_____________________________________________ | |"There is not too much information, there is | too little cognitive ability to handle it." | | Walter Alter, "The List of Re-Calibrations", | Spring 1992 issue of FAD, p. 44 |_____________________________________________ BABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABY BAB ABYBABYBABYBA BABYBABYBABYBABY !!!!!! !!!!!! !!!!!! !! !! BAB ABYBABYBABYBA BABYBABYBABYBABY !! !! !! !!! !!! BAB BAA BA YBA BA BABY !!!!!! !! R !!!!!! @ !! ! ! !! BAB AB AB BA BA BA BA BA BABY !! !! !! !! ! ! !! BAB BAB BA YBA BABY !!!!!! !!!!!! !!!!!! !! !! !! BABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBA BABY BABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBAB BABY BABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBABYBAB!BABYBABY The September 26, 1992 Issue ____________________________________________________________________________ INDEX -or- What the hell did *YOU* do today? Introduction Ediborial Subscription Information Software Licensing Agreement Tribute to Asimov Tribute to Asimov, Part 2 Cultural Artifacts Re:views *bOING-bONG *Bruce Sterling *Ministry *NIN *Malcolm X *Mark Leyner *Negativland *Cop Killer Controversy ____________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Ok. Here's the scoop. I'm over at Megan's house on Friday night. She is the latest-woman- who-I-want-to-date-yet-she-doesnt-want-to-return-the-offer. Her roommate Claudia underwent surgery on Thursday to have an ovary removed. Her parents came to visit and provide support, even though they are in the process of becoming divorced. Megan told me that during the entire time Claudia's parents were there, neither one would be in the same room at the same time. The entire time I was there all he did was watch tv, while Claudi and her fiancee, Hans, stayed in their room. Not until I had gone home did it hit me what had happened. There, in the living room, was my future. Alienated from his wife, alienated from his daughter, wanting only to be related to those who he loves, and powerless to do anything, he is reduced to sitting in front of the television watching a program about unsolved serial murders..................that's me at 50. And me, so wrapped up in what my own personal concerns that I never really noticed what was going on........that's you, today, yesterday, and tomorrow. This issue of Scream Baby was written entirely on September 26, 1992 from midnight to midnight. The sole exception is the quotes, which were culled from an ongoing collection of quotes, snippets, and collages that I maintain. This issue is dedicated to Claudia's father, though there is no other connection other than the empty rage, anger, and sense of isolation sparked by the encounter. Every editorial decision was made during this 24 hour period, while strung out on caffeine and sugar and loud&aggressive music, so please excuse any mis-spellings, grammatical lapses, or awkwardly-worked phrases. During this period I almost collapsed because I hadn't eaten for an entire day. Throughout the entire day a cockroach alternately crawled over my leg, around my desk, and all over my papers. I didn't give him a name. I don't recommend the process to anyone else. Just the results. ____________________________________________________________________________ I was using Cyberspace as a metaphor for the experience of living in the media environment which we all do anyways...and [techies] came back to me and said "Hi, you're giving us the blueprint for a new world". William Gibson, interviewed in Spring 1992 issue of FAD, p.42 ____________________________________________________________________________ EDIBORIAL There's been some confusion lately about my e-zine, Scream N *me*me, but I've decided that I don't want to talk about it as much as I thought I did. For the last year or so I've been publishing an IBM hypertext electronic zine, Scream N *me*me, which has focused on the social and cultural aspects of cyberspace, the New Edge, music, and the burgeoning Austin cyber-scene in general. "Stuff I Think is Cool" has been my main editorial guideline; ignore me if I suggest anything else. Scream N *me*me is not a mailing list, like the listing in Practical Anarchy Online suggests. Scream N *me*me is not available at any ftp site, though I've received several offers already, and will someday get around to it, if bored enough. Scream N *me*me *is* available for download at the Tejas BBS (512) 467-0663. Getting to the point: I've now created Scream Baby a smaller, leaner, meander, grind ya to the bone Internet format e-zine. The same guidelines apply. Anyone can submit, anyone can contribute. Except, now, anyone can be an editor. Jagwire X, co-founder of XNet, sysop of the Cyberspace Institute, and all-around cyberpunk has already agreed to edit at least one issue. Will you be next? is up to you to decide. I don't have time to wait. ___________________________________________________________________________ "Now, wide angle this, you just opened up your electronic mailbox for the evening and there's over a hundred special delivery letters in there addressed to the center of the universe, YOU. There's one from Vivian, a transsexual composer down in San Diego who is suing a major record label for copyright infringement. There's one from Rolf, an artist way over in Amsterdam requesting tumors in specimen jars for a little project. There's one from Lareen, a legal secretary in Reno wondering if its OK to stretch a condom over the balls so it won't come off. There's an eloquent defense of the neo-ether in high tension stationary waves by Prof. Wzxler, formerly of Livermore. Varclav Vaclarv in Belgrade just lost his Walkman to a nearby anti-tank mine. And on and on long into night." Walter Alter, "Log On Modem Mania", p. 48, Spring 1992 issue of FAD. ___________________________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION -or- "Hey! My e-mailbox doesn't look like *that*" Listen up! To subscribe to Scream Baby, send e-mail to bladex@wixer.cactus.org. Include the following information: 1. Who are you? [i.e. Tell me something about yourself] 2. Name one cultural artifact (book, movie, software, etc.) that you think is worth my time to examine... [Note: assume that I have already graduated from the standard cyberpunk canon, i.e., I've already read Neuromancer, thanks] 3. Include the following statement : "I have read the software licensing agreement and promise to abide by any restrictions on distribution that may apply, as determined by the publisher" All this must be included in one screen of text or less. Remember, the only guidelines I use are "Stuff I Think is Cool", so if you provide clunky or stupid answers, or fail to answer any question(s) fully, then you will not be added to the mailing list. Any request for subscription that is not in the form mentioned above will not be accepted. Sorry. Hope you're not too upset. SOFTWARE LICENSING AGREEMENT This is not a standard licensing agreement, so please read carefully. This premiere issue of Scream Baby may be freely reproduced in any electronic storage or retrieval system. The user is denied the right to "print out" or reproduce on a paper medium any portion of any issue of Scream Baby, excepting when said reproduction is in accord with the Fair Use Act and/or any copyright laws which may apply. This publication protected by the copyright laws of the most powerful nation on the planet. (I mean America). Any subsequent issue of Scream Baby will contain the following restrictions which key in on BBS software/distribution networks: Internet: Copies are for personal use only. You may not forward an issue to another person, post to a newsgroup, archive on an ftp site, or in any form, shape, or manner, make available for distribution to another being. E-Mail subscriptions, as regulated by the publisher, are the only acceptable methods for distribution. WWIV : no non-standard restrictions on distribution apply. Permission granted to archive and re-distribute, simply because the coolest people hang out on WWIV anyway. FIDOnet : Permission granted to archive and re-distribute, simply because this network, as an amalgamation, is so dull that anything I do will have no effect. Really-Big-Commercial Systems : Permission granted to make this file available for download and re-distribution, but a commercial licensing agreement is required. A royalty rate of .002 cents per download (or 20 cents per 100 downloads) shall apply. Payment is on a semi-annual basis, to the publisher's address. Really-Big-Commercial Systems is defined as having 30 or more incoming lines and shall include, but not be limited to, Compuserve, GEnie, Delphi, EXEC-PC BBS, and any others I can think of. You think I'm joking? "The Well" : Copies are for personal use only. This may not be made available for download nor posted to any conference, simply because of that stupid You Are Your Own Words slogan and all the energy wasted on debating what it means. E-mail subscriptions, as regulated by the publisher, are the only acceptable methods for distribution. Telegard : It is illegal to archive or make available for distribution any publication of Cyberlicious , simple because it's a hacked version of WWIV. "Other" : This list is not meant to be comprehensive and may be amended by the publisher at any time. If your BBS or distribution method is not listed above, then use the least squares method to determine the "closest fit". For example, BITNET would fall under the category of "Internet". If none of the above closely fit your situation, then either e-mail the publisher for clarification or simply blow it off and do what ya like. Again, these restrictions do not apply to this issue, but I wanted to point out the situation with future issues. Consider this a warning. ___________________________________________________________________________ In the 21st century, he who controls the screen controls consciousness, information and thought. The screen is a mirror of your mind. If you're passively watching screens, you're being programmed. If you're editing your own screen, you're in control of your mind. Americans voluntarily stick their amoeboid faces towards the screen seven hours a day and suck up information that Big Brother is putting there. Americans spend more time looking at monitors than they do gazing into the eyes of family and friends. -- Timothy Leary, found in The Immediast Underground _Seizing The Media_. Original source uncited. ___________________________________________________________________________ TRIBUTE TO ISAAC ASIMOV Think of all that space opening up on publisher's book rack lists! At least some percentage will be exciting, worth reading, and not garbage. Thanks! Isaac. __________________________________________________________________________ I had once intended to write an entire novel while having to urinate very badly. I wanted to see how that need affected the style and tempo of my work. I had found, for instance, that when I'm writing about a character who's in a Ph.D. program and I don't have to urinate badly, I'll have him do a regular three- or four-year program. But if I'm writing a novel and I have to urinate very very badly, then I'll push the character through an accelerated Ph.D. program in perhaps only two years, maybe even a year. -- Mark Leyner, "Et tu, Babe", p. 6 [This meme dedicated to Willard Uncaphur] ___________________________________________________________________________ TRIBUTE TO ISAAC ASIMOV, PART 2 Ok, I've gone back and think maybe I should re:address the issue. I do not want to appear as denying the validity of Asimov, the man. My respect for his intellectual energy, his proliferation, his humanity, deserves that I be less flippant. I've ignored all the Asimov Tributes that I've seen in magazine racks lately, and don't really care to know what anyone else thinks about the subject. The man was the bedrock of science fiction. He's dead. If you want to honor him, please stop trying to emulate him! is my greatest secret joy. Asimov was aware of people like me. In a preface to one of his Foundations books (I forget which one), he gleefully writes about the criticism that his characters are wooden stick figures, his plots dull and boring, his adjectives stale and flat....and yet he sells so many copies that he must be doing something right! Grrrrrr............ As long as hard science fiction remains unconcerned about characters, then I shall remain unconcerned about hard science fiction. Perhaps the greatest crime in fiction is to create characterizations, instead of characters, and think it serves your purpose. For these, and other reasons, I haven't read much of Asimov's works, and haven't particularly enjoyed much of what I have read. Yet the only object I've ever stolen in my life was a book written by Isaac Asimov. The theft was inadvertent. Mostly because I wasn't paying attention, I walked out of the University of Texas' Undergraduate Library with a copy of one of his books. One has to walk past "Book Detectors" -- similar to metal detectors used at airports -- in order to leave the library. Three blocks away, I realize that the distant ringing sound heard on the way out was the library's alarm! A guard usually sits *right* there, but no one was present at the time, nor was anyone chasing me down, so I decided to simply return the book when I was finished. I couldn't bring myself to return the copy. The book? "Azazel", a collection of satires exploring the foibles of humanity. The original storyline for the series was fantastic: Azazel was a small 2 centimeter imp with magical powers. The editors at _Asimov's_ objected to Isaac selling stories to rival magazines, and suggested that he retain all the elements, but transform Azazel into an extra-dimensional creature with advanced knowledge and abilities involving time, space, and physics. Isaac even warns the reader in the preface that these are unlike anything else he has written, and not to complain if they appear "unAsimovian". These stories are satires, and not only are they satires but incredibly funny satires. I enjoyed them tremendously, partially because Asimov wrote these for fun, partially because he allowed himself to be free of the burden of being one of the Big Three Science Fiction Authors of All Time. The slip on the inside of the book is stamped April 24, 1989. I've been a criminal, then, for the last three-and-a-half years, and have no intention to return the book. I have yet to figure why........ ____________________________________________________________________________ This is like going to an alternative club for the first time but borrowing a painted-up leather jacket from a friend who's a local. No matter how cool you look, everybody knows the jacket doesn't belong to you. Chase, "Choking on Staples, Part I", Issue 5 of _Industrial Nation_, p. 52 ____________________________________________________________________________ CULTURAL ARTIFACTS "If stranded on a deserted island, what 10 records would you want with you?" This common musical convention [i.e. hack] is the foundation of this next section, except updated and adapted for the medium of cyberspace. Any cultural artifact is an acceptable entry. [I'm not going to bother with defining cultural artifact]. Second, there are no deserted islands of the Net. We are all connected by the Web. Here's my list for today, in no order : "Power Shift" -- Alvin Toffler Anything written by Harlan Ellison Urban Dance Squad : "Life and Perspectives of a Genuine Cross-Over" If any publication steps in to fill the role left vacant by the demise of fact sheet five, then take it. I'm still looking. "My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist" -- Mark Leyner A telecommunications software package. Qmodem vs. Telemate? Who cares, as long as you're plugged in. "Your Flesh" "FutureCulture" -- as compiled by Andy Hawks "Slacker" -- the movie. Not the book, not the cultural phenomenon, not the thousands of pseudo-wanna-bes who walked out of the theaters across the globe suddenly thinking they were slackers too......no, just the movie gets my recommendation. No one chooses a slacker lifestyle. "TAZ : The Temporary Autonomous Zone" -- Hakim Bey. One of my friends, Iron Burl, just happened to stop by Saturday afternoon, and we went out to eat. Good thing, too, since I nearly collapsed in the shower for having not eaten anything but chocolate & coke in the previous twenty four hours. Iron Burl has written for Scream N *me*me, for his own comiczine publishing empire Dr. Joe Guy Pan Presents, and did half of the work for his ACTV program Scumbag's Place. I asked for his cultural artifacts, and here's what he finally came up with: Iron Burl's Lists: Top 5 Comix to buy: 1. Hate 2. Eightball 3. Yummy Fur 4. Trailer Trash 5. Cud Top 5 Videos to Rent 1. GWAR: Phallus in Wonderland 2. Arise: The Subgenius Video 3. Rubin & Ed 4. Shakes the Clown 5. Slacker Top 5 Rudy Ray Moore Videos 1. Avenging Disco Godfather 2. The Devil's Son-in-Law 3. Dolomite 2: The Human Tornado 4. Dolomite 5. Rude I had to ask who Rudy Ray Moore was: an early 70s genius who produced and starred in his own low budget films with predomonately black casts, except for the bad guys who are usually white. "Spike Lee of the 70s". Iron Burl says check it out]. Some-what related newsflash: Ice-T is set to start production on a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" for African Americans. Black exploitation films will be showed with voice overlays and comedic comments by prominent rappers and similar members of the African-American community. Since Ice-T calls himself a 1989-type-Dolomite on "The Iceberg: Freedom of Speech....Just Watch What You Say" album, perhaps you will have Rudy Ray Moore delivered to your cable television doorstep. ___________________________________________________________________________ Are animals really more noble than people? I wouldn't squash a spider, but I could kill a human being. A spider is being the best spider he can be. He's fulfilling his purpose as a spider. He meshes perfectly with nature's overall scheme. Nothing in nature is wasted, and I can't say the same thing about people. -- Anton LaVey, interviewed in Issue 2 of Answer Me! ___________________________________________________________________________ MEDIA MADNESS Re:views on cultural artifacts bOING-bOING Issue 9 ($4/issue $14/year for 4 issues from BB, 11288 Ventura Blvd #818, Studio City CA 91604) There's not much to say about this issue, except to "go get it." The last seven pages of the issue are a parody of Mondo 2000, specifically skewering it's commodification and commercialization, as well as the pseudo- postmodernistic jargon that rarely makes any sense. Ex: R. Seltzer interview with Elvis: RS: Throught your career we find a softening of Tongue in your public work, an almost explicit deTongueification, as you compartmentalize elements of your soul, of your rhythmn and your blues, for your representation-as- surface-commodity to various market segments, presumably defined by corporate interests. To what extent did you coevolve strategies of your own aligned with these interests? EP : Huh? Could you flip your skinny ass around here a minute and tell me what you just said? Exactly! Actually, just kidding. Everyone compares bb to Mondo, since they cover the same New Edge Territory, though from only a slightly different angle. [Left as an exercise for the reader]. It's simply closer to the underground, and less "slick" for this self-described "swapmeet for Do-It-Yourself Cyborgs". There is a long interview with Bruce Sterling mostly about his upcoming book, _The Hacker Crackdown_, which is slated to be released October 15th, 1992. If you haven't heard about it, this is a journalistic treatment of Operation Sun Devil and related events in cyberspace. Here is what you don't know, however : BS: ....I plan to distribute the text of the book...I plan to publish the book to the Internet when it comes out in paperback, which will be about a year and a half from now. I want this book to be given away free for download. bb: Is this something you want to disclose publicly? BS: Yeah, I don't mind talking about it now. At least I don't mind talking about it in bOING-bOING. I would point out to people who think, "Oh great, I can wait for the disk," that it won't have the handy index, nor will it have the handsome author's photo on the back flyleaf. Plus, screens are a bitch to read, let's face it. But I don't know, I might lose some money from doing this, but I don't believe that every pixel in cyberspace ought to be made into a sales opportunity. I really felt that this was something I had to do in order to be a good citizen, something that I was sort of uniquely qualified to do, and felt a moral obligation to do. I would have done it, really, had no one paid me at all. -- page 17, Issue 9 of bOING-bOING. This interview took place in May of 1992, so the release of the text of _The Hacker Crackdown_ should be around Christmas time of 1993. At that time, *EVERYONE* will be talking about the pros and cons of Sterling's actions, what he meant, whether it's a mistake, what it all means, blah blah blah...but remember...*YOU* read it here first. Only one person on the planet gets to write about the subject extensively and Ha! it gets to be me. And...because I'm either stupid or a masochist or a pure theorist, this is the last article I wrote for this issue..... * * * In the early-to-mid 80s, Sterling published an online zine called "Cheap Truth" under the pseudonym of Vincent Omniaveritas. Cutting edge commentary and re:views released into the public domain. The first issue starts with, "EDITORIAL: Hi. You want to know the truth. We want to tell it to you. Let's try to keep the ECONOMICS between us to a minimum, okay? Right, let's do it." Nearly a decade later, Sterling has returned to his grumblings about the commodification of information, and the restraints imposed by a capitalistic society. Take a look at his speech to the Library Information Technology Association, June 1992, entitled "Free as Air, Free as Water, Free as Knowledge". In it he discusses the relationship between capital and technology and his growing horror over the commodification of information : "Every pixel in cyberspace is a potential sales opportunity." Take a look at the last paragraph of his "Statement of Principle" published in the last SF Eye. "And while I don't plan to give up making money for my ethically dubious cyberpunk activities, I hope to temper my impropriety by giving more work away for no money at all." What does this mean in practical terms? Bruce Sterling is releasing the full text to the Internet of his latest book, _The Hacker Crackdown_, a journalistic treatment of the Operation Sun Devil raids. Sometime around the fall of 1993 one will be able to ftp the entire contents of the book. Why is Sterling doing this? Bruce will undoubtedly provide dozens of reasons himself when he's ready, but here's my interpretation. THE ECONOMICS People who acquire a file-copy of the text, I've heard him say, will want to go out and buy a copy of their own. Well.....Sterling has also admitted to not being too familiar with Internet culture, and may underestimate how cheap it's inhabitants actually are. Pay for information that's freely available? Never! is their battle cry. Why would Bantam Publishing agree? Perhaps they believe that any loss of revenues will be insubstantial -- that the number of people who acquire a copy of the text for free who would have otherwise purchased a copy is outweighed by the waves of publicity generated by the release. Economics, however, isn't the primary reason that Sterling cites. He is doing this out of a sense of CIVIC DUTY. It is important to him that the seventeen year old hackers taking on the world from the bedrooms of their suburbia life understand what it is that they are taking on. It is important to him to make a stand against the consumer culture that pervades every aspect of life. It is important to him that he returns something to the community that has supported and nurtured his career. But, most importantly, he simply feels that it's something he should do. CODA: In order to have enough money to pay the $5 cover for the Radiance Rave, The Traveller in Black was forced to sell his hardcover copy of _The Difference Engine_. ___________________________________________________________________________ Music in our Society has taken on a very generic/business style. Many businesses now play music. What was once frowned upon because it distracted the worker (Read this to mean a person LISTENED to the music) now is used as adding a "comfortable" enviornment. Music has gotten to the point were we do not THINK or actually LISTEN to it. It is just there as background. "Classic Radio" drones on and on playing music that does not matter anymore. After listening to the Doors, Zep, Who, etc. for tweny years one does not consciously hear what is played. When a person goes to a party, music is provided as "background" atmosphere. We play what is socially acceptable. A person hardly will play something that is not heard of because that would call attention to the music and not to the matters at hand. Joe Kelb, "Abbey Puts Industrial Sounds into the Ground -or- How to Listen to Industrial Music Without Losing Your Date", Issue 5 of _Industrial Nation_, p. 31 MUSICMEME DOUBLE SHOT!!!! "The use of recording technology to express musical and sociopolitical ideas does have its downside. Particularly when a free market economy allows folks who would otherwise spend their free time watching Deputy Dawg to save up on their income and release product into the market." -- intro to a review by Bruce Adams in _Your Flesh_ ___________________________________________________________________________ Ministry : "Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs". Al