Simon silverdollarcircle

Well-known member
A mate of mine is involved in the re-introduction of white tailed eagles to the isle of wight and he told me that one got lost and ended up flying round London

So you never really need leave Blackheath really
 

luka

Well-known member
Have you never hiked up a mountain? :eek:

I have actually but I don't like to boast about it. yyaldrin said he seethes with rage when he hears people have been on holiday.

My family are from New Zealand. I spend my 21st in the southern Alps.
 

woops

is not like other people
Basically, how I see it, situationism, situationist thought and so on, it's like the end of the 60s, it's very explosive, very end of world type writing and imaginings. All the foundational texts by the French crew are very hard to get into (this just me, others might have understood more than me) and the things that have travelled the most are the very pithy throwaway bits (like the two dick cowboys and the 'under the pavement, the beach'). Cos at its core it was about totally removing yourself from the spectacle of society and showing it for the capitalist fallacy illusion that it is, but taken to the logical extreme this turned into proper anti society actions such as those by red army in Germany and angry brigade in this country. And the rest just became recommodified into the culture machine, the best bits of which are punk things or tom vague zines.

So now I just feel wary about the whole scene I suppose, cos it's just another part of things, rather than anything with any actual bite.

In terms of walking specifically, their that Ng was about deconstructing the city, by not obeying it's lines and rules, or questioning it, which is all well and good, but I think the original idea was to do this in order to mount a serious critique of things, or at least show something, but what it's ended up as is people just having a bit of a jolly in order to get out of the house. And maybe stick up some stencil graffiti. So the edge is lost. I mean this is just my view of things. I feel like I've gone through the process myself, I'm not really criticising anyone or anything except myself.

i think that's actually a good summary of what they thought and what has happened
 

woops

is not like other people
the rest just became recommodified into the culture machine, the best bits of which are punk things or tom vague zines.

it's worth pointing out though that Debord predicted this would happen and called it 'recuperation'.
 

catalog

Well-known member
Yeah cheers. Don't know about 'recuperation' that's an interesting choice of word he had. I wonder what debord would think of things nowadays. I read a bio of him a while ago, all I remember is that he was obsessed with Clausewitz and war/strategy games, and was really thorough in his excommunication of other members.
 

catalog

Well-known member
Yeah this is like that falling out thd window thing i was saying in the spiritual thread. All very well wanting to be a visionary and smash things up to create the new, but its the sort of thing that could also go quite wrong for you.
 

luka

Well-known member
I certainly haven't hiked up enough mountains. Might have gone up more if I knew how to drive.
 

Simon silverdollarcircle

Well-known member
Valleys are more interesting though. Caves even more so.

The problem with mountains is that they stir that conquering possessive element in us. "I must climb it because it's there"

Valleys keep us in our place, hemmed in and belittled by the mountains.

I don't hold that position dogmatically of course, that would be insane. But I do think mountains do funny things to people, and not just good things.
 

luka

Well-known member
That's why English people are sensible and moderate while Europeans get all overemotional or turn zealot for some funny idea like fascism
 

catalog

Well-known member
Genet on mountains:

“Setting aside the understandable exaggerations of geologists, mountains provide climbers with a test, mountain-dwellers with a yodel, Cezanne with something else again, and others with heaven knows what. But basically mountains have a kind of personality which everyone relates in a special way, and anyone who speaks of them speaks only for himself.”
 

entertainment

Well-known member
there is probably loads written about this but the landscapes must have had an influence on the theism and myths back in old times.

with mountains you have mystical transcendence. what dwells there is closer to the sky, inaccesible for mortals, pure and open. the enlightenment of being able to look down upon the rest of the world and watch the grand play on the cosmic scene.

here in denmark we had forests with their strange allure of darkness and labyrinthic grids, treacherous trees watching you. getting lost and being swallowed up, or even the forest tricking you and switching its ground so you can never get out. you can't see anything from in there. the creatures are devious and shady.
 
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droid

Well-known member
The summit isn't the point, it's the approach. Every climb necessitates a walk through multiple landscapes. You just walk for hours through various vistas and somehow you end up in some completely alien place.

Its the best thing ever.
 

luka

Well-known member
There's plenty of stuff about deserts and monotheism.
 
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