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Do you listen to Radiohead?

  
 
Rage
20:02 / 03.01.02
Here's a piece that I just finished. Let me know what you guys think. If it sucks, don't hesitate to let me know. If it's wonderful, don't hesitate to let me know either.

Do you listen to Radiohead?

Do you listen to Radiohead? Do you define yourself by the music that you listen to? Are you part of a subculture? Do you believe that the kid wearing the Atari shirt is more of an individual than the kid wearing the Tommy Hilfiger shirt? Have you talked about matters like this with your friends? Do you have any friends? Do you have any friends that would stick around if you listened to Britney Spears? Do you like Britney Spears? Do you like Radiohead? Do you think that Radiohead is "us" and that Britney Spears is "them"? Did you get sick of all those Amnesiac advertisements? Do you think that the concept of "us" and "them" actually exists? Does Thom Yorke?

Do you come up with new ideas on philosophical matter, or do you repeat other peoples ideas in new shapes and formats? Do you think that you're cool? Do you think that you're enlightened? Did you cry on September 11th? Do you think that America was asking for it? Do you wish there would be a draft so you could protest it like the hippies? Do you wish that marijuana was legal? Would you want to pass a joint to a guy who would only smoke it if it was?

Do you think that you're smarter than your average person? Do you think that you're average? Do you think that some people are more average than others? Do you think that most people are stupid? Do you think that stupid people can help being stupid? Do you think that ignorant people can help being ignorant? Are you ignorant? Are you ignorant towards your own ignorance? Do you value the opinion of the kid who worships Fight Club more than the kid who worships Titanic? Do you have opinions on other peoples opinions? Do you believe that there is a right and a wrong? What if the kid who worshiped Fight Club was wearing a Tommy Hilfiger shirt, and the kid who worshiped Titanic was wearing an Atari shirt? Would your opinions on their opinions now change?

Do you think that you're hip? Do you think that you're special? Do you think that you're in the 1-5%? What percentage of the population would you say thinks they're in the 1-5%? Are you part of society? Do you say the word "society" a lot? Is social commentary trendy? Is Britney Spears? Is Radiohead?

Is it right to assume that there is no right and wrong? Is the belief that everything is relative a relative belief? Is it possible to form a group of individuals? Is the jock with a passion for football worth talking to? Is the cop with a passion for arresting football players?

Do you live in your own reality? Do you have conversations about living in your own reality with other people? Are these people cool? Are they enlightened? Are they hip? Are they special? Are they in the 1-5%? Is this relative?

Is the opinion of Liberal #54701 more important than the opinion of Racist #41922? If we all have our own perspectives, how can the liberal's opinion be anymore important than that racist's? Are you racist? Are you racist towards racists? Do you judge the judgmental?

Are there any perspectives that are socially unacceptable? Is hate a perspective? Is sexual attraction to a 4 year old? Where to you draw the line? Have you drawn the line yet? Have you crossed it? Does it exist? Do you think that those who are sexually attracted to 4 years olds choose to be?

If there are so many socially unacceptable perspectives, can we truly claim to be free? Are we free? Is Britney Spears? Is Thom Yorke?

Are you a cyber kid? Are you emo? Are you punk? Are you a social commentator? Are you trendy? Do you fit in with those who don't fit in? Are you a DJ? Are you a free thinker? Is it possible to truly free your mind? What's on your mind? Do you mind when kids define themselves by the music they listen to? Is their music any of your business? Is another country's government any of America's business? Do you plan to start your own business? Do you plan to start your own subculture?

Is it cool to be cool? Is it cool to be enlightened? Is is cool to be hip? Is it cool to be special? Is it cool to be in the 1-5%? Do you think the 1-5% actually exists? Does Thom Yorke? Do you listen to Radiohead?
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
20:12 / 03.01.02
Well, if you want an opinion, I'll give you one.

