a moment from the internet

rudi: a famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the english language, of all the endless combinations of words in history, that "froo choopa loop" was the most beautiful.

nsp: i AM a linguist and i happen to know that it's "choom go play hoop"

rudi: maybe if you were a little more famous you would know it was froo choopa loop.

Imagine all of this post spoken in uptalk

So I haven't posted in a while. It's maybe because this semester has been the most terrifyingly busy times of my life. Anyway next week I'll be putting together all my final papers and projects, so expect a lot of procrastinatory posting: it's TimeWaste '08!!!

TV Tropes

Man, this site is awesome. I want to build a small community of like-minded weirdos who use these and other terms like them to talk about TV and other mass-media storytelling. Critical quote:

Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means "stereotyped and trite". In other words, dull and uninteresting. We are not looking for dull and uninteresting entries. We are here to recognize tropes and play with them, not to make fun of them.

I was introduced to the idea of (literary) tropes and topoi by a fantastic English teacher named Eric Keenaghan. They're essential for understanding both dense symbolism and surface meaning in literature.

But I especially love the use of the idea of a trope, here. They're not cliches! The best part of the quote is in the definition, which I'll quote again even.

...a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations...

These ideas are SO important for informing one's approach to one's culture. When we know more about what characterizes the sensibilities of the population we are part of, we have an EXTREMELY useful tool for ingesting all media intended for wide distribution. Furthermore--and this may not be a legit logical leap, so feel free to fret, true believers--it seems that we can assume the most successful mass media voices are the most skilled in dealing with tropes. I'm not claiming anything about whether those skills are causes or effects (ie, chickens or eggs) of the success, but the general correlation seems like a reasonable assumption.

"Duh," right? Most of this is obvious. When we know the things that tropes identify, we are better information consumers.

What I think is important, though, is being able to identify them AS tropes. Jargon is usually useless outside of its native sphere, but I think that the definition of "trope" is nothing less than a survival tool in today's world.

Everyone's able to identify cliches. It's a natural tendency for humans to identify (and tire of) things/patterns/exemplars that they've seen before. Boring and predictable mean safe and inviting. There's (apparently) entire conferences based on the preference for the same ol'-same ol' in birds and beasts alike.

But if we are able to separate out tropes from cliches, we start to tell the difference between a cliched piece of useful wisdom like

Judge not, lest ye be judged

stereotypes, like

"Women are catty, phony and hypocritical because they are slaves to the whims of their unstable emotions."

and a trope that reveals something about how we think as a people, like the "such a phony" trope:

Character A is talking about Character B, who will be entering the room shortly. B is generally a "nice" character. A does not like B, and says B is "such a phony", but as soon as B enters, A pretends to be nice to B, thus being as big a phony as they claimed B was. For example:

A: Here comes B. I hate her. She thinks she's so perfect. She's such a phony.

[B enters]

A: [sweetly] Hi B! Great to see you!

Usually found in a Sit Com, and usually performed by a female character.

Sub-trope of Hypocritical Humor.

The trope focuses on our culture's fascination with the mysterious connection between judgemental maxims and hypocrisy. THIS is the kind of thing that isn't a universal human trait. This is what we want to be able to name when we see it. This is what we might expect NOT to find in another culture (or, for that matter, applied to "qualified" sources of judgement in our own: cf. Mentors).

Do these definitions work? I don't know.

Cliches: kernel of truth, something everyone says but no one puts into practice. (a cliche to describe a cliche!)
Stereotypes: originally a source of dominance over non-esteemed social group, a prejudice that a large number of people "believe" to varying degrees

Trope: the expression of all of the sources of cliches, stereotypes and more...but situated inside of the idealized world being portrayed (even on the news!).

SO think of mass media as a laboratory. An idealized space of our own collective creation where the independent variables are the various little tropes running around and the dependent variables are the rates of success for each trope and their collected or individual uses. And yes, I did say OUR collective creation. Popular culture and its audience are increasingly symbiotic, and very soon I expect we won't be able to distinguish the two. And who cares? It's the thoughts that matter, and the tropes are how to get at them.

And if we can describe tropes in their "natural habitat," we can recognize them in those times when they're used for more nefarious ends. When politicians talk about "main street" vs. "wall street," what in the hell are they talking about? Is the distinction really there, or are they just trying to drum up support by acting like they're on the side of "us regular folks" (by the way, who?)?

NOTE 1: I really really really don't think memes are tropes. Memes might use tropes, but these are two different animals.

NOTE 2: Hm...while being lost in wikipedia I came across a mathematical use of the word "topos." Maybe I can make some hare-brained connection. But then, an identifiable recurring event in my own personal thinking was best described by Umberto Eco:

"...losing that intellectual light that allows you always to tell the similar from the identical, the metaphorical from the real."

Foucault's Pendulum p.468

In the near future, when all of my time isn't taken up by typing and reading about linguistics, I bet I spend a shitload of time on this idea.

"Good" Advertising teaches me about the Amish and Social Complexity

So I'm really excited about the future of advertising. Increasingly, ads are becoming cheaper to place and easier to target to even the more elusive niche audiences. Case in point: Facebook. Facebook knows about things that I like and things that my friends like. Maybe that bothers some people, but to the degree that one is a consumer, I think a major advantage should be considered.

