Jump to content

COMETBUS #54 Green Day In China?!


GDM

Recommended Posts

Taiwan. I think that was more Billie being defensive against criticism than anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 1.1k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

The guys really didn't seem to give a fuck about when Billie shouldn't have touched the girls head during EJN. I forget what place it was in, Malaysia? I don't think Tré was doing his tradition of sampling local culture.

It didn't really feel to me as if they didn't give a fuck, more like they thought it was too much work to keep up with traditions, do's and don't's in every country, so they just didn't. Not in a "I refuse to respect your culture" kind of way, just, well, "too much work, can't do everything right". Which is kind of understandable seeing as they visit a shitload of countries in a short time.

Though I agree that I don't think that Tre's main motivation was to have a taste of (pun unintended) local culture and tradition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's best if we still use spoilers when discussing actual details in the story, some still haven't read it.

Sorry, I edited it :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey there, all you Americans! I need some vocabulary help.

Aaron describes Billie as a "sleepy cholo" (first line page 5); what is a cholo?

I've lookes it up in the Urban Dictionary, but it still doesn't make much sense to me.

Could someone explain, please?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey there, all you Americans! I need some vocabulary help.

Aaron describes Billie as a "sleepy cholo" (first line page 5); what is a cholo?

I've lookes it up in the Urban Dictionary, but it still doesn't make much sense to me.

Could someone explain, please?

It's slang for a Latino gangster or something like that. Goes along with what he wrote right after that about how Billie dresses like a Latino gang in Rodeo called Sugar Town Barrio.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"We're back in the barrio, and to you and me thats jingletown"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just got my copy in the mail! Can't wait to start reading it tonight...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

got my copy today! :bunny::banana::runaround:

cant wait to read it tonight! i'll probably fall asleep with it in my hands :happy:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's slang for a Latino gangster or something like that. Goes along with what he wrote right after that about how Billie dresses like a Latino gang in Rodeo called Sugar Town Barrio.

Thank you.

Yeah, I read that thing about the Latino gangsters, for some reason I just didn't connect it to Sugar Town Barrio. Stupid me :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is amazing so far. I'm loving Aaron's writing style, and all the little factoids that he throws in.

I wonder which band member accidentally got someone pregnant

:lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is amazing so far. I'm loving Aaron's writing style, and all the little factoids that he throws in.

I wonder which band member accidentally got someone pregnant

:lol:

I have a feeling it's Tre. :ninja:

I need this. :runaround:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found Aaron's comment about being the one who, unlike the members of Green Day, actually walks alone quite amusing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn you all. Now I've gotta read through this whole thread.

Loved your tweet ... told you'd love reading this :) ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is amazing so far. I'm loving Aaron's writing style, and all the little factoids that he throws in.

I wonder which band member accidentally got someone pregnant

:lol:

:o

WHAT?!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay I shouldn't have lent this to someone yet, especially not someone who's reading it at the speed of a snail. I need to read it again or at least read bits of it again right now :mad:

This is amazing so far. I'm loving Aaron's writing style, and all the little factoids that he throws in.

I wonder which band member accidentally got someone pregnant

:lol:

I sat there re-reading that bit trying to work out if there was some way to tell who it was for sure

:lol:. But I'm thinking Tre lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Loved your tweet ... told you'd love reading this :) ...

And I loved your note that you included with the 'zine, too :wub:

I'm thinking Tre lol.

Me too. Seems the most logical choice considering what I know of the temperament of each band member. Which, as I read more and more, sad to say, is making me not like Tre very much.

--------

I'll be posting as I read #54 (around page 40 at the moment) as well as this thread (which I'm doing first, cause I like to know stuff before going in for the full experience).