It's very 'high school poetry'... not in the 'depressed goth' sense, or the 'flowers and angels' sense, or the 'when I look at the world' sense.... it's a particular strain of high school poetry typical of smarter kids who have a terrible selfrighteous streak to them. I do believe I've penned a few of those back when I was in high school too. I'm a bit biased when I say that as far as bad high school poetry goes, it's one of the better kinds. I've edited enough high school literary magazines, been to enough youth writing conferences and poetry readings to know that I've read that piece before, a few dozen times over. You can write things like that with different topics as if they were mad libs or something...

Don't be offended or anything, as far as these things go, it is pretty decent. It's certainly not my taste.
 
 
Rage
20:15 / 03.01.02
Thanks for being honest. Hey, I'm technically supposed to be a high school senior now. Heh.
 
 
The Strobe
09:11 / 04.01.02
I'm going to be honest.

It's bad. Well, it's bad in that I don't like it, and I really don't like it.

It doesn't sound like an article or piece of writing of any form. It sounds like an advert that's gone on too long.

Very clever. You clearly listen to Radiohead. But you've just ansked a load of rhetorical questions of which most are, well, completely uninteresting and I wouldn't want to answer anyway. The rest... I'd answer, but I'd eventually walk off because I'm fed up of being asked questions. So: I propose, like in Jepoardy!, to answer questions that aren't there.

You listen to Radiohead. You've watched too much Fight Club. You've read too many magazines with jumpy text that are completely illegible and yet clearly "hip". You read Barbelith, but have tipped over the edge of sanity into thinking that EVERYTHING's a conspiracy. It's not. The voices on the end of your phone, they're not conspiracy, they're your parents calling you up to check you're OK. You're not as old as you think you are, and you're not as young as you used to be. (shit. that bit was bad, it was almost as good as your stuff). You are, in short, taking things FAR TOO SERIOUSLY WHILST SIMULTANEOUSLY MISSING THE FUCKING POINT ALL THE TIME.

Still reading? OK. I'm now going to be serious, and explain my reaction, and why it sounds like i was shouting and waving my hands around. It's bad, no question of that, but it's no worse than anything I've written. What gets me is the genre, the type of thing it is. It's "clever". Not clever. "Clever". It's clever to your average, uninterested highschool kid, but to anyone with an understanding of the themes you're looking at, like, say, most 'lith readers (because this place is about countercultures, even if I'm as countercultural as U2), it smacks of yawnsome adolescent misinterpretation.

Your tone is very, VERY self-confident. You offer questions that are unanswered... and yet it sounds like secretly, YOU know the answer. You're writing with a smug grin on your face, as if you're convinced you can't be upbraided for this. You're expecting stunned silence. What you DON'T want is someone to raise their hand and start laying into you about Pynchon and misinformation and conspiracy theories and just what the hell's going on in America today. Not because you don't know anything about that, no, but because suddenly it's proven that what you're doing isn't that remarkable. And then the bubble bursts.

Try it again. Don't preach so much. What you want to get across is interesting, and worth saying, but I'm NOT a fan of the questions-format at ALL. You don't want to ask the questions, the reader will just go "oh. She knows the answers", and leave it.

You want THEM to ask the questions. Ask them some. Make them ask more.

[ 04-01-2002: Message edited by: Paleface ]
 
 
rizla mission
13:52 / 04.01.02
Well I liked it.

Maybe not every single individual part of it exactly, but I'm generally in favour of these long-series-of-question thingys. They're a good, straightforward way of trying to make people question the way they think, spinning their minds off in new directions and undermining complacency.

Ok, the issues raised aren't terribly mindblowing to us, but then .. this is Barbelith for chrissakes, we're supposed to eat avant garde debates on the future of post-modernism for breakfast (allegedly). Preaching to the converted and all that.

If you were looking for a screed to leaflet bomb cities with and throw at random school children, you could do a lot worse..

(The only bit I'd take issue with is;
quote:
Do you come up with new ideas on philosophical matter, or do you repeat other peoples ideas in new shapes and formats?

because
a. it slightly patronizingly suggests that you, the author, DO come up with new ideas
and
b. 99.9% of philosophers repeat other peoples ideas in new shapes & formats anyway.)

