TITLE:THE SCENOLOGY CHAT YOU WON'T MANAGE TO FINISH PALETTE:0223 099a 08a9 0cc9 3 A VERY DEEP SCENOLOGY ANALYSIS WITH MOP OF ALCATRAZ 3By 1Mop 3and 2Macno 2Everybody knows that, after Beppe and maybe few others, Mop of Alcatraz is one 2of the most authoritative and serious Scene Analysts around. He has 2collaborated with important mags like MC disk and Upstream always showing 2brilliant and enlightening points of view about the most important scene 2problems. He has helped also minor mags, contributing with equally valuable 2articles and giving therefore a rare example of sense of solidarity and 2philanthropy. 2We have the pleasure of having him in our Scenarium parlour, here we can discuss 2calmly and serenely about the scene and its matters. Tell us Mop (can we 2address to you in such a friendly way?) what are your concerns about the overall 2demo-packs situation now? As you know we have made a deep and complete 2analysis, in the last issue of Scenarium, about this important topic for the 2scene. Are there too many 3packs2? What can we do to solve the problem? There can never be a single, direct solution to problems. Opinions vary from person to person. They change as time flows by. More than often opinions are suppressed, modelled at will and twisted by the power of the press. So it is of vital importance to try to understand that the discussion about packs can never be dealt with in a complete way, moreover dare to state that a conclusive evaluation can be extracted. In fact what you alluded to as a "deep and complete solution" was in fact only a mere try to embark upon such a worldly problem. Having donated a vast part of my life for the cause of the packs problem, I have come to a point where it is possible to make a correlation. Packs are like a glass with a minuscule hole in the bottom. Such an empty glass is perfectly utilisable until the time comes when water has to be poured inside. The glass can contently accommodate a few drops, but as soon as the water level accumulates, pressure starts forcing some drops out of the hole. Packs come and go, and this enables the water to stay at a somewhat forecasted constant level. But in the last year, due to an unpredictable phenomenon, the water level has reached the glass brim. It is a colossal task, even for the ones who have donated great part of their lives for this cause, to forecast what can happen when the water overflows. 2That's a very remarkable and agreeable point of view, do you think that this 2matter has influenced the same groups' politic in intros' production? It seems 2that quality is more and more preferred to quantity in the production strategies 2of nowadays groups. What do you foresee about this new scene trend? What does 2Mop think of the scene's future, under this aspect? Due to the remarkable move of 340k Intro Competitions1, it is nowadays very rare, to see any important developments outside such contests. Groups are nowadays delving into more depth when it comes to Intro production. New and before-unknown discoveries are being sought after all the time, just for the sake of Intro research. The domination of the Intro Charts is only in the hands of those who can afford an immense funds base. Whole research teams are being set up, all the time, thus making sure that the Intro revolution will never possibly stop. I cannot, under any circumstances come to the conclusion that packs and intros can ever be directly connected in any bearable way. An indirect process study in strategy methods is possible, but this would only occur if the known specialists in this field would come together to produce an elaborate thesis. A possible new scene trend, loosely based on the focusing of Intros and Packs is already occurring right now, thus making this new scientifical field, attracting for all the potential researchers. 2In this same issue of Scenarium we have analysed one of the hottest and most 2controversial arguments in the whole scene community. Are there too many mags? 2Surprisingly enough we have also gathered the opinions of guys declaring that 2there are too few diskmags around, that too many of them are dying or sleeping 2lazily. The opinion of a real Scene Analyst specialized in Diskmags Disciplines 2and Theories is highly welcomed in the debate. 3Diskmags1 are like food for our minds. Too much food can generate digestive problems, yet it is theoretically known through past studies, that a minimum amount of daily brain-food is strictly needed. Putting out any statistics at this point would not only be hazardous for the average scener (scene guy) but can cause collateral disturbances, or, in extreme cases of scene addiction, imprevidibly fatal. So, by this last statement, I hope that I have made myself clear, why, my long awaited Diskmag Analysis & Theories Studies have been currently withheld from publication. 