13 ms·

The San Francisco Suicide Club (1977-82)

75 points by drjohnson 12y ago

subdane 12y ago
I had heard of Cacophony Society, John Law, reference to parties on(in?) The Golden Gate Bridge and their connection to Burning Man. But I hadn't known about Cacophony Society's origins in Suicide Club... which sounds like a Chuck Palahniuk book, which isn't surprising as he was apparently a member of Cacophony Society. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacophony_Society http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacophony_Society
- drjohnson 12y ago
  Lots of detail in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNm8PBUY-R4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNm8PBUY-R4.
- sanoli 12y ago
  I was aware of the Cacophony Society throughout the early nineties, mostly through fanzines from the SF/Bay areas. Then I moved away from the US, and then when internet happened I just forgot to ever look it up to see some news. They did some wacky/fun/crazy stuff back then though.
justizin 12y ago
Why didn't I invent this?! :D Srsly, this is fascinating and sounds like a lot of fun.
devindotcom 12y ago
Nowadays I'm afraid it would be secretly sponsored by Red Bull or GoPro and filmed for virality. I like the idea, though you would have to keep it very secret, like no names no phones secret if you want it to really work. The name likely hearkens back to the Robert Louis Stevenson (edit: Robert, not Robery) story of the same name in which (minor spoiler warning) a group gathers regularly composed of men who want to end their lives but lack the minerals to do it, so they arrange murders based on the deal of a deck of cards. Really wonderful story, really, part of his "New Arabian Nights," which you can find online here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/839 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/839
- aeturnum 12y ago
  I know people who have been involved in a modern version of this, and they do insist on taking peoples phones and other such security measures.
  - hellbanner 12y ago
    You know people who play suicide games -- have you saught to get them counseling?
    - copsarebastards 12y ago
      The suicide club was so named with the expressed intention of scaring away people like you, who don't look into things further.
      - bevarum 12y ago
        I wonder what criteria were used for joining the club - too bad it's gone...sounds like something I might have enjoyed...
- egypturnash 12y ago
  "The SUICIDE CLUB was chosen as a name, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson story of a club that gamed at midnight, the losers forfeiting their lives" - the 'more' link at the bottom of the story.
- mathattack 12y ago
  Per the wikipedia article, it was named in Stevenson's spirit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Club_%28secret_society%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Club_%28secret_society%...
gcheong 12y ago
Interesting, I've been participating in the annual Chinese New Year treasure hunt that seems to have been resurrected and organized by a former member.
readymade 12y ago
Reminiscing about the byegone days of San Francisco's cultural relevance on HN is the height of irony.
- Scuds 12y ago
  I hear the castro has become gentrified and isn't anywhere near as radical as it was.
  - tensafefrogs 12y ago
    Burning Man was better last year, too.
    - nl 12y ago
      Yeah. Also, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders too.
- raldi 12y ago
  What makes you say bygone? San Francisco seems as culturally-relevant today as it's ever been. If anyone's holding back new ideas, its not the people who are coming here from all over the world to start companies.
  - georgeecollins 12y ago
    It is really relevent in terms of tech, but in terms of the arts it has gotten less relevant. In the same way that starving artists moved out of Manhatten. I know there are still free spirits in San Franciso, but as someone who was born in San Francisco I can tell you the city is completely changed.
    - raldi 12y ago
      People have been saying things ain't what they used to be since forever. I'm sure during your youth people were saying the local arts scene's best days were behind it too. In fact, no less an authority than former Suicide Club member and Burning Man cofounder John Law had this to say on the matter: "When I moved to Frisco (g’head – take that one on!) in 1976 [...] the hippies I met back then [...] all told me the same thing: “Party’s over kid, ya missed it.” Well, they were full of crap on that one. The story of this town as with all towns is one of constant change." At least in terms of anything measurable I can find, SF's music scene seems to be holding its own, relative to other cities: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=San+Francisco+music+scene%2CLos+Angeles+music+scene%2CNew+York+music+scene%2CLondon+music+scene&year_start=1950&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CSan%20Francisco%20music%20scene%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CLos%20Angeles%20music%20scene%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CNew%20York%20music%20scene%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CLondon%20music%20scene%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=San+Francisco+...
ForHackernews 12y ago
Reminds me of l'UX: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_UX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_UX
bri3d 12y ago
I think modern Urban Exploration clubs check a lot of the boxes mentioned in this writeup. Urbex is a lot less high concept, of course, but the hijinks are often similar in the end.
- infectoid 12y ago
  I can confirm this. In my experience, some members of the Urbex community delve into the art space as well, usually drawing on their Urbex experiences.
slester 12y ago
It reminds me a bit too of The Institute (I watched the documentary on Netflix: http://www.theinstitutemovie.com/ http://www.theinstitutemovie.com/). I'd really like to play a game like The Institute, but this seems a little darker, or at least the name kind of implies that.
tensafefrogs 12y ago
For those of us in NYC, I recommend keeping an eye on the nonsensenyc mailing list: http://www.nonsensenyc.com/about/ http://www.nonsensenyc.com/about/ There's usually a handful of interesting events going on around the city and will often lead you to strange new places (in a good way).
tomphoolery 12y ago
From Wikipedia... "The "leave no trace" mantra of Burning Man was borrowed from the Suicide Club and the philosophy of Warne." That's really cool to learn exactly where the LNT philosophy came from. I suppose something like it would have been established eventually but that idea is a core part of Burning Man and in burner lifestyles in general.

