The proverbial desert island

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  • skroo
    Volatile Compound
    • Dec 2001
    • 2348

    #46
    Originally posted by warken
    ubber smart.
    And German lessons.

    Comment

    • Siviak
      Cerebral Terrorist
      • Feb 2002
      • 1013

      #47
      Originally posted by skroo
      And German lessons.
      yeah.. in proper German it's spelled with a 3

      good news on the M.O.'s btw... now we have time to drink a few more beers :)
      If I had a nickle for every time someone offered me ten cents to keep my two cents to myself... I would be a rich man.

      Comment

      • warken
        CrypticDisaster
        • Sep 2005
        • 13

        #48
        how about enough psychotic narcotics to keep you out of it for a year.

        Comment

        • Deviant Ollam
          Semi-Professional Swearer
          • May 2003
          • 3417

          #49
          Originally posted by warken
          how about enough psychotic narcotics to keep you out of it for a year.
          ASTCell doesn't strike me as the type of person to take his brain off the hook, but your comment does give rise to the question "if you could have an unlimited supply of the mind-altering substance of your choosing -- just one type of substance -- while stranded some place, what would that substance be?" you know, sort of the "you're stuck on a deserted island but you find a huge grove of naturally growing herb or a crate washes up on shore packed to the brim with whiskey or cigarettes or doses of LSD" scenario. what would people here choose?

          i think for me it would almost certainly be mushrooms. not super long-lasting, no long-term effects, limited means in which it could negatively impact one's survival skills, and no possibility of over-use or abuse since you can't biologically chow mushrooms repeatedly night after night. yeah, i think a year of isolation would go a lot faster if once every month i had a night surrounded by nature with my mind cast in a different light.
          "I'll admit I had an OiNK account and frequented it quite often… What made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store… iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc... OiNK it existed because it filled a void of what people want."
          - Trent Reznor

          Comment

          • TheCotMan
            *****Retired *****
            • May 2004
            • 8857

            #50
            Originally posted by Deviant Ollam
            "if you could have an unlimited supply of the mind-altering substance of your choosing -- just one type of substance -- while stranded some place, what would that substance be?"
            I am a nerd. Good books are mind altering. Give me an unlimited supply of my choosing.

            Comment

            • Deviant Ollam
              Semi-Professional Swearer
              • May 2003
              • 3417

              #51
              Originally posted by TheCotMan
              I am a nerd. Good books are mind altering. Give me an unlimited supply of my choosing.
              well, that's a given. my fantasy is time totally alone (or at least unintruded upon by work and responsibilities) with my current library collection. just time to read everything as much as i want. too bad there's hardly any Walden ponds out there anymore. if anyone has a little house in the woods on a lake with no adjacent land owners and wants to rent it to me cheap, i'd be all ears. :-)
              "I'll admit I had an OiNK account and frequented it quite often… What made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store… iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc... OiNK it existed because it filled a void of what people want."
              - Trent Reznor

              Comment

              • Mata Hari
                Cynicism @ Its Finest
                • Aug 2005
                • 21

                #52
                Originally posted by Deviant Ollam
                well, that's a given. my fantasy is time totally alone (or at least unintruded upon by work and responsibilities) with my current library collection. just time to read everything as much as i want. too bad there's hardly any Walden ponds out there anymore. if anyone has a little house in the woods on a lake with no adjacent land owners and wants to rent it to me cheap, i'd be all ears. :-)

                Well, much to my dismay, I do not have any property to rent to you, but I can definitely ahem, "assist" you in your quest, hahaha! May I suggest a location near the west coast, albeit in a very, very selfish way? Hehehe, I'd check out Alaska. Oregon still has some areas, but that is rapidly changing because of the great influx of California residents investing in property. I've never been north, only a Vegas native, but if I were you, Id look into lake Tahoe... Unless, of course, you want to go international. In which case, I'd probably have some contacts for you.

                As for "mind altering substances" I agree with Cot Man, the insight and/or "high" one can obtain from reading is remarkable. And, no, that is not nerdy but attractive. Then again, perhaps "nerdiness" is attractive. It's all relative either way. Anything Gonzo is great, Nietzsche, The Ugly American (cannot think of the author, but excellent literature nonetheless), Machiavelli, Ginsberg, Kerouac, ah, and, of course, Voltaire (especially Candide- what a marvelous book!)- I have yet to dive into science fiction, but I have heard that the Dune series is good, and that Asimov (spell?) sucks. Im not sure if there is much truth in that statement....

                Ether, Mescaline, etc etc- I knew someone who once took shots (not by syringe, but like a vodka shot) of shellfish iodine he purchased from some lab in New York.

                That is something you don't hear of everyday, and may be worth looking into..... Merely a suggestion.

