Cram: There was also some talk about a Principia Discordia 2012 project in another thread I'm too lazy to go find right now. What would have to happen for that to get moving? I was serious about the layout work.
whew, it's a big idea
We have this project vibe around here, it goes through phases. Right now it's in a lull phase, but there is a "Mania" side of the coin too. It tends to work like - somebody has an idea, somebody else riffs on that idea, somebody else makes a cartoon about that idea... and then we end up with this nice little bundle of content that somebody like Net or I would lay out.
Nearly all of our successful projects emerge kind of organically. We have had very little luck getting people to write for a specific spec in advance. For example, we had this project called Lollercaust. It was basically supposed to be the manual of Horrormirth. We made some
great attempts but utlimately couldn't bring it together. I think the problems there was that we started off with too concrete of an idea. We told people, "Write something funny," and that's kind of hard to do on command.
In contrast, the Black Iron Prison got started because a bunch of people were riffing on an idea, then LMNO made a pamphlet out of it.
Intermittens started because Manta Obscura created a "Insightful post dump" thread, sort of a "post of the day" thread for thought provoking or interesting stand-alone posts/articles. I said "This stuff is so good, I wish it was in a magazine." Then I taught myself how to make a magazine, and was willing to teach others. Now we have 12 issues of Intermittens. At no point was there a "manager", it all arose kind of spontaneously.
We've had a half dozen discussions about how we can make this place more ripe for projects, or how we can better combine our skills to produce good reading material, but basically those threads always get jacked and crapped up by alternate agendas and competing ideas about how to encourage good content.
A good method, I've found, is to get the ball rolling by collecting some content you like into a single thread. Then the discussion sort of follows - what else belongs in this thread?
I'm down for discussing another major PDF project - as I said upthread, I've got some mental space for a new batshit game/prank/book. And I don't mind doing a little cat herding. But we kind of need a spark first, something to get fired up about. I also think that creating a new Principia is doomed because it's too ambitious, and we'll never agree on anything. But the basic idea is great - something like a manifesto, but with dick jokes