2We think that diskmags are a very interesting field to study in order to 2understand fully the scene's tendencies and customs. You have widely discussed 2about them in many of your issues and books, but try to sum up your most 2important theories about the multiple relations among diskmags, scene and 2sceners (scene members). Please try to use a simple language, this is a popular 2mag, our humble and not that clever readers could have problems in grasping your 2concepts. There is no common tendency, when we come to deal with this extremely delicate subject. Through my numerous research polls and universal studies, I have come up with a simple set of custom tendencies. Sceners (scene members) tend to be highly influenced by the statistical medias (charts), thus making it possible to draft out a complex ray of relations, and detect various possible positions of every Diskmag, at any stage in time. Statistically speaking, if we also consider the delay time between various Diskmags issues, we can also say that the multiple relevance between the various Diskmags and the actual groups that host them, can be relational, to a certain extent. This can also highly affect our relative elaborations. One very new phenomena that I am currently studying is what kind of affect a group change can have on a highly dominant Diskmag. I think that I have made myself more than clear. 2Strictly related to this subject, there is the whole matter about insults and 2spandimerding in diskmags. The problem, of course, is much larger and applies 2to every scene media, but we think that right on diskmags it reaches its maximum 2intensity and interest. What are your ideas about the expanding spandimerding 2in diskmags? How do you connect this to the single and his schizophrenic status 2of scene member and human being at the same time. Is the scene made by HANDLES 2or is it made by NAMES and SURNAMES? There are always two different points of view. The scene is basically made by 3HANDLES1 and 3GROUP NAMES1, but the interaction of proper names can rise up a THIRD point of view. A highly acclaimed GROUP or SCENER will always rise as the moral winner, even through the worst spandimerding affair. A spandimerda campaign will always, leave a detectable sign of fear, wether being intensive or just superficial. By this, I would suggest that any potential writer, thinking of starting any kind of spandimerda plan, should IMMEDIATELY think of the end consequences, not only on the presumable targets, but also on his proper health and sanity. Cases of extreme nuisances, and mental disturbances, due to spandimerda attacks has already rose to an alarming rate. Authorities are currently trying to stop such aggressive butchering, by cutting out the roots of the most known spandimerda movements. But this can only heal the moral side of this obsessive situation. Mental afflictions are incested heavily in the spandimerded victims, often ending up in extremely dangerous cases of schizophrenia. 2The topic is huge and we can hardly exhaust it in these few lines, but we know 2that you have made also studies about the Psychology And Psychiatry Of The 2Scener, incidentally we have immensely appreciated your book "Lamer or Cool Guy? 2A Self destructive dualism", so you are very competent in the matter. Let's try 2to probe into it. What are the consequences on the scener's psyche of a massive 2spandimerding attack? There are various cases, we presume, could you relate us 2some of the most typical reactions, and possibly, in few words, the average 2effects on the single's subconscious? Dangerous schizophrenia, constant sign of fear, extreme nuisances and mental disturbances are all, but the lighter superficial afflictions often manifested by the victim. A highly well-planned spandimerda campaign can end up having the victim leave the scene, not to mention a radical change in his social life in the form of lost family, girl, wife and children, job, car, house and the final, fatal decisive need to end one's existence. Such tendencies usually manifest themselves more consistently in the so-called "cool guy", who with a well-thought-out spandimerda plan can be made to turn out into a "lamer", in the eyes of the scene. In most cases, under spandimerding pressure, the constant subconcial & personal struggle to divide oneself's "cool" & "lamer" personality ends up in the victim believing he forms part of the latter species. 2In your article 3"Why Beppe is wrong"2, appeared in Scenology Journal you polymise 2violently with Beppe's views about the importance of spandimerding for the scene 2wealth. Can you sum up the whole diatribe and explain us why you dared to 2engage such a (gentlemen's) battle with Beppe himself, founder of the same 2Scenology science and editor of the same Scenology Journal? With absolute respect to Beppe's theories, especially to his monumental spandimerda researches, I couldn't back away to such violent insinuations. The art of Spandimerding, being it noble or not, have proved to be hazardous to the whole scene community. The scene's wealth lyes in the power of positive communication, group cooperations, in the understanding and not in the negative and violent attacks. Spandimerding somebody is literarily like massacring the scene itself. 