书城外语英语PARTY——趣味拼盘
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第15章 Super Humour超级无厘头(3)

Piotr Orlov should be the most satisfied of the bunch: Since falling victim to a round of post-9/11 cutbacks at CMJ Network, a music company, he,s freelanced for Fox News; a clubworld freebie, Flyer; and VH1. “Relatively speaking, I have a lot going on,”Orlov says, “but somehow it,s still not enough, because I,ve got a mortgage to pay.”

In his few spare moments, Orlov often contemplatescontemplate v.凝视, 沉思, 预期, 企图 the fates of his chosen industries. The music business gets the lowest marks. “I have no idea how they,re going to come out the other side,”Orlov says. He,s slightlyslightly adv.些微地, 苗条地 more hopeful about print media: “There will always be media of some kind, whether it,s a lad mag or whatever.”

Back at the Virgin Megastore, Arye Dworken gets a call from MTV. “Put the CDs down,”he commands. “We,ve got to make it to MTV in five minutes.” Does a job interview with Viacom await? “No,” Dworken says sheepishly, “my friend at MTV wants me to upload some music onto his iPod.” We wait for Dworken,s friend at security, and minutes later he comes out of an elevator toting an iPod in a plastic bag.“What are you doing this week?” he asks. “Not much,” Dworken replies.

As we head for the escalator, Dworken mumbles, “One unit.”“Excuse me?”“Picking up the iPod was one unit,”he says impatientlyimpatiently adv.无耐性地, as if I should know better.“Didn,t you see About a Boy? Nick Hornby had the Hugh Grant character divide his life into units.You know, like one unit for a haircut.Since I,ve been unemployed, I divide these little errandserrand n.差事, 差使, 使命 into units. So picking up the iPod equals one unit.”

Our next destination is Midtown Comics, on Seventh Avenue and 40th Street. When we arrive, Dworken ducks his head as we pass the cash register.“It,s getting embarrassing,” he says in a whisper. “I think everyone knows me here.” Dworken lets me in on a secret: We,re here not only to pick out a gift for Sarah, the Spin editor, but to examine the store,s new comics, which arrive today. Another confession from the unemployed: Dworken knows when just about every store in town receives its new stock-from Barnes & Noble (Mondays) to Other Music (Tuesdays).“Since I,ve been unemployed, I,ve gotten this weird anxiety about going places,”he says, “so I feel better knowing what,s going to be there in advance.”

Back outside on Seventh Avenue, we hit present paydirt:a bootlegger selling new CDs. “Oh, man, he,s got 50 Cent,” Dworken says excitedly.“This is going to be great.” He hands the bootleggerbootlegger n.酿私酒者, 走私贩 5.“In my neighborhood, I can get them down to 4, but whatever.”He gives a thoughtful look.“You know, some people would say that buying a CD, even a bootlegged one, is an extravagance. But to me, it,s sort of like buying a big, expensive lunch. It may cost 15, but it,s going to be enough for dinner, too, so it,s more like 7 a pop.”

It,s becoming dark now, and Dworken has to get back uptown for his nightly ritual: writing on his laptop at the West 102nd Street Starbucks. As we head for the subway, he lets loose with another theory. “It,s the Flaming Lips theory,” he says, referring to the outré altrock band that formed in Oklahoma in 1983 but found its biggest success in 2002. “If you stay true to yourself and refine your art, in ten or fifteen years someone,s bound to notice.”

纽约城的下岗一族

他们胜任自己的工作,甚至绰绰有余。他们才华横溢,却遭遇下岗——有的被解聘过三、四次。由于音乐、时装、出版这些追赶时髦的产业优胜劣汰,竞争激烈,富有创新精神的年轻纽约人不知道自己千里迢迢为之而迁居纽约的工作是否会永远失去。

Arye Dworken对任何事情都有自己的一番见解。他对经济有可能经历二次衰退后才会复苏有一套理论;对我们是否会看到像出版和音乐这些行业倒闭也有说法。

现年27岁的Dworken是一名个体新闻记者兼广告撰稿人。在二月里一个刮大风的寒冷下午,他和我在时代广场上Virgin Mega商店的外面正聊着这些话题。“近来我一直在思考命运这个问题,”Dworken说道。他身材瘦小,留着邋遢胡子,操着的纽约人的口音,语调带着几分不走运的口气,上身着一件黑色的North Face牌滑雪衫,下面穿着牛仔裤。“我想有些人升到最高位置是有道理的。是什么道理呢?那就是:运气好、不惹别人不开心、保持欣赏别人的心态。”

Dworken 几次遭遇下岗的厄运,先是被Oxygen网络公司解聘,后来被一家他不愿意透露名称的机构解聘,最近,又被HBO公司解聘。每次下岗都让他体验到别样的苦涩与无奈。但一家广告公司做得最绝。“大约60个人,包括我,被带到公司自助食堂,”Dworken解释说。“CEO说,我们本来想一个挨一个让你们下岗的,但那样可能花的时间太多。”