What if advertising wasn't annoying? What if, every time you saw an ad, you gained information about a product or service that you hadn't even realized existed, but was exactly the type of thing you wanted to spend money on. Maybe it solves a problem you never thought solvable, or makes you aware of a community of people who share ideas that you imagined were yours.

I know, it sounds like I'm drinking the consumerist Kool-Aid. But this is exactly where internet ads are heading. Increasingly, the various different aspects of the web (traditional sites, messageboards, blogs, social networks, multimedia, etc) are conglomerating into one type of "internet experience," where you supply the market with personal info and it tailors content to your sensibilities. I see it as a win-win. Advertisers and merchants get to hawk their wares and I get to hear about stuff that I need/want, rather than settling for junk that the TV wants to convince me that I want.

Case in point: Facebook ad for a comic book called Rumschpringe: Fallaces Sunt Rerum Species (Things are not as they seem.)

Set in a fictional Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the graphic novel deconstructs three of the six brutal murders that happened in the rural area over the past 3 years (e.g. the Amish school shooting.)

Following the story, a brief discussion of purpose, introducing Systems Theory and Cultural-Cognitive Networks as perspectives to explore the necessary challenges for communities to reduce the Columbine-style violence we seem to be seeing everywhere.

The word "rumschpringe" means, in Pennsylvania Dutch, "to jump around." It is used to represent the Amish adolescent's Rite of Passage where they are expected to go out and explore the larger world. Only after experiencing secular life during their "rumschpringe" can they be formally baptized into their faith.

Rumschpringe seeks to present new media outlets and projects to "push back" on the nonsense. Thus far, Rumschpringe has produced this comic, numerous local live events in Lancaster County, and is on the second year (2009) of an annual open-call independent film competition.

At present, we are working on another comic about the economy (a revamped reworking of Fredrick von Heyak's: The Road to Serfdom) and a children's book about the nature of freedom.

I might be giving Facebook advertising too much credit, but I'm pretty sure that I got this link because my "interests" have, in the past, included the tags "comics" and "complexity." Note that I said IN THE PAST. Those interests aren't there anymore, but I betcha anything Facebook held onto them. Probably in the fine print somewhere. I don't even care. This is an awesome way to get the word out about something that I wouldn't have ever heard of myself.

I mean, seriously? An indie comic label based in Lancaster, PA? What chance in HELL does this business have of success? But as soon as I have some disposable income, this comic is going to be on my mind. Way to go, internet! Turns out that old-school commercial advertising was just the dark side of the force!

Upbeat/Sad, or, "I got yer tweet tweet right here!"

So apparently it may be the case that the lovely sounds of spring are in fact fine feathered gears of war. I am so grateful to mother nature for this real life tableau.

Harmonious bird songs may sound pleasant to people, but a new study has found that at least some birds fight by singing, using melodic tweets to defend their relationships and territories.

I honestly didn't even read this whole article. I don't want to know which kinds of birds it is about. I want, for the rest of my life, to imagine that the beautiful exchange between these hollow-boned little idiots is actually a volley of insults.

I like any and all expressions whose method of delivery is totally antithetical to their import. Funny jokes about the deceased at a funeral. Upbeat songs about death. Brightly colored paintings about brutal murders.

I don't know, if anyone even reads this and can think of other examples, post them! Meanwhile listen to the lyrics to Hey Ya.

We get together
Ohh, we get together
But seperate's always better when there's feelings involved
If what they say is "Nothing is forever"
Then what makes, Then what makes, Then what makes
Then what makes, Then what makes LOVE THE EXCEPTION?
So why oh why oh
Why oh why oh why oh
Are we so in denial
When we know we're not happy heeeerrreeee...

Y'all don't wanna read my blog you just wanna dance. I'm just being honest.

Uncanny Valley crossed?

Is it Bladerunner time? I don't know. You tell me. I think that it has not been crossed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLiX5d3rC6o

I mean, not bad! ...but my buddy Yanyan pointed out immediately that Emily doesn't blink enough. It's totally true.

The stats are in: 18 Million Rickrolled

Okay so this story is nowhere near new, but NPR's All Things Considered Rickrolled me this morning, and I thought about the possibility of some mischievous intern giggling with glee over the massive SurveyUSA earlier this year "determined" that 18 million Americans have, in fact, been Rickrolled.

SurveyUSA estimates that at least 18 million Americans have now been “Rickrolled,” according to this latest national poll of 959 adults, conducted 04/08/08.

Notice, however, the shocking percentage of people who were "Not Sure"! Undoubtedly, SurveyUSA's totals are not representing the true extent of this blight upon our nation. Surely, nefarious programming directors like the ones at NPR are increasing this total. The survey itself notes that their figure may be an underestimation if Mr. Astley's visage continues to plague modern society in more public forums:

Rickrolling has recently made significant inroads to the mainstream, possibly culminating with yesterday’s performance of the song during the 8th inning of the New York Mets home opener Tuesday afternoon.

Some may remember the incident to which this refers. Internet pranksters took advantage of an online vote for an 8th inning singalong at the Mets game vs. my Phightin's.