tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post2279122444288306010..comments2024-03-28T09:40:06.621-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: Irony-Free ZoneOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-35991121095128641862010-03-15T10:45:14.339-04:002010-03-15T10:45:14.339-04:00I find this interesting as a mom raising a young b...I find this interesting as a mom raising a young boy and a young girl. How should I raise them? To understand the social mores of the US? And to understand how stupid it all is? It's really tough. Thanks for this interesting glimpse into an honest (at least emotionally) culture.<br /><br />Michele<br /><a href="http://southerncitymysteries.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">SouthernCityMysteries</a>JournoMichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11170364981958685438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-78771003293479162372010-03-14T22:32:21.099-04:002010-03-14T22:32:21.099-04:00Here's something interesting - I was told by s...Here's something interesting - I was told by someone living in Japan that the Japanese don't use or understand sarcasm. I suppose that includes irony. But do the kids think that purple and pink spiky hair is cool? This is getting complicated...Harveehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03490108303790217277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-81304197983595892122010-03-14T22:04:45.759-04:002010-03-14T22:04:45.759-04:00Tim - Long is very good. Keep doing it. I've m...Tim - Long is very good. Keep doing it. I've mentioned already that Poke is a poet.<br /><br />Speaking of long, HBO's series THE PACIFIC began tonight. It follows 3 Marines from Guadalcanal to the surrender. One of the Marines is Robert Leckie, a man who wrote a significantly long book (coming in at over 900 pages) called DELIVERED FROM EVIL that covers WWII from the Treaty of Versailles to the surrender of Japan. It reads like a conversation.bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405199782450351160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-37633868149751964622010-03-14T20:19:52.641-04:002010-03-14T20:19:52.641-04:00Cool post, Tim. I happen to think that "uncoo...Cool post, Tim. I happen to think that "uncool" is very cool, if only because those saddled with the "uncool" label never have to fake a thing; they're just real people leading real lives and feeling real emotions--all in the absence of pretense. The face they present to the world is genuine, and that, to me, is the epitome of "cool."Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09974356693812650266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-44158952019679818762010-03-14T19:54:46.556-04:002010-03-14T19:54:46.556-04:00How long was this piece? As Dr. MLK said, not long...How long was this piece? As Dr. MLK said, not long.<br /> I knew, of course, in which sense you used <i>cool</i>. I was just being ironic.<br /> <i>Like</i> as a meaningless interjection or mannerisn may similarly date from the 1940s, and I'd bet its waxing and waning parallel those of <i>cool</i>.<br />================ <br /> Detectives Beyond Borders<br />"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"<br /> <a href="http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/</a>Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-48457007291202551452010-03-14T19:43:33.586-04:002010-03-14T19:43:33.586-04:00And one more response to Peter -- I should have di...And one more response to Peter -- I should have distinguished between "cool" as a positive (and apparently ageless) adjective and "cool" as a noun to distinguish those who possess it from the poor, hopeless straights.<br /><br />Interesting, isn't it, that "cool" the adjective has remained current since the forties. Hard to think of another piece of slang that can be said of.Timothy Hallinanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00551263887774445511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-57364295580078408302010-03-14T19:41:05.803-04:002010-03-14T19:41:05.803-04:00Beth -- I love the idea that emotion is more readi...Beth -- I love the idea that emotion is more readily expressed in warm climates, although Koreans don't exactly stifle themselves, and God knows they get cold enough. Also love the story of the Strausses -- there's still love in the world. (Also, anyone look at the piece on the survival rates on the Titanic vs. those on the Lusitania? The Lusitania sank in 18 minutes and most of the survivors were fit young men. On the Titanic, there was enough time for more selfless impulses to kick in, and the vast majority of those who survived were women, children, and the elderly.)<br /><br />Peter, if you think this was long, you should see the first draft. I don't know whether anyone (except you and Beth and Dan) will ever finish it, but it felt good to get it off my chest. My books come in long, too -- the first draft of the new one was almost 150,000 words.<br /><br />Dan -- Thanks for the agreement. In fact, the contrast between cool Anglos and their resolutely uncool Asian counterparts is nowhere greater than in teen-agers. Southeast Asian teenagers are, by and large, kids who still act like kids, not the wizened, disillusioned, cosmically disappointed adults so many American kids pretend to be.Timothy Hallinanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00551263887774445511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-82166900149568852092010-03-14T16:56:51.944-04:002010-03-14T16:56:51.944-04:00Tim - speaking of the Titanic.... Everyone got cau...Tim - speaking of the Titanic.... Everyone got caught up in the four day love affair of Jack and Rose and missed the real love story.