At the moment (and I do NOT want to drag the debate back up, because it's been done to fucking death all over the internet), I feel like people massively, massively overreacted to the "offensive" passages in the book. Maybe it's because they can't be construed as applying to me in any way, but Jesus, people. Re-lax. I've read the majority of this thread, as well as several accompanying blog posts on the subject, including Tanya's and Larry's (both of which were very well written, you two), and I still don't get how that description could've been such a huge deal. Yeah, the statement in and of itself is a little offensive, but why assume he's talking about you? And unless you know every single Green Day fan there is, why assume he's talking about anyone you know? And even if he is, who gives a shit what he thinks?

Also, to me, the term "superfan" reads as a compliment, people who are passionate and hardworking enough to travel all around the world with their family, friends and band. I'm lucky enough to know many of you, and be close friends with a few, and I feel nothing but pride, admiration and more than a little jealousy at how dedicated you are to doing something you love. Even if I do think you're insane at times :P

--------

Tre eating the octopus. Yeah. While it feels like there's a different between eating a live octopus out of your hand in a dressing room and eating a live octopus off a plate in a restaurant, there really isn't. What gets to me is that the overall impression is that Tre definitely wasn't doing it because he wanted to try a local delicacy. If he'd wanted that, he'd have gone to a fucking restaurant. Tre was doing it because he wanted to eat a live octopus, for whatever reason he had in his head for doing that. And that strikes me as weird (which I've always considered Tre to be) but also more than a little genuinely fucked up (which is new). It's the difference between shooting a deer while out hunting and bringing one randomly into your backyard and taking a handgun to it. Yes, the two actions are technically the same, but there is a specific circumstance and environment in which it's acceptable. And what Tre did was entirely outside of that. Which is pretty fucked up. Doesn't mean he's a bad person, that was just a fucked up thing to do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is amazing so far. I'm loving Aaron's writing style, and all the little factoids that he throws in.

I wonder which band member accidentally got someone pregnant

:lol:

I got the impression it was more like ''just because no-one's come forward doesn't mean it hasn't happened''

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally got this yesterday morning :) wonderful read. Doesn't change anything in my mind about the guys, nothing major - I did think i'd be 'off' Tre when I read it but i'm really not. My input on a few points; highly spoilery

What Tre said after the octopus incident; I can't fully remember it, but it was something to do with growing up and having to provide for himself for weeks on end while his parents left town with work? Did no one else find that a bit upsetting? Not what happened (or what he says happened) so much as how he says it like it's no big deal and is normal when it's really not. I don't know, it seems to help explain a lot.

I also think the superfans thing was probably taken too seriously. In contrast to the fans Aaron had been seeing, it probably just rubbed him up the wrong way; I think i'd get that feeling myself.

I don't get what Aaron was trying to say with his argument on the whole Billie sex god thing. The bit that confused me most was the part about the guys at the concert having to deal with their girlfriends going home and dreaming of Billie? And how Billie is rich and American and those guys can't compete with that? That made zero sense to me and it seemed like Aaron was just trying to find another victim in the whole thing. Either that, or he was jealous XD

But other that that I enjoyed it. I liked how it showed the guys as human,and how they're not afraid to admit they're all heading toward middle age; how rather than talking about girls, they now sit and drunkenly gush about their kids. And staying up all night playing Scrabble and listening to The Exploding Hearts will always be awesome :)

Oh and the pregnant thing, I kind of took that with a pinch of salt. I don't think it means there are any illegitimate green day babies running around (though who knows with Tre haha). This is gonna sound mean but I wouldn't have thought most of the older green day kids were actually planned ... seeing how young their parents were at the time.

Hope that wasn't too long lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(and I do NOT want to drag the debate back up, because it's been done to fucking death all over the internet)

Yeah those debates really have been exhausted at this point, but it's always nice to hear some new opinions on them too

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understood what Aaron meant with the sex god stuff, just didn't really agree with it. It's all harmless fun, nothing to be taken too seriously. If someone has a girlfriend who is legitimately in love with Billie Joe, and doesn't pay much attention to her boyfriend/girlfriend because of it, well she's not really worth the bother is she? It's hardly Billie's fault that girls are after him, sure he could not let fans come on stage and kiss him, but I don't think it means as much as Aaron was reading into it. I think he over-analyzes things sometimes.

