We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Sunday afternoon funnies The world is going to hell in a eco-friendly handbasket, but the sun just broke through the clouds where I am, so here are a couple of things I recently found in the intertubes that made me laugh.
Ayn Rand’s Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone
Hero: Someone had ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ paged at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (via Ed Driscoll at Instapundit)
The whole “Let’s go, Brandon” phenomenon is a hoot. It’s inspiring to witness these hip young rebels sticking it to The Man while avoiding profanity. Remember when it was left wingers who used their wit to sneak under the censors’ radar?
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
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Yes indeed – yes indeed.
There is a much longer version of this idea: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/
It’s called Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, and it’s complete at over 600,000 words. It’s fan-fiction, of course, and I’ve read it all and enjoyed it. If you try it, and like it, you might want to get Fanfiction Downloader at https://fanfictiondownloader.net/#/home and download it to your computer. That will save many hours of web time for you.
And yes, there is Ayn Rand fan-fiction. https://www.fanfiction.net/book/Atlas-Shrugged/ and Animal Farm too https://www.fanfiction.net/book/Animal-Farm/
The left wingers used their wit half the time…..
“How funny you will find this depends on just how mature you are and whether you want to keep company with Trump’s MAGA gang but like all memes, it’ll soon get boring and become a cliche that somehow sticks around far too long.”
That’s rather po-faced, even for the Windy!
It’s just a matter of time for Let’s Go Brandon to be censored from Facebook, Twitter and their ilk.
Ellen, I started on Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality a few years ago but couldn’t get into it. Maybe I’ll give it another try; there is many a book that didn’t gel for me at first but did when I came back to it later.
To make it less obvious, the Ukrainian name Levko might be better than Let’s go.
Levko Brandon to the white courtesy phone?
Natalie, one detail: other people have written sequels / alternatives to Methods of Rationality. I didn’t think too much of them. Many of the fandoms I used to read are reaching senescence, and Harry Potter is getting ready for fanfic retirement. The biggest problem with fanfic is that it only works if you’re familiar with the source(s), and that’s hard if it’s gone out of general circulation.
I read WORM fanfic these days. It’s tough to get into, because the initial story is bleak and terrible – I haven’t read it, and wouldn’t recommend it. But fanfic writers enjoy turning the source on its head in their fiction, which can lead to great hilarity. There, I’ve found two good writers who can bring you up to speed on WORM without traumatizing you. Unfortunately, a lot of their stories are novel-length or more. (One of my favorites has gone over two million words.)
So here’s a really short WORM one: Taylor Inverse. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13756304/1/ . It helps if you know who Lina Inverse is, but quick description: short but extremely powerful sorceress who likes to eat. Eat a lot.
And here is one of the most – incisive – Harry Potter shorts: It’s Always The Quiet Ones. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11636560/1/ . Again, it helps if you know the H. P. Lovecraft mythos.
I am quite fond of fan fiction, among other things, which you can examine on my web site, accessed by simply clicking my name in the heading.
Well, since Harry Potter hasn’t learned anything of relevance to the modern world (run a spread sheet, operated a CAD program, financial acumen or marketable skills) then the follow up books might be:
Harry Potter and the 40 UB’s
Harry Potter and the Landlord of the Slums
Harry Potter and the dealer of ethnic tobacco
Harry Potter and the Noodles of the Pot
Harry Potter and the card of scratches (or the ticket of the lottery)
Anyone that has interacted with feckless students at University and their “eccentricities” will be able to add to the list.
[…] but they still made those who mocked them laugh apart. Chanting “F*** Joe Biden” (“Let’s Go Brandon” 🙂 ) in a sports stadium is one way to laugh together, but it reminds me of the chariot racing […]
My favourite part of “Let’s Go Brandon!” is that the establishment Corporate media, unintentionally, created it.
The “journalist” who thought “I can not let the public know that he crowd are chanting Fuck Joe Biden, I will pretend they are chanting Let’s Go Brandon!”
That Corporate “journalist” unintentionally started this whole movement. I would not be very surprised if it is soon announced that he has had a tragic accident….
If I was him, I think I would issue a statement that I was in excellent mental health – and not in the least suicidal.
The establishment elite (Corporate and Government – as if there was any real distinction) in the United States do not forget – and they are not forgiving people.
I first watched the original video from the last link in the OP.
I beg to disagree with Paul Marks on 2 issues.
Most obviously (but least importantly), it was not a man who misrepresented “Fuck Joe Biden” as “Let’s Go Brandon”.
Less obviously (but more interestingly), it seems to me from the context that she did not misrepresent the words intentionally. I mean, why misrepresent FJB when she could just as easily have ignored it?
BTW the prank at Chicago O’Hare airport reminds me of a prank from an Italian friend. But it was not as funny.