                Comment

                • Deviant Ollam
                  Semi-Professional Swearer
                  • May 2003
                  • 3417

                  #53
                  Originally posted by Mata Hari
                  I have yet to dive into science fiction
                  i read far less fiction than non-fiction (typically i'll refresh a burned out post-semester brain with some entertaining novel) but a couple of items that selections in that vein which i would say are in my list of top books ever read would be William Gibson's Neuromancer and the entire Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide series. If you do a lot of traveling and wanted to enjoy some of Adams's work, i actually have all five series of the BBC radio sessions (something like 80 installments totalling 12 hours) and all five of the printed books read aloud by Douglas himself. (roughly another 15 hours)

                  if you're flying to new zealand (or possibly driving to Alaska... i'd be willing to travel through there with ya ) then you could give them a listen.
                  "I'll admit I had an OiNK account and frequented it quite often… What made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store… iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc... OiNK it existed because it filled a void of what people want."
                  - Trent Reznor

                  Comment

                  • Mata Hari
                    Cynicism @ Its Finest
                    • Aug 2005
                    • 21

                    #54
                    Originally posted by Deviant Ollam
                    i read far less fiction than non-fiction (typically i'll refresh a burned out post-semester brain with some entertaining novel) but a couple of items that selections in that vein which i would say are in my list of top books ever read would be William Gibson's Neuromancer and the entire Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide series. If you do a lot of traveling and wanted to enjoy some of Adams's work, i actually have all five series of the BBC radio sessions (something like 80 installments totalling 12 hours) and all five of the printed books read aloud by Douglas himself. (roughly another 15 hours)

                    if you're flying to new zealand (or possibly driving to Alaska... i'd be willing to travel through there with ya ) then you could give them a listen.

                    Actually, chances are, I might be in the Middle East in August for 2 years (so I might not get to see you @ DC 14, or 15 or 16 for that matter ) However, I do have some contacts in New Zealand, ex-patriates, if you will, hahahha... I've considered traveling to New Zealand- and, matter of fact, I think we should go there together sometime (Im serious too, by the way)... I'm pretty sure we could hustle up some discounts, and, if we got desperate, we could defect there- I know they accept political asylum, and I know a few American colleagues checking out their options in that department as we speak. Of not, there's always Switzerland , honey HAHAHAH!

                    Ah, you mentioned BBC- you are my soulmate, hahaha!

                    Comment

                    • astcell
                      Human Rights Issuer
                      • Oct 2001
                      • 7512

                      #55
                      Time to start a DEFCON-MIDDLE EAST group!

                      Comment

                      • Deviant Ollam
                        Semi-Professional Swearer
                        • May 2003
                        • 3417

                        #56
                        Originally posted by astcell
                        Time to start a DEFCON-MIDDLE EAST group!
                        are you at liberty to discuss any details of your desert destination or the surrounding circumstances? sounds interesting and i'm curious in what ratio your starter question pertained to geographic isolation vs. civilization isolation.
                        "I'll admit I had an OiNK account and frequented it quite often… What made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store… iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc... OiNK it existed because it filled a void of what people want."
                        - Trent Reznor

                        Comment

                        • skroo
                          Volatile Compound
                          • Dec 2001
                          • 2348

                          #57
                          Originally posted by Deviant Ollam
                          a crate washes up on shore packed to the brim with whiskey
                          Houston, we have a winner. While I'm fantasising, let's make it Jameson's 12-year-old.

                          Comment

                          • bascule
                            omgpwnies!
                            • Jul 2003
                            • 1946

                            #58
                            The complete works of James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Tom Wolfe would do the trick for me...

                            ...in EXTREMELY fine print, I guess...
                            45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B0
                            45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B1
                            [ redacted ]

                            Comment

                            • lil_freak
                              Innocent and Cute
                              • Jul 2003
                              • 808

                              #59
                              Originally posted by skroo
                              Houston, we have a winner. While I'm fantasising, let's make it Jameson's 12-year-old.
                              I was thinking more along the lines of Wild Turkey Barrel Proof, but I'd settle for Jameson's.

                              Edit: If I could get two items I'd also like BooKoo Energy Shots.
                              "It is difficult not to wonder whether that combination of elements which produces a machine for labor does not create also a soul of sorts, a dull resentful metallic will, which can rebel at times". Pearl S. Buck

                              Comment

                              • astcell
                                Human Rights Issuer
                                • Oct 2001
                                • 7512

                                #60
                                Originally posted by Deviant Ollam
                                are you at liberty to discuss any details of your desert destination or the surrounding circumstances? sounds interesting and i'm curious in what ratio your starter question pertained to geographic isolation vs. civilization isolation.
                                I got out of the Army in 1998 but since I have 15+ years in, they can always have dibs on me. For life.

                                Comment

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