crappy shit, nor does anyone else.
Bus drivers are required to ask passengers who play their music too loud (that is, loud enough that the driver can hear it) to turn it down. However, I’ve only witnessed this happening once or twice. One driver actually threatened to toss a rider who argued with him and refused to turn down the volume.
And I don’t use my MP3 player at night because I want to avoid getting jumped. I don’t want to give anyone the opportunity to sneak up behind me while I’m distracted and try to steal my outdated iPod and empty wallet.
Paingirl: 😛
*snicker*
piss off, Icarus. you’re a dickhead.
I do not deny being pretentious or, based on one comment, a dickhead. Perhaps I am. If one were sleeping a deep sleep and awoke and turned to a bright light by nameless individual, I would assume they be as such.
My intention is not to ridicule music in its entirety, nor ridicule people that enjoy music. I am a musician.
My point being that we take avenues to distract ourselves. I am intoxicated now as I write this, the time is 15:05. Such is my device to quiet the multitude of screams; questions without answers, that consistently wail of their own accord.
I am weak of demeanour, I am intentionally ignorant, like so many.
As for the term Icarus, that one suggested was poorly employed. The reference being used to denote that those that soar too high then fall back into the massive churning ocean. I think it rather apt that one whom thought far too much and can now not shut them out has turned to intential dulling of senses; essentially falling back into the ocean; the mass.
Whether we use the television, music, alcohol, or drugs (or whatever one comes to find as vice) to quiet each personal scream is of no real importance. The valid question from my statements was simply thus: Do you utilize these things in search of something or to escape from something?
That so many became enraged by my comments suggest they prefer to sleep. I will continue my drinking as I must quiet your screams as well.
Icarus.
i don’t think were escaping or searching…just enjoying the ride
I still say it’s poorly implemented. Specifically since that it implies a hubris thanks to what is essentially over-zealousness. There’s no hubris in music, save for the performers.
Sorry but I don’t want to talk to the other people on the bus. Even if I don’t turn it on, I put my earphones in just so I can have some time to my goddamn self.
Icarus: It is neither searching for something nor escapism. The addition of music to one’s day is merely enhancement.
Look, guy, as others have pointed out here, your writing style is painfully pretentious. It comes across like bad teenage poetry. You only alienate your audience with your deliberately convoluted style. I’d suggest enrolling in a creative writing course.
Bus ride au naturel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKDlOo4ox6k
My bus ride home today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XBBCunspKc…
Supertramp rules!
Ya know! = )
I love the Ipod. Instead of trying to look anywhere but into the eyes of stalker-like dude across from me (who not only wouldn’t stop staring but who really needed to blow his nose…yuck), I listened to some really great sounds AND I viewed some excellent photography.
Last week, I learned some Chinese-Mandarin on the way home.
the bear saw supertramp at the gardens in the mid 70’s…he says the were one of the tightest and bestest bands he had ever seen
paingirl, your mr l’ours is spot on about that. I saw them at the CNE avec Hodgson and they were the best! In my top 5 (out of 91) concerts I have attended Supertramp rank near the top.
Yeah, anything I could say has already been said… I don’t see why I would really want to talk to anyone on the bus, and… Oh my god, do I listen to music because I… really like music?… Hmmmm…
I loves my music. I walk a lot, and music helps me set the pace, and change my attitude… Listening to Mindless Self Indulgence before work tends to make my day seem so much better 😀
I especially need my music when I do take the bus, and it’s not to avoid crazy people (I just pretend I’m deaf if I don’t have headphones on) but usually I end up on the same bus route everyday and the scenery gets BORING. At least music helps ease (not escape) the monotomy of it all
I use the noise for focus. To calm the waves between my ears.
its either listen to music or listen to pretentious tools like you.