Essay Jukebox
Boingboing's current guestblogger Paul Spinrad is currently Projects Editor for MAKE magazine and the author of The VJ Book and The Re/Search Guide to Bodily Fluids. He lives in San Francisco.
I have just a few days left of guestblogging and more ideas than I can fit, so here's a list of some. For all of them, I'm thinking super-short here, just a few paragraphs each, outlining the "and here's why..." part. If you want to read any of these, please post in the Comments, and I'll write them up. Just one reader's expression of interest is enough to put me to work, and if no one cares, I'll pick myself.
A) What is a crackpot?
B) My cynical Public Service Announcement campaign idea to get more people to major in Science and Engineering.
C) Was Jesus a comedian?
D) Guys need a coming-of-age ritual that has some teeth, like exist in other cultures.
E) We need a communications language standard for networked devices, and why this is more of a social/political problem than a technical problem.
F) Control vs. Love: breadth-first, top-down vs. depth-first, bottom up search strategies that work in opposition.
G) Some countries "get" rock 'n' roll better than others.
H) Poetry will become popular again.
I) "Method" acting changed the role of celebrity in all cultural disciplines, starting in the late 1940's.
J) The 6th-8th Century Iconoclast Controversy in Eastern Europe has fantastic dramatic potential.
K) Where there is vice, there is connoisseurship.
L) Laughter and crying serve to carve new cognitive pathways in a hurry.
M) Styles of dress follow people's differing views of human perfectability.
the latest
latest episodes
Laughter and crying, please. I was under the impression via Joni Mitchell that they were the same release.
I'd love to read more about A, B, and F
PSA for sci./eng.
coming-of-age ritual
rock 'n' roll
"L"
What an interesting list! I'm particularly interested in thoughts about a coming of age ritual in Western Culture.
B. For the like of goodness, B.
A & C please!
A,B,C,D I and J.
B, C, D, F, L, M.
though i would read them all.
...i guess i'm probably most interested in C...
"Method Acting" as it opens up the opportunity to vent why I can not suspend disbelief when I see the same 15 people on screen.
Holy shit! Tom Hanks, the big man with one red shoe, has been castaway and, in an effort to save Private Ryan, coached the Rockford Peaches to an All American League championship and still had time to work his way out of a money pit and identify the descendant of Jeebus.
L my good sir.
I'm with #3 -
PSA and coming of age please!
K) Where there is vice, there is connoisseurship.
Especially in comparison to connoisseurship of the non-vice.
Others already voted for F and L, so I'll put in votes for I and M.
D and H together, but if just one, go with M
I suspect all of your topics will get votes. =D
I'm most curious about D and F.
D: You mean like gang initiation? Some social strata, sub-groups of American culture do have some pretty toothy coming-of-age rites, for better or worse. Are you talking about every "guy", or just certain ones?
F: I'd love to understand my search strategies in terms of Control vs. Love! =D
A, B, C, D, G all sound cool.
Not H; it's already happened. Rap is poetry.
With #3: PSA, CoA Ritual, Rock'n'Roll
I'd like to see a good exposition of L).
F and M!
Just J.
I'm interested in B, but mostly because I think too many people are getting shoveled in that direction that shouldn't/don't want to be there, and am curious what your take is.
M G H I B ..in that order :)
I am most interested in learning what you have to say about items L and M.
A, C, and G, all tread already familiar territory (no offense meant) and frankly I'm not interested in the usual slog that discussion comments would likely incur.
D is my favorite, and I'm actually really excited about that one. I'd also like to learn more about J, and L.
A, D, G
C) Was Jesus a comedian? because I had a comparative religions teacher in 10th grade who said he was and pointed out various jokes Jesus told. Honestly, though, "on this rock I'll build my church" was a lame-ass pun.
D
E
F
M
In that order =)
D and K both sound interesting. . . especially if you contrast the ways people already "come of age" in our culture. . . .
being one that is involved in creating a particular type of vice, i'd be interested in seeing how you approach that sort of essay.
G I J M
Was Jesus a comedian?
Q: What were Jesus' last words on the cross?
A: Hey, I can see my house from here!
Jesus definitely had a sense of humor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT4FZUZz2kU
H) Poetry will become popular again.
Twitter, anyone? Facebook updates? I see a perfect platform...
Was Jesus a comedian? please
Who could hear "Be ye perfect" and keep a straight face?
"Poetry will be popular" again is also very funny.
"Rap is poetry." is even funnier.
A, B, K
B: Yes, most needed.
J: tell me more...
L: makes sense, but I'd like details.
I would love to read your take on D, I actually have a friend that is going through one right now. Of course he is 35+ but he is doing one.
