the first and last time i heard about key parties was the ice storm.
― scott seward, Monday, 9 September 2013 14:36 (ten years ago) link
does that periodical you collected have any references to such parties, LL?
― is space noise (mh), Monday, 9 September 2013 14:37 (ten years ago) link
Key party[edit source | editbeta]"Key party" redirects here. For the cryptographic identification event, see Key signing party.
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Monday, 9 September 2013 14:38 (ten years ago) link
NPR's Fresh Air @nprfreshair 17mTODAY: Jonathan Lethem's politically radical family, growing up on a commune, + Grandma's sex life inspired his new novel Dissident Gardens.
― lag∞n, Monday, 9 September 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
Side note, the fact that Lethem's new novel is set in Queens makes me suspicious that he's actually an agent of gentrifying real estate interests. That said, I will probably read it.
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Monday, 9 September 2013 14:40 (ten years ago) link
haha
― lag∞n, Monday, 9 September 2013 14:42 (ten years ago) link
does that periodical you collected have any references to such parties, LL?i was wondering just that -- i haven't looked through all of them because i was saving them for later -- they are a finite resource -- but maybe this calls for some investigation.
― no fomo (La Lechera), Monday, 9 September 2013 14:48 (ten years ago) link
Key parties split my parents up. My mum was attending them, my dad wasn't. /therapy
I'm not about to ask my mum about them tho eugh gross
― he had tons of money in the bank and left the toilet seat up (NotEnough), Monday, 9 September 2013 14:57 (ten years ago) link
that sucks, but also it's v interesting. probably not an isolated incident.
― no fomo (La Lechera), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:04 (ten years ago) link
i take the Tupperware thing simply to mean that it was a party where women could be in a non-male space and drink and chat and whatever, same sort of principle as book clubs in recent years?
in the third Rabbit novel - Rabbit is Rich i think - there's a whole awkwardly self-conscious couples swinging scene which taps into that same middle class underbelly in the 70s vibe as The Ice Storm
― iMacaroon dragoons (Noodle Vague), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:07 (ten years ago) link
every sequel to fear of flying to thread too -- but that's all fiction. i want to know what really happened at these parties.
― no fomo (La Lechera), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:10 (ten years ago) link
an oral history, if you will
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:11 (ten years ago) link
it's an interesting question - a lot of contempo fiction makes a deal of this scene but how real was it and how much was just contempo fiction feeding off itself? offhand i can't think of any other big social crazes that have been mostly pure fiction tho
― iMacaroon dragoons (Noodle Vague), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:14 (ten years ago) link
There's definitely something to the fact that "dark underbellies" make for good fiction and therefore may have a kind of exaggerated presence in our minds as a result.
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:15 (ten years ago) link
has anyone written a book/made a movie that exposes the dark underbelly of suburban life? i think that'd be a pretty good idea.
― Spectrum, Monday, 9 September 2013 15:17 (ten years ago) link
someone should write a book exposing the warm, soft underbelly of the crack trade
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:18 (ten years ago) link
there's some interesting work been done on the extent to which cannibalism was a fiction of Western travel writers/novelists which isn't quite the same thing but close enough
― iMacaroon dragoons (Noodle Vague), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:21 (ten years ago) link
i can't think of any other big social crazes that have been mostly pure fiction tho
― iMacaroon dragoons (Noodle Vague), Monday, September 9, 2013 11:14 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/3524/
― lag∞n, Monday, 9 September 2013 15:23 (ten years ago) link
oh yeah good shout. not immortalized in fiction much yet tho afaik
― iMacaroon dragoons (Noodle Vague), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:27 (ten years ago) link
i mean there's a bunch of urban legend scare stuff, still see "watch out for vicious crims handing out LSD disguised as sweeties" notices on the reg
it just seems like even swingers prob want to be able to choose who they do sex with
― lag∞n, Monday, 9 September 2013 15:29 (ten years ago) link
definitely, but then i reckon in a party with maybe 6 couples, fixing the draw shd be pretty straightforward and probly happened more often than not
― iMacaroon dragoons (Noodle Vague), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:31 (ten years ago) link
invite one ugly couple for the "russian roulette" variation
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Monday, 9 September 2013 15:33 (ten years ago) link
"there's some interesting work been done on the extent to which cannibalism was a fiction of Western travel writers/novelists which isn't quite the same thing but close enough"
THE most popular literary genre in America for many years was the captivity narrative. often padded and puffed up and made more scary. or even made up completely.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captivity_narrative
― scott seward, Monday, 9 September 2013 15:36 (ten years ago) link
I think the compelling aspect of the 70s key party is that they were both widespread and casual, which pretty clearly wasn't the case, even if they did happen sometimes.
