Richter, are you ready for The Finals™?

[Scribbly]

We are the people who make sure the trains run on time.

We are the people who make sure the speech Stays On Message.

We are the people who take the notes. Who analyze the images. Who write the memos. We are the people who engineer the latest fashion.

We are the future

We were the revolution.

Didn't you notice?

[fomenter]

the finals are not a survivalist trip in the hills - unless they are.
the finals are not a minimum wage job in a spirit destroying job - for some people
the finals are not a mind numbing show you watch on your TV set - unless you are watching with an alert mind
the finals are not some shiny material possession that you must have - but some shiny material possessions will be invaluable to those in the finals
the finals are not about getting caught on your heals - they are about being on your toes
the finals are not about what you are looking for - they are about what you see and how quick you see it
the finals are not about scraps of paper with values assigned to them - the finals are about what has real value and assigning it correctly
the finals are not going to tell you what to do or how to behave - you should know by now
the finals are not what the majority are willing to put up with - they are what you wont put up with anymore
the finals are not tomorrow - they are right now

[Rumckle]

We were the revolution.

Fuck That.

We ARE the revolution.

Not one of those revolutions that make a difference^TM, but the revolution that happens every day. The revolution for ourselves, that makes a difference to no one else.

We are having fun revolting, and have revolting fun. We will still be having fun when the hammer comes down. And there is no need to worry about that day, for today is the day for having fun. As is tomorrow, and so was yesterday.

[The Wizard]

The Revolution died a long time ago. The leeches sucked it dry. No, I'm not talking about the System or the Man or whatever the fuck you call it. I'm talking about the People. The People failed the Revolution, let the System turn them into parasites. They believed what they were told, let their dreams be taken away from them, let themselves become addicted to that most addictive and illusory of drugs. Control. They System told them that they could have control over their lives, over their government, over existence, and without even lifting a finger. It taught them to forget that freedom and with it control have to be earned with blood and effort. And so the monkeys became leeches, and they sucked the Revolution dry.

[Richter]

Any revolution starts going septic when joined by those who see it as a scene, rather than a necessity.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The Revolution died a long time ago. The leeches sucked it dry. No, I'm not talking about the System or the Man or whatever the fuck you call it. I'm talking about the People. The People failed the Revolution, let the System turn them into parasites. They believed what they were told, let their dreams be taken away from them, let themselves become addicted to that most addictive and illusory of drugs. Control. They System told them that they could have control over their lives, over their government, over existence, and without even lifting a finger. It taught them to forget that freedom and with it control have to be earned with blood and effort. And so the monkeys became leeches, and they sucked the Revolution dry.

Hrm.  Gonna rant on this tomorrow.

[President Television]

Any revolution starts going septic when joined by those who see it as a scene, rather than a necessity.

QTF. I'm familiar from this mostly from a musical perspective, as rock n roll was the revolution of the twentieth century, but from what I know, this always happens. Every time. Rockabilly, the hippies, the punks, grunge. It's always when it becomes the Next Big Thing(TM) that a movement loses touch with itself. I'm sure this applies to every other revolution, I'm just referring to what I know.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Of course you realize, Richter, that they are going to toss us in a cage before this is all over.  The world is no longer a hospitable place for people who are serious about having a good time.  As you point out, they did Curly in for exactly this reason.

But what of it?  Is it better to die of boredom on your knees, or get thrown in a cell with puncture wounds and unexplained welts and sucker marks all over your taser-burned carcass, still screaming that rebel yell that they haven't heard since '83?

I know what my choice will be.  I know what Patrick Henry did, and Ben "anything for a laugh" Franklin, and Curly, and the ghost of Payne. 

And Paine, for that matter, a hideous mutant that wasn't built for his time or any other.  They said he took it too far, that he never knew when to quit, and that he wanted actual freedom which everyone knows is a little too dangerous for monkeys to manage.  So they beat him and beat him, but he never did shut up.  Legend has it that if you visit his grave, you can still hear a howling noise filtering up through the dirt.

But fuck them and their limits, Richter.  They don't know what you and I know, they haven't spent any time in the fast lane of the Lost Highway...for that can't be trademarked, and plastic wrapped, and made into safe, harmless fun for the whole family.  Hell, even the police won't follow you there, though they might be waiting for you on the off ramp, should you ever find one.

No, the time for "limits" and "safe" and "harmless" have come and gone.  We tried that, and all it did was make us slaves.  So now it's time to have FUN, and no listening to whimpering about "noise laws" and "collateral damage".  There's no speed limit ANYWHERE, Bubba, and if you see us coming, you better run.

The pendulum swings, Richter, and it swings wide.  We've seen what 30 years of Reaganism has done to America, and now they need to see a few decades of Lord Buckley, drowning them in spittle as we bray our mockery and our laughter in their gibbering faces.

