We make our own entertainment.

[azurelunatic]

Assorted things in IRC led to the concept of The History of LJ: The Opera! The following features contributions from everyone who was there, including, but not limited to, gameboyguy13, pauamma, kamara, right and whatever phoenix's username is phoenixdreaming.

We'd need a Brad. Casting call followed. We'd need Brad's Mom, Developers, a User Chorus, Trolls, Ops, a clashing, sequin-studded dance troupe to represent Icons, a pantomime Goat (Frank), a backdrop to the set that changes every minute or so, pulled in and out by stagehands dressed in otherwise inexplicable colorful horse costumes...

Part of the opera must be dedicated to the blackout.

The entire house goes black, and a very tight spotlight falls on a soloist pulled from the user chorus (probably a soprano). She starts singing while fumbling around in the dark.

Another spotlight on the other side of the stage, and another soprano soloist from the user chorus starts. They're facing away from each other, unaware of each other.This section might be in the form of a round.

The basses start in, very quietly, with "re-load. re-load. re-load." All is still in darkness.

A larger spotlight represents IRC, with volunteers joining together, still with the sopranos as counterpoint.

Lights come up very dimly; Emergency Backup Journal locations are apparent. The meet-and-greet from the chorus swells, and the number ends to make way as Ops tries to clear up the mess.

The heartrendingly comic "Big Red Button" duet between Ops and the Colo Klutz follows. The Big Red Button will be visible for the entire show; many of the dance routines will come perilously close to it. Later, a bowl of petunias may fall on it.

right brought up Nipplegate. OK. "...We use these boobs to feed our baby / We don't care 'bout lotus pods or other slightly shady / forms of nipples on the internet..."

DDoS attacks are clearly a great moment for a zombie crowd; this is where the Ops' song "Send Shotguns and Fire" comes in (an obvious homage to "Lawyers, Guns, and Money").

The chorus will have parts for different prominent portions of the userbase as well as SATB, and should be able to dance as well as sing, because there's no way that we can represent scrolling through the friendspage without a whole lot of sound and motion.

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

Don't forget visions... LJ being essentially threatened, volunteers being harassed, customization being shut down, and a vast quantity of Support volunteers striking. And that was just the public half of things going on at the time.

[azurelunatic]

That was before my time. This opera is going to need an intermission!

[exor674.livejournal.com]

Only one?

I think this opera would have to be a multi-day Opera-extravaganza!

[leora.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it was dramatic.

[azurelunatic]

I bet.

[ruisseau.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is teh crack!

And it's not even the whole story!

The LJ Opera would probably have to be longer than the Ring Cycle.

[azurelunatic]

Probably. Or have to be very carefully edited, or only be selected bits of it.

The History of the Internet might be the Token Ring Cycle.

[sraun]

{groan}

Which is the best possible response!

[azurelunatic]

:D

[tango.livejournal.com]

yes
Yes
YES

[azurelunatic]

Right now we're considering the songs.

[gameboyguy13.livejournal.com]

phoenixdreaming :)

[azurelunatic]

Edited!

[hakeber.livejournal.com]

This must be done! Yes!

[azurelunatic]

So the lights come up on Brad in his dorm room, surrounded by Devs, and they sing "The Virtues of Being Lazy (Programmers' Anthem)", followed by Brad's solo, "This is a Test".

[hakeber.livejournal.com]

Wow. Those very first entries look more like Twitter.

And I see evidence of functionality that no longer exists: ...friend.bml?who=alexis

Wonder what that used to bring up?

[azurelunatic]

Probably alexis.

[hakeber.livejournal.com]

So, predecessor of lj user=?

Heh, it's like an archaeological dig.

[azurelunatic]

Isn't it cool? :D

So, after "This is a Test", we've got "Out of Beta", and then probably "Friends Page", where the start of the User Chorus (representing Brad's friends) demonstrate a typical day.

[hakeber.livejournal.com]

That sounds about right.

[nekosensei.livejournal.com]

I think if anybody seriously considered doing this, they should do it as a podcast.

Hmm...I can sing. Maybe I'll try out for Brad's mom... :)

[azurelunatic]

It would be interesting as a vidcast, too.

[museumfreak.livejournal.com]

omg. must have log. plz.

[azurelunatic]

:D (Reload.)