Someday, somewhere, somehow -- everything will be funny for everyone.-- Robert Stone, Damascus Gate.
Someday, somewhere, somehow -- everything will be funny for everyone.A Faith for the New Millennium
It's three words: Must be funny. It's the name, the whole doctrine and belief system, the one commandment, the discipline practiced by the faithful, the spiritual goal . . .more
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19 AUG 2008Funny world adventureAs the serious world's clock ticks down to its final collapse, funny world pioneers gather to plot our escape. Our secret meetings are disguised as parties, often held in public places, our revolutionary proposals announced loudly to roars of laughter. Welcome to funny world. Serious world does not want to let us go. It does not permit any competition. Its agents of the Inquisition are everywhere, and even control our minds. Every funny heretic is liable to lapse into seriousness and fall back into the clutches of serious world. In funny world we recognize this weakness and put it to use. Every funny heretic is sworn in as a secret agent of the loyal Inquisition. Whenever we detect any seriousness we attack. If the Inquisition forces prevail over the heretics, the serious activity is stopped and all funny money involved is seized by the Inquisition. This is useful quality control and keeps funny world funny. It gives serious people a job and prevents any serious problems from coming to the attention of the authorities of serious world. Then we're free to build funny world and party hearty. Our day-to-day goal is to make funny money, which is based on laughter production in parties and everywhere else in funny world, whatever funny stories, games and sitcoms we can create. As pioneers in funny world, we're on an adventure of discovery of this unknown territory. Will we find the secret of funniness, or be driven mad by the uncertainty of an ever-changing world with only one rule: must be funny? Those who survive can carve out rich estates in funny world, go into funny business, and become funny money tycoons as others follow. What about doomed serious world? Don't we need it for party supplies? That's another story and another adventure, the secret subversion of serious world.
558716 AUG 2008Funny world age inversionIn funny world age runs backwards. The youngest kids rule and make the most funny money, and adults fade out of the picture. They wouldn't understand it anyway. But if they do they'll try to shut funny world down, so it has to stay underground.
Funny world youth is 1000 divided by age. This is the number of dollars an hour we earn in funny world for work or play, the number of votes we have in any funny decision. Whenever we join funny world we're at our peak. It's all downhill from there, so make the most of it. We're all born funny, and get more serious as we age. Then the older kids and adults will get serious and try to shut the younger ones down -- too wild, making trouble. They have a point. They've lived through it. Some funny stuff leads to serious trouble. Then funny world is always up against the Inquisition, which can shut down anything serious. That keeps funny world funny. Disputes are usually clearcut: This is serious, it has to stop. If not clear, it can come to a vote, where youth has an advantage, or it may be decided before that by funny money. Funny money is much more powerful than voting. Even though youth have more earning power, those in funny world for a long time have more funny money, especially if we're funny. Besides our age-based minimum wage of $50 or $100 per hour, we earn more funny money when we make people laugh. That's what they spend their funny money on. We get richer and richer, and invest our wealth in funny world, shaping it to our desires. If we invest in anything that turns out to be serious, the Inquisition may take it. Some girls have declared they're worth three times as much as boys in earning power and votes. They've formed the Brehon Society, referring back 2000 years to ancient Ireland, where under Brehon law female slaves were the unit of currency, worth three male slaves or three cattle. Some boys are happy to serve in the girls' Brehon Society as male slaves and be taken advantage of. The rest maintain their own traditional gangs but they may be on the losing end of history as we move into the funny age.
558010 AUG 2008Funny world is storiesThe jobs are acting. The roles are performances. We don't work to produce but to entertain. Adventure may be a better concept than world-building. Even serious world is not built, though some may try. Most of us work at making money and pursuing our interests, and the world is what results. Similarly funny world is what results from making funny money. But how and why would we make that switch? It could be as simple as a children's game. They'll get much further with funny money than they could with serious money. That looks like the core game and a shortcut. With teens and adults we have to work harder, and it may make sense to invoke an ideal world, or salvation and freedom, or a struggle with the old order, or a fabulous treasure or invention. Though disbelieved, we need this phony motivation to develop the funny economy.
556725 JUL 2008Sitcom: grand ambitions, hopeless executionFunny people have a formula to escape from serious world, which is obviously impossible. The simplistic formula and our manufactured opposition ensure disbelief. Must be funny is clealy inadequate, just a pretense at revolution. Nevertheless it's a fun game to see how far we can take it, and it creates a social group. It's a familiar old sitcom scenario: grand ambitions contrasting with hopeless, inadequate, homemade execution. Must be funny as failure, but we pursue the delusion indefinitely.
553624 JUL 2008Wanted: Pioneers, players and partiers in Prescottfor a subversive funny mission to overcome terminal seriousness and create a new culture of foolishness. We're creating funny world in the face of the overwhelming dominance of serious world, which does not want to let us go. We follow just one rule, must be funny, to stay in funny world and maintain its boundaries. We get some protection from the funny religious mission, which follows the one commandment -- must be funny. We save our souls by becoming funny, which is the higher consciousness of the new age of Aquarius. We create funny world as heaven on earth. Funny world runs on funny money, which is based on laughter and drives our funny activities, such as parties, performances and pranks. Both funny world and funny money are in their infancy, ready for development by creative pioneers. Yet we must work in the shadows of serious world. Must be funny has been condemned as a heresy by the Inquisition, which also tries to seize our funny money. Apply for entry to this secret underground conspiracy as heretic and/or undercover agent of the Inquisition to Derek at 778-9137 or derekb@northlink.com.
553417 JUL 2008Funny has no plansFunny has no plans. Funny destroys plans and creates chaos. We proceed with great purpose, intensity and enthusiasm, with vast plans and goals which are bound to be destroyed. That's funny. So the plans and goals really don't matter. We truly disbelieve them, then suspend our disbelief to perform the play. If some of our creations survive that's a running joke, part of our sitcom, and the longer the funnier.
551913 JUL 2008Address to Prescott Unitarian Universalist FellowshipGood morning! I'm Derek Brownlee and I'm delighted to accept your invitation to be your new minister, and excited that you are the first congregation in Prescott to convert to the funny faith. I know this will come as a surprise to some of you, but it's not as big a change as you may fear. Will we be putting up the must be funny logo in rotating neon on the roof? No, must be funny is an underground religion, condemned as a heresy by the Inquisition. We must keep it secret, and use Unitarianism as a cover. There will be no change in the Unitarian symbols, literature or order of service. Those who are comfortable as Unitarians should continue to practice, and maintain the illusion of a serious orthodox fellowship that nobody notices. Continue . . .Keep on reading in archives: May-June
2008 contents
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True, False or Funny? Getting your way with triple logic 2008 archives
Print funny money at: mustbefunny.com
To move
ahead we need a new set of lies.
"How do I save my own life?" the poet asked. "By
being a fool," God
said.
Do nothing.
Time is too precious to waste.
IF THE FOOL WOULD PERSIST
IN HIS FOLLY HE WOULD BECOME WISE
Of all our senses, the most highly developed
is nonsense.
Start off each day with a smile and get it over with. ~~ W. C. Fields
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