History Tropers / GodspeedYouRyan

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazi Fugazi]]: Used to be my favorite band of all time. Today I think you could say I ''respect'' them more than I ''like'' them. I still enjoy some of their music (especially their live releases -- the Fugazi Live Series is pretty awesome), but their political grandstanding gets really grating (and occasionally hypocritical) sometimes. I'm not against political music, but Fugazi is one of those bands where it feels like you have to agree with every single thing they've ever said just to like them. I mean, I do tend to agree with them more often than not, but that's not the point. Music should be about bringing people together, not driving them apart. (Just for the record, yes, I am aware of how politically zealous Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion are, and no, I don't agree perfectly with their approaches, either. They've still made some of the best and most influential music of my life, though. Their beliefs don't have to align precisely with mine to make that true.)

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazi Fugazi]]: Used to be my favorite band of all time. Today I think you could say I ''respect'' them more than I ''like'' them. I still enjoy some of their music (especially their live releases -- the Fugazi Live Series is pretty awesome), but their political grandstanding gets really grating (and occasionally hypocritical) sometimes. I'm not against political music, but Fugazi is one of those bands where it feels like you have to agree with every single thing they've ever said just to like them. I mean, I do tend to agree with them more often than not, but that's not the point. Music should be about bringing people together, not driving them apart. (Just for the record, yes, I am aware of how politically zealous Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion are, and no, I don't agree perfectly with them, either. They've still made some of the best and most influential music of my life, though. Their beliefs don't have to align exactly with mine to make that true.)

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazi Fugazi]]: Used to be my favorite band of all time. Today I think you could say I ''respect'' them more than I ''like'' them. I still enjoy a lot of their music (especially their live releases -- the Fugazi Live Series is pretty awesome), but their political grandstanding gets really grating (and occasionally hypocritical) sometimes. I'm not against political music, but Fugazi is one of those bands where it feels like you have to agree with every single thing they've ever said just to like them. I mean, I do tend to agree with them more often than not, but that's not the point. Music should be about bringing people together, not driving them apart. (Just for the record, yes, I am aware of how politically zealous Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion are, and no, I don't agree perfectly with them, either.)

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazi Fugazi]]: Used to be my favorite band of all time. Today I think you could say I ''respect'' them more than I ''like'' them. I still enjoy a lot of their music (especially their live releases -- the Fugazi Live Series is pretty awesome), but their political grandstanding gets really grating (and occasionally hypocritical) sometimes. I'm not against political music, but Fugazi is one of those bands where it feels like you have to agree with every single thing they've ever said just to like them. I mean, I do tend to agree with them more often than not, but that's not the point. Music should be about bringing people together, not driving them apart.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazi Fugazi]]: Used to be my favorite band of all time. Today I think you could say I ''respect'' them more than I ''like'' them. I still enjoy a lot of their music (especially their live releases -- the Fugazi Live Series is pretty awesome), but their political grandstanding gets really grating (and occasionally hypocritical) sometimes.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazi Fugazi]]: Used to be my favorite band of all time. Today I think you could say I ''respect'' them more than I ''like'' them. I still enjoy a lot of their music (especially their live releases -- the Fugazi Live Series is pretty awesome), but their political grandstanding gets really grating sometimes.

* {{Music/Emo}}...well, "classic" emo, at least; my opinions of so-called "2000s post-hardcore emo" vary wildly depending on which bands you're talking about. I don't like "Emo-pop". To tell you the truth, even some of the bands on the "classic" list I would debate the legitimacy of, if I thought anything good would come of it. In any case, my favorite bands in the genre are [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYgpCNt05Vs Penfold]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr_DMGZ-JrY American Football]], and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYKb34Ij2_A Mineral]]. [[YouKeepUsingThatWord It still bothers me whenever anyone uses the term "emo" to describe anything or anyone who's whiny and unhappy over the slightest things, or guys who look like girls]]. There should be no shame associated with the word "emo" '''when it's used correctly'''.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugazi Fugazi]] (Used to be my favorite band of all time. Today I think you could say I ''respect'' them more than I ''like'' them.)

* {{Twenty Four}}: 10 years ago, I was obsessed with this show. Nowadays, I have a much more complicated love/hate relationship with it. (In a nutshell: [[ShockingSwerve Shocking Swerves]] all over the place, [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks every season basically tells the same story]], and Jack Bauer is just too freaking powerful.) It's probably the most flawed of all the TV shows I like, but when it does something right, it does it so unbelievably well that I can forget all the problems I have with it for a little while. And it always amazes me again just when I think it has nothing left in the tank.

* {{Twenty Four}}: 10 years ago, I was obsessed with this show. Nowadays, I have a much more complicated love/hate relationship with it. (In a nutshell: ShockingSwerves all over the place, [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks every season basically tells the same story]], and Jack Bauer is just too freaking powerful.) It's probably the most flawed of all the TV shows I like, but when it does something right, it does it so unbelievably well that I can forget all the problems I have with it for a little while. And it always amazes me again just when I think it has nothing left in the tank.

* {{Twenty Four}}: 10 years ago, I was obsessed with this show. Nowadays, I have a much more complicated love/hate relationship with it. It's probably the most flawed of all the TV shows I like, but when it does something right, it does it so unbelievably well that I can forget all the problems I have with it for a little while. And it always amazes me again just when I think it has nothing left in the tank.

