UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => shootin' the shit => music, art and culture => Topic started by: Mr E S Capegoat on November 02, 2019, 08:32:24 pm
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I went on Instagram for the first time in ages yesterday. I was amazed at the positivity and authentic and genuine psyche the members of the British climbing community has for each other. It was so great to see. There was so much modesty and positivity and mutual support. Incredible. Is this a new thing?
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I can see this going well.........................
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You should have a look Matt. It really is amazing. Literally zero negativity. It’s akin to the positive psychology movement, closely linked to neoliberal policy and consumer culture. The British sport and trad and bouldering brand. Maybe there could be a brand to hold this definition of climbing for us? Something simple and catchy that gives the common community member a sense of identity, held intact by the brand and their ambassadors. Climb Britain maybe?
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boulder britain?
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It has been said that at times of increased consumerism the increase in alienation leads to patriotism, nationalism and idolatry to give man a sense of self and purpose in an otherwise abstracted world. Hence the popularity of sport climbing, competition, coaching and training programs. People would feel lost and likely go mad without them.
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Talking about psyche, has anyone read this drivel?
https://www.scarpa.co.uk/blog/christinbury-part-1-article/
Omg
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It was readable which puts it way head of most of your stuff Dan.
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Well it was written in intelligible syntax if that’s what you mean.
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Well there was that. But it didn’t seem like a letter or poem in a set of Psychiatric case notes like some of your stuff does.
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Lol I’m genuinely grinning from ear to ear at that. Brilliant. Would you like a copy of my recent mag? It’s quite readable
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Nice, always like a bit of Carlisle Slapper action, he even had a cool dog (which can be a redeeming feature of even the most disreputable people).
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Your idolatry doesn’t surprise me
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It's inspiring.
Quality experiences are in the movement when it comes to limit bouldering
- you could learn from that.
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And enter the ‘pretend’ world of the climbing ambassador and brand athlete. Justifying ones existence as a ‘limit boulderer’
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Seems you're currently justifying your existence by satirising climbing ambassadors and brand athletes. Why not jump the fence and see what you're so against. Afraid you might enjoy being a different kind of annoying climber? ;)
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It’s useful to have a counterpoint to the current trends in the scene. I’m not sure there’s much room left on the other side of the fence. This way at least I’m semi conscious of the climbing community dictating my narrative.
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Talking about psyche, has anyone read this drivel?
https://www.scarpa.co.uk/blog/christinbury-part-1-article/
Omg
Seems a good article. Knowing Dan it comes across to me as honest and uncontrived. He's making points that are accurate and not always appreciated by climbers who don't do new stuff. The stuff about changing perspective on a place as he's grown-up as a climber is something I've experienced.
I think you're maybe viewing this with too cynical an eye Dan.
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Agree, of all the blog posts to satirise, DV's would be one of the last. Thanks for the link though, I enjoyed reading it.
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Who’s satirising? It’s a curious one, the desire to be accurate and correct. I know your posts Jon (unlike mine) are always very well considered and thought through. Not much risk of being considered ‘wrong’ in there. Yet it all becomes a bit stale somehow. I’ve read two things in relation to the concept of ‘perfection’ in climbing today. DV’s reference to the perfect move and a post by Leo referring to Honnolds free rider solo as perfection or death. Neither of which sit with me well. Because both place an emphasis on the act and rock, alienating the human. The ‘perfection’ is a reflection of what one hopes to attain in oneself but is transient and can never be achieved. But again sold here on these platforms for various reasons. Yes very accurate and concise on one level and superficially excellent no doubt. A bit like a brand new Mac Book Pro.We can see how it functions and worship its symbols but for the common man have no hope of accessing deeper understanding of its workings. The blog read to me as, I got good at bouldering, the places where I boulder are superior, the moves I do are closer to perfection, the places I go and the journey I’ve taken is more special than yours, I have a better understanding than you, if you think your any good doing link ups on limestone for big grades then think again, you are not special.
