Jim's Fields of Observation

Juxtaposition 1/16/10

Juxtaposition (noun) “an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast.”

see more Friends of Irony

Metaphor Is the New Idiom

”_____ is the new black.”

”_____ is the new 50.” Or 40 or 30 or whatever.

I find it interesting how commonplace “new” metaphors have become, and I wonder why. Do we all want a part of recognizing the “next big thing”? Are these statements coping mechanisms to help us deal with the ever-faster change of pace pop culture takes in our hyper-connected world?

Perhaps. Another potential benefit these statements offer the speaker is a shred more of street cred, helping position the person as one “in the know”.

Since I am, of course, no sociolinguist I cannot offer a scientific explanation. As a member of society I would greatly appreciate moving past “new” metaphors.

Maybe we can move next to malapropisms, mondegreens, and eggcorns.

I posted this as a note on FaceBook:

thisiscashmoney:

Earlier tonight, a girl from Kent, Washington on Tumblr (a sort of blog/social networking site I frequent) posted her suicide note on her blog. Within seconds, at least a hundred of Tumblr users reblogged it to gain awareness. Using her IP address, they found out her name and where she lived. The Kent City Police Department got over fifty calls from all across the nation warning them about her plans. They got to her in time. A hundred of teenagers who had never met each other in real life, most didn’t follow this girl’s blog personally, saved a life. This is something that blows my mind, and I think that I’m a better person because of it. There is good in this world and on the internet, contrary to popular belief. <3 Thank you for reading this and please keep Haleigh Hess in your prayers.

I am not even sure why, I just want as many people as I possibly can to know about the pure love and awesomeness that happened tonight.

Powerful!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Rocks, Just Not As Much

Maybe it’s because I’ve seen Trans-Siberian Orchestra at least 5 times in 7 years. Or maybe their new album, Night Castle, has been so hyped by them for the last 3 or 4 years, and I don’t like it as much as their other albums. But this time for me there wasn’t the same magic that used to be there.

One aspect that that I’ve noticed before that struck me more this year: the band’s seemingly-constant request for applause. Did they do it more this year, or has my tolerance come to an end? The story the music and lyrics tell is so powerful! Why ruin it with incessant hamming?

I would still recommend this concert to others. I would probably include these few disclaimers, too.

Thanks for coming to Cincinnati, TSO!

Non Sequitur

Non sequitur. n. An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises or evidence.* (Latin lit., “it does not follow”)

Does anyone else resent the AT&T’s rebuttal commercials to Verizon’s 3G claims? Luke Wilson agreed to insult our intelligence levels by filming a few commercials that are meant to combat the Verizon’s presentation of AT&T’s 3G coverage.

Have you paid attention to what each company says? Verizon shows maps of the reach of each company’s 3G coverage and claims their coverage is 3 (or is it 5?) times larger than AT&T’s, and they actually show in each of the commercials the respective maps.

If you pay attention to AT&T’s “rebuttals” (and I use that term very lightly) you will notice they never address the issue directly, a great frustration of mine. AT&T tries a little sleight of hand in an attempt distract us from the facts. “We have faster speeds,” they proudly announce. “You can talk and surf at the same time on our network.” Yeah, that does a lot of good when you are in an area where you can’t access the network!

If anyone in AT&T’s marketing department reads this, PLEASE, for the sake of rational people across America, stop insulting our intelligences! Speak the truth and do it directly. I’m sure your company has other great things to compete with Verizon. Right?

*non sequitur. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/non sequitur (accessed: November 29, 2009).

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

— 

Charles Dickens

Is your heart still shut up?

Internet Vices - Patrick Moberg →

This is a hilarious depiction of common social media sites and what other vices they resemble. Enjoy! (Apologies for the swear word.)

Juxtaposition 11/20/09

Juxtaposition (noun) “an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast.”¹

I love juxtaposition of the ironic sort. Especially in these times when we have input coming from so many streams, and so many things are automated and shuffled, one can easily catch ironic things that normally would not be placed side by side.

I would like to begin a new feature where I share with you some the better examples, and I would love to hear from you some of your examples, too. Please leave a comment here or email me at jim (at) fieldsofobservation (dot) com.

11/20/09

As seen on Facebook

Friend 1’s status update: “…has xenophobic societies and populist politics on the agenda for today.”

Friend 2’s status update 3 minutes earlier: “…I do not want your gross, chewed up cookie!”

¹ juxtaposition. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/juxtaposition (accessed: November 20, 2009).

Bringing the Digital into the Physical
(aka Personalizing Paper Memos with Twitter Protocol)

Willing Spirit and Weak Flesh

In Deutschland ist heute Buss- und Bettag. That means, today is Day of Repentance and Prayer in Germany. I first learned of this day while I was interning with a small church in northern Germany. (Visit the Website of the German church I interned with at www.christusgemeinde-pe.de.)

Repentance is not a common word nowadays. The Greek verb used in the New Testament means “to change your mind” and carries the idea of reformation, of changing your behavior. Interestingly, a 2006 Christian Science Monitor article cites a few small examples of a burgeoning movement among Germans who are reconsidering religion and “repenting” (if you will) of the rampant secularism widespread in most of northern and western Europe. Interesting that the people to whom I went to minister still teach me a thing or two.

And what of changing? Improving. Making a decision to change the direction one’s life is going?

“God, all too often I go my own way, not even thinking about Your leading. Please forgive me. I want to turn from my own way and follow You. Please lead me. Amen.”