But then, <glares daggers at Paleface and Flux>, I'm not a grown up yet, so what the hell do I know?
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
14:07 / 04.01.02
Right. Off to your room for that surliness, young Riz! But then, I happen to agree with Flux and Paleface...
 
 
The Strobe
15:05 / 04.01.02
quote:Originally posted by Rizla Year Zero:
But then, <glares daggers at Paleface and Flux>, I'm not a grown up yet, so what the hell do I know?

I would like to point out that apart from in the eyes of the law in my country, I'd hardly call myself grown up.
 
 
cusm
15:23 / 04.01.02
Sure, its at high school mentality. Guess what? The majority of adults don't get a whole lot further than high school mentality, either. You are spoiled by the internet and your intellectual aquaintances. Sure, this isn't going to shake up anyone on Barbelith. But it might shake up your mom. And that makes it worthwhile. Know your audience.

It pointed out a lot of intellectual traps we fall into, ways we become self rightous and stop seeing things as they are. I enjoyed it.

For this audience though, I would use less mainstream media examples, and more abstract and philosophical ones. When you tie to media icons and events, you tie to one culture and time period. If you can escape that, you can write something that will continue to be accessible a thousand years from now. Timeless writing is its own niche, and would suit these ideas well.

However, I don't think that was entirely your intention with this one. This is pop writing, for a pop audience. Were I to give a useful suggestion, it would be to redo it with that in mind, so you can better target the group you have in mind as an audience. Then, don't try to present it much further than that audience, or people will only tear it up like a bad Britney Spears album.
 
 
Rage
09:41 / 05.01.02
I expected this here. This is barbelith, a place with very high standards. I love it here, because I feel so inferior that it's fucking beautiful. When I say that barbelith has killed my elitism, I'm not kidding in the slightest. I'm amongst the extrmeley gifted and talented in this place. I, too, am gifted and talented. (with papers from grade school to prove it) Now I know that I'm a hypocrite who trys to be intellectually hippa by claiming that there are no excuses for making excuses, but I am the youngest person here with the exception of genius boy Pin. I'm willing to bet that the majority of the people who post here have already had every line crossing obscure conversation and weird spiritual connection that I have, times 3927.

All of my friends and aquanitinces (sp?) thought that "Do you listen to Radiohead" was amazing, and are all on my ass about getting what they would refer to as this revolutionary piece of material published. None of them are in high school. Most of them are in their mid 20's. I wish that someone would have written something like this in any of the 15 high schools that I went to, because it would have no doubt have restored my faith in my peers. I never knew a high schooler that wrote anything like this. Ever.

What is the point that I am trying to make here? That I appreciate getting feedback from you guys, no matter how negative it is. It's inspiring. Thank you.

In a world where my current friends (who are somewhat alternative people that think that they're intellectual because they're not robotic entity's) call "Do you listen to Radiohead?" revolutionary, it's a refreshing breath of air to hear this constructive criticism.

I no longer compare myself to the masses, thinking that I'm So Fucking Cool. I now compare myself to the wiser, realizing that I am an average non-average person who has a lot of learning to do.
 
 
Francine I
09:41 / 05.01.02
I feel the need to post this. So, I will.

Rage -- you've done a lot of growing since you've shown up. Now, don't get me wrong -- I can tell that some of this shit is posturing.

But that's ok.

'Cause, see, you're reaching. And that ought to be applauded. At least, I think so. I definately appreciate the modification of your focus from 'viva la revolution!' to the more open: 'Uh.. What's all this about a revolution?'. So, yeah. What 'Cusm said. This isn't exactly earth-shattering for me. What's earth-shattering is that you put it up with the intention of growing from the criticism you were almost guarunteed to receive.

I put up an article a while ago that Todd roundly tore apart. Of course, I still have my points, and he still has his, but I didn't handle his rebuttal with any sort of grace. I felt fucked with, and acted accordingly. That was quite immature of me. And that's alright, too -- providing I handle similar situations differently in the future. So, being on both sides of the criticism fence, I have to congratulate you for your willigness to listen to criticism. The piece is good, but the attitude is better.
 
