Greg_W Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 So I'm hiking through a waterfall yesterday thinking. You know, everyone from this website that I climb with invariably asks me if I know Trask. "Who is Trask?" "Do you know Trask?" "Is Trask really a convict?" "Does Trask really have a tattoo of Judy Garland on his neck?" Look, I don't know, but a parallel appeared to me as I hiked along. As you may or may not know, I'm a huge fan of Objectivist Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged; this book opened my eyes to many things. Anyway, I began to see a parallel here: Ayn Rand's characters are always asking "Who is John Galt?" Nobody seems to know who he is, but they know he moves among them. He's a mystery, a ghost, but also a real person who would wisk away the brightest minds to 'Galt's Gulch' to revive America. Could it be that Trask is OUR John Galt? Will Trask appear to each of us, when we are ready, and offer us the opportunity to join 'Trask's Gulch' and reshape America? Will Trask address us all on the radio and give a too-fucking-long speech that will explain what is wrong with America and what can be done to correct it? Is it starting on cc.com? Is the re-claiming of American greatness starting here with our 'John Galt', Trask? Discuss... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 just like rand's book...i figured out what this post was about in the 1st bit and never finnished it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_W Posted January 27, 2003 Author Share Posted January 27, 2003 just like rand's book...i figured out what this post was about in the 1st bit and never finnished it.. Your loss on both counts, my brother by another mother... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COL._Von_Spanker Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 just like rand's book...i figured out what this post was about in the 1st bit and never finnished it.. Good one EriK... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 there is no trask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minx Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 funny, i liked that book the first time but here long speeches made it unreadable the second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisT Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 This is what I think trask looks like: BTW "The Shield" is one sick show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 there is a member here that has a picture of me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skisports Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 And Maybe there will be this secert city in Colorado where will all live and climb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minx Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 secret city in CO where we can live in climb. i'm in! ok-suddenly trask doesn't seem quite so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 pfft...rado is in no way the secret land of the promised... r there even any hungarian base jumpers there?? i mean that is the sign of true sickness!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucK Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 Will Trask appear to each of us, when we are ready, I think that is called "latent homosexuality". No thank you. I do not want to sit in a hot tub and eat crab with Alpine K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayner Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 I used to think this man, known only as "The Continental", was Trask. But I'm not sure anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 Trask lives to keep us guessing. The day he is found out is the day he jumps to another bulletin board. I too tried getting through Atlas Shrugged, but it couldn't keep my attention. Rand is too preachy and heavy handed for me. Figuratively, it's like being clubbed over the head. She has some good ideas, but instead of showing us and letting us make inferences, she prefers to TELL us in the baldest of terms. I saw the movie The Fountainhead with Gary Cooper recently and her preaching was hard to take- no subtlety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_W Posted January 27, 2003 Author Share Posted January 27, 2003 I think she choses that style on purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minx Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 read a biography about her a while back. from the notes of hers that were included i would say that greg w was right. her editors apparently fought w/her to shorten those speeches. She seemed to feel that the general public needed the point pounded into them. Much the way she treats the average person in her stories as a brainless follower, she seemed to view the real world much the same way. At least that's what i gleened from the biography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 (edited) I heard that 98% of Trask's DNA is identical to chimpanzee DNA. No really, I think Godot is a better comparison than John Galt. Vlasdimir and Estragon are always hanging around waiting for the dude to show up... he tells them he's gonna but he never does. And Trask has said he's gonna be at HOW MANY pub clubs, rope ups etc. now but has reportedly never appeared... Edited January 27, 2003 by Dru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are great books, albeit very heavy handed. To say they should be less heavy handed would defeat the point that Ayn Rand is trying to get across. That being said, while I like a lot of what she says there are a few things that are quite amusing. Example: How ironic is it that at the center of a book about rugged individualism (even in Galt's Gulch) and the importance of living for the sake of one's beliefs, there is a card for the Objectivist Club in which you can sit around and talk about how much you all think alike. Damned funny. Second, despite all attempts at having strong female characters (remarkable, especially for the '20s), they all fall into pods of jelly at the sight of a francisco d'anconia who is such an absurd walking stereotype that it detracts from the book. I think that it is inconsistent, but probably a reflection of Rand's own path with men. In a broader sense, I think that what Rand is really trying to convey is the search for Quality. This is the essence of what everyone in Galt's Gulch was looking for. I just happen to think that Pirsig had a much better developed idea of the concept and a far less heavy handed and technocratic way of developing the ideas in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. So, if Trask is going to lead us to enlightenment and personal achievement, perhaps it should be Belaying and the art of Trail Mainenance? Besides, it is a bit less uber-greed than Ayn Rand. Now how's that for uncalled for abstraction on cc.com? I think I need more coffee.... Oh yeah, and if you've never read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, check for it here for a free copy to read online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North_by_Northwest Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 As stated by Mr. W: "So I'm hiking through a waterfall yesterday thinking. You know, everyone from this website that I climb with invariably asks me if I know Trask." To me this is so sad. When I go climbing or hiking or anywhere for that matter I try not to think about this website at all. Doing something is far better than this, especially outside. What was the waterfall like Greg? Or was your mind so clouded by thoughts of Trask and the cyber outdoor world that you didn't notice much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_W Posted January 28, 2003 Author Share Posted January 28, 2003 To me this is so sad. When I go climbing or hiking or anywhere for that matter I try not to think about this website at all. Doing something is far better than this, especially outside. What was the waterfall like Greg? Or was your mind so clouded by thoughts of Trask and the cyber outdoor world that you didn't notice much? Actually, it was the waterfall on the Lake Serene trail. That thing was raging like I've never seen it; not even in spring. The trail had at least 6 major stream crossings (unavoidable water above my boot tops) and the base of the waterfall (Bridal Veil) was like walking into a fire hose. Pretty cool, all in all. Ah, I don't know why I was thinking about that; when I hike by myself random thoughts stream through my head. Whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 No, I don't think about people on this bulletin board when I am out hiking or climbing, but I sometimes do when I am doing the dishes or other mindless things. Speaking of which, trask hasn't weighed in in quite a while... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 I read a funny review by Ed Abbey of "Zen & Motorcycle etc." which points out all the flaws in the books statements about motorcycle maintenance. Apparently Pirsig didn't know much about motorcycles. I read that ZAMM book by the way and thought it epitomized crap 70s psychobabble. Buckminster Fuller is way more interesting from that time period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 Yeah, there's problems with his philosophy too. But, that's not really the point. There's almost always something to pick apart in any novel. We could do plenty of that with Abbey's work too, esp. Desert Solitaire. But, it would be a bit counterproductive to throw the baby out with the dishwater. I think that ZAMM was far less "70's psychobabble' than Abbey and is still pretty relevant today. From talking to people about ZAMM, they tend to fall into 2 groups: those that read it and really like it and those that get partway in and drop it (or finish it by brute force of will alone). I think people get that way with the Spray section on CC.com too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 I was in Zion one time and got rained off a wall. Sitting around bumming in the campsite about the weather I read Desert Solitaire and realized I should be happy to be in the desert during a rainstorm. went for a hike instead and watched the vegetation do its stuff in the shower. Flowers were busting out everywhere by the time we got back to camp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 Dru Fletcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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