estamos perdadores

When I think of exotic, foreign lands, I tend to think that everyone over there is cooler than where I'm from. Stupid to have the lurking "grass is always greener" syndrome lurking behind something so large. But it's there, and it gets me when I'm not careful.

But people are the same the world over. Not the details, but in broad strokes, we are all very similar, and have the same drives, in the same order: food, shelter, health, leisure. So it shouldn't be as surprising to me as it was to find that clubgoing, quasi-indie youths in Argentina look just as lame as they do in the U.S. I think the kids in the last 2 pix are throwing the Vampire: The Masquerade LARP sign for "I'm invisible!" (Dood, you're so not!) I guess what worries me most is that these kids, as well as the ones in the U.S. have bought into the "alternative" scene as packaged and sold by the RIAA. Slipknot, Korn, Marylin Manson, t-shirts in fantastic representation: the best dissident goods an allowance can buy.

I come away with two things after finding those pix: (1) Most young people are dorky, whether or not they're in the in-crowd, the alternative crowd du decade, in a band, in the school band, or on the math team -- all dorks, and that's fine. It's a relief. (2) It's good to see Destro out and about. That guy needs to get a day-job.