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The blog read to me as, I got good at bouldering, the places where I boulder are superior, the moves I do are closer to perfection, the places I go and the journey I’ve taken is more special than yours, I have a better understanding than you, if you think your any good doing link ups on limestone for big grades then think again, you are not special.
Are we reading the same blog Dan???
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:devangel: :devangel: :devangel:
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So is he wrong to slag off scorecard-boosting limestone eliminate link-ups???
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Right or wrong doesn’t really come into it. It was the implicit superiority in the comparison I was remarking on. For me or you it’s pretty much alien anyway. Which is another part of the point. Like how do you relate to Jesus or Abraham Lincoln or Gandhi
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Interesting to hear other's points of view, but I struggle with this constant assumption that there's so much inner meaning to other people's climbing exploits and what they share about them. Yeah, sure, there are the Redhead's and the Dawes and Cheetham's, but to me (and many others I assume) it's just going climbing and enjoying it. What's wrong with that?
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That’s the anaesthetising effect of conformity to the narrative laid out for us Gaz. Going bouldering is akin to earning money, in which value is determined in many ways. What rock we climb, how we climb it, how hard it is, who’s company we keep, whether it’s an FA or not etc etc. This is the alienation process. So yeah of course going climbing if is just that why all the other stuff surrounding it. We don’t report our seemingly mundane lives online..... hang on a minute....
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As an exploratory pebble wrestler, I've always really enjoyed Varian's blogging. It is to UK bouldering what Caff's blog is to UK trad. Straightforward, insightful, often funny, and no fucks given about the typos. I'd probably read a book of Varian's exploits if he was ever inclined to write one.
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That which we revere is that which we hope to experience in ourselves through the other. In that sense never really being ourselves just copying an ideal view of what we might hope to become. Often felt as a need for acceptance or paradoxically a rejection of others. The dreaded double bind.
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I know your posts Jon (unlike mine) are always very well considered and thought through. Not much risk of being considered ‘wrong’ in there.
:lol: I'd suggest you ask Sloper about that, but unfortunately he left the forum never to return after taking offence over one of my considered and thought through utterances.
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what did you say to him?
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Was it 'get with the pogrom'?
Or was that Doylo? Still funny.
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It was the implicit superiority in the comparison I was remarking on.
Oh the irony. Or was that deliberate?
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I’ll admit it does ‘take one to know one’ Alex. Y’knar
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Was it 'get with the pogrom'?
Or was that Doylo? Still funny.
I dropped the P bomb in a general remark about something climbing related. And Doylo did come out with that in the ensuing spat ;D
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Probably a bit severe to describe the lynching of tick mark enthusiasts, bum start excavators and safe-ifying patio-ists. If you’re gonna get a send train going there has to be some balance of acceptability. Otherwise we’ll be back to the thick end of the wedge scenario. I did notice that sloper -ve karma-ed you with quite a vicious attack, and since this time all of your posts have been ‘on point’ ‘accurate’ ‘spot on’ and and all other stuff in keeping with the path of the righteous man as described by Danny above. ✌️💗
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You've read all my subsequent posts!?
To be fair I have changed my tone on the internet over time. After a certain amount of back peddling and eating of words I realised what I wrote lasted and people quoted things back at me.
Interventionist activities like patioing, gluing holds, cutting branches are also controversial and it's important to me that I make a rational well argued case for things I've already justified to myself. At worst I don't want to incite any pogroms...
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You are one of those people who I can now identify by the way you write, regardless of username. Half of me enjoys your posts and the other half feels like he is reading excerpts from a Jaden Smith essay, if somewhat more eloquent :lol:
It's all a bit woke for me, but :popcorn:
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After everyone Sloper must have agitated with his caustic put-downs, I did think it a bit odd for him to flounce off at that - clearly unmalicious despite the nasty meaning of the word - ‘get with the pogrom’ comment.
Mr capegoat - whatever and whoever it is you object to in ‘climbing today’.. what then does Dan Cheetham’s preferred ‘alternative world of climbing’ look like?
