Subcultures 101, Tuesday, Period 3

[living_endless]

Coming to class dressed to match the subculture was becoming a little bit of a thing for Didi. Today's class was on the Beat Generation, and dressing to match meant a black turtleneck, slim-fitting black slacks, and capris. (The beret was a step too far.) She'd instructed the students to meet in the Danger Shop, which had been programmed to look like Cafe Wha? in 1961.

"Hey," she said, once the students were seated at a variety of small cafe tables. "Today we're talking about the Beat Generation -- or, as most people call it, Beatniks. This is the counterculture movement of the Eisenhower era. Mainly, Beats were trying to reject standard values and materialism in place of something more spiritual. They explored Native American and Eastern religions, experimented with psychedelics, and treated sexuality in a more open way than most people did at the time.

"Amiri Bakara said, 'The so-called Beat Generation was a whole bunch of people, of all different nationalities, who came to the conclusion that society sucked,' and that's about right. The writers most associated with Beat culture are people like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs."

She went on for a bit, explaining the major works of Beat writing and the history of the subculture, before wrapping up.

"Anyhow, this is a coffeehouse called Cafe Wha?. It was a big Beat and folk singer hangout of its time. As soon as I start it up an open mike will be going on, so you can hear some of the music and spoken-word poetry of the time. I don't have any discussion questions today -- just soak it in."

Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques | Tuesday, period 1

[sharp_as_knives]

Class was meeting at Portalocity again today. After the first time he'd ended up in the world they'd be visiting, he'd looked for another, but as it turned out, the staff at this one was extremely enthusiastic about having them back, and Hannibal felt it would be rude to refuse. He simply dressed so that the chartreuse light of the sun wouldn't cause his clothes to clash too badly.

Once the students were all there, Hannibal waved them through the portal and they found themselves at ( Sur la Table )

101 Ways To Survive In The Field, Tuesday

[suitably_heroic]

"So, this week we're going to talk about cold," Atton said, "And the next couple of weeks, too. Since this is a more in-depth class that already assumes you'll be out in the field for whatever reason, I figure we can stand to spend some time on it."

He was not, mind you, standing in his cold weather simulator. That could wait until next week.

Rather, they were standing in a large clothing store, with a whole host of different types of clothes sprawled all over.

"Today, we'll be talking about dressing to survive the cold," he said. "I want you all to pick out an outfit you think will keep you warm at minus thirty degrees celsius. Then we'll talk about what you did wrong."

He nodded at the class. "Go."