If Abuzz were a physical reality.. what would it look like?
What do you think - what do you imagine to be logging in to, checking out the latest interaction, in your mind's eye?
The politics category, for example - is it like a smoky lounge filled with tweedy gentlemen? Or more like the line of soapboxes along Nevsky Prospect, anarchists, fascists and ordinary folks venting their highly individual world views? And what about Film? Is it a college hall, filled with eager students? Or more like the exit of a multiplex, moviegoers huddling around and muttering.. "so, what did you think?" or "crap movie that was - huhhuh"? Myself I imagine it to be like the central meeting point of a film festival, people carrying their programs and gossiping about the newest release, sipping their wine..
And Misc? What freaky building would approach the size and shape of this flippant virtual space? You have any ideas on this, too, or is it just my imagination running wild <bg>?
no-itsme, habibi created this Question on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 3:39 AM.
TerryDoolittle Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 4:13 AM
The misc. circle would be a madhouse....men walking around in nothing but their boxer shorts, boozing, singing, demanding Christmas presents, and bitching about nothing at all.....And lest we forget all the kissing and flirting that tends to happen there
The books circle would definitely be an oak paneled library with heated discussions going on in various groups....
I need time to think of more.
MassCass Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 4:14 AM
Sometimes its like relaxing in your favorite chair, nice and cozy and fuzzy warm feelings, with friends around and lots of interesting tales to tell
other times its like sitting in your favorite pub .. where everyone knows your name..!...and just giving out your own thoughts randomly
and then, well theres those times when you feel like you're sitting in the middle of a oom with a tiled floor, the hard chairs are in a large circle, and your sharing your deepest darkest moments with others who know what your saying or fell the need to know it...
then there really is a time when sitting on morganwoods front porch...looking out into the mountains...some people are drinking wine and having intelligent conversations, some are playing horseshoes and drinking beers, others are playing with the Irishwolfhoud, and still those others are sitting in a rocker watching it all go on
no-itsme, habibi Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 4:15 AM
MC and Li'l K - glad to have the hard core users come in first <grin> - must be a good sign..
When I think of Abuzz as a physical space, it's like a huge, labyrinthal thing, very sci-fi, with bobbing walls in bright colours and sliding doors that go ah in the dark - well, that would go for the Misc category, in any case ;-).
no-itsme, habibi Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 4:25 AM
The Politics category is in my mind very much like Nevsky Prospekt, thats why I came up with that example.. perhaps also because I joined it in mid-election season. At Nevsky (in St Petersburg), some years ago, you'd walk down the boulevard and each day find the same groups of people standing there, next to each other, selling their irregularly appearing journal to no-one in particular, or waving a flag aimlessly.. the young fascists with their inventively designed runes on their arms, the bearded anarchist with his cap, flag, and incidental disciple, the elderly couple selling Zhirinovskovo Pravda, a larger group of old-age pensioners discussing Communist politics - and all day long, people would actually stop by and discuss or just chat, with the guy on the metaphorical soapbox or each other - it was a freakshow, of course, but the politics was more picturesque than intimidating - these were the losers of the political game, in a way, who could go nowhere else to vent. So yeh - that's close to what I associate the Abuzz Politics category with <grin>
Ridinghood (u. 62735) Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 4:38 AM
This is a superb Q, by the way. I wish I were as imaginative as some of you. That answer about the politics threads sure rings a bell, and I'll remember it the next time I'm tempted to go there!
On the books circle, yes, a paneled room with deep leather chairs, and coffee and sherry discreetly circulating.
princessash185 Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 5:18 AM
GREAT Q!!
I think the Boston and New York circles would be two bars, right next to eachother, with only a door and a big window in between. . . and e'd spend all day opening and closing the door to banter back and forth and make faces through the window. . . the " Boston Abuzzards" (Yes, you know who you are!! :-)) Would all sit in one corner downing huge glasses of whatever's on tap and waving genialy at the New York Abuzzers who, having no social structure, just wander back and forth around the bar, asking about why we don't come up with something like the Boston Abuzzards have. . . :-)
kuvasz1 Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 6:30 AM
yeap! a college dorm, clicks and geeks and nerds and cool cats and hippies and jesus freaks and druggies and everything in between, but dammit! no pizza delivery! and no security guards thank god! when we throw a refrigerator off of the 7th floor balcony just because, just because we want to see what happens and test newton's law of gravity.
shebears (u.58293) Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 7:45 AM
A large insect colony with a terminal/monitor at every trail's end and the trails have pheromones to mark them for others to follow. Like termites we devour the daily news and chew it into pulp or grist for the chat mill here and actually build our architecture out of it...some rather lofty towers in some cases. Step away from it and it appears to be just a large mound, however, or more to the point a lot of folks who have sniffed out like folks to chat about world events, their lives, news, etc. around the watercooler, coffeepot, in the tavern, parlor, couch, cellar, whatever, but they are all colony members busy chewing away on the pulp news and building precarious towers of applause or ratings with it.
dlowan( just a wee number again - 266846) Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 12:48 PM
Wonderful image, she bears!