Jourgensen could have made this album in his sleep, so I say it sucks eggs. For being 2/3rds of a year late, there is simply very little expansion or experimentation from "The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste". The sole exception is "Jesus Built My Hotrod" with Gibby Hayes on vocals, a raucous hell-billy romp. I love this song, and can't get enough of it. This is no coinkidinky, since it is the *ONLY* song on the album that doesn't sound like outtakes from their previous effort. If you're a true fan, you won't care, but I expected a lot more.... NIN -- "broken" Man I tell you what's broken...it's this damn side B. What type of person releases an EP with the second side blank? At least the Dead Kennedys placed a message encouraging home taping, but this "nothing" side bites. They can't even get the physical production right, since the "nothing" is printed on both sides of the cassette, instead of side B, where it belongs. The music is much more murkier and distorted than Pretty Hate Machine. "broken" is much closer to the live band experience, which was simply the best concert I've ever been to in my life. So what the hell am I supposed to say here? Four stars. Malcolm X "Black Man's History Vol. 1" Paul Winley Records (PO Box 1214, NYC, NY 10027) has recently released a whole set of speeches given by Malcolm X. Since I'm a fan of spoken word cassttes, I bought a copy, but need to buy no more. For what it's worth, I can't put up with anymore of his religious bigotry. Let's get some things straight: the cultural creation of Malcolm X spawned in the 90s has very little to do with Malcom X the man, or his message during the 60s. The only way to save the black man was through the acceptance of a Muslim way of life. Period. There is no other way around it. This being the 90s, this Muslim filter has been discarded and now we are told that his true message was self-determination and the promotion of self- esteem, etc. etc. So, in effect, Malcolm X's original message is besides the point. There is no need to read Malcolm X, try to understand the political context of the 90s instead. The two are wholly different spheres. I can't wait for Spike Lee's movie. Mark Leyner "Et tu, Babe" -- pages 1 - 100. I haven't finished the book, ok? Here's how I discovered Leyner. Go read the section that is excerpted in Storming The Reality Studio. Don't have a personal copy? Go get one. If you like Leyner's excerpt, go read My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist, which you should already have done, considering I placed it on one of my Top 10 Cultural Artifacts. My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist explored the way that humans incorporate the burgeoning information flood...i.e., not very well. He writes in short chunks of weirdness, that attempt to plant image after image in the reader's mind, and nothing else. Plot? Who needs them. Et tu babe is an exploration of the author's growing megalomania about being the hottest buzz authors, touted as the most intense prose writer in America today. When he may make fun of himself, it's still rather boring. The best passages of this novel are when he talks about something other than himself. There are still the passages of brilliance that made My Cousin an instant cult classic, but they are stuck inbetween *gasp* a story line that doesn't appear to be heading anywhere overly spectacular. Who knows? So far my reaction is only so-so. Perhaps my addressing this cult phenomena, it will "clear the way" for future works. I hope so. There are simply other artifacts worth discovering before reading this. Negativland This is a limited release 4,000 booklet/cd set, but since I have one there are only 3,999 remaining. Don't dawdle! If you haven't heard about the scandal over U2 and Negativland by now, then this product will let you know *everything* you ever wanted to know. Negativland is an experiment tape collage "noise" band whose work is *ESSENTIAL* to understanding the limits of copyright law and the conflict with modern technology. Negativland is the battlefield where New Edge technology meets Old World legality and deserves to sit at the core of any canon of computer literacy. In 1991, Negativland released U2, which is essentially a parody of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" combined with outtakes from Casey Kasem who not only makes negative comments about U2 but also loses his temper about having to play an upbeat song after doing a long distance dedication to a dead puppy named Snuggles. You can no longer buy this cassingle, however. This document is a collection of faxes, press releases, and legal injunctions. Island Records sued both Negativland and their record company, SST, and as a result records stores and radio stations had to return their copies to be destroyed. There are only about 5,000 official releases still floating around the globe, of which I have one. I bought mine off the rack at Sound Exchange, before any of this controversy erupted, fully cognizant of this being a Negativland release. [One of Island Records claims was that the cover was misleading, and could have duped fans into believing it to be U2's as yet-un-released Achtung Baby]. The only thing missing from this document is the vital information that *I* need: I bought the album fresh off the rack. What the hell is my predicament? Record stores, radios, etc. were required to return their copies to be destroyed. Do I now own an illegal tape? Do I now own illegal information? Speaking of controversy, I also own a copy of Body Count. Again, bought before any controversy erupts. Why do I own so many music-products that later become so dang controversial? What's the deal? I very rarely buy new cassettes, most of them are used, and when I do, look what happens! Learned my lesson. Before I start rolling with the Cop Killer controversy, let me point it out that I stuck it at the end, and won't blame you for hitting the space bar or exit characters now. The only thing, is that I haven't seen *ANY* analysis that answers any of my questions. Questions which I asked myself during the first week of the announcement of the impending boycott. Mainstream media played the official party line; nothing has showed up in any of my alternative media newsfeeds, though I was flipping through a musiczine once that showed a photograph of Ice-T with his pants around his ankles, holding his crotch. If you know anything else, please let me know. COP KILLER : BETTER YOU THAN ME 1. What decision process did CLEAT use to determine that they should boycott Time-Warner? How was this song *specifically* singled out from dozens of other potential controversial candidates? There have been so many previous cases involving musical censorship that follow this model that I can't believe no one investigated. Time and time again, boycotts have been financed, organized, and motivated, by the work of right wing and/or Christian fundamentalist groups. Is there anyone behind the curtain pulling the strings? Did anyone look? Especially for Ice-T, Body Count was not a very successful album. To put it bluntly, the album sucked. All reviews were the same....the band that wowed the crowd at Lollapalooza didn't show up on the album. The only song I liked was "Body Count's in the House" because it included samples. Everything else was stoooooooopid. Except for this generated-controversy, no one would have heard this song. Buried on the B side of a bad album, it could never have received any airplay whatsoever because of the profane language. The single "There Goes The Neighborhood" played on MTV was a cleaned-up version. The rest of the album violated FCC standards for airplay. So it's a bad album, a bad single, that never would have seen the light of day. Why (and how) did the police select this single? Why did they generate this controversy? 2. Did anyone actually *listen* to the album before spouting off about it? _Smoked Pork_ is a much more offensive song which recreates a simulated cop killing. Ice-T plots beforehand to lure officers into a trap by pretending to be a stranded motorist, and when they refuse to assist him, shoots them. No mention is made of this song in any of the original accounts. The scary part is that, (and I would crib from the liner notes of Negativland's Helter Stupid if Iron Burl would ever return my copy) the source of media is other media. From the national television news to the local tv news stations, from the Statesman to the Daily Texan, they all quoted from the SAME TWO STANZAS!!!! In addition, not a single media source quoted the spoken work introduction to the song, which went, "This next record is dedicated to some personal friends of mine....the L.A.P.D. For every cop that has ever taken advantage of somebody, beat them down or hurt them because they had long hair, listened to the wrong kind of music, wrong color, whatever they thought was the reason to do it. For everyone of those fucking police I'd like to take a pig out here in this parking lot and shoot them in the mother fucking face." Interpretation : this song is a protest against police brutality. That the siege warfare mentality used by the L.A.P.D. has harassed the African- American community so much that they are willing to commit to violence to defend themselves. 3. How and why did Texas police become involved? [see question one] Here is some background information that you need to know: Several months before the announcement of the boycott, the Department of Justice released statistics about the number of reported cases of police brutality. Guess who was number one? Texas! Texas! Texas! We had cities sprawling all over that list. [I live in Austin, the 9th most violent city in the United States, so I have the right to talk this way.] Officials and experts trotted out various interpretations about how it didn't really mean that Texas cops beat the shit out of people. I forget what it was, exactly, but it had something to do with individuals feeling secure about reporting such cases. Texans? Trusting the national government? That's even harder to believe. Despite the spin control attempts, police agencies were embarassed to have the eyes of Texas upon them. The nation is in an uneasy mood about the Rodney King incident as well, this being prior to the riots. On the same day that CLEAT announces the proposed boycott, they also state that they oppose the inclusion of citizens on police brutality review boards. Was this discussed much in the media? No, it was largely swept aside in the wake of a debate concerning a proposed boycott by a group of police agencies feeling threatened by accusations of police brutality over a poor song on a poor-selling album protesting police brutality in a climate of national fear and uneasiness over the Rodney King incident. Hey! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE? _____________________________________________________________________________ncement of the impending boycott. Mainstream media played the official party line; nothing has s ______________________________________ | | | "So you can decide for yourself.... | | Is it art or dangerous propaganda?" | | -- Public Enemy | |______________________________________| babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby babybaby yba aby byba abyb byba babybaby babybaby bybabyba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba babybaby yba aby yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabyb yba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba aby byb yba aby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby The Andy Hawks Interview Issue October 12th, 1992 __________________________________________________________________________ | | | Cyberlicious | Editor: Blade X | Note to self: don't | | PO Box 4510 | bladex@wixer.cactus.org | forget to stick some | | Austin, TX 78765 | WWIV : 46@5285 | thing in this space l8r | |__________________________________________________________________________| INDEX Software Licensing Agreement Subscriber information Ediborial Re:view of Public Enemy Interview : Andy Hawks, FutureCulture List, by Jagwire X ______________________________________________________ | | | THE GOLDEN RULE: He who has the gold makes the rules | | -- cynical proverb | |______________________________________________________| SOFTWARE LICENSING AGREEMENT Note: This is a non-standard distribution restriction, so please read carefully. Also, this notice replaces any and all previous statements. Please disregard said statements. This file may participate in resource sharing and resource retrieval in any electronic or mechanical storage system 24 hours a day. This shall include, but not be limited to ftp sites, mail servers, download transfer sections of any BBS system, mailing list deflectors, and any other similar device, known or unknown. However, no CMC (computer-mediated-communication) may occur between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Central Standard Time. What this means is that you are denied permission to read this file between the designated prohibited time period. Since this is a somewhat unusual explanation, let me explain my reasoning. Lately I've been scraping against the idea of being *ACCESSED*, independent of any personal control. The thought of being accessed makes me feel uneasy, slightly sick to my stomach, and may account for this rash here on my right bicep. My adrenaline system has been pumping 12% over normal operating levels since the release of Scream Baby : The September 26, 1992 issue, and there is no end in sight. Naturally, these physiological effects have a negative impact on my sleep patterns. So, in essence, by restricting access during the designated prohibited time period, I hope to sleep safely. If you are currently reading this file during the proscribed time zone, exit the file as quietly as possible. You are free to return at a later time. Your cooperation is appreciated. _______________________________________________ | | | He who controls the information runs the show | | -- Josef Goebbels | |_______________________________________________| It is a shame to admit this, but we live in an imperfect world. There are some people who will attempt to ignore the distribution requirements as described above, despite having to agreed to otherwise. I apologize for any inconvenience, but please wait for approximately 2,242 milli-seconds while the program attached to the end of this file disengages, routes to the Naval Time Observatory in Bethesda, Maryland, retrieves the time as measured by the angstrom length period of certain closely watched radioactive elements, and finally races back to the Cyberlicious Global Headquarters. A list of violators of the distribution restrictions will be compiled for possible publication in future issues. In addition, each violator will recieve a "cease-and-desist" order personally signed by a judge and suitable for framing. Subsequent violations will result in the permanent removal from the Scream Baby subscription list. ________________________________________________________________ | | | "My mind is wide, my thoughts are narrow. Send me Scream Baby" | | | | -- Subscriber Kip Moore | |________________________________________________________________| SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION To be added as a Scream Baby subscriber, please send the following information to bladex@wixer.cactus.org. All information must be complete; all questions fully answered, or your subscription request will not be honored. Note: Because of the way my system displays the information, please make sure that your e-mail address is included in the BODY of the text. Thank you for your voluntary cooperation. ESSAY QUESTION: While walking on the campus of the University of Texas one Sunday, I found a cassette tape whose film had been torn and the entire cassette thrown/wrapped around a tree and the surrounding bushes. Curious, I picked it up. Side A: Sexual Therapy Session I Side B: What is Man? Mineral or Drug In 100-200 words, describe what you think was on this tape, who made it, and why would they rip it up and wrap it around a tree? INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT : "I have read the software licensing agreement and promise to abide by any restrictions on distribution that may apply, as determined by the publisher" Again, both the essay question and restriction agreement statement must be fully completed in order to be added to the Scream Baby subscriber list. Thank you for your voluntary co-operation. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | "Computers, video, fax, radio, printing presses, synthesizers, fax | | machines, | tape recorders, photocopiers -- these things make good | | toys but terrible ADDICTIONS" | | | | Hakim Bey, as quoted in the review of Talking Raven Vol II #1, | | in Issue 9 of bOING-bOING, page 52. | |____________________________________________________________________| EDIBORIAL #2 in a series of "a whole lot" There were several times where I attempted to go back and re-read The September 26, 1992 issue. I failed miserably each time, never even getting past the header. This has to be the most hideous thing created in the history of electronic publishing. What the hell was I thinking? Hopefully the header for *this* issue is more polcritudinous. <1> [Knowing that there are at least three (3) factual errors, not to mention the dozen or so errors in judgement, doesn't help much either.] Perhaps I should have, knowing that I would attend the bOING-bOING suite party held at the Armadillocon. Several staff members [] personally thanked me for the positive re:view in the last issue of Scream Baby, when, quite frankly, I have no idea what I wrote. Beyond "go buy it", that is. If you haven't done so, shame! shame! shame! I may expand later on the "Armadillocon Schmooze News", but the key thing for you to know now is that a film crew from Entertainment Tonight interviewed Sterling for his book, The Hacker Crackdown. Allegedly it will air on Saturday, October 17th, so get those VCRs a-humming. Keep an eyeball peeled for footage of Bruce Sterling's animated QuickTime head, one of the most popular items at the EFF-Austin information table. Speaking of the future, let me ramble about Scream Baby. What do I want? Besides world peace <2>, a sexy Mexican maid <3>, and someone to use their fucking brains around here <4>, I want a really good all-encompassing-sub- culture zine. Music, literature, art, television, film, weird space-time kinks, events, information, news, humor, interviews, and re:views of "Stuff I Think Is Cool." Not all at once, of course. Each issue of Scream Baby will come out whenever I can scrape together 25-30 kilobytes of really good stuff. The bulk of this issue is an interview with Andy Hawks, maintainer of the FutureCulture FAQ <5> and mailing list. Jagwire X <6> conducted this interview in August and while it starts a little slow, as if each was asking the other to a high school dance or something, it really starts to sizzle. More than one person has mentioned that Scream Baby has more of a "personal feel" to it. They should enjoy this interview as well. [Last Final Note: one guest editor slot has been filled! Mike Wilk will be in charge of issue 23. A member of Space Art Studios, Mike creates experimental short films using camcorders. From what he tells me, their latest project involves re-creating the action adventure scenes from Terminator 2 : Judgement Day....with hamsters] Notes: <1> A subscriber called the first issue "polcritudinous". He claims it means "aesthetically pleasing", which is the definition I use here. <2> Ever notice that when politicians are asked what they want for Christmas they always answer "world peace"? Maybe someone should get in their face and ask daily. <3> Red Hot Chili Peppers, _Mother's Milk_ <4> Negativland, _U2_ <5> If you don't have a copy, go get one. [future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu] <6> Close personal friend of mine. <7> Yes, this is a hoze. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | "The remote channel selector is democracy's most powerful weapon." | | | | Walter Alter, "The List of Re-Calibrations" | | Spring 1992 issue of FAD p. 45 | |____________________________________________________________________| Public Enemy, Greatest Misses The latest Public Enemy EP, consists of six new songs and six re-mixes [by DJs other than Terminator X] of previously released material. What is most striking about these six news songs is that they are the most *ACCESSIBLE* of any previous release. The music is much less aurally threatening, much less of a sonic assault, much more of a pop-meme-meister creation than previous Public Enemy efforts. It's also a Top 10 Retail Album as I write this and should continue to be a popular effort, especially in view of the publicity garnered from being the opening slot on U2's Achtung Baby. The re-mixes don't deserve much mention. The best I can say about them is that they made me remember Anthrax's cover of Bring the Noize. I dug *that* tape out and listened to it 10 or 15 times. But it did give me an idea. In deference to the B side of _Greatest Misses_, I want to "re-mix" some of my old writings. I've selected about four or five articles, that deserve a shot. If you want in on this, let me know. First come, first served. How do you re-mix an article? I'll tell ya when I'm done. ___________________________________________________________________________ | | | "It's a thought I have quite frequently, actually. You know, when you're | | walking down the street and you feel everybody is against you. You | | haven't got a friend in the world. You feel ill, you can't walk at the | | speed you want to walk, and for a split second you think, "God, it would | | be so much easier if I just pulled out rifle [sic] and starting [sic] | | blowing these people out of my way." | | | | guitarist/vocalist Mat Flint, from Revolver, quoted in Alternative Press,| | page 21 October 1992 issue. | |___________________________________________________________________________| Looking to the Future An interview with Hawkeye, creator of the FutureCulture File by Jagwire X (jagwire@wixer.cactus.org) What follows is an online chat interview with Andy Hawks (Hawkeye). If you haven't figured it out by now, he is responsible for the Future_Culture Mailing list on USEnet and the Future_Culture FAQ that goes along with it. [send requests for subscription to future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu] When Blade first asked me to do this interview I was a bit wary as I didn't get a positive impression from some of Andy's posts on USEnet. I decided to do it anyway and try to find out more about what Andy thinks of the 'New Edge'. I had a great time chatting with Andy and hopefully the interview will reflect his thoughts on the 'New Edge'. --- These bits of info were snagged off of the User Registry on my own board, the CyberSpace Institute. [Phone # : (512) 469-0447] Information on Hawkeye : What other aliases do you have? : none What is your gender? : Male About how old are you? : 18 What's your sign? : Virgo What kinds of music do you like best? : Techno/Industrial What's your favorite color? : Blue If you were a tree, what kind would you be? : Dying slowly, tormented by the solemn silence in knowing my existence. What do you do for a living? : hang around Describe physical appearance. : 5' 10" brown hair thin luke-perry-esque- sideburns blue-eyes Describe your mental attitude : individualistic existential free-thinking post-modernistic What BBS's do you call? : my own (TKB: 303.438.1481) MindVox, Pentavia, hang on the INTERnet What are your interests? : writing, philosophizing, poetry, technoculture/new- edge, cyberpunk --- Chat Mode begin JAGWIRE X > You there? got time for a chat? ANDY HAWKS > Umm, yeah, I guess....Sure- if you wanna do the interview thing now, that'd be cool....I didn't have to work tonight so I didn't crash out early and have time to mess around... JX > Cool..man you type fast. Lessee... I didn't figure on you calling so as usual I am unprepared to do an interview but as usual I guess I can wing it. I'm terrible about these things. AH > Hehehe, that's cool....If you want, you could just go ahead and e-mail me like you planned, if it's easier on you....If you e-mail me, I might be able to give some thoughtful responses rather than whatever-comes-to-mind BS that I might give you now.... JX > Hmm... I guess I'll do that. Seems strange to do an interview via E- mail Whatever. I enjoyed your Future-Culture thang quite a bit. Why did you decide to do that? AH > Hehehehe...is this the interview?? :)....Well, I decided just got bored and frustrated with the mass media...It seemed to be just barely keeping with the times, let alone have any sense of direction towards the future....The only publications really worth reading these days seems to be things like Mondo, Intertek, umm, SF Eye, and a bunch of other underground 'zines...Other than that it's mostly bullshit, so what I wanted to do was to combine what I saw as the "technoculture edge" into one resource-guide, where people could find out what resources carry the sort of information they might be interested in...It caters to that new-edge / cyberpunk / technoculture crowd, ....