Author Topic: Park Your Amusements Here  (Read 98662 times)

tushantin

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #960 on: December 03, 2011, 06:39:38 am »
Hah, Christmas music! Just can't get enough of it. Here ya go, Saj: http://www.jamendo.com/en/playlist/215332

"Silent night, holy night~
All is calm, all is bright~
Round the corner we're pickin' a fight~
...
Wait, what?!"

tushantin

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #961 on: December 03, 2011, 09:56:17 am »
Okay, double post.

Quick: What's the most legendary romance literature of all time? Did I hear you say 'Romeo and Juliet'? Take a walk!

It's Laila and Majnun -- nothing even comes close! This is what popularized romance / tragedy, this is what was the best and still is, and this is what inspired the whole of Asia. Been listening to the ballad (Urdu), and it's crushes your heart from inside out -- how loyal and benevolent love can be, how the lovers strive against the tradition that tear them apart, how the bonds of distance, status and family come in the way... Though many would be a fan of the poet Qhays (the protagonist, and hopeless idiot), I personally liked Laila's character more -- she's so vivid and strong, mature and jubilant.

You know what? Call me 'Majnun' from now on (my RL friends would laugh if I say that). Yes, I'm a madman; mad in love.


On another note, I just sold an Augustus T-Shirt!  :D Purchased by a lady. Not sure how much I get out of that, though.

Also, this:
« Last Edit: December 03, 2011, 09:59:28 am by tushantin »

Thought

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #962 on: December 03, 2011, 04:03:15 pm »
A Christmas present for me just arrived. A T-shirt, specifically:


Sajainta

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #963 on: December 03, 2011, 05:28:20 pm »
At first I was like "...Iron Giant?" but then I recognized her by her dress.  I don't know what is worse--the fact that I thought it was an Iron Giant shirt or the fact that I recognized Shelley by her dress.  -__-

Sajainta

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #964 on: December 03, 2011, 10:49:04 pm »
I just realized that this is my life as an adult.  My adult life can be summed up by what I am doing right now--eating Doritos on a Saturday night in an empty apartment, reading short stories by Asimov and Lovecraft.

Wow.

I know I'm posting this on a website dedicated to 90s video games about time travel where "geeky" can be considered the norm, but still.  Ouch.

tushantin

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #965 on: December 04, 2011, 03:07:01 am »
...but still.  Ouch.
You still seem to have much better than I (because Asimov rocks!).  :wink: I can't play soccer anymore because stupid elders think it's a disruptive sport (and they have the authority because apparently they own the places). Can't even go out much because, as adventurous as I am, I've seen everything in the city already. I was hoping to become a traveler and never settle down, but travelling requires money which I don't have. I'm stuck working at minimum wage and preparing a portfolio, and even animating a movie, which is more "geeky" than I like myself to be.

Still, we'll pull through! :D Wanna travel with me?
« Last Edit: December 04, 2011, 03:34:04 am by tushantin »

Lord J Esq

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #966 on: December 04, 2011, 10:34:59 pm »
Creationists depend rather heavily on the story of Noah's Ark to make sense of the creationist worldview. We can only sympathize with poor Noah!

[youtube]j_BzWUuZN5w[/youtube]

Lord J Esq

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #967 on: December 05, 2011, 05:01:47 am »
Dictionary.com's Word of the Day today is frondescence, meaning "leafage; foliage." That made me smile.

tushantin

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #968 on: December 05, 2011, 02:37:45 pm »
So... Foram and I were out on a date.

*Ring ring*
Foram: I'm sorry! I'm so sorry I'm late. But WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU?! Aren't real gentlemen supposed to be waiting for girls?
Me: (Chewing on ice cream) Oh! Dear Foram, I did wait for you... I could wait an eternity for you... I waited for you so long --
Foram: (Rolls her eyes) Really? Exactly how long?
Me: ... Five minutes. I got bored.
Foram: ...WHAT!  

I wonder if she'd rant to my friend later: "That sonuvahobo stood me up for an ice cream!" Although that's not entirely true -- I bought her a strawberry stick too!
« Last Edit: December 05, 2011, 02:39:32 pm by tushantin »

Mr Bekkler

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #969 on: December 05, 2011, 04:33:05 pm »
Dictionary.com's Word of the Day today is frondescence, meaning "leafage; foliage." That made me smile.

How do you pronounce foliage?

I go the "Faux Lee Edge" route, but I've heard it pronounced with the softer "g" (the second one in garage) which sounds more "Foal Yehsch". The second one seems more awkward yet more correct at the same time. Is there a single proper way to say the word or are both correct?

Lord J Esq

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #970 on: December 05, 2011, 08:22:15 pm »
Phonetically, it's "foe lee udge" (like "judge" without the J), although, when you're speaking quickly, in some accents it comes out as "foe lee adge" (like "badge" without the B). The stress is on "FOE."

