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Way OT: Were you cool in school?


Skinny

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The legend was bigger than real life. I remember several times listening to someone BSing about knowing me or riding with me, while not knowing who they were talking to.

 

High school was where I would show up once in awhile to gather a group of riders to blow away on my motorcycle. The rest of the time I was racing up and down the canyons of SoCal, all day long. Hey, I knew how to practice from being a musician. I rode with alot of the local club racers. Evenually got my ARRA racing license. So after I would gather a group from school to show them whos king of the hill, they would take it back to school. Also throw in the fact that I was the only punker in that school at the time. So I was the one people stayed away from but at the same time knew.

 

Normally I avoided all the newbie musicians in bands and would only co-mingle with other offspring of music industry types or old musical families.

E.M. Skinner, Casavant, Schlicker, Hradetzky, Dobson, Schoenstein, Abbott & Sieker.

Builder of tracker action and electro-pneumatic organs, and a builder of the largest church pipe organ in the world.

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Uh, was I? Unfortunately, it's more like am I? I think the answer for me, at the moment, is "I don't give a flying ****!" Mostly just because I want out.

 

In truth, as a minority francophone in an anglophone environment, I go to a very small school. I know most of the kids since grade 2. A few more were added in grade 7, then a couple more in grade 10. We are the biggest graduating class in the history of l'École Maurice-Lavallée, weighing in at 128 students (I believe). So, there ain't much hype to be had. However, I think there is a certain mystique reserved for myslef and the two other jazzers in the school. There is a handful of other musicians, but no one really commited and holding a "higher knowledge" of anything other than power chords.

 

I guess being a musician is the Catch-22 of high school.We're exotic and have a different skill set than most, but we're pretty nerdy too. Pretty damn nerdy. :cool:

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Nah, not cool but a kind of Joe-all-rounder, I guess. I got good grades so had the gangsters' protection cos I 'let' them copy homework - um, like I had a choice!

 

I sang in the choir then branched out into a few school musicals though never craved the limelight as I was (and am) awfully shy. Played a few sports, though of the 'lite' kind (like tennis and cricket) so unlike our football strikers (equivalent in popularity to American football quarterbacks) I didn't get attention from the kind of girls I quietly admired then. ;)

 

Anyway, I hung out with a small group of friends (some of whom I've tentatively reconnected with on FB). However, towards the end of HS I met a great girl and we were pretty much each other's company for the next 6 years - and remain good friends, though on opposite sides of the world.

 

But varsity is where things really kicked off ... :evil::D

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I suppose I was cool-ish for the first year or two at high school.

 

This was mainly due to my sarcasm towards most (not all) of the teachers, which amused my classmates.

 

Perhaps this stems from the fact that my Mum & Dad were both highly accomplished teachers

(both were headmasters at their respective schools),

 

so most of the wannabe tossers who 'taught' me deserved nothing but contempt - that's what I thought, anyway!!!

 

(I still have all my school reports, & there are numerous comments like 'always has to be the class joker' etc :thu:)

 

My elevation to semi-cool came when I was 14... grew my hair long,

& got myself a girlfiend who was 2 years older -a big deal at that age- & who was lusted after by everyone :D ...

 

then the icing on the cake came when I went to a gig one night (this was the 70's) & the next day my young,

 

I guess about 25, geography teacher recognised the odour of pot on my (cool) army-style combat jacket.

 

She reported me to the head of 'upper school',

 

and the 'scandal' that ensued ensured that I was officially cool amongst my peers from then on...

 

"that's him who defied authority" type-of-thing. (OT to another thread - Roger Waters 'The Wall' !!!)

 

I too went to a school reunion a few years ago, and loads of folks who I didn't even know I knew

 

remembered & knew me (if that makes any sense!)

 

So I suppose I must have done something right!

 

 

On a slightly different note, my son (who is now 26), at the age of 12 & just in his first year of high school,

 

was the shortest (in height) lad there.

