But Why?

Introducing another blog

by Patrick Rapa

Maybe I've been listening to too much Quasi, but when it came time to choose a symbol for City Paper's new A&E review blog, I couldn't get the image of a robot Sisyphus out of my head. Like all critics, particularly rock critics, I'm well aware of the whole "writing about music = dancing about architecture" formula. There's a certain sense of, you know, pointlessness to it. Getting out to shows, watching bands try or not try, judging their art through poor sound systems and my own prejudices, pushing the big rock up the hill. Once you come to terms with that, I believe you are set free as a critic. The work becomes the point. Now, why is our Sisyphus a robot? Maybe because critics sometimes feel doomed to their task due to some deep-down hardwiring, put there by an unknowable creator. Too intelligent design? How about: Because this Sisyphus is online, and for no really good reason, that makes us think of robots. But why does the big rock in this scenario seem to be the moon? There's that pointlessness again.

But it is possible to have a purpose even if you don't have a point, or at least it's possible to believe that's the case, existentially speaking. The Critical Mass blog's m.o. will be another layer in City Paper's already established A&E sphere: concerts, CDs, DVDs, food, theater, dance, visual art, lots of stuff. Freed from the confines of space constraints, deadlines, high-res photography, cruel copy editors and fiscal compensation, our critics will be contributing simply for the love of the game. The hope is that CritMass, like the Clog, will become a place where strangers interact with our robot, inspiring a dialogue, or at least a series of short, snippy monologues, and thus creating a sense of what you humans call "fun."

So, yeah, we're starting another blog. Please check it out at www.citypaper.net/criticalmass. There's not a lot on there right now, but the robot's still working on his first rep. Beetle boop.

(pat@citypaper.net)