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Rather like this, I suspect:
(https://heavywhalley.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/smoc.jpg)
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After everyone Sloper must have agitated with his caustic put-downs, I did think it a bit odd for him to flounce off at that - clearly unmalicious despite the nasty meaning of the word - ‘get with the pogrom’ comment.
Sloper is Jewish, I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong), so some sensitivity over this remark is unsurprising.
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Thing is, the rational and well justified and all that jazz can become a bit insipid and stale when taken to the extreme. Like what’s wrong with back peddling and eating words? We’re only human after all, that’s a crime to conformity. The climbing media owns us in that way. Whenever someone buys into a product or training regime they’re selling part of themselves. I’d be tempted to revert to stream of consciousness posting but that went a bit awry heh.
Pete I’m not gonna attempt to answer that as my underlying instinct is that it is all (climbing and it’s ethics and styles and culture) inherently meaningless. In a good way.
Love that photo, he is havin it. You can recognise me as a climber on the high street by my sticky shoes and a Krab hanging off my sack
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Maybe not Instagram ( I don’t find it interesting :yawn:) but the internet can bring us joy.
Who can’t relate to this guy, battling with Regent Street (admit, we’ve all been there)? It’s hilarious, as are some of his other offerings.
https://youtu.be/YfZTjooh6B0?t=487 (https://youtu.be/YfZTjooh6B0?t=487)
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‘Shit me’ he needs to work on his Flow and aeroPow and work towards a deeper understanding of ‘limit’ and ‘perfection’. Maybe a multidisciplinary approach of Lattice, Hazel Findlay articles and Gresh with a pinch of Redhead?
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Credit where it's due, he sticks with it. I'm looking forward to the episode on Right Eliminate.
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I’m sorry but I can’t relate to this level of punterdom at all. Maybe fiend will be along in a minute to shed light on the experience?
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Maybe not Instagram ( I don’t find it interesting :yawn:) but the internet can bring us joy.
Who can’t relate to this guy, battling with Regent Street (admit, we’ve all been there)? It’s hilarious, as are some of his other offerings.
https://youtu.be/YfZTjooh6B0?t=487 (https://youtu.be/YfZTjooh6B0?t=487)
I was so ready to hate that, and to be honest that sort of filming yourself is kind of lame, but what a brilliant fight that was. Giving absolutely everything and just about scraping up is one of the best feelings going.
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Their channel is wonderful. Real climbing.
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I love those guys! Wuthering and Tippler Direct are also :popcorn: worthy...
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I’m sorry but I can’t relate to this level of punterdom at all. Maybe fiend will be along in a minute to shed light on the experience?
I fucking failed on Regent Street at the first low overlap. Admittedly that was 16 years ago or something. Even so, go fuck your face!
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Ah that’s better. Life feels somehow lighter now 🤣
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Tipper direct is something else 3 or 4 falls to get to crux. Pisses the crux then has to sit on the gear to do the easy bit.
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You are one of those people who I can now identify by the way you write, regardless of username. Half of me enjoys your posts and the other half feels like he is reading excerpts from a Jaden Smith essay, if somewhat more eloquent :lol:
It's all a bit woke for me, but :popcorn:
I just googled Jaden Smith. ;D.
As an actual miserable old man in real life I'll take that as a hilarious compliment. I do object to being called 'woke' thought.
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After everyone Sloper must have agitated with his caustic put-downs, I did think it a bit odd for him to flounce off at that - clearly unmalicious despite the nasty meaning of the word - ‘get with the pogrom’ comment.
Sloper is Jewish, I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong), so some sensitivity over this remark is unsurprising.
You're correct, I didn't realise when I used the term ( which I understood to be sometimes used to refer to witch hunts more generally). But as it went on it seemed to me like posturing on his part and I'm not hugely sympathetic to that sort of special pleading. Sadly I had to shelve my bid for the Labour leadership shortly after.
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After everyone Sloper must have agitated with his caustic put-downs, I did think it a bit odd for him to flounce off at that - clearly unmalicious despite the nasty meaning of the word - ‘get with the pogrom’ comment.
Sloper is Jewish, I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong), so some sensitivity over this remark is unsurprising.