The white, rich and American thing I do get. In the media and general attitude of the world, that is the perfect human. He's privileged, he doesn't experience racism for his skin colour, his country is 'the leader of the free world' though a title you give yourself never really does mean much and he's rich as fuck. When a poor Asian kid goes to a Green Day gig with his/her girlfriend and watches them stare up at Billie all night, for some it might be a blow to their ego. How do they compete with that? My argument, as above, would be, well they don't have to compete with Billie and if they do feel like they have to compete with him, then they're dating the wrong girl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally got this yesterday morning :) wonderful read. Doesn't change anything in my mind about the guys, nothing major - I did think i'd be 'off' Tre when I read it but i'm really not. My input on a few points; highly spoilery

What Tre said after the octopus incident; I can't fully remember it, but it was something to do with growing up and having to provide for himself for weeks on end while his parents left town with work? Did no one else find that a bit upsetting? Not what happened (or what he says happened) so much as how he says it like it's no big deal and is normal when it's really not. I don't know, it seems to help explain a lot.

I also think the superfans thing was probably taken too seriously. In contrast to the fans Aaron had been seeing, it probably just rubbed him up the wrong way; I think i'd get that feeling myself.

I don't get what Aaron was trying to say with his argument on the whole Billie sex god thing. The bit that confused me most was the part about the guys at the concert having to deal with their girlfriends going home and dreaming of Billie? And how Billie is rich and American and those guys can't compete with that? That made zero sense to me and it seemed like Aaron was just trying to find another victim in the whole thing. Either that, or he was jealous XD

But other that that I enjoyed it. I liked how it showed the guys as human,and how they're not afraid to admit they're all heading toward middle age; how rather than talking about girls, they now sit and drunkenly gush about their kids. And staying up all night playing Scrabble and listening to The Exploding Hearts will always be awesome :)

Oh and the pregnant thing, I kind of took that with a pinch of salt. I don't think it means there are any illegitimate green day babies running around (though who knows with Tre haha). This is gonna sound mean but I wouldn't have thought most of the older green day kids were actually planned ... seeing how young their parents were at the time.

Hope that wasn't too long lol.

I thought the part about Tre having to provide for himself as a kid was sad, yeah, I feel sad for him because of it. But I didn't like the way it was used to try to justify what he did to the octopus. Sad as it might be that he had that experience as a child it's pretty far fetched to act as if it justifies that behaviour or even has anything to do with it - biting into that octopus had nothing to do with eating, did he even eat any of it? I think it probably does explain a lot about him but I thought it was ridiculous to use it as an excuse for that.

I think you could be right about the pregnant thing! It could've just been a joke about an unplanned but welcome pregnancy with a wife or girlfriend. In which case it could be any of them. The only reason I thought Tre was because he was saying, "of ALL the things I've done, I've never...", and Tre would be the best fit for someone who's done ALL these things :lol:. But still it could be just an unplanned but welcome baby that Tre had. The more I think about it the more likely that seems.

