Comments for blog.postmodernvillage.com http://blog.postmodernvillage.com Villagers rant, rave, and pontificate while surveying and rebuilding the wreckage of culture. Mon, 12 May 2008 05:21:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 Comment on On the Universal Power of Smell by Christin http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2006/07/20/186#comment-11679 Christin Tue, 22 Aug 2006 19:46:59 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2006/07/20/186#comment-11679 And, of course, smell is one of the harder senses to write about. There are some individuals whose senses actually mix together. A musical note has a color. A word has a distinct taste. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if this mixing of senses was linked with language's immense power to call up vivid images in our mindsight. Melted butter, an all-time favorite smell of mine. And, of course, smell is one of the harder senses to write about. There are some individuals whose senses actually mix together. A musical note has a color. A word has a distinct taste. I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if this mixing of senses was linked with language’s immense power to call up vivid images in our mindsight.

Melted butter, an all-time favorite smell of mine.

]]> Comment on The New Critical Thinking by TS http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2006/03/02/171#comment-7559 TS Tue, 14 Mar 2006 16:09:08 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2006/03/02/171#comment-7559 Organized religion is not merely "apt to promote" intellectual laziness; it absolutley requires it. Anything else is a threat to the institution which exist as much for its own sake as for any kind of so-called "mission." Organized religion is not merely “apt to promote” intellectual laziness; it absolutley requires it. Anything else is a threat to the institution which exist as much for its own sake as for any kind of so-called “mission.”

]]> Comment on The New Critical Thinking by TS http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2006/03/02/171#comment-7558 TS Tue, 14 Mar 2006 16:06:12 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2006/03/02/171#comment-7558 Organized religion is not just "apt to promote" intellectual laziness, it requires it. Too much learning, or the wrong sort of learning, is an immediate threat to the institution. If people really started thinking about it, they'd realize that organized religions exist as much for their own sake as they do for the saving of souls or the redistribution of alms or the reform of a society or the creation of a Kingdom of God. And then who would keep the lights on at the mega-churches? Organized religion is not just “apt to promote” intellectual laziness, it requires it. Too much learning, or the wrong sort of learning, is an immediate threat to the institution.

If people really started thinking about it, they’d realize that organized religions exist as much for their own sake as they do for the saving of souls or the redistribution of alms or the reform of a society or the creation of a Kingdom of God. And then who would keep the lights on at the mega-churches?

]]> Comment on The New Critical Thinking by typorrhea http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2006/03/02/171#comment-7548 typorrhea Thu, 02 Mar 2006 17:40:00 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2006/03/02/171#comment-7548 While there is an open and very serious debate in this country as to whether Jesus had a face, let no one question whether Adam and Eve had belly buttons - they didn't! While there is an open and very serious debate in this country as to whether Jesus had a face, let no one question whether Adam and Eve had belly buttons – they didn’t!

]]> Comment on How to Succeed in College 101 by Christin http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2005/12/18/165#comment-7459 Christin Sat, 24 Dec 2005 17:02:41 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2005/12/18/165#comment-7459 I seem to be constantly telling my professoring colleagues things of this sort, but it wouldn't hurt to once in awhile acknowledge that there are exceptional students in every class who are really invested in learning. They may be outnumbered by the lazy or hung-over but reading this would undoubtedly consider your cynical guidelines to success in higher education outright insulting. The students ready and open to learning need someone to believe in their efforts and encourage them as they try to navigate the wealth of ideas they encounter. I understand the frustration of teaching to the reluctant, but too often I've encountered teachers so consumed by their disappointment they lose the ability to recognize all the students they've passed over who did show up, did do their reading, did inquire about their grade, and even went to sleep at a decent hour. In my opinion, these teachers are in the wrong profession, no matter how knowledgeable or intelligent they are. They should move on. I seem to be constantly telling my professoring colleagues things of this sort, but it wouldn’t hurt to once in awhile acknowledge that there are exceptional students in every class who are really invested in learning. They may be outnumbered by the lazy or hung-over but reading this would undoubtedly consider your cynical guidelines to success in higher education outright insulting. The students ready and open to learning need someone to believe in their efforts and encourage them as they try to navigate the wealth of ideas they encounter.

I understand the frustration of teaching to the reluctant, but too often I’ve encountered teachers so consumed by their disappointment they lose the ability to recognize all the students they’ve passed over who did show up, did do their reading, did inquire about their grade, and even went to sleep at a decent hour. In my opinion, these teachers are in the wrong profession, no matter how knowledgeable or intelligent they are. They should move on.