And k, where there is vice... I would really be into hearing about that too.
I would love to read your take on D, I actually have a friend that is going through one right now. Of course he is 35+ but he is doing one.
And k, where there is vice... I would really be into hearing about that too.
C please!
May I have some '"Method" acting changed the role of celebrity in all cultural disciplines, starting in the late 1940's,' please.
-- MrJM
I would like to hear you discuss rock'n'roll, poetry, and divine comedy.
Your blogs have been really interesting, keep it up!
I vote for:
I) and
J)
My vote would be for any of
D H J
I'm 16, and as such I am very interested in D.
Suggestions on a coming-of-age ritual for myself, or for my little brother would be totally used.
Well, if reasonable...
D - because while binge drinking, car wrecks and worrying that I'd knocked up my girlfriend were good enough for me, I'd like something more positive for my 11 year old son)
J - because I have no idea WTF that sentence event means.
ALso, re Jesus and comedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGz3wO1zxao
method acting! all the others I can guess the content, but that idea is totally new to me
Listen, as a transguy, I can assure you from the position of those of us who actually have to run a gauntlet to get to manhood, you reaaally don't want toothy coming-of-age rituals. It's all fun an games until somebody gets hurt. . .
I like F and K.
As a Math/Physics undergrad, I am very interested in option (B). As a curious soul, I am also interested in (L). Thanks for your time and talent!
They all sound fascinating, particularly D, G, I, J, and M.
"D", please. Going to SF to get my dick pierced while on mushrooms didn't seem to help me grow up at all. ;-)
J and K and L all combined into one idea.
Thank You.
Noctis, I'm sorry but I have to disagree. It's the possibility of truly fucking yourself up in some way that makes it valuable. Coming of age rituals MUST have teeth. A sweet sixteen at Disney World will never offer the opportunity for reflection and self discovery that comes from throwing oneself from the highest tree in the village with vines tied around one's ankles.
At least, that's one tiny paragraph of how I see it. Maybe an essay would help? Mr. Spinrad, would you kindly?
+1 for I
(and -1 for E. BOOOOrrrring!)
E, H, I, K & L, please.
Or..networked devices' poetry acting vice - laughing and crying!
I like B.
I wanna hear about H. Poetry is already popular with me. What about you?
H and M sound very interesting to me.
According to Andy Schlafly on Conservapedia, humor didn't exist prior to Christianity. By that token, Jesus was not only a comedian, he was the first comedian.
I vote comedian Jesus, rock 'n' roll, and coming-of-age rituals, BUT only on the condition that you change "guys" to "people." Coming-of-age rituals are interesting for both genders, and I don't want to hear about how guys need new ones because they gotta be masculine and why is everyone so feminized in this country, or some such bullshit.
''...humor didn't exist prior to Christianity.''
Wonder what all of those primitive cultures we discovered during the past 500 years were laughing about?
Inuit: ''Laughing'', a euphemism for fucking.
In no particular order:
+Control vs. Love
+Laughter and Crying
+Maybe the first vote on thread? for style of dress as belief in human perfectibilty.
+Aaand--one more vote for coming-of-age, but only if you include more genders than "guys".
"D) Guys need a coming-of-age ritual that has some teeth, like exist in other cultures."
I'm 23 and I am a man.
Last August I began trimming my hair very short. It was a big change from my blonde surfer boy look that seems to be ubiquitous in the newer twenty-somethings. I was instantly received differently by strangers.
As far as 'teeth,' I imagine you mean something that involves danger, excitement, and/or scars, but don't allow the significance of my experience to be lost on you: The change in the perception of others around me had a tangible effect on my psyche. I began to play the part. And the part was complete with the rites that accompany manhood: greater respect from men and apparent allure from women--all very pragmatic benefits.
I consider myself to be very lucky to have a vivid demarcation from childhood to adulthood--even if it was without bloodshead. Most in this country never recieve anything beyond a slide from one to the other sometimes living partially much too long in the former.
Poetry, please. It needs all the help it can get.
http://www.tinkerx.com/writing/stucco-thicket/
D: Given some of the coming-of-age rituals I've read about, your metaphoric use of "teeth" is truly frightening.
I: David Foster Wallace treated this topic brilliantly in his magnum opus, Infinite Jest.
L, H
G, please. Does France get rock 'n'roll?
It *was* a metaphor, right?
C and D, although I agree with Lauren O: Coming-of-age rituals are interesting for both genders, so let's not get stuck on just guys. Girls used to have a coming of age ritual with teeth called childbirth, but nowadays it's happening later and later, if it happens at all.
Method acting PLEASE. Very much so. If it was a book I'd buy it.
