Retro-extremists? What are we called?

[reetpleat]

Nor would -most- people in the 30's have a collection of hats or suits or whatever....they would own 2 or 3...

So honestly almost no one here 'lives as if it were that time'......you live in your recreation of that time...an -alternate- reality of the period.

(exception goes to Lizzie and Miss Joeri....who from all appearances, don't seem to -collect- items that people back then wouldn't have multiples of....)

Please note that I think its -fine- to do this....just don't mistake it for the 'real thing'....unless you are using a time machine..its not actually feasable.

On top of that, wearing clothes of a certain old style is not a period thing to do at all. There is something about identifying with not only the values, perhaps. But also about the actual time period in terms of music, style, hair etc. It speaks to them.

But they are not alone. Most of us are here because this stuff somehow resonates with us. it is almost as if many of us had a prominant past life we are still attached to.

 

[reetpleat]

Hehe...fair enough.

I just don't think people can claim to be 'living as if it were....' , when their spare bedroom is a closet of suits or hats.....even IF they wear them all.

Alternate reality based on the time period...sure....

But unless perhaps you are living as Rockefeller and have the house to match.......then sure, you can have that many suits or dresses or whatever....and claim to be living as if it were.....but you gotta have it -all-..not just the elements of it you like.

p.s. If anyone here -is- recreating and living the life of Rockefeller, please invite me to dinner so we can discuss my adoption.

I wonder. Are there any atavists who are wealthy and recreat an affluent lifestyle that we don't know about. I know a rich english guy bought an island that still retained a live in staff, old house, cars etc and intended to live just as generations had before.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I wonder. Are there any atavists who are wealthy and recreat an affluent lifestyle that we don't know about.

I believe you mean the Windsors.

 

[jamespowers]

I believe you mean the Windsors.

lol lol lol lol lol Yeah them. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Then there is the Gotti family.

 

[Foofoogal]

ok, the vibe felt more conservative. Since the earlier pages have went poof since last overhaul I have no proof. lol
fftopic:
carry on...

 

[BlancheDubois]

I've always felt very traditional. I cherish tradition.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I've always felt very traditional. I cherish tradition.

Tradition provides continuity, a basis by which a person, organization or ideal has roots...

 

[Senator Jack]

There's definitely an aesthetic reaction to the "artifacts," though, no doubt about it. For me, I guess it goes back to a sense of "this is what X object is supposed to look like, because that's what it looked like when I was first exposed to it." When someone says the word "phone", the first thing I think of is a heavy black metal thing with a wheel on the front of it -- it's instinctive. I appreciate the aesthetics of a vintage phone, because to me, that's what a phone looks like. A modern phone might be an equally impressive piece of industrial design, but to me, it isn't a *phone.*

Does that make sense?

Lizzie, you have, quite unknowingly, just put forth the theme and crux of this novel I just finished writing. (Yes, it's finally done and I'm looking for an agent.) Most modern cars are not 'cars' to me, they might be vehicles with four wheels that get you someplace, but they don't really say 'car'. They don't contain the essence of what a car is supposed to be. Same goes for a chair or even a meal, for as one of my characters says 'Everyone knows what a meal is supposed to be. Because when they have a great one, they sit back, light a cigarette, and say 'Now that's a meal.'

I wonder. Are there any atavists who are wealthy and recreat an affluent lifestyle that we don't know about. I know a rich english guy bought an island that still retained a live in staff, old house, cars etc and intended to live just as generations had before.

Yes. A good friend of mine owns a lavish brownstone decorated in near Victorian splendor and approximately 35 vintage cars, including a 1933 Rolls Royce.

I have more to say, but it's time to make the nightly cocktail. Back later. And thanks, Doran, for the usual insightful thoughts.

Regards,
Jack

Adults go here

 

[jamespowers]

Lizzie, you have, quite unknowingly, just put forth the theme and crux of this novel I just finished writing. (Yes, it's finally done and I'm looking for an agent.) Most modern cars are not 'cars' to me, they might be vehicles with four wheels that get you someplace, but they don't really say 'car'. They don't contain the essence of what a car is supposed to be. Same goes for a chair or even a meal, for as one of my characters says 'Everyone knows what a meal is supposed to be. Because when they have a great one, they sit back, light a cigarette, and say 'Now that's a meal.'



Yes. A good friend of mine owns a lavish brownstone decorated in near Victorian splendor and approximately 35 vintage cars, including a 1933 Rolls Royce.

I have more to say, but it's time to make the nightly cocktail. Back later. And thanks, Doran, for the usual insightful thoughts.

