What Beerluck means to me: a retrospective

Featured contributor: Hayes S.

Let us first consider the origins of the Beerluck tradition from the etymology of the term, coined by the Gupta tribe of the Atlantic northeast. The term is popularly known as an adaptation of the standard term “potluck”, a culinary event in which food preparation was shared among participating members. The term Beerluck holds similar associations (a feast of libations, in which refreshment is gathered by participant revelers), but its deeper connotations are worth investigating.

The first half of the term comes from the original English word “Beer”, defined as “an alchoholic drink made from yeast-fermented malt flavored with hops” by Webster’s Dictionary. We shall take this definition at face value for now, though I shall argue that my urine-fermented horse sweat flavored with butterscotch needs to enter the lexicon, but I digress.

The second half “luck” is more interesting. It is defined as “something as regarded as bringing about or portending good or bad things.” Despite the idiomatic associations with its predecessor, I will argue that the act of Beerluck tradition incorporates the conjunctive meaning of its name- in other words, the ability of the event to combine the popular beverage with either ominous or auspicious events.

Let us take Beerluck II (January 20, 2007) as a detailed case study. This is the first time we see the ability of the institution to bring four remote visitors to San Francisco, Jen Nyein, Jon, and Ari (not depicted for reasons of lavatory sodomy – see Igor*), whom I’ll refer to as Jenyeinyonari. The joyous reunion was not without consequence.



Beer, as we all know, undergoes a transformative process, its ultimate form shown below. However, aside from its physical properties, the mental effects cannot be discounted, causing its recipient to flaunt his dispensary tool to a passerby. This is yet another way that the beverage, through indirect means, transcribes itself upon the “other”. It also portends more ominous events.



Beer allows for the perceptual transformation of one’s abilities, and the neglect of one’s shortcomings. Take for example, the game of backyard soccer, played with disregard to safety, or the puddle of transformed beer shown above. Here is the result:



Next, I will show an image series illustrating the cause and effect of the Beerluck phenomenon in which the dialectic between the auspicious and the ominous is played out constantly. The transition between the idyllic and the sublime is near imperceptible.



Only as this Beerluck phenomenon evolves will we begin to answer the poignant questions of its time - what will it become, what will it entail, where will it move, and what forms of punishment will result?

I will conclude with a parting thought – if a man rolls a die ten times and “6” comes up thrice, is he a matador?