Features Jul 16, 2009 at 4:00 am

Inside the Beta Society's Creative Fraternity (and Hot Tub)

Too many names to list. Ramadan, Aceti, and Auger are front and center. CORY GUSTASON

Comments

1
Junkbucket, sucka! Protect ya junk!
2
The Thicke once turned a diamond back into coal...by singing it its own theme song
3
"The Thicke is what cocaine snorts to get high."
4
Nice pic of a bunch of white people.
5
I went to one party at this place and it truly is a miami vice cocaine snorting paradise, minus the cocaine. I can't believe Godfrey is renting it out to all these people.
7
NATIVE moments! when you come upon me—Ah you are here now!
Give me now libidinous joys only!
Give me the drench of my passions! Give me life coarse and rank!
8
@#4 Ramadan isn't a very "white" last name. Just saying.
9
LW,
So with so many other arts groups overlooked, you just took up feature space to promote a group that you say has no actual creative output? There are so many other arts organizations that actually produce, not just promote. Besides one low-budget film, their only other work is ripping off someone else's VHS product and posting it as their own, or doing rip-offs of SNL's "Hot Tub Dangerous Liasons"?

Nothing against these kids, but I'm not sure they know what "gimmick" means with all their 80's kitsch and Thicke jokes. Here's hoping they eventually produce something real.
10
What do they make? I mean really. What the fuck they are just people living in a really nice house that have a big inside joke. Granted the house is really nice... and I'm bitter because I make art which the stranger can't even bother to review... oh well they are cute, hip, and meaningless which could be the tag line for the stranger.
11
Congratulations Lindy

I didn't think you could be any more of a waste of space but you have proved me wrong. They have a mansion, fantastic. They have cameras, awesome. They have matching sweat shirts, rad. What is it they do exactly? I'm going to chime in with the others, what have they done? You have an ENTIRE feature here and you talk more about how much they pay for rent then the art that they produce.

Style isn't substance, no matter how much you believe that it might be.
13
Improvised films, made on the fly, sound infinitely more interesting.
14
"a sly ear for balancing absurdity and wit, a knack for branding, and they have the equipment and drive (and the mansion) to actually bring projects to fruition."

What a great description of my entire generation. They have all the ingredients for making sarcastic, meaningless, commercialized bullshit...and occasionally they even make some. Here's a thought: in order to be "creative," you have to actually create something. Preferably something a bit more meaningful than recycled, corny, half-assed 80's pop culture references. I think this may be the first generation of Americans to actually fail to create anything even remotely recognizable as an art movement (even a minor one) or generational subculture. I hate to say it, but my generation's empty headed hipster sarcasm and non-existent productivity makes the slackers of the 90's seem downright prolific and profound.

I guess Ezra Pound was right...art and culture will eventually completely suffocate in a capitalist democracy.
15
I just checked out their YouTube account and they look pretty funny. There's actually quite a bit of content there. Hey Beta Society, I look forward to what is to come. Work that house. I'm glad I checked you guys out before I MADE STUPID ASSUMPTIONS. Ah...MY generation.
16
I checked their lame youtube account before posting. In fact, I've been aware of their "output" for some time. No assumptions here.

Sorry "impressed," some of us have standards.
17
@15

I just checked the YouTube as well. Yes there are a lot of videos, and yes a few of them are funny. It's the same joke though. It's nostalgia humor over and over and over again. I don't think the complaint is that they don't have content, it's that they don't have original content. Seems like what they do is the AV equivalent of lip-syncing
18
16 and 17, I think you've hit on what the beta society is really about: trying to become the next YouTube sensation by trying to guess what will be the Next Big Thing. It seems they hope Thicke is the next Chuck Norris nostalgia sensation.

The best part of this article is the idea of the social experiment of slackers sharing a mansion together. I'd like to see a check-in in a year to see how it's going.
19
So wow, they took the "Chuck Norris Facts" thing and replace Norris with Alan Thicke. WOW. UTTERLY FANTASTIC. Can I have a column written about me now?
20
Wow, I heard that these guys were just a bunch of cool people having fun making movies. I guess they should spend their time writing douchey comments on message boards. I only wish the article would have discussed more of what they do and less on the mansion itself (and we didn't need that much info on the Thicke)
21
I just took 35 different craps, dressed them up in matching clothes and put them in a big box. They don't actually do anything but that's what makes them so cool. I call dibs on the next Stranger Feature.

