PopCult: April 2006 Archive Page

"Rock is so important to me," Harris said, gesturing to a cabinet where he files articles concerning all of the live shows he attends and detailed transcriptions of interviews with artists who live only blocks away. "If I couldn't write about music and collect music, I have no idea what I'd do instead."

The social misfits who chronicle rock seek not only to log facts, but also to influence public opinion about obscure rock issues, something most people care little about. --History Of Rock Written By The Losers (The Onion (Satire))

A member of a WOW guild suffered a stroke in real life and died. Her guildmates, knowing her only through the game, but nevertheless wanting to offer some remembrance for one of their own, decided to hold a memorial service in the game. A rival guild decided that would be a great time to show up and kill everyone. Hilarity ensued.

Now, is it sort of creepy and vaguely sad that a group of people elected to hold a virtual funeral? I'd say so. It lends a depressing weight to the stereotype of basement-dwelling gamers who can't function in the real world. In my opinion, it trivializes the real loss that this person's real-life loved ones feel. But saying gamers aren't the most socially adept subculture isn't going to surprise anyone, and the fact is, these people did have a relationship with the deceased, however unorthodox. You can't criticize someone for feeling grief simply because they haven't met the deceased in the physical world.

[..]

Is killing a person's avatar the same as killing a person? Of course not. It's not close. But it does have a real effect on that person. You are inflicting suffering upon someone else, even if only putting them through the tedium of building up another character. We have ways to describe people who get off on inflicting suffering on others. One of them is "sadistic." Another is "evil."--Joe Rybicki --The Real and the Semi-Real (1up.com)

The gathering was the monthly meeting of "Dorkbot," a loose forum for the exchange of creative technological ideas that is developing a cult following around the world.

[...]

Repetto has finished a project called "foal table." The idea originated in a request from a friend working on a theater production to design a table that transformed into a horse. Repetto watched videos of foals being born and carefully calibrated a mechanical table to make it walk in the awkward, stumbling manner of newborn horses.

"What it's supposed to do is ridiculous because it's a table and there is no reason for it to be walking," Repetto said.

The idea is therefore perfectly Dorkbot ? a name that Repetto says is meant to appeal to people who like to stand back and experience awe in technology and creativity. --'Dorkbot' Meetings Develop Cult Following

Reading this article made me go "Ahhh!" Now that's taking control of technology.

Project, to be penned by Abrams and "MI3" scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto OrciRoberto Orci, will center on the early days of seminal "Trek" characters James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, including their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and first outer space mission. --Trekkies have a new leader: 'Star' treatment for J.J. (Variety)

The fans, captain! They canna take much more o' this!

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." --Hunter S. Thompson --Hunter S. Thompson on the Music Business (QuoteDB.com)

Happy thought of the day.

CHERYL:
Wait a minute! Did you see that? An apple fell out of that tree!
[dramatic music; slow motion shot of falling apple]
This means there must be some sort of FORCE!

DARREN:
A force -- a gravitational force!

CHERYL:
Yes -- and wait a minute -- suppose the force stretched all the way to the moon!
Could that solve the problem?

VOICEOVER:
To check on her theory, Cheryl must now do some abstruse calculations?
[CUT to images of Cheryl scratching head, blowing wisps of hair out of eyes, staring into computer screen, scribbling copious mathematics on paper (speeding up to very fast pace at the end)]

{Producer's note -- use that Tensor Calculus maths stuff from the Einstein program, it looks really good}

CHERYL
(Throwing down pencil): Got it! Its the INVERSE SQUARE!
[CUT to large red-painted plywood square on studio floor. Enter four men in white coats, who turn it over]

PRESENTER:
Cheryl has found that an inverse square law of gravity can explain the path of the moon and the sun around the earth. The crystal sphere theory is finally laid to rest!

[CUT to slow motion shattering of glass globe. Hold 2 minutes.] --The Science Detectives (Lab Lit)

A great spoof of fluffy science lite TV shows, from a website that focuses on the literary representation of scientists.

Also known as yupster (yuppie + hipster), yindie (yuppie + indie), and alterna-yuppie. Our preferred term, grup, is taken from an episode of Star Trek (keep reading) in which Captain Kirk et al. land on a planet of children who rule the world, with no adults in sight. The kids call Kirk and the crew “grups,” which they eventually figure out is a contraction of “grown-ups.” It turns out that all the grown-ups had died from a virus that greatly slows the aging process and kills anybody who grows up.

[...]

“You have to have a little bit of Dora the Explorer in your life,” he says. “But you can do what you can to mute its influence.” Okay. “And there’s no shame, when your kid’s watching a show, and you don’t like it, in telling him it sucks.” Yeah! There’s no—wait. What? “If you start telling him it sucks, maybe he might develop an aesthetic.” Sorry, son. No more Thomas the Tank Engine for you. Thomas sucks. Stop crying. Daddy’s helping you develop an aesthetic. Now Daddy’s going to go put on some thunder music. --Up With Grups -- The Ascendant Breed of Grown-Ups Who are Redefining Adulthood (New York Mag.com)

Despite the retro-cool Star Trek reference, this essay is so absolutely not me. From the plastic lawn furniture in my study basement, the dining room table that's been home to a race car playset since I put it together three Christmases ago, to the inflatable ball pit in my living room (occupying the space vacated by the Christmas tree) to the Hello Kitty dollhouse on the coffee table, I am so not a Grup.

When I play Neverwinter Nights or The Elder Scrolls, my character -- usually a battle mage or a paladin -- is always "DaddyMan."

The article describes a pop-cult manufacturers fantasy world in which the arrival of children doesn't change people's lifestyle, or, more importantly, their spending habits.

My favorite music at home is my son's Suzuki practice CD. I really dig those "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" variations. But then again, I never was much into popular music.

And fashion? Fashion, my aunt fanny pack.

"It must be true. I read it on the internet." Au contraire, mon frere. Internet hoaxes have been around for as long as the internet itself, and we never run out of people willing to fall for them. --10 Best Internet Spoofs