Regards,
Jack

I'll have a Manhattan since you are pouring.
I know what you mean about cars or anything else for that matter. Monochrome, Econobox style cars with nothing to make you want to go out and buy one do nothing for me. Cars should make you turn your head and squint from the shine of gleaming chrome.

 

[Senator Jack]

Reading other's musings on this subject has been enlightening, as I had (oddly enough) never before given much thought to the ursprung of my , to coin a phrase "temporal dysphoria", for it has always been a major part of my personality. I recall an intense interest in old things in my pre-school years. I've never really understood it, but neither has it troubled me. The sense of alienation that others mention is not mine as much as is an irritation with the NOISE of the modern world.

Two things here:

Temporal dysphoria is a damn close term for the condition (not the subculture), and my only problem with it is that 'dysphoria'' means 'unpleasantness.' I don't believe there's anything unpleasant about this lifestyle (apart from it interfering with my life). I thought 'temporal displacement' but a quick search showed that the term is from Back to the Future.

Second, I, too, reel from the noise of the world, and this goes back to my quitting the bartending gig (which was, I hate to say, at a bar I have money invested). You're just constantly assaulted by it, and a lot of it comes from speaker systems in restaurants, bars, department stores, and boutiques. This, as it turns out, was one of the factors that led to my being a 'guest' of the state (and you NEVER want to be a guest of NY State), and when I tried to explain this to the doctor she, too, said I should just 'buck up' and accept it. 'Doc,' I asked, noticing she was Middle-eastern, 'can I ask you how long you've been in New York?'

'Five years.'

'Five years! Let's have this conversation when you're here thirty-years and we'll see how you feel.'

Hell, I can do five years in New York standing on my head.'

Regards,

Jack

 

[LizzieMaine]

Two things here:

Temporal dysphoria is a damn close term for the condition (not the subculture), and my only problem with it is that 'dysphoria'' means 'unpleasantness.' I don't believe there's anything unpleasant about this lifestyle (apart from it interfering with my life). I thought 'temporal displacement' but a quick search showed that the term is from Back to the Future.

I've thought about that term myself, as you say, as a description of the sensation. But the last thing we want is for this to show up in the DSM -- I've got enough to deal with without being certified.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm perfectly normal. It's the rest of the world that's gone nuts. (I'm kidding. Sort of.)

Second, I, too, reel from the noise of the world, and this goes back to my quitting the bartending gig (which was, I hate to say, at a bar I have money invested). You're just constantly assaulted by it, and a lot of it comes from speaker systems in restaurants, bars, department stores, and boutiques. This, as it turns out, was one of the factors that led to my being a 'guest' of the state (and you NEVER want to be a guest of NY State), and when I tried to explain this to the doctor she, too, said I should just 'buck up' and accept it. 'Doc,' I asked, noticing she was Middle-eastern, 'can I ask you how long you've been in New York?'

'Five years.'

'Five years! Let's have this conversation when you're here thirty-years and we'll see how you feel.'

Hell, I can do five years in New York standing on my head.'

This is another thing that I find terribly disorienting -- we don't have that kind of constant public amplification here, but the last time I was in NYC I stayed in a place called the "Hotel QT" off Times Square (not my choice, the PBS people who were interviewing me for a show put me there), and the sheer uncontrollable din kept me up all night. Car noises I don't mind but car noises blended with every kind of thumping pumping loud music you can think of made me want to jump out the window. I never had that problem when I stayed at the Algonquin.

 

[jamespowers]

Timeless, antecontemporary, venerablism, remotist, antimodernist or antemodernist. [huh]

 

[Senator Jack]

This is another thing that I find terribly disorienting -- we don't have that kind of constant public amplification here, but the last time I was in NYC I stayed in a place called the "Hotel QT" off Times Square (not my choice, the PBS people who were interviewing me for a show put me there), and the sheer uncontrollable din kept me up all night. Car noises I don't mind but car noises blended with every kind of thumping pumping loud music you can think of made me want to jump out the window.

Ha! The Hotel Q. That's the place with the swimming pool in the bar, isn't it?

The new thing here, in the last few years, is Rave Party gas stations. You go to fill your tank and you have this thumping dance-track piped overhead. I JUST WANT TO GET GAS, YOU DON"T HAVE TO MAKE IT AN EVENT!!!!!

Regards,

Jack

Adults go here

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ha! The Hotel Q. That's the place with the swimming pool in the bar, isn't it?

The new thing here, in the last few years, is Rave Party gas stations. You go to fill your tank and you have this thumping dance-track piped overhead. I JUST WANT TO GET GAS, YOU DON"T HAVE TO MAKE IT AN EVENT!!!!!