22
My comment was deleted by the editors, why because I am correct?

"Wow. They have taken the "Chucken Norris Facts" and replaced Norris with Alan Thicke. WOW. UTTERLY FANTASTIC. Can I get a story written about me?"
23
@18 "I think you've hit on what the beta society is really about: trying to become the next YouTube sensation by trying to guess what will be the Next Big Thing"

Not that there is inherently anything wrong with that, it just doesn't seem like we need a feature on it
24
@19 & @22

no it did not get deleted, The Stranger's comment pages are very buggy
25
Hi, all:
They've been doing great, creative work together for years (in music, theater, improv)--my point is that I think they're really coming into their own with this mansion/filmmaking situation. It's a great idea and a great opportunity, and I'm curious to see what happens. And let's not get all sour-grapes on a bunch of interesting, funny people trying to contribute to Seattle's creative community.
26
Really Lindy? That was your point? You should write an article about that.
27
@14

"I think this may be the first generation of Americans to actually fail to create anything even remotely recognizable as an art movement (even a minor one) or generational subculture."

ummmm you're kind of included in that demographic... don't think you're responsible for an art movement either...
28
So basically Lindy did a feature story on a bunch of her friends. Typical Stranger nepotism.
29
it's just an article...sheesh! calm down angry pandas!
30
@28: Nope, never met them before the article.
31
The negative comments here are absurd. Seattle is one of the most generous towns you can find when it comes to coverage of the arts. If you do something interesting, it will get covered. Do those who are complaining really think this article was written at the expense of their own creative endeavors/exposure? Come on. Get over the self-pity, stop bitching, and do something to get our attention.

In the meantime, what's wrong with a short piece on an interesting social/creative experiment by a group of people who are approaching things from another angle? Even if it is light-hearted. So what? And I'm not even going to address the "white people" comments. How boneheaded are you going to be?

I know a couple of the people involved with this group, and they're very interesting, creative people who put out a lot of good stuff. You could easily profile the individuals and have a long list of interesting work that goes beyond what the collective has done together so far, so I think they have a lot of potential.

If it isn't your cup of tea - cool, no one's forcing you to watch. Just wish 'em the best and get on with whatever you're doing. No one's forcing you to read Lindy's column, either. This "not enough to go around" attitude is just a distraction from whatever it is you're supposed to be creating yourselves.

It's amazing how the most innocuous piece can generate so much negativity. Obviously angry people love the internet as an outlet.

It would be a lot more productive to be happy for them and just get on with whatever you're doing.
32
Yeah...the hot tub classic lit thing? Already done on Saturday night Live. With Christopher Walken. NEXT!

Living in a mansion with a bunch of hot dog eating artists. I think I just threw up in my brain.
33
@12 If minorities did something like this, all the neighbors would move out.

I think this house sounds pretty awesome. I wish I could live there.

Only problem I had with the article was that Lindy did not disclose that she is madly in love with the Cap-Sac, which apparently these people make. Isn't that frowned upon in journalistic ethics?
34
I for one think that it's awesome that what passes for modern Bohemians can live in this kind of place. Rock on, Betas. Too much alchohol in the blood surrogate (look it up), no problem!
-J
35
Max,

Don't ever recall Lindy claiming to be a follower of "journalistic ethics". What the hell fun is that?
-J
36
I think these guys are quite refreshing from the usual broody Seattle "I'm very serious, so I must be taken very seriously" artists and their pretensions.
That's the first thing you notice, is that TBS is light and unpretentious, and their lack of ego and snobbiness that is so pervasive in the Seattle scenes is a really refreshing.
TBS is tanglible, they're for the people, and they bust ass.
I think the main fault of Lindy West's story here is that she forgot to mention the member's long and impressive resume's before they formed TBS, like Jessica Aceti's funny film 'Tammy Town'.
So please, before you bust out another negative comment, do your homework and give these guys a break.
37
Haters: I'm coming for your junk.
38
I think the problem is actually with the way the article is written. I absolutely love Lindy West - she's probably tied with Schmader for my favorite Stranger writer - but this article was so unfocused that I assumed it was written by Christopher Frizelle.

The Alan Thicke story should have been edited down, as it really wasn't that interesting. Thicke jokes date back at least 15 years to when I was in college.

This group is pretty intriguing, and if the article were edited a bit more heavily, I think people wouldn't have been so confused as to what the group itself does. That said, the anger expressed in some of these comments is ridiculously over the top. Cool down, people!
39
@31 Hi! I'm the internet! Pleased to meet you!
40
Add mine to the chorus of voices that think Lindy West violated journalistic ethics by not revealing her undying love of the Cap-Sac. I WANT HER HEAD ON A PLATTER RIGHT FREAKING NOW THANKYOUVERYMUCH!
41
Great, another group of shiny white Seattle hipsters/artists (YAWN)
42
So being an artist means you're still renting (in a commune), all you have at the moment is "potential" with no real substance, and counting on YouTube to catapult you into the spot light because you're that needy for attention...?

But hey, they have the freedom to be whatever Jones Town cult they're going for and produce as many slow-paced videos as they want. It's just as easy for us to ignore them, like we have been...apparently.

43
I wonder if the bitter of the world post more than the rest of us.

This sound so fun. If I weren't so busy being an underpaid social worker, often too tired to work on my own art at night, I'd want to be there too. I'm relieved and glad that other people have the energy to do stuff like that. Go Beta Society Go! <---(This here is a dose of unashamed, genuinely dorky enthusiasm.)