 

'Cos of this, he was was bullied. One day the so-called 'cock' of the school (ie: the 'hardest' lad),

 

who was 4 years older decided to beat my son up.

 

Chris (my son) absolutely leathered him to the point where it took about half a dozen people to pull him away.

 

After that he was never threatened again.....

 

I'm not condoning violence here - far from it (I am probably the most placid person I know!)

 

but it proves the point that if you stand up for yourself, in whatever form, you gain respect.

 

 

Lesson over..... (bell rings!).

 

 

 

John.

 

some stuff on myspace

 

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I'll come out of the closet here - I was student body president of a school of about 3200. I even had the long hair at the time. I wasn't "popular" in the traditional sense. What I was was nice to everybody. Amazing how treating people well translates into positive vibes.
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I was playing most every weekend with guys 5yrs older. If we weren't playing I was still hanging out with them. I never liked the drama of HS stuff. But I could float within the different crowds.Cool? I could have cared less.

Jimmy

 

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I hated high school. Contrary to the previous few years of what we call Middle School, in high school I ended up in a class of what I considered a bunch of conformist, well-behaved, slow-thinking people. Gosh, the teachers were easily the coolest people there! Urgh. It was the early seventies, the world seemed to be on the point of explosion, but those people seemed to barely notice. I was about the only one with long hair and an 'alternative' appearance.

At the same time, I was studying music at the conservatory, in a different city. It was quite stressing. So after a couple of years of that lifestyle, I took a decision and said, "what the hell, I want to be a musician anyway" and left.

 

To be sure, the conservatory title is valid as an high school degree... but I regret not to have finished regular school too. However, it was the right step to take.

At the conservatory, everybody is weird, so the coolness factor is calculated differently. :D I guess I was quite a character while I stayed there. I was interested in jazz and contemporary music, so that got me to know several interesting people from all sorts of background.

 

But I had another life too. Both my parents were not from Rome, but from the Adriatic coast. The place is an holiday resort, and since we had much longer vacations then, I used to spend about ten week every year there. And there I had my first "real" friends, my first girlfriend, and my first group.

Among that bunch of kids, I was a kind of leader. I never tried to be one, but that role was somewhat assigned to me; so I experimented what is like to orient and influence others - something I didn't have in my 'other' life.

 

So from an early age, I got used to live into different environments, and try to balance all that. Good or bad, that has marked my whole early existence. :)

 

 

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Wasn't a nerd ... but wasn't cool either. Once I dropped the accordian (gr 10)and started playing the hammond I became a bit cooler

SK2 /w Mini Vent / XK3 Pro System /w 142 Leslie, Roland D70, Korg SP250 B3 1959 (retired) , Porta B (retired), XB2 (retired)

 

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I wasn't "popular" in the traditional sense. What I was was nice to everybody. Amazing how treating people well translates into positive vibes.

 

+1, Yeah, it really is amazing, isn't it? I think that was the key to my "success" too, and anyone else who felt they got along with a great cross-section of people. I didn't see the cliques, or at least didn't acknowledge them as a hinderance to association with anyone. I mean, I wasn't an angel -- I had my "list" -- but for the most part was pretty chill. And that is different from being cool ... :cool:

 

Original Latin Jazz

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"I am not certain how original my contribution to music is as I am obviously an amateur." Patti Smith

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I was not cool in high school. My parents agreed with the teacher, so I "skipped" second grade - not a problem until everyone in my class was older than me - and I didn't get a driver's license until after graduating. I was working toward an engineering college major, in the band (but no groups then), and definitely not a BMOC. No real enemies - I treated everyone well, but my granddaughter at 10 (she's 13 now) had more social life than I had at 17.

 

However, for the 25 th class reunion - I was probably in the best physical shape of my life, had been taking ballroom dance for a couple of years, self-employed as a computer networking consultant, driving a very flashy car. Funny thing - most of the girls from high school had maintained their appearance well, most of the guys, ESPECIALLY the jocks were anywhere from 30 to 100 pounds overweight - I spent the evening dancing with their wives and the other ladies. (oh yes - I was a musician then also, bass guitar and Prophet 600).

