In a Bit of a Huff: John Mayer's Blog and MySpace

Okay, now I know that if a certain subsection of the folks who frequent John Mayer’s MySpace page get a whiff of this I might be virtually screwed if they lack a sense of humor as I'm hating big time in this one. I'm going to issue a caveat right here and now. This post is critical and mean. It's not critical and mean towards John Mayer, but his virtual groupies get quite a rant thrown at them. I just needed somewhere to vent and this is as good of a place as any.

This is the thing; I like the new direction this guy’s music has taken quite a bit. His first songs were excellent but decidedly reeking of groupie bait. Of course, a guy who sings a song called Your Body is a Wonderland is going to get a throng of sexually charged giggling girls trailing him around and swearing he’s the best thing since Richard Marx (see the VH1 link below for the reference). Now this is great for him being the currently single fellow that he is, but it’s hard trying to maintain a like for his music out of a fear of being categorized as a mindless Mayer groupie. So back in 2002, my music snob meter kicked in because I had no desire to have my friends point and laugh at me. Call it mainstream backlash as I probably would have not been so resistant had I heard him when he was building his career by playing in clubs.

However, when I heard Who Did You Think I Was on Yahoo! Music it was so damn good that, I swear, I literally stopped what I was doing and rushed to my computer to see who was singing this song. It reminded me of the blues inspired tunes that would sometimes pulsate through my home when I was growing up, and it was just a damn good song. To my surprise it was that guy I’d been avoiding showing me, and, a few others, that he could break it down with the best of them. He’d repackaged himself via the John Mayer Trio with Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino and that catapulted him to a new level of admiration. I actually ran out to the local record store and bought a copy of Try! the next day. This forced me to finally admit, okay maybe I did like Your Body is a Wonderland and Clarity…maybe.

In spite of the reports of a dreadful stand up comedy performance at NYC’s Comedy Cellar, John Mayer is damn funny and shows a wicked sense of humor in interviews and various other skits from Chappelle's Show to VH1’s John Mayer’s Has a TV Show pieces. So, in addition to being good at music he’s damn funny, self-effacing, makes fun of himself and his fans and seems to vibe on a similar vibe that me and my friends have. Let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised as I discovered I could groove to his music and laugh at his jokes. I'm from L.A. and have met a few celebrities. It's always nice when you get the feeling that the celebrity you admire for their work might also be a decent and engaging person.

This is just a long-winded way of saying I’m a recent John Mayer convert. However, I’m still grossed out on some level by the virtual groupie clamor around him. I’ve discovered that simply because I’m blogging like crazy means I’m exploring parts of the Internet I’ve been ignoring. While I'm surfing the net, I'm simultaneously listening to music which is leading me to all sorts of discoveries. This is how I developed an interest in MySpace and all of its weirdness. I’ve discovered the artist pages which I really like, most of the time. Now the John Mayer MySpace page is simply silliness, good, and stupidity, bad, at its finest. That judgment is not based on anything that John is posting because his stuff is usually very funny or non-eventful enough that you take it in, learn something and move on. It’s the virtual behavior of his fans on that site that makes you wonder if humanity doomed to destroy itself.

As I mentioned in my previous post "I Got a Woman" - Black Women and Negative Stereotypes, John Mayer has a new blog on his official website. Now, if you’re a silly and female, you don’t just read it and move on. You read it, flip the hell out and then commence to clog up the MySpace site with some of the dumbest comments ever which, for some reason, just irks me. I think part of it might be hoping that if John is looking at those comments he's laughing at them too because if he isn't, he's all ego. That would make him yet another celebrity I once liked but who has proven himself or herself to be a big asshole or worse a stone cold idiot.

What inspired this post was John’s Huff entry which he posted on July 13th. To be honest, so far I’m more interested in what Scotty Crowe, his road manager has to say than John. Come on, Scotty mentions the Zizou headbutt in his latest post and if you’ve been reading my blog you know I simply went nuts for this year’s World Cup tournament just as I went nuts being in a World Cup country in 2002. Yes, the US hosted it in 1994, but it was so boooooooooooooring. However, I digress. The point is any American male that shows the slightest interest in the World Cup is my friend and a potential drinking buddy. It's a great sport with hotter than hot men, so what's not to like? However, it could be more sinister than that as I’ve already established I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the realm of John Mayer fandom. I’m probably still reeling from admitting that I like John Mayer at all. Therefore, it just might be the case that gravitating towards Scotty’s blog over John’s is yet another attempt to distance myself from the groupie stupidity that makes me want to become a bulimic it turns my stomach so.

