Re:candy bracelets - 2006/05/30 20:19I like it. Trading is fun, especially in moderation. It has this whole modern hippy feel to it, oddly. ~Matthias "My mind is glowing..."
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/05/31 00:52Fresh out of the package is OK, I am not sure if I want to eat candy that was off of some cracked out sweaty raver where he or she had it on their sweaty wrist the entire night, That can`t be too clean!
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/05/31 09:43hey, thanks for responding... the candy bracelts I`ve seen are made of plastic...the beads.... real candy bracelets are usually not practical for a party or anything- they get dirty, and break Plastic is the key. Trading is fun I got a few bracelets, it feels so special )
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/05/31 18:09I still remember my first bracelet. *sigh* It was so special. And I got a little tiny stuffed turtle, too...from this girl who could fluid dance awesome. ~Matthias "My mind is glowing..."
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/01 01:09do you mean actual "candy", or the brightly colored plastic referred to as "candy" that people wear? when i first got into this scene, i saw people wearing that kind of stuff, so i got some of my own to "fit in." but what i found is that it kind of gets in the way when i want to dance, and would get annoying when i would sweat. so i ditched it. the most jewelry i wear these days is one thin beaded necklace (from pacsun, no less) and a cheap watch that can glow so you can see the time in the dark. all the other stuff just got in the way for me, ya know? but i dont have anything against people who wear that kind of stuff. i mean, i assume a few things when i see a 16-year-old with a Mr. T amount of candy necklaces, bracelets, blinkers, fuzzy visor, and a Blue`s Clues backpack, but it doesnt really bother me the way it would, say, your stereotypical hardcore jaded junglist. $0.02 -chris
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/01 05:20all i wear right now is a little bracelet with tiny beads on it and a few silver bracelets with stars on them. but, in the past i used to wear other bracelets from time to time. i do have all the bracelets people have given me over the years .
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/01 09:01and make that instant connection. So often, especially in rave culture, relationships are fleeting. There`s that person you danced near during this set or that set, that guy who gave the most awesome light show, the girl who blew your mind with her footwork, etc. So vibrant in front of you and then gone, like a rainbow. Candy bracelets, for some reason, make the pain of them disappearing forever from your life a little easier to bear. Plus, they`re shiny. Stan like shiny!
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/01 13:11Yeah, that was one of the things that really started to bother me a couple weeks ago...the fleeting-ness of people at raves. I suppose in a way it is good that you don`t get to know people better, because genuine relationships are tough to maintain, but still, it makes me feel a little hollow inside after some raves, and it isn`t drugs, either. I`ve overcome this, a little, by becomeing more involved, but it is still there I think. It seems that many people at raves go there as a sort of temporary "oneness" filler, and beyond that they have no interest. Like the rave was there, and it was cool, but now that it is over, they will go back to they way they were before. That just isn`t me. *shrug* Is what I`m talking about a comon feeling? ~Matthias "My mind is glowing..."
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/01 15:49A basic attribute of any "Temporary Autonomous Zone" (which raves once were and continue to seek to be) is their ephemeral nature. The author of "TAZ", Hakim Bey, puts it clearly, saying that any revolution is doomed to fail because once it topples the status quo, it becomes the status quo. The fact that raves appear and then disappear, like some sort of cosmic Whack-A-Mole, is what makes them impossible to stop. Instead of holding onto the things that will inevitably leave us, we must rise to the challenge and embrace the fact that this will soon end. Of course, it ends in the short term (each dawn) but not in the long term. That`s how it succeeds. We dance at night and live by day. Unlike previous countercultural revolutions, like the Hippy movement (true Hippies, not the nostalgic corporate-sponsored hindsight we`re fed today), you can be anything you want to be *and* a raver. It exists as an addendum to "normal life." I don`t believe that people return completely to "the way they were before" either. Rather, I think that the positive outlook of the rave scene infects us one at a time--slowly breaking down our preprogrammed understanding of the world. Freeing us a little at a time. Some of us are pretty far along, some of us need further unclouding. But, make no mistake, it is happening... We are changing.
