that thing white ppl do when they disparage 'white ppl'

xp i mean, i know there was thread...

(which is always gonna be in danger of looking at these lames + which will require true humility & perspective)

it's p easy to find images of the "CC" lyfe if you're digging around on the internet; it has its fullest state in a photoshoot, so there's a wealth of evidence for something that has a paper-thin existence. really surprised the perceptive, incisive carles ref'd "normcore" which is one of the great phoney-baloney made-up things that nobody ever did really.

what i'm trying to say is that nobody really lives this way. a style is always aspirational; not just in the nakedly classist sense that but, like, "i aspire to have this look and vibe at all times, but, like, i'm at the end of my laundry cycle right now."

all those women you hate at the brunch spot, what do they do when they go home?

ftr it appears i posted on the hipster runoff thread 5 times in '09 and 1ce in '11

fullest embodiment is this place imo http://www.sohohousechicago.com

i didn't think he had serious fans here!

― goole, Friday, April 24, 2015 10:44 AM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

really? when i logged onto Facebook this piece was already shared by like 3 ilxors. i guess big hoos & jho & whoever the 3rd person was...crut? haven't realized this discussion is happening here, but

idk maybe its bc i didn't feel like i was being targeted but i always found him pretty pointedly funny when turning the cameras on his audience.

i was never a regular reader & no it's not an in depth commentary on How We Live but some of his pieces are just good imo, accessible, and more self-aware than they're given credit for as is evidenced by the first couple of jabs at him on this thread

i mean it's done thru the window dressing of caring about 'indie rock on the internet' but this kind of anticipates what most ppl in media have spent the last 2 years arguing about: http://hipsterrunoff.com/2012/10/how-indie-finally-officially-died-broken-indie-machine.html

it all just reads like "growing up is so CONFUSING" whininess to me

if you guys think this lifestyle isn't real I have some photos and profiles to share

it's totally real I just don't care about how "authentic" it is relative to other lifestyles

not to minimize that wince-worthy passage about 'Contempoconformist women'—like one could argue he's trying to embody from a distance the dude who thinks like this but he doesn't really pull it off—& likewise he's made similarly eyebrow-raising statements related to race where u don't get the impression he's interrogating assumptions so much as reaffirming them

all lifestyles are authentic! not all make strides toward ""authenticity""

all those women you hate at the brunch spot, what do they do when they go home?

Peter Sarstedt to thread

carles is a fictional character

it's p easy to find images of the "CC" lyfe if you're digging around on the internet; it has its fullest state in a photoshoot, so there's a wealth of evidence for something that has a paper-thin existence. really surprised the perceptive, incisive carles ref'd "normcore" which is one of the great phoney-baloney made-up things that nobody ever did really.

if you guys think this lifestyle isn't real I have some photos and profiles to share

the tagline of his new blog reads, "In search of a meaningful/authentic human/internet experience." hipster runoff was also framed as a quest for authenticity, which is itself a marketing concept.

i think carles' dilemma is something carlos perez relates to, in some capacity, but everything is exaggerated as carles continually builds false binaries or rams concepts together in ways that disorient his thinking. (i.e. "human/internet.") the fact that he writes like a child is a tip off that the author isn't commenting in a straightforward way, but through the vehicle of a persona. while these posts are critiquing the "contemporary conformist" aesthetic, the bigger thing that's at stake is how carles, the character, is going to relate himself to this new reality. he is picking up the narrative some years after the "death of indie"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

there is social critique at work here too, for sure, but i think it's pretty ambivalent. hipsters, contemporary conformists, and mainstreamers are all clearly false categories. just as false is the new thing he's championing, "auth," which means building your identity around listening to obscure bedroom synth acts on soundcloud.

bend over backwards for these guys, Carlos and carles, but none of this is interesting

it's all just the tortured knots some people twist themselves into as part of a cycle of self-loathing/acceptance

you can still think he's obnoxious, racist, sexist and whatever, and it's true that the intrusion of the fictional into "real" discussion space isn't original anymore as every troll does this. i've had my share of problems with the mean spirited shit he's put out from time to time. but i think it's only going to be confusing to treat him like he is an ordinary blogger, sharing his sincere perspective on this false cultural category he's invented by piecing together promotional photos for bakeries

Lol mh I meant to post goole's following para also

it's all just the tortured knots some people twist themselves into as part of a cycle of self-loathing/acceptance

― Οὖτις, Friday, April 24, 2015 1:32 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah that's the theme of hipster runoff and also this sequel he's made

goole is an urban lumberjack, very authentic

fwiw my city has very much been on the upswing for the last decade and much of it has been fueled by a growing 20-something workforce and businesses owned by them or that appeal to them. the most recent round of new businesses very much has come at a time where this aesthetic has really gained ground so I am often surrounded by it when traveling in some circles

yeah there's a whole block of this stuff across the street from me

I can't afford any of it so mostly it's just stuff I walk past

Carles's sort of keen social observation humor has precedents. For me in 1969, age 14, this was the high quality stuff! Now, maybe not so much.

