It all started back
in 1990, when Strafe Narkette took a GOOD
job, laying out the personals section for Metro, an independent
newspaper in sunny San Jose, California. On some months, there just
weren't enough "housemate wanted" or "single white male seeks llama"
ads to fill the pages of the current issue. Being the quick thinking,
street-savvy c-punk that he is, Strafe plugged the holes with excerpts
from the then mythical Strafe's Guide to Streetspeak, defining
some of the cooler and more esoteric words being used by the hipper
of the Bay Area's cyberati.
(For those interested in trivia, the first entry to see print was
vietnamod.)
Over time, the file of definitions became rather substantial, as did the number of
fans the series had developed. Strafe started getting calls asking where
one could buy a copy of Strafe's Guide.
Strafe put forth the idea of publishing the guide to his friends Chris
Hudak, Dinah Sanders and B.J. West. Knowing a great idea when
it slaps them upside the cerebellum, the team immediately, began combing
the back alleys of the tech underground for more words and phrases.
They assembled them into the first edition of Strafe's Guide,
and Kelp Transmissions, Ltd. was born.
The original book was 46 pages long, containing 114 terms. It measured
5 by 3.5 inches, custom tailored to fit in the back pocket of a pair
of Levi's 501 jeans. The cover was charcoal grey, with an image of
Strafe printed in black. You can still read the
original introduction from this deadtree edition..
The first printing was sold exclusively at Science Fiction conventions, and was sold out
in less than three weeks. Subsequent printings disappeared even more quickly. It's hard
to put a value on the first printing, as collectors who own one would sooner part with
their spleen.
Since then, Strafe's Guide has become something of a legend
amongst those in the know. The friendly folks at Kelp Transmissions
have continued collecting words over the years, and proudly brought
them to the world with the first online edition of Strafe's Guide
To Streetspeak, unveiled on August 26th, 1997.
Strafe's Guide was moved to a new service provider on April
18, 2000 and went into its 3rd edition in December 2000.
(C) Copyright 1991-2000 Kelp Transmissions, Severely Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
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