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/01 17:33being "hippies" (which they rarely, if ever, actually referred to themselves as. mainstream society tagged them with that name) and ravers don`t? in the 60`s you could be anything you wanted to be and be a "hippie" as well. same goes with being a "raver" i guess. regardless both terms carry too many negative connotations.
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/02 02:03Part of the "Hippy" culture involved communal living and a rejection of many mainstream staples, often to the point of self-excision from society. You were a Hippy all the time, not just when you wore your tie-dyed clothes on the weekend. Not ever being a Hippy (the Impressionists didn`t name their art movement either, but labels are useful from time to time), I can`t speak to every facet of their philosophy. However, I`ve done enough independent research to know that there was way more going on than what`s been regurgitated by Madison Avenue to sell us Time-Life compilations. Ravers, on the other hand, can be whatever they want all week long. You want to be a stark-raving (no pun intended) capitalist corporate lawyer? Find, go ahead. It just makes your surrender that weekend all the more meaningful to you. Corporate lawyers might not be the norm, but they`re welcome. Everyone`s welcome. That`s something that`s not the case with many countercultures. I`m not trying to say that Ravers are better than Hippies or anything. I`m just saying that the fact that the rave culture is more accomodating to mainstream lifestyles makes it *potentially* more powerful. As it seems to be in reality, the Hippy movement has accomplished a lot more than raves have. At least on important issues (the music they use in car commercials is *not* an important issue). So I might be totally wrong here.
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/02 09:31There are also ravers who are ravers all the time just as there are weekend ravers. You are just twisting this to fit how you see it which doesn`t make it necessarily true. functions and not be a full-fledged hippie. I happen to think that true ravers hold philosophies that stay with them every waking and non-waking moment of their lives. Capitalist corporate lawyers might attend raves but I`m sure it`s a miniscule percentage of them who actually hold the same sort of "raver beliefs" that we know to be common in the full-fledged raver communities. to conform to our rules of what is acceptable...i.e. smiling, not causing problems, not treating our women like pieces of meat, being nice etc. accomodating or powerful than the way things were with the original hippies. People are going to take what suits them from a culture and not make the rest applicable to them in any cultural movement. sense. They had a very good reason to bound together to make a difference. Generally, ravers have many of the same beliefs but haven`t had a huge cause to rally against mainstream society with (other than to stop their parties from being shutdown.) The way raves and ravers were years ago I`m sure people would have rallied together if there was a huge cause then. At this point, it has become far too widespread and suffers the same disease that the hippie movement did when it became mainstream an watered down. If you remember that, most of those mainstream hippie wannabes weren`t fighting many causes either, they were either sitting around fucked up on meth, acid, and generally being losers or just being regular joes who were weekend hippies with real jobs and just liked the look of fringed leather and bell bottoms . Sound familiar to the plague of our community? I think so. Interesting subject by the way, catch ya later Erika RollerGirl
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/02 12:06Seriously though, I`m sure that the Hippy movement had about the same ratio of True Believers to Hedonists that the rave scene has. There will always be people who attach themselves to a movement for the drugs, money, sex, whatever, without believing 100% in the philosophies of the culture. But ravers don`t form communes. Ravers wear shoes. Ravers *buy* things. Ravers generally only have events on the weekends. Ravers are generally active only at night (it sounds like I`m writing a National Geographic article here...). There are enough differences that make it easier to be a raver that I thought it was worth noting. Erika) that a "full-fledged" hippy has a more difficult time co-existing in modern society than a "full-fledged" raver? The rave culture has no significant widespread political beliefs--except to keep the parties going, as you mentioned. powerful. For instance, and this goes back to the origin of this debate with the whole "TAZ" thing... I think that ravers are a more insidious method of cultural change. Some kids go to a party and are infected with the seed of raver wisdom. Next weekend, they go to another and it begins to grow. Weekend after weekend, it`s passed on from one to another, hiding during the week until eventually we`re *everywhere*. Of course, even though I know ravers in lots of places, we don`t seem to do anything as a whole... So maybe the lack of common focus, while accomodating, binds us to collective apathy? as a country, are commencing military attacks against previously sovereign nations--allies even--to the degree of incredible political destabilization, in addition to civilian casualties that *outnumber* the pretense for attacking in the first place (yes, more civilians have been killed by the U.S. Military since September 11th than were killed in the terrorist attack). To some degree, we`ve come together to fight against the "War On Drugs", which I suppose isn`t that much more selfish than rallying against the Vietnam "War". It`s just as unjust, in my opinion. Of course, ravers are a far cry from holding peace rallies. be more politically active?" I mean, perhaps it`s our "destiny" to be a culture protected by the mantra: All we do is dance!
