Tubular.net :: Mike Oldfield Forums Discussion, news, reviews, fan music, and more.
	Search :: Members :: Help :: Guidelines

Pages: (5) < [1] 2 3 4 5 > [ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

CarstenKuss Group: Musicians Posts: 362 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Sep. 23 2000, 17:09 Hello everybody, last week I read an article in the German magazine DER SPIEGEL (= the mirror). It was about "geeks" or "nerds", another name for "computer people". They say that there is something like a "geek culture" which includes casual clothing, shyness, beards, staying single, fantasy literature, roleplaying games, and so on... Maybe this is all rubbish, but what do you think: Is Mike Oldfield "geek culture"? -Carsten- -------------- -Carsten- Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Sep. 23 2000, 19:37 He used to seem like some slightly odd spinoff from hippy culture...then slowly things began to twist... Now maybe he'd prefer to relate to dance culture somehow...again he seems like a bit of an odd spinoff from it... As always, I think Mike is hard to classify Back to top

GMOVJ Group: Members Posts: 273 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Mar. 07 2001, 06:07 hum, very late reply, but I found this... in fact this is not really a reply, but informations... "Geeks are generally social outcasts from mainstream america. The ranks of geekdom are swelled with gamers, ravers, science fictions fans, punks, perverts, programmers, nerds, subgenii, and trekkies. These are people who did not go to their high school proms, and many would be offended by the suggestion that they should have even wanted to. Geeks prefer to socialize with other geeks, the self proclaimed weird. Therefore they go online to organize parties, food runs, drink runs, and movie nights, and be assured that their companions would rather talk about superheros as modern mythology than the latest football scores. " from samsara.circus.com/~omni/geek.html and that... "Again, to be a hacker, you have to enter the hacker mindset. There are some things you can do when you're not at a computer that seem to help. They're not substitutes for hacking (nothing is) but many hackers do them, and feel that they connect in some basic way with the essence of hacking. - Learn to write your native language well.(...) - Read science fiction.(...) - Study Zen, and/or take up martial arts.(...) - Develop an analytical ear for music. Learn to appreciate peculiar kinds of music. Learn to play some musical instrument well, or how to sing. - Develop your appreciation of puns and wordplay. The more of these things you already do, the more likely it is that you are natural hacker material. Why these things in particular is not completely clear, but they're connected with a mix of left- and right-brain skills that seems to be important (hackers need to be able to both reason logically and step outside the apparent logic of a problem at a moment's notice)." Well, a lot of people in here would make perfect hackers no ? BUT ! "Finally, a few things not to do. - Don't use a silly, grandiose user ID or screen name. - Don't get in flame wars on Usenet (or anywhere else). - Don't call yourself a `cyberpunk', and don't waste your time on anybody who does. - Don't post or email writing that's full of spelling errors and bad grammar. That certainly excludes a lot of us from : www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html Cheers GMOVJ ( Yes, this is a silly UserID ) -------------- Cheers, GMOVJ [URL=http://tubular.fodplanet.com]http://tubular.fodplanet.com[/URL] - The french speaking mailing list Back to top

cp Group: Members Posts: 46 Joined: Feb. 2001 Posted: Mar. 07 2001, 08:05 "Silly or grandiose user names" - almost everyone here (except perhaps for Tim Highfield and other people who have taken the boring route and used their real name) could be disqualified on this point. As for flame wars, I think that engaging in flame wars would be a point in favour of being a hacker/geek/nerd, not vice versa. Finally, I'll have to own up to poor spelling and grammar in general (although it could be much worse than it is). To the main point of the original post: in some ways, Mike Oldfield has been at the front of technological developments in the field of music (i.e. recording techniques in Tubular Bells, unusual instruments, using synthesators (?)). From another perspective, you could classify Mike as "unpopular music", and therefore related to geek/nerd/etc culture. Back to top

