Paranoia and the Jam Generation

[enitharmon]

I went into NW Consumables this morning to ask about a replacement keyboard for my 'pooter. I wanted a clicky one, not a silent one (because I like my tools to feel responsive) and one on which the keys will fall under my fingers and not be jammed in a rectangular fashion in to the smallest space. I cited the example of the IBM PS2 keyboard of the 1980s. I was met with rolled eyes and a look that said "Grandma wants to buy a Gramophone."

I've been listening with half an ear to Radio 4's series on the "Jam Generation"; the young folks of limited experience (but in the cases of the thrusting young politicians under analysis, rich mummies and daddies to buy them influence) who now think they know all the answers. And as they lay into the inadequacies of the 'Baby Boomer' generation (that's my generation, folks, the generation that grew up in the shadow of war) I start to feel like an old buffer. And that just doesn't seem fair. Of course, the "Jam Generation" refers to Paul Weller's punk (or perhaps post-punk) band, which was in any case derivative of the popular music of the 1960s. But punk is something I've never been able to get my head round, and I'm forever hoping that somebody will set me straight and point out why my take on punk is wrong. But punk got off to a bad start by setting out to rubbish all the music I liked - Genesis, Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, real performers who knew how to play real instruments and write lyrics that weren't full of bitterness about how the world owed the singer a living. A celebration of the dross, the thick and useless, at the expense of all that is good and worthwhile about life. The result of the Jam Generation is a world in which matters of the intellect are despised, where 'elitism' is a dirty word and populism is revered, where bone-headed oiks get paid obscene amounts of money for kicking a football about while professors of philosophy are treated with contempt, and anybody over fifty is past it. Ask Ming Campbell!

This reflection is also partly induced by a feeling I get in some places that writing grammatical sentences that start with a capital letter and use punctuation properly is somehow repressive (it's not, it's enabling). There are a number of people I otherwise respect who think that they are above the rules of grammar - I wonder if they might like to enlighten me too.

Comments

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I am not totally pro punk (or at least, I am not pro the subsequent way that punk became a millstone that it's hard to move past) and I listen to Steely Dan a lot more than any punk group. BUT I would like to be pointed to these Pink Floyd lyrics that aren't full of bitterness about how the world owed the singer a living! :)

[gingergeoff.livejournal.com]

On the keyboard front, have you seen these? http://steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard.shtml

Apparently they are built on IBM keyboards and look the business... at a price!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

In terms of the grammar points, a lot of the online people I know who disregard grammar the most online make a living as copywriters or editors (or have a heavy editorial role) - so for them it's more like "jazz grammar"! They break the rules because they know the rules well enough to understand the effects the rules are there to create.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

So for instance it's faster to type if you avoid capitals, so the impression being given is of speed: writing that's more directly linked to a thoughtflow - and also therefore more provisional, less finished. Writing you converse with rather than reply to - an important stylistic distinction online!

[fruhlings.livejournal.com]

but what about the clash? a punk band with a social conscience? or the riot grrrl movement in the early 90's?

[tvor.livejournal.com]

I know the rules of punctuation and grammar but online or in my journal i often don't follow them. Sheer laziness really. I tend to write as it comes out of my brain although having said that, i do punctuate and i don't misplace apostrophes, not on purpose anyway. Sometimes my fingers just get the characters in the wrong order and i don't always catch them to correct them. i.e. "dont'" The lower case "i" that i use really is just being lazy as well.

[romen-dreamer.livejournal.com]

If it helps, my brothers (both twentysomething kids) still profess their undying love for what I believe is the same keyboard you mentioned, and I think we may have one or two under a table in our basement. I remember them describing "new" keyboards, back when my hands weren't big enough to touch-type even if I'd wanted to, as feeling and sounding like a tray of oatmeal.

[dyfferent.livejournal.com]

You can actually buy reconditioned PS2s. You'll never need another keyboard if you do.