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/02 16:11I`ve never understood the concept. Not even the most ardent PLUR`ers and TAZ`zians I`ve spoken to have ever convinced me that being a `raver` carries with it any kind of defining characteristic or behavioural profile that doesn`t fall under the umbrella of `being a good person`. for raving. It`s the *experience* of raving that bonds us, not our identity as ravers. If you can describe anything beyond this that you`ve experienced, then I`d love to read about it. `Rave` is not the only urban subculture that espouses altruistic ideals; in fact, I don`t think its voice would even be heard amongst the many who would rally to such a worth cause if it were to arise today. (or -`98, depending on who`s bitching about the scene), and therefore can never fully understand what it is to be a raver (or so I`m told). Hell, I might even be a symptom of the scene`s `degeneration`, a new-model raver who goes to parties and is a generally good person, but somehow manages to do the latter independently of the former ... If anyone can enlighten me, please do. Did the raver identity really exist, or was it just a case of ravers justifying their hedonism (and outcast status) by referring to something more meaningful, more profound? Was there ever anything beyond the clothing, lexicon and weekend activity that differentiates the raver from any other person in similar circumstances? Or does this just go down as another bleat in the greater tirade against the state of the scene today?
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/02 16:17and I go raving with architects, accountants, IT professionals and the like. It`s common release for us, unfolding the squares and boxes that we exist in during the week and, for a few hours at least, having a bit of space to be ourselves. It`s a better anti-depressant than anything you can get from a pharmacist. lost in the chorus of youth subcultures that we have today. I`m not saying that we can`t make a difference - it`s just that our impact won`t have the kind of impetus that the Hippy movement was a able to muster. But does that really matter? alternative to the violence, crime and desolation that society tends to associate with youth. Doesn`t that count for anything? Sure, if some great un-goodness comes along then so be it, we`ll fight binky and glowstick against it, but in the meantime we shouldn`t mope around and say we`re not doing enough. Raves are one of the most positive energy outlets that I can think of, and it`s a shame that all the other discourse tends to drown out that simple fact. romantic or headline-grabbing as protesting against a major war, but if shining is only thing a raver does then he or she is already more for society than most.
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/02 17:37I must say...usenet is a truly unique place. 3 people, different ideas...and I`m sure all of you will come up with great points, whilst avoiding a fight. Carry on, good people...I must avoid entering this discussion for the moment for several reasons...one of them being that I tend to be an ass. As a slight aside, has anyone here read anything by Douglas Rushkoff? I`m off again! I swear...usenet can be a powerful addiction. ~Matthias "My mind is glowing..."
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/03 02:35I love trading candy! A guy in the mall came up to me not to long ago and asked me if I wanted to trade =) Good way to meet interesting people
Re:candy bracelets - 2006/06/03 09:52In fact, that`s all that we really need in my eyes. I just can`t stop wondering, from time to time, whether we`ll ever have raver Senators, or a raver President, or a raver CEO. Curious, what the future might bring...
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