|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 147--5/17/97 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 12  ||  -------> (Cup OWis147, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = OsoaWeek Book Twelve 4 "OsoaWeek147" by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana, Tarb 6151 (5/17/97), copyright 1997 OBLIVIANA REGISTRY NEW REVOLVERS None NEW CUPLINES ZOPE Cupline 0012-ZP0002: Text Zope (ZPTZ) *OW* LORD OF OBLIVIANA Sun 5/11/97 * 2:45 PM The third week of the new Obliviana on the WWW is done. I added Severe Repair, with 4 Cups of "Goodbye Popcorn", and 6 Cups of "Office Complex". I also created the Severe Repair Almanc, but it has a bare mininum of content right now (ie, links to the two Cuplines and promises for more content in the near future). And I haven't been promoting the Obliviana website, so I'm not really getting any hits. I know that if I did promotion, I'd get hits, but I don't think the site is ready yet to accept drinkers ("drinking" being my term for taing in all sorts of infostimulation). My idea was, and continues to be, that I will spend Obliviana Book 12 (April 26 to July 27) getting the site to a point where I AM comfortable promoting it. See, if I promoted it now, folks would come here and be totally confused and displeased and not come back. I am dealing with a lot here in Obliviana. Right now, I'm trying to start presenting some entertaining content, like Severe Repair and Zope right now. But there is a whole nother part of Obliviana, the interactive part. If you go all the way back to OsoaWeek001, on July 28, 1994, you'll see that this interactive aspect has been in existence all the way from the beginning. I haven't gotten too far with it yet, though. Without Fonosta (the intereactive aspect), Obliviana is just a publisher of entertainment with a somewhat narrow demographic. With Fonosta, Obliviana can become something much bigger. In fact, I think that Obliviana will appeal at some level to just about everyone. Not THAT'S a bold statement. The Obliviana that will appeal to everyone will be a very simple thing, bereft of science fiction and fantasy and even... computers. It will be a simple idea: do this and your life will be more understandable and satisfying. Aha! But there is an aspect that has to exist for such a self-help system to have widespread appeal. It has to WORK. There are thousands and thousands of self-help programs and cults out there that promise similar life improvements. I posit that if any of them actually WORKED, everyone would be doing it. But notice that I stated that Obliviana will make your life more UNDERSTANDABLE and SATISFYING. I'm NOT saying Obliviana is going to solve your problems, or answer all those unanswered questions in your life. I'm saying that Obliviana will let you get a grip on what's going on in your life, and experience your life in a more satisyfing way. Think of this analogy. Your life is a horse. Instead of replacing the horse, Obliviana is replacing the saddle. Um... I think I gotta work on this analogy... 5/12/97 * 2:36 AM Yeah, I gotta get this whole 209/Fonosta thing moving. The "self-help" aspect of Obliviana. I know I have all the ingredients, but I haven't quite put it all together yet... Okay. De-emphasize conforming O to existing activities; create new activities: Friction Enhancers. Ah! Another piece of the puzzle is snapped into place! 5/16/97 * 12:45 AM Okay. Here it is. You do something that is specific and is defined by Obliviana, and thhen you add it to your Fonosta. I'm dealing with an idea here, and my mind is aflame with this idea. In such a situation, it is tough to put it into words and define it. That fire is Schrodingers's Fire. "Schrodingers's Fire" is a reference that some of you might get. "Schrodingers's Cat" (and yes, I know I'm probably spelling it wrong) is a popular quantum physics thought experiemnt about a cat in a box which is both alive and dead, ie, in a potential state. So when I talk about the allegorical "fire" burning in my mind, I'm trying to say that it is in that potential state of being in all states, and the state of writing about it is like opening the box and thus establishing that the cat is indeed wither alive or dead. But if you aren't familiar with this whole cat thing, none of this is gonna make much sense to you. So the idea... Look at the structure of Obliviana. Revolver, Cupline, Cup. All of these existing on the 11-by-19 board of sqaures called "Forge of Wander". Well, you get one of these, with 209 fresh squares, and it is your Fonosta. You, with this Fonosta, become "of Obliviana", and you make up an Obliviana name. My Obliviana name is Lord, so I am Lord of Obliviana. As I am listening to The Bonzo Dog Band's "Hunting Tigers Out in 'Indiah'", I'll use this example: you might come up with the name "Tiger", and then you would be "Tiger of Obliviana". On the bus home there were tourists, and two kids were talking about the Wu-Tang Clan or something, apparently a group of rappers, and they mentioned names like "Redman" and "Ghostface", who I assume are rappers in this group. This practice of giving