random

Sun May 13 07:08:14 UTC 2012

A collection of random observations involving "words". Please forgive
the mixed formats--that was the easiest way to keep the text
ADS-L-presentable because of unavoidable text conversion. This is also
why the post lacks offsets and formatting (not counting using slashes
for italics).

***

Samuel L Jackson in an iPhone commercial on TV (playing /a lot/ during
NBA playoffs):

"Unless you like HOT-spacho!" [Having just set a Siri reminder for
cooling gazpacho]

***

Rajon Rando, on running out the clock by dodging Philadelphia players
for the last 3.4 seconds of the game:

http://goo.gl/6YcUf
"I feel like I could out-quick him. That's what I did."

Multiple issues here.

***

John Hayward of Human Events and Hot Air, using a somewhat predictable
taboo avoidance device:

http://goo.gl/SzfrR
> After enduring a day of pounding for their stealth edit, the /Post
> /added this editor's note to the bottom of the Romney piece: "An
> earlier version of this story reported that White 'has long been
> bothered' by the Lauber incident. White later clarified in a
> subsequent interview that he has been disturbed by the incident since
> he learned of it several weeks ago from a former classmate, before
> being contacted by The Washington Post."
> Horsefeathers. White didn't "clarify" anything in a "subsequent
> interview." The /Post /author invented that false assertion out of
> thin air.

Bull pucky. This is something I never get--why do conservative
commentators pat themselves on the back for taboo avoidance when
everyone knows /exactly/ what they meant? It seems, if one is to be
civilized, he'd find a more appropriate expression, where he does not
have to pretend to be saying something else. "White meat" is a euphemism
(unlike "chicken boob", which appears to be a running gag with a lot of
under-40s). "Horsefeathers" is a cop out. [And "bull pucky" was a
joke--just trying to make a point.]

***

A snowclone conditional run amock:

http://goo.gl/KrkEq
> Rowing along Fairhaven's shore last week in a whaleboat, a fellow
> oarsman commented on the reappearance of the foliage, noting how
> beautiful it looks as it emerges amid the architecture.
> "If Eskimos have hundreds of words for snow, then green merits the
> same here in New England," she said.
> ...
> There are innumerable shades of green ushered in by spring. Perky
> jungle green ferns; avocado green fig; drab army blanket moss; blue
> pine; deep dramatic leaves of acanthus; chartreuse lady's mantle and
> of course everyone's favorite the green of summer grass. I don't have
> to stray from my garden to find these welcomers of the growing season.
> "To be a gardener in a temperate climate is to be immersed in a world
> of greens -- the rich dark green of yew, the yellowish green of young
> euphorbias, the soft green of young beech leaves, the glistening
> blackish green of laurel, the brownish green of unfurling ferns, and
> the intense bright green of springy new turf," states Susan Chivers in
> Planting for Color, in The Horticulture Gardener's Guide. "Green
> soothes and calms and acts as a foil for every other color in the
> garden. It also provides a vital, seamless link between garden and
> landscape."
> ...
> Green in common culture is a euphemism for eco-conscious. And many of
> green's word associations have positive connotations. Ireland's "four
> green fields" or provinces; Gatsby's green light; the jolly green
> giant; Fenway's Green Monster; Anne of Green Gables; Green berets; Sir
> Gawain's Green Knight; Shamrock shakes; Kermit the frog's greenness;
> green eggs; salsa verde; green thumb.
> Green is the go sign. Talk your shoes off and feel it.

***

ESPN profile (Mike Reiss, ESPNBoston) of Josh McDaniels, as he returns
as the Patriots' offensive coordinator:

> A lot has happened in McDaniels' career since that time. His
> head-coaching tenure in Denver, which high-pointed with a dramatic
> "Wild Horses" win over Belichick's Patriots in 2009, didn't turn out
> the way he hoped, and he didn't make it through the 2010 campaign.

Am I the only one to find "high-pointed" to be strange? BTW--the
possessive in the quote is--at least stylistically--wrong. What about my
comment above, involving "the Patriots"? I meant Patriots the team, not
some assortment of people who are, by some criteria, patriots.

***

On Iron Chef America, Alton Brown:

"If you want a real juicy peach, you're gonna have to get your hands
dirty with the clingstone variety."

He repeated "clingstone" a couple of times after rejecting "freestone"
as inauthentic "down in Georgia".

***

Chad Ochocinco in his open letter to NFL Commissioner Goodell:

> "Y'all do a darn near perfect job at portraying this game as one
> played by heroes," Ochocinco wrote. "But let's be real dad. This is a
> nasty, dirty and violent game with consequences. Sign up or go get a
> regular job. Watch it or turn off the TV and go fishing with your
> kids. It is really that simple."

"Sign up" in the same sense as "get with the program". Or something like
that...

