The Proposed "Proposal"

thanks for the vibes shout out but maybe a little harsh. it sounds like UC Boulder to me. Or any other school that has a real quad and campus

i applaud this guy’s commitment but his plan seems vague. his solution is to recreate in a less formal atmosphere the social norms he is “revolting” against, the effect of which is to entrench those forms in superficial displays of levity. He’s kind of just suggesting that we have more fountain days on the vern. woohoo.

You can’t plan a spontaneous revolution. That’s like calling something a “First Annual.” That’s bullshit until the second year.

I applaud more hanging out as a clusterfuck, and while I highly doubt it’ll create a totally mind-blowing change in our society, man, if it does, kudos.

If not, stop being such a pompous toolbag and just let people do as they please, without your “today is the day I made.” I could go on.

So I will. Are you just doing this to claim you started a revolution? Do you know what you’re revolting against? Do you know what you’re revolting for? This is one of the most asinine things I’ve ever heard.

Let’s say you succeed, and people feel so liberated that they are free to go home and play guitar and improvise where they want to, not in your mandated Kogan Plaza. Kind of like things before the revolution, eh?

The article at first sounded harsh, but then I realized this guy is an idiot.

I might post more, but for now let me just reiterate the disclaimer at the beginning of this post.

To endeavor to support the arts in any capacity, whether or not appealing or accessible to any single individual, in no capacity warrants ridicule.

There is a difference between criticism, unbiased or otherwise, of things / events / people etc. that are at least able to be viewed objectively in some way and unprovoked lampooning of a yet un-materialized effort or proposal, specifically one devoted to furthering the arts and the well-being of people. There is no claim or argument in this proposal that would justify an attempt at criticism of this kind. It’s 5th grade mean, especially coming from someone involved in the arts.

This is completely contradictory to the personal (individual) and public (blog) goals of those who write for and maintain this blog. Also, the publishing of the sender’s email address is in no way called for.

Go Giants.

I agree. Also, a couple things:

I think it is disrespectful to the person who wrote the email, his idea, and the arts in general, to reject not only what he is saying, but the way in which he says it for a few reasons. I think it is important that he has the drive, energy, passion, and commitment to send this email out. Also, he is advocating for many of the same things we at the Colonialist advocate for (building of the GW community, promotion of the arts, celebration in general, working through the administrative bureaucracy at GW, etc.)

I think it is especially wrong to disrespect and make fun of this publicly, when the email was sent out to a list of specific individuals and groups; a list in which the Colonialist as a group was not even a part of. Furthermore, being included in this list means that he respects you, and this makes it that much worse that the ridicule is not only disrespectful, but also rejects respect given to you, and does it publicly.

It is shocking to me that because it is humorous that the email is melodramatic, it is apparently unnecessary to consider the substance of the email in a fair way.

To me, this proposal sounds like a great idea. It is a celebration of the arts and the GW community, at the very least, and I guess perhaps a revolution at the very most. I WISH that this was the kind of campus where you can walk through a quad and see students performing or expressing themselves creatively, as opposed to walking with their heads down, in a cell phone, or pushing politics on passersby. We at the Colonialist DO support the arts in a very similar vein. We have said this many times in the past. That is why I think this post is contradictory and hypocritical. It is also counter-productive. Any rejection of any idea is counter-productive.

Thus, I think the ridicule of the way in which this email was presented is wrong, and I think the ridicule of the substance presented within the email is also wrong. I also think this “proposal” is a great idea, and would love to not only support it, but also to participate.

This being said, I understand where the impulse for ridicule comes from to a very small extent. The way in which the proposal is presented goes a little too far in terms of its drama and “revolutionary” spirit. Yes, there is humor in that. Chris touched on this in his comment, which actually makes more valid arguments, as opposed to simply mocking, and lacking opinion. This melodrama doesn’t deserve ridicule though, because it is also genuine, fearless, and it is attempting progress.

Hopefully this post will not stifle this proposal, and hopefully this discussion can continue.

Worst blog post ever.

Don’t knock on party quirks
you jerk

@ darren and kevin:

I think a distinction should be made between the rightness of criticizing the proposal and travis’ criticism of the proposal. The proposal was meant as a public message, such that it would spread to as many people as possible. So there is nothing at face value wrong with travis making a post about it. The nature of the proposal itself is such that it ought to welcome any sort of reception: we could say that travis, in the spirit of the proposal, is creatively ridiculing it. I think the reason he did ridicule the proposal is because it is a childish proposal. It is childish because it claims to be revolutionary yet isn’t. People juggling in public, cordoning off a specific area called “the zone”, holding public debates - these ideas are not revolutionary. They are merely not done at GW currently. So maybe he’s calling for a miniature revolution about how things are done at GW, the revolution being that all of a sudden people are juggling where they weren’t before. But what does this really mean?

I love the idea of revolution - I think that conformity is a bad thing and spontaneous displays of creative emotion are wonderful, and we should have more people making public art. But that’s not what the proposal is talking about, although it seems to think it is. Here’s the image I get of the proposal: various groups in Kogan plaza engaging in “performance art”; they have a great time juggling, drum circling, etc; why are they doing these things? Because they enjoy them; people walk around the performers on their way to work/school/starbucks and give them weird looks; everyone goes home. This just doesn’t seem revolutionary to me, it seems like a group of people who enjoy drum circling etc doing those things - the proposal would be better served if its author started student organizations for these activities, because his program is just getting together and having fun. That’s great, but it has nothing to do with a revolutionary consciousness, and when it claims that it does that pisses me off because it trivializes real problems and obscures real endeavors to promote a dialectical conscious, to affect change through negative art. Hence my view that the proposal invites ridicule because it is a bad proposal - kevin i can criticize it on these objective grounds: it misinterprets the problem it is trying to correct and thus presents a solution antithetical to the real solution.

