THIS 813 vs. 727 RIVALRY IS A WASTE OF OUR FUCKING ENERGY
THE WHOLE 813 VS. 727 RIVALRY IS SUCH A WASTE OF TIME!
I played a nice little show the other night. While leaving I had a conversation with some of my friends from St. Pete. I adore them. And it was all in jest. But we kiddingly jousted over our Tampa pride vs. our St Pete pride. I've had the same conversation countless times. And sometimes it wasn't a joke. And for every conversation I've had on this topic ... I've overheard dozens more. Yes, all joking aside, the St Petersburg versus Tampa rivalry is alive and well folks, and it sucks.
Of course "better" and "worse" are subjective and undefinable. I've never been comfortable with using either of those words without adding "better FOR ME" or "worse FOR ME". I could never truly say if a city, a song, a lover, a book, or even a way of life is better or worse. I can only judge if it's better or worse FOR ME. And so comes the topic of the friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) rivalry between the two sides of the bridge.
I've lived all over the country, and I can truly say at this point in my life the entire bay area is better for me than any other place right now. Despite my occasional gripes and our cities' "flaws" - there's so many things I love about living here and I will write about them again soon. I think one of the strongest assets of this area is the close proximity of Tampa/St Pete/Clearwater. Subtract any of those cities, and this whole region loses a bulk of its character, creative base, and general population. And anyone who foolishly says that nothing would be lost should one of those areas cease to exist is just being outright silly.
I think of the brotherhood and comradeship in other geographical regons. Chapel Hill and Raleigh celebrate each other. New York is the sum of all its parts (despite the poison sometimes spewed by some elitist Manhattan-ers or Brooklyn-ites). Atlanta generally seems to peacefully co-exist with Decatur, etc. So why the lack of love between us down here?
I truly believe in the talent in this area. There's some really fucking great artists. There's some really fucking great singer/songwriters. There's some really fucking great bands. There's great actors, models, stylists, etc etc. I think one of the most self-defeating qualities of this area is its inability to look beyond the small pictures. I truly believe that this is a hotbed of talent. Some people will snicker at this ... but I do believe it. When my friends tour from other places Tampa is always a highlight for them. The enthusiasm sells the place (as long as people actually come out to the shows) and we have more quirky characters per square inch than most places I've been. Peter Pan, anyone?
With the right resources, self-support, and sense of community, I think this entire area has the capability of being on par with other creative epicenters. For Chrissakes, if Omaha, Nebraska can do it, why the fuck can't we?
Because we can't unite. We waste our precious conversations bickering over which side of the fucking bridge is better, rather than celebrating that both sides of the bridge are fucking awesome. What would this area be without The Globe and Art Pool on one side, and Rat Soap Studios and USF on the other? I could spend paragraphs highlighting the great venues, eateries, and fucking PEOPLE who exist on both sides of the water. I don't want to lose any of 'em, I just wanna love 'em and give them props.
Let's cut the crap people. A long time ago in a blog someone wrote how they view the three cities here as a smaller southern version of the boroughs of New York. I concur. We are already living near each other, like it or not. Now, despite the cheesy hippy-dippyness of the concepts, let's fucking live WITH each other. This isn't my Tampa club versus your St Pete club ... I want them all to be OUR clubs. I would like to make a call to embrace our entire geographical goodness ... if we ever hope to make any kind of national impact it's essential. At at the very least ... I just hate to see anyone put down something that I love. And I love Tampa. And I love St Pete. We are related. We are one. The water between us is much prettier when viewed as an artery that unites us, rather than a moat that separates us. Viva us!!!
I played a nice little show the other night. While leaving I had a conversation with some of my friends from St. Pete. I adore them. And it was all in jest. But we kiddingly jousted over our Tampa pride vs. our St Pete pride. I've had the same conversation countless times. And sometimes it wasn't a joke. And for every conversation I've had on this topic ... I've overheard dozens more. Yes, all joking aside, the St Petersburg versus Tampa rivalry is alive and well folks, and it sucks.
Of course "better" and "worse" are subjective and undefinable. I've never been comfortable with using either of those words without adding "better FOR ME" or "worse FOR ME". I could never truly say if a city, a song, a lover, a book, or even a way of life is better or worse. I can only judge if it's better or worse FOR ME. And so comes the topic of the friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) rivalry between the two sides of the bridge.
I've lived all over the country, and I can truly say at this point in my life the entire bay area is better for me than any other place right now. Despite my occasional gripes and our cities' "flaws" - there's so many things I love about living here and I will write about them again soon. I think one of the strongest assets of this area is the close proximity of Tampa/St Pete/Clearwater. Subtract any of those cities, and this whole region loses a bulk of its character, creative base, and general population. And anyone who foolishly says that nothing would be lost should one of those areas cease to exist is just being outright silly.
I think of the brotherhood and comradeship in other geographical regons. Chapel Hill and Raleigh celebrate each other. New York is the sum of all its parts (despite the poison sometimes spewed by some elitist Manhattan-ers or Brooklyn-ites). Atlanta generally seems to peacefully co-exist with Decatur, etc. So why the lack of love between us down here?
I truly believe in the talent in this area. There's some really fucking great artists. There's some really fucking great singer/songwriters. There's some really fucking great bands. There's great actors, models, stylists, etc etc. I think one of the most self-defeating qualities of this area is its inability to look beyond the small pictures. I truly believe that this is a hotbed of talent. Some people will snicker at this ... but I do believe it. When my friends tour from other places Tampa is always a highlight for them. The enthusiasm sells the place (as long as people actually come out to the shows) and we have more quirky characters per square inch than most places I've been. Peter Pan, anyone?
With the right resources, self-support, and sense of community, I think this entire area has the capability of being on par with other creative epicenters. For Chrissakes, if Omaha, Nebraska can do it, why the fuck can't we?
Because we can't unite. We waste our precious conversations bickering over which side of the fucking bridge is better, rather than celebrating that both sides of the bridge are fucking awesome. What would this area be without The Globe and Art Pool on one side, and Rat Soap Studios and USF on the other? I could spend paragraphs highlighting the great venues, eateries, and fucking PEOPLE who exist on both sides of the water. I don't want to lose any of 'em, I just wanna love 'em and give them props.
Let's cut the crap people. A long time ago in a blog someone wrote how they view the three cities here as a smaller southern version of the boroughs of New York. I concur. We are already living near each other, like it or not. Now, despite the cheesy hippy-dippyness of the concepts, let's fucking live WITH each other. This isn't my Tampa club versus your St Pete club ... I want them all to be OUR clubs. I would like to make a call to embrace our entire geographical goodness ... if we ever hope to make any kind of national impact it's essential. At at the very least ... I just hate to see anyone put down something that I love. And I love Tampa. And I love St Pete. We are related. We are one. The water between us is much prettier when viewed as an artery that unites us, rather than a moat that separates us. Viva us!!!
