Asks the architecture and classical-music critic Justin Davidson, in "Public Space Has Become Earbud Space" (NY Magazine).
"Urban planners fit out plazas with a variety of seating, for instance... to accommodate a maximal range of groups and conversations. But most of those users just want to be left alone.... And yet I often suspect that... many people don’t actually like the isolation they permit. Lorde’s video ends in Washington Square Park, where the singer convened fans by TikTok for an impromptu concert that the police shut down for lack of a permit. When she did finally show up, that was the climax of an ultimate un-earbud moment...."
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29 comments:
Earbuds are better than boom boxes. Can you imagine if we actually had to hear everyone's music, podcasts, streaming porn, etc? It is a pain in the ass trying to get someone's attention when they're facing away, but so many people are oblivious with or without headphones.
The gym I go to does not play any music, and it's great. You can listen to your own stuff, or nothing, or talk to your workout partner, and it's all good. I have not noticed other businesses eliminating their Muzak, but I am sure it is coming, and it will be glorious.
I have never understood the knee-jerk reaction against public phone conversations. Someone having a phone conversation in public is about the same as two people having a conversation in public. Maybe better, because so many things can go wrong in a two-person convo, from just the volume being twice as loud, to the thing breaking down into a fight.
JSM
And if people are carrying on conversations, they are usually alone and talking to someone on the phone through the earbuds and microphone. Women are particularly notable for this; I have some co-workers who jabber on the phone all day long, it seems. And nothing is more annoying that to go outside to a quiet place and have someone yammering loudly and interminably.
That cannot possibly be Lorde, she looks nothing like Randy Marsh.
Her shiny black bra sure is dandy.
When I leave the house I'm thirsty for the sounds of the city or the country, depending on where I go. That's why I love walking, where I can hear everything at street level. I cannot deafen myself to all that, by walking with headphones or earbuds. The squirrels and birds and tree frogs are the soundtrack of my neighborhood.
If your mind is lost in what you're hearing, then it is that much more difficult to be "in the moment" and immersed in what you're doing. And I'm pretty sure someone evil would sneak up on me and cause a kerfuffle if I was temporarily unable to hear my surroundings.
She's not aged very well. And that song sounds like a Taylor Swift copy, which isn't saying much. The end sleezing around in the bikini was weird too.
My husband goes around with one earbud in all day. Sometimes he's listening to something, sometimes he's not. Sometimes, when they're visiting, the kids mess with him by pretending to talk to him.
A cousin introduced me to the Merlin app by Cornell Labs, which allows me to touch a button and have all the birdsong around me identified with remarkable accuracy. It's become one of my favorite things - to sit in the backyard with a cup of coffee and the dog nestled close, listening to birdsong and knowing who's singing and calling.
Breathy singing is not my cup of tea.
“ Someone having a phone conversation in public is about the same as two people having a conversation in public.”
No, I can’t really explain it, but definitely not the same.
Back in the day, you could identify the crazy people as the ones talking out loud when alone. That advantage has vanished.
I get it. When I look at Lourde, I too begin pondering city planning. It's like Ben Wyatt and Leslie Nopes had a learning-disabled child.
""Urban planners fit out plazas with a variety of seating, for instance... to accommodate a maximal range of groups and conversations. But most of those users just want to be left alone...."
The nerve of those "users", not appreciating that their lives are being managed by experts who know better than they how they should be living them.
I love the way that the title on the video ‘reads’: Lord(e)! - What (the hell) Was That??
It's sometimes said that New York City isn't one giant city. It is a half dozen medium-sized cities that just happen to share a geographical space.
This explains why there are so many coincidences---running into people you know far from their home or work--the people you know are the people who frequent the same parts of the city while ignoring much of the rest. (Who cares what neighborhoods your train travels beneath? All that matters is the stop where you get on and the stop where you get off).
Tank, ref 2-man vs phone convos: “ No, I can’t really explain it, but definitely not the same.”
That’s my point. No one can explain it. Maybe it’s related to the uncanny valley. We expect to hear the other side of the convo, and when we don’t, it drives us batshit at a very deep level. But it has nothing to do with volume or the other purportedly rational objections.