* {{Coldplay}}. Not much to say about these guys, except that they really are that boring.
* {{U2}}. I like some of their early post-punk-ish material (for example, I think [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka_ARtGTvsU this]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAdgJJH3ZBI this]] are awesome), but almost everything from ''The Unforgettable Fire'' on is too hopped up on self-conscious, calculated superiority. They can create some pretty interesting atmospheres (though that may be more because of BrianEno when he works with them), but that big, self-conscious attitude gets in the way of everything they do. And I especially hate how music critics try to compare every single rock band that's come out in the last 25 years to them. They can't be ''that'' influential. Can they? I hope not.

Political beliefs: moderate to liberal, for the most part. Pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-animal rights, pro-gun control. I'm not militant about any of my views, though. In fact, I'd rather not talk about social/political issues most of the time. I'm not registered to vote (I'm cynical about the idea of one person's opinion being able to really change anything in the world), but if I was, I'd be independent (I don't like the idea of some party outlining my beliefs for me).

* {{U2}}. I like some of their early post-punk-ish material (for example, I think [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka_ARtGTvsU this]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAdgJJH3ZBI this]] are awesome), but almost everything from ''The Unforgettable Fire'' on is too bloated and self-important for my taste. They actually are pretty good at creating atmospheres, I'll give them that. But their complete lack of subtlety and their "WE'RE THE GREATEST BAND IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD AND YOU SHOULD ALL BOW DOWN TO US" attitude get in the way of everything they do, both musically and non-musically.
** The funny thing: for a brief period of time in high school, I considered U2 my favorite band. That was part of my "trying to be cool by listening to something totally pretentious" phase. That ''War''-era stuff still kicks ass though, let's be clear.

Religious beliefs: I was raised as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church Seventh-Day Adventist]] Christian. Today I identify with many aspects of agnosticism, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism apatheism]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism deism]], though. In spite of my relative skepticism, though, I still think RichardDawkins-type outspoken atheists are annoying, pretentious douche bags.

Political beliefs: moderate to liberal, for the most part. Pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-animal rights, pro-gun control. I'm not registered to vote (I'm cynical about the idea of one person's opinion being able to really change anything in the world), but if I was, I'd be independent (I don't like the idea of some party outlining my beliefs for me).

Religious beliefs: I was raised as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church Seventh-Day Adventist]] Christian. Today I identify with many aspects of agnosticism, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism apatheism]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism deism]], though. Probably the best quote I've ever read about God or religion was written by IsaacAsimov: "If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul." (Yes, I just took that from Wikipedia. I'm not quite ''that'' well read.) In spite of my relative skepticism, though, I still think RichardDawkins-type outspoken atheists are annoying, pretentious douche bags.

Political beliefs: moderate to liberal, for the most part. I'm not registered to vote (I'm cynical about the idea of one person's opinion being able to really change anything in the world), but if I was, I'd be independent.

* {{Twenty Four}}, is the most flawed of all the shows I like: I don't like the slightly conservative bias or the fact that [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks every season is basically a different variation on the same story]]. I also don't like that the show relies on Jack Bauer as the central, messianic figure who single-handedly determines the entire course of the series, whose actions are almost always justified (though I do have to give seasons 1 and 8 props for actually having him make mistakes and/or take things too far), and who is only disliked by characters that we ourselves aren't supposed to like anyway. I mean, he's pretty dangerously close to being a MarySue in all those regards. (I even kind of agree with the people who call him a psychopath, both in-universe and real-life.) BUT somehow I can't help but like this show anyway. I guess it's because when the show did something right, it did it so ''unbelievably'' well that I could forget all its flaws for a while. And call me crazy, but I actually think seasons 7 and 8 are among the ''better'' seasons of the series. I laugh at your accusations of SeasonalRot (just for the record, though, season 6 really did suck).

* {{Monk}}
* {{Psych}}, by far the most underrated show of them all, along with Deep Space Nine

* {{Music/Emo}}...well, "classic" emo, at least; my opinions of so-called "2000s post-hardcore emo" vary wildly depending on which bands you're talking about. I don't like "Emo-pop". To tell you the truth, even some of the bands on the "classic" list I would debate the legitimacy of, if I thought anything good would come of it. In any case, my favorite bands in the genre are [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYgpCNt05Vs Penfold]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr_DMGZ-JrY American Football]], and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYKb34Ij2_A Mineral]]. I also think [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKz-YAs6ZsA&list=PLB2394F2CC47FB051 Further Seems Forever's first album]] is killer. [[YouKeepUsingThatWord It still bothers me whenever anyone uses the term "emo" to describe anything or anyone who's whiny and unhappy over the slightest things, or guys who look like girls]]. There should be no shame associated with the word "emo" '''when it's used correctly'''.

Religious beliefs: I was raised as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church Seventh-Day Adventist]] Christian. Today I identify with many aspects of agnosticism, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism apatheism]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism deism]], though. Probably the best quote I've ever read about God or religion was written by IsaacAsimov: "If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul." (Yes, I just took that from Wikipedia. I'm not quite ''that'' well read.) In spite of my relative skepticism, though, I still think RichardDawkins-type outspoken atheists are annoying douche bags.

Religious beliefs: I was raised as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church Seventh-Day Adventist]] Christian. Today I identify with many aspects of agnosticism, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism apatheism]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism deism]], though. Probably the best quote I've ever read about God or religion was written by IsaacAsimov: "If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul." (Yes, I just took that from Wikipedia. I'm not quite ''that'' well read.)