Throwin' the goats at work, plus Maple Ridge metal note

Funny about the old devil's horn/ evil eye thing (which I've heard Chris Walter describe as "throwing the goats," a phrase that pleases me greatly, though I don't know if it actually originates with him). Now that I am actually going to metal shows, I discover that I find it almost impossible to non-ironically make use of this gesture from the audience; it would feel as silly as holding up a lit Bic. At the Soulfly concert the other night there were moments where every headbanger in the expansive pit seemed to thrust their arms up in the air - often both at once - as a joyous, sincere salute to Max (who remains marvelously charismatic and compelling as a metal dude, despite looking rather teddybear-like; there is definitely a disjunct between how sweet and healthy a guy he seems to be and his writing songs about Jeffrey Dahmer, but it in no way detracts from his stage presence). As much as I am happy to show my appreciation for performers, the gesture is too much of a rock cliche, too formulaic, too overdetermined for me to have natural recourse to it. Maybe it's just my sheer stubborn, snobbish non-joinerism, but I simply do not do it at concerts, ever...

...which is kind of odd, actually, because at my workplace, I throw the goats at pretty much everyone who says hello to me: teachers, managers, ESL students, conservative Christian coworkers, the Japanese head honcho, the woman who maintains the coffee machine - you name it: I stick up the horns of the devil at least five times a day in passing, even though it's a gesture that, to my recollection, absolutely no one reciprocates ('cept maybe one ol' Pink Floyd fan there). Perhaps several of them don't even know what it is (since they never remark on it). I'm actually quite fond of it, in pretty much any other social setting except the one where it is at its most natural and accepted. It's discordant, risky, or at the very least a wee bit of fun at work. I like it too much to use it in a rote and predictable way...

Alas, now that the craving is in me, there are very few metal shows I can get to, these days. I even had to leave Soulfly early to be able to catch the 1:07AM bus from Coquitlam. Thank God there's actually an interesting youthful metal scene out here! I make mention of a food bank benefit in town on Friday in the Music Notes section of tomorrow's Straight, as a matter of fact. Lest I break the news here first, let me just suggest interested parties check the Straight online tomorrow - go to Music, then News, and you should find it (or just pick up the paper). I've seen one of the bands before - Paradosis, who really need to put something more polished on their Myspace, because they're wayyy better than the jam there suggests. I enjoyed what I saw them do, and am also looking forward to seeing Coquitlam's 13th Prophet (who are doing a much better job of using Myspace, you must admit - they're a bit more polished, and come from the same school that spawned Ninja Spy - tho' I prefer Paradosis' conception of the genre...). The other bands I know nothing about, but I suspect I will have fun seeing what they do. Might even talk a buddy into joining me, so I won't be the oldest person in the room...


Paradosis by Femke Van Delft, not to be reused without permission