Frank Zappa - You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here (edited for brevity)

You're probably wondering
Why I'm here
And so am i
So am i
Just as much as you wonder
'bout me bein' in this place
Yeah!
That's just how much I marvel
At the lameness on your face

You rise each day the same old way
And join your friends out on the street
Spray your hair
And think you're neat
I think your life is incomplete
But maybe that's not for me to say
They only pay me here to play

Just as much as you wonder
'bout me starin' back at you
Yeah!
That's just how much I question
The corny things you do

You paint your face and then you chase
To meet the gang where the action is
Stomp all night
And drink your fizz
Roll your car and say "gee whiz!"
You tore a big hole in your convertible top
What will you tell your mom and pop?

Just as much as you wonder
If I mean just what I say
Yeah!
That's just how much I question
The social games you play

You told your mom you're stoked on tom
And went for a cruise in freddie's car
Tommy's asking
Where you are
You boogied all night in a cheesy bar
Plastic boots and plastic hat
And you think you know where it's at?

a better precedent is the underground man

*The author of the diary and the diary itself
are, of course, imaginary. Nevertheless it is clear
that such persons as the writer of these notes
not only may, but positively must, exist in our
society, when we consider the circumstances in
the midst of which our society is formed. I have
tried to expose to the view of the public more
distinctly than is commonly done, one of the
characters of the recent past. He is one of the
representatives of a generation still living.

treeshy would you say you can relate to the aesthetic carles has outlined?

yeah i think he would probably identify me as a contemporary conformist

I went to a bar in San Diego that embodied so many of these things, all the way from craft cocktails to the faux-retro-industrial lighting and banged-up wood tables and bartenders wearing pseudo-workwear and I really enjoyed the whole experience

It makes me think of this place that just opened. It's basically an outlet mall but w artisinal soap shops and brunch places. I was real excited when it was being built because I thought I could go there to buy groceries. Nope.

http://www.krogstreetmarket.com/

good example of this aesthetic, AB!

#meetksm

http://images.indianexpress.com/2011/04/m_id_208196_khalid_sheikh_mohammed.jpg?w=300

http://unitedbyblue.com/

this place opened a few blocks from me

lol the front page of that site said "ultimate american sock" when it loaded

it's a coffee shop that sells clothes and stationary and stuff. the wall art -- decorative oars -- are also for sale

new d/n ahoy

hundreds and hundreds of dollars for these oars

craft cocktails to the faux-retro-industrial lighting and banged-up wood tables and bartenders wearing pseudo-workwear

I think that consultants in the industry figured out a long time ago that the way to increase margins in your bar or restaurant is to pay strict attention to the entertainment value of eating or drinking there. These places are just mini-theme parks for adults. You're paying a lot extra for the theater of it. The beauty of it from a business standpoint is that all the props and sets are a one-time expense which gets paid for fairly rapidly if you can keep the tables fully seated.

as carles said, these affectations are not any more or less real than the crap on the walls at tgi fridays

fwiw, I'd place carles much closer to zappa on the spectrum of sharp social critique than to dostoevsky

i love and admire affluent white ppl

― no (Lamp), Thursday, April 23, 2015 4:30 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is the most contconf thing anyone could possibly say

assuming that Lamp is actually a broke to middle class young person who has artistic affectations that didn't pan out into his career

http://i.bookfi.org/covers/444000/fab5c30bfdd3f96264700011b61e0f78-d.jpg

The places opening near me that are the exact beating heart of CC are the ones that flourish and are loved by everyone, Black long-term owners and non-Black gentrifiers. The stores & restaurants that slightly miss the aesthetic or seem cheap or tacky around the edges in any way end up out of business in under 18 mos.

In practice this means white-owned businesses that can afford to hire marketing consultants and designers succeed but the Black-owned or locally owned ones don't, and probably take someone's savings with them when they fold.

It's awful. But I'm not going to lie, the aesthetic is visually verrrrry pretty, and if I could eat flour I would be all the fuck over those French pastries.

bend over backwards for these guys, Carlos and carles, but none of this is interesting

― neetsooh ebebay (wins), Friday, April 24, 2015 1:32 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Carlos : carles :: miley : hannah montana

sorry wins but I kind of find it interesting :/

i'd rather read carles than most of you jokers

surprise cameo appearance by patron sailor punctuates the point