Come on with the rain, there's a smile on my face

[ciphergoth]

The scene with spikeylady went incredibly fabulously; see her friends-only entry for details. We really did excel ourselves just as I'd hoped. Thanks to co-conspirators ergotia, lilithmagna and kitty_goth - you all rocked very hard. I don't think I can do justice to just how fab spikeylady was or is here. After the scene finished, we chilled for a long time, then did some other different scenes, slept, there was more play, then purplerabbits came over ergotia and lilithmagna went off to meet lilithmagna's Mum in the National Gallery and the four of us that remained went off to Camden to meet lolliepopp and djm4 for fantastic burgerful lunch at Ruby in the Dust, followed by shopping. Shopping in the glorious sunshine with such fabulous people after such an extraordinary evening was... was just the way all Sundays should be. Myself and spikeylady bought matching Clockwork Orange T-shirts as a memento of the scene - how sad are we?

After shopping, we popped into the Dev for a swift half, then spikeylady and I dashed off to St Pervertia for a swift last burst of play (she might otherwise be sitting comfortably for the journey home, which would never do) before dashing off to Euston to see her onto her train. *sigh* the whole seeing-people-onto-trains thing is most delightfully romantic, but there's a big downside - they aren't there afterwards...

Then I returned to the Dev, where kitty_goth and purplerabbits were still, and met kjersti, lproven, duranorak, dennyd, and were later joined by trishpiglet and babysimon after fortifying ourselves with Chinese fast food. Other LJers spotted: vikinghugs, and I'm told arkady was there but sadly I didn't meet her (though thinking about it, I did talk to someone who might have been her but didn't ask about LJ names)

purplerabbits is here now updating her LJ, we're probably going to watch "Clerks" and sit about drinking rather than trying to do anything more complex. She flies home tomorrow, but lunch with ergotia first is on the cards.

I'm disturbed by the lack of internationalism on my friends page. I'd assumed that the sorts of people I might tend to meet would in general reject patriotism and nationalism as a close cousin of racism and other irrational forms of supporting one person you don't know over another, and support instead the idea that we were on the side of the whole of humanity, regardless of colour or nationality. It seems I was mistaken.

jwz gladdened my heart today by writing an LJ for no particular reason about one of the finest albums ever pressed into plastic and aluminium. I have come to you today to speak of Cop Shoot Cop's 1994 album "Release." This album is just such a boot to the head, that as your attorney, I must advise you to obtain and listen to it immediately. Those of you who like the journal, listen to the album. Those of you who like the album, check out the journal. If you're still not convinced, consider that in the club he owns, the cash machine is programmed with subversive messages. my favorite complaint was from the guy who was puzzled that the ATM says ``Destroy Capitalism'' but charges him a $3 service fee. Irony is hard, let's go shopping!

Comments

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that I rarely think about things in terms of nationalism or internationalism.

I firmly believe that the natural order of organisation for human beings is of the order of 250 or so (I have a feeling that electronically-mediated virtual communities have the ability to be larger, thanks to the technological suppoprt they offer) - anything else breaks down due to failures in communication. As such I tend to regard the state (or the State, if you prefer) as an aberation that will eventually whither and die...

May be it's because I grew up on a small island, and was able to see its three or four distinct societies functioning quite happily in the framework of a limited government. Or maybe, I'm an anarcho-syndicalist utopian who wants to live in the Culture. Or even, with my consulting hat on, I've seen so many dysfunctional large organisations. Evil comes when we try to build structures that force people into large groupings...

The key to human survival is open, free communications, and the ability to allow self organisation at a village level - whether it's a virtual village like a LJ community, or a group of co-workers collaborating on a project.

It takes a village because we are villagers, no matter where we are or what we're doing. My personal village is geographically very diverse - which I guess means that I am international - but I have also seen its shape and structure change so many times over my life, that I have no idea where it will take me tomorrow.

I'm not sure if that answers your question. However, it does try to encapsulate my personal beliefs.

[pavlos.livejournal.com]

A lot about community is not to do with size but with barriers to entering and leaving. So a small island may be a good community not because it's the right size but because people can expect to keep meeting each other for years to come. Later, when economics change so that people don't expect to live their lives on the island, it may become a terrible community.

One thing about size is that above a certain size there is going to be anonymity, and then the structure of social interactions changes totally.

Pavlos

Re:

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

It's actually a matter of perceptual hardwiring.

We're not actually "designed" to handle more than a close group of 25 and a wider circle of 250.

[juudes.livejournal.com]

We're not actually "designed" to handle more than a close group of 25 and a wider circle of 250.

I understand your point - I too saw The Life of Mammals - but this begs the question: are we "designed" to kill a bunch of people by firing missiles at them and thus never seeing the results of our actions?

Re:

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

No. Or perhaps yes.

Hard questions...

Certainly the spear was an early hominid tool, and it can be argued that there is a straight line of descent from spear to missile, so perhaps it's a little bit of Lamarck at work, alongside Darwin...

The wrong is the mindset that says that it is good when ordered by a superior. That's the evil that comes with the invention of the state.