 
Molly Shortcake
09:41 / 05.01.02
Do you listen to Radiohead? No

Do you define yourself by the music that you listen to? No

Are you part of a subculture? yes

Do you believe that the kid wearing the Atari shirt is more of an individual than the kid wearing the Tommy Hilfiger shirt? No

Have you talked about matters like this with your friends? yes

Do you have any friends? yes

Do you have any friends that would stick around if you listened to Britney Spears? yes

Do you like Britney Spears? kinda

Do you like Radiohead? no

Do you think that Radiohead is "us" and that Britney Spears is "them"? no

Did you get sick of all those Amnesiac advertisements? don't pay them any attention

Do you think that the concept of "us" and "them" actually exists? sometimes

Does Thom Yorke? dunno

Do you come up with new ideas on philosophical matter, or do you repeat other peoples ideas in new shapes and formats? dunno

Do you think that you're cool? I know I'm cool

Do you think that you're enlightened? not currently

Did you cry on September 11th? no

Do you think that America was asking for it? define "america"

Do you wish there would be a draft so you could protest it like the hippies? no

Do you wish that marijuana was legal? would be nice

Would you want to pass a joint to a guy who would only smoke it if it was? don't smoke it myself

Do you think that you're smarter than your average person? yes

Do you think that you're average? no

Do you think that some people are more average than others? yes

Do you think that most people are stupid?
yes

Do you think that stupid people can help being stupid? too much effort involved in thinking

Do you think that ignorant people can help being ignorant? no, hence 'ignorance'

Are you ignorant? yes

Are you ignorant towards your own ignorance? yes

Do you value the opinion of the kid who worships Fight Club more than the kid who worships Titanic? yes

Do you have opinions on other peoples opinions? yes

Do you believe that there is a right and a wrong? sometimes

What if the kid who worshiped Fight Club was wearing a Tommy Hilfiger shirt, and the kid who worshiped Titanic was wearing an Atari shirt?

I'd be like fuck you, you fronting little piece of shit, I fucking grew up with Atari, Just try to play Raiders of the Lost Ark, I bet you can't even figure out what the fucking graphics are susspossed to be, just try cycling through your inventory with one god damn button, And don't even get me started on E.T, your punk ass couldn't get E.T out of one hole! And I'll fucking kick your ass in any fighting game BITCH!

Would your opinions on their opinions now change? no

Do you think that you're hip? no

Do you think that you're special? that's what they tell me

Do you think that you're in the 1-5%? of what?

What percentage of the population would you say thinks they're in the 1-5%? of what

Are you part of society? yes

Do you say the word "society" a lot? no

Is social commentary trendy? yes

Is Britney Spears? yes

Is Radiohead? yes

Is it right to assume that there is no right and wrong? no

Is the belief that everything is relative a relative belief? yes

Is it possible to form a group of individuals? no

Is the jock with a passion for football worth talking to? I wouldn't know until I talked to him

Is the cop with a passion for arresting football players? see above

Do you live in your own reality? yes

Do you have conversations about living in your own reality with other people? no

Are these people cool? yes

Are they enlightened? no

Are they hip? no

Are they special? i think so

Are they in the 1-5%? of what?

Is this relative? yes

Is the opinion of Liberal #54701 more important than the opinion of Racist #41922? Are you by any chance a nihilist?

If we all have our own perspectives, how can the liberal's opinion be anymore important than that racist's?

Are you racist? yes

Are you racist towards racists? yes

Do you judge the judgmental? sometimes

Are there any perspectives that are socially unacceptable? yes

Is hate a perspective? No. it's an emotion

Is sexual attraction to a 4 year old? no, it's a primal urge

Where to you draw the line? where ever i see fit

Have you drawn the line yet? yes

Have you crossed it? yes

Does it exist? yes

Do you think that those who are sexually attracted to 4 years olds choose to be?
some, partly

If there are so many socially unacceptable perspectives, can we truly claim to be free? sure, you can claim anything

Are we free? ............

Is Britney Spears? Britney Spears is owned by Walt Disneys croyogenicly frozen head. her womb is used as an incubator for his cloned body

Is Thom Yorke? who?