@42: Yeah, really they should be working toward owning condos instead of "still renting (in a commune)" and making art. Bleh!
44
Forgot to add an "s" to sound in my post.
45
Thanks for posting in comments Lindy and entering dialogue, it's like you're a writer in the 90s now
- big alan-thicke/junkbucket sized brass ones there that most writers on Stranger don't have. Thank you and keep it up.

And nostalgia humor is doing quite well these days, on the DIY/neopunk aka Geek scale. Tenacious D, Gabe & Tycho, Wil = individual scale big wins. But I agree that to catch a bigger market share of older audience, they'll need better material. Not pretending to be a professor of comedy, but perhaps these guys could stand to watch less UCB and SNL and more monty python, Lucille Ball, and vaudeville.

I also would like to hear more about why they are lined up for potential, unless there's some obvious use of the mansion (other than as a high-end brothel), that my pre-coffee non-super-capitalist brain is missing. Cheap rent's great... maybe the subtext story here is the evolution of artist housing from old brick lofts in pioneer square 2 decades ago, to coke mansions in the near-burbs...? Or perhaps Lindy is just another victim of an editor with an agenda and a red pen.

46
To all the bitter posters: If The Stranger is such a wasteland for hopeless hipsters, and the staff all suck, and you're the only ones brilliant enough to see through it, then why the fuck do you read it?

It's great to be critical if you actually have something to say, but I've yet to read any negative comments posted here that are actually interesting or constructive. I will say one thing though, you all sound just like what you're criticizing.

Sheesh.
47
You want constructive comments? F that! If you're calling yourself professional or pre-professional or whatever here's a hint:

1. Nobody needs to hold your hand with constructive critiques. That shit was left behind in College and after that you should be able to create something of substance without a second opinion all the time and if people are dogging on your work... then THERE's you're answer.

2. Here's your answer #46: "The Stranger is a wasteland for hopeless hipsters.." - So that's obviously why this Beta Cult or whatever was featured in it. Great. I'm sure it was a real challenge getting in the free press.

3. I've yet to see a comment defending this group that sited evidence of actual work that ...well...WORKED. Every video is a dead end except the VHS gold things... and those weren't anything but a quick edit on pre-existing material (albeit hilarious footage.)

Nostalgia humor WAS doing quite well...last year...if you're being nostalgic. Move on.
48
Don't be jealous.
49
Don't be jealous. You're just bummed you didn't think of it first.
50
@47 Your post doesn't make any sense.
51
@47 You might consider not drinking a case of beer before you write.
52
The guy in the front row with glasses is hot.
53
The Thicke uses only his penis when typing comments into blogs.

Oh wait...that apparently isn't too out-landish.
54
gO #29 with the angry pandas comment.

Everyone bitches so much on these comment lines... heck, I'm envious of the Beta Club too... who doesn't want to live in a rad mansion with their friends doing things they enjoy most of the time? Duh. But that isn't my life, and actually I like my life just fine too. Stop hating people.
55
ooops... Beta Society
57
I think your opinions are unchecked by the real facts of observers serving themselves.

Take for instance the front row... you look like clones trying to hide the profits of a market crash in someone elses comic book.

After all, if... and mind you this is a very big point of contention now for the Columbia Law Review, June 2009 Vol. 109 No. 5 [pages 893 through 1262]

( considering after all Christina Duffy Burnett shares the same spelling as T-Bone Burnett, and T-Bone produced Elvis Costello in 2009 at a blistering rate of down home slack twang-wine and sawdust and tears );

and as constricting this consideration is to the recent switch from pork belly trading in pulp books and comic shacks to abrogated by lines....

again, if you take a look at the Gustav Courbet display (2008 coffee table book by HAJE CANTZ )

[think "well known painter without the GROOOOSSSS sores"]

in the University Bookstore nowhere, in Washington State on the Ave., you might possibly be surprised to find a little known brevity by ERIC STANTON....

The DOMINANT WIVES and Other Stories.. copywrite 2008 25th anniversary edition.

This is a thick block print cartoon fiasco on what NOT to do at home with your next

Supreme Court Law Review and Case study for

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review :
Thomas M. Mackey Volume 13 Winter 2009....

Just what the heck does this have to do with today's rate of murder as reported in the Seattle Times today
( July 31st, 2009 ? )

Perhaps Peter Gabriel and Tori Amos, Trent Reznor and Thom Yorke will get together and give Joni Mitchell a call and we can all discuss it together and save a little known hotspot called...

2006.... a copywrite interupted.. the story of a lemondrop.

( other wise known as
'this never happened, a screenplay
by johnny foxtrot)

Name recognition ain't dead yet...

it's just waiting for KIENEKER vs. The War on Iraq and the Fall of the
9-11 Towers in New York to be moved to a new case law without The Journal of Animal Law and Ethics Volume 2 May 2007 getting in the way of really good fight songs... and of course, dietary stimulants mixed with benzoid-quad-u-luber-whatevers.

Peace be unto you... you little wankers of little faith.

Please wait...

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