(whatever-comes-to-mind BS example #1 :) JX > Great! I know Blade X is gonna have a cow when he sees the end result of this thing, but that's what he get for asking me to do an interview. So I guess I should ask you what you do and who are in meat reality. AH > "Meat reality"...that's interesting...Don't know if there is such a thing....Well, (wait- hold on -the lights in my room just got real dim and I can't see)...Ok...Sorry bout that...Can't type in the dark...I'm 18 years old, a high school student (senior for the second time in a row)...Umm, I consider myself a poet (written about 300 poems and trying to get some of them published however I can)....I like to consider myself an existentialist...Like, whenever I'm talking to someone, I may be talking to them on some level like "dude, let's go hang out tonight", but in my mind I'm always thinking about the nature of reality and shit like that...Right now I'm into going to raves - techno music, ecstasy, and the whole scene....And, I'm always into the latest technology, and futuristic (or actually near-futuristic) literature and shit like cyberpunk.... JX > I see that we are actually very similar in a lot of ways. Do you think that the luke-perryesque side sideburns are a fashion trend? Curious because I too have them. AH > Hehehe...I dunno...I don't watch the show anymore, although I do sometimes when I have nuthin else to do...I heard on MTV or something that he's shaving them off....I dunno personally got tired of that no sideburns look that seemed to be around for a few years, so I just started keepin' 'em when I heard about 90210 and all that junk....I thought 'cool', I can grow 'em back now...:) :) JX > I've noticed that when I am on INTERnet and looking through the sub echos I like that there seems to be a whole lot of 'arguing' and very little creative discussion. In fact it disturbs me. I think of INTERnet as a place in which ideas can be tossed about and expanded upon but I find that there is a lot of belittlement going on (people saying I'm right and you wrong etc.) Do you think this is true or am I missing something? AH > No, you're right on target...This has bothered me since day one of being on the net...It's like, everything you post to a newsgroup, someone feels compelled to post the opposite just for the sake of keeping with the political structure on the INTERnet (USEnet, actually)...I remember Bruce Sterling once said in an interview that his main problem with USEnet is the people are so damn uptight...I couldn't agree more, and it's sad to see since the majority of sites are universities which are supposed to be places where free-thinking abounds, but it sure as hell doesn't on USEnet...Everybody conforms or non-conforms in keeping with the "unwritten laws of USEnet"...I often find myself falling into the same trap, just because it's the only way you can communicate with these USEnet addicts who've been on the net for a decade and it's like the discussion has to be their way or no way...It bothers me a lot, too...That's what's great about BBSes - for the most part, the "real" BBSes seem to be immune to that conformity and bitching and shit... JX > Yeop. That sums it up pretty much. I have only posted a few messages to USEnet and one of the replies I got back was from you. (Hey double speak)... And it was (I thought) rather confrontational. At first I was really pissed but then I thought... because I really liked and respected your FutureCulture Article(?) FAQ(?) whatever it is, anyway I was kinda put off by you. I decided though that that was probably not the attitude I wanted to buy into and just let it pass. I think that the same problem that plagues USEnet also is inherent in the "New Edge" movement (whatever that is). I feel it lacks direction. I myself try to give direction to it, not control, but expand upon things and not to criticize. Have you had a similar experience? AH > Well, with my mailing list on the net, yeah, I've had a lot of similar experiences. I get mail all the time saying what a dick I am for how I interpret things, and, when I post a message about, like, "cyberpunk culture" or something, people treat it as if it's law...And that's certainly not my intent, I mean, I really in the end know just about as much as everyone else, so, it's like, who really knows what is true and what isn't, so who really has the right to control where a movement is going, for example....I know I've been accused so often of trying to control some section of "new edge" or "technoculture" or "cyberpunk" (I throw the terms around a lot in the hopes that people will realize just how futile such terms really are in the end) and, it's like, "well, I'm sorry that you see that I'm trying to control the direction of this, but please understand that my opinions are no more or no less valid than yours"... Everybody's got opinions on where this thing ("new edge") is going, and the scary thing is that everybody's got an opinion but nobody seems to be really taking any action on it...I think once the technology that the new edgers are into (VR, fiber optiks, etc.) becomes more practical, then this will all make more sense, but as it stands right now new edge is so new, and so directionless, that it really is difficult to make any sense of it...BTW - sorry for pissing you off - I know that I piss a lot of people off, but, like I said before "it's just my opinion, everyone's got one, and in my mind no one person's is more or less important than anyone else's- they're all equally "....You should see the responses I get from alt.suicide.holiday -I try and defend suicide as, like, a personal choice, and people get really, really pissed and send me mail, and I just say 'hey, that's just my opinion, don't write it down as law".... JX > Whew. Lets see. Grade-A curmudgeon "Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink." I see the New Edge as having a thousand directions and all of them moving at the speed of light. There's so much information out there and it is impossible to keep up. I rely on my 'network' to keep me informed much the same as a nest of ants works together and communicates. Perhaps I have a bit too much of a Learian aspect to my view of New Edge but it seems perfectly valid to me. Needs more quantum physics (like salt). Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle runs rampant in the movement. You can either tell how fast you are moving or where you are but the more you know one the less you know the other. AH > Hmm....That's pretty cool....And I liked your analogy about the ants...That was really good-that's the one thing that networks are full of is information- whether it be a master's thesis or mindless dribble, there's tons of information on the networks and BBSes...Seems everyone there is that has a modem is an info-holic of sorts....By 'Learian' you mean Timothy Leary, right? JX >Yeah, he and Robert A. Wilson pretty much turned my life upside down at the age of 14. In case you are wondering I'm 25 as of Thursday [Aug 6]. Interestingly I was born on the anniversary of Hiroshima. AH > Woah...I wonder what that means....Hmm...I was born on the anniversary of the pardoning of Nixon....Anyway, happy birthday!!!.....Can't really sing to you, but, anyway, happy birthday....I haven't read much of Wilson (not much at all, actually- every time I'm in a bookstore I look through the Illuminatus Trilogy or that new book he has ..something 'reality something)....But, I'm a big fan of Leary as well....I think it's great that he's involved in the new edge shit...People may not like him or his beliefs, or the way he comes across, but at least he's a unique individual not afraid to voice his opinions...He always uses the word 'cybernaut', and always talks about cyberpunks are basically 'reality pilots', which I really think is true, and I place a lot of faith in that...Some people may think 'reality pilot' is just his new 'tune in turn on...' keyphrase, but I think it is an important phrase that'll have a lot of meaning in whatever the new edge becomes.... JX > I couldn't agree more. I fact that's what the whole posting thing was about that I got pissed off with. More the other guy than you, I must say. Just goes to show how people manage to misunderstand each other. I feel that the majority of the people involved in the New Edge don't understand that we are creating the future now. And that we must be aware of what we are doing. It is as if they don't follow through with the cybernetic definition of intelligence (Receive, Integrate, Broadcast (I know that's kinda loose)) AH > Yeah, the Integrate part certainly seems to be lacking in the movement...I agree with you completely about "we must be aware of what we're doing" - one prime example of this is Queen Mu from Mondo, who, basically, just seems to be one of those people who to me who just jumps on the latest bandwagon, prances around all over the culture like the US on some poor third-world nation, and then gets off (almost literally) the boat whenever she wants to....Her articles in Mondo (which in general doesn't seem to have much concern over the impact it has) are usually about teledildonics, or virtual-sex, and shit like that, and it's like, c'mon, whatever we're doing here is a whole lot more than that, please don't reduce it to virtual-sex!....I really get frustrated with that....One opposite example, in my mind, is Storming the Reality Studio...Larry McCaffery's excellent 'casebook' of cyberpunk and postmodern fiction-he brings up all these wonderful postmodern essays and equates them with cyberpunk literary and cultural criticism, and puts it together in a very intelligent manner that attempts to make some sense of what cyberpunk is really all about, at a very basic aesthetic and substantive level....Really cool... JX > Yeah. I see that too. McCaffrey's book is very illuminating. My mind is hurling along at a million MPH. Any other comments you'd like to throw in that I haven't hit upon? AH > Umm, not really that I can think of now....I like rambling on about this type of shit...Oh, BTW, you mentioned you were a fan of Leary's, umm, are you on the Leri-L list??? JX > Nope. Is it a USEnet maillist? AH > Yeah, it's a mailing list , in the way that mine is like..But, umm, the list is all about 'metaprogramming', which basically means 'piloting your own reality' (like Leary said)....they talk about Leary and Wilson a lot (as does the Extropians list, which is kinda similar I think)...But, anyway, the reason I mentioned it was because they talk about Leary, and also because they have these pretty cool 'net trips' every so often, where they get as many list-subscribers as they can to get dosed on acid and call the net while dosed, and they all send mail to each other and chat and shit while fried... It's really pretty cool.... JX > Wow. sounds cool. I'll definitely check it out. You know I've been trying to get onto your maillist and yesterday I realized I was sending my request to the wrong net address. Duh. Wait. I remember. I was told the the idea of getting a self supporting off coast New Edge commune was being tossed around a while back and then sort of died out. Now that's an idea I really like. I would seriously like to get a high-tech self sufficient group out on the seas in like an oil tanker and where they canna do anything about it. AH > Haha, sounds real cool...Probably not too realistic, didn't Leary try something similar down in Mexico? I 'm not too up on Leary's history, but I remember reading something about that in ummm, shit, Storming Heaven or something like that - a book about acid...good book...But, yeah, anyway, that 'roving new edge commune' sounds pretty cool...I'd definitely sign up for it as well! I've always wanted to get my own island, like, off the coast of Washington or Oregon, and, kinda like, secede from the US and just make my own little, like, Plato's Academy with all my friends and shit, where there wouldn't be any laws or anything unless there really needed to be... JX > I am working on putting together a 'zine called SunDog. I understand that you too are publishing a 'zine. Tell me about that. AH > Well, it's called The Infinite Edge. The first issue, which is all I've done, is basically just a restructuring of the Future_Culture FAQ file into a magazine format... Umm, my intent with the magazine is to offer something more to what little of "new edge" focused magazines are out there....My hope is to make something like Mondo, but a little broader in scope, and a little more readable and intelligent in nature. Each issue is divided up into 11 categories: Genesys editorial/notes from me Listen! notes from the readers Moderns cultural observations and commentary Republic philosophical and political commentary Visions fiction and poetry CyberPlace life in cyberspace/what's new in modem-land Altered drugs and virtual reality Eyes magazine and book reviews Ears music Live on Tape movies and video Mobius closing words Right now, I'm working on the second issue...When I finish that one, and figure out how/where/who I can get to print this thing out in a magazine type format, I'm going to send people who're interested both issues, so they can have an idea of what my intent is with the thing....Hopefully, with all the great attention that my FutureCulture mailing list has gotten (Bruce Sterling, Tom Maddox, Steve Brown of SF Eye, St Jude of Mondo, the Ono-Sendai people, to name a few, have been pretty interested) I can use the people on the list and the net in general as a platform to get this thing going.... Some articles I'm working on for the second issue include a commentary on the rave scene, cyberpunk culture - if it exists or not, a review of storming the reality studio, the possible futures of practical vr-tech, and hopefully I'll be able to print an article of mine that is going to be appearing in issue #8 of Mondo, entitled "there's a rave in cyberspace" which is all about the current state of the computer underground and new advancements like MindVox. AH > Well, I really enjoyed the conversation - don't get to talk about stuff like this everyday, and I'll be sure and call back sometime soon and check out the board!!! JX > Cool. Thanks. I enjoyed it much myself. Take care and I'll drop you e-mail soon. via con dios amigo. AH > later...! Chat mode over. \ \ \ \ \ \ _____________________________________________ \ \ | | \ \ | We are tired of the slick, contrived, | \ \ | choreographed, clean. We want to see | | \ | something that is live, raw, and dangerous. | | | | | | | | "Power to the People: A Lollapalooza Diary" | | | | Photo essay by Maxwell Hudson, October 1992 | | | | _Spin_, p. 61 | \ \ |_____________________________________________| \ \ babybabybabybabyba\ \ybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby babybaby yba \ \ aby byba abyb byba babybaby babybaby bybabyba \ \aby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba b\ \by yba aby yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabyb yba b/ /by byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba / /aby byb yba aby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabybabybab/ /babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby / / / / The Torn Issue / / / / _______________/ / November 2, 1992 / / / / _________________/_______________________________________________________/ / | / /| | Cyberlicious | Editor: Blade X | The Bamboo Gardens / / | | PO Box 4510 | bladex@wixer.cactus.org | (512) 385-2941 / / | | Austin, TX 78765 | WWIV : 46@5285 | Neo Wobbly Node # / / | |__________________________________________________________________/ /____| / / INDEX / / / / Ediborial............................................../ /.. K-Mart Now Stocks Fractals!.........................../ /... Transmission Error.................................../ /.... Baby Got Back Issues................................/ /..... X-change : Paco Xander Nathan....................../ /...... New Subscribers Info / Poll......................./ /....... Smart Drugs; Dumb Kids : Why Johnny Can't Morph../ /........ / / \ _______________________________________/ /__ \ | / / | \ | I think cyberpunk is the latest at/__/t | \ \ | by American hipsters to escape the squalid | \ \ | intellectual climate that surrounds them. | \ \ | | \ \ | This is not a bad goal. | \ \ | | \ \ | Karl Myers, "Cyberpunk Thing" | \ \ | Talking Raven Vol II, No. 1, p. 4 | \ \ |_____________________________________________| \ \ \ \ \ \ EDIBORIAL \ \ \ \ ___________________________________________________ You're back! \ \ |__________________________________________________ \ \ Once again, all\ \little cyber-buddies, it's time for another issue of _Scream Baby_. \ \ow that I told some of ya that this would be the Public Enemy theme issue\ \t since making that statement I have discovered that I really don't have \ \attention span to do a theme issue. Go figure. \ \ Actually, I've notic\ \hat my attention span has been getting shorter and shorter as the nights\ \w longer. In conversations I can barely stay on topic for longer than \ \minutes before wanting to jump track and follow some tangent. \ \ \ \ Good thing I've already g\ \ated.....else there might be trouble. \ \ Before we get grooving, let\ \apologize for the condition of this issue. I carelessly left the master c\ \of _Scream Baby_ lying around and one of my friend's four year old tried \ \ake Halloween decorations out of it. Scissors and small children do\ \mix! Anyway, I tried to tape it up, best I could, but only had a roll of e\ \rical tape available. Hope it doesn't cause any confusion.... \ \ _______________________\ \________________________________ | \ \ | | Who s\ \ the soul? | | \ \ | | Whoever took my PE _Greate\ \isses_ tape during my last | | party had better hope I\ \'t catch him/her..... | |_____________________________\ \__________________________| \ \ K-MART STOCKS\ \CTALS! \ \ I walked into my roommate Bayard's room the\ \er day and was like Wow!, what a cool psychadelic poster of fractals. Wher\ \d you get it? \ \ "Oh, I saw it at K-Mart....pretty cool, huh?" \ \ \ \ Fractals are a commodity now found at K-Mart is \ \this blurb wants to say. I'm__till holding out for fractal wallpaper. \ \ / / \ \ / /______________________________________________\ \____________________ / / \ \ | /| One way to determine how and what to think is b\ \lling strangers | / | from other areas. Their hurried reactions to\ \tiple choice | / | selections provide one example of how to think abo\ \mportant issues | | in your life. \ \ | | \ \ | / | "A Brief Exegesis of ONO Polling Techniques", _Offi\ \umber One_ |/ | Volume 1,811,401 Issue 61, August 15, 2004 4:11:3 \ \ page 8 / |________________________________________________________\ \__________/ / \ \ / / TRANSMISSION ERROR \ \ \ / \ \ For some reason inexplicable to me, all cybernauts seem eager to\ \t to discuss their hardware & software system set up. ! products will be found there. \ \ \ \ PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS \ \ \ \ Cyberlicious ! products are available 24 hours a day at Tejas BBS, 5\ \ 467-0663. The sysop, Boattail Bob, should be famous for saying, "Softwar\ \ the currency of the digital underground" \ \ \ Then there is also The Bamboo Gardens, 512-385-2941, which is a virtual \ wayward home for information junkies. Hundreds of textfiles of good, prime, \ uncut stuff. Or feel free to STOP BY MY HOUSE when I'm home and copy it DIRECTLY FROM MY COMPUTER SYSTEM. Bring your own 5.25" disks, please. Bring me some food while you are at i___ / / While we a/ /n the issue of issues, my Codehound A.I. informs me that various bootleg _/ /am Baby_ copies are floating around cyberspace, in violation of the *STR/ /Y* enforced distribution restrictions [1]. We will track you down. / /while I am not a member of the Software Publisher's Association, I can ju/ /s easily hire some thugs of my own. / / Endn/ /: / / [1/ /e Software Licensing Agreement : Some people just don't get it. / / _______________________________________________ / / | | / | If black and white adults don't have anything | / | in common, well, black and white kids do. | / | And what is that? | | | | It's the music. | | | | Hank Shocklee, Public Enemy Producer | | October 1992 _Spin_, page 46 | |_______________________________________________| X-CHANGE : PACO XANDER NATHAN 10-29-92 Only in Austin will you find someone with a tatoo of the international symbol for recycling. Paco told me that it was "instructions in case someone finds my body. They'll know what to do with it." Paco Xander Nathan is the Technology Consciousness Editor for bOING-bOING, an increasingly regular contributor to Mondo 2000, a programmer (MenStat & probably more), but is probably best described as "the guy with all the cool brain toys" Scream Baby caught up with Paco following the EFF-Austin Public Forum : The Hacker Crackdown, a speech and book signing by Bruce Sterling. Here is an edited excerpt of that conversation : ___ ___ \ \ / / PXN: Hi. My name is\ \o Nathan/ / actually _Wired_ may be an interesting maga\ \ but _/ /o_ is going to sneak up on everyone in the real near fut\ \ / / \ \ / / \ \/ / [Bruce had taken a quick jab at \ / / Mondo during the Q&A session] / / Scream: That might be a litt/ / \ ed opinion there. / /\ \ PXN: Actually that's so/ /ns\ \ info. / / \ \ Scream: Oh. Can you give/ /some i\ \er info about the next issue of _Mondo_? / / \ \ /__/ \__\ PXN: Oh sure. Which one? The one that is coming out in about two days? Scream: TWO DAYS?!?! PXN: Seeing as I wrote a lot of it. ___ / / Scream: TWO DAYS?!?! REALLY? / / / / PXN: Well no, it will probably be coming o/ /bout next week or so. We're really on the print deadline right n/ /..I have a biotech piece in it and a few other pieces as well. / / / / Scream: Is it as glossy? The last issue / /le talked about it taking a "step down" from being heads in / /clouds. / / PXN: Yeah. I think what's happenin/ / that some of the art staff is really congealing and startin/ / come in to their own, and hitting their prime. I think the co/ /of the last issue is just primo compared to what's been hap/__/ng before. Scream: What's going to be on the cover? PXN: I was down at the offices a few weeks ago and I can't talk about it. ___ Scream: Oh come on. I've got to h| |inside information in each issue [of _Scream Baby_] and the onl| |ing I'm sitting on now is that the manager of Public Enemy is| |ting together a rap version of Lollapalooza. That's the | | thing I'm sitting on right now. I need more. | | | | PXN: Inside information on _Mon| |is just that there is a lot of fresh blood and it's going a lot| |e technical. We are talking about bringing in a lot more you| |, less-known writers who are actually right now in the technolog| |d I think this is going to make a big change because these aren'| |ople who are esconsed in post- modernism. These are peop| |ho are living in the tech and I think that will make some change| |I think that the art stuff is really pulling in tight. The big| | thing that is happening right now of course is that the circula| | is just booming because of Walden books and things like that| |nd of course Mondo also has a new host __________________________| |_______________________________________ |_____________________________________________________________________ Scream: You're the new Mondo host? You and Jon [Lebkowsky]? PXN: Yeah, Jon and Sirius and I. Scream: Is R.U. Sirius coming to Austin for a book signing tour? PXN: We've been talking about that. I'm one of the few people trying to \ negotiate that here in Austin. It's just up in the air.... there's \ definitely at least one person here willing to host it. \ \ \ [wandered into a discussion of local Austin counter-culture scene. \ \ Named names! Told other businesses how to run their jobs! Hyped those \ \ who we like! Dissed those who we don't! Who is going to lease that \ \ sombrero-topped-restaurant on the Drag? A New Edge store in Austin? \ \I've said too much] \ \ PXN:\ \think that a lot of the New Edge community here in Austin is \ \lusive. Here in Austin it's very large, but it's very exclusive. \ \ou're not part of the in-thing, you're not part of it at all. The E\ \side is just so damn bifurcated how can you consider it to be ex\ |ive? Why is you have to wear black in order to be part of the in-\ |wd? You can't define it. You have radical feminists over here/ and \|ople who are sawing off their arms and putting on electronics / over here and it's all part of the same thing..... / / / I've just finished some work on wear-ables right now. I don't ha/ / any units to work on but hopefully pretty soon. And when we do / / be doing a party like [see bOING-bOING #9]. Wearable computers/ /t's my big kick right now. I really think there's going to be a lo/ / happening with wearables. I've been talking with too many pe/ / who are going to market right now. / / | | Scream: What's a wear-able? | | | | PXN: A wearable is when you take a laptop, gut it, and make it in| | basically about 3 or 4 pounds. There are people who have it| |n to 7 chips, with 100 meg. Serious 386 machines. | | | | Scream: What was the parody I saw once...........keyboard chaps? | | | | PXN: I think it's going to turn something inside out...You talk | |he VR people and the VR people are beating each other over the he| |ver reality emergences and how it can be effective and how many| |les can take the bandwidth. |__| Scream: That's one point I wanted to make about Bruce's speech was that the military is a major support of VR. That without the military there would be no VR industry. PXN: I'm going to jump out of the field right now and play devil's advocate. I think right now that a lot of the emergence stuff is just bullshit. I think you and I already have realities. And I think that if you go into more of the computer augmented overlay. To be able to have something projected out so I'm looking at you and so I can be updated at the same time. Scream: Random mindsplatter. Now you can see why Scream Baby is like it is. I can't keep on-topic for longer than five minutes. I have just ordered a copy of Wax....[discussion of bringing Wax to Austin]...on Monday and I'm just upset that it's not here yet. I want my information faster than that. One of the ideas I had while thinking about David Blair....the technology already exists to do what he did...... ____hen are there not more people doing it? \ \ PXN: You would b\ \zed at how accessible technology is. You can walk down to Radi\ \ck....I don't know what your expertise in circuits is right now.