ChaoticMUX Pie 2005

[hkellick]

I don't know what posessed me to dreg this old parody out of the archives and see about updating it slightly (only slightly - it's one of my best parodies ever, I think.)

Half of you won't get this.
The other half probably won't care.

But for me.. and the two or three of you who might enjoy this:


Chaotic Pie
"ChaoticMUX Pie 2005" by LITE
A Parody of Don McLean's "American Pie
Author's Note: This song is not exactly chronological. Close, but not quite.
Also note... This song is truly full of references about important or amusing parts of our history. Maybe one day I'll "interpret" this song and tell you all the things I, personally, put in here. Feel free to try to "interpret" yourself, but you'll recieve neither confirmation nor disagreement from me. :) Still.

A long long time ago.
I can still remember how logging on used to make me smile.
And I knew that this was my chance.
To make the people laugh and prance.
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
But eights years later, I remember
a dream we couldn't quite dismember.
Real Life came and grabbed us.
I couldn't say who's saddest.
I do remember a great place
Where I felt at home and I showed my face.
and nothing here can quite replace..
My home, Chaotic, died.
So...

(Chorus)
Bye Bye to ChaoticMUX, Guys
Changed the IP
Not MIT.
Gave some newbies a try.
And our old players get all nostalgic and cry
singing "This is when ChaoticMUX died."
"This is when ChaoticMUX died."

Did you scavenge for the stuff?
And did you find all the crashes tough?
Did you ever find the den?
And, do you believe in FWAAA or Kw'ar?
Do you know who Enigma are?
And can you teach me how things were like then?
Well, you know that we're now 8 years old.
You know not to find the Dungeon hold.
We've all set our own +polls.
And we've thought our globals were droll.
I was a fresh-eared newbie from New York
With a sense of humor and a love of "Bork!"s.
But we know now I'm just a dork.
Because Chaotic died.
I started singing...

(Chorus)

Now, for five years, we've been on our own.
The world persists, though it hasn't grown.
But that's not how it used to be.
While the Jester romped with the King and Queen
In a world that wasn't straight or clean,
And a goal to enjoy all that that means.
And, oh, while the gates opened to flow,
(This happened a Long Time Ago)
The coins and clovers grew.
The banaenas did too.
Meanwhile, grew a page covered in talk.
The players learned to spot like hawks
The strangest walks that we could walk.
The day Chaotic died.
We were singing...

(Chorus)

Puzzles puzzling how to reclaim it all.
The Hat would help, but the both would still fall.
The TP'd rooms fit right in.
And oh no! falling to his whims,
Creating games with long acronyms.
And the Jester and the Queen both stacking wins.
Now the Robots Twain were sweet success,
Connecting us to all the rest.
The eggs were scattered round.
Oh, and the nuked boy's body found.
Do you recall the Sun God's big mess:
Impersonate and DoS?
Do you recall like all the rest?
the day Chaotic died
We started singing...

(Chorus)

Oh, and as the Legend clearly states,
The Queen, with Folgers, we'd replace.
With no wish left to try again.
So, come on, King so clever, King so great,
King learns just how to obfuscate.
And, when not looking, the King changed our base.
Oh, and as we heard the storied wit,
The Fool and Dark Elf grew a bit.
The typos command claimed
The Jester's million games.
And after we voted on Ministries
The King and Queen left MIT
In Boston, it finally dawned on me,
That Day, Chaotic died
We were singing...

(Chorus)

So here we are, a long time past
And I wonder 'bout our newbie cast.
The people aren't the same today.
I wonder whether I could go
where I felt so silly. Sadly no.
Cause that place has moved quite past this wizard's day...
And in that place and time quite past
The wizards joke and the players sass,
And very little's spoken
About the things still broken.
And of the things I miss the most.
The silly fun that I got to host.
Perhaps my mind is finally toast
Because Chaotic Died.
And we were singing...

(Chorus)

We were singing...

(Chorus)

Comments

[zorkian]

I guess I'm not supposed to tear up and get all sad at work... but this definitely did it to me.

I know pretty much all of what you're talking about... granted, I came late for a lot of it, but I heard the stories. And I was there for a lot of it.

To this day I have not found anything to replace Chaotic. Nothing that has held me, captivated me, nurtured me, loved me. The people I call friends now are just people I talk to. The people that I called friends then... have all drifted off into their own lives.

...

[dawnstar.livejournal.com]

What Marky said, really.

Chaotic will always hold a special place in my heart. Without it, I would never have met some of the most important people in my life - you, or Jen, or even my husband.

A lot of what you're talking about happened way before my time - I didn't join Chaotic until 1999 or so. But the sentiment is most definitely not lost on me. You did an excellent job with it.

[lite.livejournal.com]

*bows* Zank You :)

Chaotic will always hold a special place in my heart. It was like being host of one of the wildest dork parties ever! :D

[lite.livejournal.com]

Nor I.

I think that's the problem with Livejournal. See my comments below. Too many people on livejournal and once you become a host, you become a sort of internet celebrity.

There's no intimacy here.

You can't just hang out with your friends and be chatty, because LJ doesn't lend itself to that sort of atmosphere.

That's the problem with LJ, I think.