Further thoughts in the Writers thread.

Edit: Oh dear! I completely overlooked your stated ambiguity with the pronunciation. There is a J sound in there; you're wondering whether it's the hard J we all know or the soft J that doesn't have its own letter or letter pair in English. It's properly the former, but some people do pronounce it with a soft J. I guess they do that as a pretention, because the word is outside of standard usage and people may think it is an exotic word (much like many insist on that horrible phrase "an historic" with a pronounced H). It may also be because some people recognize that we took that word from French, and the French pronunciation is a soft J.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2011, 08:26:13 pm by Lord J Esq »

tushantin

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #971 on: December 07, 2011, 11:00:52 am »
Something I noticed, based on my observations on clear research: one of the fundamental, psychological factors contributing to prejudice against obesity.

Eating is normally a social activity, be it luncheon or dinner; the people with higher status usually get to ask for fancier, exquisite and simply "more" food compared to middle class stuck with what they have, and the impoverished who are also malnourished -- these traits of status can easily be noticed via the human eye. Social status means a lot. Granted, obesity may not simply be a result of status and background, but also genetic or medical conditions (such as Hypothyroidism), but the human mind doesn't know that. Human mind can be deceived, regardless of its intellectual capabilities. Subconsciously, the members of the lower classes immediately notice the obese as ones from "better lifestyles" and hold prejudice against them, trying to spot their vulnerabilities -- the biggest one being their physical feats, where the obese are regarded as physically / athletically inferior due to their "easy lives". You know, when you can't win the game just flip the board.

Now, even if you were to take this idea to a developed country like America, the prejudice still exists, even though the "rich" has been separated from "obesity" (the latter has begun to take place in non-rich families due to altered lifestyle and consumerism). In any competition, ones incredibly handicapped are usually taken as "targets" by mid/lower lever individuals to amplify their own dominance and gain status, somewhat of a stepping stone, simply because they're incapable of challenging peers of equal or stronger skill.

Weird shit, right? Anywhos, just my observation -- not trying to propose any solution or anything.

Quote from: Adam Galinsky
The act of choosing a specific size within a set of hierarchically arranged options is one avenue by which individuals signal to others their relative rank in a social hierarchy. As a consequence, larger options would be selected by consumers, not merely out of a functional need for hunger but due to a desire to signal status.
Quote from: Jonah Lehrer
This isn’t such a strange conjecture. Think, for instance, of the alpha males in those David Attenborough specials on television – the most powerful animal is the one who eats the most, getting access to the felled antelope before anyone else. Or think of all the cultural norms that associate larger products with increased status, from the screen size of televisions to the square footage of houses. In category after category, bigger isn’t just better – it’s also far more prestigious, a signal that we can afford to splurge on spare rooms we’ll never use.

Oh, and here's the biggest anthropological irony:

Quote from: Jonah Lehrer
Needless to say, this paper captures a tragic dynamic behind overeating. It appears that one of the factors causing us to consume too much food is a lack of social status, as we try to elevate ourselves by supersizing meals. Unfortunately, this only leads to rampant weight gain which, as the researchers note, “jeopardizes future rank through the accompanying stigma of being overweight.” In other words, it’s a sad feedback loop of obesity, a downward spiral of bigger serving sizes that diminish the very status we’re trying to increase.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2011, 11:09:02 am by tushantin »

Lord J Esq

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #972 on: December 07, 2011, 11:35:11 am »
I find absolutely no credibility in those individuals' assertions that people eat large portions in a vain attempt to elevate their social status. That dynamic only exists in some (but not all) primitive cultures, and never in developed countries where fatness is universally vilified. People in developed countries "over"-eat despite the prejudice against fatness because eating is what humans have evolved to do. The closest we can come to connecting eating to an elevation of status in a fat-bashing culture is that satisfying one's hunger is a form of power...which is really not so close.

Anyhow, you may prefer to refrain from addressing this subject further, because the injustice against fat people is a top passion of mine and when it comes to these matters I won't respect our detente.

Thought

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #973 on: December 07, 2011, 11:55:50 pm »
In goodish news, I have obtained employment. It's a temporary position, but having a job makes it easier to find a job, and it will give me exposure to a suite of special computery programs that are necessary for being considered for other positions at other organizations. It is still a good bit of a financial "hit" (about 60% of my former pay for an administrative position, but it is also a good step or two down the ladder), and I miss the freedom that "alternative employment methods" provided. Still, decent.

However, all that is just a set up for my amusement.

I've been called Josh. Three times now. Twice by the same person, once not. I am hardly so infamous! Also, I've been called Shawn once.

Lord J Esq

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Re: Park Your Amusements Here
« Reply #974 on: December 08, 2011, 12:03:39 am »
What an honor!