A Bandish Education in The Time of the Great Burning

And more Things What I Learned:

• Gerard Way is harmless until you pay too much attention to him. Then you get stuck, like in quicksand.
  
• Pete said he CHOKED Patrick.  WTF, Pete? I worry about my growing attachment to Mr. Blah-Blah Blah Wentz 3 when I read these things, boyo.
• Patrick Stump deals in the sarcastic to a quite startling degree. It's appealing, but it makes it hard to tell just what he actually means. I suspect this is deliberate.
• The trendy interviewing style I keep seeing in Youtube interview clips is pseudo-casual, and really horrible to watch. Everybody pretends to be relaxed and friendly, and is really nervous, and it's OBVIOUS and UNCOMFORTABLE. Plus, the questions are frequently hideously invasive and actually make the interviewee clam up instead of revealing him/herself. They must be hiring these people for their looks, and they seem to have no genuine skill. Watch Bill Moyers or something, people!
  
• There is some Deep Past between Gerard Way and that Bert guy from the Used. I wonder what the truth of it is.
  
• Bob Bryar actually sounds pretty good, now that I've listened to enough MyChem for it to open up to me a bit. I'm not a huge drum fan, so it takes me awhile to develop a sense for it. I didn't hear anything particularly innovative, but I haven't gone through their catalogue yet. Recs on Bob-strong songs/versions are welcome.
  
• I really like FOB a lot, musically. Andy and Joe are strong players, but I'm there for Pete's words in Patrick's mouth.
• Third Eye Blind fiction would be interesting, especially something engaging the firing of Kevin Cadogan right after the release of their second album.
• Joe Dick is a thousand times as punk as any of these people, but that's not entirely a bad thing, especially remembering how his story ended. They are more like Billy's new bandmates. Hm. Anybody know of good crossovers?
• The trend to name tours after products is kind of creepy, in an un-fun way.
• Why can't I find more direct interviews with Andy? I like a lot of what I hear about him, but it's so hard to actually *hear* him. (Except his banging with sticks.)
• George is really freaking smart, isn't he?
  
• There are a whole bunch of people on the fringes of bandom, and trying to figure out who all the cameos are will make my head explode.
• Synchronik is the true quill. I'm making the SO read "The Scene Is Dead" for Halloween. If I can get it recorded on audio, I'll be a happy camper.
  
• Clearly, I'm going to be horribly OTP about Pete and Patrick. Is there a scarier fate than to be OTP about a pairing that includes Pete Wentz? I mean, is there anyone in bandom he *hasn't* macked on?
  
• Frank Iero is really beautiful. It didn't strike me at first, but. Wow. He really needs to take his vitamins, though.
  
• Spencer Smith, on the other hand, doesn't strike me as beautiful in any way until he smiles. And his smile is so incredibly sweet.
  
• Jared Padalecki could pick up, like, the entire Fall Out Boy band AND Frank, Mikey, and Gerard, and still have room in his branches for monkeys. Other monkeys, I mean. These boys are all tiny!
• Not just fannishly, I mean, but Pete really does kind of seem to be in love with Mr. Stump. It's kind of, hmm. I don't know. But maybe I'm imagining it, because I would if I didn't see it anyway.
  

Serious Ponderables:

• Have any of these kids come out as bi or gay at any point?
• Or said unequivocally that they are 100 percent straight?
• Why do people "defend" Gerard Way from "accusations" of liking boys so vociferously, and with so many slurs against gay and bi men, when Gerard Way macks on Frank on stage? Don't they realize that, most likely, he'd find their remarks more offensive than being called gay or bi? And did I mention that Youtube is full of homophobes who can't spell?
  
• How do other fen decide what the boys mean and what they are saying sarcastically, when they are constantly sarcastic in a deadpan style?