 

Sometimes, things just have to marinate for a while - then they get a bunch BETTER!

 

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Walked the fine line. I was cool at parties. But some of those folks didn't hang with me so much at school. Like many others - I hung with a wide variety of crowds (seems to be an emerging common trait here). Played football, concert band, choir, higher math/chemistry/physics, college prep writing... so in classes with the smarter college bound folks, in with the musicians, in with the athletic crowd, and partied a lot. But didn't HAVE parties as we were not so well off and it was a private school... kind of get the idea?

 

Funny at the reunions, who was cool or not or had money or not, doesn't really matter any more. The coolest guy with the rich parents who drove the mustang convertable can be an auto mechanic, and the nerdy guy can have his pHD and be working for the CIA doing covert operations he can't talk about.

 

I think I'm viewed as pretty cool amongst my classmates now though.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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I started out high school as a fairly quiet nerdy type...braces, glasses, serious book worm. The world opened up a bit for me in 10th grade when I landed the keyboard spot in the high school production of Godspell. This led to a long list of theater gigs and connections with the cool musician crowd. I started playing in a couple of different bands, one of which was uber cool and had older members in college. Hence, I was playing college frat gigs by the time I was a junior.

 

All of this was cool, though I still maintained a fairly low profile.

 

To borrow from someone else in this thread, I snagged an "A list" girlfriend that had been dating the quarterback for the football team for years. It was a scary experience. I was very far from athletic and this guy literally wanted to KILL me. How dare this younger nerdy keyboard player steal away my hot girlfriend! He and his jock friends taunted me like crazy and I walked around nervous most of the time. Finally a few of my tougher musician friends called them off of me.

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I started out high school as a fairly quiet nerdy type...braces, glasses, serious book worm. The world opened up a bit for me in 10th grade when I landed the keyboard spot in the high school production of Godspell.

 

Hey! I did Godspell (as the guitarist) in 9th grade! :thu:

 

Re: coolness... no one is actually cool in high school. I was pretty fortunate in that I was well rounded, so I did play sports, and I did play in rock bands, and went to parties, and had close pals and girlfriends throughout most of high school. I always made friends relatively easily. I'd say I was well known and liked by most people in my class.

 

At the same time, I was always one to do my own thing rather than blindly follow any specific crowd. I certainly don't miss high school, 25 years later. I don't think it's an easy time of life for anyone, anywhere.

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Re: coolness... no one is actually cool in high school. I was pretty fortunate in that I was well rounded, so I did play sports, and I did play in rock bands, and went to parties, and had close pals and girlfriends throughout most of high school. I always made friends relatively easily. I'd say I was well known and liked by most people in my class.

 

At the same time, I was always one to do my own thing rather than blindly follow any specific crowd. I certainly don't miss high school, 25 years later. I don't think it's an easy time of life for anyone, anywhere.

 

I could have written this for myself. I would add that most of my social or music life was outside of my particular high school. Due to the fact that even way back then in the very late 70's (I was class of '81) it was hard to find piano/keyboard players who could play, I was often hanging with a much older crowd in various bands.

 

 

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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I was cool in my Sophomore year ('75). I had just moved back to the States from having lived in Europe for 6 years and had picked up an English accent. As the accent faded, so did my coolness. Then my school started a soccer team, and I was cool because I'd been playing the game for the last 6 years in a school where the sport was pretty new. Then I switched schools, got more into music, left the soccer behind, and was cool no more.

 

Beyond HS, I was pretty shy up until my 1st road gig... then as I started noticing how many girls liked meeting the boys in the band, I got over my shyness & started thinking I was cool again.

