Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
I've just realised, reading between the lines of allusions made here and there, that I am probably considerably older than you all. Ah well, it is what it is.
Bummerville, CA, United States Superthread
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
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Vlad n U 2
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I still can't believe you're almost 30, Ax. I just assumed you were eternally 23.
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
You're spot on. For a while I thought you were too, but then you said something somewhere about being a kid when Popmart was touring. So yeah.
For the record I don't feel profoundly different than I did when I was in my early twenties. A lot less optimistic, but not fundamentally a different person, much less, that ghastly phrase 'grown up'.
The good part about this is that it means you don't remember my idiotic posts here from over a decade ago, when I was an excessively enthusiastic teenager. Otherwise you'd never have assumed I'd already cracked the three-oh! (Dear posterity: ignore everything I said before I turned twenty.)
I remember when I was a kid, even when I was getting close to finishing high school, it seemed like there must be some revelation that comes with being "grown up". I soon realised that in fact we all just kind of stumble into being an adult and try to scrape through life.
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
We fumble along as best we can. Truth be told, I can't recall any of you current regulars from then (say 2004 or whenever), but that's partly because the cast of posters here was considerably bigger then and partly because I zoned out in a major way with the arrival of U2's 'Vertigo' phase.
I think it's a shame the age of the Internet messageboard has passed. I hoped SOI/new tour would kick this place into life at least to the level of NLOTH/360, if not HTDAAB/Vertigo. Instead it's barely gained much activity at all. Maybe it's showing my age (in e-terms perhaps more than physical years), but I much prefer messageboards to what has followed them. I think they're a good way of structuring conversations while at the same time making available a diversity of topics.
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
It's really been pretty anaemic hasn't it. I vastly prefer message boards, or the extended comment threads of some reasonably-coherent blogs, to anything that has followed.
That it hasn't ticked up much with SOI probably says a great deal about SOI. There's even a 'SOI: what went wrong' thread where people talk about how nothing went wrong.
On a personal level, there are FYM political topics where I feel no urge to wade in, because (ISIS hello!) the level of discussion seems to not go much beyond 'them crazy ayrabs' or 'religion of peace strikes again!'. Never mind the last century, if we've forgotten the last decade, there's really no conversation to be had!
Ever since someone on my other forum pointed it out, I can't think of U2's 'Salesforce' deal withoutvomiting thinking of the line from the LCD Soundsystem song.
That it hasn't ticked up much with SOI probably says a great deal about SOI. There's even a 'SOI: what went wrong' thread where people talk about how nothing went wrong.
On a personal level, there are FYM political topics where I feel no urge to wade in, because (ISIS hello!) the level of discussion seems to not go much beyond 'them crazy ayrabs' or 'religion of peace strikes again!'. Never mind the last century, if we've forgotten the last decade, there's really no conversation to be had!
Ever since someone on my other forum pointed it out, I can't think of U2's 'Salesforce' deal without
HTDAAB really was the last meaningful influx of youth to Interference, and I think when you lose that, you lose a forum. Interference is fortunate that it at least has a large userbase, so it will tick along for some time yet (most other messageboards I posted on have long since perished). But you need new blood and new ideas, which usually comes from the younger cohort - even if the real fruits of that aren't realised until they've been around for a few years and stop being obsessive nutjobs. At this stage, without implying anybody in particular, most of the new blood on Interference are misfits.
Of course, the best people here have generally been those who've been around long enough to become jaded and really couldn't give a shit what U2 are doing. That's why LS/B&C is the only part of the forum that's still interesting. FYM, as we've discussed before, has been killed by its Americentrism.
As for the whole Salesforce thing, it reminds you that U2 is a business first and foremost. Whatever aspect of it is a creative endeavour has long since taken a back seat.
Of course, the best people here have generally been those who've been around long enough to become jaded and really couldn't give a shit what U2 are doing. That's why LS/B&C is the only part of the forum that's still interesting. FYM, as we've discussed before, has been killed by its Americentrism.
As for the whole Salesforce thing, it reminds you that U2 is a business first and foremost. Whatever aspect of it is a creative endeavour has long since taken a back seat.
liamcool
Blue Crack Addict
To be fair, we were a pretty tight knit cohort (and I got to keep the hat [and my dad paid for everything <but even then we didn't pay for a plaque or the photos or anything>])
liamcool
Blue Crack Addict
We only had to pay $110 or so for the entire gear, and this was the first year that the trencher was given to graduates after the ceremony (which had the fortunate consequence of not having staff scrutinising us about throwing it in the air...and also of a hat fight emerging in the Ancient History department...)
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
True enough. On the other hand, don't write u2girl off yet!\
I suppose there's an interesting age spread here in that the gap between the youngest regulars and oldest regulars even now is probably well in excess of thirty years. A reasonable mix anyhow.
The people who send my blood pressure through the roof are the ones who insist it was always so, and that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Bollocks. Outside of their legacy, this band's reputation is in tatters.
Haha nice. The rental only came to around a similar sum, but if I'd bought the robes and bonnet I think it was around $400. Yeah nah.
No kidding. I'm pretty sure the bulk of U2's recent publicity has driven tour sales down, not up.
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
It'll be really interesting, in a vague abstract sort of way (I don't really follow the numbers) to see how this tour actually goes.
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
The US is still where it's at for them, culturally. Never mind the cash they could probably make if they really did heavily tour the Mediterranean coastline and maybe a few other places.
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bono_212
Blue Crack Distributor
University graduation was a blast, very glad I went. Plus I accidentally stole my gown, so now I have that as well, not that I have a use for it.
I keep being Confused when people ask me how old I am. My answer is almost always 25, and then I stop to think for a moment and it's like, "Oh.. Dear... No, that's not correct." less frequently I catch myself still thinking I'm 21,. which is certainly wrong.
I keep being Confused when people ask me how old I am. My answer is almost always 25, and then I stop to think for a moment and it's like, "Oh.. Dear... No, that's not correct." less frequently I catch myself still thinking I'm 21,. which is certainly wrong.
Kieran McConville
ONE love, blood, life
I'm entering David Brent territory. 'I'm thirty n- I'm in my thirties."
yes, ugh. it doesn't help that nearly everyone i'm friends with is younger than me, like 10 or so years younger. the positive was whenever the topic of ages gets brought up, i can reveal my real age and freak the fuck out of people.
OP
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bono_212
Blue Crack Distributor
It bugs me that I'm older than everyone I work with, as it's a constant reminder that I wasted three or four years of my working life that I could've spent doing more important things towards my future, but oh well.
MsPurrl
Blue Crack Supplier
If U2's goal is to sell a gazillion tickets, why did they totally ignore the Southeast US on this tour?
yeah, exactly. this has caused some weird thing where i feel as mature as someone in my early 30s, yet as immature as someone in their early 20s. it makes no sense but is somehow really accurate.
It bugs me that academia's so fucked up that at the time most other people around you are settling into a stable job, family, home, etc., the average academic is wondering where the next shitty short term contract will come from and whether they'll ever get something secure or if this whole lark was one big mistake setting them a decade behind the curve. I'm looking around at my mates and some are now really starting to earn a bit of money and make a career of what they're doing. Now sure, people may call me Dr these days, but I earn well below an average wage and have no job security. I'll even keep the below average wage if I can only get some bloody security.
If U2's goal is to sell a gazillion tickets, why did they totally ignore the Southeast US on this tour?
Because it's never been a particularly lucrative market for them?
cobl04
45:33
Weirdly I find myself telling people I'm 25 when I'm 24.
does cobbler have a girlfriend? 
cobl04
45:33
hmm..? no
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