Subject: 1984

From: "Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com>
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Date: Tue, Sep 18, 2001 6:36 PM
Message-ID: <180920011836043277%stang@subgenius.com>

In article <tqeikbqur7942e@news.supernews.com>, Pastor Pressure
<pressure@moreslack.com> wrote:

> A few weeks ago after a conversation about George Orwell's "1984" I decided
> to pull it off my bookshelf and give it a re-read. I've been making my way
> slowly through it even though ordinarily I'm a fairly fast reader. It just
> so happens though that I was 2/3 of the way through last week when the shit
> hit the fan. The tone of jingoism throughout the book has tinged the recent
> events with a very familiar feeling. This morning, the company I work for
> played the Star Spangled Banner over the PA system. I haven't beheld such a
> thing since I was in the military so many years ago.
>
> I couldn't help but wonder if the next step would be a daily 3-minute hate.
>
> Slack!
>
> Pastor Pressure

I just got off the phone with our own "bin Laden," Papa Joe Mama, who
is preparing a "SubGenius Anthem" sung to the tune of The Star Spangled
Banner... I am really looking forward to it.

Here's some more recommended reading for these dark days:

BRAIN WAVE by Poul Anderson
This 1954 science fiction classic relates what happens when the Earth
suddenly passes OUT OF a previously undetected cosmic ray that had kept
all the bioelectrical aspects of BRAINS grossly stunted since the
Cretaceous. In a week, the intelligence of all brained animals on Earth
multiplies by a factor of 40 or so. Chimps, elephants, pigs, dogs,
become tool users with language, and humans either go insane or become
super-Einsteins -- BUT WITH THEIR OWN AGENDAS.

The religious cults that arise in the story will seem familiar somehow
to many SubGenii. Also, the feeling of "knowing too much" and wanting
to hide from the knowledge will strike a chord with some of the less
"sub" SubGenii. (I luckily have escaped that feeling, myself.)

Along similar lines is the even older classic, "Odd John," by Olaf
Stapledon.

Wasn't there some grade Z film based on BRAIN WAVE, mainly
concentrating on the "deadly vengeful smart animals" theme?

The movie of "1984" that was made in 1984, on the other hand, is
actually pretty good, in my opinion. Up until the end credits, which
featured a retarded and completely inappropriate pop tune by the
Eurythmics.

Judging from what I saw with my own eyes when I worked for 6 weeks in
Beijing many years ago, Orwell was kind of a pie-in-the-sky optimist.
(Trivialist note: I left a copy of THE BOOK OF THE SUBGENIUS with a
Chinese guy, in Beijing, 3 years exactly to the day before the Tienamen
Square massacre, June 23 I believe it was.)

Then ya got your "Brave New World" on the other end of the spectrum.
Short of X-Day, I tend to foresee an awful combination of the two,
Brave New World and 1984. "It won't blow up and disappear, it'll just
look ugly for a thousand years." -- St. Frank Zappa.

--
4th Stangian Orthodox MegaFisTemple Lodge of the Wrath of Dobbs Yeti,
Resurrected
P.O. Box 181417, Cleveland, OH 44118 (fax 216-320-9528)
A subsidiary of:
The SubGenius Foundation, Inc. / P.O. Box 140306, Dallas, TX 75214
SubSITE: http://www.subgenius.com PRABOB
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: 1984
From: mshotz@aol.comnospam (James T. Rex King of the Monsters)
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Date: Tue, Sep 18, 2001 7:28 PM
Message-ID: <20010918192854.08006.00000484@mb-mb.aol.com>

>> I couldn't help but wonder if the next step would be a daily 3-minute hate.

Thats what Fox News and the CBN is all about!

They have hate 24/7!
MSHOTZ: The Post Post Modern Man

"God made man, but a monkey supplied the glue!"

"Jocko-Homo" DEVO
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: 1984
From: "Rabbi Jacklyn Hyde" <rabbs@subgenius.com>
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Date: Tue, Sep 18, 2001 9:08 PM
Message-ID: <4eSp7.436$9d.76104@newshog.newsread.com>

"Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com> wrote in message
news:180920011836043277%stang@subgenius.com...
> In article <tqeikbqur7942e@news.supernews.com>, Pastor Pressure
> <pressure@moreslack.com> wrote:
>
> > A few weeks ago after a conversation about George Orwell's "1984" I
decided
> > to pull it off my bookshelf and give it a re-read.
>
> Here's some more recommended reading for these dark days:
>
For the younger mind set, I have and continue to recommend "The Giver" by
Lois Lowry, and I suggest adults give it a gander as well. Shows what
happens when we go a little TOO far to promote equality and sameness.
Another one for young and old is "Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
(don't bother with the movie, it's worthless). This one takes on a whole
new meaning when you wonder what would happen if we'd somehow elected
Buchanan president or the like just in time for THIS.
At any rate, my dear friend Pressure has the right idea. Read a book,
preferably outside (my boyfriend and I went to a local park and read all day
Sunday). Take an adult school class. Give yourself a break, even if you
are so close to Ground Zero that you can still smell it.
Take care, all!
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: 1984
From: friday@fridayjones.com (Friday Jones)
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Date: Tue, Sep 18, 2001 9:14 PM
Message-ID: <friday-ya02408000R1809012114240001@news.us.inter.net>