2Macno, main editor of Abnormalia, ghost editor of Scenarium and your 2interlocutor in this discussion, has declared that Scene's Reality can easily be 2built by few words on a diskmags. He has written that Brainstorm's Patsy joke 2has been a good example of how diskmags can build a fake scene reality. What 2are your points about this matter? Do you think that nowadays diskmags are 2trustworthy? How, according to you, the reader of Scenarium can understand that 2this is a real discussion with the real Mop, that the various quotes in many 2articles are real and that, at the same time, many news are false, some 2interviews are fake, some spandimerda interview are real and so on. Will the 2reader understand? Is it important that the reader understands? CAN the reader 2understand anyway? Reality lies at the edge of phantasy. And the scene is just like a volatile scale, set on the edge between phantasy and reality. Diskmags, and especially words, are the weights that control the scene-scale. Spandimerda, fakes and lies form the weights of the dark realms, whilst clear, clean and true journalism form the weights of the real scene values. Most often, the scale is out-balanced by dark weights, in the form of harassing articles, the darker they are, the more it inclines towards the edge of phantasy. Conquest plans are set up, and for some time it seems that the scale can never regain it's balance towards reality. But then revelative articles are conceived, and it's up to the individual scener to decided at what angle his scale is inclined. It is through each and every individual that this total mass called the scene forms opinions. A Diskmag can prove to be trustworthy, only by proving itself so. There are many ways to chose from. Only the clean & white road makes a Diskmag gain the so sought after respect & trust of the whole scene. It is therefore, up to the reader to distinguish if a bunch of words, signed with a name, really do bear any true resemblance to that name. It's not very important if the real Mop is behind these words. More important is the fact to control and analyse oneself, to judge people for what they are and not for what others try to make you believe. It's not important if it is Mop who is actually trying to enlighten your minds, it is more important to try to understand the philosophy of the modern scene. Sceners tend to mix a handle with a name, when in fact it shouldn't be like that. Words should stay buried in Diskmags. Rumours always do contain a spice from reality. Little as it may be, it's not that important. You can always write the truth about rumours. It is very important that the reader finally understands what was initially meant to be true, and what was supposedly written just for the ironical value of the matter. It is difficult sometimes, to distinguish the truth from the lie, because the image of a Diskmag cannot always be taken as a referring point, and therefore it'll always be the individual scener who'll have to make the final decision. 2Few months ago, in RAW, has appeared a mysterious article about some 3Masters of 3the Scene2 who control and direct the scene's opinions. Somebody has also talked 2about 3Priests of the Scene2, with less influence but still great power. Some 2names have been whispered too! They are the ones of the main editors of the 2most important diskmags. How do you see the whole affair? Who could be the 2Masters of the Scene? Are them a secret organization? Please, be careful in 2your replies, we have heard of dudes who mysteriously left the scene, after some 2sibylline and allusive declarations! Are the Masters watching us? The Masters of the Scene (MoS) do exist and are even amongst us. They are not God or alien beings. They don't possess supernatural powers and they cannot read minds. They are humans, just like every other scener. They have contacts everywhere, and their main power is the flow of information. That's how they control and manipulate the whole scene. The MoS are an organisation, but what they seek is not profit. What they seek is simply the power to control other beings. It was only possible to make all this knowledge available to you because of Scenarium and not because of Mop or Beppe or Macno. Saying that externing, the little know-how some of us have about the MoS, is dangerous, is not enough. It can be totally fatal. The MoS have been here from the very beginning. No one knows who they are. They control Diskmags, demos, sceners' opinions and they are the hands who generally direct the whole scene. But I feel somewhat safe, here in Scenarium, for some unknown reason. No one has the knowledge who is actually the one behind these revealing words. The MoS have eyes, they can read, and they can get information through all the major scene channels, through the modem scene, through the Diskmags and even through the confidential letter-gossip between friends, who more than often exchange little but interesting secrets about the scene. The MoS intend to keep their position, at least for the time being, as no one can possibly detect them. They wipe away all those who try to act against their wills, just like a damp cleaning cloth would wipe away dust from a table surface. Their way of handling rebels is by making the revolutionary sceners society-aware. They twist and bend opinions, and force the poor offenders away from the scene, and into the hidden beauty of everyday's life. They get rid of rebels by introducing enjoyable or extremely time-consuming happenings in their life, in the form of girls, cars, exams and jobs. We have heard thousands of reasons why the most notorious sceners stopped their activities. Excuses, just excuses. It has been apparent for many that some kind of MoS were behind everything, since some time