Are you a cyber kid? Are you emo? Are you punk? I am a cyber punk

Are you a social commentator? I am now

Are you trendy? no

Do you fit in with those who don't fit in? no

Are you a DJ? no

Are you a free thinker? no

Is it possible to truly free your mind? that's what MTV says

What's on your mind? pure energy

Do you mind when kids define themselves by the music they listen to?
not really

Is their music any of your business? 'their' music?

Is another country's government any of America's business? they don't call it globalism for nothing

Do you plan to start your own business?
don't know

Do you plan to start your own subculture?
no

Is it cool to be cool? cool

Is it cool to be enlightened? no

Is is cool to be hip? it's hip to be square

Is it cool to be special? no

Is it cool to be in the 1-5%? why can't math be cool?

Do you think the 1-5% actually exists?
yes, pecentages are true to their value system

Does Thom Yorke? Do you listen to Radiohead? Who? No.
[/LIST]

[ 05-01-2002: Message edited by: Ice Honkey Evil Malcontent Hedgehog ]
 
 
Molly Shortcake
09:41 / 05.01.02
before anyone gets the wrong idea, my previous post is in tounge in cheek. Not the Atari part.
 
 
bio k9
09:41 / 05.01.02
Hi Rage.

I don't really have anything constructive to add about Do You Listen to Radiohead? so I'll just stick to your second post. I know I harp on stuff and have a way with words thats not exactly um, gentle (thanks dad!) and I'm sure you're tired of hearing my criticisms by now but I'm bored so what the hell, you can't vandalize my car over the internet...

I, too, am gifted and talented. (with papers from grade school to prove it)

Said in jest, I hope. Everyone I know was a grade school genius. We're all idiots now.

All of my friends and aquanitinces (sp?) thought that "Do you listen to Radiohead" was amazing, and are all on my ass about getting what they would refer to as this revolutionary piece of material published.

Be thankful you have supportive friends. I once dated a girl who had nothing but criticism for my artwork. All my other friends loved my stuff (one even gave my a fender jazz bass in exchange for a painting). But it was her opinion that mattered because A) she was my girlfriend and B) she was a great writer and an incredibly creative person. At least you can turn this place off if it gets to be too much.

None of them are in high school. Most of them are in their mid 20's.

Drop outs? Not that it really matters as twelve years of formal education can have little impact on a persons actual knowledge. But as you continue your schooling (I'm thinking college now) you have to read more, join more discusion groups, and expose yourself to different views and opinions (if only to learn how to crush them).

I wish that someone would have written something like this in any of the 15 high schools that I went to, because it would have no doubt have restored my faith in my peers. I never knew a high schooler that wrote anything like this. Ever.

What kind of fucking schools did you attend? What the hell did people write about?

<off topic> Do you regret switching schools so often? Did you ever have time to make friend at any of those schools? Did you write anything like Do You Listen to Radiohead when you were in those schools? If so, how did people respond? If not, why? Maybe you could have restored someone elses faith in their peers. </off topic>

In a world where my current friends (who are somewhat alternative people that think that they're intellectual because they're not robotic entity's) call "Do you listen to Radiohead?" revolutionary, it's a refreshing breath of air to hear this constructive criticism.

Arrrrrgh! I hate "alternative" tm & (c)1992 people. Alternative to what? Where do these "alternative" people come from, BiZzaRo WorLd? The robots don't think they're robots! The worst thing about yuppies? I can't get around their SUVs on the freeway. The worst thing about street punks? I can't get around their sleeping bags on the sidewalk. Same fucking difference.

I no longer compare myself to the masses, thinking that I'm So Fucking Cool. I now compare myself to the wiser, realizing that I am an average non-average person who has a lot of learning to do.

Its important to make sure you never hold yourself to whatever you consider the lowest common denomonator. Set high goals and expectations. But remember that everyone has flaws, even your heros. Its just harder to see them. Anyway, keep writing and start posting more often damnit.

ttfn.
 
