Emotional Semantics and Emotional Semiotics
Edited by Oct 22, 2005 12:26 pm
Barsoom Tork reaches for his bible, Anguish in Taunt and Reaction, by Essenem Hayacaca. Barsoom opens his biblical tome, which presents the latest theological insights into the emerging field of Emotional Semantics and Emotional Semiotics. Barsoom turns to one of the bookmarked hymns toward the back of the book.
Montana Mouse, decked out in his trademark porkpie hat and red neckerchief, accompanies Barsoom on the banjo...
Barsoom's gonna show you a mockingbird.
And if that mockingbird don't sing,
Barsoom's gonna turn to a poetry fling.
And if that poetry turns out crass
Barsoom's gonna hold up a looking glass.
And if that looking glass gets broke,
Barsoom's gonna bring in a flying goat.
And if that flying goat won't act,
Barsoom's gonna read you a scholarly tract.
And if that scholarly tract don't work,
Barsoom's gonna look like a stupid jerk.
And if that stupid jerk's a bore
Barsoom's gonna gin up a verbal war.
And if that anguish makes you frown,
You'll still be the cutest little robot in town.
So hush, little Belabot, don't you cry
Barsoom's gonna fix us some nice stir fry.
CopyClef 2001 by Yugo Gurl and Essenem Hayacaca.
Performed by Barsoom Tork and Montana Mouse.
Caprice the Flying Scapegoat - Jun 16, 2005 1:07 am (#1 of 314)
Edited by Jun 16, 2005 1:10 am
Caprice comes gamboling in and notices there is no one here other than Montana Mouse and Barsoom Tork.
Caprice listens to the music, then lies down to sleep, perchance to dream.
- Jun 17, 2005 7:12 am (#2 of 314)
Edited by Jun 17, 2005 7:16 am
Moultonic Reflections: To My Mind...
Now we are getting somewhere. Now we are examining why Rule-Based Regulation (aka "The Hammurabic Method of Social Regulation") is so dysfunctional and consumptive of time, energy, emotions, attention, and other scarce resources.
What are Rules, anyway? They are a vain attempt by Machiavellian Control Freaks to prevent the occurrence of carefully defined events which they dread. But you cannot outlaw Fear, because Fear, like all emotions, is a God-Given Feature of The Human Condition. If you manage to outlaw one dreadful event, another one will inevitably arise to take its place. The Amygdala will not be mocked. Its assigned job is to sift and sort through fears and dreads, threats and worries, anxieties and unpeace.
Face it, folks -- some people enjoy and delight in activities and processes which others frankly dread. For example, I dread alienation and scapegoating, and being falsely accused of a (supposely criminal) act which I did not commit. And yet I can neither avoid that dreadful experience nor successfully outlaw (or punish) it. I have little choice but to suffer through it, every time it happens, without regard to what (or who) is at stake and about to be burned yet again.
By the way, I am amused that the phrase "These Motets" has gained prominence and currency, since I coined it. But I don't expect anyone to ask my permission to use it, or to acknowledge where it originated. The Internet is not a Just Place. It's just a cyberspace Theater of the Absurd.
- Jun 17, 2005 7:29 am (#3 of 314)
Edited by Jun 17, 2005 7:31 am
...which brings me back to the achingly unanswered question from lasterday...
What did Hobbes know, and when did he know it?
Hobbes, when you adopted the policy of no right of due process in ATI, did you do so with the express understanding that this would be a crucial gap in the ATI Social Contract if Bela's plan to reprise a scapegoat drama was to be carried out to its dreadful completion?
Edited by Jun 17, 2005 10:22 am
Hallo?? Salut?? Sunt Eu, un Haiduc.
Hrmmm.... No reply from Hobbes.
This happened once before,
When I came to your door,
No reply.
They said it wasn't true,
But I saw your IP through my server,
I saw the click, I saw the click,
I know that you heard me,
'Cause I looked up to see your route-trace.I tried to tele-blog,
They said you weren't a 'frog',
That's a lie,
'Cause I know where you've been,
I saw you click on your mouse,
I nearly sighed, I nearly sighed,
'Cause you balked keyboard in hand
From another land in my face.If I were you I'd realize that I
Know you more than any other creep,
And I'll forgive the lies that I
Heard before when you gave me no reply.
I've tried to pseudo-post,
They said you weren't the host,
That's a lie,
'Cause I know where you've been,
I saw you click that link,
I nearly sighed, I nearly sighed,
'Cause you balked keyboard in hand
With another spam in my face.No reply, no reply.
