You see them everywhere. The black-rimmed glasses, like Buddy Holly; black Chuck Taylors sneaking out from under their corduroys, ironic T-shirts, with comments like “In case of emergency, BREAK DANCE”. This is the modern-day hipster. No hipster would be complete without the familiar little white earphones, which signal the ownership of an iPod. On that iPod are thousands of songs. What is a hipster to do with an iPod full of music after hearing all the music? iPod War!
The concept is simple. Two people take their iPods and have 10 songs randomly selected by the iPod. Then, they duke it out, making a case for their musical selections. But, how do they know who is the winner? It is their music. If they like their music enough to go through the arduous process of taking it from a CD and putting it on an iPod, then they should like it enough to debate with someone over the subtle greatness of their choices.
Sometimes it’s obvious. If Michael Bolton pops up versus The Rolling Stones, then there is no debate. The only debate is why someone has Michael Bolton on the iPod in the first place. Simply skip it and move on to the next song. If you don’t feel it is necessary to listen to your entire song in a battle, the point is your opponent’s.
You have to like the song to go to the mat for it. Sometimes it is a draw, but this is okay. There are 10 songs to go through. Some songs are just as good as the last. Debates do not always have to be relevant to the music or artist. Tossing in stories about what happened to someone the last time that song was playing can also win a point. Choose the battles well, make the arguments clear, keep it above the belt, and have fun. Wouldn’t it be great if all war was this way?
