Sonic Youth had already been playing for 15 years when Nevermind came out. I saw them a bunch of times in the early 90s and yeah the crowds had no idea who they were because they were opening for Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins despite having laid the ground work for those (in my opinion) lesser bands. Sonic Youth were too punk for the crowds showing up for the more commercialized sound that Nirvana ironically offered them.
Memories of Blockbuster are a fine example of a generation gap. I hated Blockbuster. It was a shameless, corporate takeover of the video rental industry, populated by mom and pop stores and small chains.
I started visiting video stores long before Blockbuster opened their first monstrosity in my city. The Friday/Saturday night visits were always immense fun. Browsing the VHS covers, seeing all the bizarre horror and borderline adult films was an experience. I’d spend hours just browsing, then end up renting something I’d seen a dozen times before.
Choice wasn’t limited but typically they only had a few copies of each film, unlike the Blockbuster method of having a wall with a million copies of whichever blockbuster crap just came out.
When the first Blockbuster opened, I went to check it out and it was such a sterile, soulless store. 10k copies of Jurassic Park or whatever. None of the cool horror flicks I’m used to seeing elsewhere. Overpriced candy and drinks.
It’s weird seeing people reminisce about Blockbuster, but I guess that’s what they grew up with. Feels like they missed out, that the experience was hijacked by corporate goons.
Tarantino talked about how Blockbuster strategically opened a store near the store he worked in back in the day. So it was a deliberate attempt to put small video stores out of business.
People reminisce about malls the same way, not having experienced the decline of the high street and downtown areas, filled with unique businesses. Malls, then Walmart, literally destroyed the soul of small town America.
I’m happy that Netflix killed Blockbuster. They deserved it. And I’m happy that Amazon and online shopping are killing malls.
Iran International’s TV channel and website are operated by a London‑based company called Volant Media UK Ltd, whose principal shareholders are private Saudi‑British individuals, and the outlet is widely reported as being Saudi‑linked.
The Wall Street Journal reported that some Iran International journalists complained management pushed “a pro‑Saudi, anti‑Islamic Republic line,” describing a “systematic and very persistent push” in that direction.
Scholars such as Azadeh Moaveni have characterized the channel as effectively an arm of Saudi Arabia, not “organically Iranian,” implying structural bias against the current Iranian state.
You'll own nothing and like it. Not even your 'own' data. Everything sitting on someone else's server, free to access by whichever government agency feels like it. This is like communism x1000.
Mmm, this is nothing like communism, by any definition I’m aware of. Now, “$ADJECTIVE capitalism”, such as “late-stage capitalism”, that I can go along with.
People acting like you can't get protein from fruit, veg, and legumes. You don't need anywhere near the amount of protein that has been touted the past decade.
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