Also: coming of age ritual, vice, poetry, and dress styles please.
However, an antivote for rock and roll. I just don't give a shit.
cdfgijkl please
H) Poetry will become popular again.
I'd like to hear this one.
And Jesus was a magician, not a comedian. Although it can be argued that magicians are one step beyond comedians, psychologically, on the despair and fatalism spectrum.
How about
N)Cute Girls with Banjos
Like THAT'S never been done on boingboing!
Well, there you go. I just wanna say
>"Q: What were Jesus' last words on the cross?
> A: Hey, I can see my house from here!
That was disrespectful.
What He actually said was that he could see what the Russians were doing over there.
Ha ha! we all want it ALL. I would most like to hear about I L and M. ;)
i'm with c,d,j, and m.
Joseph Campbell went on at length on item D once. His idea was that lacking one, we create our own. Definitely worth going into!
>>H) Poetry will become popular again.>Much of the copy submitted [to The Wipers Times] by soldiers of the Division was poetry. Some was good, some was doggerel and occasional pieces were excellent: but not all was welcome. The fourth issue contained this notice from the editor:
"We regret to announce that an insidious disease is affecting the Division, and
the result is a hurricane of poetry. Subalterns have been seen with a notebook
in one hand, and bombs in the other absently walking near the wire in deep
communication with their muse. Even Quartermasters with "books, note, one" and
"pencil, copying" break into song while arguing the point re "boots. gum, thigh".
The Editor would be obliged if a few of the poets would break into prose as the
paper cannot live by poems alone."
I highly recommend searching for some issues of "The Wipers Times." It was published for nearly the entire duration of the war. (!!) A lot of it is great reading, and the type-setting is amazingly creative and well-done, especially since they were working with bit and pieces of found fonts. The type-setters created some incredible borders and flourishes using random punctuation marks and random letters.
For more information on the proliferation of sappy, cliché verse at that time and how it changed as a result of the War, check out Paul Fussell's "The Great War and Modern Memory." Part literary criticism, part history book, part elegy, it's a singular work.
And now that i've hijacked option (H), I'm out. Thanks for your patience.
D) I've lamented the lack of a "guys coming-of-age ritual" in this culture for decades. Some women may have one, "giving birth", but then again, not all women give birth, either.
I say spin all of them. Even if you don't have time to go into much detail, or write a full essay, I'd like to see even a rough outline of your thoughts on each and every one of those ideas.
D, G, L, M
Coming of Age is by far the one in which I'm most interested (High school teacher/Anthropologist)
Vice/Connoisseurship because it'll give you an excuse to pull up some really hilarious/disturbing/fascinating notions of excellence
and
Rock & Roll
H please.
F and I, maybe K and M--but I seem to be in a minority
B, F, L, M
M, please. It is something I have been thinking about lately.
Comic Jesus. Yesss!
Nations getting Rock N Roll? Absolutely.
These are FUN subjects.
For the more serious ones... B, D & E look worth exploring.
H, s'il vous plait
Control vs. Love, mostly because that would make an awesome band name or album title.
Poetry (H) please.
Would love to read A, D, and M.
I like I J K M, personally! :)
My, Spinrad, you do aim to please!
H H H H
J & M!!!
Pleeeez! can't wait!
H and L...
Only because I really hate poets, and I'm a dry-eyed realist.
Poetry will become popular again.
(by the way, anonymous postings are supposed to work but everytime I do it it says the following...
Comment Submission Error
Your comment submission failed for the following reasons:
Text entered was wrong. Try again.
Return to the original entry.)
What does it mean "Text entered was wrong." ?
C) Was Jesus a comedian?
D) Guys need a coming-of-age ritual that has some teeth, like exist in other cultures.
Please.
I'd love to hear about J
C) Please. I don't believe he was a comedian per se but he probably had a well refined sense of humor and I would like to read your take.
I would suggest D. Rites of passage are critical and can be the basis for identity, tribal and otherwise.
They're all appealing, but these are the juiciest for me:
B) My cynical Public Service Announcement campaign idea to get more people to major in Science and Engineering.
C) Was Jesus a comedian?
K) Where there is vice, there is connoisseurship.
L) Laughter and crying serve to carve new cognitive pathways in a hurry.
M) Styles of dress follow people's differing views of human perfectability.
Appealing: B, E, J
~orphicmuse~
coming of age, vice, laughter and crying please!
@Andre
'G, please. Does France get rock 'n'roll?"
Andre- I used to stream French radio.
They get Elvis and the Beach Boys. Only.
G and M would be great, thanks.
c.f. The Abortion Diaries and the "I'm not sorry" movement
B, E, M, or J in that that order of preference please.