Tag: music

Musicality and Money

I find it interesting the amount of time I expend on avoiding housework, and it seems like there’s an equal number of tasks I have to do as those that distract me from doing what needs to be done. Primarily, I find seeking out new music to be my biggest distraction, closely followed by watching movies, and playing Words With Friends games to be a close third distracting activity.

I have built and maintain a strong connection with various people on bluesky all of whom share an equal interest in sharing music with others and discussing various artists/songs and their importance to them.

I find it incredibly sad, disappointing and infuriating how many artists musical and otherwise increasingly struggle with earning a livable wage from their creativity. Barrett Strong recorded the well-known song, Money (That’s What I Want) in 1959- listen here: https://youtu.be/oU_ixZv9N-E?si=X7dkFsya5tFhgtzj which was covered by groups ranging from The Doors to The Beatles and The Flying Lizards whose version i’m particularly fond of which can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-P2qL3qkzk.

I’ve long enjoyed attending concerts, and I understand the economics of scale of why ticket prices have increased. Like many other hopeful concert attendees, I am finding myself priced out of shows by bands/performers I’ve long wanted to see. I like to further my support of them through buying merchandise at their shows. My most recently attended concert was Lords Of Acid at Washington DC’s 9:30. I was quite surprised to see that a hoodie was priced at $60 only $7 dollars more than a 2-sided tour shirt. Did I buy something at the show? Yes. Did I spend more than I expected to? Also, yes.

All people, regardless of their work deserve a living wage, and the costs attributed to attending concerts shows the degree to which performers are struggling to make a living.

From Skateboarding to Pinball: Finding Your Community

What is community?

Is it the place you live or is it both where you live and with whom you spend your time?

I think it’s often both. People can and do find community in any number of ways. For example, if someone is agoraphobic, they probably turn to online communities. They are an avid user of Reddit. There, they discuss their interests with people. Some of whom even live in the same town.

When I was younger, I found my community in the punk/alternative music scenes which carried over to the skateboarding scene. Individualism was cherished. We’d support each other. Even if our interests outside of skateboarding or alternative/punk music didn’t overlap, we still valued our friendships. We allowed our friends to do whatever made them happy.

Which brings me to pinball. The first time I played pinball, I was maybe 11 or 12. I was on a vacation with family members. The place we stayed had a Mata Hari themed pinball machine. I fell in love with it. The noisy bells and other sound effects were new. Yet, they were familiar because I’d heard bells in other settings. It wasn’t until I was in eighth grade that I found my all-time favorite pinball machine. I struck gold with the F-14 TOMCAT, made by Williams in 1987. https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/f-14-tomcat/gallery. I’m not sure how many quarters I pumped into the machine. I am fortunate to have a venue here in the District Of Columbia. It boasts the F-14 TOMCAT among their stunning collection of forty machines https://pinballmap.com/map?by_location_id=24489&by_location_name=V%C3%9CK%20Pinball. If you’ve never played pinball, you should visit Vuk as it’s among the best places to play in the area. The machines are well maintained, none of which cost more than fifty cents to play.

After a time, the convenience store near my school got rid of their arcade section. The arcade near my grandma’s place shut its doors. I never saw another pinball machine until the late 90’s. The arcade in my town didn’t have my beloved f-14 tomcat, but they did have a healthy selection of machines, including Star Trek The Next Generation https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/star-trek-the-next-generation/details which is an excellent machine to play.

Soon after relocating to the District of Columbia in 2009, I found a place to play pinball at https://www.blackcatdc.com/information.html which once boasted a healthy selection of pinball machines, and even hosted a league. I had been completely unaware that competitive pinball was a thing. So, yeah, you bet your ass I joined up. It was there I met many people with whom I still play with that are among the most interesting people I know. Some of whom have honed their skills and have held state titles and competed at nationally and internationally. From my experience, pinball players are largely supportive, and freely exchange any tips/tricks they know with anyone regardless of level.

I can honestly say, like many others, in joining competitive pinball I found my community, which closely parallels my experiences in skateboarding, and alternative/punk music. The pinball community is pretty tight knit. I live in the District Of Columbia, and it’s not uncommon to see people play here that come from as far away as Florida, California, Texas, and other far-flung places.

More pinball resources below if you’re interested:

find somewhere to play: http://pinballmap.com

want to learn how to play various machines? http://pintips.net

all the ins and outs of competitive pinball are here: https://www.ifpapinball.com/