English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwighт

20:12

@robusto I'm through with Ozymandias, so first spontaneous thoughts. Or actually the one dominating thought from the first minute to the last: thank God it's only two more episodes, this shit is devastating, why am I even doing this to myself. Suddenly it's so apparent I've been living in a nice lala-land where nothing ever comes tumbling down.

Looking back onto the five seasons, I was witnessing bad things and yet shrugging them off, on a level. When bad things happened, I didn't expect really bad things to happen. When really bad things happened, I didn't expect really-really bad things to happen. And then really-really bad things started happening, and I was still like "we can do this!"

And now it occurs to me that even after last week's cliffhanger I was still like "okay there's no chance in hell it's not going to turn out bad, but I can get through this". And then it all comes tumbling down. And it all comes tumbling down all at once. And it comes down hard like a fucking freight train. Screw this shit. Why am I even so invested. I could have been watching How I Met Your Mother instead.

Two more episodes and I'm out, I'm tellin ya.

Cerberus

That's not exactly fun.

Does the total destruction serve some sort of purpose on a higher plane, does it provide some sort of satisfaction?

RegDwighт

It's the greatest fun I've ever had with a TV set and 47 minutes of my time.

Cerberus

The latest episode?

I've just finished Perdido Street Station, and the ending fucking sucks.

RegDwighт

It provides enormous satisfaction, except that at this particular point it is not supposed to provide any satisfaction at all. It is supposed to be killing me. And it does. It does its job brilliantly.

Cerberus

Depressing, unsatisfying, and a stupid moral that is forced upon the reader that I totally disagree with.

@RegDwighт So the answer is yes?

RegDwighт

20:15

But I must be off to watch BB with my wife. Tonight we're starting again from season 1, episode 1. Wish us luck.

Cerberus

Huh?

So the last season has ended?

RegDwighт

Which part of "still two episodes to go" you no understand?

Also, which part of "@robusto" you no understand? :P

Cerberus

So then why are you going to rewatch everything now?

RegDwighт

Silly Hollandian.

Cerberus

Crazy.

RegDwighт

20:16

See. You watch it once, you'll understand.

But you are an incognoscento.

And I am out!

Cerberus

@RegDwighт You're not doing things in the right order. Isn't there some law against that in Deutschland?

user87637

@Cerberus I imagine that is Kit.

Johan Larsson

@JasperLoy square broken?

user87637

@JohanLarsson Yeah, lol.

Johan Larsson

selfie?

user87637

20:27

Yeah, lol.

Cerberus

Not quite...

Robusto

20:38

@RegDwighт Yeah, I plan to stop watching once the series is over too.

But, yeah, I think they're dropping some serious fucking science on our asses. Gilligan and Cranston and everybody on the show. "This — this is how you do a TV drama, bitches!"

Mitch

@Cerberus Yes, but he reported himself. He's already been discharged on probation. The system..it works.

@KitFox No no, you meant to say "In the US we call our white trash crackers -what-?"

As in, "I just had white trash crackers for dessert. Nummy!"

Robusto

@RegDwighт: And even though there are two episodes left, and you feel like you've gone through the wringer one too many times, and you have gone through the wringer at least that much, even then you realize that you ain't getting off easy. We're not going to coast to the finale. This last episode flayed us alive. Now you can see them bringing out the salt.

Cerberus

@Mitch That is a great relief.

@Robusto This sounds like Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, and other soap operas...

Robusto

@Cerberus Yes, it is exactly like those shows in the same way that the Oresteia was exactly like "Two and a Half Men."

Cerberus

I don't know the latter.

Has anyone in this room read Perdido Street Station? If not, I shall have to visit my friends in the Science-Fiction room...

Robusto

20:48

►

Cerberus

> This video is not available.
> Sorry about that.

I can't believe I'm even clicking you.

Robusto

Here, let me google that for you.

Two and a Half Men

| cinematography = | company = | starring = | country = United States | language = English | network = CBS | theme_music_composer = | composer = | first_aired = | last_aired = present | num_seasons = 10 | num_episodes = 224 | list_episodes = List of Two and a Half Men episodes | website = http://www.cbs.com/shows/two_and_a_half_men/ }} Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that was first broadcast on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starri...

Johan Larsson

@Robusto please don't say you like 2.5 men also

Robusto

@JohanLarsson Apparently your sarcasm detector is busted.

Johan Larsson

meaning you don't like it?

Robusto

20:50

It was the worst TV show I could think of in ten seconds.

Johan Larsson

relief

Robusto

Hey, I thought I was playing to a hipper crowd.

Johan Larsson

I'm old, don't think I ever was hip

Robusto

I'm probably older.

Johan Larsson

35

Robusto

20:52

Got ya beat.

cyberskull

:-)

Johan Larsson

do you store your hip in the fridge?

Robusto

But it's a relief to know I'm too hip for this room, actually. That explains a lot.

Cerberus

@Robusto Okay, I watched it through Proxy Mate. Why would you even link me to a random video like that?

