4 ms·

The thing is, being a rockstar is a mostly about sleeping on buses, not washing, and using drugs to dull the loss of identity caused by never being in the same

The thing is, being a rockstar is a mostly about sleeping on buses, not washing, and using drugs to dull the loss of identity caused by never being in the same city for more than 6 hours. What people want is to be successful and adored. That's all anyone ever talks about in these 'programmer as rockstar' articles. As much of a sense of martyrdom startup people cultivate about their work habits, none of it is as physically difficult or as psychologically degrading as actually being an truly internationally famous rock musician. There's a reason why they all act so damn crazy after a certain point in their careers. If you want to be celebrated and rewarded way out of proportion to your contribution to society, just say so, dont make some false analogy to a completely unrelated profession.

Raphael_Amiard 16y ago
very appropriate username to make such a comment i must say
- JonnieCache 16y ago
  Unfortunately this username betrays nothing more than a love of puns. My musical talent extends only as far as the playback of other peoples records in an artfully considered sequence. I might go as far as to take part of one persons record and combine it with someone elses without asking, but thats as original as it gets.
BrandonM 16y ago
I agree with most of your comment, but I think there are a few inaccuracies worth pointing out. > The thing is, being a rockstar is ... [about] using drugs to dull the loss of identity caused by never being in the same city for more than 6 hours. I am not entirely sure that's the root cause for rock stars' drug use. It's certainly part of it, but in large part it's intimately tied to the socialization context that surrounds the entire rock scene. When a fan is going to a show, it's a special event. A large population of those fans use drugs in an effort to enhance their enjoyment. They also want to share that enjoyment with the band, and they are quite willing to share their supply with the band. In other words, the rock band basically has a free, unlimited supply of drugs and a social expectaton to take advantage of that. > There's a reason why they all act so damn crazy after a certain point in their careers. I'm sure you didn't mean that literally, but there are several rock stars who don't end up crazy. Led Zeppelin, Brian May (a PhD!), BB King, Buddy Guy, Ben Folds, Nickelback, Darius Rucker (Hootie), I could go on forever... The reality is that it's a small subset of rock stars that go crazy, and I would argue that the proportion is actually lower than for the average population of somewhat-heavy drug users.
- JonnieCache 16y ago
  To be honest the whole comment was pretty flippant and ill-considered, I was just trying to combat the idea that the life of a 'rockstar' is really worth idealising outside of the material rewards, which aren't even that great. Rockstars get paid just enough so that they'll be too busy spending it to realise that they're getting stiffed. In the words of Chris Rock: "Shaq is rich. The white guy who signs his cheque, is wealthy ... If Bill Gates woke up tomorrow with Oprah's money, he'd jump out a fucking window." - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m37JkkGjAY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m37JkkGjAY >there are several rock stars who don't end up crazy I'd be willing to bet though that the eventual craziness of rockstars is fairly closely related to what proportion of their career was spent on a hardcore, label-mandated touring schedule.
deleted 16y ago
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- BrandonM 16y ago
  That's a good analogy, but it's not one that the article mentioned at all.
sonnym 16y ago
This reminded me of a very interesting interview with Russell Brand I saw recently, in which he discusses the error in seeking celebrity for the sake of celebrity as this ends without any real fulfillment. Instead, he advocates working in a particular field for the love of the craft (in his case comedy, although I don't see why this doesn't apply to any art that has cults of personality, e.g. programming). Even though I am not a fan of his comedy, his eloquence and thoughtfulness on the subject surprised me. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qdNBrzAQjo&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qdNBrzAQjo&feature=playe... Originally found on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/gvr1o/charlie_sheen_responds_to_media_outrage_by/ http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/gvr1o/charlie_sheen_...

Raphael_Amiard 16y ago

very appropriate username to make such a comment i must say

JonnieCache 16y ago
Unfortunately this username betrays nothing more than a love of puns. My musical talent extends only as far as the playback of other peoples records in an artfully considered sequence. I might go as far as to take part of one persons record and combine it with someone elses without asking, but thats as original as it gets.

BrandonM 16y ago

I agree with most of your comment, but I think there are a few inaccuracies worth pointing out. > The thing is, being a rockstar is ... [about] using drugs to dull the loss of identity caused by never being in the same city for more than 6 hours. I am not entirely sure that's the root cause for rock stars' drug use. It's certainly part of it, but in large part it's intimately tied to the socialization context that surrounds the entire rock scene. When a fan is going to a show, it's a special event. A large population of those fans use drugs in an effort to enhance their enjoyment. They also want to share that enjoyment with the band, and they are quite willing to share their supply with the band. In other words, the rock band basically has a free, unlimited supply of drugs and a social expectaton to take advantage of that. > There's a reason why they all act so damn crazy after a certain point in their careers. I'm sure you didn't mean that literally, but there are several rock stars who don't end up crazy. Led Zeppelin, Brian May (a PhD!), BB King, Buddy Guy, Ben Folds, Nickelback, Darius Rucker (Hootie), I could go on forever... The reality is that it's a small subset of rock stars that go crazy, and I would argue that the proportion is actually lower than for the average population of somewhat-heavy drug users.

JonnieCache 16y ago
To be honest the whole comment was pretty flippant and ill-considered, I was just trying to combat the idea that the life of a 'rockstar' is really worth idealising outside of the material rewards, which aren't even that great. Rockstars get paid just enough so that they'll be too busy spending it to realise that they're getting stiffed. In the words of Chris Rock: "Shaq is rich. The white guy who signs his cheque, is wealthy ... If Bill Gates woke up tomorrow with Oprah's money, he'd jump out a fucking window." - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m37JkkGjAY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m37JkkGjAY >there are several rock stars who don't end up crazy I'd be willing to bet though that the eventual craziness of rockstars is fairly closely related to what proportion of their career was spent on a hardcore, label-mandated touring schedule.

deleted 16y ago

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BrandonM 16y ago
That's a good analogy, but it's not one that the article mentioned at all.

sonnym 16y ago

This reminded me of a very interesting interview with Russell Brand I saw recently, in which he discusses the error in seeking celebrity for the sake of celebrity as this ends without any real fulfillment. Instead, he advocates working in a particular field for the love of the craft (in his case comedy, although I don't see why this doesn't apply to any art that has cults of personality, e.g. programming). Even though I am not a fan of his comedy, his eloquence and thoughtfulness on the subject surprised me. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qdNBrzAQjo&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qdNBrzAQjo&feature=playe... Originally found on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/gvr1o/charlie_sheen_responds_to_media_outrage_by/ http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/gvr1o/charlie_sheen_...