It's a wild, wild West out there

[Ale]

"So, I know Will Smith is kind of dated, but for my money, it doesn't get any better than 'Wild Wild West.' "

"Is that so?"

"I just like the lyrics. Sometimes, I like to tell girls I'm a buffalo soldier … like, you know, from the song ... six gunnin' this… pew pew?"

Finger pistols are made at this point.

"I'm going to be going now."

It never fails. I meet somebody, conversation is marginally less than awkward, and oh my God, is this friendship being formed? We seem to have similar tastes, and it seems as though the stars are aligned. This is truly a remarkable event.

And then the topic of music taste comes up, and everything goes awry. People love to assume that, based on how I dress, I must listen to a certain type of music. This really isn't the case.

The assumptions are made, corrected by me, and in the process of making this correction, the other party is alienated. Silence then blankets the landscape.

Skirting the topic of music would be the best way to avoid the issue, but I realize this is impossible. People believe that learning of a person's musical tastes is tantamount to using a crystal ball to scry into the innermost depths of a person's psyche.

If this were the case, Will Smith fans would have been alone and miserable in the '90s, and they would now be relegated to flipping burgers or something equally shameful, like being Will Smith. Sadly, this utopian world does not exist, proving the assumption false.

Failing this, the best way to avoid the situation would be for people not to make assumptions about musical tastes based on appearance alone.

I consistently find myself a victim of this assumption, but the blame doesn't rest solely on the presumptive populace. For one, I wear box-framed glasses, and I am rarely found without a man purse - an honest-to-God man purse.

These fashion choices mean I listen to emo, right? That man purse means I'm in touch with my feminine side. Perhaps I was at that Dashboard Confessional show last week.

Or perhaps not. The box-framed glasses suggest an aura of conceit. Upon the utterance of Dashboard Confessional, maybe I'll spout off something pretentious. Perhaps I'll reference a Velvet Underground lyric and walk away with my head held high in the air.

Or maybe I chose my glasses because I'm fond of right angles, and the man purse is with me at all times because it contains the oxygen canisters I so desperately require to breathe.

But really, appearance is merely an inkblot test; the viewer sees whatever he or she wants.

Regardless of what my appearance may suggest, I don't judge others based on their taste in music. Good music is good music, and people should listen to it and appreciate it regardless of what stigma is attached to it. Good music should be loved without shame and without thought to those who are willing to turn it into something it isn't.

At the end of the day, music is nothing more than music, and that is why it's so perfect.

I say all this because I have a dark secret, and I am trying to protect myself from the pretentious powers that be.

Were I to mention this secret, the gavel would surely strike down harshly, and I'm certain my box-framed glasses and man purse would be confiscated. It is a secret that causes me much shame.

But in the spirit of journalism, I'll bare my soul.

In the conversation I used to introduce this column, the person espousing the ideals of Will Smith was I.

I'm a buffalo soldier. Look, it's like I told ya.

http://media.www.centralfloridafuture.com/...e-3042702.shtml

[JumpinJack AJ]

Hmmmm...random. Seems like this goes on the off-topic board...or the "no clear topic" board. nhawong anyone?

[ash trey]

thank you for providing this random rant from an apparently emo looking fellow who likes a catchy Will Smith song... :rockon: