Several friends on Facebook have posted the news concerning the passing of Maria von Trapp, the last member of that family depicted in The Sound of Music (as opposed to the sound of Griswold). The Internet exploded both positively and (mostly, from what I saw) negatively several weeks back when NBC ran a live version, which I take to mean that the movie and its story still have a place in people's hearts or minds (though not necessarily both).
Decades ago my grandparents saw the von Trapps perform in Vermont. I never got around to asking my grandfather what it was like. I just thought it was neat that someone in my family had seen them. Years ago when I was on a trip to southern Germany and northern Austria I was told that the mountains we were looking at were the ones the von Trapps went over to escape.
Maria and her family led a life much more interesting and eventful than the one that is likely ahead for me. I don't know how I would have dealt with things had I been in their position, and I wonder how they viewed this country and the world based on what happened. Sometimes we hear people talk about dying "a good death", though I'm sure that has different meanings to different people. There's no shame in going out at 99 like Maria von Trapp, and I hope that she had thoughts along the lines of one of the movie's lyrics from "So Long, Farewell":
Brigitta: I'm glad to go, I cannot tell a lie
Louisa: I flit, I float, I fleetly flee, I fly
It would be nice if we could all reach the point where we're satisfied with what we've done and are ready to see what the Almighty has in store for us next. Just don't be in any hurry about it, okay?
Monday, February 24, 2014
Friday, November 22, 2013
Cajun Hunting Dog
A couple weekends ago I was in New Orleans for a Save Our Cemeteries fundraiser held in St. Louis Cemetery #3. I'd never been to a party in a cemetery before, though I know they used to be more popular than they are now. I took a night tour and learned about some of the more notable burials. My relatives there were not part of the tour.
Part of the trip that really interested me turned out not to be the destination, but parts of the drive to it. Just north of Opelousas I saw a sign along the road that said, "Cajun hunting dogs for sale." What exactly makes a hunting dog Cajun? When asked to find a duck or squirrel, does it say, "Woof woof, cher! Woof!"?
I had lunch with a friend at Shucks in Abbeville, then told my GPS unit to take me to the hotel across from the airport in Kenner. I expected it to take me back up to Lafayette and on I-10 to New Orleans. Instead, it told me to get on Hwy. 90 and continue for 102 miles. I was very pleasantly surprised. The weather was nice, the road was good, and I passed lots and lots (and lots) of sugar cane. I had somehow believed that 90 tracked basically parallel with I-10, so I was surprised when I looked at the map on my phone and saw the Gulf of Mexico fairly close by. "Where the hell AM I?" I thought.
As I'm sure anyone south of I-10 could have told me, Hwy. 90 curves south, away from the interstate and then back up towards New Orleans. I went past Jeanerette, Franklin, Patterson, Morgan City -- nice riverfront area, by the way -- Raceland, Lockport, Des Allemands, and Hahnville (grrr, Hahnville...).
The town that caught my attention the most was Houma. "Houma!" I shouted in the car. "I haven't been o Houma in twenty years!" I played in a soccer tournament there when I was a teenager. Rusty bridges, weeds, and soccer fields is all I remember. I recent visitor to Melrose gave me some restaurants to try next time I'm there.
The Almighty Internet informs me that taking 90 instead of 190/I-10 adds about half an hour to the trip from Natchitoches to New Orleans. But if you've got some time on your hands and want a different, less stressful drive, I recommend taking 90. It was fun.
I got home in time Sunday to watch the Saints beat a team from north Texas by 32 points. I assume they scrimmaged a college team or some such thing. No NFL team would have looked that bad against the Saints.
Part of the trip that really interested me turned out not to be the destination, but parts of the drive to it. Just north of Opelousas I saw a sign along the road that said, "Cajun hunting dogs for sale." What exactly makes a hunting dog Cajun? When asked to find a duck or squirrel, does it say, "Woof woof, cher! Woof!"?
I had lunch with a friend at Shucks in Abbeville, then told my GPS unit to take me to the hotel across from the airport in Kenner. I expected it to take me back up to Lafayette and on I-10 to New Orleans. Instead, it told me to get on Hwy. 90 and continue for 102 miles. I was very pleasantly surprised. The weather was nice, the road was good, and I passed lots and lots (and lots) of sugar cane. I had somehow believed that 90 tracked basically parallel with I-10, so I was surprised when I looked at the map on my phone and saw the Gulf of Mexico fairly close by. "Where the hell AM I?" I thought.
As I'm sure anyone south of I-10 could have told me, Hwy. 90 curves south, away from the interstate and then back up towards New Orleans. I went past Jeanerette, Franklin, Patterson, Morgan City -- nice riverfront area, by the way -- Raceland, Lockport, Des Allemands, and Hahnville (grrr, Hahnville...).
The town that caught my attention the most was Houma. "Houma!" I shouted in the car. "I haven't been o Houma in twenty years!" I played in a soccer tournament there when I was a teenager. Rusty bridges, weeds, and soccer fields is all I remember. I recent visitor to Melrose gave me some restaurants to try next time I'm there.
The Almighty Internet informs me that taking 90 instead of 190/I-10 adds about half an hour to the trip from Natchitoches to New Orleans. But if you've got some time on your hands and want a different, less stressful drive, I recommend taking 90. It was fun.
I got home in time Sunday to watch the Saints beat a team from north Texas by 32 points. I assume they scrimmaged a college team or some such thing. No NFL team would have looked that bad against the Saints.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Favorite Words
Every now and then my job brings me into contact with people from foreign countries. I try to remember to ask them what their favorite word is in their native language. Assuming English is their native language, I ask for a good slang word instead. What follows is a list of some of the words I've been given so far.
Gezellig (adj.) -- A Dutch* word meaning friendly or social. It can also mean the act or situation of friendliness and camaraderie. Going on a bike ride or hanging out with friends is gezellig. It can also be used in the negative. If someone is acting unfriendly and antisocial, you could say, "Well, he's not very gezellig today, is he?"
* German visitors insisted to me that the word is German. The Dutch guy told me it was Dutch. I'm not arguing.
No'ka'oi (phrase?) -- A Hawaiian phrase/expression that means "number one" (pretty much, as far as I can tell). You would say something like "Rainbow Warriors no ka oi" to say that the University of Hawaii team is the best, or something like that.
(NOTE: The girls who told me this word were gorgeous. GORGEOUS, I tell you)
Oachkatzlschwoaf (noun) -- A squirrel's tail. Two different sets of Germans months apart mentioned this word. It's a southern German thing.
Mysigt (adj.) -- Swedish for "cozy". The "my-" part is a little elongated, and there's emphasis on the second syllable, so it ends up sounding like "myyy-ZIGT".
(NOTE: This word came from a blonde Swedish exchange student)
Lampi Mampi (adj.) -- Finnish for "warmer", as opposed to "cooler". I can't find a search result for this anywhere on Google, so I'm sure the spelling is off. The girl told me the p's sound like b's.
Sisu (adj.) -- This is a descriptive word, though calling it an adjective feels a little inadequate. It's a word Finnish people use to describe the toughness, the endurance, and the guts that it takes to make it through the Finnish winter. We might use a word like "fortitude".
(NOTE: The Finnish guy and girl were two of the coolest people I've met. They were driving from Los Angeles to New York and were going to New Orleans the day before the Super Bowl. I liked them immensely. The girl was worth learning Finnish for.)
BONUS FINNISH WORD!
Aurinkokello (noun) -- Sundial. Aurinko = sun; kello = clock or watch
Hyggelig (adj.) -- Danish for "cozy". The Scandinavians must love their coziness. Sounds like "HOOG-a-lig"
Møjn (adj.) -- Pretty much the Danish version of "aloha", an all-purpose word that means "hi/hello/good day/goodbye". Pronounced "moin", like "coin".
Barbe à Papa (noun) -- French for "cotton candy" (the favorite French word of a Spanish girl). Literally "Daddy's beard"
The most recent word comes with a story.
An Argentinian lady the other day said that Argentinians curse all the time. "Every ten words, nine are bad," she said. She and her husband were watching the weather and the weatherman said, "You may remember that yesterday we said that it would rain in Buenos Aires today. As you know, it did not rain there today. So, you can take your umbrella and stick it up your ass."
She said there is a word that Argentinian men use all the time. When you say it to someone you don't like it's an insult, but when you say it to your friends it's okay. "It is sort of like when men here call someone a son of a you-know-what. If you don't know them it is bad, but when it is your friends it is acceptable."
Her husband wrote it out for me: B-O-L-U-D-O
The Internet says it's used to mean dumb, stupid, a moron, a jackass. The visitors told me it more literally means "small brain, large testicles".
Gezellig (adj.) -- A Dutch* word meaning friendly or social. It can also mean the act or situation of friendliness and camaraderie. Going on a bike ride or hanging out with friends is gezellig. It can also be used in the negative. If someone is acting unfriendly and antisocial, you could say, "Well, he's not very gezellig today, is he?"
* German visitors insisted to me that the word is German. The Dutch guy told me it was Dutch. I'm not arguing.
No'ka'oi (phrase?) -- A Hawaiian phrase/expression that means "number one" (pretty much, as far as I can tell). You would say something like "Rainbow Warriors no ka oi" to say that the University of Hawaii team is the best, or something like that.
(NOTE: The girls who told me this word were gorgeous. GORGEOUS, I tell you)
Oachkatzlschwoaf (noun) -- A squirrel's tail. Two different sets of Germans months apart mentioned this word. It's a southern German thing.
Mysigt (adj.) -- Swedish for "cozy". The "my-" part is a little elongated, and there's emphasis on the second syllable, so it ends up sounding like "myyy-ZIGT".
(NOTE: This word came from a blonde Swedish exchange student)
Lampi Mampi (adj.) -- Finnish for "warmer", as opposed to "cooler". I can't find a search result for this anywhere on Google, so I'm sure the spelling is off. The girl told me the p's sound like b's.
Sisu (adj.) -- This is a descriptive word, though calling it an adjective feels a little inadequate. It's a word Finnish people use to describe the toughness, the endurance, and the guts that it takes to make it through the Finnish winter. We might use a word like "fortitude".
(NOTE: The Finnish guy and girl were two of the coolest people I've met. They were driving from Los Angeles to New York and were going to New Orleans the day before the Super Bowl. I liked them immensely. The girl was worth learning Finnish for.)
BONUS FINNISH WORD!
Aurinkokello (noun) -- Sundial. Aurinko = sun; kello = clock or watch
Hyggelig (adj.) -- Danish for "cozy". The Scandinavians must love their coziness. Sounds like "HOOG-a-lig"
Møjn (adj.) -- Pretty much the Danish version of "aloha", an all-purpose word that means "hi/hello/good day/goodbye". Pronounced "moin", like "coin".
Barbe à Papa (noun) -- French for "cotton candy" (the favorite French word of a Spanish girl). Literally "Daddy's beard"
The most recent word comes with a story.
An Argentinian lady the other day said that Argentinians curse all the time. "Every ten words, nine are bad," she said. She and her husband were watching the weather and the weatherman said, "You may remember that yesterday we said that it would rain in Buenos Aires today. As you know, it did not rain there today. So, you can take your umbrella and stick it up your ass."
She said there is a word that Argentinian men use all the time. When you say it to someone you don't like it's an insult, but when you say it to your friends it's okay. "It is sort of like when men here call someone a son of a you-know-what. If you don't know them it is bad, but when it is your friends it is acceptable."
Her husband wrote it out for me: B-O-L-U-D-O
The Internet says it's used to mean dumb, stupid, a moron, a jackass. The visitors told me it more literally means "small brain, large testicles".
Sunday, April 01, 2012
The Best Game I Ever Saw
Some of you may know that when I was in high school I was on the Natchitoches Central Quiz Bowl team. If you're not sure what that means, Quiz Bowl is an academic team competition where players answer trivia or general knowledge questions. The Louisiana version is divided into four rounds that consist of both buzz-in and team-answered questions. I don't know how other states structure their games.
The person reading the questions (the moderator) should ideally be a non-factor in the outcome of a game. The only time the reader has a real impact is if they do something wrong -- maybe really wrong. I would guess that a lot of players who have experienced a bad moderator think to themselves "I can do a lot better than that." When my playing days were over, I put my money where my mouth was and started volunteering to read for tournaments.
Actually, I guess I put my mouth where my mouth was.
In college I read for the St. Mary's, regional, and state tournaments. When I moved back to Louisiana from Virginia, the first thing one of the local organizers said to me was, "You're reading for quiz bowl again." She didn't have to twist my arm. Moderating is one of the great joys of my life.
One might assume -- correctly -- that I carry a certain amount of bias on the matter, but I think that there are no better kids than quiz bowl kids. They're smart, fun, usually laid back. They're competitive, but not to the point of annoying obnoxiousness (there are exceptions to this last one). They're sociable kids, not friendless nerds. I spoke with one team's coach after one tournament, and he said the other teachers and staff at his school just didn't get it. They said it was too bad he was "stuck" coaching quiz bowl. "Yeah," he said, with a big grin, "Stuck." They have no idea how much fun he has.
The past three years I've been asked to read the TV rounds of the state tournament. The semifinals and finals used to be shown live; now they're recorded and put on DVDs. Sometimes LPB will show them at random times. I got a message from a friend a few months ago, saying she saw me on TV. I had a brief moment of panic that some video of me dancing had made its way onto the Internet and was now being shown on one of those shows that combs the Youtube archives for embarrassing material. Then she told me it was "some quiz bowl thing" and I breathed a big sigh of relief. Jesuit High School in New Orleans had won the title the previous year (and the year before that, and the year before that), so the local New Orleans LPB station was showing the finals.
This year the final four teams were Anacoco/River Oaks (first game), Jesuit/Vandebilt Catholic (second game). Regarding the first two teams, I've seen several of their players in other tournaments, so I was familiar with each. Anacoco had come up to Melrose to take a tour a few weeks ago, and some of their players made the trip. This was at least the third trip to the semifinal round for River Oaks, and they advanced to the finals for what I believe is the first time.
The second game was the best game I've ever seen.
The first round consists of ten tossup questions worth ten points each. Score after the first round: 50-50
The second round is known as the lightning round, and has two sets of ten questions related to a single category, with a coin toss determining which team gets asked first. Each set is asked and answered within 60 seconds, and those questions not answered correctly by the first team are then asked to the second team, which has another 60 seconds. Reverse the order for the second set of ten questions.
Questions are worth five points each. Score after the second round: Jesuit by 5
The third round is the worksheet round. Each team has two minutes to fill out the same worksheet of 20 questions. Each question is worth ten points, meaning the maximum score for a team in the round is 200 points.
Round totals: Jesuit 190, Vandebilt Catholic 200
Score after the third round: Vandebilt Catholic by 5
The fourth round is the tossup/bonus round. Eight tossup questions are asked, each worth ten points. Correctly answering a tossup earns your team the right to answer four bonus questions worth five points each. Bonus questions not answered correctly by the first team are given to the second team to answer.
Throughout the fourth round the teams went back and forth. One team would get the tossup and a couple of the bonus, and the other would get the remaining bonuses. This pattern continued, question after question, and I knew that the score was a close one. I didn't realize how close until after the sixth question of the round, when something happened behind me. I'm not sure exactly what it was. Maybe somebody sighed a loud sigh, or inhaled in a certain way, shifted in their chair, or murmured something under their breath. Whatever it was, it told me that not only was this a tight game, it was really, really, mind-bogglingly close, and it led me to glance at the scoreboard on a monitor in front of me for the first time since the round began.
--------------------------------------------------
I will digress for a moment to talk about scoring. If you can score 250 points in a quiz bowl game, you've probably had a good game. If you can get to 300 you can generally expect to win. Getting above 300 means that you are doing very, very well.
--------------------------------------------------
Score after the 6th question of the fourth round: Jesuit 345, Vandebilt Catholic 345.
Tied at 345! I've never seen this in my life! I came very close to looking at the teams and saying something like, "Just so you know, this score is ridiculous." I didn't.
Jesuit answered the seventh question and three of the bonus, giving them a 25-point lead. This was the margin of victory, as neither team answered the eighth question.
Final score: Jesuit 370, Vandebilt Catholic 345. The world seemed to exhale. I was caught up in doing the reading, but the audience had kept track of the score every step of the way. It must have been enormously more stressful for them than it was for me.
As the teams left the stage, I turned around and approached the President of the LAAC, who was sitting two rows behind me. He shook his head and smiled. I leaned forward and said, "That's the best game I've ever seen. Fifty-fifty after the first round. Tied at 345! Are you kidding* me?" "Don't forget that Vandebilt got a perfect score on the worksheet," he said.