 

Some 30 years later, my kids think I'm the most uncool person on the planet. Oh well. :(

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This isn't trying to wiggle out of the question. After all, I don't have to answer it! :D

 

But I'd say I was maybe cool and not cool simultaneously. I was kinduva weirdo in that hung out with a lot of different people. I had very different sorts of friends, not really hanging out with a particular group of people. I hung out with the stoner guys who eventually went to continuation school and geeks and nerds in the lower quad during nutrition, the surfers during lunch, a couple of football players outside of school, and a lot of strange artistic types and musicians and miscellaneous people in school and out of school...and kinda a little bit of everyone outside of school.

 

Some of these people, particularly my surfer friends, the two football friends, and a couple of the strange artistic types, were quite popular. I went to their parties and hung out with them. I also went to equally fun parties with my stoner friends, which had fun bands, often with people who had already graduated high school, and lots of kegs and a really mellow sort of vibe. I like that as well. I went surfing on weekends with my surfer friends, played music with my football friends and artistic/musician types, clowned around with my friends who were popular, and hung out and went to concerts with my stoner and geek friends.

 

In high school, I enjoyed being liked. I wasn't the uber-cool popular sort, but I was well-liked. I didn't treat anyone like shit, and I liked having different friends. It's not that I didn't care whether people liked me; I was rather self-conscious at times and enjoyed it when people liked me, not terribly unlike now.

 

But just like now, I just don't care whether someone is cool or popular or a stoner or a surfer or musician or a drama person or really studious or whatever. I only care that I enjoy their company. That was the way I was then, and I suppose I haven't changed all that much in that regard.

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I became cool after I played a real Les Paul at the Jr. High prom.('75?) Some kid in music theory class showed me the Penta tonic blues scale in "C' on piano,after that I played both instruments. Used to set the trend for the newest Rock T-shirt of the week. Boston, Kiss, Sabbath,Coors beer,ect. Back then the print always went on the back of the shirt.(could hide it from Principles ect. with our CPO jackets!)

 

But now I'm not cool,49yrs old,grey,a grand father,Laying carpet, working too hard and can't keep from using credit cards to fund my music. I sure feel real grouchy now days, I guess pay backs are a M.F!

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Man, I wish i had those days back. Yea, I was kinda cool, played with senior rock and rollers when i was only in 9th grade...Played all over the Ms Gulf coast for two years...was pretty popular in school because of that. But, I didnt give the "little people" the time of day, all i wanted to do was be wtih the "cool" people..

Went on, became a doctor, and got better with dealing with people. But I didnt really change until I became a born again Christian, and came full face with how I approached life, and now realized how selfish I was. But the great thing is that I now embrace everyone, try to go out of my way to be kind and generous to each and every person, and just wish that I had been that way all my life. I am blessed in spite of my past, and have a great family and profession, and yes, play jazz music on weekends with my band. I guess it all works out in the end.

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I was incredibly uncool in primary school. Didn't have a whole lotta friends, didn't get talked much to. Wasn't all that into thrillers and masturbation, which was the main conversation piece in 5th grade, or sex, which became the new one by 7th grade. Playing piano wasn't cool at all at that age. Nah, I wasn't cool.

 

Continuation school changed me inside out.

 

Playing Roger in the Rent musical in my first year at highschool, NOW I was cool. Playing in bands, singing, being a 'somebody', yeah, I was cool. Now I'm in my last year at high school, and the new pack of students are the cups that saw me singing in that same musical a few years back. There are quite a few female admirers :)

When in doubt, superimpose pentatonics.
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Not sure that "cool" would have described me, but, I was the best athlete in my class (according to me), so that always garners some respect. I wasn't nerdy at all, so I didn't fit in with that crowd, and I wasn't a skateboarder or a pot smoker, so I didn't fit in there, and I wasn't in band or one of the handful vying for the top of the class honors. Just got my few A's and mostly B's and ran cross country and track and played my piano anonymously on the side. Of course the quarterback (who was bad on a bad football team) won the "most athletic" award for our class while I finished 2nd, but how we did in our respective sports tells a different story...not that I'm bitter!

Steve (Stevie Ray)

"Do the chickens have large talons?"