***

AP, reporting on Game 7 of the Denver Nuggets-LA Lakers series:

" Stretched to the limit in the series and in Game 7, Pau Gasol and
Metta World Peace led the Los Angeles Lakers off the brink of collapse
and into the second round."

"Off the brink of collapse" gets a measly 24 hits, some repeated,
including two more for the same AP story (my original sighting came from
ESPN). Unrestricted "off the brink" gets 10,000 that (raw), although a
number of those refer to the same music group by that name.

***

In the post-game interview, Gasol mentioned getting his "ass over" to
the right spot, although the comment did not show up in printed stories
or in highlights (except for the live interview on TBS--and cable,
especially after midnight in most of the country, can be easily excused
for letting it stay in). In fact, "ass", "asshole", "bitch", "son of a
bitch" have all become fairly routine in USA Network and TBS original
prime-time drama shows. Can't get /that/ cat back in the bag.

***

Making stupid comments look more stupid:

Maeve McClenaghan's article Dying to be thin: Anorexia in Japan opened,

'In Japanese there are no words for "I'm suffering" or "I'm sad". I
can’t share my feelings with anyone. Needing help is seen as failure,
something to be ashamed of.'

Although supposedly articulated by a Japanese victim (in the original
Marie Claire article), the line generated an avalanche of criticism
(much of it via email). The statement is demonstrably untrue. The very
first comment, posted minutes after the original article, took the
author to task:

> First sentence is complete BS. There are several words for both of
> those concepts.

Caught with their pants down, the "editors" added a comment /on/ that
comment:

> (Editor's comments: It was probably meant to be metaphorical, spoken
> by a very sick woman. But thank you for your understanding.)

I have an open tab with the article and I've watched it evolve over the
past several days. It was originally posted on May 8. The version from
May 10 is preserved here http://goo.gl/t577I

Another comment was added 24 hours after the first, with an editorial
response as well:

> And reinforcing what nerefir said here earlier, even though it is in
> single quotes, the first paragraph is still misleading. I too thought
> Marie Claire's writer believes there are no words for "sad" or
> "suffering" in Japanese. Please clarify this better.
>
> (Editor's note: Perhaps you are taking the quote too literally? I took
> it to read as a statement of longing -- that she wants to articulate
> the concept of sadness or suffering. As she was speaking Japanese at
> the time she clearly was able to say both the words 'sad' and
> 'suffering' in order to say the statement. What I think she meant was
> that she felt unable to articulate her sadness and suffering. After
> all the journalist was quoting from somebody with a major mental
> health problem -- and as such perhaps it would be best viewed through
> that prism.)

Japan Probe blog calls "Bullshit!":

http://goo.gl/x5pem
> The first sentence is worthy of a facepalm:
>
>     [ 'In Japanese there are no words for "I'm suffering" or "I'm
>     sad". I can’t share my feelings with anyone. Needing help is seen
>     as failure, something to be ashamed of.' ]
>
>
> Even though a Japanese person may have said this, it's absolute
> bullshit. The Japanese language has words to express those feelings,
> just like every other language on the planet. It is astounding that
> the author took such a statement at face value and made it the the
> opening line of an article about a serious subject.
>
> Note (May 12): After Japan Probe and numerous readers ridiculed the
> above quotation, the Bureau's editors tried to explain it away as a
> "metaphor." Readers then correctly pointed out that it was clearly not
> a metaphor. So the Bureau's editors made stealth edits to the post,
> adding in sentence that says "whilst her comment is not strictly true
> -- there are words for sadness and suffering in Japanese -- it
> reflects her state of mind of hopelessness." The original version of
> the post, prior to stealth edits, can be found here.
> ...
> The author also attacks the Japanese concept of cuteness:
>
> [ The article explores the Japanese phenomenon of 'kawaii', meaning
> cute, a bizarre mix of highly sexualised, pre-pubescent imagery.
> Dolls, cartoons and pop stars all radiate the message that thin is
> beautiful. ]
>
> If the full article does devote significant space to complaining about
> the sexualization of pre-pubescent females, it is missing the point
> entirely. The idea that thin is beautiful goes beyond cuteness in
> Japan. Japanese women of all ages, including women who aren’t trying
> to look "kawaii" or pre-pubescent, feel pressure to be thin. The
> numerous television programs and bestselling books that promise weight
> loss to housewives almost never focus on cuteness.
> ...
> [Update: Links to Cached versions of the articles have been added to
> prevent publishers from making stealth edits.]

The original blog post that became the Marie Claire article is here
http://goo.gl/2x6E5

The article has been criticized for other false claims and false data as
well... The original page with the "review" that used to be here
http://goo.gl/o5vQx now should "Error 404--Not Found" message. Forget
"stealth edits"--it's just gone!

VS-)

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