Newsgroups: alt.slack
Subject: Why Things Eventually Suck
From: aieeee@huitzilo.tezcat.com (Dr. Derek Robb)
Date: 12 Nov 1997 11:24:35 GMT
Dave Lynch <twgs@thepoint.net> wrote:
: >were. Rap music once expressed rage, now it sells fast food. Jack
: >Kerouac is a curio. "Hippie" clothes are on sale at a mall near you.
: Here we come to the bottom of your complaint, and why any philsosophy
: you latch onto is bound to fail you. In fact the thing you are averse
: to is popularity itself; you seek things for their novelty rather than
: for their functionality.
Not necessarily. It's not *precisely* the popularity which "corrupts"
these things *directly*. From what i've observed, these things go through
some fairly consistent patterns. This pattern can pretty much be found in
the jazz record stores of the 40s, the coffeehouses of the 50s, the
longhair and unsanitary demeanor of the mid to late 60s, probably
something in the 70s, the punk clubs of the early 80s, and the internet
pre1995.
First, someTHING occurs, or exists. Almost by accident, some odd people
stumble across it, are attracted to it, find it resonates with 'em, what
have you. As they pursue this THING, they find others who are in pursuit
of this same THING. As time bores on, a social climate develops. This has
a rather peculiar quality about it, as in this social environment, ANYONE
you meet already has a high probability of having a certain set of things
in common with you, otherwise they woldn't be there in the first place.
So, friendships develop faster, people are more prone to talk to
strangers, arch-nemesis are found, social interaction generally takes on a
higher level of severity.
As time continues to do it's thing, this environment starts to grow, and
starts to be noticed by the rest of the world. People start coming into
these environments not for the same reason as the initial participants,
but for the purpose of the social interaction itself. As a consequence,
the odds of having that set of things in common with anyone else in that
environment decreases, the number of people increases, and the social
interaction is not notably different from interaction in the mundane
world/meatworld/normalvania/whatever you choose to call it.
An interesting side effect of this almost invariably pops up.. People
recognize the value it once had, recognize how the numbers of
participation grew and the value decreased, and fallaciously decide that
it's a *direct* effect. IE, if we accept fewer people, it can be made Good
Again. Just Like In The Good Old Days. So, these people become snobs, and
by doing so actually turn away people who would've been drawn to it before
this cycle really started taking off.
: "underground" "art thing" and an excuse to act weird. We're STILL an
: excuse to act weird
Who needs an EXCUSE to be weird?
: ways, we're called "sell-outs". Because the Church makes money, it's
: accused of becoming commodified. Hellfire, boy, the Church was a
: commodity in the FIRST PLACE! It's SUPPOSED to be rich and famous and
: popular. You think the stuff about wanting money is some sort of
: JOKE?
This particular feature is one thing particularly interesting about the
Church of the Subgenius.. the fact that . . . to a large extent, it was
'corrupt' by DESIGN.
As for the special social qualities retained in its more obscure days,
come now. Prove yourself WORTHY of the giant orbiting spinning salvation.
Sure, a dobbshead t-shirt isn't enough anymore. But, a dobbshead t-shirt
accessorized with a SHEEP'S HEAD on a STICK will pretty much do it.
Before, in the Good Old Days, just having his piped visage on your person
was evidence that you're "weird". Now, you have to make your weirdness
SELF-EVIDENT. I certainly can't consider this a bad thing.
One thing I did for plumage was paint "I will not obsess" 189 times down
the length of my leather duster jacket in tiny 1/4" letters. Sure, you can
rip off my idea and do it yourself, but you'll have to sit with a
paintbrush painting "i will not obsess" over.. and over.. and over.. and
if you weren't weird to begin with, that'll do a healthy bit of damage to
your head.
--
Lighting should be dramatic but not shadowy. |http://www.tezcat.com/~aieeee
Locations should be beautiful but not weird. |http://www.nutmeg.net
Clothing should be contemporary but not punk.|
We can go out of the ordinary, but CAN'T LIVE THERE