I'm going to tell you straight up: There is no "Nordic tradition", or whatever those Fins and that Norwegian guy Erik Flatsomething is talking about. I know, this is probably a big surprise to you, but it is true. The "Nordic Tradition" is just that thing that those Fins and that Norwegian guy Erik Flatsomething is talking about. Really? Yes. Really!

I am sure that whatever it is they are doing is fine and fulfilling and groundbreaking and whatever, but, well, I'm not part of it. Most of us are not.

Oh, and if you wonder why the Fins so emphatically keep saying that "it" isn't called Scandinavia, it is because they don't live in here. So now you know.

It feels good to get it off my chest.

Flatnose, is it?

Would that be any relation to Flat Eric?

They could be one and the same, for all I know. I don't know these Nordic Tradition people. Actually, I think they were all the brain child of Ralph Mazza, as part of some bizarre scheme simultaneously related to the US invasion of Iraq and meat-eating. That is all I can tell you, right now. Got to go put on my tinfoil cap.

Well, of course, the Nordic Tradition is a lie.  Here in Minnesota, we invented it to draw tourists to our very own Kensington Rune Stone. (http://farshores.org/avikston.htm)  And so we could name our football team the Vikings.  And it gave us the permission to say, "You bettcha."

Roleplaying draws tourists to Minnesota? That's bizarre.

;-)

Man, I was sure that thing was a hoax.

Minnesota? It is a hoax. No such place.

The Nordic Tradition is all part of my secret plot to take over the world with a cult of free forming viking Larpists based in Minnesota who eat only bacon.  But you can't blame me for Iraq, that was all Dubya's idea, he wanted a war and couldn't spell South Korea...me, I was pushing for France.

mmmm....bacon.

Clyde wrote: Minnesota? It is a hoax. No such place.

I'm totally one of those people who every time I see the Vikings logo, thinks "Hey! Vikings didn't have horns!" But what can you do?

My late grandfather owned a cap with stuffed horns sewn on. The front read "Horny Norsk." He seemed to think this was a hoot, which was disturbing seeing as it was, you know, my grandfather. Oddly, this was my German grandfather, not the Norwegian one.

If it is necessary for me to consume more bacon for Ralph, than so be it.

Hm ... why did I derail this? My first post is actually entirely true. Well, except that I do know Eirik Flathead's real name.

And Peter is of course actually correct. Just like it's been said before, the experientialists are only a small, if influential minority (or a small, if influential figment of imagination) in the Nordic area (or was it Minnesota). And there are lots of fans of the "plain fun" school of thought who want nothing to do with the few hundred people into the experientialist scene.

As we all know, it's really just a celebrity cult. The most visible innovators just happen to be from those circles, and are good at presenting themselves as important. And it's called Nordic only because that's a convenient label. It isn't really like anything actually interesting, important or international as far as role-playing is concerned ever happens here. We're just insignificant art-dreamers with delusions of grandeur and too much time.

Hey, Tuomas.  What happened with your paper thing?  Can I talk about it now?

J. wrote:
And there are lots of fans of the "plain fun" school of thought

Aha! There it is again, but in a different form. So the Nordic tradition people are the avant garde theory experimentalist thinkers and the rest of us are not reflecting at all, because we just want to have fun?

Well, okay. Which is it: Am I not Nordic or am I a "fan of the 'plain fun' school"? Seriously, if these are the only two alternatives, which one applies to me?

Oh, and I mean all of the above in the friendliest possible way.

Cheers,

/Peter

Peter wrote:
Hm ... why did I derail this? My first post is actually entirely true. Well, except that I do know Eirik Flathead's real name.

Oh. There is no controversy. Or at least there wasn't one until I created it in this very thread. :-)

And yeah, it is kind of silly.

Cheers,

/Peter

Ben wrote:
Hey, Tuomas.  What happened with your paper thing?  Can I talk about it now?

Peter wrote:
Well, okay. Which is it: Am I not Nordic or am I a "fan of the 'plain fun' school"? Seriously, if these are the only two alternatives, which one applies to me?

Hi again,

You are being very courteous, Toumas, which I appreciate.

Actually, the (admittedly silly, because it doesn't really matter) problem I have is just that you are speaking for me. I don't like avant garde? You don't know that. I play just "for fun"? Did I say that? No I didn't. You did. In fact, your kind of avant garde experimental theory making is not the only one. There are many ways, even in our little corner of the world, right?

Nuff said.

Have fun at Barnens ö.

All the best,

/Peter

Peter wrote: Actually, the (admittedly silly, because it doesn't really matter) problem I have is just that you are speaking for me. I don't like avant garde? You don't know that. I play just "for fun"? Did I say that? No I didn't. You did. In fact, your kind of avant garde experimental theory making is not the only one. There are many ways, even in our little corner of the world, right?

I'm all against the Nordic tradition. But I find myself doing more and more of the Nordic stuff. Experimenting with shared hypnotic fiction, participating in an undie LARP*, and trying to break the borders between LARP and tabletop.

It's a granfalloon.

* An undie LARP != an indie LARP. Undie LARPS are when you play in your underwear.

Peter wrote: I am sure that whatever it is they are doing is fine and fulfilling and groundbreaking and whatever, but, well, I'm not part of it. Most of us are not.

Valamir wrote:
The Nordic Tradition is all part of my secret plot to take over the world with a cult of free forming viking Larpists based in Minnesota who eat only bacon.  But you can't blame me for Iraq, that was all Dubya's idea, he wanted a war and couldn't spell South Korea...me, I was pushing for France.