<br /><br />As the ship is sinking, there is a shot of an old couple lying together on a bed as the cabin fills with water. These characters are based on Isidor and Ida Straus a couple from New York in their 60's. Isidor and his brother were co-owners of Macy's Department store. Ida had a place in a lifeboat but wouldn't leave without Isidor. A crew member told Isidor he could get in the lifeboat with his wife but he refused to do it because men were still waiting for the women and children to be loaded into the lifeboats. So they moved away from the rail and died together. They were married forty-one years.<br /><br />Isidor's body was found but Ida's was not. When the lifeboat was lowered to the sea it was not full.bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405199782450351160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-4853575590366174162010-03-14T16:45:13.384-04:002010-03-14T16:45:13.384-04:00Tim, I loved this - the curse of cool. Tell me abo...Tim, I loved this - the curse of cool. Tell me about it! The teenage years (and later!) I wasted in the spurious pursuit of elan and cool in the hope of attaining unattainable women. Got me absolute nowhere. Now, I turn Dolly Parton up full blast (only to find out Dolly Parton went and became cool...) I still know grown men who live like this - so detached by irony and being perceived to be uncool that they can barely live. Like statues. No one can touch them and they can't feel a thing. Or let themselves feel a thing. Terrible way to live.<br /><br />Not me. These days, I'm striving to be the world's most uncool Dad. My son says I'm well on my way...Dan Waddellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04320741202757960766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-32464102221053075072010-03-14T14:59:33.722-04:002010-03-14T14:59:33.722-04:00A beautiful piece, but will Americans read anythin...A beautiful piece, but will Americans read anything this long on the BlackBerrys or laptops? And, I hate to break this to you, but many people would think living in Thailand a highly cool thing to do.<br />==========================<br /> Detectives Beyond Borders<br />"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"<br /> <a href="http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/</a>Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-37021549207996238802010-03-14T12:50:31.693-04:002010-03-14T12:50:31.693-04:00Irony, a word that has evolved from the Greek word...Irony, a word that has evolved from the Greek word meaning "dissembler", which, in its less polite definition, means "liar" applies more to the speaker than to the ideas spoken.<br /><br />Irony is the result of people working too hard to prove their smart which in fact makes them seem not smart at all (unless you are Jon Stewart and make it the basis on which your comedy is built). <br /><br />Your name suggests that you have Irish roots. The Irish weren't willing to take on British religion but they did take on the "stiff upper lip" persona. It was the British ruling class, in government and commerce, who feared showing emotion. How do you rule countries if the people you are subjugating see you laugh and cry just like they do? The Irish applied it to their religious belief that suffering was ennobling and if one gets too happy, they will be smited by an angry God who, if He wanted them to be happy, wouldn't have sent them the British.<br /><br />The United States prides itself on self-control, never expressing emotion unless it is to cry along with the "Biggest Loser". Emotion at a distance is either the result of, or the cause of, emotional distance. One can't cultivate irony while holding on to a Kleenex box. (Although Americans cried through TITANIC,too).<br /><br />Perhaps public emotion can only thrive where it is warm. Emotion is contagious, happy or sad (unfortunately, so is anger). Life is lived closer to the streets where it is warm. The closest we came to national emotional catharsis was the JFK assassination. Would anyone want to do that again?<br /><br />Most teenagers in the US respect their parents but no one is going to write about it or take it on Jerry Springer. Respect does have to be earned and it can't be earned when parents have decided that they and their children should be friends. There isn't a female alive who wants to hear that she looks just like her mother. When a 16 year-old whose mother thinks it is great that she and her daughter share clothes, the teenager loses her identity and the mother has given up her role as a respected adult. Taking on a teenager's vocabulary is stealing the language that binds contemporaries. Plus, the adult sounds like an idiot. It's awkward and contrived and contrived is a word that describes the mother-daughter equality relationship. It isn't natural.<br /><br />The word "love" lost much of its value when it was used to indicate the users opinion of pizza, shampoo, and the aforementioned pre-slashed jeans. If teenagers don't use the word love to describe their relationships with their parents it is, in part, because that wouldn't be cool. It may also be because they never hear it. Sometimes people are emotional misers. Every phone call with a child, every meeting, should end with a parent saying "I love you" because it is truth and it that truth rather than unearned sports trophys that engender self-esteem and self-respect.<br /><br />Cool is boring and irony is hard-work.<br /><br />Bethbethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17405199782450351160noreply@blogger.com