Letters to the Editor, Issue #15

Not tonight honey. I have a modem.

Dear THINK,

Big up to all those out there that still believe in unity. It's a reality not a utopia. f*ck all those who abuse our scene by bringing their negative ways into something which should only be positive. I'd like to extend a big ol' hug to those who still believe laughing, smiling, dancing, and having a f*ckin mad time at a party.

Please respect one another!

I'm relatively new to the Prague scene and love that you guys do this so I can find out about things such as parties, clubs, people, etc. And what is Cibulka's address? LOVE to all those out there who are on a positive tip! Awhile back you mentioned PLUR, and as we all know the "four pillars" of the "house" or "rave" community are PEACE, LOVE, UNITY, and RESPECT.

And then suddenly it all came clear to me. You can't have peace, love, and unity without respect. And even more importantly, each individual is responsible for finding and maintaining and giving peace, love, unity, and respect. It isn't just handed to you. It doesn't just magically appear because you've arrived at a rave or taken some acid or ecstacy. You have to find it and generate it for yourself, and then GIVE IT AWAY to anyone and everyone to sort of "jump start" them into generating it. The "giving away" of it is what makes up, in my mind, the "vibe."

PEACE - Peace is what you use to chill out when the sound system blows and the music stops for ten minutes. It's what you use when some idiot keeps bumping in to you while dancing. It's sort of like serenity and being calm. sh*t happens, and you deal with it.

LOVE - Love is an unconditional appreciation of something or someone. It combines with peace to allow you to think things like "Frankie Bones isn't a bad guy, in spite of his flapping mouth." The peace gives you the chill factor so you can get to the unconditional love.

UNITY - Once you have peace and love, unity follows in that you can appreciate other people and other things, and this appreciation allows you to work together with them, or spend time together with them, and otherwise support them, even if you don't always agree with them. A sense of something "bigger" than just yourself and your own pleasure is part of unity - in the case of us in Prague, the "bigger" thing is an interest in the odd social phenomena known as "raving." Unity helps me to do things like throw good parties for the neo-ravers, even though there *are* people who read Think and who might come to these parties who I'd rather not have anything to do with... it is in the spirit of greater unity that I chill with these feelings (peace again) and welcome everyone into my home so they can be together and have fun.

RESPECT - This, to me, is the key that is often missing in our scene. People get too much into talking sh*t (and I admit, I've been guilty of this) and gossiping negatively about those close to them.

People are more worried about being DISrespected by others, rather than concentrating on generating and giving respect. This is the most difficult one for me to explain, because I've had the least amount of time to think about it...

Respect includes things like NOT setting fires in the bathrooms of clubs, picking up your trash, and giving whatever you can as a donation when the hat is passed at a free event.

It also includes separating yourself from that what you don't like, while allowing it to continue uninterrupted because people other than yourself are getting enjoyment from it (for example, take my feelings toward the majority of breakbeat: I really don't like it, so when it is played I go chill with some friends and wait until the set is over.

I used to whine and complain, but then it sunk in to me that OTHER people were getting something from it, and by trying to suppress their enjoyment I was showing extreme disrespect for them.

What you guys are doing here with Think is a very special and unique thing, and I hope that you keep rockin' in '98! And if you guys can, I think you should keep up with the listings in Czech, many of my students say they appreciate it, and I'm sure they'd love to see even more stuff in Czech. - Laura La Gassa, Praha 10

Hey Laura,

Thanks for the kind words. Your letter about PLUR is right on target, coz the scene here is currently suffering from a major case of can't-get-it-togetheritis. Petty bickering and small mindedness towards those who express themselves differently leads to a pretty boring weekend indeed. In fact I challenge ALL the club promoters to UNITE and put Prague on the f*ckin' party map! There are a lot of souls out there, and together we can turn this city around! So if the night is slow, lower the cover charge, if you know someone's throwing a big bash, hold yours until the next night. Clubbing isn't just about how much money you can make, or how big of a star you are, it's about the people coming together and loving one another. Werd, the Editor.

Dear Think,
How come you guys never print any poetry? There are many great poets here in Prague, just come by Beef Stew at Radost to see for yourself. Here's a poem I wrote just for you.
The people came From all over,
And they came to the meeting house,
They came to learn,
And they came to teach,
They came for knowledge
And they came to evolve
For that is the only way
Forward.

- Luke Woods