Dark Matter

[tot_Ou_tard]

aka Rocket Fuel or the black hole at the center of the milky way.


Rocket has received grief for being negative & a misanthrope. This thread is dedicated to allow him room to be himself.

People are often not what they appear at first glance. Darkness is not equivalent to evil nor is upsetting the apple cart the same thing as violence. My inclinations have always been to let people be themselves. You learn a lot more from that than from trying to get everyone to feel a false unity. Some of the deepest, wiset, and kindest people I have known have caused some disturbance in the scenes in which they found themselves.

A little story from my past:

A long time ago I lived in hippie central in Humboldt County California. Many people had changed their names to names of flowers or to spiritual names. There were many vegans. Most had arrived from elsewhere & were happy to get away from the restrictive environments from whence they came & they prided themselves on their tolerance. Most were sweet, sweet souls, but the scene was also chock full of pretension, vapid insights, & forced unity.

Enter a hard-drinking, poker-playing, smoking, steak-eating, no nonsense musician with an hilariously dark sense of humor. He came to be with his girlfriend who was deeply into the scene. As you can imagine he caused all kinds of stir just by being himself. This tested people's notions of tolerance. I found him a lot of fun to be around & he became my best friend. His dark view was illuminating & his willingness to speak the truth was liberating.

On to Dark Matters.

I do not think that there are a greater percentage of crazies today than at any other time in human history, but the mind is a delicate & complex system which is prone to being in a state of unstable equilibrium. Stresses in the environment can disturb this uneasy balance. The news gets transformed into something strange which fits into a very personal world-view which we would call insane. Have you every accidently entered into someones inner world? I have. My wife & I call it setting off the nuts.

We were at a grocery store once in the produce section talking about whether we needed tomatos or something & all of a sudden a woman starts ranting & raving about tomatos & god & the devil or some such thing. It's like being an actor in a play that you didn't know you were starring in for a while.

I tend to view culture as similar to this woman but just involving a greater number of brains stuck in the same story. The staus quo is the staus quo just because enough people agree with each other. The status quo changes over time but if look closely you will find that the new thoughts of the culture which now seem self-eveident were being thought previously by a small number of people who were decidely outside the staus quo before.

Some degree of unity is required for stability, a lack of unity is necessary for change. Humanity has always soaked in a rough insider/outsider mix.


They key point to be aware of when things start to move is to make sure that the culture does not agree to mass hysteria. We always need truthtellers & trendbuckers to keep society from becoming vaporlocked.

[tot_Ou_tard]

The Stanford Prison Experiment.

I assume that everyone is familiar with this, but if not you should be:

http://www.prisonexp.org/

[sumitomo]

Dark matter?If your talkin' Humboldt dont you mean Green matter.And that prison experiment,that's when prison was more like prison.If I was to make a choice to live on the street(and I have) or go to prison(and I have)I'd choose prison.You would be taken care of and it would be alot less stressful.Sumi:D

[tot_Ou_tard]

Dark matter?If your talkin' Humboldt dont you mean Green matter.And that prison experiment,that's when prison was more like prison.If I was to make a choice to live on the street(and I have) or go to prison(and I have)I'd choose prison.You would be taken care of and it would be alot less stressful.Sumi:D
Yes there was plenty of the green matter around.

The prison experiment is interesting not so much as a description of what prison was like, but rather how the human brain tends toward identification with whatever team we happen to belong to. Teams can go wacko.

[sumitomo]

Yea the mental fight,I had to learn to fight depression and at the same time hide it,you couldn't show any signs of weakness.The guards well they act like gorillas on stearoids because well look they are out numbered,but that was only in places where there are no guns,when there is a gunman on watch well it was treat me with respect and I'll treat you with respect.Sumi:D

[tot_Ou_tard]

Yea the mental fight,I had to learn to fight depression and at the same time hide it,you couldn't show any signs of weakness.The guards well they act like gorillas on stearoids because well look they are out numbered,but that was only in places where there are no guns,when there is a gunman on watch well it was treat me with respect and I'll treat you with respect.Sumi:D
So you were in prison Sumi? Tell us more.

[sumitomo]

Yep 16yrs. ago,Just did a seperation after 14 yrs. of marriage so all I did was work and come home drink till I passed out and do it again(I call it my ground hog days)One time I was leaving a bar walking to my car when the CHP stopped to well talk with me,Long story short keys in my pocket makes it intent to drive and I have 3 priors that were 6ys old that makes 4 within 7 yrs and thats a felony.So off to Soledad State for 2yrs.I was told there I'd better say I was in for murder(after all I did kill a six pack or two)or I might get shanked for being in for a DUI.Anyway It was very good for my because I was released from the real prison that was inside ME and my life has been a awesome adventure since,not that it's carefree and easy but a new found peace that helps through the bad as well as the good times.You might say I put on others shoes first.Sumi:D

[tot_Ou_tard]

Very interesting story Sumi I'd be interested in hearing more of your experiences.

[aeolian]

You guys sure bare more of yourselves than I would expect; but that makes me know you a bit more. I, on the other hand, is generally a very private person and am wary of letting too much of myself out into the open. I do appreciate your openness though.

