Friday, June 12, 2009

Debating, rather than dueling

Some coworkers were listening to A Prairie Home Companion last weekend, and heard k.d. lang assert that playing the banjo was "a chick magnet."
The coworkers in question have extrapolated that to mean that I should start playing the banjo.
Discuss.
(Oh, and feel free to share and solicit opinions from your banjo-playing or chick-magnetic friends.)


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can attest that banjo skills do not get a person chicks. It's the drummers you have to watch out for.

mike said...

I think ms. lang is cutting corners of a syllogism. Playing banjo is cool in its own right; doing cool things makes one attractive; therefore, if one is trying to attract chicks, playing banjo could help. But it is not an inherent property of the banjo. Playing a hammer dulcimer or a trumpet or a didjeridoo would be equally helpful if you feel good doing it.

Kate said...

Um...yea...don't think I would go for a banjo player.

Bitterly Indifferent said...

This reminds me of something I read about deciding which martial art you should learn: Watch the instructor and other skilled practitioners. Could you move the way they do? Would you want to?

In this case, when you see the kinds of chicks that K.D. Lang attracts, are those the kind of chicks you want to bring into your life? Adapt your style accordingly.

bzzzzgrrrl said...

Anonymous- I do indeed have to watch for the drummers. Boy howdy, do I. But are you suggesting I should take up drumming to get chicks? Rather than banjoing, anyway?

mike- I am not sure any of those things are especially cool, but I do think the trouble with taking chick magnet advice from k.d. lang is that being k.d. lang is in itself a chick magnet.

Kate- Care to elaborate?

PMJG- I don't know a lot about who k.d. lang attracts. Do you have insights you'd like to share?

Cousin Mouse said...

I don't believe it - given that banjos are one of the three most-disparaged instruments in western society (along with bagpipes and accordions).

Getting chicks (or others) via instumentation funtions in one of two ways. One (1), it attracts other persons who also play that instrument. Two (2), it attracts people who are drawn to performers.

By far, the number One (1) cohort is more desirable as you would have something in common.

So, my thought is that you should find an instrument that is widely played by chicks. You may need to conduct a survey, but I'm guessing guitar or piano would be it.

The only flaw in this is that in my experience musicians tend to be egocentric and unsophisticated in other subjects. Not all of them, of course, but you would have to go through a bunch of them before you found a good one.

bzh said...

I make no judgment about k.d. lang and/or banjos, believing that both are and are not chick magnets, depending on the circumstances (think "Hee-Haw").

That said, I am beyond impressed that you have a reader who can relevantly fit syllogism and didjeridoo in the same comment.

Bravo.

bzzzzgrrrl said...

I only know him because he worked for you, bzh. Brava yourself. :)