CopyClef The Beatles and Barsoom Tork Associates.
North Amurcan Bupkis, Intrusive Internet Outlaws.
"At North Amurcan Bupkis, we've been here since before Al Gore 'invented' the Internet."
Matthew Best
- Jun 17, 2005 11:22 am (#5 of 314)
That's a photo of Siouxsie Sioux isn't it?
- Jun 17, 2005 12:40 pm (#6 of 314)
Edited by Jun 17, 2005 1:09 pm
Unrequited Fear and Loathing
Could be. Siouxsie and the Banshees are London-based, so you would likely be a lot more familiar with their act than moi.But you gotta love that insouciant kangaroo. :)
Incidentally I note that Dragostea Din Tei was written by Haiducci (The Outlaws), which helps explain the line "Hallo?? Salut. Sunt Eu, un Haiduc." (Hello?? Greetings. It's Me, an Outlaw.)
It's astonishing how much popular music and popular culture revolves around themes of alienation, rejection, unrequited love, and oxytocin-draining heartbreak.
So little of our culture features unrequited fear and loathing.
Mebbe that's the point of the insouciant kangaroo, who could care less if Siouxsie Sioux is acting out in the manner of a depraved Nazi.
Matthew Best
- Jun 17, 2005 1:32 pm (#7 of 314)
From your link:
In 1976 The Bromley Contingent followed the Sex Pistols to France and Siouxsie was punched by an Arab. She was wearing a cupless bra, black vinyl stockings and a black armband with a swastika on it. She liked Salon Kitty and disliked those who banged on about being in the war; the swastika was intended as a campy joke and she did not, then, appreciate the panorama of implications. "The Nazis were not only anti-Semitic but anti-anyone different, anti-anyone like me." The regalia backfired. The National Front started to pay attention and she was horrified.
That sounds like the photo you are using.
you would likely be a lot more familiar with their act than moi.
Yes, undoubtedly - Moi tends to spend most of his time in Kenya I understand.
- Jun 17, 2005 2:58 pm (#8 of 314)
Edited by Jun 17, 2005 3:16 pm
That's a remarkable bit of detective work, Matthew. I admire your attention to detail, which clearly surpasses my own.
"The Nazis were not only anti-Semitic but anti-anyone different, anti-anyone like me."
That's definitely a hazard for those of us odd ducks who happen to be charter members of the Sui Generis Club.
Perhaps that's how Bela selected the targets for his long-running Scapegoating Drama -- he knew to go after unsympathetic characters who were most unlike the insular crowd already dominating the corridors of RI and ATI.
So an over-the-top character like Siouxsie Sioux, a performance artist who obviously parodies notorious Nazi practices (e.g. spreading propaganda and the big lie, scapegoating and alienating defenseless minorities, dispensing with such niceties of Western Civilization as civil rights and due process) would normally be expected to make people think twice about reprising those unbecoming practices.
What disturbs, troubles, puzzles and perplexes me, Matthew, is how such neo-Nazi and fascist practices still arise, take root, and persist, even in these very Motets.
How in the name of decency, can an insidious scapegoating drama arise and persist for two years without anyone so much as raising an eyebrow?
In that unaccountably popular Numa Numa Dance that Kitts McInnis first raised to our attention, Gary Brolsma raises an eyebrow not once, but twice. Leonard Nimoy as Spock and DeForest Kelley as Bones could both raise a skeptical eyebrow.
It's a facial gesture that, for some odd genetic reason, I cannot manifest.
If I'm skeptical of something, I have to express my skepticism verbally rather than with a silent subtle raise of a single eyebrow.
But I can roll my eyes or flare one nostril Elvis-style with the best of them.
Moi tends to spend most of his time in Kenya I understand.
As to Daniel arap Moi, mebbe it's time for me to learn a little more about him. NPR's Daniel Zwerdling used to cover that beat, but I admit I didn't pay very much attention to that story.
Matthew Best
- Jun 17, 2005 3:03 pm (#9 of 314)
I have to admit I have no idea what you're talking about.
- Jun 17, 2005 3:09 pm (#10 of 314)
Edited by Jun 17, 2005 3:11 pm
I have to admit I have no idea what you're talking about.
Have you read the Analysis Thread here? Especially the opening post and #39.
(304 following messages)
Emotional Semantics and Emotional Semiotics