\ \ \ \ Scream: Zerooooo. Big \ \ng zero. \ \ PXN: You can buy a boo\ \t will show you how to do really interesting circuits that sell\ \$2.39. Anyone can just walk in with a grammar school education an\ \rt wiring circuits. Why don't people do it. \ \ Scream: There is a certain le\ \f technical knowledge a lot of people jump in and start hacking i\. \ lot of people do it, a lot of people don't. A lot of people\ \t understand the technology that surrounds them. This is\ \ght up mostly in _Zen And The Art of Motorcycle_. They don't \ \how it works as long as the food is hot when it comes out of the m\ /wave. Push a button, and that's it. That's all you need to know\/ And that's one of the ironies that as technology becomes more commonplace, your understanding of it decreases. PXN: I don't know, I kind of play counterpoint. I think overall, if you look at a cross section, yeah, but I think for individuals as it becomes more commonplace it starts to fuse together... Scream: Tech is more specialized. 100-150 years ago, something in your house broke you could fix it. You could repair it. Now there's [hardly] anything in your house you can fix yourself anymore. PXN: It bubbles through so. A lot more of the weird specialized functions are being offloaded into th___oftware. So if you understand what the hell an RS 232 port is and| |understand how to debug software you certainly can fix a lot mo| |ings that used to be little specialized black boxes th| |u would never have a clue about how to keep up. It kinda bubbles| |t and goes through stages of being very esoteric and very sta| |ized. | | Note: At this point in the convers|___|, Mike Mooney, of the alternative rock band None of the Above, breaks in and offers an analogy involving time travel and a toaster. Which probably was great, except he spoke so softly that the tape didn't pick it up. There's a lesson involving media hipness in there somewhere. __________________________________ \ | | \ | K-mart Sucks | \ | -- Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man" | \ |__________________________________| \ \ \ \ SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION / POLL \ \ Tom\ \ is Election Day! I know that you, like me, are just giddy with this demo\ \c voting feeling. There's something about bubbling in the slots next to 14\ \ntested races that enlightens the true nature of democracy. \ \ Their d\ \acy, not mine! Here's what I've done. I sat down and made a list of sever\ \ssible long[er]-term Cyberlicious! products. All are within the scope of \ \ilities. Which to choose? Which to do next? \ \ Here's wher\ \ come in. Following is a what-was-supposed-to-be-short description \ \ch project. Study the issues carefully. At the end is a ballot, which\ \equired of people who wish to become a _Scream Baby_ subscriber, an\ \t plain fun for those who already are. \ / \/ PHOTO PORTRAIT Ever since I saw the photos for Suffer Trough, a local campus radio show, I've been aching to do something similar for _Scream Baby_. Essentially this would be a portrait of me in a bleak, dreary urban landscape making some sort of vague socio-political point. This would also be a "I'll show me mine if you show me yours" type of deal. I'll give it away free to subscribers who send in a photo of themselves and a SASE. Else it costs money. STICKERS ___ | | This would be a collaboration between me and my art| |riends to create a sticker that could be placed anywhere, but especial| | the side of your computer so all can see you for the radical telecom| |ator that you are. Something like the BCP! Memetic Antidote. | | | | MACNERVOUSBOY | | | | Nervousboy is one of those artists who doesn't want| |le to know that he's an artist. [If that was *really* the case, though,| | stop dressing like the Beasties Boy, an identifying mark of Austin art| | With a Masters in Fine Arts from The University of Texas at Austin, h| |ks at Kinko's Copies. Once, he ran a T-shirt transfer through the machine| |wing that it would leave an impression on the rollers. Then he copied| |reds of resumes, imprinting "I have a felony conviction" on the back| |ight ink. When confronted, he pleads that he didn't know that woul|___|pen and was very sorry. He still works there. MacNervousboy is a collection of his art information converted to computer format. Gifs, Quicktime movies, pranks, art for fucking around sakes, stuck on a disk and sent to stodgy magazines for re:view. MacNervousboy. Nervousboy has agreed to think about it. JOHNNY MARR MURDER CAN BE FUN COMPUTER CALENDAR Those damn "Today in History" calendars are *everywhere*. I hate them. Don't get mad, subvert! Johnny Marr is the force behind a little zine called Murder Can Be Fun, which is a light-hearted look at murder, mayham, death, and destruction. Last year he created a calendar that listed, for each day, some such gruesome feat. Birthdays of mass murderers, quotes, accidents, that sort of thing. I've been meaning to w_____to him and ask to create a computer version of this year's calendar,/ /'s compiling one. I've already secured an IBM program, and have leads / / Macversion. I bet there's a damn Today in History calendar program fo/ / boxes as well....grrrr...... / / / / SCRE/ /Y : THE AUDIO CASSETTE / / Loyd Blankenship, aka The/ /r, has already agreed to contribute a spoken word description of his / /t on the Operation Sundevil raid. His story is pretty funny, and deser/ / be preserved....before he gets indicted sometime in May. The Scream Ba/ /io tape would be a combination of spoken word, news, music, sounds, / /ws, and the same innovative information you're slowly becoming addi/ /o. / / /____/ APPLY TO GRADUATE SCHOOLS Hi Mom! This option is mostly for her benefit. I know she is somewhat disappointed that her son-with-the-college-degree-who-she-went-through-8- hours-of-labor-for has yet to break the $10,000 a year salary barrier. I came *real* close last year. Essentially I would like to study in a Society and Technology program. My qualifications include a B.A in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin, about a 3.2 my last two years, and a combined score of 1300 on the GRE. Any suggestions? Just think.....Scream Baby....on *your* campus. ___ | | PRINT FORMAT ZINE VE| | OF SCREAM BABY | | Before you start shaking your head and | |g "how retro!" there's a lot to be said for print publication. It would a| |me to add graphic illustrations to some of the concepts. I could probably| |w in the Cyber Nuggets comix as well. There'd be little quotes running| |g the bottom of each page, just like Ben Is Dead. Columns & side bars!| || it's something you can read on the bus....but that's another story. | | | | SCUMBAG'S PLACE : | |YBERPUNK YEARS | | This option has me jumping on the case | | friends who produce an ACTV show that uses my house as a set, Scumbag's |___|. Scumbag is a mean vicious man who rules over a house of puppets. The show is essentially a variety show for people with short attention spans : claymation, musicals, singing, magic, talk show, anti-drug messages, and lots and lots and lots of puppets! We almost burnt down my house in the first episode. I already have produced a treatment for the episode, we'd need to secure equipment such as a Video Toaster or similar effects editor and we'd also need to secure a big heaping dose of motivation. Your vote for the HR Puffinstuff of the Underground, perhaps? FIND A WOMAN, BECOME OBSESSED WITH MAKING HER HAPPY, AND FORGET ABOUT THE WHOLE DAMN THING This is self-explanatory. SCREAM BABY BALLOT / NEW SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION Background Information [ ] I am already a _Scream Baby_ subscriber [ ] I'm hooked like a cheap heroine addict. Sign me up. My e-mail address is _____________________ Place either an "X" or an "*" in up to three (3) of the following options: [ ] PHOTO PORTRAIT [ ] STICKERS [ ] MACNERVOUSBOY [ ] JOHNNY MARR MURDER CAN BE FUN CALENDAR [ ] SOUND SCREAM BABY : THE AUDIO TAPE [ ] SCUMBAG'S PLACE [ ] GRAD SCHOOL -- MAKE MOM HAPPY [ ] PRINT FORMAT ZINE [ ] FIND A WOMAN TO RUN AWAY WITH Hit (R)eply now, delete lines 1 through 514, then mark your ballots with a number Pi pencil. Send your entries to bladex@wixer.cactus.org. Deadline : December 1, 1992. Not responsible for anything.chine| |wing that it would leave an impression on the rollers. Then he copied| |reds of resumes, imprinting "I _____________________________________ | | | I've got just four words to say to | | those who are [dissing] Jagwire X's | | Autopia Project : | | | | "Get Your Own Boat" | | -- polekat | |_____________________________________| babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby babybabyb ybab aby byba abyb bybab ybabybaby babybaby bybabyba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabyb byba babybaby yba aby yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabyb yba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby bybab aby byb yba aby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby Talking Raven Re:view December 16, 1992 "Take all you want....I'll make more" __________________________________________________________________________ | | | Cyberlicious | Editor : Blade X | The Bamboo Gardens | | PO Box 4510 | bladex@wixer.cactus.org | (512) 385-2941 | | Austin, TX 78765 | Neo-Wobblie Node # 269 | WWIV : 46@5285 | |__________________________________________________________________________| EDIBORIAL This was supposed to be a simple letter to the Scream Baby subscribers. Hi! I'm going to Yew*stun for Xmas Con this weekend... Let's do launch if our spheres collide; was all this needed to be. Maybe toss in an interesting line noise or two. Perhaps a brief eulogy for my friend Sandeep. Seems he was hiking in New Mexico and was excited about seeing snow for the fourth time in his life. [Sandeep was from India] He ran ahead of his group, got separated, got lost, and died of hypothermia that night. To put it in perspective, re:alize that Sandeep contracted a rare neurological disorder six months ago. He woke up not being able to feel or move his legs, the victim of a mystery-to-medicine. Being in New Mexico was a celebration of months of successful rehabilitation. People die every day. You will die someday soon sorry to spoil the secret. But dying out of excitement to explore the universe......it could be worse. Walk it like ya talk it. Thanx for the lesson, Sandeep. ____________________________________ | | | It could have been "Walter" Gibson | | | | -- Paco | |____________________________________| TALKING RAVEN THE JOURNAL OF IMAGINATIVE TROUBLE Talking Raven : The Journal of Imaginative Trouble Vol II, #1 Summer Solstice 1992. Distributed free on the streets of Seattle. By snailmail $2 USD in America, $5 USD anyplace else. The theme of this issue is "Virtual Reality : Close But No Cigar." Editor Antero Alli claims this to be "our cyberpunk satire, a rebellion against those simulated realities and media illusions which....fail to move the imagination." If satire is what Talking Raven sought, then consider this issue a miserable failure. This satire issue is super-charged concentrate; Antero Alli's writings reveal a Prime A Grade Cyberpunk. "From the Editor's Monitor" rants about virtual reality (more on that later) and ends with an advocation to "Turn off the TV and make your own movies" People seizing methods of producing mass media for themselves? A call to "turn off the TV and make your own movies....shoot the news or make the news....but get out there and DO SOMETHING"? Nope, not cyberpunk! Another article explores the connections between advertising and black magic(k). Sean Kilpatrick explains how television commercials use the same methods that Aleister Crowley's espoused concerning the shaping of Will (re:ality). Antero Alli pops up again with an essay on "How To See Through Advertising" Television as a major form of thought control? Arming the viewer with knowledge in order to defend against the influence of advertising? Nope, not cyberpunk! The re-structuring of economic value from product to information? Nope, not cyberpunk! This isn't a satire; this is pure, unexpurgated cyberpunk. It ain't perfect, just damn interesting. The knock against virtual reality essentially claims that VR ain't cyberpunk *enough*. One of the identifying characteristics of New Edge technology is individual personal control. How many of you can program a virtual reality environment? How many of you think you'll be able to do so in less than 20 years? Not I. Sure, nickel and dime stuff, but there is such a wide chasm between possibility and plausibility that I'll look for other ledges to leap. For all the rhetoric on individual emancipation, for all the rhetoric on DIY, 99% of the population will be plugging in pre-prepared Babbage's bubble shrink wrap slag. A rail against the commodification of cyberspace? Nope, not cyberpunk! -- end of review -- ______________________________________________ | | | There are some who still believe in reality. | | Believe in re:ality. | |______________________________________________| -- beginning of re:view -- ____________________________ | | | Re:ality is the sum of the | | spheres of reality. | |____________________________| The history of humanity is the clan/family. Individuals had little contact with other realities -- and cultural exchange was more likely to involve weapons of destruction than literature when one walked into the walls of a different reality tunnel. Today we are flooded. Not satisfied with a single perspective, thought, belief, and culture, communication technology strives to represent the realities of every single human on the planet. No corner of the globe too distant to explore, no ugly seam at home too disturbing to ignore. Integrate all these realities or go crazy, is what mass media structure dictates. _____________________ | | | Choose Pandemonium |----->----- |_____________________| | | | Join the concrete culture or die is the memetic threat. | | _______________ | | | | ---------<---- | Choose Life | <-------<---- | |_______________| | People like Pat |obertson and Pat Buchanan try to cram a fractured world into a single, monoli|hic reality. That they think this possible is why we should laugh. | ________________________________ | | | --> | Not for any political content | |________________________________| A rite of passage for every political-cultural-activist is to bemoan how a certain media outlet does not correspond with reality. Conservatives about the liberal bias of reporters and the existence of Public Television. Liberals about the domination of conservative corporate culture on newspapers. Union members about the absence of perspectives on labor relations. Feminists about the number of bimbos. Afrikan-Americans about the preponderance of members of their race who are shown not as successful professionals, but drug- dealing uneducated criminals. Christians about the lack of people seen on television who go to church, pray, or display any religious beliefs whatsoever despite the enormous wide-spread popular practice of "going to church." Let me stop before I fill someone's message buffer. All groups end with a single rallying battle cry. _________________________________________________________________ | | | There are not enough positive role models for ________________. | | | |_________________________________________________________________| Look on page 3 of Beat Scene magazine, Issue 14. [Single copies $8 for US/Japan/Australia, 2.30 pounds UK, 3 pounds Eire; 4 issues are $28 US, 8 pounds UK, 10 pounds Eire from 27 Court Leet, Binley Woods Nr Coventry CV3 2JQ, Warks England Tel (voice) 0203-543604] Beat Scene is a British zine about "getting hep with William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowsky... Allen Ginsberg....Desolation Angels everywhere" It's slogan is "definitely here to go." Look at the rest of zine later, for now concentrate on page 3. Look at the review of Apocalypse, which is a collaboration between William S. Burroughs and the late graphic artist Keith Haring. [Wait.......did you not bring your text[s] to class? It was on the syllabus............let me sigmasize] Burroughs equates Pan with the belief that all experience is equally real. In Pandemonium, there is no distinction between the reality found in [meat] reality or the reality found in dream, fantasy, or [tele-]visions. The birth of Christ was the death of Pan, contends Burroughs, but Pan returned to the world with the creation of modern art. Illusion? Reality? Does it matter? And that final question tore the fabric of reality. Pandemonium broke out. Cities are attacked by graffiti artists. Household appliances revolt. Everything goes crazy. The world spills. Now I'm not one to quibble with WSB nor question the origin of Pan's resurrection. My simple and humble exposition is that if Duchamp opened the gates which allowed Pandemonium to return then communications technology placed it in the Life of every human on the planet. Without mass media, Duchamp was just some guy puttering in his basement. A New Edge Affirmation ____________________________________ | | | I control the frequency | | | | I control the horizontal | | | | I control the vertical | | | | Do not attempt to adjust my set | |____________________________________| Let me try to tie everything mentioned so far: ___________________________________ | | | In cyberspace you are the media | |___________________________________| -- close of re:view -- | Choose Pandemonium |----->----- ------------------------------------------------------------> | | "Should you then, in time, discover all there is | to be discovered, your progress must then become | a progress away from the bulk of humanity. The | gulf might even grow so wide that the sound of | your cheering at some new achievement would be | echoed by a universal howl of horror." | --Bertolt Brecht | ------------------------------------------------------------> obligatory big ol' header: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX scream -- vb. 2a. to speak or write with intense hysterical expressions b. to protest violently c. to produce a vivid startling effect baby -- n. 1. aw, hell, we all know what one of these is, huh? __________________________________________________________________________ | | | Cyberlicious | Publisher : Blade X | The Bamboo Gardens | | PO Box 4510 | bladex@wixer.cactus.org | (512) 385-2941 | | Austin, TX 78765 | Neo-Wobblie Node # 269 | WWIV : 46@5285 | |__________________________________________________________________________| The Leri-L Issue With your guest host: Scotto (moore7004@iscsvax.uni.edu) Note: Scotto is the moderator of the Leri-L mailing list and guest editor of this issue of Scream Baby. So if you don't like or understand something here, blame him. Space is available in Scream Baby for those who will amaze me. Enough meddling, I'm outta here like last year. -- me 1/3/93 INDEX: EDUMATORIAL #1 Subject: NetSurvey II A SLICE OF LIFE IN MY VIRTUAL COMMUNITY (excerpt) by Howard Rheingold EDUMATORIAL #2 Subject: (blank) APPROACHING THE HYPERTEXTure by Heath Michael Rezabek Subject: [deceased] EBIMATORIAL #3 featuring Andy Hawks Subject: commercial break LERI-L WELCOME LETTER (excerpt) EDUMATORYAL #? featuring @rez Subject: Agrippa Subject: RE: Scream Baby EDUMAURINAL #N ARBITRARY MUSIC REVIEWS Subject: LSD ENDNOTE ---------------------------->> EDUMATORIAL #1 (Wherein we begin to define our reasons for being Here.) First of all, let me just say that the Internet is the largest single example of public masturbation I believe I have ever seen. Second of all, I do not claim to represent all of the fine-feathered gang at Leri-L. I basically represent myself and the other couple of entities who occasionally manifest themselves within me. But I tell you what, I'll be durned if I know what the hell is going on here. I have been busily grooming myself a net.personality, and doing an issue of Scream Baby seemed like the next logical step to getting myself *really noticed*. I'm a selfish, cynical pig at heart, oinking for love and attention. I'd give you a little autobio here, but you shouldn't care, because the point of today's issue is not my selfish motivations, but what I decided to do with those motivations, dig? By making such a disclaimer, I can truly prove what a groovy froog I am -- "I'm not a proselytizer, but I play one on the Net." So. All the hackers and crackers and phrackers and cracker-jackers and apple- jackers and cyberpunks and cypherpunks and cyberphunks and fruitnfibrepunks pay attention, please, I mean, I'm entreating you as politely as I can, because I represent the Other (gasp). I represent the World's Computer Illiterati, and we are insiduously making our way into your backyards, and we see your Blind Spots, dig? Now that that's been said, on with the show.... ----------------------------->> >From REZABEK1037@iscsvax.uni.edu Tue Dec 15 01:24:03 1992 To: leri-l@iscsvax.uni.edu Subject: NetSurvey II hmmmmm... 42 new messages in 9 hours; 5 an hour, eh? boy, the hits just keep a-comin... :) ok, this Question has an Expiration Date of 3 pm TUESDAY (today in this neck o' de woods): * Define: "The Net." heh. ;)rez ------------------------------>> A SLICE OF LIFE IN MY VIRTUAL COMMUNITY (EXCERPT) by Howard Rheingold (Ed notes: Howard stayed on Leri-L over the summer while writing a book on virtual communities, and claims to still occasionally peruse the Daily Comp. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the "Whole Earth Review," and his is the point of view from which we will enter the thrust of this issue. CMC = computer- mediated communication) Something is happening here. I'm not sure anybody understands it yet. I know that the WELL and the net is an important part of my life and I have to decide for myself whether this is a new way to make genuine committments to other human beings, or a silicon-induced illusion of community. I urge others to help pursue that question in a variety of ways, while we have the time. The political dimensions of CMC might lead to situations that would pre-empt questions of other social effects; responses to the need for understanding the power-relationships inherent in CMC are well represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others. We need to learn a lot more, very quickly, about what kind of place our minds are homesteading. The future of virtual communities is connected to the future of everything else, starting with the most precious thing people have to gain or lose -- political freedom. The part played by communication technologies in the disintegration of communism, the way broadcast television pre-empted the American electoral process, the power of fax and CMC networks during times of political repression like Tienamen Square and the Soviet Coup attempt, the power of citizen electronic journalism, the power-maneuvering of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to restrict rights of citizen access and expression in cyberspace, all point to the future of CMC as a close correlate of future political scenarios. More important than civilizing cyberspace is ensuring its freedom as a citizen-to-citizen communication and publication medium; laws that infringe equity of access to and freedom of expression in cyberspace could transform today's populist empowerment into yet another instrument of manipulation. Will "electronic democracy" be an accurate description of political empowerment that grows out of the screen of a computer? Or will it become a brilliant piece of disinfotainment, another means of manipulating emotions and manufacturing public opinion in the service of power. Who controls what kinds of information is communicated in the international networks where virtual communities live? Who censors, and what is censored? Who safeguards the privacy of individuals in the face of technologies that make it possible to amass and retrieve detailed personal information about every member of a large population? The answers to these political questions might make moot any more abstract questions about cultures in cyberspace. Democracy itself depends on the relatively free flow of communications. The following words by James Madison are carved in marble at the United States Library of Congress: "A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." It is time for people to arm themselves with power about the future of CMC technology. Who controls the market for relationships? Will the world's increasingly interlinked, increasingly powerful, decreasingly costly communications infrastructure be controlled by a small number of very large companies? Will cyberspace be privatized and parcelled out to those who can afford to buy into the auction? If political forces do not seize the high ground and end today's freewheeling exchange of ideas, it is still possible for a more benevolent form of economic control to stunt the evolution of virtual communities, if a small number of companies gain the power to put up toll-roads in the information networks, and smaller companies are not able to compete with them. Or will there be an open market, in which newcomers like Apple or Microsoft can become industry leaders? The playing field in the global telecommunications industry will never be level, but the degree of individual freedom available through telecommunication technologies in the future may depend upon whether the market for goods and services in cyberspace remains open for new companies to create new uses for CMC. I present these observations as a set of questions, not as answers. I believe that we need to try to understand the nature of CMC, cyberspace, and virtual communities in every important context -- politically, economically, socially , culturally, cognitively. Each different perspective reveals