The depressing bit is that I have managed to put so much effort into becoming an unsuccesful wannabe geek…

And, like you were saying after the match, I guess I shouldn’t be so guilt-ridden - if I can be arsed travelling from Glasgow, I probably have some justification for joining in that chant.

Re: community/internet - I know it’s only a small number of people (plus a shitload of lurkers), but I think Echatio was/is an interesting extension of the club, as is the site we won’t mention - certainly I see that as much a part of the club as the actual dancing, and did even when I went to the dancing every week.

(It spawned this site, too - doubt anyone remembers, but when it was on blog*spot, this place was initially meant to be a group weblog for Echatio users. Not quite as creative as forming a band, perhaps.)

Optimo just seems to have a life-cycle that’s in the eye of the beholder - judging by the last time I went, there are people there now having the equivalent of my pre-fire Sub/Planet Peach era experience, and, just as there were folk saying it had peaked even before the fire, the kids there now will be claiming 2004 as the golden age…

As for young people using the internet - they’re probably just wondering why you still use old-fashioned email and don’t communicate exclusively via instant messaging…

(And I only just noticed how apt the title of this post is - Ya ya, ya ya, you need your angry Milwall!)

the ‘community’ thing is interesting. i think i know more people who come to the club by name than at any other time in the club’s history. i think the camaraderie manifests itself in different ways nowadays too. i get 20 to 30 emails a day asking questions about the club whereas i used to get about one a month. there is something in this about how the way younger people use the internet is changing but i can’t quite put my finger on it, yet.

the other interesting thing is how the camaraderie is finally resulting in some creativity. there are at least 5 bands on the go at the moment who could be said to exist mainly as a result of optimo. the fact that not one of them is a ‘dance’ act is for me anyway, a source of great joy.

having been through one club ‘life cycle’ in the past, it is interesting to note that logically optimo should be in the burn out phase but my gut feeling is that it is yet to peak.

there will be a book about all this one day……

Good news on the album getting a release after all this time, by the way. I shall purchase a copy soon.

The cheap download + album voucher distribution model is pretty neat and all.