tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071936218849577375.post2135202327162883877..comments2024-03-19T23:20:47.782-07:00Comments on Unintentional Irony: ImaginationJames Killushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08265296146264452333noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071936218849577375.post-79129429663330673682007-12-11T20:20:00.000-08:002007-12-11T20:20:00.000-08:00Yeah, I almost mentioned The Universal Baseball A...Yeah, I almost mentioned <I>The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.</I> in my comment but it was geting kind of long. It was different than I expected - but pretty damn good in a dark, pathetic way.<BR/><BR/>I did some of the invented dice game stuff, not a lot - sometimes associated with maps. Somewhere I still have the records of about 40 seasons of the Northeast Ohio Professional Football League. <BR/><BR/>On fictional maps, <A HREF="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~aleskiw/maps/home.htm" REL="nofollow">here</A> is an incredibly detailed set of maps form one guy. In <I>Life As We Know it</I> Bérubé mentions that he drew imaginary maps. I also recall reading where Claes Oldenburg did so as a child as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071936218849577375.post-60659039202860832952007-12-11T12:23:00.000-08:002007-12-11T12:23:00.000-08:00Okay, now this is odd. Reading JP's comment, I dec...Okay, now this is odd. Reading JP's comment, I decided to try to find the essay in my newsgroup where I wrote about Coover’s <EM>The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.</EM><BR/><BR/>The Google doesn't ken my newsgroup, but on the off chance I might have mentioned it elsewhere, I did the search, and it came up<A HREF="http://www.waagnfnp.com/2007/03/23/open-thread-1/" REL="nofollow"> here</A>, but written instead by some guy named stormcrow.James Killushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08265296146264452333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071936218849577375.post-59434012499806922172007-12-11T08:40:00.000-08:002007-12-11T08:40:00.000-08:00Maps are a form of poetry, the shape of a bit of p...Maps are a form of poetry, the shape of a bit of physical reality condensed to a stylized collection of marks on paper. To use simply open the map and add imagination.<BR/><BR/>Ditto baseball box scores. They capture the bare facts from which (with a bit of imagination) the entire game can be replayed.<BR/><BR/>I too spent a lot of young-time looking at and thinking about maps. My favorite part of Lord of the Rings, Dune, or Foundation was the place. In my mind's eye each of these worlds looked up close like a Disney comic book, bold colors and clear lines -- <A HREF="http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/cartoon/images/Disney/lgb-picnic.JPG" REL="nofollow">Mickey Mouse's Picnic</A>. Exciting in a safe way.<BR/><BR/>It was much later that I began to appreciate the imaginative space of places like the Grapes of Wrath.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071936218849577375.post-46663190827639001322007-12-10T20:55:00.000-08:002007-12-10T20:55:00.000-08:00Interesting to me on several levels.1) Yes, I thin...Interesting to me on several levels.<BR/><BR/>1) Yes, I think things like WoW are an easy entry into an imaginative world, which is one reason that I think it most likely that the Virtual World(s) that will first succeed at really capturing any real momentum as a general Web interface will have a bit more fantasy in them than the relatively sterile Second Life has today. <BR/><BR/>2) I think the whole online world of fanfic and fan art provide some similarly lowered barriers (or at least some feedback/encouragement functions) of entry to the imaginative world.<BR/><BR/>3) I had (and still have to some extent - some day I will regret writing all of this type stuff) two avenues of imaginative escape that I spent most of my childhood feeling vaguely ashamed about. The first was just an overly richly structured fantasy life of sports heroes etc. which could drag on for weeks. I would frequently write out the stats (trust me Ted Williams was not the last .400 hitter in young JP's world) and study them as part of the exercise. As I got older other considerations crept in like the .400 hitter who was banned for protesting the war in Vietnam etc. A book that absolutely resonated for me was Brautigan's <I>Dreaming of Babylon</I> with the vivid fantasies of its hero. <BR/><BR/>I used imaginary maps in a similar way. I drew them incessantly, to some extent they were an end in themselves, but once complete I would sometimes use them to imagine various snippets of narrative. (More often I would just attempt to imagine the landscape from various vantages on the maps.)<BR/><BR/>... Actually I tell big lie up above - I do none of these things today... I am now steadfast productive zombie to work for the greater glory of the consumption and transformation of materials and resources. All power to the Invisible Hand, please forgive me any remaining impure imaginative lapses.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071936218849577375.post-37937973682293703632007-12-09T16:11:00.000-08:002007-12-09T16:11:00.000-08:00Imagine, for example, a zombie that behaves exactl...<I>Imagine, for example, a zombie that behaves exactly like a real human being, but who lacks self-awareness and self-consciousness.</I><BR/><BR/>I can imagine making the case that your zombie is indistinguishable from a committed Pax America neo-conservative circa 2007 carrying on in spite a planet-full of data contradicting his world view. In this 21st century undead creature uber-denial operates a pseudo-self that continues to believe and carry on the dogmas. A boring and blowhard Sybil.<BR/><BR/>But your observation is more interesting -- "I can, however, imagine someone imagining that they imagine such a thing."<BR/><BR/>World of Warcraft type games have spawned a hybrid medium -- <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinima" REL="nofollow">machinima</A>, desktop cyber-movie making.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com