You're correct, I didn't realise when I used the term ( which I understood to be sometimes used to refer to witch hunts more generally). But as it went on it seemed to me like posturing on his part and I'm not hugely sympathetic to that sort of special pleading. Sadly I had to shelve my bid for the Labour leadership shortly after.
No doubt. Not a dig at you at all (I don't remember the original spat); just some context for some who may be coming to all this without relevant background information.
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You are one of those people who I can now identify by the way you write, regardless of username. Half of me enjoys your posts and the other half feels like he is reading excerpts from a Jaden Smith essay, if somewhat more eloquent :lol:
It's all a bit woke for me, but :popcorn:
I just googled Jaden Smith. ;D.
As an actual miserable old man in real life I'll take that as a hilarious compliment. I do object to being called 'woke' thought.
Hang on a bloody minuscule
He was talking about me you bloody egomaniac. 🤣
Wasn’t he? Or was he? Or are Wee We?
As Jaden might pontificate
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You're correct, I didn't realise when I used the term ( which I understood to be sometimes used to refer to witch hunts more generally).
Bit stronger than that- pogrom is inherently genocidal.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom
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The group being attacked isn't exclusively Jewish. It was an idle rhetorical device, used among friends.
Intention matters and the context and following discussion made the intention clear I thought.
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I’m sure this is all a distraction from the real issue here which is the generation of increased positivity in the community through authentic mutual celebration and genuine interactions on Instagram. Particularly amongst our elite athletes. Jon has just picked a particularly emotive example to point out why he doesn’t post from the heart anymore, or at least would be very cautious of being anything but accurate and right. The repression inherent in the culture, see ukc’s opinion pieces for that drivel.
Highlighting genuine human mistakes with language in this way when there is clearly no intent to harm, does seem to be a good reason not to post at all. Unless it’s positive psyche on Power Klubb of course
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I wasn’t having a pop at you Bonjoy, just saying the word has some force.
As for Sloper, I enjoyed debating with him, but we did lock horns. I vaguely recall the flouncing off, didn’t see the justification for it really. Thought it had something to do with Slackline too? Tom gave as good as he got, hardly a shrinking violet.
I wouldn’t lose sleep over it tbh
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Highlighting genuine human mistakes with language in this way when there is clearly no intent to harm, does seem to be a good reason not to post at all.
I quite agree, and forbearance is a core virtue. Unless the poster has made a spelling mistake, in which case they should be cast into the 10th circle of hell.
Dante quite rightly considered poor grammar even more damnable than treachery: https://historylists.org/art/9-circles-of-hell-dantes-inferno.html
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didn’t Dante write the first energy systems protocol?
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First 9 I believe. Allegedly he did the first, fourth and ninth first.
That would be some people's idea of hell I think.
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Midway upon the journey of ancap
I found myself lost within a circuit board,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
What was this circuit savage, rough, and stern,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.
So pumpy is it, death is little more;
But of the good to treat, which there I found,
Speak will I of the other things I saw there.
I cannot well repeat how there I entered,
So full was I of pump at the moment
In which I had abandoned the true way.
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Dante isn’t far of the mark for me. The lettuce energy regime is one of the most systematically depressing things I’ve done and actually a moderate source of shame. It completely ‘abstracts’ the human being / self by entirely quantifying them in terms of numerical gains. It ‘owns’ your climbing in exchange for money. You consume the idea of yourself as a ‘better’ climber. Ultimately alienating and depressing.
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FrEe YOurSeLF FrOm thE LettuCE oVERLorDS
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It’s ImpoSsiBle
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Hang on a sec, twatfeatures.
Those numerical gains are an indication of being stronger, more powerful, having more endurance etc.
You can then use that strength / power / endurance to do more more inspiring, enthralling, challenging, and interesting climbing outside, in good company, in beautiful locations, on aesthetic rock.
"I did 4 weeks Lattice bullshit, now I feel more ready to go and try problem X at crag Y, which before I'd had a look at the start and knew I wasn't strong enough" - what's the problem with that??
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Sigh.
Why am I bothering.