Basically, the Huff post talks about how he watched the first six episodes of the show and he literally cried his brains out. That’s touching, really, as I love men who can show their emotions and really loathe dudes who don’t cry or otherwise show emotion (just ask the guy I’m not talking to now what my biggest complaint was, it was his coldness). However, after that got posted the Mayer minions on MySpace went ape shit. It was all I can do not to make snide comments about how stupid the comments were. Even though it's inane at times, I do respect the purpose of that page and there is no need to start shit there. However, this is my blog, my space and I can blast anything I want!


I'll share some of the post-Huff comments. Oh, that's another thing, John has intentionally kept comments off of the new blog on his website. I have to admit I'm so damn happy he did that because whenever I pop over to the MySpace one and read the comments I'm like this . Upon leaving, I feel that I need to give myself an extra shot of insulin or have shock therapy after I read the crap that's posted there. Believe me, I now know to avoid that MySpace page after he posts something on his blog or else I'll be doomed to wade through stupid comment after stupid comment.

Here are some selections taken straight from the MySpace site after John's Huff post complete with my bitchy annotations:

• No way to go about this sans being blatantly obvious, John. I have some news about HUFF that should hydrate the soul. Straight from the higher-ups of corporate america. As mentioned earlier, elsewhere... refrain from driving with tear-swollen eyes in LA. I did that in Valencia and hit a clown. Albeit an air machine clown, nonetheless a hazardous venture. Reciprocate a comment should you want the specifics. That is all, carry on.

WTF? Since L.A. is where I was born and raised, and where I learned how to drive I have no fucking idea what this fool is talking about or she thinks is so damn funny about running into an air machine clown with a car.

• I read the damn reviews for huff about the boy shooting himself in his office and got a little emotional. You're so smart Mr. Mayer, and always sooooo dead on. How is it that you do that? Hmmm? What's your secret.

Again, WTF? He just might be smart, but you, my dear, probably are not.

• Ummm.... the picture of the cast of HUFF looks similar to the picture of you and the boys getting ready for the tour.....
  lol....

"lol"? Not...try again.

• Dear John,
  After reading your lastest blog, HUFF, I would like to send you a care package.
  The package contain a box of tissues, an old philosphy book that I haven't read, April Fresh Downy (along with the Downy ball) and some Bounce dryer sheets.
  Why am I sending you the laundry materials? I fear you may not be using the proper products when laundering your many T-shirts.
  What can I say, I'm a giver!
  Just let me know where I should send the Fed-Ex driver and your stuff will be on the way!

A philosophy book you haven't read? ...um that's already very clear.

Fabric softner? Is this really supposed to be cute? (context needed: in the Huff post he mentions watching while surrounded by static ridden t-shirts)

Good Lord, strike me down now...better yet, strike her down.

• John,Your blog was so touching! You are such the REAL DEAL my friend! I've just ordered the Huff series from Amazon! Thank you!

"...the REAL DEAL" because he wrote a review of a cancelled TV show? Now if he's the real deal it's because he's active in social causes, donates his time, as well as money, to those in need, and has something to talk about beyond the entertainment industry. Again, he very well might be the real deal, but I wouldn't conclude that from this post.

However, he's definitely the real deal to the folks getting royalties from this show because all of you are rushing to order the DVD.

• Okay now you have my curiosity up, i will have to watch Huff and see what could make a man cry like a baby.

Clearly, this one doesn't get out much and doesn't have many male friends.

• Heard of HUFF, wanted to tune in, but don't have showtime.I'm glad I never had it, cuz i'm no good at seeing shows I love get cancelled. Now if they've stop production cuz it has reach its prime, now that's ok, though not so ok.
  I've had quite a few shows that I liked got cancelled. Won't name names though *coughLoveMonkeycough* What? I liked all 3 episodes hands down!!

Come again? Please spare us all or, better idea, learn how to write.

• ...I read the blog on John's page and how touching, he cries.
  I don't know if I should laugh or feel sorry for you John cause you cried. I kid, I kid ;) I saw "Huff" once or twice but always fell asleep everytime cause it was past my bedtime or I was always on myspace ;) Haha! Anyhoo, thanks for sharing yourself with us and I will rent that DVD just to see if I bawl like a baby like you did ;)

Poser...enough said.

Now it's time for me to get into why I like John Mayer and go and listen to the first single from his upcoming album Continuum Waiting on the World to Change. It's a nice groove, and you know it's taken me a fair amount of effort to say that.

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