I imagine a complex of maybe 9 properties. The center one, raze it to build a park and garden; experimental urban greening space (CommonGround). The 4 corners would be shared residences, with rooms converted to small apartments. The 4 other properties ringing the park between the residences would be more focused forms of Hackspaces: ArtSpace (studio space, basically, with designated studios for animation, drawing, theater, etc.), ScienceSpace (retrofit rooms to serve the different sciences; fume hoods for ChemRoom, rework stations for SparkRoom, incubators for BioRoom), MediaSpace (media libraries, gaming and commons), SharedSpace (various common rooms for whatever, designed and maintained by the residents, and a huge kitchen, bakery, and brewery for crazy culinary work).
Charge a cheap membership fee for non-residents using the 'Spaces to pay for materials, tools, and upkeep. Build a community that functions as a gestalt unit, a sort of Freemarket on earth.
That's just my idea anyway, and is only the result of about five minutes. The inner complex could easily be surrounded by full homes owned by residents of the commune, with the onsite residences working for those that come and go or are working on a long-term project and want to be right next-door to the labs.
CommonGround would have farm space, son. Preempting Pete: we'd have pasteurization gear.
Also, the idea isn't to come fully equipped with skills. It's to come, contribute, learn, and live. I know fuck all about cheesemaking; I bet you know something I don't. I'll trade you that for what I know about rocketry, silkscreening, and brewing.
"We would greatly appreciate it if you checked for Listeria in your cheeses...Um...thanks!!"
Things really get ugly when they start throwing labware.
I have to stop thinking about this idea, because if and when it becomes shit-talking, I will be very disappointed.
I came into the idea expecting it to be nothing more than a pipe dream. It's fun to think about, but chances are powerful slim. The only reason it's above slim is that if detroit will pay for people to take these properties off their hands, then it's barely, slightly, distantly possible.
The key is to plan seriously without getting your hopes up. By looking for opportunities and figuring out scenarios like these, you know that you'll have it figure out when you actually go to buy a house.
Also, I demand at least an acre for growing barley. We'll need a malthouse.
Yeah. Just hope your lovely commune does not get firebombed on devil's night.
Rym and I know Detroit pretty well, and I will tell you, sure it's a backup plan if I am in a state of super desperation, but if you have nice stuff in what is basically a lawless zone, it is like a magnet of "please fuck with us." The house Rym lived in when he was born got firebombed. The house next door blew up. Going home from the hockey game you would walk in a tunnel riddled with bullet holes. It's hard to exaggerate about the toughness necessary to survive (or at least not get beat up terribly). I'm not going to be the first wave of gentrification pioneers, I will tell you that much.
Huge fortified wall. Churba + 3 volunteers as gun sentries. Saiga 12s with beanbag rounds and flashbang shells. Give me the gear necessary to build a mm-wave projector, and I could probably build a pretty effective ADS.
You do not fuck with armed geeks.
[Just trying to keep the dream alive with a vision of a GeekCompound.]
Huge fortified wall. Churba + 3 volunteers as gun sentries. Saiga 12s with beanbag rounds and flashbang shells. Give me the gear necessary to build a mm-wave projector, and I could probably build a pretty effective ADS.
You do not fuck with armed geeks.
[Just trying to keep the dream alive with a vision of a GeekCompound.]
Nope to the Saigas - unless we could afford the new Saiga Taktika version. A better idea is a nice, simple, pump-action, like a Mossberg 500. Right out the box, Bang some ghost ring sights on them - a child could shoot decently with ghost ring sights - and they're ready to go.
EDIT - I'm actually wondering how many of you would fold and how many would manage to make it to some semblance of combat readiness. Hard to figure.
Geeky urban pioneers could make for an awesome comic.
Actually, that's a really cool idea. I also wonder if there are additional government grants that might be brought into play to realize something of this nature.
Actually, that's a really cool idea. I also wonder if there are additional government grants that might be brought into play to realize something of this nature.