I know many of us have drifted off into our own lives, but so have you. Try getting together with them, or at least being chatty with them, and see where that takes you. The friendships you forged at Chaotic probably aren't so easily broken.
And we still love you.
...
So.. can I have your Bud LITE? ;)

[kolys.livejournal.com]

*applauds*

Bravo!

*wistful smile*

[lawchicky.livejournal.com]

:(
It sucks. I mean the song is great, but it sucks how the mux world has died :(
I get all sentimental about it every so often, but what can you do?

[lite.livejournal.com]

I intend to try and keep contact with the people I befriended on Chaotic. Maybe not as friends (some of them, certainly! Others have changed somewhat..)
That's what I can.
What can you do? :)

[lawchicky.livejournal.com]

For the most part, I do the same. I'm glad that LJ has been able to bring some of us together. Other people I try to catch on IM or I send emails to.. I just miss the frequency with which we were able to keep in touch with people on chaotic/global. It was like you always knew you could sign on for an hour or two before bed and find out what was going on with everyone at the same time. Oh the convenience!

[circa.livejournal.com]

Gosh - I remember Ministries now. That made me quite sad. It took me a long long time to realise that logging on just didn't feel the same any more, and it probably never would again. Since then I feel I've drifted from everyone there to a certain degree, most of them quite far.

[lite.livejournal.com]

I know I feel like you've drifted from everyone to a certain degree.
But, by the sounds of it, you're having a real tough time about it.
No worries, chica. When you've got your act together, most of us will still be here.

[circa.livejournal.com]

If it wasn't for the people on Chaotic I think my Livejournal would be almost dead by now. It is in many ways the last link I have with so many people I dearly want to stay in contact with me, but who all know each other much much more than I'll ever know them. I dunno, maybe I'm just too dwelling on the subject :)

[peachtess.livejournal.com]

*sighs* It really sucks that graphic online games have killed mu*'s. The few that are still around are mostly there now just for nostalgia and a way to talk to old friends with whom you have no other way of contacting. Laby was always my home and favorite but I had several others that held a special place in my heart and Chaotic was one of them. I think back sometimes with a sad smile at how we all used to huddle around one of the games. I remember especially acro and manacala. I still log onto laby and Chaotic but these days the most I do is idle.

[lite.livejournal.com]

I've spent time on some of those MPOORGS, and.. I was entierly unimpressed. Being on The Sims Online was.. like being on TinyTim... you met EVERYONE.. there was no closeness, no intimacy.. you couldn't have silly public conversations because, if there was a public channel, it was spammy and stupid.

I don't think the time for MU**s are done, but I do think they need to revolutionize it somewhat.
Chaotic.. all text word games.. offered something graphic games can't.. unlimited imagination. Games in Space, Games in fantasy worlds. Locations based on music or poetry.. all possible.
I'm not sure I believe MU**s are dead, just that it's not really for people like you or I anymore and that we, at least, have moved on.

[circa.livejournal.com]

I still spend time on text based places, but instead of a Mux I'm now on a Mud. At first, it was a game, then it became... well, I guess what you guys had with Chaotic - we have meetups, we see each other when we can (UK based ones anyhow). I moved from player to maker on it, and I dunno, I just feel almost as at home there as I did on Chaotic when I first logged on. And I remember my first log on to it. And nowhere could ever really match that mux wise, which is why perhaps I just don't try any. I thought about going back to Chaotic, but I just dont know. So much time has passed, and people have different timezones to I... I doubt there'd be much in it for me.

[kareila]

I don't understand why this makes people so sad. Times change, people grow, technology moves on. I'm grateful that so many of us met through Chaotic but its time came and went. Maybe I just feel that way because it took so much of my energy that I'm now channeling into other things, but I don't miss it. Things that seemed so important then don't seem important to me now.

I do like your song though. It is good to wander down memory lane occasionally.

[soreth.livejournal.com]

"And this too, shall passs."

[soreth.livejournal.com]

Sorry. *clears throat* Hissed a little there. Won't happen again.

[lite.livejournal.com]

I think maybe sad isn't quite the right word as.. nostalgic.
Chaotic was a good place and a good time. We met many neat people and had many amusing times.
I don't think there is anything that can really replace Chaotic. We'll have friends and clubs but I think Chaotic had something special that... what I, at least, have right now doesn't.
I, too, have found my time channelled into other fun and amusing acitivites. Once I had a girlfriend and a semblance of a "real life", I could never turn back to internet only, myself.

I think many of us miss being able to hang out with each other *looks up to Mark's entry*, the comradeship, the friendship, the... playground for our imagination and silliness.

If I recall correctly, as Chaotic waned, you were dissatisfied with what we had. You were looking for a better, more idyllic online community. I remember some of our discussions when I went to Boston.
*shrug*

[kareila]

Yeah, I wanted something more self-governing, because I was tired of playing babysitter. Ultimately I just didn't find the time and energy to invest in making that happen. Then it quieted down enough that it didn't need babysitting any more anyway.

[circa.livejournal.com]

For me personally, the sadness stems less in the actual mux as code, and more to the mux as social. Being so far away meant it was the only way of being in touch really I had for most people on it, and the more I spoke to people, the harder it was when things changed. Then, things changed for me, my life changed, and I wasn't online a whole bunch. Going back wasn't the same, so in essence I lost what I considered to be several friendships to a degree, most of which will likely not return.

But we do move on. It doesn't mean losing touch with peopele is easy though.