yourself a "superhero" name seems quite pervasive in the rap community. This phenomenon is more generally, and more loosely, the tradition of nicknames, though these are more under the control of those around you than you yourself. Anyway, I'm just reasoning about this issue. IDENTITY is an issue that is at the core of many of life's many problems. WHO AM I? We hear this question all the time. This might be made more specific by asking "Where do I fit into the scheme of things, and also, where do I originate from?" Obliviana is its own "scheme of things". You have your Fonosta, as does everyone in Obliviana. Your Fonosta is your IDENTITY in Obliviana. It is WHO YOU ARE in Obliviana. So if you ask "Who am I?", an answer would be, "Well, in Obliviana at least, you are Tiger of Obliviana" or whatever your name. Now, your identity is defined by the contents of your Fonosta. Your Fonosta may contain only Cups as defined by Obliviana. This is restrictive, but in a good way, really. Imagine a version of chess where you can use any objects you want on the board and give them any characteristics you want. It wouldn't be a very good game. Especially with a piece that can "move one space in any direction and/or capture all enemy pieces in a single turn". So the idea of Fonosta is not to somehow define your total persona, as I might have once envisioned, but rather, gives you restrictions within which to work creatively and ingeniously. I might be naturally against a highly structured organization, but experience has taught us all that people function better in somewhat restrictive structures. The Beatles created a company called Apple Corps which was totally without strucure or discipline, and it was an utter disaster. Lokk at how folks embrace the military hierarchies of the various Star Trek shows. What I'm saying is, Fonosta is going to have a very well-defined structure. I know I'm still being vague, but I'm laying the groundwork for the thing. I hope you appreciate that I'm doing so much of my thinking and development work in "public", in OsoaWeek. At least you'll know where I'm coming from if Obliviana ever really takes off. If nothing else, I'm for real. Is Obliviana a cult? No. But it may have certain aspects in common with cults. See, cults use aspects of human nature that people like to deny, such as the basic "wolfpack" desire to please and be loyal to a leader, and also the fragility of ones core perceptions of reality. The aim of a cult is to steal money and ultimately labor from people. Bluntly, cults seek to enslave people. And from experience, it's apparently quite easy to do this. I am painfully aware of all this, and I realize I am treading on some similar ground. I guess I want to pressure these same aspects of human nature to get people into Obliviana. The difference is, I think that Obliviana is a really, really good thing, and I do plan to give it away for free. That is, I will structure Obliviana so that you can do it for free, and with little or no connection to Obliviana. I am thinking about registration of names and such as something that you might need to be in contact with Obliviana for. See, I realize that I could create Obliviana with the best of intentions, only to see it fall into the wrong hands. Then Obliviana might become an evil cult. But if I build in safeguards in the beginning, such as freely distributing all the information you need, and registering names for free, and stating that names will always be registered for free, and if Obliviana ever charges for such, go ahead and start your own "chapter" of Obliviana. Stuff like that. Of course, this might be a little reminiscent of the safeguard Charlie Brown took on Valentine's Day, where he bought a suitcase or something for all the Valentines he expected to see. In other words, I'm talking about something that might not amount to anything as if it were a fait accompli that it was gonna get big. The feeling that your endeavor is DEFINITELY gonna get big is a seminal delusion of insecure, young creative genius types. I realize this, but I think that I and Obliviana are both different. God damn am I rambling. Feels good. So, I have addressed many issues here. And I have gone a decent distance toward defining Obliviana. Good night. 5/17/97 * 12:47 AM People always claim that they have no time, yet the time they do have they waste miserably. Responsibilities--job, home maintenance, parties, etc. Free Time--what do you want to do, I don't know what do you want to do. Efforts and thoughts wasted fruitlessly. Wasted fruitlessly. Redundant? So with this defined as the problem, I am going to offer, of course, Obliviana as the solution. A partial solution. At least, spend some of that time and effort on something that is of lasting value. Carry a marble in your pocket when you go to work. Then drop it into a jar. Keep on doing this. The more you work, the more marbles you'll have in the jar. What's wrong with this picture? Well, it's an idea that's in the same universe as Obliviana... Gotta go to bed. Gotta go to work tomorrow, Saturday. *OW* -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----