:wall:
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Who knows.. Dan makes me look open minded.
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Sigh.
Why am I bothering.
:wall:
That’s what’s sold to you Matt, but I can confirm one has little or nothing to do with the other. L does not equal X or Y
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I think the point is that you can't win, Fiend. UFCK regards everyone with equal disdain.
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I can confirm that in my experience, one has little or nothing to do with the other. L does not equal X or Y. Although I appreciate that others may be different, and that a significant number of the better climbers in the country/world/universe would disagree with me on this one. I just don't really like training and didn't see the GAINZ I'd hoped for
Fixed for you
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Back to that Dan Varian article, he has always come across a smug twat to me. Very much "I am better than all you cunts, especially Ben and Jerry, what the fuck did they ever do for British climbing?" but it could just be me (and Dan obvs...)
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I can confirm that in my experience, one has little or nothing to do with the other. L does not equal X or Y. Although I appreciate that others may be different, and that a significant number of the better climbers in the country/world/universe would disagree with me on this one. I just don't really like training and didn't see the GAINZ I'd hoped for
Fixed for you
This is true of course. I’m definitely not hiding the fact and totally agree with what you’re saying. I’m making a different point. I’m saying it’s an alienating experience. Not just the energy systems thing but the whole shebang. It’s a capitalist construct in sport. Sure of course it might ‘work’ for some and not for others and of course training is good to bump your grade etc etc.... but it’s like a religion, it owns you in that way. I was pretty open when I started the training about two things 1. That I was really gonna try my best so fully immerse in it and 2. It was deeply incongruous with me as a person. As I’ve seen this evolve and spoken to others I thought I’d express that. I’m not bitter it didn’t work, I climb much ‘better’ without it whatever that means. There is a sense of shame that I didn’t trust my gut instinct with it and ploughed on regardless. And without that experience I think I’d not be able to understand exactly what it was all about. The whole experience of the concept of progression. Tom’s a genuinely great guy and believes strongly in what he’s selling, doesn’t mean in like the product. A counterpoint is always useful. Is ukb really den of climbing capitalists with no one other than me questioning all this. Can’t believe that.
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I guess many on UKB are driven by performance. Wether peformance is a capitalist construct, is probably opinion at the end of the day?
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It’s a capitalist construct in sport.
Hasn’t sport been about performance since before capitalism was a thing?
Your argument always seems to be for one or the other not both. I think that people can have similar experiences to what I assume you desire out of climbing and pursue performance.
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I’m saying it’s an alienating experience. Not just the energy systems thing but the whole shebang. It’s a capitalist construct in sport.
Alienating from who/what? I find as much camaraderie in it as alienation, though perhaps you mean alienating from myself/some aspect of an experience?
What is the whole shebang? You mean lattice? Or training full stop? Or climbing indoors?
What's a capitalist construct? Training per se? Even back when it was the Hubers smashing out sets on their home board with nothing to sell to anyone?
it’s like a religion, it owns you in that way
Really? Why?
Is ukb really den of climbing capitalists with no one other than me questioning all this. Can’t believe that.
The more you write coherent and explained posts and the less you write self-congratulatory, pseudo-intellectual bollocks the better a response you'll get. Your above post is much, much better than normal in this respect, though still leaves me mostly asking questions to clarify what you mean rather than being able to think properly about what you're saying...
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Is ukb really den of climbing capitalists with no one other than me questioning all this
No, but those of us who aren't into 'performance' are mostly not daft enough to sign up for a training programme and then moan about it. Having said that my climbing does embed elements of performance in both senses of the word. But nothing Lattice is gonna help me with.
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I totally agree signing up to a training program and then coming on here to moan about it - is / was a questionable idea.
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On the contrary...
When my 4 year old next complains about having to do his homework before he gets any TV, I’m going to tell him that rather than just suck it up, he could act like a grown-up I’ve heard of who turned his displeasure into an elaborate and long-term performance art project. I will suggest that, if he likes, he could launch a counter-cultural magazine to poke fun at his teachers, and then loudly announce that the entire basis of education is invalid because of some lunch break conspiracy theory he came up with over a jacket potato.