 
The Strobe
09:41 / 05.01.02
It's spelt entities, dear. There's no posession going on there. You'd better check up on your grammar if you continue with this writing lark.

Of course they think it's clever. Everyone thinks that stuff that looks clever IS clever. It's when people deflate that that it all goes wrong. If you give stuff to people who offer nothing but praise, they will never give you good criticism. Whenever I give stuff to friends to read, I say "BE REALLY CRITICAL." And they go "OK" and I say "no, I'm not giving you this because I'm proud of it, I want CRITICISM."

Criticism is a specific art, not just going "yeah I like this" or "this fucking sucks", which is why we've given you constructive criticism. Plus, you were asking for it. In every sense of the sentence.

And youth is no excuse for anything. People often append criticism with "remarkable for someone so young, and that's why we can forgive the fact it's a bag of shite". If you want to play with the big boys, you take big boy criticism. The youth factor is what you begin criticism with, not what you pin it on. If they're writing good stuff when they're young, they'll be better when they get older. So that's what you should do. Write more, better, rather than rest on your youth to hold you up. Believe me, when you hit college age, your twenties, you'll realise how much competition there is.

For anything, not just writing. Are you serious about writing (ie career or part of career, such as journalism) or doing it because you like it/have to? I'm curious, it'll help me be more useful in responding in future.

[ 05-01-2002: Message edited by: Paleface ]
 
 
Tom Coates
11:42 / 05.01.02
Honestly? Although I agree with the sentiment that you at times make it sound like you've got the answers to these questions, and you clearly haven't, because there are some fucking huge ones dropped in there, I basically agree with Riz - drop this on all the schoolyards in America and you might actually start some people thinking a little. Which would be nice.

In my experience, all the questions worth asking are asked for the first time during people's teenage years. The fact that the questions themselves are well known and that the asking of them is a peculiarly teenage thing doesn't stop them being worth answering or investigating further - nor does it stop it being a valuable thing for teenagers to do....
 
 
moriarty
12:18 / 05.01.02
While I can't say that I was horribly impressed by your piece (I had trouble getting through it all) I'd like to second Frances' applause for your reaction to the criticism so far. The old Rage wouldn't have been so willing and open to some of the comments made here. Of all the members of the board, I'd say you've changed the most, in a good way.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
13:27 / 05.01.02
So how come Rage is getting kicked from pillar to post and yet some of the fingernail abortions in "Daily Poetry" are allowed to flap their deformed non-arms unmolested?
 
 
Molly Shortcake
15:13 / 05.01.02
Your post did get me thinking about my contradictions Rage. Mission accomplished.

It very much reminded me of Jean Baudrillards nihilism of value theory; politics, science, morality, etc have no meaning outside their perceived value systems.

[ 05-01-2002: Message edited by: Ice Honkey Evil Malcontent Hedgehog ]
 
 
bio k9
16:04 / 05.01.02
So how come Rage is getting kicked from pillar to post and yet some of the fingernail abortions in "Daily Poetry" are allowed to flap their deformed non-arms unmolested?

Well, one of the things that I really hate is the belief that the masses are stupid, worthless cattle. Its a comforting belief when youre a teenager, especially if you've been fucked over by people in authority and Rage seems to believe it almost as much as I did at her age. And that, I think, is the problem for me- its a belief that I shared until I realized how wrong it was and now I just can't let it slide. I also think shes an interesting person so I tend to respond to her threads more than I do those of other people. And I think an attempted social commentary like Do You Listen to Radiohead deserves more attention than a poem about how life sucks because you got dumped. Fair enough?
 
 
Tryphena Absent
22:18 / 05.01.02
The problem with questions of such a nature is, primarily, that they lead to more questions and I actually enjoyed reading this and while agreeing with most of the criticism I think that sometimes, as a reader, it is important to view emotionally rather than intellectually. What you've written is good in some ways, the way you begin the questions is nice because of the way you've matched up sounds, it gives everything a nice kick and makes it accessible.

My own problem here is with definition because words like 'average' shouldn't really exist within an intelligent piece of writing. You have to back ideas up with information and when you don't do that they are, well, undefined. You don't ask what is average? That's really an important question when you're writing a piece that's completely constructed of questions.