]]> Comment on Blood and the Tool by Christin http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2005/12/04/164#comment-7432 Christin Mon, 05 Dec 2005 22:02:25 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2005/12/04/164#comment-7432 If suffering makes us more like God, does that make God the greatest masochist of all time? Sucks to be Him. Your line of thought calls to mind what I know of Cthonicism, practiced by Myceneans, Minoans, and earlier Neolithic peoples. Here life and death are very closely connected through spiritual practices and daily ritual. Animals/spirits/gods that possess the power to harm, symbolized by the vulture and the snake, and those that are dangerous yet provide communal substinence, like the bull, were worshipped. A relational tidbit of the living towards the dead I find interesting is that the Mycenean burial practice consisted of placing the bones of family members underneath raised portions of the floor in homes where people slept. Death, and conjecturally that of suffering, were conceptually integral to these cultures. No pretending or ignoring it out of existence. It had to be acknowledged. If suffering makes us more like God, does that make God the greatest masochist of all time? Sucks to be Him.

Your line of thought calls to mind what I know of Cthonicism, practiced by Myceneans, Minoans, and earlier Neolithic peoples. Here life and death are very closely connected through spiritual practices and daily ritual. Animals/spirits/gods that possess the power to harm, symbolized by the vulture and the snake, and those that are dangerous yet provide communal substinence, like the bull, were worshipped. A relational tidbit of the living towards the dead I find interesting is that the Mycenean burial practice consisted of placing the bones of family members underneath raised portions of the floor in homes where people slept. Death, and conjecturally that of suffering, were conceptually integral to these cultures. No pretending or ignoring it out of existence. It had to be acknowledged.

]]> Comment on I.D. by typorrhea http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2004/12/22/139#comment-2479 typorrhea Sat, 12 Feb 2005 00:48:21 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2004/12/22/139#comment-2479 Someone once told me that make a forum for the village would be too much of a nightmare because of all the spam-killing and oversight required. Anyway, it's apparent to me that God created evolution on the fourth day. Around 10:35AM. Someone once told me that make a forum for the village would be too much of a nightmare because of all the spam-killing and oversight required.

Anyway, it’s apparent to me that God created evolution on the fourth day. Around 10:35AM.

]]> Comment on How to Express Yourself (in 10 Trillion Pixels) by typorrhea http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2004/12/30/141#comment-2314 typorrhea Tue, 08 Feb 2005 22:55:05 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2004/12/30/141#comment-2314 What the heck are these poker people talking about? <a href="http ://downtown-wireless.com/body_downtown_texas_holdem.html"> Poker for your phone, suckas! Beat that!</a> And guess who helped program it? Anyway - sorry about the tangent. After much thought, I've concluded that CG animation in movies and television is just another case of a new medium immitating the forms of its predecessors. I think the realm in which CG really comes into its own is with interactive content. What the heck are these poker people talking about?

Poker for your phone, suckas! Beat that! And guess who helped program it?

Anyway – sorry about the tangent. After much thought, I’ve concluded that CG animation in movies and television is just another case of a new medium immitating the forms of its predecessors. I think the realm in which CG really comes into its own is with interactive content.

]]> Comment on How to Express Yourself (in 10 Trillion Pixels) by E.W. Wilder http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2004/12/30/141#comment-1519 E.W. Wilder Tue, 18 Jan 2005 02:42:19 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2004/12/30/141#comment-1519 Typorrhea sort of makes my point. The problem is that if you're going to spend the money anyway, why not at least spend it on _real_ animation? You lose as much with an over-reliance on computer graphics as you gain in supposed cost savings. Is real animation real money? Of course. But it's worth it. Typorrhea sort of makes my point. The problem is that if you’re going to spend the money anyway, why not at least spend it on real animation? You lose as much with an over-reliance on computer graphics as you gain in supposed cost savings.

Is real animation real money? Of course. But it’s worth it.

]]> Comment on How to Express Yourself (in 10 Trillion Pixels) by typorrhea http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2004/12/30/141#comment-1450 typorrhea Wed, 12 Jan 2005 19:40:50 +0000 http://blog.postmodernvillage.com/archives/2004/12/30/141#comment-1450 Try sketching, inking, and painting something that's supposed to run at 24 frames-per-second and you'll see pretty quickly why traditional animation is only commercially viable if a) you are Disney or b) you have access to a Korean slave labor pool. You could either spend $100 million burning through acetate and hiring enough talented animators to handle a few seconds of production each or you can hire Tom Hanks. Come on, man! Haven't you seen the Burbs??? That's money well spent! Ka-ching! Try sketching, inking, and painting something that’s supposed to run at 24 frames-per-second and you’ll see pretty quickly why traditional animation is only commercially viable if a) you are Disney or b) you have access to a Korean slave labor pool. You could either spend $100 million burning through acetate and hiring enough talented animators to handle a few seconds of production each or you can hire Tom Hanks. Come on, man! Haven’t you seen the Burbs??? That’s money well spent! Ka-ching!

]]>