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I would rather watch a video of that exchange than ever even glance at a thread like this again.
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I honestly don’t have a problem with training, as a past time or as a tool to make you a ‘better’ climber whatever your individual definition of better is. The current market of training, training programs, spin off marketing, podcasts and product placement etc etc is operating in a capitalist system. If by being on a training program that costs £60 a month and owning all the correct things, specialist chalk, most expensive boots, lightest rope etc led to a person being a significantly better ‘performer’ based on the cultures numerical system of worth, then there would be and is a situation of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.
The process is alienating in various ways. Two ways spring to mind. The appropriation of grades. There used to be a common piss take among friends that a particular person or another was referred to as ‘he’s an 8c climber’ in hushed tones and jokey reverence. This process when taken seriously as it mostly is abstracts the human being or self into a made up numerical thing.
The other process of alienation is akin to a conveyor belt or production line situation, where the individual is making motions designed by the minds of others and delivered on mass. There is also a contagion here. Like rolling one trouser leg up or wearing your jacket back to front. In this way the other- abstract object (in terms of grades) or other person (in terms of coach etc) has significant control or ‘ownership’ of the persons sense of self. They are not truly themselves. In this way it begins to operate like a religion, there are idols, symbols, mechanisms of control, herd like behaviour etc etc which can be seen to replace the vicar managing his congregation and the system of religion owning part of the person.
It’s interesting that yossarian’s piss taking effort above mentions the education system. As I would argue this is at the heart of a lot of ills, particularly with its basis in behaviourism and its systems of reward and punishment which are of course so helpful in creating healthy human beings.
Adam - just to confirm. Does your post relate to it being ‘daft’ to critically appraise anything you’ve paid for in life. Like a bad meal or movie or a shitty course of education. Or is it just complaining on ukb that is daft?
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To me the whole point of climbing is its anarchy. If someone wants to bastardise it as a measurable commodity/conform to what people say you 'should' do then to me that's a shame but really fine, no problem, go for it.
For the rest of us the hills are still there to have fun.
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It’s a capitalist construct in sport.
Hasn’t sport been about performance since before capitalism was a thing?
Your argument always seems to be for one or the other not both. I think that people can have similar experiences to what I assume you desire out of climbing and pursue performance.
Sport is a useful mass control device, capitalism and sport now go hand in hand in the uk. I’m not arguing anything really. Just expressing personal experiences and ideas. More of a curiosity. I’d never want anyone to have an experience based on my idea of what that should be. Sounds awful, so if it comes across like I’m saying I’m right and you lot are wrong. Which it might do as it’s like saying your god doesn’t exist. I’m only raising an eyebrow at the current state of things. Fortunately we’re at least superficially free to experience what we please.
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No, but those of us who aren't into 'performance' are mostly not daft enough to sign up for a training programme and then moan about it.
Gotta love the smell of smouldering Cheetham in the afternoon.....smells like victory... :lol:
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If by being on a training program that costs £60 a month and owning all the correct things, specialist chalk, most expensive boots, lightest rope etc led to a person being a significantly better ‘performer’ based on the cultures numerical system of worth, then there would be and is a situation of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.
The free time to go climbing, the money to jet around the world, the money to retire early, the money and opportunity to take years off... training program costs are the least of your worries vs these...
Interestingly, it seems mostly you dislike the things that come with people coaching others. The bulk of your critique doesn't work so well for someone making their own plan.
p.s. no-one I know who isn't a beginner says "he's an 8c climber", they say "he's climbed some 8cs"
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No, but those of us who aren't into 'performance' are mostly not daft enough to sign up for a training programme and then moan about it.
Gotta love the smell of smouldering Cheetham in the afternoon.....smells like victory... :lol:
You can now remove tongue from crack
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If by being on a training program that costs £60 a month and owning all the correct things, specialist chalk, most expensive boots, lightest rope etc led to a person being a significantly better ‘performer’ based on the cultures numerical system of worth, then there would be and is a situation of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.