something that the other perspectives do not reveal. Each different discipline fails to see something that another discipline sees very well. We need to think as teams here, across boundaries of academic discipline, industrial affiliation, nation, to understand, and thus perhaps regain control of, the way human communities are being transformed by communication technologies. We can't do this solely as dispassionate observers, although there is certainly a huge need for the detached assessment of social science. But community is a matter of the heart and the gut as well as the head. Some of the most important learning will always have to be done by jumping into one corner or another of cyberspace, living there, and getting up to your elbows in the problems that virtual communities face. --------------------------->> EDUMATORIAL #2 I hang out all over the Internet, you know. I mean, my quest for net.entity. ship has taken me lots and lots of places. I'm on about a billion mail lists, dutifully annoying on most of them, I even (claim to fame!) started one that a few people seem to like. But, hey, you know, I'm no hacker or computer whiz. Listen up, dudes, I'm an ARTIST. Yeah, that's right, scoff at my pretention, won't you, but your pitiful cries become simply angst for me to recycle at the end of the day. Now then, some people say that the Internet is this big ol' information transfer mechanism, and some people actually claim to get WORK done on the Internet (heh, yeah, right), and some people say, "Oh, wow, but cyberspace is the next untamed frontier," and some people even say, "The singularity is on its way, all of cyberspace is one big attractor, pulling all of humanity's consciousness straight into a gravity well the size of, well, er, Gibson's imagination at least," and I would like to add to that, "The Internet is, at the least, more fun than television." The Leri-L gang may groan to see my favorite leitmotif (note the groovy ART terminology) pop up in ever more public forums, but hey, it's true. Internet is Interactive, boys and girls! Insult people millions and millions of miles away from the comfort of your own homes! Waste larger and larger quantities of that mythical entity known as "Bandwidth" with nary a scratch on your conscience to show for it! Cruise the newsgroups in search of unwary and unprotected populations upon which to descend and propagandize at will! Get all the nudie GIFs you'll ever need! YEEHAH! Sigh. If only they GNEW... Even the actual productive work that gets done on this contraption is nothing more than auto-eroticism of the most banal sort. NOTHING'S HAPPENING HERE, CAPTAIN. And, look, folks, it's up to you to make your living environment into the Brand New Paradigm, but unfortunately, William Katt lost the instruction manual, and we have to make this up as we go... (note the groovy ART reference) I say, no more. Luckily, that's not all I say, or this'd be a short issue... ----------------------------------->>> From: Scotto Tue, 15 Dec 1992 01:14 CST To: LERI-L@iscsvax.uni.edu >* Define: "The Net." The thing I hit the ball over. >heh. That's what you think... ------------------------------>>>> APPROACHING THE HYPERTEXTure by Heath Michael Rezabek (Ed note: popularly known as @rez, Heath is a frequent contributor to the Leri-L Institute's Division of Memetic Grafting and Home Ec. @rez believes that perhaps one way to screw everything up is through HYPERTEchnology. We shall see...) "HYPERTEXT denotes an information medium that links verbal & non-verbal information. ... HYPERTEXT does not permit a tyrannical, univocal voice. Rather, the voice is always that distilled from the combined experience of momentary focus, the LEXIA [information block] one presently reads, and the continually forming narrative of one's reading path. ... Electronic text processing marks the next major shift in info technology after the development of the printed book. It promises (or threatens) to produce effects on our culture... just as radical as those produced by Gutenberg's moveable type." - George P. Landow, HYPER-TEXT, 1992. Working hypothesis, in perpetual dispute: vast mimetic mutation is necessary before crucial advances in such fields as physics, mythology, botany, chemistry, psychology, theatre, literature, education, and cultural studies can be made. These changes, however, shall not be made as long as these fields are approaches as discrete entities, separate from each other for purposes of consideration and development. A sort of mimetic grafting must occur; the boundaries must be denatured without sacrificing the relative positioning of the ideas toward which these memes gravitate. Technology is yet considered an entity separate from the human organism--means to our aspiring ends. It's becoming slowly but persistently apparent, however, that this view cannot be seen as True. Nor, however, do we seem to be utterly successful in our attempts to yank the Information flux of our communications into Everyday Life. A change is occurring, and it is occurring very slowly, slowly in the way that melting ice is slow; the unlocked river rushing from its freeze is not slow. All speed-change is relative, and the gravity well is but a Force. These changes seem to many TOO slow. I suggest that whether we WISH the social and cultural changes to be FAST makes no difference; there is a logic to mimetic mutation and evolution which seems an inherent PROPERTY of the medium of biotech. Instead of slamming up against it, we might do well to appropriate its finer machinations for our own aims. The use of "we" is always a gamble. Something's up, something funny's going on. Terence McKenna: "Something very peculiar adheres to the adventure of being human." Especially now. There are ways to feel the way into this flux; folk have travelled far and wide, some by way of sexuality's river, some fly on the winds of meditation, some ride the rails of technology, some trust themselves to the avalanche of hallucinogens. But here we are. With tools, no less. A machete, a flint, the knowledge of fire... The perennial problem of communication is that the means aren't there to communicate some things--often the things which need most CRUCIALLY to be communicated. The Driving forces. Internet seems to be a crucial tool in this process. Another, one which may in fact hold more in the way of inroads, if not cohesion, is HyperText and MultiMedia. Immediately, of course, Jargon comes into play. "Is it HyperMedia or HyperText or what?" This question has never been a problem for me. When I was talking with someone about this phenomenon, I could adapt my meme-tag to facilitate communication. WE knew what we were talking about. "But what about the Literature? There MUST be Terminology; if not, there would be no Standards." Phooey. The hypertextual technology carries within its womb embodiments of approach which make views such as these self-limiting and utterly obsolete. One needs Terminology only when there is no Communication taking place--when there is but the Master and the Servant. In order to immediately indoctrinate someone to the notion that my communications will never escape (much less TRY to) the realm of Personal- Subjective, I choose a Word which tags the meme of my ideal for this technology. It's like talking of archery sheerly from the vantage point of the bullseye, as if it will guide the conversation, like the arrow, more steadily toward its goal: the HYPERTEXTure, a network of linked lexias (bits of appropriated information) to which access can be gained from an unbound number of entrances, a progression of ideas defined from the start as up to the whims of the individual HYPERTEXTure Rider (reader/writer). And why not? The HYPERTEXTure, even in its present stages, incarnates just these approaches. The HYPERTEXTure is a technology by which individual bits of information--be they quotations, or maps, or musical phrases, or what-not-- can be linked to each other by the discretion of the individual Rider. The HYPERTEXTure seems to have tendencies and inclinations--showing amazing proclivity for such a young technorganism. It embodies the deconstructionist approach to literature: that the reader is constantly WRITING in the margins of the text, writing the text ITSELF via hir own interpretations of the words and ideas. Deconstructionism attempts to unground objectivity in favor of an honest subjectivity based on the actual experience of reading at its most fundamental level. But this is yet nothing more than rhetoric in deconstructionism; the HYPERTEXTure provides a petri dish in which the fray of mimetic determination is played out. This de-centering seems to be at the heart of the HYPERTEXTure--it extends eventually to the boundaries between Teacher and Pupil in education, between Subject and Object for the scientist; it grafts the figure to the ground, instilling a profound sense of vertigo in any sane artist. How IS one to approach such a beast? No other way but to climb right inside the pulsing heart, into the blood. And of course, once this is done, chances of Turning Back become slight. Such is the way with Comprehension. Yet without getting in, one misses out on a chance to have the Organism tell you where It's going, and the chance to play some part in what It does once It gets there. Even better than a front row seat--the wheel is handed right over. And whenever you wish, you can ride shotgun. Perhaps the most interesting Thing about the HYPERTEXTure as It can be seen today is that there IS some fashion of TEXTURE there. It is NOT an impersonal machine. It is a ways and means to closer embodiment of the Things It implies, nothing more and nothing less. It is benign or malevolent depending entirely on the hearts of those embedded in its developing structure. I realized this first by rote. Then, slowly but surely, I got to see more and more of what WAS in my heart of hearts, thanks to the inroads which approximations of the HYPERTEXTure such as Internet provided. Once my comprehension of my role in the HYPERTEXTure became apparent, the fear began, because not everything in my heart was something I felt SHOULD be incarnated outside of its confines. How do I KNOW I'm right? Again, slowly but surely...I know because I FEEL it; the program cannot contain a thing other than itself; ergo my Approach has a function, or would not be there. The HYPERTEXTure has a function or would not be there. I feel what I feel utterly and wholly, even if I have no Words for It yet. And I looked around me, at the surrounding culture, the surrogate suicide taking place at every moment, and pondered the alternative to my heart's involvement in fulfilling the passion of the HYPERTEXTure. "I require the nervous system of a human. Do you have one handy?" And the fact of the HUMAN is one which cannot be ignored. The other reason that the expanding technology lives and breathes is that it is run in the space between the human and the machine. The human, and everything that implies: love, fear, hate, desperation, gentleness, sublimity, tactile connection, and sensuality. The machine, and everything that implies: facilitation, efficiency, function, the creation of the human. Heisenberg presented us with the bill: we can never ever know the utter actuality of the phenomena we aspire to observe. Instead of chafing against this axiom, we have the option of succumbing to the machine's infinite play, and setting it aflame with our grandest hopes. Once this is done, it becomes less and less possible for us to say that Heisenberg was pointing out structural inconsistency and more and more likely that he was inadvertently showing us the way inside our narrow margin of utterly free Will, the Will which whispers in our ear that what we are doing has its roots in the Heart, that It is a thing and a process which cannot go awry if followed to its core, and if facilitated with sensitivity to its power and sublimity. Mathematical equation is grafting Itself to its Other. Between the It and Is of language lies the tool of linkage. Our links are only as good as our tools; and our tools are only as good as our tasks; our tasks are hand-picked by our hearts and minds. All the rest is beyond our concern. ------------------------>>>> Meanwhile, elsewhere in CYBERSPACE.... ---------->>>>> >From blosser_cy@alice.lrc.EDU Wed Dec 16 11:22:54 1992 To: leri-l@iscsvax.uni.edu Subject: [deceased] OBITUARY we mourn the passing of our dear friend, jessica. jessica was tall, green and incredibly beautiful. she had a personality of her own, and could carry on quite a conversation. she thrived on distilled water and listened to pink floyd and the grateful dead. unfortunately she outgrew her environment & her size became a hazard. to protect her from the government that made her illegal, & the pigs that sought to murder her, we (shedding many a tear of regret) put an end to her brief but fruitful life thereby postponing the misery to come. her leaves will bring us pleasure, as we sanctify the corpse in the all-consuming fire and offer the fruits of our labor as a sacrifice to jah. =) jessica is outlived by 2 younger siblings...amy & sue. ------------------------------> EBIMATORIAL #3 What's going on, then? Am I just missing the point? Do I have anything to say here, and is that even a prerequisite for attempting to communicate with all of you? (all of WHO, I might ask, but then again, I might not) On the one hand, see, you got this desire to split the Internet up into two categories, utility and entertainment, and on the other hand, see, you got this desire to throw out arbitary dichotomies altogether. This entire format may be obsolete by the time I'm finished writing it; hopefully, that will be the case, since I've got sumpin' in mind, of course. And, to quote the infamous Andy Hawks, founder of the Future Culture list and on-again-off-again Lerilander (note clever name dropping): ----- The closer we get to 2000, the quicker information will fuck us (interpret that any way u want to)....It's going to take more and more vision to fuck the info before you get fucked, to keep ahead of the edge... That should be kept in mind for any potential technoculture editors... It's also another reason I choose to focus on E-.....E- is life, here and now and the advent of information....Paper is almost dead, it is a snail when we increasinglymoreandmore have lightspeed z00000mz at hand..... this is all along the lines of what Paco posted earlier, and the irony of it is..........YOU ARE HERE NOW....Even an e-magazine is not as current, is not on the edge of information as groups like this list are... No e-magazine could be as current as a daily trip to MindVox, or a daily scan thru FutureCulture, Leri, Cypherpunks, whatever... These small groups (2 tie in wit da InterNet discussions) allow for individualization of a likes that has never been seen before....Thus, magazines are irrelevant because they are not specialized....E-magazines the same, to a lesser degree....USEnet is a trashpile, with a ticking Rolex or 2 per week.... The point is, the net is the answer....in the net, you are as specialized or as group-defined as you want to be....there are so manly outlets: Usenet, email lists, private email, IRC, internet BBSes, MUDs..... ------- So think about it, then. You have on your screen, basically, a corpse. You're missing the real action; it's somewhere else. This isn't it, is it; this is fake, behind the times, a loss before it's even seen the light of day. Right? ----------------------------->>>>>>>>> From: IN%"TOOMSEN8928@iscsvax.uni.edu" 28-OCT-1992 13:49:19.38 To: IN%"LERI-L@iscsvax.uni.edu" Subj: commercial break Jeff: Hey, you spilled your LSD in my cocaine! Angie: No, you spilled your cocaine in my LSD! Two great alterants that alter great together... ---------------------->>> LERI-L WELCOME LETTER (excerpt) Hi. Welcome to the Leri-L Metaprogramming Mail Service, alternately called the Leri-L Electric Commune, the Leri-L Institute for the Investigation Into Higher Consciousness, or the Leri-L Center for the Metaphysically Inane. What we're "supposed" to talk about here is metaprogramming, higher conscious- ness, expanding technology, the psychedelic experience, etc. But what we actually *do* here is live. We do not simply discuss metaprogramming; we *do* metaprogramming. This list has a reputation for noise; ah, well, and so it goes, but we are a family here, and we're not just trading information, we're getting inside of each other. Or something like that. It's very hard to come up with a concise and accurate intro, and suffice it to say that this one does not do the trick. At any rate, welcome aboard, and I sincerely hope you have a good time. ---------------->> EDUMATORYAL #? Time to start blurring the lines a bit, I think. Even if you spend 24 hours a day buried in IRC on one window and scanning volumnious amounts of email on another, you're missing it. It's all a scam. It is NOT as interactive as YOU think it is. It isn't good enough. Why? I said so. Some interesting ideas pop up when you start considering the Meta Implications of Phreaking out the Internet. I'm not talking about some big ol' prank that's designed to grind everything to a halt simply because I can do it. I'm talking about a way to energize the Net, make it more fully aware of itself, see how many different parts of the brain are willing to communicate directly. Here's an example from our friend @rez: ------ ok. any mailing.list, like leri or extropians, has a "husk" address which all messages are sent to; thus you send to "leri-l..." . this "husk" address is a FILE which contains all the REAL addresses of all the INDIVIDUAL SUBSCRIBERS. so when any message comes IN, it goes OUT to any address in that FILE. so the meme is, create mailer.address somewhere, say "internetix" or somesuch, and instead of the addresses of INDIVIDUAL SUBSCRIBERS, put in the husk.addresses of the various and multi-faceted future.mailers. ie, the husk address would read... (paraphrased...) SEND TO: "leri-l@iscsvax.uni.edu" "extropians@gnu.etc.etc" "future.culture@etc.etc" "various.assorted@etc.etc" "..." THUS, any message sent to THIS address would go out to those husk.addresses, and THENCE to all THOSE subscribers. the Benefit would be that a sort of internet.catacomb system would exist "underground" so that people could HANG OUT on whatever of these kindred.lists they felt most At Home on, but any earth.shaking Happennings or FleshMeets or Items Of TransMutual Interest could be sent to "internetix.catacomb@bumblefuck.arkansas.TECH" so we'd ALL feel At Home, and we'd ALL be able to inter.stand each other, as it Seems To Me That We're All Headed In The Same Direction, via different methodologies... IMAGINE a NetRip on "internetix.catacomb" ... does THAT make sense? ------- Sure does, @rez, except that the potential for ABUSE of such a thing is VAST. But....ideas, ideas, ideas....check out the Leri-FAQ for a full on definition of a Net Trip (available via anonymous ftp to penguin.gatech.edu under /pub/leri I think). And then, hey, remember, I'm an ARTIST, what about the potential for creating not just text-art but PERFORMANCE art, right here on the Net? Or...has that been done... ---------------->>>> From: IN%"wixer!gaia.matrix!wgibson@cs.utexas.EDU" 13-DEC-1992 15:31:24.65 Subj: Agrippa Just wanted to let you know that this morning's posting of my copyrighted work constitutes a flagrant violation of international laws. Keep up the good work. WG. -------->>>> Oh. Right. Sorry 'bout that, Mr. Gibson. I'll go ahead and keep keeping up the good work, right here and now: AGRIPPA (A Book of The Dead) Text by William Gibson and Scotto All Rights Reserved At 7 PM tomorrow night; we have your favorite table... I hesitated before untying the bow that bound this book together. Then I decided, why the hell not, it cost me a couple hundred dollars. A Kodak album of time-burned black construction paper Like the stuff I used to do in kindergarten art only without all the Elmer's glue ----> Ah, skip it, it sure ain't worth it now. Anyhow, I hear *Kroupa* (trumpet fanfare) beat me to it.... --------------->>>>> From: IN%"majcher@acsu.buffalo.EDU" 21-OCT-1992 18:12:46.45 Subj: RE: Scream Baby "As these charts clearly indicate, trippers that were subscribed to leri- l reported on average a 32% _better_ psychadelic experience than those who were not subscribed! Would you pay $29.95 for this? Okay, how about $9.95? Well, we'll give it to you for a low, low, _nothing!_ That's right! And if you subscribe _now_, you'll also receive mind blowing semi-fictional sagas, philisophical debates, and more kilobytes of Pure Silliness than you could ever want! Call now! Operators are standing by..." Murali ---------->>>> EDUMAURINAL #N That's the thing, then. Leri-L was named after Commodore Leri, aka Dr. Timothy Leary, who preached and proselytized that you could dissolve all your boundaries with a simple drug we call wood pulp in these parts. And if I may draw the necessary analogy, you can dissolve all the boundaries on the Net too, but I can't tell you the drug that'll do it, because that'll spoil all the fun. Let's say I had a plan for whipping the Net into a frenzy, for blurring the lines between utility and entertainment, for exploring the vast catacombs of the Internet, for making this whole contraption into the biggest Performance Art piece the planet has ever known. Now if I had a plan like that, I probably wouldn't be able to tell you, because then you'd know it was coming and that would ruin the effect, I think...I mean, Gibson musta known they'd crack Agrippa, right? That was part of the plan, right? Unfortunately, I haven't got a plan, just too many vague notions and too few allies and assistants. Of course, perhaps even this is part of the plan, even my denying that I have a plan might just be a set up for the eventual plan, but of course, now you'll be suspicious of me, now you can't possibly buy into any plan that might come from me, not if it's to affect you subliminally at least, but then again, perhaps part of the plan is to simply imply that there SHOULD be a plan, so that some enterprising hacker or slacker or knick-knacker might pick up the stick and run with it, but even then, it would have to be EXCEEDINGLY clever, now that I've just WARNED you that it's COMING, I mean, for it to be the most PERFECT example of Performance Art, the Artists should NEVER KNOW that they are performing, and thus their performances will be so much more honest, so much more natural, and plus, the perpetrators will be able to have bigger and bigger laughs at their expense. Think about it: I have. Gibson and Kroupa and whoever the hell else haven't gone far enough. They're wrapped in areas where they already have a stake, and they're unwilling to acknowledge the futility of those very stakes, and meanwhile, I've got NOTHING to lose, in fact, I WANT A NET.PERSONALITY, dammit, and this is my TICKET TO NET.IMMORTALITY! When the proverbial disgusting slop hits the rotary oscillator, I'LL TAKE ALL THE CREDIT! When the singularity is finally upon us, I'LL BE LEADING THE PLUNGE! This issue of Scream Baby is one monster fucking bungee cord, that's all it is, attached to my back, slick with the efforts of my mental masturbation and ripe with pretention and mind-numbing pomposity. AND YOU'RE ALL UNWILLING PAWNS, DO YOU DIG IT? "There'll be no escape for the Princess this time..." ------>>> ARBITRARY MUSIC REVIEWS Here's some music you should own. Buy it. I insist. "PASSION" -- Peter Gabriel. Whew. Ain't that something. "BLACK ANGELS" -- Kronos Quartet. I can only listen to it a couple of seconds at a time, but ah, those seconds... "A NIGHT AT THE OPERA" -- Queen. Cheese never tasted so good. --------------------------->>>> >From majcher@acsu.buffalo.EDU Tue Dec 15 00:23:47 1992 To: leri-l@iscsvax.uni.edu Subject: LSD Zen medication. ----->>> ENDNOTE That's it, kids, I'm outta here. Thanks to Blade X for having me over; hope to do it again some time. You can reach me any time at moore7004@iscsvax.uni.edu. If you want info on Leri-L, get the Leri-FAQ at penguin.gatech.edu. Also, I'd like to take the time to publicly get off even further and plug my novella, it's also on penguin, look around for it, it's not as polished as Gibson or anything, but it also never cost a couple hundred dollars, either, and didn't take a team of top scientists to distribute. I'm an actor and a writer, and this entire issue is nothing more than me playing a character that I thought was appropriate, and suckering some friends into playing along. I don't know what it all means. It's bigger than anything, right, that's why it's so damned attractive. If you have comments, I'd love to hear them, honestly, and it certainly won't take six weeks for a reply, I guarantee. Because, ultimately, the thing is in our hands, the keyboards will do our biddings, and we don't need no stinking VR to blow everyone's brains all over the screens. "All you need is love, love, love is all you need." Love, and a nice big .357 Magnum. Sincerely, Scottoubj: RE: Scream Baby "As these charts clearly indic *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* This document may violate your local community standards on obscenity. [Information is sexy, not sexual] Consult your local religious or moral authorities for further instruction. babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby babybaby yba aby byba abyb byba babybaby babybaby bybabyba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba babybaby yba aby yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabyb yba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba aby byb yba aby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby "You are Number Six" February 13, 1993 __________________________________________________________________________ | | | Cyberlicious | Editor : Blade X | The Bamboo Gardens | | PO Box 4510 | bladex@wixer.cactus.org | (512) 385-2941 | | Austin, TX 78765 | Neo-Wobblie Node # 269 | WWIV : 46@5285 | |__________________________________________________________________________| | | INDEX | OUTDEX | Legal Disclaimer | Back Issues | Apartmentopia -- a New Edge Subscriptions | apartment complex \ Ediborial Cyberpunk E-zines \ Q&A : Advice column by Interview David Blair, Wax \ Blade X Lax, the News Agrippa: Book of the Dead \ cyberpunk's cyberpunk. \ Reviews Under Siege __\__________________________ Sin / | Sound Photosynthesis / Either catch a wave or get | Snow Crash / | Lethal Enforcer / a grip, cuz it's only gonna | Gray Areas / | / get buzzier. | Next Issue : SXSW /___________________________________| SOFTWARE LICENSING AGREEMENT "Some people just don't get it" DISCLAIMER Scream Baby Global Headquarters are located in Austin, Texas, USA, and this location shall be considered the site of jurisdiction for any criminal or civil course of action(s) taken by or against the publisher, Cyberlicious . Any statement or statements -- either contained in Scream Baby and/or made by the publisher -- that could possibly be interpreted as libelous, defamatory, or slanderous, is actually *NOT* libel, defamation, or slander, but rather fair commentary and free speech, protected by the First Amendment. By continuing to read any more of this document, you, the home viewer, grant implicit agreement to abide and comply with these regulations. And another thing, any other regulations I may decide to implement in the future. If you do not wish to abide by these restrictions, simply use your system's method-of-choice for discarding documents and go do or read something else instead. People tell me _Wired_ is pretty cool. Contents are copyrighted, 1993, by the most powerful and litiginous nation on the planet. America, you wise guy. __________________________________________________________________ / \ / Statement of Purpose : Gray Areas exists to examine the gray areas \ | of life. We hope to unite poeple involved in all sorts of \ | alternative lifestyles and deviant subcultures. We are everywhere! \ |_________________________________ \ \ -- Fall 1992 Gray Areas, page 5 | \ [see review later in this issue] | \____________________________________| BABY GOT BACK ISSUES There are so many easy and fun ways to get back issues of Scream Baby, there is really no excuse for anyone not to have your very own copy. FTP SITES ftp.eff.org /pub/journals Also, The WEll is setting up an anonymous ftp site ANY DAY NOW, and all of the digital Cyberlicious ! products will eventually be found there, even the stupid ones. PRIVATE BBS SYSTEMS Tejas BBS (512) 467-0663 14.4K modem, fast pick-up site Bamboo Gardens North (512) 385-2941 2400 baud, 800+ textfiles a.k.a. The Home for Wayward Information Junkies STOP BY MY HOUSE when I'm home and copy it DIRECTLY FROM MY COMPUTER SYSTEM. Bring your own 5.25" disks, please. Bring me some food while you are at it. ________________________________________________________________ | | | True Life Story: I buy Tom Maddox's novel, Halo, at Wal-mart | | for 2.36 plus tax. I'm reading on the bus and look up. The | | guy on my left is reading William S. Burrough's Naked Lunch. | | Guy on my right is scanning up and down the pages of a world | | atlas/almanac with lots of interesting facts on the average | | rainfall of Eastern European countries. I'm in the middle, | | reading Halo. | |________________________________________________________________| SUBSCRIPTIONS If you look at back issues of Scream Baby, you will find that there are several methods in order to get a subscription of Scream Baby. Choose the one you like best. Or simply send me e-mail. __________________________________ / \ / Too Much Coffee Man Says: \ / "It's a Fine Line Between \ / Sayings That Make Sense." \ / \ / -- Too Much Coffeeman #2, back cover \ /______________________________________________\ EDIBORIAL : CYBERPUNK E-ZINES I have stumbled across several references lately to the "numerous" cyberpunk electronic publications available on the Net. Huh? My scorecard reads 2 e-zines, 2 FAQs, and 3 mailing lists that provide information on the New Edge intersection of art, science, and pop culture. So someone must be using a different definition of cyberpunk. I say that cyberpunk is a conversation, not a thing. You can't go to the store and buy a six pack of Shiner Bock, some Cheetos, and then say, oh yeah, let me have 2 ounces of cyberpunk. It is not an object, not a commodity. Time magazine is a commodity. An article in Time magazine is an object. But neither is cyberpunk. I'm not a cyberpunk. You're not a cyberpunk. We *can't* be, since identity is a thing as well, and I've already said cyberpunk is not a thing. Cyberpunk is a relationship between the individual and society, the individual and technology. There are several axioms (of which Gareth Brandywn's The Cyberpunk Manifesto is the best) but cyberpunk is not clearly delimited. Nor should it. So the cyberpunk meme has been appropriated and is now represented in movies, literature, music, fashion, television, you name a vehicle for culture and I can name a cyberpunk representation. So the thought of a housewife in New Jersey flipping through a copy of Time while waiting for her hairdresser to be ready and stumbling across the cyberpunk article doesn't upset me like nearly everyone else on alt.cyberpunk and Mainstream people aren't stupid idiots, but potential converts. Is there a cyberpunk movement? Yes, but it's a bowel movement. But back to the topic of the numerous "cyberpunk" e-zines that are allegedly available in the Matrix. After looking around, I conclude that they must be referring to the PHAC cloud of cyberpunk. They must mean Phrack, Narc, Cracked!, and the various computer underground publications that discuss carding, phreaking, computer access, as being "cyberpunk". Well....sorta, but not really. Take out a sheet of paper and draw a large billowous cloud. Oops, let's wait for people who need to find paper and something to write with. Ok, now that you've drawn that cloud, label it cyberpunk. Now draw smaller clouds around the cyberpunk cloud. Label these clouds things like magazines, books, art, film, music, CU, home electronics, DIY, etc. etc. etc. Notice that the Computer Underground is only one cloud among dozens and to call it "cyberpunk" is to disenfranchise and discount all the other clouds. CU is definitely *part* of the cyberpunk conversation, but it is not the whole cloud. While the mediastinum thoracic cavity is part of the human body, no one would ever claim that the mediastinum thoracic cavity *was* the human body. So don't do it! [Note: an excercise left for the home viewer is to create crystalized rain drops falling from these clouds, and label them such things as bOING-bOING, Blade Runner, Beyond Cyberpunk stack, etc. This will help further clarify the distinction] I don't attempt to create a complete map, since that is the purpose of the FutureCulture FAQ. Consider me a tour guide. ________________ [Also note my bias towards the cultural manifestations \ of c-punk, rather than the technological] Fringeware \ Leri-L \ FutureCulture \ AGRIPPA -- BOOK OF THE DEAD \ NOT RELEASED TO THE NET Scream Baby \ Cult of the Dead Cow \ "The book is an art object with weight, smell, \ texture, and the charm and weakness of paper, alt.cyberpunk.faq \ ink, cloth, and composite plastics" FutureCulture FAQ \ \ -- press release as Info Junkies Anonymous \ reported in Project X ____________________________\ Issue 23. Agrippa is a large over-sized book, too large and bulky to read on the bus. Yellow, aged pages with ink whose chemical composition changes when exposed to sunlight so that some writing&images disappear and new ones appear. Words&images Agrippa has a secret space within it's pages that holds a computer disk. A computer disk holding a program which replicates a William Gibson poem....once.....before erasing and eradicating itself. A poem which speaks of loss, the process of reintegration, and completion. _______________________PAIR-O-DOCS_________________________ | | | | To isolate a small section | Nothing happens in | | and claim representation | cyberspace because there | | of the whole is why the | are no things here. | | world is in the trouble | | | that it is today. | Only representations.| |____________________________|______________________________| Agrippa, Book of the Dead, not released to the Net, December 9, 1992. SUPPOSED I ASKED DAVID BLAIR, CREATOR OF _WAX_, TO CONSENT TO AN E-MAIL INTERVIEW WHERE WE WOULD SWAP QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS BACK AND FORTH, BUT THEN I GOT LAZY, AND NEVER RESPONDED PAST HIS ANSWER TO MY QUESTION, YOU'D STILL CALL IT AN INTERVIEW, RIGHT? SB : Scream Baby DB : David Blair SB: Accounts that I have read about Wax act as if you suddenly popped out of no where to create this masterpiece. As if once there was a void, and then there was Wax. Tell me a little about what you did before Wax. What is your intellectual and educational background? DB: Well, I'm a 1956, and didn't get started on WAX until '85, so I have posted to generation x under false pretenses, though of the driver's license kind. My education is a comp lit sort of thing, but I guess what I took most seriously at the time was a failed attempt at guided reading, meant to help illuminate the huge dark valleys in Gravity's Rainbow. After that I left for NY, and, like most video people I know who started at that time, worked as an autodidact for a long time... there being very few ways to find out about video back then (not so long ago... 1979 into the mid- 80's). I did about 6 shorts (Charlemagne Ptomaine, etc), before WAX,a beginner attempting videoart (couldn't get anything into festivals), then started the long tape, which actually began when I tried to cut a 15 minute tape down to 3 minutes. In between there were 2 trailers (for WAX). ________________________________________________________________ | | | "The planet completely vanished, leaving it's weather behind" | | -- Wax | |________________________________________________________________| REVIEW-A-RAMA UNDER SIEGE Take My Pies Out of The Oven My roommate Mehrdad is a connosseiur of B-action-adventure-films. I mean, he's seem them *ALL*. An information diet consisting of Chuck Norris, Claude Van Damme, and Steven Siegal. [So when he asked if I wanted to go see the latest Steven Siegal vehicle (now on videotape), I said no, not really. In his best film ever, Steven Siegal is a former Navy SEAL who gets promoted to *cook* after slugging his superior officer because of "inferior intelligence at the airport" during the raid on Panama. There is a small suggestion that he was intentionally given bad information by CIA operatives in order to have him killed. [Lucky for the viewer, Steven gets to keep all his cool spy stuff!] In Under Siege, we get to witness the extreme personal violence of Steven Siegal in hand-to-hand combat. Armed with the K-factor of SEAL training, he guns down villains, crashes I-beams through chests, rips out Adam's apples, gouges out eyeballs, stabs knives into armpits, throats, chests, and delivers killing blows with a single chop. [He is the good guy.] Opposing Siegal is Tommy Lee Jones, who has commandeered the USS Missouri and is attempting to steal Tomahawk missiles, (including 8 "specials", military jargon for nuclear-tipped warheads). In stark contrast, the violence represented by Tommy Lee Jones is very abstract : the threat of a detonation of a nuclear-tipped missile over Honolulu, Hawaii; the enemy "command center" a collection of screens, computer images, and virtual realities. The Bad Guys launch a missile in one scene, and tracks it's progress as a little blip on the computer screen. It hits; Tommie Lee Jones goes "boom!" Next shot immediately goes to the Naval Admiral Command Center, who start discussing why they would blow up a satellite relay station. We never see any physical evidence of the damage. Towards the end of the film, the viewer is transported into the I-camera! This is a genre of slasher films where you follow the action from the perspective of the killer. In this case, watching from the fins of the nuclear missile as if it were *you* hurtling towards the coastline of Hawaii. [These are the Bad Guys] I mean, it's perfectly *okay* for the military and Pentagon to have control and access over nuclear missile technology. But who knows what would happen if political undesirables gained access. We must defend against this evil threat! [Here's a little Cyberlicious hint: build less bombs. Shh...] Let's hop back to the beginning of the film, where the bad guys gain entry to the ship by masquerading as caterers and entertainers for a surprise birthday party for the captain. Tommy Lee Jones is the band leader and dresses exactly like John Shirley. Black leather jacket, tye died t-shirt, dark sunglasses. [Sound familiar?] [Sound cyberpunk?] SIN magazine The Cyberart Gallery The next time you're in your favorite alternative magazine/book store, look in the music section for a zine called "SIN Magazine". It has a stylish and ghoulish graffitti b-boy on the cover with a gun aimed at his temple. Pick it up and look at the last two pages, which is called The Cyberart Gallery and contains 8 pictures of groovy computer-generated art. From what I remembered, Sin magazine covers underground punk/rap/hip hop sub culture scene, with an emphasis on visual information. Sound Photosynthesis Catalog [free upon request] P.O. Box 2111 Mill Valley CA 94942-2111 415-383-6712 Sound Photosynthesis sells audio and visual cassettes of speeches, lectures, conferences, story tellings, etc. From what I can decipher, 1500+ titles cover major themes of consciousness, Buddhism, psychedelics, philosophy, UFOs, and related explorations of reality. Big-names-that-I-recognize include Robert Anson Wilson, Timothy Leary, Stephen Gaskin, William S. Burroughs, Terence McKenna, the Dalai Lama, Richard Feynman, Colin Andrews, Helen Caldicott, Fritjof Capra, Noam Chomsky, Ram Dass, Rudy Rucker and do I need to go on? There is a *lot* of candy in this store that demands your personal investigation. While there is some variation, prices are $9 per audio tape and $35 for video. On the back of one of the single-page inserts sent is a promise that the complete New Edge 1993 : "Mind at Large" catalog is coming soon. Until then, be satisfied with the 8 pages of hand-outs with densely printed text. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson ISBN 0-553-35192-3 (Tradeback, $10) All I gotta say is Juicy! Unless you were already aware of pooning, the Infocalpyse, Burbclaves, bimbo boxes, Kouriers, Rat Things, CostraNostra Pizza franchise, that Americans excel at only two things : writing software and delivering pizza in less than 30 minutes, freeways designed around your personality type (i.e. one for those who have to get there *NOW* and one for those who like to enjoy the scenery), hopped up skateboards with smart wheels and explosive charges, dendatas, the Black Sun, biological-software viruses that are especially deadly for hackers, the Metaverse, Liquid Knuckles, the Tower of Babel, Sumerian mythology, gargoyles, Central Intelligence Corporation, Clint & Barbie's off-the-shelf avatar sets, General Jim's Defense System, Short Range Chemical Restraint Projectors (loogie guns), and the Deliverator Fast, funny, and furious. Oh look, I'm a fucking blurb writer now! I say we genericize the word snow crash to describe anyone who goes through Info-Shock Overload. So the next time Andy Hawks posts to the Future Culture mailing list some derivative of "fuck it, I can't take it anymore, I gotta take a break, gotta get away from it all" we can just say...oh dude...Andy's snow crashed again. Lethal Enforcer (arcade video game -- $.50 to start and .25 to continue play) You are a police officer in this simulation shooting gallery. More-than-less real-time video imagery shows different shoot-em-up crisis scenes involving bad guys : at a bank, city streets, train station, airport, etc. Bam! Bam! The criminals toss out insulting phrases like, "You'll never take me alive, copper". You get called Pig a lot too. Bam! Bam! Each bad guy who gets hit makes this really loud groaning noise. Bam! Bam! You lose a life for each innocent by-stander and police officer that you shoot. [I still nail the Japanese tourist on the train who pops up with the camera, *every* time.] uh oh, Super Big Bad Guy at the end of each scenario : Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Now, suppose that you're the manufacturer of a video game that displays realistic images where you (essentially) shoots everything that moves. Rather than appreciating the aesthetics of Neo-Violence and the technical prowess and advances made by your designers, many groups will actually be *concerned* or even *upset*. People might complain that it not only desensitizes children to the horrors of violence, but actually *encourages* kids to commit violence in real life. How do you deflect this criticism? You paint the guns BRIGHT PINK and BABY BLUE and make them look like TOY GUNS. This cracks me up. Gray Areas P.O. Box 808 Broomall, PA 19008-0808 ($4.50 cover price per issue) grayarea@well.sf.ca.us Gray Areas has potential to become a *tremendous* magazine, but it's pretty cool as it is right now. Standing in a foundation of Deadhead/tapehead culture, Gray Areas pokes around at the common links and problems between home taping, software piracy, censorship, and pornography. News, essays, comics, interviews, and lots and lots of reviews of books, films, catalogs, zines, live video, audio tapes, and software. This premiere issue features a long interview with John Perry Barlow about copyright, Grateful Dead, computer piracy, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. An interview with Kay Parker, a former porn queen turned spiritual counselor. An interview with Zen Tricksters, a (sorta) Grateful Dead cover band. A list of all known legitmate and illegitimate Grateful Dead video recordings. Not many people know about my irrational and spiteful hatred of deadheads. I can't stand them, especially those too young to have been alive during the 60s who have been duped into mining the 60s as a source of escaping from the 90s. Grrrrrrrrrr So for me to say that a zine saturated with so much deadheadednossity is worth investigating......I hear my friends saying whoooaaaaa already. Final factor: Gray Areas is woefully lacking in the computer scene k-factor. An opportunity exists here for one of you to jump in print and become their computer columnist/reviewer. Or feed them information, at least. SXSW THEME ISSUE Next issue : SXSW special theme issue. Every year Austin hosts the South By Southwest Music Showcase. One pays $30 for a wristband that allows entrance into book-ooze of clubs to watch book-ooze of bands playing hour long sets. Each year is greeted with the same bitchy whiny chorus of the tickets costing too much, there aren't enough cool bands, that it lasts too long, runs too late, that Disney is behind this evil scheme to corrupt the purity of the music festival (???), that the music industry slimebuckets get special treatment over the fans, etc. etc. Start your own damn music festival, then, cuz I'm going and bringing the news direct! tape-delayed! to the Scream Baby masses. Last year I pumped out 20K of text on my own about Helmet, L-7, music, fashion, culture, approval, institutional racism, and, as they say, a whole lot more. Another contributor wrote over 20K on his experience of SXSW as a record executive. Pretty fucking cool. Read all about it in the next issue of Scream Baby, end of March. Scream Baby is the victim of a virus! It has attached itself to the end of this issue and just won't let go. I can't shake it. None of the anti-viral forces have been able to help me. Even "taking responsibility" and "getting back in touch with my inner child" has failed. So here it is. Why, this material is so shameful, so degrading, so not worth your time, that perhaps you should just stop reading now. OUTDEX APARTMENTOPIA The purpose of this project is the creation of a New Edge apartment complex, wired with the highest technological devices and designed so that one never has to leave home.....ever. Living Quarters : Each room comes fully stocked with a fully integrated stereo/CD player/hypodermic needle injection unit/tape deck/HDTV/vcr/your- choice-of-computer (Mac/IBM/Amiga)/dildo/telephone (with or without picturephone option)/refrigerator stocked with colas/electric razor/laser printer/lava lamp. A futon is provided, but residents will need to provide their own linens and pillows. Obsolete windows have been replaced with programmable wall panels. Stills from the movie _Blade Runner_ are a popular choice. Attractive Mexican/Hispanic maids will not only clean your room but also pretend to be your girlfriend in order to impress any geeky friends or family members who might visit. [Note: non-heterosexual and/or fetish maids available upon request] Meal Program : The kitchen is amply stocked with Cheetos, soft drinks, coffee (and any of it's derivative caffeine delivery systems), and Twinkies. A patented meal replacement system permits residents one (but only one) time released capsule a day to recieve all of their nutritional needs. Spacious, well-lit, and most important of all, you don't have to clean up after yourself. Energy Supply : The roof contains an enormous parabolic dish that captures sun and turns it into electrical power. During the night time, each solar cell rotates and the whole dish turns, voila, like the Transformers, into a huge radio satellite aimed at the stars, searching for signs of intelligent life. Cryonic Life Extension Program : at *NO* additional costs to residents, each one will be frozen in a cryonic chamber after death, and periodically revived, in case I have to ask you where you placed a certain tool or if you've seen my car keys. Barn / Dance Hall : behind the complex is an agri-chemo-cultural research complex, where the latest cutting edge research in genetics engineering, hydroponics, and chemical/drug production is performed. Afterwards, the facility is turned into a dance club with different partitions available for raves, orchestras, and speed metal and/or slam dancing. ADVICE COLUMN by Blade X Lax "The Cyberpunk's Cyberpunk" Why hello all my little cyber-buddies. Here I am again to answer all your questions, tell you what to think, set your warped little minds back on track, and act like a smarmy overbearing, know-it-all-asshole. You know you like it. Dear Mr. Lax : Karma Sutra Sez that in order to look important, one should carry a clipboard with you. In Snow Crash, however, Hiro Protaganist points out that you can always spot the franchise managers since they are the ones who carry the three inch binder notebook. How do I handle this conflicting information? Should I carry a binder *and* a clipboard? What do you suggest? The decision over clipboard v. binder depends on the type of expected social interaction. Clipboards are superior in face-to-face confrontations; binders are best for rushing hurriedly past low level clerks or guards while hastily flipping through pages looking for the appropriate reference. As to designing a clipboard-binder I started once to reverse engineer a combination notebook-clipboard-cellular phone-Unix PDA interface, but only managed to get the Krazy Glue all over my hands and ripping off a lot of skin in the process. And hey, if I couldn't get it to work, no sense in anyone else trying. If you are trying to project the proper authoritarian image in a public situation, then nothing screams "management material" more than a .38 snub nosed blue steeled revolver. Experiment for yourself. Local malls are *excellent* laboratories. Mr. Lax : I want to start my own electronic publication, but don't really know what I want to do, or really have any incentive to actually spend the time to work on it. Any suggestions? First off, son, great! I luv ya attitude. We need more people like you on the Nets, but I sense a bit of confusion that maybe I can help clear up. Don't forget that you don't actually want to *create* an e-zine, but that you *want* to create an e-zine. This is a key distinction. You don't actually have to do anything, just talk about stuff you'd like to do someday. I think that when you learn this, you will find those nagging concerns about incentive, work ethic, and compulsion to complete something will go away. Also, don't forget that you need to *SLAG* *UNMERCILESSLY* those m0es who actually make the mistake of actually creating something. No matter what it is *YOU* can do better, if ya wanted. Remember that it's beneath you to actually accomplish anything. Now that's cyberpunk! >From: bladex@wixer.bga.com (David Smith) Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1993 00:29:16 GMT The "Hum Drum" issue of..... babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby babybaby yba aby byba abyb byba babybaby babybaby bybabyba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba babybaby yba aby yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabyb yba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba aby byb yba aby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby ...is now available _________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Editor : Blade X | | | | bladex@wixer.bga.com | | | | Neo-Wobblie Node # 269 | | |_________________________________________________________________________| So like R. Patrick Jones puts out this hip e-zine called Drum, a cut-up collage involving the medical effects of psychopharmaceuticals, Generation X revolution rants, images, magik, mescaline, and mdma, all under the general homage of information as drug, information as altered reality. So like there is a space at the bottom for people to insert their own text and then ship it off, so I'm like, yeah, gonna do it. So the first thing I include is this shameful exploitive blurb pimping a porno film. Go figure. Another parody of software licensing restrictions, subscription information, tips for wanna-be ezinesters, Reservoir Dogs, Fringeware Review, and the usual litany of disturbing, fragmented, pull-no-punches quotes and sayings. The Hum Drum issue. BABY GOT BACK ISSUES There are so many easy and fun ways to get current and back issues of Scream Baby, there is really no excuse for anyone not to have their very own copy. You Are Number Six includes a Legal Disclaimer, Subscriber Information, ediborial on cyberpunk e-zines, Interview with David Blair (creator of _Wax_), news about Agrippa : The Book of the Dead, and reviews of Stephen Seagal's Under Siege, the Cyberart Gallery in Sin magazine, Sound Photosynthesis catalog, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, the video arcade game Lethal Enforcer, and the zine Gray Areas. I also was struck by some sort of virus that attached shameful and degrading text to the end of this issue: information about Apartmentopia, a New Edge apartment complex and a Q&A column by Blade X Lax, "the cyberpunk's cyberpunk" Leri-L Issue By day Scotto is the list moderator of the Leri-L Mailing List. By night, he secretly aims for net.personality.dom. As guest editor of Scream Baby, his wildest fantasies are unleashed. In addition to Scotto's writings, we have contributions by @rez on Hypertexture, an excerpt from Rheingold's _A Slice of Life in the Virtual Community_, Andy Hawks, and many more little mind altering blips of information interspersed throughout. The Talking Raven Re:review Starts with a review of Antero Alli's Talking Raven : The Journal of Imaginative Trouble and then it just kinda........decays. Frankly, I don't know what the hell I was talking about or meant to say, but am quick to cover my ass by labeling it "experimental" and "gonzo". Shotgun splatter approaches to reality sometimes end up....messy. I apologize for nothing. The Torn Issue The master copy of this issue was accidently left unguarded in the same room as a small four year old child who had access to a pair of scissors. I taped it back together, best I could, but could only find electrical tape. In between you'll find such things as K-Mart Stocks Fractals, Transmission Error, Baby Got Back Issues, an X-change with Paco Xander Nathan (Technology and Consciousness Editor for bOING-bOING & Mondo, owner of Fringeware, all-around groovy guy), and a new subscriber information / poll. The Andy Hawks Interview issue Software License Agreement, Subscription Information, an ediborial, review of Public Enemy, _Greatest Misses_, and an interview with Andy Hawks, creator of the Future Culture mailing list and FAQ, conducted by Jagwire X, creator of the Autopia project and soon-to-be-started zine, Sun Dog. The September 26th, 1992 Issue Every word written in a 24 hour period, fueled by rage, nervousness, and caffeine. Ediborial, Subscription information, Software Licensing Agreement, A Tribute to Isaac Asimov, A Tribute to Isaac Asimov part 2, List of Cultural Artifacts, and reviews of bOING-bOING, Bruce Sterling, Ministry, NiN, Malcolm X (audio-tape), Mark Leyner's _Et tu, babe_, Negativland, and the Cop Killer controversy HOW YOU GET ALL THIS STUFF........ FTP SITE etext.archive.umich.edu --> /pub/Zines/ScreamBaby PRIVATE BBS SYSTEM Tejas BBS (512) 467-0663 16.8 HST modem, fast pick-up site STOP BY MY HOUSE when I'm home and copy it DIRECTLY FROM MY COMPUTER SYSTEM. Bring your own 5.25" 760K disks, please. Bring me some food while you are at it. SUBSCRIPTIONS Forget this listserv thing, too damn easy. Technology disconnects, displaces, and disorients. I make ya work a little harder. Each issue contains a different method of subscribing. Choose the one you like best, if you like one of the old, stale, boring methods, but the latest one is this: Send an answer (20,000 words or less) to bladex@wixer.bga.com, answering the following question: What is post-cyberpunk? -- David Smith bladex@wixer.bga.com EFF-Austin Vice-President underground digerati PARENTAL GUIDANCE WARNING This publication is not suitable -- and not intended -- for those below the legal age of consent in your locale. If you don't meet your local ordnance requirements, stop reading *IMMEDIATELY* and secure your parents permission. Those who do meet local ordnance restrictions should stop and call your parents anyway. Thank them for bringing you into the world. Thank them for raising you. Thank them for teaching you the basics of what you know about being alive. When was the last time you told Mom that you loved her? Not enough, I bet. So go ahead. Call her now. And when you are done, come back and read the latest episode of........ babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby babybaby yba aby byba abyb byba babybaby babybaby bybabyba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba babybaby yba aby yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabyb yba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba aby byb yba aby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby The "Find Out Why They Call Me Stumpy" issue November 14th, 1993 ________________________________________________________ / \ / Editor : Blade X | Back issues found at: \ / bladex@wixer.bga.com | etext.archive.umich.edu ftp \ / Neo-Wobblie Node # 269 | Tejas (512) 467-0663 BBS \ /________________________________________________________________\ AXCESSerpt : Ice-T interview Q: So you've got a book coming out. I-T: Got a book coming out. Book is called _The Ice Opinion, Who Gives a Fuck?_ and it's done. It's a compilation of all my interviews but it's done like one big long meeting -- speaking on topics : education, you know, race. religion, sex, ghetto mentality...and it's like at the end of each chapter it says "Well, that's my opinion on education, who gives a fuck?" Because it's not supposed to be taken as so important, it's just, "Yo, this is how I feel about it" ....it's like one stop shopping for Ice-T, you know what I'm saying. So you could be sitting up and having a real hot argument about something and say "let's see what the fuck Ice says." Then you read it and you say, "Ice is a fucking asshole." Then take it from there. And somebody says, "fuck you, man, he had a point there". INTERACTIVE SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION -or- Ain't got no stinking Listserv here..... So if you look at the backstop, you'll notice that almost every issue has a different essay question. I'll include some more here. First time subscribers : choose the one you'd like to answer. Current subscribers : you are always welcome to participate. Limit : 300 words or less. Question 1 -- Alternative Literature History Suppose that instead of William Gibson, _The Difference Engine_ was co-written by Bruce Sterling and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. (Nobel Prize winner for _100 Years of Solitude_; also well-known for _Love in the Time of Cholera_). Describe the outcome of this literary coupling. Question 2 -- Pacoidspeak Translator The latest issue of Fringeware Review makes heavy use of the phrase "cyberorganics". Free subscription to anyone who can translate into English whatever the hell Jon and Paco are talking about. Alternative selection : neo-tribalism. Question 3 -- Henry Rollins Savage street poet or heavy metal butthead? Question 4 -- alt.cyberpunk.slag Write a RFD for alt.cyberpunk.slag, a special place in cyberspace set aside for those who have nothing better to do but mutter inane variations of _________ sux. I think there should be a place for all the cyberpunk parasites to leech together. Bonus : Top 10 List of fab alt.cyberpunk.slag topics. Starters : Billy Idol *sux* MTV *sux* Mondo 2000 *sux* Wired *sux* Fortress *sux* Tribe *sux* Question 5 -- Alternative Cyberspace Utopians Suppose that the Well is destroyed and all hosts and moderators are dragged into the streets for public execution. Extrapolate. Question 6 -- For Kibo only. James, what are you wearing right at this moment? * * * Send all answers to bladex@wixer.bga.com. * * * SUBMISSION POLICY Fuck you. Start your own damn e-zine. I've made it to issue eight without your sorry ass, what makes ya think I need you now? Writers guidelines? You want writer's guidelines? Go submit to one of those e-zines that are constantly whining for submissions to cover up for the lack of talent, iniative, and material of their own. I don't have time to deal with you posers, and would rather go months before I publish something I'm not going to be totally embarassed about later. Here's my advice, straight from Mike Monteiro, a.k.a. Nervous Dog, a.k.a. X-Girlfriend Graphix : "Giving up is fine" -- Mike Monteiro. You can thank me later. * * * Oops! Outta time boyz and grrrllls. What with the headers and legal warnings and indices and subscription information and disclaimer after disclaimer after disclaimer, there is just no more room for content in the e-zine world. Not that anyone has the attention span to read this far....... Maybe more next week. The following program, "BUNS OF STEEL" is a paid advertisement by ...... babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby babybaby yba aby byba abyb byba babybaby babybaby bybabyba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba babybaby yba aby yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabyb yba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba aby byb yba aby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby November 21st, 1993 __________________________________________________________________________ | | |Issue #9 | Editor : Blade X | Back issues found at: | | | bladex@wixer.bga.com | etext.archive.umich.edu ftp | | | Neo-Wobblie Node # 269 | Tejas (512) 467-0663 BBS | |__________________________________________________________________________| Contents, this issue: Ediborial News, Views, re:Views, and Clues! n6 Unplastic News Henry : Portrait of a Serial Killer Johnny Marr Murder Can Be Fun Calendar 1994 Subscribers Strike Back! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | Not that I know of a way to heal this world, or to make a better one | | from scratch. I just want to see the whole fuckin' world erupt as we | | reach the bitter, scalding end. | | -- Evil Elf, premiere issue Nexus Six, page 2 | |______________________________________________________________________| Ediborial It was obvious. Months were passing in between issues of Scream Baby and once again I was bored with my creation. So I think, what could re-spark my interest? How about a weekly format? more "news"? less anger? more personal? Ok. Let's see. I plan to sit down every Sunday evening, and spend 2 hours or so to see what I can come up with. I ain't making no promises, though. As far as writer's submissions go, don't take the "fuck you" mentioned in the "Find Out Why They Call Me Stumpy" issue personally. There is not a week that goes by where I don't see at least one "I'm starting a zine, so send me contributions!" message from somone who will never be heard from again. If you can't fill at least 20+ pages on your own before having to resort to contributions, then maybe you don't have anything worth mentioning. Maybe I'll change the policy to "don't waste my time", but for now, I have to keep at least one indecent word in each issue of Scream Baby, simply for the purpose of triggering any and all corporate filter programs. NEWS! VIEWS! re:VIEWS! and CLUES! Nexus Six Magazine POB 1394 Hollywood, CA 90078 n6@cyberden.sf.ca.us What I love about N6 is not necessarily the information presented, but rather the attitude. Clearly present is a commitment to using technology in innovative ways to communicate, to explore, and to create. So whenever one comes face-to-face with the sheer stupidity of mainstream bullshit you want to scream with anger and rage until you choke up that hairball, and you can go back to saying, "this is cool, this is cool, and this is cool......" Premiere Issue : Gutter-Tech Editorial on low-tech & Generation X; news blurbs on technology; instructions on commiting suicide on the same page with a contest and call for entries on stalking celebrities; a reprinted post from alt.satanism on how Closed Caption decoders are actually an attempt by the government to spy on you; Interviews with Jennifer Lynch (director of Boxing Helena), John Bergin (graphic artist, musician, Bonesaw, The Crow), Chemlab, and Christ Gore (editor of Film Threat); reviews of cyberpunk music, videos, books, software, computer graphics, and digital demos. Nexus Six sent free copies of their premiere issue to anyone who responded to an advertisement placed on newsgroups and mailing lists. No more free premiere issues are available. The cover price is listed at $2. No subscription information is listed, but future news stand distribution is hinted at. UNPLASTIC NEWS BOUNCES BACK! The editor of Unplastic News sent me e-mail, saying that the "Ugly" Issue would be out soon. Last we heard from Todd was in April, where he was planning to head cross country and set up in California. If you don't know what Unplastic News is, then your e-zine history is missing some holes. Check out back issues at etext.archive.umich.edu. [And if you don't know that this ftp site is the major hub for e-zine distribution.....well you do now.] Unplastic News can now be reached at tt2@well.sf.ca.us. HENRY : PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER Henry is a serial killer whose method to escape being caught by the police is not to set up a modus operandi. So you stab one, strangle another, use a .45 on one, an electric drill on another. It's not that you can't use a gun, it's that you don't use the same one twice. This advice Henry gives to Otis, his roommate, a gas station attendant on parole who deals marijuana to high school students and who ends up raping his sister, Becky, who moved in with Henry and Otis to escape from a history of sexual abuse, her husband Leroy (now on bond for $1 million for murder, and having left her daughter with her mother to move to the big city of Chicago, get a job washing hair in a beauty salon. You don't really care. Bleak, boring, and degrading, unlike...... JOHNNY MARR MURDER CAN BE FUN 1994 CALENDAR If you're planning to buy someone a calendar for Chri$tmas, then you might consider the Johnny Marr Murder Can Be Fun 1994 Calendar. Each date contains information about homicides, suicides, serial killers, natural disasters, etc. in a well researched, no nonsense manner. I'd give you contact information, but I can't find my copy. It's around here somewhere. I bought mine at Bookstop, a major chain bookstore, so it should not be that hard to find. I still think a computer version, with dates going back for the last five years, is a really great idea. SUBSCRIBERS STRIKE BACK! Here are some of the responses I received to last weeks questionnaires, as well as some new subscription requests. Note that most have been edited, so that only the interesting sections remain. Even then, I'm suspicious about some, or whether I will do this again............ > Question 3 -- Henry Rollins > > Savage street poet or heavy metal butthead? When I was seventeen this guy was a hero of mine, because he was my introduction to shock value (you know, spit-roasting little girls in the back yard?) and all that, but lately, he's just a whiner. Musically, anyway. I think of a really grotesque and tacky Beauty and the Beast. His next album will be called "Poor Fucking Me, the Screaming Album, Part 25." And of course the true irony is that he smirked at the mere mention of Morrissey on Mtv...Morrissey, who at least can sing. Also, Rollins thinks he's saving the world by telling the Mtv generation to listen to real music, like John Coltrane. Rollins, who has *none* of the integrity of John Coltrane. Okay, I sort of like that song "Do It." Andrew Werling awerling@nmsu.edu * * * Just thought I'd answer five out of six of your essay questions, just because I need to get up reasonably early tomorrow and it's late already. 1 - The outcome of Gabriel Garcia Marquez replacing William Gibson on The Difference Engine - Dr. Cat buys a copy and reads it. He loves anything to do with Charles Babbage, but possesses an irrational, rabid prejudice against anything associated with William Gibson. 2 - Cybroganics/cyberganics/cyberorganics/however-Paco-spells it: "We have invented a new word, to show that we are even hipper than those that find the newest invented words of others and parrot them. We will not tell you what it means, because we weren't cool enough to make up that part really, but don't want to give ourselves away." neotribalism - "we actually stumbled onto something that's of real significance but we don't understand it so we just toss around a lot of jargon about it. we only found it because we jabber about ALL weird new things we hear about, and we really aren't aware which are the significant ones. We think the brain-wave altering goggles are just as important as neo-tribalism, what do we know?" 3 - Henry Rollins. Never heard of him. But hey, is there really any difference between the two categories you listed? 4 - Please somebody get a discussion going about making an alt.cyberpunk.slag. Some of the dumb kids that call themselves cyberpunks haven't been kept busy enough by their own dumb newsgroups to stay out of the ones I like, and maybe if they had one more new group it would help. 5 - The Well is destroyed... Of the 99%+ of netizens who never once logged onto the Well, 6% shift from thinking "The Well is probably cool/lame" to thinking "The Well WAS probably cool/lame". The other 93% continue to periodically think "Oh, I don't really have the time/money to check out the Well for myself", and continue to think of it as either cool or lame indefinitely, as the frequency with which comments about it appear here and there seems to remain about the same as it had been before. No answer for number six, as I'm not Kibo. (Or am I?) -- Cat * * * Question -- Who are you? I am a hazardous waste manager with the California Institute of Technology. My job also includes radioactive materials and safety. The job very rarely gets boring! I'm also a full time student majoring in industrial hygiene. * * * I'm a physicist, undergrad, Brunel University. At the moment I'm trying to understand what reality is and it's lotsa fun being able to speak the language. I love travelling, I've lived in the UK, India and the Middle East as well as over to the States a few times. I'll see ya there next summer. [Coming to Austin for Leri@Con? Cool beans...................] Now I wanna know what/who you are and what's the deal ? I managed to find one issue to S.B. and it's got...hmmm I dunno yet but I wanna. I love reading and that includes fiction, sci fi especially and history. One cultural artifact worth your time huh ? Well no specific recommendations but find out what the Spanish Civil War was, "A Homage to Catalonia" Orwell. And remember the next time you watch " A Clockwork Orange" you're seeing my campus and this bleeding computer center most of the time. It ain't funny. also I want a reply from you, not some automailer. Zaid [Note: Zaid gets major points for demanding a personal response, but, unfortunately, I'm out of Come on God. Answer me. For years I am asking you why. Why are the innocent dead and the guilty alive? Where is justice? Where is punishment? Or have you already answered? Have you already said to the world, here is justice, here is punishment, here..............in me. Biohazard spoken word intro to "Punishment" _Urban Discipline_ babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby babybaby yba aby byba abyb byba babybaby babybaby bybabyba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba babybaby yba aby yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabyb yba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba aby byb yba aby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby "Well I Swear That I Don't Have A Gun" May 4, 1994 __________________________________________________________________________ | | | | Editor : Blade X | Back issues found at: | | | bladex@bga.com | etext.archive.umich.edu ftp | | | Neo-Wobblie Node # 269 | Tejas (512) 467-0663 BBS | |__________________________________________________________________________| Contents of this issue : Ediborial : The Dying Throes of an Angry Young Cyberpunk by Me! Buzzword Bingo by Carl Cut-N-Paste Kadie Re:views by Me! Personality Quiz : K00L, G00ber, or Cyber Chix? by Me! The Slacker Manifesto by Steve Mizrach Things that I am Ashamed about uh, anonymous Baby Got Back Issues Ediborial : The Dying Throes of an Angry Young Cyberpunk It's been six months since the last issue and while these hallways have been silent, I've been quite rowdy elsewhere. Six months of experiences have been condensed to asterisks in the "Re:views" section later in this issue. But mostly I turned 26. Much of the Angry Young Cyberpunk stuff which fueled earlier issues no longer interests me and it gets harder and harder to get riled up over stuff. The irony : while I'm reaching the end of the creative spurt that generated Scream Baby, media coverage has taken off. I'm reviewed in the TV Guide to Cyberspace as a "don't miss" and received similar blurbs in Axcess, the Compuserve monthly magazine, and if I wasn't so lazy I'd go look up the other references but there's a couple more. So what does it mean to you? There won't be any speculations about Kurt Cobain battling Richard Nixon in hell, or first hand interviews with "Puppy" -- the Australian aborigine child at the center of the first Usenet libel lawsuit award. No, you won't be reading any of those shameful things in Scream Baby anymore. Ok, maybe you will. Tomorrow, is, after all, a new future. What I want to explore in the next issue is those ideas and expressions of community, that experience of belonging, that sense of being home. RE:VIEWS Categories : Art, Book, Comic, Death, Event, Loony Toons, Movie, Music, Police Action, Signs (of the Apocalypse), Technology, Zine Howard Rheingold, Virtual Communities, ***** Book Mutha's Day Out, My Soul is Wet **** Music NiN, Toward the Downward Spiral *** Music Nat Henthoff : The First Amendment **** Book Eden Matrix *** Comic Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 1994 **** Event Robofest V **** Event Robo-Otis collaboration **** Art bOING-bOING ** Zine io #1 **** Zine Beck, Mellow Gold ** Music Beck, "Loser" single *** Music Prince -- "Beautiful Girl" * Music -- after thinking, damn, this could be *** Music a BeeGees song Kurt Cobain **** Death Bill Hicks ***** Death Wavy Gravy Ice Cream ***** Food John Candy *** Death FBI trying to detain suspects at a conference for civil libertarians (CFP 94) ***** Police Action The Fugitive **** Movie Richard Nixon ** Death Government and Technology Conference ** Event "Punk Prom Night" at a local lesbian bar/club *** Music Photo-manipulated gif of Rush Limbaugh sucking **** Art a [CENSORED BY CYBERLICIOUS LAWYERS -- VIOLATION OF OBSCENITY CLAUSE] Woodstock ][ * Death **** Music ***** Signs Too Much Coffeman **** Comic Watching Senator Leahy on a Big Big Big Screen talking about Big Brother Clipper Chip *** Event Soundgarden, "Superunknown" *** Music Dissemination Network CD *** Music "It is better to burn out than fade away" -- Neil Young *** Music -- Def Leppard ***** Music -- Kurt Cobain * Death Clipper Chip * Police Action new Whole Earth Millenium catalog galleys **** Book Eyore's Birthday Party ***** Event -- the drums ***** Music Samuel Walker, In Defense of American Liberties, *** Book The History of the ACLU River Phoenix * Death Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man *** Death Mandala system at the Chicago Institute of *** Technology Science and Technology Mandala system by Austin Robot Group members ***** Technology Karen Pittman and Jon Witham HEB's new "Central Market" grocery store * Food *** Signs Coca-Cola's upcoming "OK" drink coming soon! Signs Schindler's List ***** Movie PGP modification that makes encrypted text ***** Technology resemble ordinary unecrypted text Ed Krol, The Whole Internet Users Guide 2nd ed. ***** Bible Mike Diana's obscenity conviction * Police Action General Linda Thompson's "Ultimatum" to *** Loony Tunes members of Congress et.al. "The Green Card" postings * Events "The Green Card" postings author quoted as * Signs preparing to write a book on Internet advertising Green Card ***** Movie Gray Areas Spring 1994 Issue **** Zine Phrack #45 & the NSA Security Manual **** Zine -- that Chris Goggans had to type the ** Technology manual, rather than using a scanner -- Subsequent news coverage about event ** Signs Wired Clipper Chip Archives **** Technology Cyber Rights Now! Logo *** Art Big Brother Inside Logo ***** Art CPSR removing Big Brother Inside Logo after **** Police Action Intel complained The "Original Rock N Roll McDonalds" (Chicago) *** Food -- the Peggy Sue Boutique (souvenirs) **** Signs Ben Is Dead "Sassy" parody **** Zine Clinton being asked about his underwear on MTV *** Event Henry Rollins "Weight" *** Music Clinton's "constitutionally secure" methods to * Police Action conduct warrantless searches of public housing units 1492 : The Conquest of Paradise *** Movie Scream Baby being mentioned in Axcess * Signs Compuserve monthly magazine * Signs Netguide ("the TV Guide to Cyberspace") * Signs Jon Lebovitz's E-Zine List ***** K00L Forbidden Subjects CD-Rom * Signs -- if the rumor that I get a ***** Signs free CD is true Rate Yourself : How Many of the Above Cultural Items Did You Know about before reading this issue of Scream Baby? 60+ Liar 1-59 Above average 0 Perhaps you should stop now and go read