One never knows what one will find in the offing when perusing MySpace. I probably shouldn’t be surprised by this, but lately for the first time I’m noticing that the Bulletins section is being used for announcements other than gigs, radio play information, and so on. This morning I found an ad for an apartment near a Chicago-based recording studio (“Musicians Welcome!”); a classic little black dress for sale; and an announcement from one comely young lass informing the world (our little corner of it, anyway) that she will “wash the breeding heap of socks” under her bed … tomorrow.

his is not to say the Bulletins are a waste of time. One day, amidst the announcements for shows, CDs and band merchandise, I stumbled upon a link from a DJ for a YouTube video that was of great nostalgic interest to me. It was a video of Spirit, the Brit band who gave us songs such as “Nature’s Way” and “I Got a Line On You” circa 1970:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBXsKw324qw

This video is from 1986, increasing my interest because, that very same year, my band (at the time) opened for Spirit in a small club in Indiana that same year. How lovely to be able to say I shared a stage with Ed Cassidy, Mark Andes and the late great Randy California. And how lovely to have this happy memory put in my head thanks to a Bulletin.

Returning to the off-subject subject … other non-music items that pop up occasionally are the surveys – you know what I mean, the list of 20+ questions asking about your likes, dislikes, preferences, et cetera. (Coffee or tea? Favorite food … color you’re wearing right now) In my early days of Internet life, I would answer these religiously, trying to respond to each question in my most pithy manner. I toyed with creating and distributing my own surveys, but I never got around to it. I still enjoy engaging in these on occasion, though nowadays I’m more likely to save the survey in a Word document, promising myself that I’ll complete it later and send it out. Then, after a month or so, I’ll find it while rinsing out a few old files. Ah, the best laid plans!

Distracting? Off topic? I suppose so. But who cares? I’m somewhere between several of my fellow MySpace compatriots in that I don’t mind a certain level of effluvia mixed in with my info-to-know, as long as it’s not too long and drawn out and at least mildly amusing (again, keep it short!). Whereas I don’t drop into MySpace for hobnobbing and chit-chat, at the same time, it is a community of many personalities and it’s best not to take things too seriously. After all, 99% of the Bulletins are on target … “new song uploaded” … “CD sale” … “band needed for all-girl arm-wrestling night” …

And who knows, I just may go online and purchase that cute little black dress … and I wish Ariel the best of luck with her heap of socks.