[just strum]

Very interesting thread. My background is known by a few people here, but it certainly isn't interesting to post.

Tot, your opening post hit the mark.

Sumi, I'm sure there is a lot more between events, but I am glad you are with us.

[sumitomo]

I like sharing that it was the most liberating thing that has happened in my life so far,and also in the last 6 mts in prison I was on a 1 yard and we had all kinds of classes to go to and work but thurs. night was way cool we could go to a blues guitar class(yep we had guitars,amphs,keyboards,drums,ect.)there was a lot of talent in there.On the weekends there were concerts and these guys could nail The Allman Bros.whipin post.Sumi:D

[just strum]

I like sharing that it was the most liberating thing that has happened in my life so far,and also in the last 6 mts in prison I was on a 1 yard and we had all kinds of classes to go to and work but thurs. night was way cool we could go to a blues guitar class(yep we had guitars,amphs,keyboards,drums,ect.)there was a lot of talent in there.On the weekends there were concerts and these guys could nail The Allman Bros.whipin post.Sumi:D

1zgja26eNeY

[R_of_G]

Sumi, you seem to really have made the most out of something that must have been an extraordinarily difficult thing to deal with. Good for you for making a positive thing out of it, and thanks for your openness and honesty. :)

[tot_Ou_tard]

Sumi, you seem to really have made the most out of something that must have been an extraordinarily difficult thing to deal with. Good for you for making a positive thing out of it, and thanks for your openness and honesty. :)
:AOK:

Sumi how did your experience go & how did it change you?

[sumitomo]

You see back then when I got arrested I was released on my own recognizance,I remember the cop saying there must be something wrong with the computer no one gets released OR on a felony charge.Well first thing on my mind was I'm not going to prison for drinkin' I'll go to Mexico or something you know gunna run.That night I hit my knees and told GOD I can't do this any more and I dont want to run the rest of my life,you know get me out of this.I was not raised in a church,I was raised on the streets.Well my life changed that night,he didnt get me out of prison but went in there with me and showed me the prison that was inside me,my life has not been the same since,there's been hard times and down times but there is a peace within now.It's been an awesome adventure and it's still going.Sumi:D

[tot_Ou_tard]

Great story Sumi. Keep on keepin' on.

[Tone2TheBone]

You guys are weird.

Just kidding. Some of my friends are dark and I appreciate their perspective.......at times. ;)

[luvmyshiner]

Sumi, I'll be honest, in my line of work I don't see much rehabilitation going on in the prison system. It's nice to hear someone actually came out a better person. You're one helluva guy and I'm happy to call you my friend.

[just strum]

Sumi, I'll be honest, in my line of work I don't see much rehabilitation going on in the prison system.

Hey, what about Drake? Sorry, bad example.

[Rocket]

Hey, what about Drake?
Gotta get out first!

[luvmyshiner]

Three purposes of the prison system, rehabilitation, punishment, protection of society.

I think Drake falls in the last two.:thwap:

[marnold]

Every time I see the title of this thread I think about Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.
NTco5TcpqY8

[tjcurtin1]

For the record - my 'misanthrope' reference was meant jokingly, after Rocket had self-identified himself as a member, errr, I guess that should be as NOT a member... - no offense intended!

[tot_Ou_tard]

For the record - my 'misanthrope' reference was meant jokingly, after Rocket had self-identified himself as a member, errr, I guess that should be as NOT a member... - no offense intended! O, I'll bet that he is a misanthrope with time off for bad behavior.

Call'em like you see'm Ted: with humor or otherwise. ;)


This thread has become something else as all threads should.


Hey, what about Drake? Sorry, bad example. Ax weilding Washburnite?

[luvmyshiner]

Ax weilding Washburnite?

Close, gun wielding Washburnite.

[Rx Tone]

One time I was leaving a bar walking to my car when the CHP stopped to well talk with me,Long story short keys in my pocket makes it intent to drive

Man, did they railroad you!

Public intoxication.... maybe....disturbing the peace....maybe....obstructing a sidewalk...maybe...

walking with a set of car keys equals "intent to drive while intoxicated" in Ca.?
Christ, how'd they know you weren't waiting for a cab?...or waiting for a friend who was coming to get you?How'd they know your car was even there?
Did you have a paid lawyer or a P.D?

Cops are out of control, anyway. There should be term limits on cops...after a few years they should have to get an honest job.
Their minds get twisted and they see everyone (else) as a potential suspect (except their "brothers in blue", of course) and they start mistreating people and abusing their power..inventing or manipulating situations so they can say they had "probable cause".
They're hostile, arrogant, aggressive and dangerous and they WILL take out their inadequacies and frustrations on any citizen who happens to piss them off...for any reason..or no reason at all.

How's that for dark?

[sumitomo]

Guys thanks for the adda boy and all that.To answer RX I was about 15 ft from the car and they just tried the keys till they found the car,remember this was 16 yrs. ago a lawyer looked at my case (I think you might have heard of him names Bailey) said the laws are so tight nothing I can do that a P.D. cant do and really I am glad it happened,my life today is better than I could have dreamed of,cause today I know how to do the footwork.Sumi:D