I'm actually more enthusiastic about the idea of the comic than the actual thing - Because as it stands, the actual thing is fun shit-talking with a faint glimmer of hope, but the comic, considering that talent and knowledge we have kicking around this forum, has the potential to be better than hopeful, with a faint glimmer of shit-talking.
Sketching now. Actually, I could write better scripts.
Ditto. Although, we could do an art/writing per-issue round-robin. Think Flight, but with a smaller, more collaborative pool of artists and a more specific setting.
I like it. I was thinking something like the suburbs have been abandoned (oil isn't a viable fuel anymore, and most of the plastics come from bio plastics; suburban life reached peak sustainability) and most everyone has moved towards the giant megalopolises. Since people still need room and food (or just want out of the Cities), little clusters of them go to the now completely-feral suburban ruins, and try to lay the foundations for new cities.
I can't draw for shite - Seriously, I make your average free 16 year old vanity project comic look like fucking Klimt - but I can write worth a damn, and I've got a lot of useful knowledge.
That aside, we've also got a hell of a talent pool here, not just of artists and writers, but of people with technical knowlege - Science, medicine, engineering, computing, knitting, ex-army, pilots, lawyers, so on, so fourth.
I like it. I was thinking something like the suburbs have been abandoned (oil isn't a viable fuel anymore, and most of the plastics come from bio plastics; suburban life reached peak sustainability) and most everyone has moved towards the giant megalopolises. Since people still need room and food (or just want out of the Cities), little clusters of them go to the now completely-feral suburban ruins, and try to lay the foundations for new cities.
You're right - near-future would be the go for this one. Lets us get away with a little more, too.
Another issue - What would be better, page by page style(usual), or episodic, as say, Freakangels does it(Episodes once per set interval, consisting of approximately 6 to 10 pages)?
Another issue - What would be better, page by page style(usual), or episodic, as say, Freakangels does it(Episodes once per set interval, consisting of approximately 6 to 10 pages)?
I think the episodic format would be best, especially if we swap out artists and writers. There's definitely pressure to have a faster pace with a comic that's published page-by-page, and I think this idea would benefit from a slower one.
Comments
Charge a cheap membership fee for non-residents using the 'Spaces to pay for materials, tools, and upkeep. Build a community that functions as a gestalt unit, a sort of Freemarket on earth.
That's just my idea anyway, and is only the result of about five minutes. The inner complex could easily be surrounded by full homes owned by residents of the commune, with the onsite residences working for those that come and go or are working on a long-term project and want to be right next-door to the labs.
Also, the idea isn't to come fully equipped with skills. It's to come, contribute, learn, and live. I know fuck all about cheesemaking; I bet you know something I don't. I'll trade you that for what I know about rocketry, silkscreening, and brewing.
I have to stop thinking about this idea, because if and when it becomes shit-talking, I will be very disappointed.
Also, I demand at least an acre for growing barley. We'll need a malthouse.
We could have a smokehouse on the premises.
Rym and I know Detroit pretty well, and I will tell you, sure it's a backup plan if I am in a state of super desperation, but if you have nice stuff in what is basically a lawless zone, it is like a magnet of "please fuck with us." The house Rym lived in when he was born got firebombed. The house next door blew up. Going home from the hockey game you would walk in a tunnel riddled with bullet holes. It's hard to exaggerate about the toughness necessary to survive (or at least not get beat up terribly). I'm not going to be the first wave of gentrification pioneers, I will tell you that much.
You do not fuck with armed geeks.
[Just trying to keep the dream alive with a vision of a GeekCompound.]
EDIT - I'm actually wondering how many of you would fold and how many would manage to make it to some semblance of combat readiness. Hard to figure.
Edit: Sorry, double posted.
That aside, we've also got a hell of a talent pool here, not just of artists and writers, but of people with technical knowlege - Science, medicine, engineering, computing, knitting, ex-army, pilots, lawyers, so on, so fourth. You're right - near-future would be the go for this one. Lets us get away with a little more, too.
Another issue - What would be better, page by page style(usual), or episodic, as say, Freakangels does it(Episodes once per set interval, consisting of approximately 6 to 10 pages)?