Robusto

This room has become 4chan with all the tacky little observations that get their little stars from all the cuddly buddies. It's like a bad outtake of Friends.

Cerberus

20:55

I have to admit the only reason I watched it was that it was blocked, so I finally had an occasion to test Proxy Mate.

Robusto

7 mins ago, by Robusto

@Cerberus Yes, it is exactly like those shows in the same way that the Oresteia was exactly like "Two and a Half Men."

See, even now you still don't get what I was saying.

Cerberus

And we made me watch an inane video clip for that?

Robusto

You said you had never seen it.

Cerberus

Oh, I got it before you posted the line.

Robusto

Hey, blame the messenger much?

Cerberus

20:56

"I have not seen it" ≠ "I want to see an inane video clip OMG!".

Robusto

Why do I even bother talking to you?

Johan Larsson

@Robusto why so grumpy? I did not star btw.

Cerberus

It was a learning experience.

Robusto

@JohanLarsson Because I was waxing rhapsodic about a show that I believe to be a genuine work of art, and the doggy tried to bring it down to the level of Downton Abbey, for fuck's sake.

Cerberus

So anyway, I was just commenting on stories where at some point (usually either in the second act or the final act) the situation becomes worse and worse for the protagonist(s), even when you think it couldn't.

Robusto

20:57

You are harshing my buzz.

Johan Larsson

@Robusto ok fair enough. Was it BB that was the work of art?

Robusto

@Cerberus Yeah, because all soap operas are like Greek fucking tragedy.

@JohanLarsson Hellz, yeah.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

132 and Bush, I've got him at gunpoint.

Cerberus

Not tragedy.

Tragedy barely has a story arc.

Okay, it can.

I guess it does apply to some tragedies.

Robusto

@Cerberus That you of all people should say that.

Cerberus

20:59

But anyway.

Robusto

How is a tragic fall not an arc?

Cerberus

The core of a tragedy is reflection upon an impossible choice, I would say?

Robusto

Geezis, do I have to explain tragedy to you know? What did you study Greek for?

Cerberus

The things that actually happen are not the essence, is what I was saying. But whatever.

Robusto

@Cerberus Among other things. And Breaking Bad has that. But it also has hubris, and hamartia, and all the rest of it.

Apr 20 '11 at 18:05, by Robusto

Evoking the tragic emotions of pity and awe, etc.

Cerberus

21:01

I'm sure.

But soap operas also have may of the same things, as do comedies, even. Except in ways that are either not very interesting or not very well executed.

Robusto

@Cerberus You're confusing bathos with pathos. A common error. Just don't voice the plosive and you'll be fine.

cyberskull

@Cerberus I could have been a contender

Robusto

Feb 25 '11 at 12:36, by Robusto

It stands as an empty vessel, a stripped husk, the shed skin of a formerly dangerous snake — limp in your hands, your mind, your soul. A dead snake, an object of pity. That is you, my good friend. That is you.

Cerberus

@Robusto I was not talking about either.

Robusto

I think I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my day. See ya.

Cerberus

21:04

Whatever.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Cerberus

Awwwww.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Cerberus

Nice underwear.

cyberskull

@Cerberus Did my link capture the meaning?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

21:09

one more.

Cerberus

@cyberskull It simply opened this chat in another window?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Johan Larsson

finally a dog

cyberskull

@Cerberus Ooops sorry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNzBgR0UoYo
The things that actually happen are not the essence

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Cerberus

21:13

@cyberskull Uhhh I'm afraid I don't understand!

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Awwww.

Johan Larsson

@Cerberus what is the beef with Rob about?

Cerberus

No idea, he just got irritable.

Johan Larsson

ok no point in analyzing it then

Cerberus

Maybe he thought I was criticising Breaking Bad, which I wasn't.

Johan Larsson

I've been doing it alot

Cerberus

21:23

Hmm.

Johan Larsson

Probably more than I disliked it, being contrary I guess

Cerberus

Hehe.

I have no opinion about it. Most people say it's good. But of course personal tastes differ.

Anonymous

It is pretty good. It got good again recently.

Johan Larsson

@Cerberus It is easy to find worse but that does not say much when it is TV

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@JohanLarsson heh

Cerberus

21:26

I said Reg's characterisation of how really bad things happen to the protagonists, and then even worse things, and then still worse things, etc., didn't sound like fun to me. Then the subject changed to story arcs in general, and maybe Rob thought I was talking about BB there, which I wasn't.

@JohanLarsson Noted.

@snailboat Also noted.

cyberskull

then came "tragedy"

Johan Larsson

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 you a fan?

Anonymous

@Cerberus Although there are parts of the show that weren't as good, and some that should probably have been cut out entirely.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@JohanLarsson I saw up to a few episodes after ABQ. I liked it.

Cerberus

@snailboat OK sure...but that happens to the best, like...Frodo and Sam's travels in and near Mordor!

I mean, come on!

Wasn't 1000 pages enough?

And also the muddy roads in Eriador.

Mitch

21:30

@Cerberus No. More words = better.