In article <180920011836043277%stang@subgenius.com>, "Rev. Ivan Stang"
<stang@subgenius.com> wrote:

>Here's some more recommended reading for these dark days:
>
>BRAIN WAVE by Poul Anderson
>This 1954 science fiction classic relates what happens when the Earth
>suddenly passes OUT OF a previously undetected cosmic ray that had kept
>all the bioelectrical aspects of BRAINS grossly stunted since the
>Cretaceous. In a week, the intelligence of all brained animals on Earth
>multiplies by a factor of 40 or so. Chimps, elephants, pigs, dogs,
>become tool users with language, and humans either go insane or become
>super-Einsteins -- BUT WITH THEIR OWN AGENDAS.
>
>The religious cults that arise in the story will seem familiar somehow
>to many SubGenii. Also, the feeling of "knowing too much" and wanting
>to hide from the knowledge will strike a chord with some of the less
>"sub" SubGenii. (I luckily have escaped that feeling, myself.)
>
>Along similar lines is the even older classic, "Odd John," by Olaf
>Stapledon.
>
>Wasn't there some grade Z film based on BRAIN WAVE, mainly
>concentrating on the "deadly vengeful smart animals" theme?

Was it "Day of the Animals"?
--
"Bunch together a group of people deliberately chosen for strong
religious feelings, and you have a practical guarantee of dark
morbidities expressed in crime, perversion, and insanity."

--HP Lovecraft, letter to Robert E. Howard 10/4/30
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: 1984
From: info <info@iprc.org>
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Reply-To: info@iprc.org
Date: Wed, Sep 19, 2001 2:28 AM
Message-ID: <3BA83B1D.B65FA0E9@iprc.org>

"1984" is what you'll get if you keep voting Republican.

"Brave New World" is what you'll get if you keep voting Democratic.

"Brazil" is what you'll get if you alternate every couple terms between
Republicans and Democrats.

I've never liked those odds.

Ignatz Topolino

33rd Degree Rollercoastafarian, Sexton and Thereminister,
Second Metropolitan Church of the Art of Jesus Christ the Conductor
---

"It is not nuclear bombs we must fear. The weapon is the human mind, or lack of
it, on this planet."
-- General Boy for DEVO Inc.

"Rev. Ivan Stang" wrote:

> In article <tqeikbqur7942e@news.supernews.com>, Pastor Pressure
> <pressure@moreslack.com> wrote:
>
> > A few weeks ago after a conversation about George Orwell's "1984" I decided
> > to pull it off my bookshelf and give it a re-read. I've been making my way
> > slowly through it even though ordinarily I'm a fairly fast reader. It just
> > so happens though that I was 2/3 of the way through last week when the shit
> > hit the fan. The tone of jingoism throughout the book has tinged the recent
> > events with a very familiar feeling. This morning, the company I work for
> > played the Star Spangled Banner over the PA system. I haven't beheld such a
> > thing since I was in the military so many years ago.
> >
> > I couldn't help but wonder if the next step would be a daily 3-minute hate.
> >
> > Slack!
> >
> > Pastor Pressure
>
> I just got off the phone with our own "bin Laden," Papa Joe Mama, who
> is preparing a "SubGenius Anthem" sung to the tune of The Star Spangled
> Banner... I am really looking forward to it.
>
> Here's some more recommended reading for these dark days:
>
> BRAIN WAVE by Poul Anderson
> This 1954 science fiction classic relates what happens when the Earth
> suddenly passes OUT OF a previously undetected cosmic ray that had kept
> all the bioelectrical aspects of BRAINS grossly stunted since the
> Cretaceous. In a week, the intelligence of all brained animals on Earth
> multiplies by a factor of 40 or so. Chimps, elephants, pigs, dogs,
> become tool users with language, and humans either go insane or become
> super-Einsteins -- BUT WITH THEIR OWN AGENDAS.
>
> The religious cults that arise in the story will seem familiar somehow
> to many SubGenii. Also, the feeling of "knowing too much" and wanting
> to hide from the knowledge will strike a chord with some of the less
> "sub" SubGenii. (I luckily have escaped that feeling, myself.)
>
> Along similar lines is the even older classic, "Odd John," by Olaf
> Stapledon.
>
> Wasn't there some grade Z film based on BRAIN WAVE, mainly
> concentrating on the "deadly vengeful smart animals" theme?
>
> The movie of "1984" that was made in 1984, on the other hand, is
> actually pretty good, in my opinion. Up until the end credits, which
> featured a retarded and completely inappropriate pop tune by the
> Eurythmics.
>
> Judging from what I saw with my own eyes when I worked for 6 weeks in
> Beijing many years ago, Orwell was kind of a pie-in-the-sky optimist.
> (Trivialist note: I left a copy of THE BOOK OF THE SUBGENIUS with a
> Chinese guy, in Beijing, 3 years exactly to the day before the Tienamen
> Square massacre, June 23 I believe it was.)
>
> Then ya got your "Brave New World" on the other end of the spectrum.
> Short of X-Day, I tend to foresee an awful combination of the two,
> Brave New World and 1984. "It won't blow up and disappear, it'll just
> look ugly for a thousand years." -- St. Frank Zappa.
>
> --
> 4th Stangian Orthodox MegaFisTemple Lodge of the Wrath of Dobbs Yeti,
> Resurrected
> P.O. Box 181417, Cleveland, OH 44118 (fax 216-320-9528)
> A subsidiary of:
> The SubGenius Foundation, Inc. / P.O. Box 140306, Dallas, TX 75214
> SubSITE: http://www.subgenius.com PRABOB
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: 1984
From: Martin Rodgers <mcr@thisaddressintentionallymungednerdware.org>
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Date: Wed, Sep 19, 2001 12:47 PM
Message-ID: <3ba8cc28.3cf5@stimpy.wildcard.demon.co.uk>