The free time to go climbing, the money to jet around the world, the money to retire early, the money and opportunity to take years off... training program costs are the least of your worries vs these...
Interestingly, it seems mostly you dislike the things that come with people coaching others. The bulk of your critique doesn't work so well for someone making their own plan.
p.s. no-one I know who isn't a beginner says "he's an 8c climber", they say "he's climbed some 8cs"
Yep, your desire for free time and ability to enjoy it has been commoditised. I totally agree
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Sport is a useful mass control device, capitalism and sport now go hand in hand in the uk.
I'm getting drawn in now, but when you say capitalism, surely you mean commercialism?
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Dan,
Has it even occurred to you to put down your laptop, stop reading magazines and stop agonising over other people’s motivations and inner monologues?
I’ve never come across someone as dependent on the opinions of others, for their own mental well-being. What’s worse, is that it’s not even other people’s opinion of you, that troubles you so; it’s their opinions on almost every aspect of their own lives! You seem utterly unable to accept that other people might not (or might not want) to see life through your specific lenses.
Let it go, dude.
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I appreciate it Matt, but I’m just here expressing some views and chatting about it. There’s little angst beyond the normal annoyances of debate going on. I enjoy reading and thinking about these things, it’s a big part of my life. I’m not saying I don’t invest a lot of myself in what others think. However if I wanted to stay safe with that I’d just be nodding my head and posting in power club. Keeping it all as ‘accurate and dull as possible’ nothing to trip up and hurt yourself on if you get me.
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Sport is a useful mass control device, capitalism and sport now go hand in hand in the uk.
I'm getting drawn in now, but when you say capitalism, surely you mean commercialism?
I’m not sure Chris? I thought commercialism was the process of bringing something into the mainstream and monetising it through various channels. And that operates within a capitalist framework like our current neoliberal situation. I mean these are just facts of the situation. Like the cost to get in a climbing wall or buy a pair of boots etc.
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Just to add Matt, I was at the wall today with my daughter, and met TomTom and Fiend. I had a genuine warmth for both of these lovely blokes which has very little to do with what I think about the bigger issues here. We had a nice chat and some climbing happened, I felt quite happy.
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Just to add Matt, I was at the wall today with my daughter, and met TomTom and Fiend, both of whom went to the 50 board and campus board respectively, at the far end of the wall, to avoid me.
:lol:
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Cnut
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I found my own interaction with Lattice pretty entertaining. I got a free assessment that informed me that whilst I was shit, I was less shit than I should be. I like to think that such margins are where the magic of climbing lives. An intangible zone where low cunning can overcome lots of weaknesses by the targeted application of (paltry) strength. Or, less romantically, their model just didn't quite handle a physical outlier and a bigger data set will eventually make everyone depressingly predictable.
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Brave new world
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Bearing all this in mind, I wonder how many grades lettuce full is worth when compared to lettuce lite? It would be interesting to see the ‘data’ on this. Cost per slash grade and sliding scales for soft touches. I wonder whether a lettuce training camp delivered by elite lettucers could be a thing? Maybe it could be held on a private island a bit similar to Richard Branson or even the Thunderbirds? Policed by those who have climbed ‘some 8c’s’ and above. Indicating they are not ‘beginners’ but serious lettucers. Fiend would make a perfect arch nemesis with his shaven pate and no nonsense blog. Just get him stroking a white moggy and basting himself in antihydral while bitching about head pointers. When the end of the world approaches a lettuce ark could be built and only true acolytes could mount 2 by 2 to start an idyllic community on fucking Mars.
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Have you been dipping into the drug trolley again. :dance1:
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I'm betting gin. It's got that introspective / flamboyance dichotomy. :pissed:
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Just a healthy dose of ‘fuck you’
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I thought there was a solitary thread ringfenced for your spoutings, they appear to be spreading again.
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The shackles just got to heavy man....
Hang on I’m confused, you appear to be both enjoying and encouraging this thread Chris?
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I stopped enjoying it on pg 2, now i just look out of morbid curiosity.
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In that case ‘move along sir, nothing to see here’