Off Message

Now if you google ‘offmessage blog’, we seem to have leapt up to number three in the listings. That’s just… bizarre.

I think Google’s fucking with me.

Currently, if you google ‘offmessage blog’, you’ll find me languishing at number 25 in the listings, just above something called ‘Monoman’.

However.

If you google ‘Off Message Louis XIV’, you will find me at the top of the chart. Numero uno. Top dog.

I think we can all learn a lesson here. 

Well I worked out how to get the comments notification emails going again. I ticked the box that said ‘email comments’. Jesus. Not that anyone’s commented anyway. Bunch of fuckers.

In other news, The Wedding Present are playing the entirety of ‘George Best’ live in October to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary. I’m tempted to go, but also slightly horrified by the idea. After all, it won’t actually be ‘The Wedding Present’; it’ll be Dave Gedge and whichever bunch of faceless goons he’s currently playing with. Take Gedge away and you’re left with what amounts to a tribute band. Not sure I want to shell out for that, despite my enduring love of ‘George Best’.

I haven’t really blogged about Facebook yet, mostly because I’ve had nothing to say about it. But I seem to have had quite a few conversations with friends about it recently, which is just, y’know, odd. I’m on there, as are most of my friends, but it’s not enough to just be on there. Now we have to talk about it in person too – weigh up its merits, drawbacks, etc. A lot of people I know are on Facebook a lot of the time, and presumably when they’re not on there they’re talking about what they’ve been doing on it. Weird.

It does have advantages over Myspace, which is feeling increasingly clunky in comparison. And the constant ‘news’ feeds from your friends mean you never have to talk to them again if you don’t want to; you can see what they’re up to hour by hour online. Of course, it’s yet another essentially pointless distraction, a complete waste of time. And yet it’s strangely compelling and, in one instance for me, actually useful: I tracked down a long-lost mate from Manchester.

You can probably tell I’m still sorting through my feelings about it. Whilst also cursing myself for even bothering to think about it in the first place. Which seems to be the case with a lot of online activity: a mixture of mindless entertainment, navel gazing and self-loathing. Or maybe that’s just me.