TCB

Why Can't We Be Friends?

The hottest thing going among local musicians right now isn't a new band or piece of gear, or even the new Harry Potter book, but rather the bizarrely addictive online community known as Friendster. Originally intended to be an online dating service, Friendster is instead a place for people to see who can get the most friends to browse the vast gallery of users for folks with similar interests and talk smack at levels that would make syndicated sports-talk host Jim Rome proud. Although most recognize Friendster's lighthearted nature, others take it very, very seriously. "Someone ran into one of their friends at a bar," relays former Media Kreep Stefanie Crock. "The guy came up to him and chewed him out for not approving his request for friendship yet!" Although Friendster appears to have little purpose other than offering an online form of six degrees of separation, it's become a form of computer crack all the same. "I log on throughout the day at work when I'm bored," relates Jackie Ono drummer Allyson Lipkin, while Adam Bork (better known as Earthpig) says, "I'm mildly unemployed right now, so I would say at least an hour a day, maybe two." Others have avoided having their lives taken over -- or so they say. "The whole damn Internet teamed up with TV has yet to pull that off," says Winslow bassist Justin Bankston, who swears he limits his Friendster time to 20 minutes a day. The site's bulletin boards are useful for advertising upcoming gigs and parties, but even more attractive are the testimonials that appear on each Friendster member's home page. "I get a huge kick out of writing these long, heartfelt testimonials for people I've never met," says Jon Sanchez of new outfit Jon Sanchez's Summer Wardrobe. "I can make up fanciful tales of car fires, lurid stories of pimping and beatdowns, leisure suits, canes, and capes. ... It's got me very inspired to write." Some of the most popular Friendster users, it turns out, aren't even real people. "I am friends with God, Triumph [the Insult Comic Dog], Klonopin, Vicodin, Lone Star, Cocaine, Marijuana, Everyone, and Drunk," affirms Moonlight Towers guitarist Jacob Schulze. Though he says he already spends more time on Friendster than downloading porn -- "so I guess that means a lot" -- Schulze, for one, still isn't satisfied. "I can't wait for Enemyster," he says. "I'll never have to leave the house." See what all the fuss is about at www.friendster.com.