It's what this country was designed to do.  This nation isn't a Lexus, and we need to stop pretending that it is.  It's a beat up Jeep with a spiked bumper, and here we come.  I was BORN for this shit, Richter, and it's time to stop pretending to be something I'm not.

Or kill me.

Whoa fuck!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Of course you realize, Richter, that they are going to toss us in a cage before this is all over.  The world is no longer a hospitable place for people who are serious about having a good time.  As you point out, they did Curly in for exactly this reason.

But what of it?  Is it better to die of boredom on your knees, or get thrown in a cell with puncture wounds and unexplained welts and sucker marks all over your taser-burned carcass, still screaming that rebel yell that they haven't heard since '83?

I know what my choice will be.  I know what Patrick Henry did, and Ben "anything for a laugh" Franklin, and Curly, and the ghost of Payne. 

And Paine, for that matter, a hideous mutant that wasn't built for his time or any other.  They said he took it too far, that he never knew when to quit, and that he wanted actual freedom which everyone knows is a little too dangerous for monkeys to manage.  So they beat him and beat him, but he never did shut up.  Legend has it that if you visit his grave, you can still hear a howling noise filtering up through the dirt.

But fuck them and their limits, Richter.  They don't know what you and I know, they haven't spent any time in the fast lane of the Lost Highway...for that can't be trademarked, and plastic wrapped, and made into safe, harmless fun for the whole family.  Hell, even the police won't follow you there, though they might be waiting for you on the off ramp, should you ever find one.

No, the time for "limits" and "safe" and "harmless" have come and gone.  We tried that, and all it did was make us slaves.  So now it's time to have FUN, and no listening to whimpering about "noise laws" and "collateral damage".  There's no speed limit ANYWHERE, Bubba, and if you see us coming, you better run.

The pendulum swings, Richter, and it swings wide.  We've seen what 30 years of Reaganism has done to America, and now they need to see a few decades of Lord Buckley, drowning them in spittle as we bray our mockery and our laughter in their gibbering faces.

It's what this country was designed to do.  This nation isn't a Lexus, and we need to stop pretending that it is.  It's a beat up Jeep with a spiked bumper, and here we come.  I was BORN for this shit, Richter, and it's time to stop pretending to be something I'm not.

Or kill me.

Whoa fuck!

Thanks.  I was in a mood.

[Dr. Paes]

Fuck.

Theres this thing I do. When I get up in the morning, get ready to go in to the university, I'm all set with my computer bag and I step outside of my apartment for a few moments. Maybe its dark still, and the stars are shining brightly, or maybe its pouring down rain, or a glorious orange sunrise. Whatever the sky looks like, I just stand there for a few moments to take it in.

This is a reminder. Yes, fuck you, fuck you loser humans who can't see it, you can all go live in your little cubicles with the wires straight to your brain. This is a reminder to me that I am HUGE, I am MASSIVE, and you can not fucking keep me down. The energy in my body is over 13 billion years old, the molecules in my body at least 5 billion years old, the lineage I head stretching back more than 3.5 billion years. You can't take that shit away from me, I'm just too big for you, too big for your comprehension. I'm just too big and old and SMART. I'm GINORMOUS. Okay? And the morning sky is just a reminder of that. Because when you puny apes look up, you feel so small and weak, but I am huge. And I get IT. And I take IT with me where ever I go. And I sit and identify caddisflies all day long for the sheer pleasure of being able to see those connections and know that 700 million years ago they and I were just little bilateral worms in the ocean.  And so were you.

This is a reminder that today is awesome, that right now, is fucking AWESOME. Again, fuck you losers who can't see it, who would wish for tomorrow, the people who barely notice they are alive, who are barely breathing and thinking, who forget they are eating lunch, replaying dreams they had about American Idol over and over in their heads. Consciousness is wasted on humans.

This is fucking beautiful.

[Kai]

Glad you like it. Everyone should try it.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Bump. 

I totally forgot about this.

[Richter]

Holy Shit.

[Epimetheus]

Revolution? Think about the real meaning of that word. A cycle, a completed circle. The etymology - Latin revolvere: To roll back. The turning of the wheel. Back to where we started. NO FUCKING CHANGE. It explains a lot of the Revolutions of the past, of course. And that "revolution" is the one that's been going on since the beginning of it all.

They've been conditioned, so have we, but something went wrong with us, and it didn't take.

It's true - we're the fuckups. 


Mittens to Roger, Richter, Kai, LMNO.

[Doktor Howl]

Revolution? Think about the real meaning of that word. A cycle, a completed circle. The etymology - Latin revolvere: To roll back. The turning of the wheel. Back to where we started. NO FUCKING CHANGE. It explains a lot of the Revolutions of the past, of course. And that "revolution" is the one that's been going on since the beginning of it all.

You wind up in the same position laterally, but a downward spiral also revolves.

Welcome to the 21st century, Epi.