做临时工作——偶尔为Spin这样的杂志撰稿——帮助Dworken交付与另三个人在郊区合租的四室公寓的房租。但是,即便是体力零活,例如在《体育画册》杂志社地下室给老照片的底片加条形码,也很难找到,更甭想在Dworken喜欢的行业找到工作。他说,所有这些岗位不可能等你去做。他补充说,“每次求职时听到的回答都是简历不错,我们真想录用你。但是,我们手上已经有400份简历了。有时我真觉得,找到我申请的一些工作比当上Lehman 兄弟公司的CEO还难。”

Arye Dworken独具个性,成了那次经济衰退重要的文化产物Slacker杂志上的人物。然而不知为什么,这次经济衰退不是闹着玩的。这不仅仅是日益逼近的对伊战争(1991年也是这样),而是装扮生活的那些产业——音乐、出版、互联网等等——使得纽约年轻人和下岗人员的乐观情绪变得阴沉暗淡了许多。这些工作本可以培养我们对机会的感觉,本可以让我们觉得自己所做的可以在这里做到也只有在这里做得到。然而,这样的工作正迅速从这个城市消失。

“我母亲把这些工作称作MTV 工作,”今年28岁的音乐记者Miranda Jane说。“从事音乐行业、出版业——这些工作人人都想做。正是为了这些工作,数以千计的人从世界各地千里迢迢来到纽约定居。” Jane最清楚:2000年1月,她迁居到纽约在Complex前卫杂志担任高级编辑,结果2002年8月就下了岗。

想要重返那些 MTV岗位其难度超出Jane的想像。“真令人吃惊,”她说。“我寄出几百份简历才获得一次面试机会。”许多人和Jane一样。“每当我去失业办事处时,”Jane说,“我都注意到许多人似乎想做媒体工作。”

Jane正在从广告自由撰稿人这份工作中争取到时间支付她在Williamsburg工作室公寓的房租。“我已经把道德和品位搁置一边,”她笑着说。“目前,我在前卫色情DVD公司干活。”

尤其是过去的几个月——先是便携式电脑摔坏,后来到另一家前卫杂志社工作,她原以为该工作是给她留的,结果给了公司内部一个职员——迫使Jane开始重新审视自己的职业抱负。“这次,我感到我一心想要从事的音乐和音乐新闻工作伤了我的心,”她说。“我有种感觉,今后杂志会追随唱片业。而唱片业会面临需求量的萎缩,于是,杂志社也会跟着裁员。”

今年28岁的Nevin Martell是Getmusic.com音乐网站的在线音乐制作人兼自由撰稿记者,2002年6月从高级制作人岗位上被解聘。奇怪的是,他的心情和Garrett如出一辙。“我谋求工作越来越难,” Martell 说。“竞争如此激烈。一家网站接待我时说:我们可以找一个年薪2万的大学毕业生来做这个工作。我很想工作,但我不能仅仅为了工作就与他们签合同。”

“同时在发生许多事情:经济不景气,战争一触即发,所有MTV产业风雨飘摇,” 在一家音乐公司任职、今年29岁的Lisa Garrett颇有同感地说。自从1997年迁居纽约以来,Garrett 先后在已停业的“Brownie,s”摇滚乐俱乐部任职,下岗,后又到独立摇滚乐Matador唱片公司任职,再下岗,最后去了市中心“Other Music”唱片商店至今。“我认为变化最终是有好处的,” Garrett说。“变化向人们提出挑战,使他们变得更富于创新。但是,我感觉事情重头再来时,已经是两种样子。”

接受未来经济困难时期使得眼前的日子十分难熬。“现在生活十分艰难,” Garrett继续说。“几次求职面试时,我看到每一个求职者都合格,甚至绰绰有余。我谈的都是低薪工作。” Garrett说,2002年8月下岗后,“有几个月情况好,有几个月很糟糕。不可思议的是,一月份的情况还算可以。我连续找到临时工作。”Garrett在Williamsburg与朋友合租一小套两室公寓缓解了经济负担,与如此多的失业人员一起在居住区无聊打发时光使他心理得到安慰。但是,她说可怕的迹象不断出现:“在过去的几个星期里,我认识的四个人全都下岗了。”她清了一下嗓子后说。“这太吓人了。”

像Garrett一样, Martell对于不太景气的未来几年听之任之。“我只好对自己说:未来五、六年日子的确很艰难。”他叹道。“现在,大多数人不能快速上网,因此,传输视频内容并不可行。这一定会改变,但少说也要过好几年。”他对音乐业的未来也不报信心。“这是个与兴趣不能对口的产业。”他愤愤不平地说。

Martell说,下岗使你身边多了些有共同语言的朋友。“现在,许多人日子都不好过。我想我们都已经认识到等几年再过好日子没关系。”然而,他和朋友都小心告诫自己不要在堕落中解闷放纵自己。“出去喝几杯酒要花100美元,” Martell说。“而且别去碰毒品。我认识的一半人已经戒了毒。不幸的是,下岗、看三级片、睡懒觉、吸大麻往往相伴而来。”