Voice in the desert: Quiet, isn't it, Rev. Ivan Stang?

> Here's some more recommended reading for these dark days:

More recent examples:

We See Things Differently, Bruce Stirling
The Eye of the Ayatollah, Ian Watson

I first read "We See Things Differently" just a few weeks before Iraq
invaded Kuwait, and I've never read any fiction, SF or otherwise, that was
more topical. Read it and weep.

Similar themes in:
The Compassionate, The Digital, also by Bruce Stirling
The Emir's Clock, also by Ian Watson

I'm sure there's more SF written from an Islamic viewpoint, but it's worth
noting that the above stories were written by UK/US writers.

Also seek out anything by Hakim Bey.
--
<URL:http://www.wildcard.demon.co.uk> You can never browse enough
Please note: my email address is gubbish
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: 1984
From: revjim@strangegames.com (Reverend Jim)
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Date: Fri, Sep 21, 2001 10:09 AM
Message-ID: <e028aced.0109210609.59cb59ae@posting.google.com>

info <info@iprc.org> wrote in message news:<3BA83B1D.B65FA0E9@iprc.org>...
>
> "1984" is what you'll get if you keep voting Republican.
>
> "Brave New World" is what you'll get if you keep voting Democratic.
>
> "Brazil" is what you'll get if you alternate every couple terms between
> Republicans and Democrats.
>
> I've never liked those odds.

Absolutely brilliant. Although frankly, I quite like the idea of the
Brave New World, with a few minor adjustments. Example: Mustapha Mond
argues that you can't have an all-Alpha civilization because there's
noone to do the shitwork, but you can't create labor-saving devices
because there's be no work for the drones to do. Simple solution,
proposed by Oscar Wilde and "Bob" Dobbs years ago: get rid of the
drones and let the robots do the shit-work. Similarly, there's
nothing wrong with soma, except that it's the ONLY DRUG. If you had a
selection of fifty or so drugs (and I'm sure we will if we don't fuck
it up really badly), you could select for whatever mental state you
need at the momemnt. Right now we've got coffee for brains, alcohol
for fuzziness and low inhibitions, marijuana for relaxed bliss,
various pills for energy and oozing pleasure reception. That's just
not enough, especially with the side effects of some of them.

Frankly, I'm hoping the future is Barbarella. But I'm not keeping my
fingers crossed.

Your Reverend Jim
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: 1984
From: inigo@montoya.net (D. P. Roberts)
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Date: Fri, Sep 21, 2001 11:47 AM
Message-ID: <3bac600e.1197529@news.earthlink.net>

> "1984" is what you'll get if you keep voting Republican.

I always thought that was one of Paul McCartney's best songs.

> "Brave New World" is what you'll get if you keep voting Democratic.

When are you lazy taxpayers gonna get off yer asses and get me my very
own nuclear-powered helicopter?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: 1984
From: mshotz@aol.comnospam (James T. Rex King of the Monsters)
Newsgroups: alt.slack
Date: Fri, Sep 21, 2001 11:28 AM
Message-ID: <20010921112825.21886.00000039@mb-dd.aol.com>

>Frankly, I'm hoping the future is Barbarella. But I'm not keeping my
>fingers crossed.

I prefer the Planet of The apes Future
MSHOTZ: The Post Post Modern Man

"God made man, but a monkey supplied the glue!"

"Jocko-Homo" DEVO

Back to document index

Original file name: Re- 1984 - converted on Monday, 24 September 2001, 21:28