CTHEORY. _______________________________________________________ | | | "Hey....I'm a loser baby.....so why don't ya kill me" | | Beck, "Loser" | |_______________________________________________________| PERSONALITY QUIZ : K00L, G00BER, OR CYBER CHIX? Here is a list of names of people, most of whom I've either met, contacted, or otherwise found out about in the last six months or so. Your job is to decide what I think about them, whether they are K00l, a G00ber, or a cyber chix. I couldn't think of a way to keep track electronically, so get a piece of scratch paper to keep score. You'll also need a second piece of paper to cover the screen in case the answers appear on the bottom of your screen before you have a chance to decide whether the person is K00l, G00ber, or Cyber Chix! And yes, it's a trick.......... List of Personalities 1. Tiffany Lee Brown, WELL customer support 2. Carl "Cut-N-Paste" Kadie, Computers and Academic Freedom 3. Simona Nass, President of SEA 4. Stanton McCandlish, EFF Online Activist 5. Dan Gannon, Holocaust Revisionist 6. Netta Gilboa, Gray Areas 7. Darby, editor of Ben Is Dead 8. Paco Xander Nathan, Fringeware 9. Tom Jennings, creator of Fidonet, runs Little Garden 10. Howard Rheingold, Virtual Communities, Whole Earth Review 11. Wavy Gravy, clown, Woodstock I organizer 12. George Bush, Jr., Republican candidate for Texas Governor 13. M. Strata Rose, cypherpunk 14. Monte McCarter, Dissemination Network 15. Dave Banisar, CPSR Washington Office, policy analyst 16. Judi Clark, CPSR national treasurer 17. Janet Murray, K12 Net organizer, librarian, grandmother 18. Julie Petersen, Online Gardener for Wired 19. Beavis 20. Butthead 21. sine nomine, alt.angst who's who Answers : K00l : 1,2,3,4,6,7,9,10,11,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21 G00ber : 5,8,12,19,20 Cyber chix : 1,3,6,7,13,16,17,18,21 It's a *TRICK* ....all of the cyber chix are also k00l....but not everyone who is K00l is a cyber chix......... If you didn't see this a mile away then you need to get with the program. Perhaps you should stop reading Scream Baby and go for something safer, tamer, and user-friendly. Like [CENSORED BY CYBERLICIOUS LAWYERS -- VIOLATION OF LIBEL CLAUSE]. Scoring : 1 pt per correct answer, for a maximum of 32 32 Liar 0 - 31 Above average didn't keep score Cynic Why is Paco Nathan a G00ber, you ask? Like, why isn't he K00l? Ok, since you ask, I'm going to tell you, and if you didn't ask, then just play along like you did. So like, I call over to his house, ya know, to see if there's anything I could do to help out. He's putting together the new upcoming issue of Fringeware Review (the Cyber Chix issue) with Tiffany Lee Brown who had flown in from San Francisco to do this thing. (She is on vacation for tendonitis and carpal syndrome, a result of being WELL customer support). So I'm like, well I'd lost my job the week before, didn't have much to do, and was tired of watching this huge, HUGE spider crawling across my ceiling. So I called over to Paco's house *TWICE* just wanting to know if there was anything I could do to help out with the issue. Doesn't even bother to call me back. So he gets a g00ber rating until that b0z0head calls me back. ______________________________________________________________________ | | | The prototype "13er" exists solely in the minds of the media, and | | the rest is done with mirrors. Let's keep it this way. To the rest | | of those with the gall to label our individuality, I'll not-so- | | humbly ask this : Shut up, put your Powerbooks and cameras away | | and listen to us. One by one by one. | | | | -- Melissa Petrek, last writes, io magazine | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SLACKER MANIFESTO: Talking 'Bout My Generation by Steve Mizrach Seeker1@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu Our generation doesn't even know what to call itself. "Twentysomethings" is just a descriptive term; a numerical fact, much like the term "13th Generation," (since America hit the world scene) which seems to augur something disastrous in the future. The term "Baby Busters" just signifies that we are the bust after the Boomers, the whisper after the Youthquake, the great demographic downswing. Douglas Copeland may put it best when he calls us "Generation X" - not for Malcolm, but because we are unquantifiable, a complete X-factor, paradoXical. Nobody knows who speaks for us; what market niches we occupy; what things are closest to our hearts. We are an enigma to our predecessors, and perhaps will be one to the generation after us, the so-called Millenials born after 1981. The X Generation is made up of Slackers, Hackers (a.k.a. Phreakers, Cyberpunks, and Neuronauts), and New Jackers, those ever-disposable urban youth prophets of Hiphoprisy. We are Ravers and Atari Wavers, Stuck-in-the-70s-ers, and Particle Men, zooming to and fro without a place to go. According to most demographers, we are more street smart and pop-culture literate, and less versed in the classics, ethics, and formal education (especially in areas like geography, civics, and history: areas where we appear to be, in short, an academic disgrace.) Many of us do not read, do not vote, and make sure not to care. Polls show us to be greater risk-takers, more likely to do things that would result in self-harm, and more materialistic than our predecessors, the Boomers. We are said to have less ambition, less idealism, less morals, smaller attention spans, and less discipline than any previous generation of this century. We are the most aborted, most incarcerated, most suicidal, and most uncontrollable, unwanted, and unpredictable generation in history. (Or so claim the authors of 13th Generation.) If you look at the political organizations that define our generation, you don't see Yippies, SDS, the Diggers, or the Weathermen. Instead, we have groups like Lead or Leave! and Rock the Vote!, which do the radical things of registering people to vote against censorship and asking politicians to sign pledges to reduce the deficit or leave office. Ho hum. This is the most socially conscious, radical stuff our generation can do? Blaming retirees and the elderly for the deficit crisis they didn't create? Pitting the young against the old? Surely we can do better! There are 20+something groups out there, fighting homelessness, working for the environment, and attempting to reform education (U.S. PIRG, SEAC, USSA) but the media never seems to notice them. Why do we allow groups like Lead or Leave to define us? If we really wanted to solve the deficit problem, we need to deal with entitlements, but we also must take on the omniverous appetite of military spending as well... something Lead or Leave seems to ignore. The good news is that we are a generation that believes little in talk and much in action. We shun ideology and dogma for a basic pragmatism in all areas of life. We are less prejudiced and less sexist than any previous generation, yet polls also show us strangely to be more likely to commit acts of bigotry. As a generation, many of us feel that it is our job to clean up the messes left by the ones before us - a spiralling budget deficit, a decaying environment, or national "malaise" and decline. We are more focused on the future than the past - we are tired of all this "retro" nostalgia crap. Most of us detest our childhoods and the junk culture of that time (though it seems to continually get recycled into movies and plays, like the Brady Bunch) and are hesitant to look on our family life as something idyllic or "the best years of our lives." We are fiercely independent and self-motivated, able to get whatever we need whatever the circumstances. We despise the "retrohippies" and New Agers of our time - bot for holding up strong ideals, but for never living up to them. We are partisans of the New Edge - willing to explore new places, transcend old boundaries, and think bigger than anyone else. Despite the fact that as a generation, we seem to have accepted that we will have a worse standard of living than our parents, individually our members express an almost incredulous personal optimism that "I'll make it no matter what." We HATE to be categorized, to be lumped together or labelled. Even this long list of generalizations are only approximations - trends and tendencies that some Xer somewhere is fighting to buck. Nobody know what music we like - is it rap, punk, progressive, industrial, acid house, Eurotrash, technorave, hiphop, world beat, or none of the above? Nothing defines us the way rock n' roll did the boomers. Our consumer demographics drive marketers up the wall; their ads always claim that they know what we like and what we are like, and they are always wrong. Our politics transcend definition as well. Most of us live by the maxim "all politics is local." We feel that we were born after two big revolutions began, ended, and rolled back. The Sexual Revolution left us with divorce, AIDs, herpes, date rape, and skyrocketing teen pregnancies. Instead of sexual exploration, we are left with sexual chaos. It almost seems like none of us date anymore. We still have sex, to be sure, but never fall in love. The Drug Revolution left us with crack, PCP, and heroin. Today's gangbangers are too worried about their turf to want to "turn on and tune out." We are more "conservative" than our parents only in the sense that we feel that they went about their revolutions the wrong way. Some of us are still searching for free love, and the true head trip, but we want to do it Better than the Boomers: that's our motto. Some of us are predicting eventual generational warfare between us and the Boomers. Personally, I don't see it. We may slug it out over a vanishing Social Security fund and exploding deficits. But ultimately I think that our hatred toward the Boomers is concealed jealousy. Imagine: a generation that thought it could change the world! We're lucky to do what we can to survive, let alone believe something as amazing as that. I admit to Boomer envy. The things I am concerned about - consciousness expansion; human liberation; a truly just, fair, and equal society; a unified world, at peace; and the humane development and dissemination of technology - seem like reruns of 60s slogans. The goals do remain the same; but the tactics are ever so different. We are cleverer than they: they wore their slogans on a shirt sleeve. We hide ours, not because we don't want anybody to know them, but because we know invisibility is a weapon. Some demographers have assigned to our generation some pitifully "retro" roles. They say we will restore "family values" - you know, Ward Cleaver, et al. - after the "attacks on the family" of the 60s and 70s. We're to restore the "communitarian" ethos of the 50s - you know, when everybody trusted their neighbors and left doors open for them to stop by - after the crime and civil distintegration of the following decades. We're to restore the "self respect" of those years - you know, when people were clean, neat, disciplined, uniform, etc. NOT! In fact, we children of the 70s are not going to bring the 50s back to America. Instead, we are going to make the chaos of the 60s look like kid stuff - 'cause it was. We are here to bring change - suddent and shocking, if we have to. We are ready to bridge gaps: between people and nature, people and technology, and most especially, people and each other. _______________________________________________ | | | I think we're in an age where someone goes, | | I want to hear someone talk to me instead | | of trying to sell me something | | -- Henry Rollins | |_______________________________________________| NII BUZZWORD BINGO! by Carl Kadie kadie@eff.org ============ a card ======= NII Buzzword Bingo! Buzzword bingo is inspired by a Dilbert cartoon. While in meeting, a conference, or watching C-Span, mark your card every time you hear a word on your card. (The "bingo" square is premarked.) When you get 5 in a row, in any direction, yell "Bingo!". ------------------------------- | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ------------------------------- | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ------------------------------- | 11 | 12 |BINGO| 13 | 14 | ------------------------------- | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | ------------------------------- | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | ------------------------------- Your words (ordered randomly) are: 1. drug dealers 2. child porn/pedophila 3. legitimate needs of law enforcement 4. Minitel 5. smart enough to , dumb enough to use Clipper 6. the net routes around censorship 7. information haves and have nots 8. knowing how to program your VCR 9. we are not asking for new wiretapping capabilities 10. Mafia 11. Saddam Hessein 12. the information superhighway 13. tollbooths (on the information superhighway) 14. who holds the keys? 15. cybercops/net police/net cops 16. you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater 17. David Sternlight 18. metaphor(s) 19. Mosaic 20. 500 channels 21. World Trade Center bombing 22. global village 23. when encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will have encryption 24. on the Net no one knows you are a dog ========= the program =========== #! /usr/bin/perl # History # Mar 30, 1994 - more words suggested in email # Mar 29, 1994 - initial development Carl Kadie # Must have at least 24. Having more is OK. @word = ( "Dorothy Denning", "child porn/pedophila", "terrorist", "Mafia", "legitimate needs of law enforcement", "China", "Saudi Arabia bans satellite receivers", "France bans encryption", "Minitel", "we are not asking for new wiretapping capabilities", "drug dealers", "Saddam Hessein", "cybercops/net police/net cops", "tollbooths (on the information superhighway)", "the information superhighway", "information haves and have nots", "convergence", "global village", "(virtual) community", "the net routes around censorship", "the Home Shopping Network", "500 channels", "on the Net no one knows you are a dog", "knowing how to program your VCR", "on ramps (to the information superhighway)", "pothole (to the information superhighway)", "roadkill (on the information superhighway)", "killer app", "David Sternlight", "Dave Hughes", "Santa Monica", "cyberspace", "infobahn", "Singapore", "metaphor(s)", "who holds the keys?", "you can have my encryption algorithm... when you pry my private key ...", "child porn", "World Trade Center bombing", "smart enough to , dumb enough to use Clipper", "when encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will have encryption", "Mosaic", "with rights, come responsibilities", "freedom of the press is only for those who own one", "you can't yell \"fire\" in a crowded theater", "civilizing the electronic frontier"); srand; for ($i=0;$i<=$#word;$i++){ local($r) = int(rand($#word+1)); $t = $word[$i];$word[$i]=$word[$r];$word[$r]=$t; } print "NII Buzzword Bingo!\n\n"; print "Buzzword bingo is inspired by a Dilbert cartoon. While in meeting, a conference, or watching C-Span, mark your card every time you hear a word on your card. (The \"bingo\" square is premarked.) When you get 5 in a row, in any direction, yell \"Bingo!\".\n\n"; print "-------------------------------\n"; print "| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |\n"; print "-------------------------------\n"; print "| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |\n"; print "-------------------------------\n"; print "| 11 | 12 |BINGO| 13 | 14 |\n"; print "-------------------------------\n"; print "| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |\n"; print "-------------------------------\n"; print "| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |\n"; print "-------------------------------\n"; print "\n\nYour words (ordered randomly) are:\n"; for ($i=0;$i<=23;$i++){ print $i+1,". ",$word[$i],"\n"; } ========== end of program ====== THINGS THAT i AM ASHAMED ABOUT By confronting my inner daemons, I hope to look them head on, and have power over them, rather than permitting them to have power over me, and in the process, shattering the chains of shame and humiliation that enslave me now. * laughing at one of the infamous Nigger Jokes. All of them were boring, banal, and stupid, but when I read Q: What do you call two black motorcycle cops? A: Chocolate CHiPs, I involvuntarily laughed out loud. I quickly stifled it, but the damage had been done, my inner racist soul exposed for the world. * not giving my musical soul sufficient amounts of nurturing material. About six months ago, I thought that if I turned my clock radio to the B-Hits Station (there's one in your town, I know it) that it would jar me out of bed and kickstart my day. What I've discovered is that out of every 10 songs, there is 1 or maybe 2 that I actually like, and that I am *WILLING* to wait through 8 or 9 songs until the ones I like come on the air. I also find myself thinking, hey, that cover song by Mariah Carey isn't as evil as I originally thought, or like when K-7 comes to Austin (come baby baby baby come come), I consider going to the concert. * Sometimes I can't help but think that people just really *SUCK*. You can't count on them, all they ever do is let you down. But then I think that, you know, you really can't make it in this world without other people. Humans needs communities to survive. So I get sucked into this vortex feeding frenzy of just-do-it-all-by-myself-individuality and cant-we-all-just-get-along-community. Back and forth, back and forth. * this whole issue is rather shameless. * calling Paco a g00ber and a b0z0head. I mean, he's a close personal friend of mine, and I go around stabbing him in the back in front of hundreds, thousands of people, over some petty little thing like not calling me back. So for penance, I'm going to take the unusual request of asking the Scream Baby subscribers to practice an act of random kindness and senseless beauty. You probably don't know this, but Paco is a *HUGE* fan of Star Trek : The Next Generation. We were at his house, just the two of us, debating the Picard/Borg cliffhanger episode of a couple of seasons back. I was like, man, he's toast, and repeating "resistance is futile...prepare to be assimilated" like it was a personal mantra. Paco didn't give up, like I did, or stop believing. He spoke elegantly, movingly, about humanity's capacity to confront adversity, to create dignity and compassion in the hearts of man, where hatred, injustice, and cynicism reside now. I saw where my spoken words and actions were not living up to my cyberlicious ideals, and was moved greatly. So while Paco doesn't talk about it much, he just *loves* the show, and frequently confides to me privately how much it inspires him, intellectually and spiritually, and is a source of many of his ideas. So, as you can imagine, he is greatly saddened by the imminent season finale at the end of May. This is where you come in. If you have any fan memorabilia that you could send him, it would be *really* appreciated. If there is anything electronic you can send (.gifs, scripts, QuickTime movies, alternative stories/scenarios written by fans, etc.) please send them to pacoid@io.com. And even though this is too much to ask, if you have anything physical that could be delivered by snail mail (ex: posters, action adventure figures, trading cards, key chains, maybe even badges or something so that Paco can hit his chest and say, "One to beam up"), send those to 2118 Guadalupe, Suite 195, Austin, TX 78705. Please limit yourself to just the Next Generation information; Paco has just finished editing the upcoming issue of Post Modern Culture, which is a special theme issue exploring the homoerotic tensions between Kirk and Spock. Needless to say, he is a little burnt out. Whether you decide to send Paco something or not, I feel a whole lot better now. Sometimes I think being on the Internet is simply a substite for therapy, but like, if you had 25,000,000 people in your group. Till next time, see you in cyberspace! babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby babybaby yba aby byba abyb byba babybaby babybaby bybabyba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba babybaby yba aby yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabyb yba babybaby byb yba babybaby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybaby yba aby byb yba aby byb yba ba ba babybaby babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby "Baby Got Back" issues There are so many fun, exciting, and easy ways to secure a copy of Scream Baby that it is a shame if you didn't have all of them. I can be slightly unfulfilled enough for the both of us, so here is how you can own your own set....... BUNS of STEEL -- 11/21/93 Reviews of n6, a print magazine sent free to those who responded to electronic advertisements. This issue : Gutter-Tech. Information about the return of Unplastic News, Henry : Portrait of a Serial Killer, and for those who want Christmas shopping suggestions, The Johnny Marr Murder Can Be Fun Calendar 1994. Find Out Why They Call Me Stumpy -- 11/14/93 AXCESSerpt : ICE-T, on his new book, _The Ice Opinion, Who Gives A Fuck?_; parental guidance warnings, and interactive subscription information where potential subscribers answer essays to questions like, "Henry Rollins : Savage street poet or heavy metal butthead?" and alternative literary history : Suppose that Gabriel Garcia Marquez replaced William Gibson as the co-author of _The Difference Engine_. Describe the outcome of a literary coupling with Bruce Sterling. The Hum-Drum Issue So like R. Patrick Jones puts out this hip e-zine called Drum, a cut-up collage involving the medical effects of psychopharmaceuticals, Generation X revolution rants, images, magik, mescaline, and mdma, all under the general homage of information as drug, information as altered reality. So like there is a space at the bottom for people to insert their own text and then ship it off, so I'm like, yeah, gonna do it. So the first thing I include is this shameful exploitive blurb pimping a porno film. Go figure. Another parody of software licensing restrictions, subscription information, tips for wanna-be ezinesters, Reservoir Dogs, Fringeware Review, and the usual litany of disturbing, fragmented, pull-no-punches quotes and sayings. You Are Number Six includes a Legal Disclaimer, Subscriber Information, ediborial on cyberpunk e-zines, Interview with David Blair (creator of _Wax_), news about Agrippa : The Book of the Dead, and reviews of Stephen Seagal's Under Siege, the Cyberart Gallery in Sin magazine, Sound Photosynthesis catalog, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, the video arcade game Lethal Enforcer, and the zine Gray Areas. I also was struck by some sort of virus that attached shameful and degrading text to the end of this issue: information about Apartmentopia, a New Edge apartment complex and a Q&A column by Blade X Lax, "the cyberpunk's cyberpunk" Leri-L Issue By day Scotto is the list moderator of the Leri-L Mailing List. By night, he secretly aims for net.personality.dom. As guest editor of Scream Baby, his wildest fantasies are unleashed. In addition to Scotto's writings, we have contributions by @rez on Hypertexture, an excerpt from Rheingold's _A Slice of Life in the Virtual Community_, Andy Hawks, and many more little mind altering blips of information interspersed throughout. The Talking Raven Re:review Starts with a review of Antero Alli's Talking Raven : The Journal of Imaginative Trouble and then it just kinda........decays. Frankly, I don't know what the hell I was talking about or meant to say, but am quick to cover my ass by labeling it "experimental" and "gonzo". Shotgun splatter approaches to reality sometimes end up....messy. I apologize for nothing. The Torn Issue The master copy of this issue was accidently left unguarded in the same room as a small four year old child who had access to a pair of scissors. I taped it back together, best I could, but could only find electrical tape. In between you'll find such things as K-Mart Stocks Fractals, Transmission Error, Baby Got Back Issues, an X-change with Paco Xander Nathan (Technology and Consciousness Editor for bOING-bOING & Mondo, owner of Fringeware, all-around groovy guy), and a new subscriber information / poll. The Andy Hawks Interview issue Software License Agreement, Subscription Information, an ediborial, review of Public Enemy, _Greatest Misses_, and an interview with Andy Hawks, creator of the Future Culture mailing list and FAQ, conducted by Jagwire X, creator of the Autopia project and soon-to-be-started zine, Sun Dog. The September 26th, 1992 Issue Every word written in a 24 hour period, fueled by rage, nervousness, and caffeine. Ediborial, Subscription information, Software Licensing Agreement, A Tribute to Isaac Asimov, A Tribute to Isaac Asimov part 2, List of Cultural Artifacts, and reviews of bOING-bOING, Bruce Sterling, Ministry, NiN, Malcolm X (audio-tape), Mark Leyner's _Et tu, babe_, Negativland, and the Cop Killer controversy SUBSCRIPTIONS Send e-mail to bladex@bga.com stating that * you are over the age of consent in your localspace * you are not an employee of the US Postal Service Child Pornography Division. (All other Postal Service employees need not identify themselves) * you are not a government official from Singapore and * you voluntarily concede any and all rights to sue for damages due to your contact with Scream Baby. * HOW YOU GET ALL THIS STUFF........ FTP SITE etext.archive.umich.edu --> /pub/Zines/ScreamBaby PRIVATE BBS SYSTEM Tejas BBS (512) 467-0663 16.8 HST modem, fast pick-up site CD-ROM "Forbidden Subjects" (by Walnut Creek, I think) COMPUSERVE go Zines from the Net (according to the TV Guide) STOP BY MY HOUSE when I'm home and copy it DIRECTLY FROM MY COMPUTER SYSTEM. Bring your own disks. Please, no virii. You could bring some food for me, though.