Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Time Warp
One of the strongest fl avors of fandom is what Henry Jenkins calls “cultural no-
mads” (Jenkins 1992). These are folks who participate intertextually with more than
one fan universe. Jenkins dwells on a piece of fan art that is a mash-up between
Star Trek
and Arthurian Legend. Other fans may build fi ctional connections be-
tween TV shows or fi lms based on an actor who appears in two or more of them,
laboriously building the backstory that creates a connection via Patrick Stewart
between
Star Trek:
The Next Generation
and
X-Men
.
For many years, Rob and I and some other friends have harbored the fantasy
of mashing up
Star Trek: TOS
with the Renaissance Faire. Here's the plan:
1.
Wear your TOS uniform under your Renaissance garb, and secrete a
tricorder somewhere on your person.
2.
Enter the Faire and go to the privy.
3.
Remove the Renaissance garb, and get out your tricorder.
4.
Magically appear, point your tricorder at people and things, and have
loud conversations about discovering a prewarp civilization.
5.
See whether you get kicked out.
For cultural nomads, this sort of hack should be quite pleasurable, but you
never know.