I think I've been affected by Wyndham's book "The Chrysalids" in that I don't see a physical space, but more a sense of people entering the space in my mind. Each person. however, has a very clear think/feel impression - some are a bit visual, but most are a warm, or bright and zazzy, or deep and still and mysterious and wise, or ordered and measured feeling (a gestalt of all the senses I guess) etc etc. Some impressions happen because of names, each of which have a feeling or an image, others I "know" and the feeling is more complex. I'm aware of a sort of buzz happening around me - and every now and then I step in some psychic dog pooh and become aware of strange currents flowing around. These feel hot and wounded, or twisted.
Now I'm addicted to shebears tower images though! But they will be not quite visual towers, thet will be feelings and temperatures and sounds and colours and sensations that have no name, really. I guess they have the structure of pre or non-verbal thoughts, actually!
marypope (U.11925) Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 2:06 PM
To me, Abuzz is like a long train trip - you get on and there are already people on the train, chatting and discussing in the club car, and some of them get off and some more get on and the discussion continues, and changes topic occasionally . Now and again, somebody gets a bit rowdy, and gets either ignored or jeered, but he or she eventually goes away and there's always a new person or two at the next stop to fill in. Some people set up another discussion at the end of the car, and it sounds good, so you wander over for a while and either stay or leave after a bit.
But it's always going on, 24 hours a day, in the club car, and whether or not you're there you always wonder what you're missing.
no-itsme, habibi Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 4:15 PM
[..] That's also a way to perceive of Abuzz, btw.. just like, in late December, you might find yourself walking instead of driving, and crossing through this sidestreet, looking in almost (well, almost) inadvertently when passing from window to window, home to home, into all those domestic lives zapping by - christmas tree and dinner table here, scruffy couch and beer bottles there, and, see, this one's cool, all light and bright and neatly designed in white and grey - surfing Abuzz can be like that, too, you're loafing about from street to street looking in on this Q or that category, and get short glimpses of discourses structured entirely differently from what you're used to.. and you hold your step listening in, smiling about something someone says, and continue on your way again..
MassCass Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 4:47 PM
Our own living rooms, slouched on the couch, remote in hand
click
intersting
click
very strange
click
really?
click
oh I like this one
click
I remember this
click
HA HA HA HA
click
Oh yes, this Ill watch
DakotaStone Quick stats
Added on Sun, Jan 7, 2001 8:36 PM
The whole thing seems a combination of Mad Max territory and Waterworld.
Gravy Quick stats
Added on Mon, Jan 8, 2001 2:24 AM
The whole abuzz to me is visualized in the folowing way: A semi-hollow sphere in zero gravity, and I am floating with a jetpack in the middle (navigated by my fingers on the keyboard & mouse). The wall is a beehive; a lattice, actually most like inside a pommegranate. But when I get close to any of the cells, I get immersed into it like walking through its membrane, and then....
The miscellaneous abuzz: the marx-brothers film about a department store (one of my childhood favorites).
The News abuzz: the Hyde park speakers corner, everybody yelling in different directions.
The int'l news (especially the middle-east threads): WWF wrestling match, you know each of the participants and their favorite moves, and it's high drama, but pretty predictable.
The philosophy thread: everybody in Togas in the senate on mount olympus, pacing and talking
The spirituality thread: on a cloud
The relationship thread: a system malfunction causing the scene to alternate between Oprah and AllyMcBeal.
<......swishing through the membrane off into the lattice....>
toussaint Quick stats
Added on Mon, Jan 8, 2001 12:45 PM
A café where you can just sit at any table and take part in the hugging or the war, drink coffee or lots of wine, and then jump to another table with different people and more drinks...?
ehBeth u! 64446 Quick stats
Added on Tue, Jan 9, 2001 6:22 AM
great question no-itsme, i can hear you 'kicher'ing hear too! Abuzz is definitely an aural vs visual hallucination for me - buzzing, squeaking, bellowing, yelping, much giggling, shrieks of indignation, furtive whispering, people shouting to themselves and sometimes others, more laughing, occasional weeping with comforting murmurs following
it's definitely a noisy place, where you can easily be distracted by another conversation
MassCass Quick stats
Added on Tue, Jan 9, 2001 2:09 PM
An old age home
Some just whine and complain about anything, others just sit and look out into blank unreality, still others have lost their minds and dont care to know about it, and a few really like jello or chasing the fellow inmates umm residents
no-itsme, habibi Quick stats
Added on Tue, Jan 23, 2001 7:50 PM
Suddenly started thinking Abuzz could be like a huge playground, to chase each other round in, jump on all the swings and springs and smile and play tag <grins>
could be. <smiles>
even when, you know, sometimes reality'd set in and you'd sit down, exhausted, with some friendly aunts and uncles on the curb and sigh about things.. until your little friend comes to tap you on your shoulder and run off with you again.. yeh - something like that <bg>
<rushes off>
psyche's homegirl Quick stats
Added on Tue, Apr 3, 2001 8:05 PM
I guess it would have to be a park. <nods> Abuzz, to me, is like a big game of hide-n-seek, with people stopping every once in a while to talk. <nods>
<giggles> But that's probably because of HOW I use it. <nods, again>
It's like ... you know, you see someone's profile in an interaction and you see the interactions they're involved in - and this leads you to joining more interactions and ... yeah, it's like a big game of "Discovery" - like a treasure hunt, or something.
