#!/usr/bin/perl

=head1 NAME

obtuse_tactics.pl - You know "Oblique Strategies?" This isn't it.

=head1 USAGE

obtuse_tactics.pl [1, [2, ...] edition_numbers]

There is, currently, only one edition number (you have to guess which one it
is). The default is all available editions.

=head1 DESCRIPTION

This outputs I-Ching-like suggestions for the creative process. It's kind of
like Brian Eno's "Oblique Strategies", only unconnected to and untested by any
artistic output. It's like an art-school Magic 8-Ball (tm?). It's a waste of
time or a C<urandom> for the creativity. It's like Strunk & White for the
terminally stoned.

It's bullshit.

Yes, this is a Perl script. If you don't know what that means or how to use it -
well, then this really is "Obtuse Tactics".

There's probably something like a 1-to-1 correspondance between included sayings
and those in the inspiration. I'll be damned if you can figure out the relation.

=head1 AUTHOR

Jason Thaxter <firstname at lastname dot net>

=head1 VERSION

Version 1.91374091832740987283472

=cut
%selections;
$edition;
unless (@ARGV) { @ARGV = ('.') }

$pattern = join '|', @ARGV;

while (<DATA>) {
    ( $edition = $1 and next ) if m/^\.Edition (\d)/;
    $selections{$_}++ if $edition =~ m/$pattern/;
}

@selections = keys %selections;

print $selections[ rand(@selections) ];

__DATA__
.Edition 1
Misuse your tools.
Pervert advice.
Don't edit: develop.
A line has no sides.
Grant an exception.
What's in between the notes?
Push people to do something uncomfortable.
Listen to your limbs.
Select a representative and disregeard him/her.
Be consistently inconsistent: create oases and plateaus.
Respect vice.
Slower.
Lightning connects things.
Avalanches.
Make the parts play different parts.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Children's voices - screaming - laughing.
Carrier waves.
There's more than one way to fade to black.
Ask someone else: listen and be skeptical.
Submerge a theme.
If a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a shotgun.
Erase your tracks.
Embellish until you know it's a lie: continue until everyone does.
Where is *your* happy place?
Crush, kill, destroy.
Is it, really? Keep asking why.
What you want isn't the point.
Don't be a hack.
Waste time or hurry.
Avoid intentions.
Run to the obvious.
I never met a cliche I didn't like.
Show off now and then.
Make someone else make the first move.
Qualities override quantities.
We've got company!
Deal with the consequences.
Cherry, cherry, seven?
Should you leave that unfinished?
Deny inconsistency.
Beat a dead horse and pretend you aren't.
Magnify warts.
When forced to choose between A and B, pick both - or C.
Steal room noise from someplace else.
No trough is empty.
Let someone give you a happy ending.
No one heard it: now whisper it.
Provide spoilers that no one will believe.
There are no consequences.
Stalk the entirety.
You meant to do that.
Explain an alternative.
Let the sacred cow fart.
Imagine the music as a Rubix cube.
Imagine the music as a box of rocks.
Watch the grass grow.
Believable, wise, or good?
Where no man has gone before.
Are we there yet?
Is there something missing?
Is the tuning appropriate? (What's that smell)
Don't - stop.
1, 2, 0.
Sumberge.
What's that noise?
Nothing is too small to have moving parts.
What' the sequence, Kenneth?
The worst parts are worthy of exaggeration.
What's the dominant frequency? A pulse? A tone? A motif?
Pick something worthless, tie a bow on it.
Do something now: you can do something meaningful later.
Smash the frame: make that the picture.
Make the peculiar a ritual.
Shut up and keep going.
Qualities make a story: quantities make a Jerry Bruckheimer film
Acid & proteins.
Advocate stasis just for the hell of it.
What? I can't year you. I'm wearing earplugs.
Nostalgia loves the uneventful.
Be concrete.
Avoid unnecessary details.
Nothing displays the momentum like a full stop.
Wackbirds.
*Short circuit (example; a man eating peas with the idea that they will improve his virility shovels them straight into his lap)
Be the fly on the wall.
Take it away.
What's the frequency, Kenneth?
Some things develop during time off.
Prune.
Bite your tongue.
Standards? Tradition? Habit? What?
Let the mirror be the painting.
Signals from space.
Eliminate something unnecessary: start with yesterday's dishes.
Commit: you won't get any wiser if you don't make mistakes.
Stand on your head.
Screw it up - or down.
It's all been done before: this, now, again!
Taste is boring.
Some variations are just showing off.
Restrict input.
Expertise is boring.
Water.
What are you really thinking about just now? Incorporate
Don't bullshit.
Nothing's perfect: keep the imperfections you like and destroy the rest.
Clarify: "socially acceptable"
Clarify: "off limits"
Produce more or contemplate more (try producing first).
You always wanted to be an architect.
. - it's a start
Everyone fakes it until they make it.
...