75 points by drjohnson 12y ago

I had heard of Cacophony Society, John Law, reference to parties on(in?) The Golden Gate Bridge and their connection to Burning Man. But I hadn't known about Cacophony Society's origins in Suicide Club... which sounds like a Chuck Palahniuk book, which isn't surprising as he was apparently a member of Cacophony Society. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacophony_Society http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacophony_Society

drjohnson 12y ago
Lots of detail in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNm8PBUY-R4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNm8PBUY-R4.
sanoli 12y ago
I was aware of the Cacophony Society throughout the early nineties, mostly through fanzines from the SF/Bay areas. Then I moved away from the US, and then when internet happened I just forgot to ever look it up to see some news. They did some wacky/fun/crazy stuff back then though.

justizin 12y ago

Why didn't I invent this?! :D Srsly, this is fascinating and sounds like a lot of fun.

devindotcom 12y ago

Nowadays I'm afraid it would be secretly sponsored by Red Bull or GoPro and filmed for virality. I like the idea, though you would have to keep it very secret, like no names no phones secret if you want it to really work. The name likely hearkens back to the Robert Louis Stevenson (edit: Robert, not Robery) story of the same name in which (minor spoiler warning) a group gathers regularly composed of men who want to end their lives but lack the minerals to do it, so they arrange murders based on the deal of a deck of cards. Really wonderful story, really, part of his "New Arabian Nights," which you can find online here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/839 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/839

aeturnum 12y ago
I know people who have been involved in a modern version of this, and they do insist on taking peoples phones and other such security measures.
- hellbanner 12y ago
  You know people who play suicide games -- have you saught to get them counseling?
  - copsarebastards 12y ago
    The suicide club was so named with the expressed intention of scaring away people like you, who don't look into things further.
    - bevarum 12y ago
      I wonder what criteria were used for joining the club - too bad it's gone...sounds like something I might have enjoyed...
egypturnash 12y ago
"The SUICIDE CLUB was chosen as a name, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson story of a club that gamed at midnight, the losers forfeiting their lives" - the 'more' link at the bottom of the story.
mathattack 12y ago
Per the wikipedia article, it was named in Stevenson's spirit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Club_%28secret_society%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Club_%28secret_society%...

gcheong 12y ago

Interesting, I've been participating in the annual Chinese New Year treasure hunt that seems to have been resurrected and organized by a former member.

readymade 12y ago

Reminiscing about the byegone days of San Francisco's cultural relevance on HN is the height of irony.

Scuds 12y ago
I hear the castro has become gentrified and isn't anywhere near as radical as it was.
- tensafefrogs 12y ago
  Burning Man was better last year, too.
  - nl 12y ago
    Yeah. Also, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders too.
raldi 12y ago
What makes you say bygone? San Francisco seems as culturally-relevant today as it's ever been. If anyone's holding back new ideas, its not the people who are coming here from all over the world to start companies.
- georgeecollins 12y ago
  It is really relevent in terms of tech, but in terms of the arts it has gotten less relevant. In the same way that starving artists moved out of Manhatten. I know there are still free spirits in San Franciso, but as someone who was born in San Francisco I can tell you the city is completely changed.
  - raldi 12y ago
    People have been saying things ain't what they used to be since forever. I'm sure during your youth people were saying the local arts scene's best days were behind it too. In fact, no less an authority than former Suicide Club member and Burning Man cofounder John Law had this to say on the matter: "When I moved to Frisco (g’head – take that one on!) in 1976 [...] the hippies I met back then [...] all told me the same thing: “Party’s over kid, ya missed it.” Well, they were full of crap on that one. The story of this town as with all towns is one of constant change." At least in terms of anything measurable I can find, SF's music scene seems to be holding its own, relative to other cities: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=San+Francisco+music+scene%2CLos+Angeles+music+scene%2CNew+York+music+scene%2CLondon+music+scene&year_start=1950&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CSan%20Francisco%20music%20scene%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CLos%20Angeles%20music%20scene%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CNew%20York%20music%20scene%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CLondon%20music%20scene%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=San+Francisco+...

ForHackernews 12y ago

Reminds me of l'UX: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_UX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_UX

bri3d 12y ago

I think modern Urban Exploration clubs check a lot of the boxes mentioned in this writeup. Urbex is a lot less high concept, of course, but the hijinks are often similar in the end.

infectoid 12y ago
I can confirm this. In my experience, some members of the Urbex community delve into the art space as well, usually drawing on their Urbex experiences.

slester 12y ago

It reminds me a bit too of The Institute (I watched the documentary on Netflix: http://www.theinstitutemovie.com/ http://www.theinstitutemovie.com/). I'd really like to play a game like The Institute, but this seems a little darker, or at least the name kind of implies that.

tensafefrogs 12y ago

For those of us in NYC, I recommend keeping an eye on the nonsensenyc mailing list: http://www.nonsensenyc.com/about/ http://www.nonsensenyc.com/about/ There's usually a handful of interesting events going on around the city and will often lead you to strange new places (in a good way).

tomphoolery 12y ago

From Wikipedia... "The "leave no trace" mantra of Burning Man was borrowed from the Suicide Club and the philosophy of Warne." That's really cool to learn exactly where the LNT philosophy came from. I suppose something like it would have been established eventually but that idea is a core part of Burning Man and in burner lifestyles in general.