Col. Bit of fun. Chill.

GOKU.. mainstream ? :) myyyyy my.. I travel on the mainstream Monash freeway once a year during peak period to remind myself of my own sanity and the insanity of the 'mainstream' who endure that torture twice every day. Then I drive past the little boxes made of ticky tacky which all look the same.. and express a sigh of relief that I'm not in one of them.

But.. if rushing here and there and living at a frenetic pace floats one's boat.. hey.. up to the person :)

I'd invite Spendo to come and share my freedom but he has to lose the smokes first :)

SPENDO.. you reading there boy ? :)

Not at 7.30 in the morning, Boaz, geez...hardly any point going to sleep in the first place..

I'm often amused when trying to pin down precisely what 'mainstream' means.

I reckon everyone considers themselves to be outside of the mainstream.

I once encountered this guy who utterly embraced the mainstream. I asked him, "why would you?" to which he replied. "Because nobody else is."

That's either exceedingly inane or pleasantly ironic. You be the judge.

Good point - what is mainstream anyway. I guess it was a poor choice of word really. I certainly know what I identify with the term, but its down to your own perceptions as to how you interpret it.

All I know is that I share little of the cultural values that most people my age (the 20 to 30 demographic) indulge in. I have zero interest in the following:

reality television
celebrity gossip
the latest in mobile phone technology
'standup' pubs where drinks cost $86 each and you can't talk cause its so noisy (nothing better in the world than an empty pub)
credit card debt
acting wealthier than you actually are
crap music
ridiculous fashion
constant fascination with how men and women differ (wow, different. get over it)
cars
sport
pretensions
political apathy
self consiousness (which leads to a juvenile view of sex)
ego (which means more energy devoted to fitting in than enjoying life)
snobbery
self actualised relationship difficulties caused by the difference between *perceived* and *actual* parallels between idolised fiction and the real world
accepting a value system based on commercial culture as gospel
lack of desire to push the boundaries and test your limitations intellectually, physically and spiritually
created wants
measuring success in terms of wealth

...um, I could go on, because I enjoy complaining, but anyway. These are some of the characteristics I perceive to be part of the mainstream society in my age group. Nightmare, really.

"self actualised relationship difficulties caused by the difference between *perceived* and *actual* parallels between idolised fiction and the real world"

Ah. This explains why my attempts at donning a spandex outfit and fighting crime by night have failed so miserably.

Thwarted by reality. Dang.

Actually, the things that piss me off mostly about what I see as mainstream are some of the ones you describe (reality TV especially), but mostly an attitude that discussing anything remotely challenging isn't entertaining, unlike vapid matters (such as the aforementioned reality TV).