“My Hope,” by Russ Rogers – Musings on a Song #4

January 27, 2011 Russ Rogers 5 Comments

“Wizard” magazine is dead.  Wizard announced that it was rolling up the carpets and folding up the shop this week.  I had seen Wizard in the racks of Comics shops in the heyday of my $35 a week colored pamphlet habit.  And I’d picked an issue here and there.  But I was never a regular reader.

So I was surprised at this exchange on twitter:

KenPlume: @Widgett Wizard Magazine is dead. Remember when we used to dream of this day?

Widgett: @KenPlume: Yes. Oddly I take no satisfaction.

KenPlume: @Widgett Weird that. Almost like watching a dictator die of old age.
I knew that Wizard was struggling.  I knew that it was having difficulties, but I hold no real sadness or bitterness in it’s passing.  I wasn’t emotionally attached, either way.

MySpace on the other hand…  MySpace is like a situation comedy that I LOVED in Season One; that started getting crappy in Season 2; and by Season 3, there was nothing fun or entertaining about it, but I would tune in occasionally to say, “Oh yeah, I remember when this was fun.”  Now, I when I tune in, I wonder, “Why hasn’t this shit been canceled already?”

Supposedly there are more than 100 million profiles on MySpace.  But there are also signs that the site is getting visited less and less often.

Is this the life-cycle of all social-media web-sites?  There is an infatuation phase, where the novelty of reconnecting with old friends, making new virtual friends with people from around the World and making some casual “connection” with celebrities you admire is amazing and fun.  I’ve repeated this with phase with twitter and facebook.

Then there’s a period of disillusionment, where stuff just starts to rub my fur the wrong way.  With MySpace it was Sparkly Roses and Unicorns.  It was going to a page and having three videos and two songs all begin to play simultaneously.  This would bog my ancient boat-anchor of a computer down to a crawl, sending me racing around the page, trying to shut things down.  It was an endless string of pron profiles wanting to “Friend Me.”

The other night I checked in on MySpace or as it called now, “My_____.  (What a SUCKY new logo/name!)  I posted something there, something innocuous.  Oh yeah, it was a link to last week’s “Musings On A Song.”   Within minutes I had six messages and two iPal requests from Spam-Bot-Harlots.  I deleted, I reported, I blocked.  I seethed with annoyance and impotent anger.

I hate the over-share, the friend who posts about hurling after a drunken party (or worse).  I hate having people write, “All my TRUE friends will copy and paste this message to their status or they will get bad luck!”  What the hell!  MySpace is stuggling to stick around.  There has been a major redesign.  It all looks a lot more facebook-ish now.  Like facebook’s ugly, clumsy older brother just got a new shave and a haircut.

Molly Lewis understood the waste of space that is MySpace three years ago. She has been recognized by Wil Wheaton as a National Treasure. Musically, she’s like a cuter, younger Tom Lehrer for the New Millenia. She’s a throwback to the days when novelty songs were cleverly worded and funny, not just shock-tastic. She’s been a staple performer on the Wootstock Tour. She made a spash four years ago on YouTube with a Ukulele Cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” She’s on twitter, facebook, and yes, even MySpace. But she doesn’t check in on that site very often, because MySpace makes her feel corporate and sad.

It makes me a little sad too.

But, if you’re on MySpace, feel free to send me an iPal request and tell me why the site still matters. Is the life-cycle of all social media sites infatuation, annoyance and then just a slow, lingering death after the next BIG THING pops up? Are we all just virtually jumping up and down, screaming “Look at ME, LOOK AT ME”? Anyway, leave a comment. LIKE this column for facebook. I need the validation.

You can find Molly Lewis’ EP, “I Made You a CD, but I eated it,” on bandcamp, at DFTBA Records, and probably all those other big name digital downloading services (which are more convenient, but will put less of the money you spend in Molly’s pocket). http://sweetafton23.com/

Molly Lewis as “Molly: Kickass Destructo-Cyborg Thing” is by Len Peralta http://www.monsterbymail.com/

Russ Rogers is a songwriter, comedian and children’s entertainer. He has a show called Rusty’s Rocking Jamboree and has recently recorded an albums worth of more grown up songs in the duo Godz Poodlz. “Musing on a Song” features a different Creative Commons Copyright song each week. Hopefully this will introduce you to some songs and artists with which you’ve been completely unfamiliar. So, if you know of some Creative Commons Artist that deserves more attention, let me know in the comments.