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Monday, 9 September 2013 16:03 (ten years ago) link
the 70s key party myth, I should say
i totally believe that there were 70's hot tub swing parties and there were definitely places like plato's retreat where things got crazy. but i had never heard of the key thing until the book. cool idea anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato's_Retreat
― scott seward, Monday, 9 September 2013 16:05 (ten years ago) link
lol
― carl agatha, Monday, 9 September 2013 16:39 (ten years ago) link
thought that was gonna be a treeship post for a second, there
― is space noise (mh), Monday, 9 September 2013 16:41 (ten years ago) link
in elementary school i had a friend who had just moved from california and he asked me one day if my parents ever had naked parties
― lag∞n, Monday, 9 September 2013 16:50 (ten years ago) link
my wife can tell you about some scary parties in the 70's...
you know, hippie drug parties and stuff. they always sound like a nightmare to me. people blowing pot smoke into her face and stuff when she was little. damn hippies.
― scott seward, Monday, 9 September 2013 17:22 (ten years ago) link
I had this American Studies class on the postwar period that was kind of premised on the idea that postwar suburbia was a pill-addled horrorfest. In retrospect, while suburban life is worthy of critique, the tone of the course seems a bit hysterical.
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Monday, 9 September 2013 17:23 (ten years ago) link
xp want some whiskey in your water, some sugar in your tea
it wasn't leave to beaver, i will tell you that much
― is space noise (mh), Monday, 9 September 2013 17:28 (ten years ago) link
heavy domestic booze consumption was probly much more socially acceptable from the 40s thru 70s than it is today, it's not a massive stretch to believe that prescription drugs and then some non-prescription drugs wouldn't have been a massive no-no in the same era
― iMacaroon dragoons (Noodle Vague), Monday, 9 September 2013 17:30 (ten years ago) link
we're all alright we're all alright hello wisconsin
― how's life, Monday, 9 September 2013 17:30 (ten years ago) link
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 9 September 2013 17:34 (ten years ago) link
i actually kinda thought this was cute/funny. such a rarity to not hate facebook stuff that looks like it was shared a zillion times.
https://sphotos-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/1000964_659407387411334_733906806_n.jpg
― scott seward, Monday, 9 September 2013 17:34 (ten years ago) link
ok i lol'ed
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 9 September 2013 17:36 (ten years ago) link
I don't understand this "suburbia" stuff...as if suburbs are one giant boring blob with neat front lawns and topiary. People who didn't grow up in them started this. To hear my mom tell it, the suburbs were more liberal in the sixties and seventies...they owned their own single-family property instead of taking in boarders or being one yourself.
In my early years I had to live with grandparents , cousins and an elderly couple all in one building...I was really happy but that is how my parents grew up...in a crowded apartment block.
Marijuana...shit, we had heroin dealers a few blocks away. No, it isn't "cool" - they were scary people and neither smart nor "liberal".
― Patriotic When Convenient (I M Losted), Monday, 9 September 2013 17:39 (ten years ago) link
https://sphotos-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/q77/1234305_10152206256353986_1114325619_n.jpg
― Mordy , Monday, 9 September 2013 19:48 (ten years ago) link
i can think of two things wrong with these wacky science jokes
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 9 September 2013 20:20 (ten years ago) link
what a horribly formed wacky science "joke"
― Neil S, Monday, 9 September 2013 20:30 (ten years ago) link
they sound like jokes from the big bag theory
― Spectrum, Monday, 9 September 2013 20:31 (ten years ago) link
double joke!
― Roberto Spiralli, Monday, 9 September 2013 20:32 (ten years ago) link
why is there no aspirin in the jungle? because the acetaminophen - double joke! - i have cancer
― Roberto Spiralli, Monday, 9 September 2013 20:35 (ten years ago) link
loool spiralli
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 9 September 2013 20:36 (ten years ago) link
hahahaha
― carl agatha, Monday, 9 September 2013 20:37 (ten years ago) link
don't tell terrible science jokes
watch Look Around You instead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnNisSksR1s
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 9 September 2013 20:40 (ten years ago) link
fwiw that "middle aged" thing skot posted is from Private Eye and probably looks like that because they print it on terrible paper
― many a slip 'twixt Yow and Yip (DJ Mencap), Monday, 9 September 2013 21:03 (ten years ago) link