sburstall Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 (edited) LOL, I found this abstract while searching for other fantasy systems out there. This was dated in 1999. Boy does Mr. Ritter have a lot of catching up to do. All have a good read.... Ritter, Jonathan"S(t)imulating Community: Virtual Drum and Bugle Corps and the Hyperreal" Despite its relatively brief existence, the Internet has created radically new modes of communication and self-expression among a growing segment of the world population with access to its technology. Perhaps most significantly, the web has provided a space for the extension and/or creation of communities—serious, playful, and imagined—that re-envision the parameters of human interaction. When communities of common interest relocate or form anew online, they exist in varying degrees of separation from the corporeal world; on the far end of this spectrum lies the simulated community, a web of interaction without referent in the "actual" world. This paper will explore the relationship between the virtual and actual worlds maintained by one such community, the followers of drum and bugle corps, and the loosening ties of referentiality in that relationship as virtual simulation occurs. The drum and bugle corps community in the United States and Europe first approached the Internet primarily as a tool for communication and self-promotion. Drum corps newspapers and organizations went online in the early 1990s, using webpages to promote events and the activity as a whole with slick graphics, video clips, chatrooms, and scores from the summer competition circuit. The most unique corps-related web phenomenon, however, is the emerging realm of "fantasy drum corps," in which dozens of fictitious drum and bugle corps compete in imaginary online competitions. Drawing on cannibalized scores from the regular drum corps season, virtual corps directors construct their units literally from the pieces of actual corps, selecting particular drum lines, horn lines, and visual effects to determine scoring in the online competitions. Unlike similar fantasy sports leagues, fantasy drum corps has spawned a creative world of fictitious competitors, each with their own web page, show concept, uniform, musical repertoire, and organizational history. The material on these sites is a mixture of appropriated images from actual corps’ webpages, names and information lampooning known figures and actual corps, and newly created concepts and repertoire. These sites recall Jean Baudrillard’s assertion of the hyperreal; the circulation and recycling of (real) drum corps images disintegrating into self-referential details and constant reproduction. I will explore the multiple strategies virtual corps players utilize to both simulate and stimulate the actual drum and bugle corps community, challenging corps traditions with creative innovations while evoking nostalgia for the "real thing"—drum corps and community—through appropriations of cherished symbols. Edited February 21, 2006 by sburstall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bssop97 Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 I just shoot coffee out of my nose on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburstall Posted February 21, 2006 Author Share Posted February 21, 2006 I just shoot coffee out of my nose on that one. First off...ouch!!! second - :spit: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburstall Posted February 21, 2006 Author Share Posted February 21, 2006 (edited) I will explore the multiple strategies virtual corps players utilize to both simulate and stimulate the actual drum and bugle corps community, challenging corps traditions with creative innovations while evoking nostalgia for the "real thing"—drum corps and community—through appropriations of cherished symbols.On a bit of a serious note, since this was the abstract of his paper I wonder how it went.Upon further researching, the writer of this abstract marched with Troopers. This would explain how he knew about fantasy drum corps systems. Edited February 21, 2006 by sburstall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgailp Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 (edited) The MUD I was in during 94-95 was essentially a cross between the way the fantasy corps are now and plain ole chat rooms. CyberCorps "competed" with a combination of captions from live corps and member participation. Rehearsal (chat) was Thursday nights, with a static bbs system set up for communication the rest of the time. It was actually encouraged to "march" with something you would never really take on the field, hence my "playing" contra. Edit: We had blazingly bright yellow shirts someone made up so we could recognize each other at live shows. Edited March 1, 2006 by mgailp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburstall Posted March 1, 2006 Author Share Posted March 1, 2006 I remember the shirts. That's how I met Vince Lamb when he had it on at the Wyandotte show in '90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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