Floodlights by the Disco Biscuits

Word Source (word.sc) is an online dictionary which, unlike other dictionaries, is advertisement free. It is also pretty simple to manipulate the url (word.sc/[insert word]). Users can upload photos, rate words, all sorts of useless things.

I’m going to start posting conversations I have online, or in person, on here if they are in any way interesting or entertaining.
This is the first.

Joe: i’ve decided the weatherman is secretly a drug dealer
Joe: he’s always telling us where the biggest highs are
John: nicholas cage?
Joe: no, real weather men
Joe: though it wouldn’t surprise me if nicolas cage sold drugs too
John: maybe that explains why they’re always outside in shitty weather
John: they’re out in the good weather too, they just don’t show it
Joe: haha
Joe: all that shit when they’re standing in front of the map - that’s coded information about where and when you can get the best stuff
Joe: that also explains why when you take it literally, they’re wrong more than half of the time
Joe: “There’s a good chance we’ll see some ’snow’ coming in from the west.”
Joe: “It could be quite a lot of ’snow’.”

You know, there are a lot of people who go straight from denial to despair, without pausing on the intermediate step of actually doing something about the problem.

This is a quote by Al Gore from the movie An Inconvenient Truth.
One fun thing to notice about this quote is the logic.
Because even if someone does the intermediate step, the chain goes

        Denial -> Do Something -> Despair

:)

Oh, and some tunes:

Dick in a Box as performed by Umphrey’s McGee
Now, I know that Dick in a Box made the rounds a long while ago, but I’m pretty happy to see bands like Umph covering it in their live shows.

Headshot by The Slip

Alright, I’m going to try to build up a semi intelligible argument here, but it may take a while, so stick with me while I lay the foundation.

Almost every disagreement, however petty, can be boiled down to a dispute of definition. As long as a both arguments are supported by logic, one word can be identified as the concept they are disagreeing upon. A simple and popular example is abortion:

Each side disagrees on when life begins. Pro-Lifers believe that life starts on conception, and Pro-Choicers believe that life begins upon birth, or even the severing of the umbilical chord. Whatever your stance, what matters here is that the definition of ‘life’ is being contested.

Another, more comical, example comes from former President Bill Clinton:

It depends on what the meaning of the words ‘is’ is.

Ok, maybe that last one isn’t so relevant, but no matter. There are obviously thousands of other examples, and I’ll leave you to find those on your own. Now that we have established that the root of all disagreement is definition, let’s move on.

Swear words have been taboo, from high society to simple farm-folk, for as long as they have existed. I’ve always wondered why. The only reason I was ever given by my parents was that they are ‘bad words.’

I think the explanation is related to the concept above. Most swear words have lots of different uses. I often use the word ’shit’ as a synonym of ’stuff’ instead of it’s literal meaning. When I talk about “all that shit in the corner” it is very rare that I am actually talking about a pile of feces. And of course the word ‘fuck’ can be used in countless parts of speech (as shown by this popular video). Since ‘fuck’ can carry so many meanings with it, the intended meaning can easily be obscured. So while it may be totally innocent in its intent, the possible derogatory or sexual meaning could offend people who misunderstand.

In 1986 Frank Zappa went on Crossfire to argue against censorship in the media. Several times throughout the program he defends explicit lyrics by saying “They’re just words.” But he is disassociating the ideas from the words. This isn’t an argument for censorship, by any means, but it may be an argument against versatile words. Even words that aren’t considered ’swear words’ can fall into this category. When a normal word becomes widely used as a slang term for some meaning other than its original, it can cause confusion similar to the swear words.

‘Gay’ is a great example of one of these words. Originally ‘gay’ was used to describe fun, or happiness. Over time, its meaning gradually changed to refer to homosexuals, to the point where its original use is no longer the primary one. And past that, the term ‘gay’ became used to describe something undesirable (this use obviously stems from homophobia). So if I use ‘gay’ in a sentence, it could be just a misconstrued as many ways as ‘fuck’ can.

Just food for thought.

Sanctify by Calla

So I finally discovered that people are reading this blog. I don’t know why but that still strikes me as strange. I see this as more of a repository for stray thoughts that would otherwise be lost, but if other people enjoy it, all the better.

I should be blogging considerably less this week, because I have three papers that need to be written. But in reality, that means I will be blogging more. Much more. As long as I can stay away from those papers.
I love my work ethic.

In other news I’m already looking forward to SomDay this year (June 16th), which is undoubtedly a mistake. Whenever I get into something this far in advance there is a chance for me to waste all my energy and enthusiasm in anticipation. But no matter, logic hasn’t stopped me before, and it won’t now.
Last year’s Zombie invasion was incredibly fun, and I’d like to do something again on that scale, but not the same. If possible, this holiday should be celebrated differently each year.
(PLEASE NOTE: this doesn’t mean we won’t do another zombie invasion just for shits and giggles)
We’re still working on a final plan. One idea was to spend an entire day as your Anti-self. Bizarro-you. Take everything about you to the other extreme, and do that for the entire day. If you’re outgoing, become shy and reclusive. If you’re uptight become laid back. Etc.

We shall see. For now, I’m going to try and do some damage to one of these papers.