This version contains a more information.and have a total of 135 cards. If you'd like to purchase this set of cards, they are available through : Opal Information po box 141, leigh-on-sea, Essex, UK they cost: for UK : 17 pounds europe 17.50 pounds s america & africa 18.50 pounds australia,new zealand & japan 18.90 pounds usa,canada 35 Us Dls ---------- Ok, here's my copy of the posting from some while ago of Brian Eno's oblique strategies cards. Each line was printed on a playing card sized card, black on one side, white on the printed side. They come in a small black box that says "Oblique Strategies" on one side in gold lettering, and the artists names are on the other side. They were developed by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, who was a painter friend of Eno's (he did the cover for Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy)). The first little bit there descibes the basic ideas behind the cards and their recommended use. I bought my set in 1980 for $11.00. It was a second, unsigned edition. A friend of mine has offered to sell me his first edition, signed by both artists, for $100.00 Those are the only two copies I've ever seen. I have no idea where you might find a copy of the set. Enjoy. -=- -=- -=- Here are the ``Oblique Strategies'' cards that have been mentioned/requested: (this first bit is the introductory card) OBLIQUE STRATEGIES Over 100 worthwhile dilemmas by Brian Eno & Peter Schmidt These cards evolved from our separate observations of the principles underlying what we were doing. Sometimes they were recognized in retro- spect (intellect catching up with intuition), sometimes they were formulated. They can be used as a pack (a set of possibilities being continuously reviewed in the mind) or by drawing a single card from the shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation. In this case the card is trusted even if its appropriateness is quite unclear. They are not final, as new ideas will present themselves, and others will become self-evident. [First published 1975, slightly revised edition 1978. (BLANK CARD) (Organic) Machinery A line has two sides A very small object Its center Abandon normal instruments Accept advice Accretion Allow an easement (an easement is the abandonment of a structure) Always first steps Always give yourself credit for having more than personality Are there sections ? Consider transitions Ask people to work against their better judgment Ask your body Assemble some of the elements in a group and treat the group Balance the consistency principle with the inconsistency principle Be dirty Be extravagant Be less critical more often Breathe more deeply Bridges - build - burn Cascades Change instrument roles Change nothing and continue with immaculate consistency Children -speaking -singing Cluster analysis Consider different fading systems Consult other sources - Promising - Unpromising Convert a melodic element into a rhythmic element Courage ! Cut a vital connection Decorate, decorate Define an area 'safe' and use it as an anchor Destroy -nothing -The most important thing Discard an axiom Disciplined self-indulgence Disconnect from desire Discover the recipes you are using and abandon them Distorting time Do nothing for as long as possible Do something boring Do the washing up Do the words need changing? Do we need holes? Don't be afraid of things because they're easy to do Don't be frightened of clichs Don't be frightened to display yourtalents Don't break the silence Don't stress one thing more than another Emphasize differences Emphasize repetitions Emphasize the flaws Faced with a choice, do both Feed the recording back out of the medium Fill every beat with something Get your neck massaged From nothing to more than nothing Ghost echoes Give the game away Give way to your worst impulse Go outside. Shut the door Go slowly all the way round the circle Go to an extreme, move back to a more comfortable place Honor thy error as a hidden intention How would you have done it ? Humanize something free of error Idiot glee (?) Imagine the pieces as a set of disconnected events In total darkness, or in a very largeroom, very quietly Infinitesimal gradations Intentions - nobility of - humility of - credibility of Into the impossible Is it finished ? Is the intonation correct ? Is there something missing ? It is quite possible (after all) Just carry on Left channel, right channel, center channel Listen to the quite voice Look at the order in which you do things Look closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify them Lost in useless territory Lowest common denominator Make a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frame Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate Make an exhaustive list of everything you might do and do the last thing on the list Mechanicalize something idiosyncratic Mute and continue Not building a wall but making a brick Once the search is in progress, something will be found Only a part, not the whole Only one element of each kind Overtly resist change Put in earplugs Question the heroic approach Reevaluation (a warm feeling) was revaluation Remember .those quite evenings Remember specifics and convert to ambiguities Remove ambiguities and convert to specifics Repetition is a form of change Retrace your steps Reverse Short circuit (example; a man eating peas with the idea that they will improve his virility shovels them straight into his lap) Simple subtraction Simply a matter of work Spectrum analysis State the problem in words as clearly as possible Take a break Take away the elements in order of apparent non-importance Tape your mouth The inconsistency principle The most important thing is the thing most easily forgotten The tape is now the music Think of the radio Tidy up Towards the insignificant Trust in the you of now Turn it upside down Twist the spine Use 'unqualified' people Use an old idea Use an unacceptable colour Use fewer notes Use filters Water What are the sections of?Imagine a caterpillar moving What are you really thinking about just now? What is the reality of the situation ? What mistakes did you make last time? What would your closest friend do ? What wouldn+t you do? Work at a different speed Would anybody want it ? You are an engineer You can only make one dot at a time You don't have to be ashamed of using your own ideas