Sean Äaberg

THE GOBLIN NEWSLETTER 14

Added 2024-07-05 16:47:46 +0000 UTC

I love fireworks & loud noises. I used to just set off smoke bombs randomly to keep things lively. When we were watching the Turkey Necks (Cramps tribute band) at the Hollywood Theatre I was thinking about how much I love loud, amplified sound & how my tinnitus is worth it for the amount of pleasure I get from loud music. My kids are all solidly in the headphones camp which allows me the grace of not having to listen to their music & podcasts, but there is a public aspect of music, a social aspect that is missed by living in the personalized headphones world. I used to ride around Oakland on my red beach cruiser bike with my rhinestone studded boom box blasting tunes. It was a deliberate attempt to expand the use of the streets as an extension of my living space. I picked music that people would like, old school hip hop, oldies & funk. This wasn’t a “fuck you”, but a sonic gift. I used to walk along Telegraph at night playing weird sonic collages from my boom box, this was a way to increase the weirdness & mystery of the street at night. I used to smoke cigarillos, cloves, joints in public for the same reason, an olfactory declaration of public space. A way of encouraging people to roll with it. A way of declaring that these public spaces were ours. Mine. I tagged, stickered, wheat pasted for the same reason. Breadcrumbs. A certain amount of disruption is great, people should roll with it.