I have to say I loved the scrabble bits too :D. I love how this confirmed what (for the most part) nice, sweet, honest guys and great friends they are. It's just so nice to think of them playing scrabble and wanting to sit next to each other and having fun together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally, I wouldn't have written about the fan thing at all like that if Larry hadn't brought it up. And I said that in my blog post. And if the comments in his blog post weren't so off the wall and offensive at some points. I never said that I thought it applied to me, either. And again, Aaron does talk about fans that could be any of us, too. I think people sometimes forget that. Truthfully, the fan portion would have been dead in the water and only talked about in this thread if not for Larry feeling like he had to write about it. I think the "blame the victim" sense that I got from his blog post (and what he wrote on Facebook) was what made me madder than what Aaron wrote, frankly. And then some of the comments to his post... were just... horrible (on Facebook and his blog post). But, like Aaron wrote, each has their own perspective and everyone thinks theirs is the clearest, so, let's just leave it at that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally, I wouldn't have written about the fan thing at all like that if Larry hadn't brought it up. And I said that in my blog post. And if the comments in his blog post weren't so off the wall and offensive at some points. I never said that I thought it applied to me, either. And again, Aaron does talk about fans that could be any of us, too. I think people sometimes forget that. Truthfully, the fan portion would have been dead in the water and only talked about in this thread if not for Larry feeling like he had to write about it. I think the "blame the victim" sense that I got from his blog post (and what he wrote on Facebook) was what made me madder than what Aaron wrote, frankly. And then some of the comments to his post... were just... horrible (on Facebook and his blog post). But, like Aaron wrote, each has their own perspective and everyone thinks theirs is the clearest, so, let's just leave it at that!

Well, I don't see anything negative about the whole event. Larry was inspired to write about it because of all the fans' comments on Twitter and Facebook. And you were inspired to write about it because of Larry writing about it. And we all had a very interesting discussion because of all that inspiration. Everyone having their own opinion is what keeps me fascinated with life :).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understood what Aaron meant with the sex god stuff, just didn't really agree with it. It's all harmless fun, nothing to be taken too seriously. If someone has a girlfriend who is legitimately in love with Billie Joe, and doesn't pay much attention to her boyfriend/girlfriend because of it, well she's not really worth the bother is she? It's hardly Billie's fault that girls are after him, sure he could not let fans come on stage and kiss him, but I don't think it means as much as Aaron was reading into it. I think he over-analyzes things sometimes.

The white, rich and American thing I do get. In the media and general attitude of the world, that is the perfect human. He's privileged, he doesn't experience racism for his skin colour, his country is 'the leader of the free world' though a title you give yourself never really does mean much and he's rich as fuck. When a poor Asian kid goes to a Green Day gig with his/her girlfriend and watches them stare up at Billie all night, for some it might be a blow to their ego. How do they compete with that? My argument, as above, would be, well they don't have to compete with Billie and if they do feel like they have to compete with him, then they're dating the wrong girl.

Oh yeah I get all that, I just think it was taking it a bit too far. I don't think anyone actually goes home from a Green Day gig wishing and believing they could be with Billie, no matter how 'available' he might appear to them. It just didn't seem like Aaron was giving those fans much credit. Not everyone cares about looks.

I thought the part about Tre having to provide for himself as a kid was sad, yeah, I feel sad for him because of it. But I didn't like the way it was used to try to justify what he did to the octopus. Sad as it might be that he had that experience as a child it's pretty far fetched to act as if it justifies that behaviour or even has anything to do with it - biting into that octopus had nothing to do with eating, did he even eat any of it? I think it probably does explain a lot about him but I thought it was ridiculous to use it as an excuse for that.

I think you could be right about the pregnant thing! It could've just been a joke about an unplanned but welcome pregnancy with a wife or girlfriend. In which case it could be any of them. The only reason I thought Tre was because he was saying, "of ALL the things I've done, I've never...", and Tre would be the best fit for someone who's done ALL these things :lol:. But still it could be just an unplanned but welcome baby that Tre had. The more I think about it the more likely that seems.

I have to say I loved the scrabble bits too :D. I love how this confirmed what (for the most part) nice, sweet, honest guys and great friends they are. It's just so nice to think of them playing scrabble and wanting to sit next to each other and having fun together.

Absolutely - my opinion on the octopus thing is still the same as it was before, and there is no valid excuse for that kind of behaviour. And from what Aaron said later on regarding Tre and his various shenanigans, even the others are sick of it. But I guess they have to pick their battles. They still like each other and that's rare.

And of course, something I forgot to mention earlier; Billie and Aaron slow dancing to Kiss Me Deadly ... amazing. You really get a sense of how much that meant to Aaron when you read it. And I absolutely adore that song as well. XD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...