Vandebilt Catholic passed me coming up the stairs on their way out. I had to stop them and say something.
"Vandebilt?" They turned. "I volunteered for state quiz bowl when I was in college. One year I watched Vandebilt play in one of the games, and they had the greatest single player I've ever seen**. He could answer anything under the sun. There was no category, no question that he could not get right."
You may not believe this, my people, but I had to pause and collect myself to say the rest.
"That game just now was the greatest game I've ever seen, and I'm glad I got to be part of it."
They thanked me, and the coach and a couple players shook my hand. I turned around and had to take a couple deep breaths to collect myself again.
I admit it. I got a little emotional complimenting the so-called "loser" of a quiz bowl match.
Jesuit beat River Oaks in the finals to win their fourth straight state title. During the trophy presentation I repeated to them what I had said to Vandebilt. One of the volunteers who works the state tournament every year told me that she agreed.
March 31, 2012 was a long, strenuous, sometimes stressful day, mostly due to activities that took place before I even started on the quiz bowl part. I went to bed twenty hours after I started the day, and I was physically worn down and mentally drained. But no matter what else happened that day, had it been for me or against me, that match made up for it all. I may forget the name on the grave I cleaned, the basketball games I watched, the band I heard sing on the riverbank, and the people I sat next to at the bar; but I will never forget that game.
Take care, my people.
--------------------------------------------------
* In retrospect, I cannot actually confirm that I said the word "kidding." I may have gone a little blue at that point
** This is 100% true.
The person reading the questions (the moderator) should ideally be a non-factor in the outcome of a game. The only time the reader has a real impact is if they do something wrong -- maybe really wrong. I would guess that a lot of players who have experienced a bad moderator think to themselves "I can do a lot better than that." When my playing days were over, I put my money where my mouth was and started volunteering to read for tournaments.
Actually, I guess I put my mouth where my mouth was.
In college I read for the St. Mary's, regional, and state tournaments. When I moved back to Louisiana from Virginia, the first thing one of the local organizers said to me was, "You're reading for quiz bowl again." She didn't have to twist my arm. Moderating is one of the great joys of my life.
One might assume -- correctly -- that I carry a certain amount of bias on the matter, but I think that there are no better kids than quiz bowl kids. They're smart, fun, usually laid back. They're competitive, but not to the point of annoying obnoxiousness (there are exceptions to this last one). They're sociable kids, not friendless nerds. I spoke with one team's coach after one tournament, and he said the other teachers and staff at his school just didn't get it. They said it was too bad he was "stuck" coaching quiz bowl. "Yeah," he said, with a big grin, "Stuck." They have no idea how much fun he has.
The past three years I've been asked to read the TV rounds of the state tournament. The semifinals and finals used to be shown live; now they're recorded and put on DVDs. Sometimes LPB will show them at random times. I got a message from a friend a few months ago, saying she saw me on TV. I had a brief moment of panic that some video of me dancing had made its way onto the Internet and was now being shown on one of those shows that combs the Youtube archives for embarrassing material. Then she told me it was "some quiz bowl thing" and I breathed a big sigh of relief. Jesuit High School in New Orleans had won the title the previous year (and the year before that, and the year before that), so the local New Orleans LPB station was showing the finals.
This year the final four teams were Anacoco/River Oaks (first game), Jesuit/Vandebilt Catholic (second game). Regarding the first two teams, I've seen several of their players in other tournaments, so I was familiar with each. Anacoco had come up to Melrose to take a tour a few weeks ago, and some of their players made the trip. This was at least the third trip to the semifinal round for River Oaks, and they advanced to the finals for what I believe is the first time.
The second game was the best game I've ever seen.
The first round consists of ten tossup questions worth ten points each. Score after the first round: 50-50
The second round is known as the lightning round, and has two sets of ten questions related to a single category, with a coin toss determining which team gets asked first. Each set is asked and answered within 60 seconds, and those questions not answered correctly by the first team are then asked to the second team, which has another 60 seconds. Reverse the order for the second set of ten questions.
Questions are worth five points each. Score after the second round: Jesuit by 5
The third round is the worksheet round. Each team has two minutes to fill out the same worksheet of 20 questions. Each question is worth ten points, meaning the maximum score for a team in the round is 200 points.
Round totals: Jesuit 190, Vandebilt Catholic 200
Score after the third round: Vandebilt Catholic by 5
The fourth round is the tossup/bonus round. Eight tossup questions are asked, each worth ten points. Correctly answering a tossup earns your team the right to answer four bonus questions worth five points each. Bonus questions not answered correctly by the first team are given to the second team to answer.
Throughout the fourth round the teams went back and forth. One team would get the tossup and a couple of the bonus, and the other would get the remaining bonuses. This pattern continued, question after question, and I knew that the score was a close one. I didn't realize how close until after the sixth question of the round, when something happened behind me. I'm not sure exactly what it was. Maybe somebody sighed a loud sigh, or inhaled in a certain way, shifted in their chair, or murmured something under their breath. Whatever it was, it told me that not only was this a tight game, it was really, really, mind-bogglingly close, and it led me to glance at the scoreboard on a monitor in front of me for the first time since the round began.
--------------------------------------------------
I will digress for a moment to talk about scoring. If you can score 250 points in a quiz bowl game, you've probably had a good game. If you can get to 300 you can generally expect to win. Getting above 300 means that you are doing very, very well.
--------------------------------------------------
Score after the 6th question of the fourth round: Jesuit 345, Vandebilt Catholic 345.
Tied at 345! I've never seen this in my life! I came very close to looking at the teams and saying something like, "Just so you know, this score is ridiculous." I didn't.
Jesuit answered the seventh question and three of the bonus, giving them a 25-point lead. This was the margin of victory, as neither team answered the eighth question.
Final score: Jesuit 370, Vandebilt Catholic 345. The world seemed to exhale. I was caught up in doing the reading, but the audience had kept track of the score every step of the way. It must have been enormously more stressful for them than it was for me.
As the teams left the stage, I turned around and approached the President of the LAAC, who was sitting two rows behind me. He shook his head and smiled. I leaned forward and said, "That's the best game I've ever seen. Fifty-fifty after the first round. Tied at 345! Are you kidding* me?" "Don't forget that Vandebilt got a perfect score on the worksheet," he said.
Vandebilt Catholic passed me coming up the stairs on their way out. I had to stop them and say something.
"Vandebilt?" They turned. "I volunteered for state quiz bowl when I was in college. One year I watched Vandebilt play in one of the games, and they had the greatest single player I've ever seen**. He could answer anything under the sun. There was no category, no question that he could not get right."
You may not believe this, my people, but I had to pause and collect myself to say the rest.
"That game just now was the greatest game I've ever seen, and I'm glad I got to be part of it."
They thanked me, and the coach and a couple players shook my hand. I turned around and had to take a couple deep breaths to collect myself again.
I admit it. I got a little emotional complimenting the so-called "loser" of a quiz bowl match.
Jesuit beat River Oaks in the finals to win their fourth straight state title. During the trophy presentation I repeated to them what I had said to Vandebilt. One of the volunteers who works the state tournament every year told me that she agreed.
March 31, 2012 was a long, strenuous, sometimes stressful day, mostly due to activities that took place before I even started on the quiz bowl part. I went to bed twenty hours after I started the day, and I was physically worn down and mentally drained. But no matter what else happened that day, had it been for me or against me, that match made up for it all. I may forget the name on the grave I cleaned, the basketball games I watched, the band I heard sing on the riverbank, and the people I sat next to at the bar; but I will never forget that game.
Take care, my people.
--------------------------------------------------
* In retrospect, I cannot actually confirm that I said the word "kidding." I may have gone a little blue at that point
** This is 100% true.
Monday, March 05, 2012
Evil Scotty
About once a year I grow facial hair around the mouth/chin area. I don't know what you'd cal it. A circle beard maybe. It's not very full and never is. It's kind of reddish. I keep it for a few weeks at most because I eventually get tired of scratching it, catching food and drink in it, and scrunching the upper lip part up against my nose. Every time I shave the whole thing off, I look in the mirror and think, "Ah, that's who I'm supposed to be!"
It's sort of a cliche in different types of entertainment to introduce a long-lost twin or alter ego type of character that looks a lot like or exactly like the good guy. Often the only noticeable difference is that the bad lookalike has a goatee or some sort of facial hair that allows the audience to distinguish between the two. Eye patches and scars are alternatives.
When I lived in Virginia I started telling coworkers that the Scotty with facial hair was Evil Scotty. Nothing about me actually changes except for the chin-scratching. I don't act evil or daring or more this and less that. For whatever reason some people really like it. One person told me I looked "rakish" with it. The girl who swiped my ID at the gym today has seen me a bunch, though I don't think we've ever said anything to each other outside of hello. She said, "You look a lot different with the" and twirled her fingers around her chin. So I guess people have taken notice. Evil Scotty is certainly noteworthy, if not more likable than regular me.
The original plan was to keep it until I fly out for a wedding at the end of April. I'm not going to know most of the people there, so maybe to them Evil Scotty will be the real Scotty. Who knows, I may create an entirely new back-story to go with my alternate look. I guess I'll see how it goes and make a decision later.
(NOTE: I will not be taking a picture and posting it online. That would just be creepy.)
It's sort of a cliche in different types of entertainment to introduce a long-lost twin or alter ego type of character that looks a lot like or exactly like the good guy. Often the only noticeable difference is that the bad lookalike has a goatee or some sort of facial hair that allows the audience to distinguish between the two. Eye patches and scars are alternatives.
When I lived in Virginia I started telling coworkers that the Scotty with facial hair was Evil Scotty. Nothing about me actually changes except for the chin-scratching. I don't act evil or daring or more this and less that. For whatever reason some people really like it. One person told me I looked "rakish" with it. The girl who swiped my ID at the gym today has seen me a bunch, though I don't think we've ever said anything to each other outside of hello. She said, "You look a lot different with the" and twirled her fingers around her chin. So I guess people have taken notice. Evil Scotty is certainly noteworthy, if not more likable than regular me.
The original plan was to keep it until I fly out for a wedding at the end of April. I'm not going to know most of the people there, so maybe to them Evil Scotty will be the real Scotty. Who knows, I may create an entirely new back-story to go with my alternate look. I guess I'll see how it goes and make a decision later.
(NOTE: I will not be taking a picture and posting it online. That would just be creepy.)
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Groverastrianism and Other Non-Existent Sesame Street Religions
A Facebook friend of mine said that she "wants to found a religion based on Sesame Street." This got me to thinking about what some possible SS-related religions might be like. I came up with a few ideas based on some of the more popular characters.
Elmoism: expounding on the inherent joy found in all of creation
----
Grouchianity: rejects all luxury, focusing instead on the purity and goodness of the mundane (i.e., trashy); adherents are encouraged to live in squalor
----
Cookie-do: advocates a hedonistic lifestyle as the path to true happiness (especially cookies)
----
Countism: members worship order and organization; obsessed with counting all of Creation
----
Berternism: idealizes the concept of two and the salvation of always having a trusted counterpart
----
Groverastrianism: seemingly simple, actually a highly intellectual religion; a continuous examination of conceptually opposite ideas (light vs dark, near vs far, hot vs cold, etc.)
----
Bigbirdathāgatagarbhasutra: a religion of endless questions on all aspects of life (Who am I? Why am I here? What is death? What is life? Why am I different from others?)
----
Snuffleupagusianity: belief in a friendly, benevolent being who happens to be invisible to most of the world; often thought to be imaginary (NOTE: may be too similar to existing religions for your taste)
----
Earlier today I had the thoughts "Which of these relates to my current religion?" and "If you took away everything I believe now and I weren't a practicing Roman Catholic, which of these would I choose?"
There's an obvious insinuation that Snuffleupagusianity and Christianity match up, what with the nice, invisible being factor. There's a bit of Elmoism, as were are supposed to take delight in God's creation (to an extent).
Catholic joke: A Jesuit, a Benedictine, and a Franciscan are reading prayers in a chapel when the lights go out. The Jesuit gets up to see what the problem is, the Benedictine recites the prayers from memory, and the Franciscan praises God for the darkness. (ah, Catholic humor...)
There's also a bit of Grouchianity when you consider the monastic life and the vows of poverty taken by religious orders. Many saints got to be that way because of the simple lives they led, often in filthy conditions. You might throw in a bit of Berternism when considering the Old Testament's praise of finding a good wife or husband. Pretty much any major religion answers the questions asked by Bigbirdathāgatagarbhasutra. The Baltimore Catechism starts out with:
1. Who made us?
----
Grouchianity: rejects all luxury, focusing instead on the purity and goodness of the mundane (i.e., trashy); adherents are encouraged to live in squalor
----
Cookie-do: advocates a hedonistic lifestyle as the path to true happiness (especially cookies)
----
Countism: members worship order and organization; obsessed with counting all of Creation
----
Berternism: idealizes the concept of two and the salvation of always having a trusted counterpart
----
Groverastrianism: seemingly simple, actually a highly intellectual religion; a continuous examination of conceptually opposite ideas (light vs dark, near vs far, hot vs cold, etc.)
----
Bigbirdathāgatagarbhasutra
----
Snuffleupagusianity: belief in a friendly, benevolent being who happens to be invisible to most of the world; often thought to be imaginary (NOTE: may be too similar to existing religions for your taste)
----
Earlier today I had the thoughts "Which of these relates to my current religion?" and "If you took away everything I believe now and I weren't a practicing Roman Catholic, which of these would I choose?"
There's an obvious insinuation that Snuffleupagusianity and Christianity match up, what with the nice, invisible being factor. There's a bit of Elmoism, as were are supposed to take delight in God's creation (to an extent).
Catholic joke: A Jesuit, a Benedictine, and a Franciscan are reading prayers in a chapel when the lights go out. The Jesuit gets up to see what the problem is, the Benedictine recites the prayers from memory, and the Franciscan praises God for the darkness. (ah, Catholic humor...)
There's also a bit of Grouchianity when you consider the monastic life and the vows of poverty taken by religious orders. Many saints got to be that way because of the simple lives they led, often in filthy conditions.
1. Who made us?
God made us.
2. Who is God?God is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, who made all things and keeps them in existence.
3. Why did God make us?God made us to show forth His goodness and to share with us His everlasting happiness in heaven.
So that relates to the first question. What about the second question? If I didn't believe what I believe now, which one would I choose? Probably Groverastrianism. I wrote what I thought (at the time, it's probably crap now) was a really good paper in college that talked about something similar to the examination of contrasting ideas. Is there really such a thing as darkness, or is it merely the absence of light? Is cold really just the absence of heat? If these things don't exist, why should we identify them with names in the first place?
The Greek philosopher Parmenides had the idea that the two paths of inquiry concerned that which is and that which is not. The first is the only viable path, because there cannot exist anything that "is not." I was really taken with reading his ideas at the time. Groverastrianism would give me a reason to look into thinkers like Parmenides more often. I could also examine sayings like "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" and ask questions like, "Does this mean that the absence of physical presence itself creates an increase in emotional or spiritual presence? Does this contradict the idea that there is nothing that 'not is'"?
That might be fun.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Anachronism
Anachronism - an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other.
This is what I felt like this morning. Getting ready to go to work at Melrose Plantation, I stood in front of the mirror after showering and dressing halfway. As I started getting ready to shave, I saw this in the mirror: a mid-30s man wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and tan slacks, putting shaving cream on his face, while this played on the radio:
I was this close to thinking "I wonder how Ike's meeting with the commies went yesterday." Only a billboard with a Burma Shave ad could make this day complete.
I was reminded of the day I was sitting in the conference room at work with a few friends, and I said something about the movie Mister Roberts (1955). One of them looked at me and said, "Scotty, sometimes you sound a lot older than you look."
This is what I felt like this morning. Getting ready to go to work at Melrose Plantation, I stood in front of the mirror after showering and dressing halfway. As I started getting ready to shave, I saw this in the mirror: a mid-30s man wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and tan slacks, putting shaving cream on his face, while this played on the radio:
I was this close to thinking "I wonder how Ike's meeting with the commies went yesterday." Only a billboard with a Burma Shave ad could make this day complete.
I was reminded of the day I was sitting in the conference room at work with a few friends, and I said something about the movie Mister Roberts (1955). One of them looked at me and said, "Scotty, sometimes you sound a lot older than you look."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)