JSM
Tank said...
“ Someone having a phone conversation in public is about the same as two people having a conversation in public.”
No, I can’t really explain it, but definitely not the same.
It's much worse. Being subjected against your will to a phone conversation that could and should be private is worse than overhearing two nearby people have a conversation.
And nothing is more annoying that to go outside to a quiet place and have someone yammering loudly and interminably.
There are now three Indian families that moved onto my street in the past two years. The lots are 3/4 to 1 acre, and my house sits at least 150 feet from the street. Having my windows open now means I hear a constant stream of Indian women walking up and down the street practically screaming into their phones held up horizontally in front of their mouths.
It’s maybe related to something I hate about the age of Covid and hands free phones. You go into an office and the receptionist has a mask and is talking hands free to a customer on the phone. Fine, I wait my turn. But then, without any obvious signs of ending the phone convo like hanging up a receiver, and without any obvious signs they’re now talking to me, like looking at me, they start talking to me. And of course the mask muffles their words and makes it impossible to add lip-reading to my interpretation. Then when I don’t immediately react, they look at me like I’m the weirdo.
JSM
Years ago I was involved in a park project in the city where I worked and we struggled for a long time about how to encourage interaction through seating. When all was said and done we settled on the fact that most people really do not want to share a bench with a perfect stranger. So we settled on a comfortable seating bench on top of a curvilinear planting area. Actually worked as we gave people room to spread out and the curves actually provided some modicum of privacy. We did put in a few benches, but they were almost always used by the single visitor. Urban interactions in public spaces can be challenging.
Yeah, Loudtakers are annoying. Amazing how many times I'll be enjoying some peace and quite or having a low level conversation with my wife, and I will hear someone start talking and turn around expecting them to be right next to me, and then be shocked they're 20 feet away.
Are they hard of hearing or have a problem with volume control? Cause the person you're talking to is right there, and I can hear you 20 feet away.
I like silence. I'm happy to spend the entire day at home with no sound at all. I used to have radio or tv on all the time, but now I think that was because I lived in apartments where my music masked other noise. At the same time, stores and restaurants have massively increased the noise level. So I go to those places less and less.
People talking loudly at their phone they're holding in front of them seems like something Dr. Rick should handle.
I recall many years ago when cell phones were new that people tended to talk louder then they needed to because they didn't have any aural feedback of your own voice as regular phones do. Did.
"Crazy ex-girlfriend music" is now a genre of its own?
Well, since Taylor Swift, sure.
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Were the police concerned about the impromptu concert, the stolen bicycle, the unauthorized access to the sewers, the jumping on top of a car, or the impromptu strip tease?
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Has much changed though? Look at street scenes in movies from the 1940s. People have places to go and things to do. They are living in their own worlds. They aren't paying attention to the architecture. I suppose arts columnists are inclined to believe that one art is replacing another, but the concern for architecture and public spaces was rarely foremost with busy people walking down streets that they've walked down many times before. Not everyone is a flâneur, however much the NYT wants us to be.
“Lorde’s video ends in Washington Square Park, where the singer convened fans by TikTok for an impromptu concert that the police shut down for lack of a permit.”
I’m surprised no one thought to bring along some BLM or From-the-River-to-the-Sea signs. The cops would have left them alone. Retard protesters are untouchable in NYC.
where the singer convened fans by TikTok for an impromptu concert that the police shut down for lack of a permit.
Ha. Performers are STILL pulling this stunt for rebel cred? It was old when U2 did it in the early 90s.
I've walked in the morning for years. I guess I used to run, but now I walk. And for years I refused to wear headphones or earbuds because I wanted to hear nature. I could not understand how people could be outside listening to their iPhones (or back then...their Walkman). But as time went on, nature got overtaken by podcasts and music. Now...If I don't have a good podcast to listen to, I can barely walk.
She appears to have a type of intoe gait. Wonder if that will affect her mobility later in life.
Don't you do that already? You have a government pension and found the destruction of small businesses in your town cute because they painted the shattered windows with flowers.
What's next, a milkmaid outfit, Marie?
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