TimHighfield Group: Members Posts: 543 Joined: Oct. 2000 Posted: Mar. 07 2001, 08:52 Quote cp (very grandiose, Cameron) said: "Silly or grandiose user names" - almost everyone here (except perhaps for Tim Highfield and other people who have taken the boring route and used their real name) could be disqualified on this point. Most of the good Mike-related ones had been taken by 15/10/00. Quote cp also said: As for flame wars, I think that engaging in flame wars would be a point in favour of being a hacker/geek/nerd, not vice versa. Because these people are the only ones likely to take part in flame wars Signed, Tim Highfield, also known in slightly more grandiose terms as Tim, or even, when signing off, as -Tim- Ha! Back to top

Thomas Andersson Group: Members Posts: 53 Joined: Feb. 2001 Posted: Mar. 07 2001, 11:04 Woah, I didn't know i was this much of a geek. I actually read quite a lot of sci-fi, I program, and, IMHO, use my native language very well. I play piano and guitar/bass and drums as well, and I absolutely don't listen to mainsteam pop music. None of my friends are like this though, at least not those that know "in real life". On the Internet it's different though, and that's why I posted. I tend to be on IRC quite a lot, and most people I regulary talk to there are either coders or musicians (or both). At least five or six of those I consider my IRC friends are fans of mike oldfield's music. also jarre, vangelis and pink floyd seem to be quite popular. In "real life", I only know one person who knows about mike oldfield and owns a couple of records. Back to top

ChiRho Group: Members Posts: 195 Joined: Feb. 2001 Posted: Mar. 13 2001, 09:26 Well, I wouldn't consider my screen-name grandiose, since it is just the first two letters of my name in Greek (chi rho - XP ~ CHR or CR), and I am who I am, no one else. I write BASIC well, Java badly, and C++ incredibly badly. The worst screen-names I have ever seen include "To me, boxing is like a ballet, except with no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other" and "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler" -------------- <P>Mr. ChiRho Email to chirho@mine.nu.almost (guess what drops) Visit ChiRho Network Central [URL=http://www.chirho.i12.com/]http://www.chirho.mine.nu/[/URL] Check the forums (topic suggestions still welcome[URL=http://forum.chirho.mine.nu/]http://forum.chirho.mine.nu/[/URL] Back to top

bennyboy Group: Members Posts: 177 Joined: July 2000 Posted: Mar. 13 2001, 18:05 Hi, Bennyboy here.... (also known by the slightly less grandiose title of Benjamin Orchard) I think a lot of you are right on the money with your comments.... It's funny you are talking about Mike as geek culture, cause I think he often displays some of the geekiness himself... (beards, unkempt appearance, fondness for Star Trek and science fiction literature, close familarity with computer systems and loads more websites devoted to him than more famous and revered musos like Bob Dylan and Celine Dion)... Which is why I probably think whenever he does something to look "cool" he ends up looking rather self-concious and a bit silly sometimes... Think of the "I've just dicovered I'm a celtic warrior" bronzed and shirtless look on the cover of "Voyager", those nude photographs he did back in the seventies to promote "Incantations", the video clip for "Shadow On The Wall" which has him strutting around in torn jeans and a leather jacket trying to look mean and menacing.... Does anybody else think this? Back to top

Thomas Andersson Group: Members Posts: 53 Joined: Feb. 2001 Posted: Mar. 14 2001, 08:26 hehahhee i completely agree. and what could possibly look geekier than mike on the incantations cover. Back to top