now. We have heard that the scene will soon die, but no one has ever put forward any reasonable explanations. The scene will only die when the MoS will command. Only then, they would enlighten some minds, who'll put together all the various scattered clues that appeared through the years, and the mysterious enigma will be solved. Every scener will get so desperate and annoyed of how things were really flowing, that everyone will leave the scene. But does anyone know when this event will take place... maybe when the MoS will get bored playing with all us? Playing? Haven't you understood that the scene is just a chess board. Yes, the scene is just a piece of black & white squares. The sceners form the various chess pieces. There's the King, who is represented by the current Diskmags. There was always some kind of dispute, between two major mags, at one time or another, during the past scene history. It was always difficult to distinguish who was the Black King and WHO was the White one. Only the MoS decided on that. Then there are the Bishops, also known as the PRIESTS of the Scene 3(PoS)1, or Main Editors, for the common scener. The Bishop is the one who guides the King, as from the beginning of time, there was always a saintly being, beside and backing every King. The Queen of the scene is represented by PATSY. Her existence takes the form of the White queen. It was always the hope of every scener, to find comfort in the idea that there exists a perfect girl, also interested in the scene. The fear and doubt of 3PATSY1's existence materialises under the vests and evilness of the Black Queen. The Rook is played by the trackmo or one-filed demo. Maybe a precalculated-vector-success against the good but underrated trackmo from an unknown group? Only the MoS are in the know-how. The common scener takes the form of the Pawn. There are many Pawns on the chess board, far too many than we think. The Knight? The Knight is the key to the Holy Temple of the MoS. No one knows anything about the Knight, not even the MoS or the Knight himself. Only when the end will be near, the Black and White Knights will rise up, most probably from 2 unknown and unexpected sceners. The MoS are just hands... Black and White hands who spend their time playing with the scene. 2Better to talk about lighter things. MC disk is dying, we have heard some 2official explanations of the decline but, sincerely, we don't believe in them. 2There must be some hidden cause, you were one of its most brilliant editors, 2tell us the Truth about Mc disk. People must know! Had you gone too afar? Had 2you got across something you HAD NOT to get across? We want the truth, Mop! Is 2there the hand of the Masters behind MC disk's disappearance??? MC DISK is dead. Mc Disk had to die. The MoS tried to kill Mc Disk when they realised that this mag was getting out of their hands. They killed Coma, by pulling away some of the members, but then Alcatraz gave new breath to the mag. The MoS were getting angry and furious, so finally they churned out their most deadly weapon, in the form of confusion. No one in the MC DISK team knew, neither what him, nor the others were doing. The MoS made Mad Butcher distract himself. They made Cybersonik society-aware. They made Mop contribute to other Diskmags. So what was left. Just emptiness. 2Well, maybe we have exaggerated, please excuse us for our insistence, we really 2don't want to force our guests in any way. Let's talk about some other equally 2important problem in the scene. Do big fishes really eat little fishes? What 2are the results of your recent studies about the phenomenon? Is it a expanding 2trend? What could be its consequences? Can the scene survive without little 2fishes? Can the scene survive without articles about big and little fishes? Is 2there the hidden hand of Somebody behind all this??? Oh, sorry! Forget this 2last question... Because of the set proportional rules of nature, the BIG fish will always eat the smaller ones. As long as there's a scene, there'll always be BIG and smaller fish. Small fish are getting rarer, but the C64, ST and PC scenes can be always seen as potential fodder, little as they may be. Some Small fish grow too rapidly only to burst again into little smaller ones. This never-ending vicious circle will only end up when the last fish will find no other fish to feed on and will starve. That'll be the end of the scene. Unknown hands, armed with poisonous nets are also contributing to the extinction of fish, but only when uncontrollable circumstances arise. 2As you can see, dear dumb readers, the matters we can discuss with Mop of 2Alcatraz are various and numerous, it's always interesting and useful to listen 2to his words and to learn something new, but time is an evil enemy for us and 2disk space in another remarkable opponent. We have to leave Mop to his various 2studies and activities (he is organizing a Faculty of Scenology in the 2university of Hamrun, Malta) and you to lighter articles (for example the 2extended critic issue of War and Peace by The Ripper of Nightfall). Thanks for 2the attention and thanks to you, Mop, for your disposability. We hope to host 2you again in our space and we wish you the best... wishes for your new, 2divulging, book "The Importance Of Intros in Modern Scene"...