Pyewackett aka Chib
Yodelling to the stars.
When my world gets claustrophobic and the cobwebs cloud my mind
I climb into my pick-up and I leave it all behind.
I head into the desert to a quiet place I know
To a sort-of pool of water where some sort-of trees still grow.
It's not a 'real-true' desert full of camels, dunes, and sand.
It's dull, dried out, and dusty - but it's very close to hand.
I pitch the tent and brew the tea - the frying pan gets hot
- And those fresh-air bacon sandwiches, they really hit the spot!
Later, night has fallen and there's not the slightest sound,
With my bottle and my guitar and my bag spread on the ground
I lie there 'neath that endless sky and play some gentle chords
And I have a quiet yodel 'cos I just don't have the words.
You can't say 'stars are majestic', or 'how wondrous is the
night'.
Or 'the glory in the silence'; it doesn't come out right.
But my soul comes close to bursting and my mind gets blown away.
My yodel tries to say those things my mouth's too dumb to say.
And if any of you ladies feel inclined to tag along
Your female yodelled harmony would greatly help my song.
I have no ulterior motives (Well, I have - but only slight!)
And we'll sing songs to the silence, to the stars, and to the
night.
Hey! You flamin' drongos and all that yackin' is keepin' us awake
up here!!!
<Ah well; I'm awake now, bejasus. Might as well make the most of
it> [forces face into some kind of semblance of a smile]
Good morrow Abuzz persons. And may the rain fall on your cabbages
but never fall on you. (I quite like that line! Let's expand it a
bit)
"May your tree have great big apples
May the sun come shining through
May the rain fall on your cabbages and never fall on you.
May there always be someone to say,
'You shall go to the ball'!
And may you say as this day ends,
"Today was best of all"
Yewash; I know. Birthday card stuff. But I don't care this early
in the morning.
Dlowan et al.
Here's that 'Oz Poem' that was asked for (or offered. Or forced
onto you all. Who cares?) Bear in mind that I only had from
yesterday - and that I did it - so make allowances, OK? :-)
Anyway, it isn't a poem, it's a boozing song!
(Title sung to the tune of 'Skippy, the bush kangaroo')
"Squiddo. Squiddo. Squiddo the bush squidosaur"
It began with a bloke from beyond the Black Stump . Name of
Bruce; a good cobber of mine.
He was king of the D.I.Y. splicers of genes - him and his mate
Frank Instein.
They crossed a few ewes
With some red kangaroos
Woolly jumpers like never before.
But the best that they did
Was a huge Giant Squid
Which they crossed with a spare dinosaur
Squiddo weighed in around two thousand pounds; ran at better than
twenny miles an hour .
(The squid genes gave him precision control and the dinosaur
genes gave power)
He'd help a mate out.
He was good for his shout.
He was true-blue in all that he did.
But you're gonna shoot through
If you're throwing a blue
When you're around our cobber, Squid.
Old Squid was an Aussie, and like Aussies do; he had a good go
at the sport.
The cricket, the hockey, the footie, the track; and hours on the
town tennis court
He played Aussie rules,
Swum in all the best pools;
And he'd surfed every stretch of the coast
He was fast, he was keen
Like a well-oiled machine.
But rugby is what he loved most.
First time he played rugger for Queensland 'A' team; he was right
in the heart of the scrum.
The Springboks, they saw him and bolted the field. They cried and
said, "I want my Mum".
'Gainst the All-Blacks one day
Well - he blew them away!
He went through their lines like a charm.
The crowd gave a roar
As he touched down to score
With Lomu tucked under his arm.
Yeah; that's our beaut cobber, our bonzer mate Squid. He has
size, he has speed, he has class.
Those eight arms with suckers - he tackles 'em right. And he's
never once fumbled a pass.
He can charge like a truck
And destroy any ruck,
He can jink and change pace like a dream.
An ace player, too right!
There's a good chance he might . . .
. . . Make it into the Oz second team.
An irregular love song.
She was a Sunday-school teacher. She taught.
He was a preacher. Each Sunday he praught
(The choir were all screechers. How loudly they scraught).
He thought "I must speak of my love." So he spoke
"You are all that I seek; all I ever have soke"
She let one tear leak. Then several more loke.
If hearts can fly then hers surely flew;
Made her cry happier tears than she?d ever crew.
He said, "I'll dry your eyes, dear." And her tears he drew.
"May I steal a quick kiss." At her nod, such he stole.
"I will kneel and propose," he thought, saying as he knole
"Let me say how I feel. How I always have fole."
"I fear I tread paths I never dreamed would be trod.
I dread your refusal more than ever I've drod.
Pray wed me. How I wish we were already wod."
"You won't lose me," she cried. "Tis my heart that is lost.
You ask me to choose. And it's you I have chost.
You would never misuse me; you will never be mis-yost."
"Till death us do part," hear her swear. Then he swore
That their lives they would share as such lives should be shore.
Those whom the gods pair will forever be pore.