20pence if you guess who wrote this

an addendum to the above post: i think juggling is pretty cool and I would probably welcome open drum circles etc at GW. my only point is that this has nothing to do with revolution - the fact that it claims to be revolutionary is a bit insulting, in fact.

Okay, being as I wrote the email, I think it fitting that I post a rebuttal. First of all, the email is written mostly to be enjoyed. Regardless of wordiness, etc., the point could be iterated very simply as such; “We (those of us who do not consider ourselves traditional ‘GW students’) are trying to make this campus ours instead of simply ignoring it altogether.” That’s the point. Unfortunately, part of the problem is that, all of us (again the “anti-GW-student” students) are immediately turned off by anything remotely resembling the fake enthusiasm most infamously employed by certain student groups to remain unnamed here. However, being as the email was sent to much of the GW community, perhaps you can understand my inability to be brutally ‘Frank’ on the subject.
The ‘proposal’ is actually one of many things I would like to see happen on campus, one of these being a night where everyone parties, etc. in their rooms until 11 and then exits into the streets to sort of transform our alleged ‘campus’ into something real and more communal. A night where your entertainment is based solely in the people around you. Perhaps this is more your type of event.
The revolution, as it were, is not simply this specific event. For proof, you can simply talk to me.
I’ll admit, as a human being I would like, in a way, to have something like this attributed to me, that is, if it works out. There’s not a single one of you out there who wouldn’t want to ‘be known’ for something or other. We are all of us narcissistic and fame seeking to some degree.
I understand that planing a ‘guerilla event’ is somewhat of an oxymoron, however, most people are so intimidated by GW society, bureaucracy, and legislation that to spontaneously gather enough people to make something like this work is a fairly difficult task. However, any of you who have seen the recent drummers knows that it is not impossible, though even that has an amount of planning put into it. Expect to see drummers during the day as it warms up.
I myself am not naive enough to assume that this is something that will forever change GW. However, after three years of trying very hard to ignore and avoid GW, I think it might be time for anyone who has ever complained about GW to take charge and stop whining about this not being fair, or that being ridiculous. Being somewhat of a realist, I realize that a revolution ends with the same problems it fought against, if only slightly modified. However, change for change’s sake, revolution for that simple feeling of doing something different is a worthy endeavor even of itself. Those of you who are critics out there of movements such as this should, in my opinion, stop complaining and just learn to enjoy yourselves. That’s what a day such as this is for.
Without being too specific, the ‘event’ is not simply a showcasing of the arts. It’s also something to do on a warm day after you have taken whatever ‘herbal supplements’ suit you. The basic idea is to enjoy yourself with a bunch of other people enjoying themselves. In addition, it’s a good way to meet people in an environment specifically designed to be meeting people. And you can bet that anyone who is down with this idea is going to be at least somewhat chill.
The point is not a recurring campus event; it is, however, mostly based off of similar event I saw abroad and had a damn good time at. The point is to set something up which encourages the arts which seem sorely ignored at this school, (ex. the music department) and to generally have a good time. Anyone against that, well good for you, but I’m sick of complaining about GW not caring about anyone but the stereotypical GW student. Those of you who feel similarly or who have made similar complaints should realize that GW is not going to do anything for anyone who is not the majority UNLESS (and I use caps only because I don’t know how to place italics in this comment) they actually get together and make themselves heard. I hope that most of you can get behind that.
For the record, I wrote the email and put myself out there, and I’m as much a fan of criticism/ humor/etc., as anyone and Travis can say whatever he wants, otherwise what’s the point of a blog? Being simply alive and under 40 in the 21st century I am well aware that anything can and will be made fun of. Just don’t make any assumptions about me from an email written to a wide range of people.
One final thing, I realize that debates, conversations of the type which manifest themselves in simple comments on blogs generally receive less publicity than the blog itself, however, those of you reading this who might find themselves at least somewhat sympathetic to the cause, please spread the word. Those of you who still think I’m an ‘idiot’ that’s fine, but if you find me in Kogan perhaps I can convince you that I am not as naive/happy-go-lucky/space-cadet-esque as I sound in the email I originally wrote.

“Join the Revolution”
(And for any of you out there ‘pompous’ enough to be insulted that I call this a revolution, I believe you missed the point. Any questions such as “What is this a revolution for?” are misguided at best. I think you should reconsider your definition of a revolution, or at least consider mine. Change for change’s sake, and the unending search for an atmosphere in which one can enjoy the moment are the key ideas here.

Regardless of how harsh this was, people sing and play guitar in Kogan fairly often, though I guess less often in the winter. If the concern is noise violations (since Kogan is quite near the library) maybe the revolution should be more focused on utilizing other accessible campus public spaces for the arts? There are several other parks on campus.

Anyway, if you are interested in drum circles, I suggest Meridian Park on Sundays (I am aware that the whole crux of this was to revitalize GWU campus or whatever, but the Meridian Park drum circle is awesome).

dude, just fuckin transfer to university of washington - i guarantee plenty off hippies there will pick up your idea. in the meantime, i still offer 20 pence to whoever can identify me (and your plan “frank” is still bollocks) - you’re not about a revolution, you’re about a carnie fair… whopee!!!

@MAX

your posts are characteristically and unequivocally “nonymous.” Also, why/how do/could you have time for this?

ahh sorry for that last post… pretty idiotic (i was drunk). term just started, and i had a few days where people were just moving in and there was nothing to do (but drink).