That's the place. Possibly the most intense culture shock I've ever experienced in my life was walking into the lobby and seeing that pool thru the window. You ain't in Kansas anymore.

Rave Gas???? Sheesh. I miss Texaco Circle Service.

 

[Fletch]

I wonder. Are there any atavists who are wealthy and recreat an affluent lifestyle that we don't know about. I know a rich english guy bought an island that still retained a live in staff, old house, cars etc and intended to live just as generations had before.

Just being comfortably well off 30s style would be an achievement. I'm not sure you could replicate a $5,000 a year lifestyle then for $500,000 a year now.

 

[reetpleat]

Two things here:

Temporal dysphoria is a damn close term for the condition (not the subculture), and my only problem with it is that 'dysphoria'' means 'unpleasantness.' I don't believe there's anything unpleasant about this lifestyle (apart from it interfering with my life). I thought 'temporal displacement' but a quick search showed that the term is from Back to the Future.

Second, I, too, reel from the noise of the world, and this goes back to my quitting the bartending gig (which was, I hate to say, at a bar I have money invested). You're just constantly assaulted by it, and a lot of it comes from speaker systems in restaurants, bars, department stores, and boutiques. This, as it turns out, was one of the factors that led to my being a 'guest' of the state (and you NEVER want to be a guest of NY State), and when I tried to explain this to the doctor she, too, said I should just 'buck up' and accept it. 'Doc,' I asked, noticing she was Middle-eastern, 'can I ask you how long you've been in New York?'

'Five years.'

'Five years! Let's have this conversation when you're here thirty-years and we'll see how you feel.'

Hell, I can do five years in New York standing on my head.'

Regards,

Jack

with all due respect to your condition, plenty of people hate modern music, loud music or "hate that rock and roll rubish"

Is it that you can't stand being ini a noisy environment with music that does not sound good to you? Plenty of modern music can be pretty offensive to the ears if you ae not into it.

Or do you not tolerate it simply because it is not Frank Sinatra?

Heck, it could just be a matter of age. Even an ex punk rocker might find it hard to connect or appreaciate loud thumping modern club music, or really out there flaming lips rock that has no real melody. I know the older I get, the less tolerance I have for music I did not grow up with or older.

 

[vitanola]

with all due respect to your condition, plenty of people hate modern music, loud music or "hate that rock and roll rubish"

Is it that you can't stand being ini a noisy environment with music that does not sound good to you? Plenty of modern music can be pretty offensive to the ears if you ae not into it.

Or do you not tolerate it simply because it is not Frank Sinatra?

Heck, it could just be a matter of age. Even an ex punk rocker might find it hard to connect or appreaciate loud thumping modern club music, or really out there flaming lips rock that has no real melody. I know the older I get, the less tolerance I have for music I did not grow up with or older.

Sinatra?

You mean post James and post Dorsey?

RUBBISH!


At least he generally did not accompany himself on an electric guitar!


Now as to a singer, give me Billy Murray, or perhaps Bing with Whiteman.

I've never cared in the least for modern pop music, even when I was a child.

When I went off to college, I did a 3-2 program at an engineering school and a liberal arts college. At the liberal arts school, I roomed with a bagpiper who learned to love early jazz, learned to change needles each play, and who has collected records for thirty years, now. At the engineering school, I was stuck with a gink with a pair of Bose 901's , who wore out several copies of THE WALL, and was greatly enamoured of The Flying Lizards, particularly "The Window" ("he's making holes to drain blood.."), which would echo 'round the dorm at all hours. In the years since I've learned, out of self-preservation, to look for the clever lyric, and fine melodic line in the sea of modern music in which we all swim. There is much that is good in it, much that I must admit is far better musically than, say the strictly commercial offerings of the B. F. Godrich Silvertown Cord Orchestra, or the A & P Gipsys, nonetheless, if offered the choice I'd ask for the Silver-masked Tenor every time.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I've never cared in the least for modern pop music, even when I was a child.


In the years since I've learned, out of self-preservation, to look for the clever lyric, and fine melodic line in the sea of modern music in which we all swim.

Hey, that sounds just like me! The only modern contemporary music that I like is country music precisely because it's still melodic.

 

[Widebrim]

I'll have a Manhattan since you are pouring.
I know what you mean about cars or anything else for that matter. Monochrome, Econobox style cars with nothing to make you want to go out and buy one do nothing for me. Cars should make you turn your head and squint from the shine of gleaming chrome.

Than get an Italian one...

 

[jamespowers]

Than get an Italian one...

Only if you are paying.