tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post6946117702135940042..comments2024-03-28T21:56:51.675-04:00Comments on Face to Face: How weird is too weird? Degrees of unfamiliarty among fantasy, surrealism, and psychedeliaagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-48233588597167653922014-07-21T04:40:23.697-04:002014-07-21T04:40:23.697-04:00I like fantastical stories by bestselling authors ...I like fantastical stories by bestselling authors who feature advanced scientific ideas but extraordinarily bland characters, like the late Michael Crichton and Arthur C. Clarke. They don't write those kinds of stories anymore, unfortunately.<br />In fact the characters' blank averageness, while actually unlikely, balances the extreme story, and allows readers to imagine themselves in their place.outsiderhttp://jack-arcalon.livejournal.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-41645993097807264912014-07-20T23:04:17.418-04:002014-07-20T23:04:17.418-04:00Not only did the early 1900s have abstract art, th...Not only did the early 1900s have abstract art, they had Art Nouveau, which looks a lot like the psychedelic style of the '60s.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-41669515448926927282014-07-20T22:55:56.143-04:002014-07-20T22:55:56.143-04:00In most cases, cultural change moves in one direct...In most cases, cultural change moves in one direction for the whole outgoing / rising-crime phase, then in another during the cocooning / falling-crime phase. To take an objective example, instrumentation in '60s rock and pop music was still pretty simple, and wouldn't reach a peak in variety until the '80s (saxophones, flutes, french horns, pennywhistles, synths, and so on).<br /><br />But there are examples where the beginning of one phase shows an over-shooting pattern, not a steadily upward (or downward) trend. Radical experimentation when the outgoing phase begins, which corrects toward a more balanced risk/reward trade-off by the peak of the outgoing / rising-crime phase. It's the naive honeymoon phase of a more outgoing culture.<br /><br />And then there's the acrimonious breakup at the beginning of the cocooning phase. The date rape hysteria of the early-mid 1990s was the counterpart to the free love phenomenon of the '60s. Both over-shot and settled down.<br /><br />When a cocooning culture is trying to pump itself up into getting out and interacting with others, they need an extra "oomph" to get them out the door. Then when outgoing people feel like retiring from social life, they psych themselves into quitting cold turkey, "I'm not coming out of my room ever again."<br /><br />Once this over-shooting oomph has gotten them past a barrier that they're not sure they can clear, they breathe a sigh of relief and walk backward a bit toward the middle area.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-65934645773797015512014-07-20T20:37:12.398-04:002014-07-20T20:37:12.398-04:00When the crime rate begins rising rapidly, there i...When the crime rate begins rising rapidly, there is a lot of experimentation and people doing weird things. Afterall, everybody had been cocooned, so they have to figure things out. But by the time the crime plateaus, which happened in the 80s, the experimentation stops, because everyone has found their sea legs and gotten used to a more outgoing society.<br /><br />You see weird art m in rapid crime rising from 1900-1920, before it leveled off in the Jazz Age. This was the period when abstract art first rose.Curtisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-37196096152108309342014-07-20T06:02:41.888-04:002014-07-20T06:02:41.888-04:00Agnostic, BBC Three, "Sun, Sex and Suspicious...Agnostic, BBC Three, "Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents". 18 year old. British kids take their first independent holiday, helicopter British parents crash their party. Cringe worthy. Please review.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09596076372344057573noreply@blogger.com