I'd like to point out (in a thread rotting frame of mind) that criticism's an interesting subject in itself. After all those that call others smug are often those that sound smug themselves.


Actually I like Radiohead... subculturally though I don't know: bit of a druggie, indie/hardhouse/drum n bass bitch and I used to be a goth.
 
 
Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo
01:09 / 06.01.02
The best thing about this board is that it IS a bit more intelligent than the average message board. I come here to get information, my thoughts challenged and to get posts that I can't believe people bat out on a daily basis.

I trotted around on other message boards as I healed from my most recent break-up, and JESUS GOD there are a lot of fuckwits out there with internet accounts. God Save Us From Comicon.com message boards....

And Rage, the fact that you take the help AS help speaks more than your peice did.
 
 
Rage
19:06 / 09.01.02
Word.
 
 
lovelily
01:47 / 24.01.02
so, i'm new here and stumbled upon this critique of Rage's. my honest reaction: i agree that it is completely high school drama- you really didnt write anything shocking. to me, it got annoying because you seem to be so self involved, its like, who cares? i have nearly driven myself crazy thinking too much about the same sort of rambling Rage posted. when it all comes down to it, do you really think it makes a difference that some kid wears an atari shirt and one wears a tommy? i mean really! you are sitting at your computer, probably some little upper middle class kid indulging in the rantings and ravings- these ideas you feel are so revolutionary. do you have to worry about finding a descent place to sleep? are you starving? did you wake to find you can no longer see or hear or walk? there is so much going on in this sick withering world and all you can do is stand up against those abercrombie and fitch idiots? "are you as cool as me because i like fight club?" get over yourself. but hey, whatever makes you happy- gets you through until the end...
 
 
deja_vroom
01:47 / 24.01.02
By Haus: quote:So how come Rage is getting kicked from pillar to post and yet some of the fingernail abortions in "Daily Poetry" are allowed to flap their deformed non-arms unmolested?

I was thinking about this lately. It seems that when someone stops by at the "Daily Poetry" thread it's all "Ooh poetry, isn't it cute?? There you go!!". Which, er, adds nothing. And tends to get annoying really fast. (This doesn't happen all the time. Just sometimes)

Perhaps that's because cap. Zoom estated in the beginning that the thread was primarily for exercitating his creative muscles, and he even said "mock if you want" etc, thus rendering the thread impervious to literary analisys.
Which is like, fine.
But then, perhaps we should start a "Rape Us WIth Burning Marlinspikes" poetry thread specifically for analising/criticising our poetry (and perhaps I should be posting this there, not here).

[ 24-01-2002: Message edited by: Marquis de Jade ]
 
 
No star here laces
10:20 / 24.01.02
I think this is really interesting.

As in the whole dynamic of this thread as a 'criticism' forum.

As Frances pointed out, it is very brave to put something up and let Barbelith criticise it for you considering what some of the people here are like when they get going. And it's also true that it's much easier to criticise than it is to come up with something that can't be criticised.

Wouldn't it be funny if each week some 1000+ posts old hand member had to post up a piece of creative writing they were proud of for criticism?

Might level the field a bit, no?
 
 
Haus about we all give each other a big lovely huggle?
10:25 / 24.01.02
I think freeform criticism of this kind is a dangerous and often largely unprofitable venture. Which is why I have not become involved in the critical process. But I do enjoy the idea of coercing old hands into submitting work whether they like it or not, and indeed whether they write or not.

Who's been here longest? Ganesh? Care to start?
 
 
Francine I
10:46 / 24.01.02
Yeah. What Lyra and Haus said.
 
 
Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo
00:32 / 25.01.02
One idea I had was to post the start of a story, and anyone who wanted to could finish it. Not like a narrative corpse, but more a "challenge".

I got the idea from looking over when a bunch of us on GEnie (you know...pre-www bulleting boards) would do it once in a while and the results were amazing in how each person took the story someplace totally different.

I haven't been here the longest, but if anyone is insterested, I could kick it off.
 
  
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