You wanna be part of something that you can’t fight?

So I’ve failed miserably at keeping up with blog posts.  I just looked, at the last time I posted was the end of September.  It’s now the end of November (ish), and I’m just now posting again.  I also haven’t kept up well on working out.  Too busy/tired/stressed, which means I probably would have benefited from manning up and doing it.

Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to write about.  I wanted to write about Powerman 5000.

See, I just got back from a Powerman 5000 concert.  My friend Bri and I went, because she and I went to see them at the Blue Note 4 years ago, when we were both in Jeff City working at the Capitol building.

It’s funny, that concert was a huge blast, but the way I always end up describing it to people is “way more fun than it had any right to be.”  Which is a cop-out.  Really, what that means is, “I love Powerman 5000 shows, but I want it to seem like it’s ironic so it doesn’t have a detrimental effect on my reputation.”  Well, to hell with that.  Powerman 5000 is a great band, whether you think so or not.

See, here’s the thing:  I know they’re really schtick-y.  I know their music isn’t terribly complicated or technically impressive (although they have a new guitar player who seems to know his way around the instrument).  I know the lyrics are largely pretty inane.  I also don’t care, because sometimes being loud and singing songs about space robots is just a hell of a good time, if you let it be.

The way I see it is, you have basically two options.  You can sit back and say things like “this is ridiculous,” or “this is cheesy and stupid,” or you can buy in.  You can suspend your disbelief.  You know what happens when you do that?  You have a really good time.  Especially when the people around you are doing the same thing.

It’s not just about Powerman 5000.  It’s about plenty of other things – music, movies, games, culture, literature – pretty much everything.  Just buy in.  Don’t be a critic.  It’ll make you cynical.  And liking things that are a little silly (or extremely silly, for that matter) doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate things that aren’t.

That being said, I don’t expect you to like the same things I do.  I do expect you to respect that I do like those things.  So when I talk about how great Powerman 5000 is, you can express disbelief.  But don’t be an ass about it.

And seriously, let go.  You’re not that cool.  No one is. Stop trying so hard and just enjoy yourself a little bit.

I think xkcd really summed it up well: