Took Ariel into the city to meet Ken Jennings, Jeopardy’s all-time champ, who was doing a book signing at the B&N in Union Square. Nattily attired, he kept the audience entertained with a discussion and selected readings of his latest book, “Brainiac” (which, tragically, has nothing to do with supervillains) while discussing his slow progression from closeted trivia master to the poster boy for knowing tons of information others would deem useless (although how anyone can deem something useless when you can use it to rake in $2 milliion-plus is beyond me.)
Sometimes I wonder about the wave of genuine hostility to knowledge that many in this country possess. Whether it’s the disdainful description of experts on topics as “geeks” or “nerds,” or the fact that a minuscule percentage of the consumer base is responsible for the vast majority of books bought, or…let’s face it…that so many people would embrace someone as intellectually stunted as George W. Bush, twice, for the presidency…there just seems to be this antipathy toward intellect that I find disturbing.
I’d like to claim that Jennings’ book is next on my list to read–we got two signed copies, one for Ariel, the other for Kath and myself–but it was abruptly displaced when I noticed to my shock that there was a John Mortimer “Rumpole” novel out that somehow slipped under my radar when it came out in 2004. It’s entitled “The Penge Bungalow Murders,” which Rumpole fans will instantly know as the case the British barrister (so memorably played by the late, great Leo McKern) regularly cited as his career highlight. It’s like stumbling over a Conan Doyle manuscript entitled, “The Adventure of the Giant Rat of Sumatra.” But “Brainiac”–which is not merely autobiographical, but instead an overview of the grand obsession of trivia–is right after that.
Strangest question Jennings got: An arena battle between a T-Rex and one thousand turkeys. Who would win? Jennings opined that it would likely be the T-Rex, but I’m not sure about that. Assuming that the T-Rex would probably be eating the turkeys as he went, I’d think all that tryptophan might start to make him drowsy, and the turkeys could eventually wear him down. In terms of pointless discussions, it’s probably right up there with cavemen versus astronauts.
PAD
• 
Fourteen posts in as many hours; thank goodness you told us you have a life, Dan.
“I appreciate your admitting that to me, although I am sure that other individuals on this board may take YOU to task over that sentiment.”
No they won’t.
“Really? Tell that to Bill Myers. Not only does he think I’ve been personally attacking him from the very beginning, but he thinks I do this to somehow gain his attention or curry his favor.”
No he doesn’t.
“I’ve been to his website…I can count on two hands the number of people that have contributed to his blog…”
Ahh… The cheap and easy shot that’s pointless and not really related to anything I said. Score one for the low road takers.
“His rule of maintaining a ‘civil tone’ is rather confusing.”
No, it’s not the least bit confusing to adults.
“If he is saying that I need to start writing 3-4 paragraph treaties on why I think evil is ‘bad’, then I guess I’d better move on, cuz’ I can’t do that–I find that boring.”
Funny, I seem to have missed where anyone said anything like that.
“..if you (not YOU, personally…the ‘royal’ you…) have to resort to interjecting profanity into phrases like “grow the f*ck up”, or “stop being a pr*ck”, then you truly are a knuckle-dragger and not worth MY time.”
“…quite a few writers–my favorites–Harlan Ellison…”
You’ve never read any opinion essays by the first writer on your favorites list. Go to his site and call him a knuckle dragger that’s not worth your time. It might be fun to watch.
“You know, you’re right…guess I’m the only one that says insulting things.”
On what planet did I say that? I’ve actually pointed out that most of us have had the odd flame out debates.
“You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves. I may call you ‘bucko’, but your offensiveness tips the scale if the first thing you can think of when you think “Japan” in Godzilla…”
No. Say “Japan” and I think of good food, fine brush work ink paintings and wax paintings, Kurosawa & Shichinin no samurai, a girl I dated in high school, Ranma 1/2 and Vampire Hunter D before getting to Gojira. Now, bring up the sea boiling and giant columns of steam jetting skyward with news sources quoting Maritime Self-Defense Forces… I go for the big G right off the bat.
“As an Asian-American,I found that whole thread to be extremely offensive.”
What amazingly thin skin you must have.
“It is nice to know that I’m no more offensive that you people are, and what a bunch of dammned hypocrites you all turned out to be.”
Actually, you are. And we’re not hypocrites. We are proudly geeks of the first order. Had the same thing happened off the coastline of England there would have been Gerry Anderson or Doctor Who posts out the whazoo.
“If that was the first thing that came to your mind at this potential disaster, I shudder to think what your first thought was at Katrina…”
You have to be trying to be dense here. No damage done Vs mega damage and huge numbers of hurt and killed. That would be like you jumping on me for thinking a Jackie Chan stunt reel is cool because.. well.. You know that people have actually died falling off buildings.
“…but at the risk of once again being trollish…”
You are.
“…it looked less like an olive branh and more like the blue pill from the Matrix.”
Yeah. Right. You either did not or can not read and understand those posts from before. Your post about the whole Godzilla thing just tells me what other people were smart enough to get well before me.
You’re not worth the attempt at discourse and you belong on the ignore list.
Bye.
Bill,
“(And it’s Godzilla here. Showing off by insisting that it’s Gojira would be as stupid as insisting that The Seven Samurai be referred to as Shichinin no samurai. Being a knowledgable jerk is only a little better than being a jerk.).”
I was actually being a bit sarcastic in my post about his Gojira usage… But… Thanks for kneeing me in the nuts while I was still typing.
😉
And, no, before either Bill goes after the obvious….
It did not take me 45 minutes of hunt and peck to type that. My bus isn’t quite that short. My dog went and killed another ground hog in the yard (I love her so much) and I had to leave the computer to deal with the remains.
Bill Mulligan, do NOT alienate Jerry C! We need his likeness to build our cat food empire!
(Pssst… everyone… don’t tell Mulligan that he never actually made me a full partner in this endeavor… I’m hoping if I keep acting like he did he’ll just accept it…)
Posted by: Jerry C at September 18, 2006 03:30 PM
And, no, before either Bill goes after the obvious….
Wouldn’t dream of it, Jerry C. I’ve taken forever to write some of my posts, with no dog to fall back on as an excuse.
Jerry C:
Aw, C’mon Jer ol’ buddy! Don’t go away mad! You’re so much fun to play with! I’ve got you to sink down to MY level, snarky comments and all!
This is soooo much fun. Watching y’all squirm…trying so hard not to be snarky, cuz’ that’d make you as bad as me, yet, sooo wanting to…
I think I have finally figured it out and it took you, Jerry C, to shine the light…you’re all GEEKS. I thought I was one too…I’m not. I find Anime depressing and boring (and I understand what they’re saying without it having to be translated…)…wait I take that back…City Hunter…LOVED that one…everthing else is drivel…I’m starting to get bored of comics too… like old chewing gum, they’ve all pretty much lost their flavor for me. You all are so wrapped up in your lockstep geekspeak its pathetic.
I’m cured. I no longer have to hang out with you horse’s áššëš.
I’m outta here.
“”good decisions” and “correct conclusions”—what a bunch of elitist crap.”
Once again, getting to the point of this thread. Bad information leads to bad decisions. History is replete with them. If it’s elitist to want to learn from past mistakes so we don’t make future mistakes, then yeah, I’m elitist. Happy to be one. And sick and tired of seeing people all around me refuse to actually use their brains to act.
Enjoy it, no. But if Ronald was the biggest export my country had, I’d certainly not fault anyone for making the connection.
Here’s where you go wrong Dan: You see a thread on underwater volcanic steam clouds near Japan and some comments about Godzilla, and all your mind processes is “Japan” and “Godzilla.” You’re trying to make a point about how the people that you think are attacking you are just as offensive as they claim you are, and you think you’ve found your proof.
You haven’t: All you’ve found are a set of facts that, if you’re allowed to spin your way, seem to support your position. But all they do is show you to either be using poor judgement and reading skills, or outright factual manipulation in order to make your point.
No one on that thread said “all I can think of when I hear someone mention Japan is Godzilla.” Yet that’s they way you’re reacting. The specifics of the event are that a huge steam cloud near Japan evoked memories of Godzilla…because if you look at just about any of his movies, that very scene is probably somewhere in it.
“I’m outta here.”
Best. Post. Ever.
Aw, C’mon Jer ol’ buddy! Don’t go away mad! You’re so much fun to play with! I’ve got you to sink down to MY level, snarky comments and all!
This from the self-described non-troll.
Shrouded.
TWL
Outta here, maybe. But how long will it take to come back? I give it an hour. Maybe less.
Dan Nakagawa
It doesn’t offend you in the least if I were to come up to you and call you ‘pardner’ or ‘buckaroo’? ‘Wanna rustle up some grub?
Nope, I just laugh and tell them that they’re thinking of Texas. Back in 94, I went to DC on a field trip and met people who really did think that most Oklahomans still rode horses to school.
Dan Nakagawa
You would not be offended if, when people visit your hometown, no matter how much you’ve worked to modernize the image, all they remember are cowboys/injuns/dustbowl?
If that’s all they remembered, then they slept on the way to and from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Dan Nakagawa
You don’t want them to know that the Oklahoma has a rich Native American history, where the Witchita, Osage, Caddo and Quapaw tribes lived? You don’t want them to remember Steinback’s “The Grapes of Wrath”, or the “Black Wall Street” of Northern Tulsa?
Don’t care. I don’t care if they know any of that. I never took Oklahoma history (moved here the year after it was required social studies) so there is still much I don’t know. Last year, I found out that Oklahoma was originally going to be split up into two states and I thought that was cool because I was reading an alternate history book where Oklahoma was called Sequoyah and didn’t know why until I went to a Cherokee history museum — finding the fact behind the fiction was revelating!
Dan Nakagawa
My point is that it isn’t a matter of being thick or thin-skinned–you shouldn’t have to tolerate stereotypes–especially not in this day and age.
I agree, but the only way that Godzilla relates to folks sterotyping is if they believe that the Japanese speak in stilted English with their mouths’ movements not matching the words being spoken. People simply thinking of Godzilla when Japan is mentioned is hardly an instance of stereotyping.
Dan Nakagawa
You may not give it a second thought, but speaking as a minority, I’m sick and tired of having Japan’s image tied to that stuipid lizard…
For any individual, Japan’s image (just like Oklahoma’s image) is limited by that individual’s exposure to Japan whether personal or via media. Godzilla is merely one faucet of exposure. The movie “Gung-Ho” is another. The architecture (i.e. pointed roofs) of Japan’s famous castles is another. Samurai and ninjas are another.
In the end, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life.
jerry, no offense meant–it’s not like you were insisting on everyone using the original Japanese. I, for example, like to refer to THE HORROR CHAMBER OF DR FAUSTAS by the original LES YEUX SAN VISAGE because it makes me feel hip and cool.
Well Dan, now it’s time to say goodbye. You know, you can insult me. You can insult my friends. But calling Godzilla a “stupid lizard”? Good day to you, sir! Good day, I say!
1998 Godzilla was a stupid lizard. Gojira, on the other hand, will kick anyone’s ášš, any day.
Even Batman.
BTW the reason I thought of SEVEN SAMURAIm in the first place is because Criterion just released a 3 disk set whuch is said to be the best version ever released. If you haven’t seen this movie please do so.
Ohhhhhh, it is, man, it is.
BTW the reason I thought of SEVEN SAMURAIm in the first place is because Criterion just released a 3 disk set whuch is said to be the best version ever released. If you haven’t seen this movie please do so.
dámņ it. i already have the Criterion Collection version of Seven Samurai, but mine’s only the one disc.
i mean, it’s cool that there’s more stuff, but it’s always annoying when something you spent money on becomes obsolete.
I know. They’re bášŧárdš. But how can I complain?
If they keep doing this sneaky crap though it’s going to make people look into downloading stuff even more than they already do.
Danny Boy—
Peter usually doesn’t go to the trouble of banning people here.
Be careful, though. He might disemvowel you.
Guess I posted that for nothing, seeins how Dan left and all.
I deliberately refrained from responding to Dan Nakagawa today because he seemed to feel a particular enmity towards me. I had hoped that my staying out of the fray might lower the tension level a bit. But Dan found other excuses to blow a gasket.
Dan’s last post in this thread led me to mull over witty rejoinders, but I rejected them all. We’ve given him far more attention than he ever deserved.
Instead, I’d like to tell the rest of you that by and large, you are a really good group of people. Whenever I come here, I learn things, I am drawn into debates that sharpen my critical thinking skills, and I enjoy a level of camarederie I haven’t experienced in any other online community.
Make no mistake, this is a community in the truest and best sense of the word. Oh, yeah, we’re a contentious bunch. But many people here are also quick to compliment someone for a nice post, offer useful information, and even offer words of support to others when needed.
I’ll never forget when a poster got Peter riled some months back. That poster came back and apologized. Peter replied that his reaction could have been more tactful, and dismissed the incident as “bygones.” The conflict was resolved amicably, just like that.
By failing to exhibit the good qualities most of you possess, Dan ironically brought those qualities into sharper relief and reminded me why I keep coming here. I consider myself lucky to be a part of this community.
Addendum: I noted that Dan called us “horse’s áššëš.” The placement of the apostrophe indicates the possessive is singular, meaning one horse with multiple áššëš. That’s odder than a pre-Crisis Kryptonian turkey on sale at the SuperFresh Mart.
Bill Myers,
Hear, hear. I second that. A round of drinks for everybody on me.*
*This offer limited to only states named Virginia. Offer expires while you wait or your money back.
meaning one horse with multiple áššëš.
There’s gonna be a lot of lookalike mules round these parts…
TWL
Yes, Viriginia, there really is a Jerry Claus. I mean, what ELSE could the “C” be for if he’s going to buy the state a drink? Or does that sound like a really scaled down Coke commercial? “I’d like to by my state a Coke, because I think the rest all suck…”
And who knew that Fez was just Irish? With a tan? Huh. Learn something every day.
As some people know, I work at a racetrack. One horse with multiple áššëš…I live in mortal fear. Therapy helps, but still the dreams come….
So, when do we stop bashing posting trolls and discuss STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP? Sorkin is back, comrades!
Posted by Bill Mulligan:
I, for example, like to refer to THE HORROR CHAMBER OF DR FAUSTAS by the original LES YEUX SAN VISAGE because it makes me feel hip and cool.
Well, if you *pronounce* the title correctly, you might come off feeling “hip and cool” (your friends may think you “pretentious”, but that’s another matter). Your spelling, however, leaves much to be desired. It should read “Faustus” in the US title, and “sans” in the French. (I wonder: Is this film one of Billy Idol’s favorites?)
At the risk of endangering my standing within such august company as Bill Myers’s “really good group of people,” (assuming, of course, that I’m included, acting the jackanapes, speaking from the heart rather than research in the more serious discussions, and poking the occasional troll, or oni as the case may be, with a stick, as I am wont to do) I have one final musing regarding our latest “visitor”:
Does anybody else think he may have actually had an orgasm when he finally got to type that last post where he “won” over, apparently, Zeus’s multi-assed geek horse?
-Rex Hondo-
Posted by Rex Hondo at September 19, 2006 01:57 AM
At the risk of endangering my standing within such august company as Bill Myers’s “really good group of people,”
Rex, it’s not my “really good group of people.” I just happen to be lucky enough to be a part of it.
Posted by Rex Hondo at September 19, 2006 01:57 AM
(assuming, of course, that I’m included, acting the jackanapes, speaking from the heart rather than research in the more serious discussions, and poking the occasional troll, or oni as the case may be, with a stick, as I am wont to do)
Rex, I can’t speak for anyone else here, but for what it’s worth I think you’re good people.
Well, if you *pronounce* the title correctly, you might come off feeling “hip and cool” (your friends may think you “pretentious”, but that’s another matter). Your spelling, however, leaves much to be desired. It should read “Faustus” in the US title, and “sans” in the French. (I wonder: Is this film one of Billy Idol’s favorites?)
Pretentious? Moi?
Those darn French have a different word for everything.
Well, for the sake of clarity, it would probably be more accurate to say “The group of really good people mentioned by Bill Myers.”
Also for the sake of clarity, I do not mean to imply by any means that others who make an effort to focus the lense of logic on many of our discussions are heartless in any way, shape, or form.
It’s been a particularly rough month at work, and the last couple of nights even more so (Anyone having seen the news out of Indianapolis over the last couple of days might have some idea why, though I don’t remember right this moment if I’ve actually mentioned before that I’m a pharmacy tech IRL) Can’t hand out details in light of the inevitable litigation, but even though I wasn’t directly involved, the entire hospital’s on edge, and the pharmacy doubly so.
Which, of course, can lead a man to ramble slightly. :6
-Rex Hondo-
1There is a new John Mortimer coming out Oct 06–Rumpole and the Reign of Terror. Good to know there are people out there that read him. Each time he does one I fear it will be the last.
Posted by Tim Lynch at September 15, 2006 05:23 PM
(my words: the general fantasy alternative to the current Chief Executive is the Democrat who ran and lost in the last election.)
tim responds “In whose f***ing universe, Chris? Nobody who’s spoken up on this thread, that’s for sure.”
Generally, in every real universe, the general attitude is “too bad President Example won the last election” and in the real world President Example won the election by defeating one guy… and most of the liberals I have encountered (and I have encountered) many have opined things along the lines of “don’t blame me I voted for Kerry”.
So yes, while the declaration is irrational, the world is irrational, and my conclusion has the unfortunate logic that a lot of people who mourn the victory of one mourn the defeat of another.
Now in this thread anyone really could have been thinking that it’s too bad the POTUS is the POTUS and the obviously more intelligent… um…. Thomas Jefferson wasn’t around to kick his ášš.
But for TWL’s response to ultimately stand, to say that my generalization is the exception and not the other way around, would be to assume that there was not ever a market in “don’t blame me I voted for Kerry” stickers.
Right now the idea comes to mind…
the majority of serious Conservatives that I speak to (and not just Republican political jerks or decent non-political human beings with Lite Conservative moral codes) routinely have ideas whom they wish to have President right now rather than George W. Bush. Guys with Conservative beliefs and principles and stuff like that that the so-called beholders spout off about all the time. If you take them at face value, then certainly guys like Alan Keyes (elitist overeducated show-off) or Pat Buchanan (white nationalist jerk) or Ross Perot (I have no problem with him except that maybe his politics became more ego-driven in 1992 and 1996) may certainly be more Conservative and more right-wing than President Bush, but more importantly these people, right or wrong, have thought through their beliefs and why they hold them, hold to them, and speak of them. Certainly Keyes, Buchanan, or… Glenn Beck have thought through their personal philosophies, politics, or beliefs much more thoroughly than George W. Bush. They know why they believe and they know why they believe it.
I may want Alan Keyes or Tom Trancredo to be President and I think most of the so-called Republican front-runners are weak-willed ninnies at the core and/or not very serious about their purported beliefs.
The DNC nominated John Kerry. Who do serious Leftists wish were President? and I really don’t think a serious Leftist wants Hillary Rodham Clinton or John Kerry to be President… they don’t have philosophies.