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I was in the "non clique" clique and didn't think I was cool at all. We were a breakfast club type of group. Not burnouts because we didn't smoke cigarettes. Not brains, even though some of our group were honor students. Not jocks even though some played sports. Just a group of average kids who went to the beat of our own drum. We had the gay kid, the girls who were putting rainbow colors in their hair, a couple weirdos. We'd party together every weekend at someone's house, sit around and play guitar and sing, stuff like that. School was just something we had to do, so we did it.

 

I sang in every choir I could participate in, and played in jazz band, which was very good and won a lot of competitions we went to. I won an award at many of those festivals for "outstanding rhythm section soloist" and won "outstanding musician" at one big one, which gave me some minor celebrity in school when they'd say it over the announcements in the morning, but none of that phased me. If I had to do it again, I'd pay more attention to what was going on around me and think more about how my actions would affect my future.

 

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But just like now, I just don't care whether someone is cool or popular or a stoner or a surfer or musician or a drama person or really studious or whatever. I only care that I enjoy their company. That was the way I was then, and I suppose I haven't changed all that much in that regard.

 

:thu:

 

Excellent. That's what I was going to say.

 

Now I don't have to post. :laugh:

 

Kinda like a song. My litmus test is: Do I wanna listen to it a 2nd time?

 

No over-thinking required. :cool:

 

Tom

 

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
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Some 30 years later, my kids think I'm the most uncool person on the planet. Oh well. :(

 

Now this I seriously doubt. :wave:

 

Well, getting a little off track, here are a couple stories to illustrate...

 

Several years ago, I took my son & a buddy to see me play at Rib Fest. Our slot was right before Little Feat, which was very cool. My son & his buddy watched from the side of the stage & we had a pretty good crowd & went over well. After the show, my son was going, "man, dad... Jennie (singer) was AWESOME. Brett (guitarist) was AWESOME... and John (Drummer) was incredibly AWESOME!!!" His buddy, feeling a little compassionate says "you were awesome too Mr. McGuirk".

 

My daughter saw me play once, and I was standing for the gig and we were slamming. Afterward she said, "dad, you really need to stand still when you play. It was really embarrassing watching you dance around like that."

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My daughter saw me play once, and I was standing for the gig and we were slamming. Afterward she said, "dad, you really need to stand still when you play. It was really embarrassing watching you dance around like that."

http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/8/9/rodneydangerfie128627962455360067.jpg

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo
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No, I was far from cool. In fact, I was very badly bullied throughout primary and secondary school. The happiest day of my life was starting at university, free at last of that terrible past.

 

I later wrote a piece on my experiences for the newspaper I worked for. It was a personal response to a local education authority's attempts to discredit the fact that 16-year-old schoolgirl Katharine Bamber had committed suicide after years of repeated bullying which the authority failed to act upon.

 

As an aside, although I don't mention my musical abilities in the piece, they were yet another thing which marked me out as "different" at school and thus an easy target for bullying.

 

I've scanned the piece in from an old newspaper cutting: You can read it here.

 

Also, a bit of background to the Katharine Bamber case from the parliamentary records of Hansard: Click

 

 

 

 

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Some 30 years later, my kids think I'm the most uncool person on the planet. Oh well. :(

 

Now this I seriously doubt. :wave:

 

Well, getting a little off track, here are a couple stories to illustrate...

 

Several years ago, I took my son & a buddy to see me play at Rib Fest. Our slot was right before Little Feat, which was very cool. My son & his buddy watched from the side of the stage & we had a pretty good crowd & went over well. After the show, my son was going, "man, dad... Jennie (singer) was AWESOME. Brett (guitarist) was AWESOME... and John (Drummer) was incredibly AWESOME!!!" His buddy, feeling a little compassionate says "you were awesome too Mr. McGuirk".

 

My daughter saw me play once, and I was standing for the gig and we were slamming. Afterward she said, "dad, you really need to stand still when you play. It was really embarrassing watching you dance around like that."

 

See-- Proof Positive they think you are cool! :)

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

--------

My Professional Websites

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