CarstenKuss Group: Musicians Posts: 362 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Mar. 14 2001, 14:24 Hi y'all, glad you revived my old topic. At first, when no one replied, I felt I was completely wrong. But things are different now! -------------- -Carsten- Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Mar. 14 2001, 14:29 Looking at some of the definitions, I'm wondering if there's much difference between a 'geek' and a 'musician' these days...But has Mike, by embracing software development, taken a step closer towards total geekness? Some of my favourite moments where Mike ends up looking slightly less cool than he might have hoped: The shine video - There's a bit with Mike standing by the sea, wearing a tight sleevless T Shirt, with waves crashing over him and a scowly expression on his face...Just what exactly IS he doing there? Promo picture for Discovery(?) - There's one of these of Mike stood by a punchball...Something about this looks ridiculous to me. Oddly enough, he's wearing a tight sleeveless T Shirt in it... ...he does like those sleeveless T Shirt thingies, doesn't he? He even wears one in that early BBC Tubular Bells performance (as found on the Elements video). He tends not to look too wonderful when wearing them as well... Back to top

CarstenKuss Group: Musicians Posts: 362 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: Aug. 22 2001, 17:42 It's getting quiet here... but however... Korgscrew, the 'punchball' picture is also on the inner sleeve of Discovery vinyl... and yes, it looks strange: Like Mike wants to look like a teenager or something... I also found this quote at mikeoldfield.de: "I was also fed up with this image of the fans that I was supposed to have being as being these kind of spectacled anorak student types, you know, completely... nerdy. And people used to ridicule my music because of my fans, so I said I'll get some pretty girls involved and make it for them. It's a much nicer fan base you know." NERDY!!! There: he said it himself! -Carsten- -------------- -Carsten- Back to top

TimHighfield Group: Members Posts: 543 Joined: Oct. 2000 Posted: Aug. 23 2001, 03:34 It is getting rather quiet...sometimes I feel like I'm just talking to myself... Nerdy? Well, he said it...and who am I to question Mike's own judgement? -Tim- Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: Aug. 23 2001, 13:15 Mike's fans...nerdy...us? Um...what makes people think that? (ahem...) Back to top

mirwais57 Group: Members Posts: 188 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: Mar. 16 2002, 04:30 i can call me nerdy but i dont know about anyone else, mabye raven4x4x. -------------- http://www.mp3.com/57_13/ http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/57_ttpo_13/ NB: Avatar = Mirwais himself. Back to top

Baggiesfaninessex Group: Members Posts: 682 Joined: Mar. 2002 Posted: Mar. 21 2002, 14:41 I would prefer to be known as an 'anorak' rather than a 'nerd'. It depends how one interprets the meanings of course... -------------- “A dog is not intelligent. Never trust an animal that's surprised by its own farts.” - Frank Skinner Back to top

bibimimi Group: Awaiting Authorisation Posts: 25 Joined: Mar. 2002 Posted: Mar. 22 2002, 14:02 Isn't an 'anorak' a nylon pullover? You don't mean 'amarok' do you? That would be cause for a giggle. Back to top

Baggiesfaninessex Group: Members Posts: 682 Joined: Mar. 2002 Posted: Mar. 22 2002, 19:54 LOL - You're partially correct. they tend to be fastened by a zipper...steady....LOL -------------- “A dog is not intelligent. Never trust an animal that's surprised by its own farts.” - Frank Skinner Back to top

Baggiesfaninessex Group: Members Posts: 682 Joined: Mar. 2002 Posted: Mar. 22 2002, 19:56 ...actually, an Amarok would be much warmer methinks... -------------- “A dog is not intelligent. Never trust an animal that's surprised by its own farts.” - Frank Skinner Back to top

bibimimi Group: Awaiting Authorisation Posts: 25 Joined: Mar. 2002 Posted: Mar. 27 2002, 12:25 ...so if "Ommadawn" means 'idiot', is there a Gaelic translation for "Amarok", that maybe means the equivalent of 'geek'? Would a geek survive an ancient culture, even? Somebody had to be the equipment boy for the army. Geek has an interesting onomatopoeia, for me anyway, approximating sickly. This could be because the word is often preceeded by the hyphenated 'pencil-necked', especially in rural regions of North America. There, I have now exposed my redneck roots and am properly chagrined. Back to top

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ] Pages: (5) < [1] 2 3 4 5 >

Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact


Mike Oldfield Tubular.net