Talking about the Paintball Industry was by far and away my favorite part of the sport. So much drama and so many crazy characters to try to follow.
It's possible that the sport i liked was "talking about the paintball industry on the internet" which is a little different than liking playing paintball (Gordon's point)
Most people spend more time listening to sports commentary than watching the actual games, same with PC culture and now twitch gaming.
*The relatively new trouble with mass society is perhaps even more serious, but not because of the masses themselves, but because this society is essentially a consumers* society where leisure time is used no longer for self-perfection or acquisition of more social status, but for more and more consumption and more and more entertainment* To believe that such a society will become more *cultured* as time goes on and education has done its work, is, I think, a fatal mistake. The point is that a consumers* society cannot possibly know how to take care of a world and the things which belong exclusively to the space of worldly appearances, because its central attitude toward all objects, the attitude of consumption, spells ruin to everything it touches.*
"So you've done this before?"
"Oh, hell no. But I think it's gonna work."
Talking about the Paintball Industry was by far and away my favorite part of the sport. So much drama and so many crazy characters to try to follow.
i only end up talking about things because there is a compelling reason i cannot be doing them (cost, availability, etc etc). when given the choice between talking about something, or doing something, its a no brainier. you fucking do it. this is a key reason why i never got a long with MCB, it wasn't punkworks or whatever, it was that MCB doesn't actually like paintball. they like paintball guns. they like paintball history, they LOVE trading equipment and buying more ... but actually playing paintball is not really a thing they enjoy.
same reason i don't go to car shows ... they are boring as fuck. "meets" are even worse.
its a culture built around having things, or having read things, not a culture built around doing things. i prefer doing things.
social conservatism: the mortal fear that someone, somewhere, might be having fun.
I guess that's kind of the point...paintball gets pretty boring after you play for a bit. Then again, so do most things. You do them for shared experience.
If I were to start playing regularly again I think I'd give stock class another try. When I recall perusing ActionVillage for my first gun too long ago, I think I wanted paintball to be closer to that. Pictures of Nelson paintballs still make me nostalgic for some reason.
I wish unassisted mech only games were more of a thing.
Ever so many citizens of this republic think they ought to believe that the Universe is a monarchy, and therefore they are always at odds with the republic. -Alan Watts
I work for the company building the Paragon
IMO, that's exactly why mech/5.5 is taking off so hard these days. It's different. And it's something just about everyone can play with current equipment. The only people who are out are those who only have an electronic gun from, say, 2002-2009 and the board can't get down that far. I think I have four of those. But I've got other stuff I can use as well that does comply.
i love this quote, and its the reason why white culture doesn't exist. white culture finds something, and the comodifies it, and then consumes it. and it spits out its garbage. if it can be comodified, it can be consumed, and it will be, as soon as it appears on the radar.
mmmmmmmm, really goes into the thread i recently bumped about talking about shooting an azodin and watching everyone's heads blow off. because it can't be comodified, its breaks the rules. a VM68 fits a comodifiable model, an azodin doesn't. a pump gun is comodifiable, a stock class one even moreso, but the lowly starter blow back ... cannot be made scarce. cannot be made valuable. and therefore breaks the mold.
Last edited by cockerpunk; 06-28-2019 at 10:05 AM.
social conservatism: the mortal fear that someone, somewhere, might be having fun.
I really don't see why* you choose to invoke race. Consumer capitalism devours across cultural lines. I would argue that the structural problems of late globalized capitalism don't give a shit about race.
I think your terminology is slightly off, but I take your general point - consumer culture requires our goods to do our signaling for us. That's why so many luxury goods are veblen goods - the basic function of a car, gun, or watch can be performed with almost arbitrarily low cost.
*Oh, right, it's performative wokeness
mmmmm, historically it has gone by race, though a better term would probably be "other" it goes by other. if something is other, its comodiziable. the other racial component is also who is doing the comodizating and buying .... white people. thats why its rotted white culture most specifically.
now if you want to pose the argument that the middle class is largely white, so thats just a coincidence, id point out that the middle class is predominately white for damn good reasons .... racism. redlining, purposefully racist education policy, racism in the justice system, racism in banking etc etc etc all of which are readily and easily verifiable, even today.
a more interesting line of questioning is "is the source of culture always from being poor"
to which id respond with: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4myrb0
Last edited by cockerpunk; 06-28-2019 at 01:17 PM.
social conservatism: the mortal fear that someone, somewhere, might be having fun.
had another funny racism inspired white people sealing culture not really understanding it moment this weekend.
after my saturday race, we went to the local taproom. in walks a bunch of boomer aged bikers, head to toe in harley gear, leather, the works. with blue line american flag patches and "blue lives matter" patches sewn to there stuff.
kinda nothing funnier than biker culture changing from the hell's angels, rebel without a cause, total disregard for any and all authority, to bootlicking of that caliber.
your not supposed to swallow the whole boot Larry!
social conservatism: the mortal fear that someone, somewhere, might be having fun.