Cerberus

!

Blasphemer!

Mitch

charge by the character.

Anonymous

That's how we can tell that three Hobbit movies are better than one. They have more words!

Cerberus

Heh.

Johan Larsson

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 ABQ is the unspellable state?

Mitch

21:31

Oh. for movies less words more pictures better also less punctuation

Cerberus

Actually, a book takes far longer to read than 3 hours. So it makes sense to turn any book into multiple films.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@JohanLarsson ?

Cerberus

@Mitch And don't forget music that betrays what's going to happen next (very quiet music: OMG the alien strikes out of nothing and nonchalantly kills some protagonists!).

Mitch

@JohanLarsson It's code for Downton Abbey. Everyone loves it except for Reg.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

It's the short code for Albuquerque.

Stack Exchange

21:33

Limerick Machine: Something's fishy

posted on September 17, 2013 by sgdi

There once was a man with a limp Who had quite the penchant for shrimp In chowder or boiled Or deep fried in oil Delivered to him by a blimp

Mitch

@Cerberus But thankfully the cat lives.

Cerberus

@Mitch But it is infected...

Spreading the larvae...

Johan Larsson

@Mitch add me to the non-lovers then.

Anonymous

I have a question. Why did Stack Exchange just drive-by limerick the ELU chat?

Cerberus

It sometimes does that.

Probably a bug, or some incarnation of HAL.

Perhaps whatsisname forgot to fully dislodge the last memory bank.

Mitch

21:35

@Cerberus What? No goddam you how can you say that? The cat is just fine at the end of the movie. Are you messing with me?

Johan Larsson

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Thought ABQ meant Albuquerque.

Mitch

@snailboat It happens.

I think magic is involved.

Johan Larsson

@Cerberus I'd guess something Reg or Fox set up, owners can add feeds to rooms

Mitch

Or what is the same thing a program.

Anonymous

It's inspired me to tell one of the two or three jokes I remember.

Mitch

21:36

@JohanLarsson I'm a joiner, not a divider.

Cerberus

@Mitch You didn't notice the orange glint in its eyes as it calmly stood by the water supply plant at the end of the film?

Anonymous

Did you know I can cut wood in half just by looking at it? It's true. I saw it with my own eyes.

Cerberus

@JohanLarsson I don't know...

Mitch

Some people are sawyers and others coopers.

Cerberus

@snailboat Hah! Hah!

Mitch

21:38

@Cerberus Oh all cats are like that. A house cat out of nature is always eyeing you as a meal. If only it were a little bit bigger it's thinking it would totally take you down.

@snailboat !!/rimshot!

Cerberus

@Mitch So you might think. You will be right, if they can't get the budget for the sequel together.

Mitch

@JohanLarsson For the sake of argument I'm putting you in the lovers camp. Just an accounting method.

@Cerberus are we actually talking about something? Which movie? Aliens 17?

Johan Larsson

@Mitch hate the players and the game, always.

Mitch

For the love of the game...I hate it.

Cerberus

@Mitch Oh I have no idea. But let's say Aliens 17, sure.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

21:55

Mmm, macaronic.

RegDwighт

22:16

Oh my. Poor @robusto. Pearls before Cerberus and Johan. What a waste of talent!

Cerberus

22:44

Alas!

We fouled the pearls and sat on them, too.

Johan Larsson

@RegDwighт almost all TV is wasted on me

Cerberus

Idem.

Doesn't mean it can't be good in its own way...

Johan Larsson

explain like you would to a child, tired here

Anonymous

I always hated television growing up, and I tried to avoid it as much as possible. I especially hated having it on in the background, distracting me from whatever I was doing--and I still hate that. It's hard for me to tune it out, and I'm never able to concentrate as well

Anonymous

And for a long time, I had no attention span for television. I couldn't manage to make it through an entire show. Which is strange, because I had no problem reading books in one sitting

Cerberus

22:57

@JohanLarsson Hello, want some candy?

Johan Larsson

:)

Anonymous

But at some point, that changed, and now I can make it through TV shows! It's a skill. I'm very proud of myself for developing it.

Cerberus

Just come to the van...

Johan Larsson

scary van

Cerberus

No, it'll be fun! You get free candy, and we'll have a little ride...

SAJ14SAJ

22:59

@Cerberus Play nice with the ELU people. No luring them into vans and dismembering them!

Johan Larsson

I'm not ELU

Cerberus

@snailboat I like your old self better!

SAJ14SAJ

@JohanLarsson And yet here you are?

Cerberus

When it comes to television, that is.

@SAJ14SAJ Aww come on!

@JohanLarsson Don't try to get away!

SAJ14SAJ

@Cerberus No more than one a week, then.

Johan Larsson

23:00

@SAJ14SAJ yes, I'm some kind of tourist, like the regs here.

Cerberus

grumble I'll try.

Step. Into. The van. You want free candy or not?

Anonymous

@Cerberus Well, it's useful for listening practice in various languages, especially with (non-English) subtitles.

Cerberus

@snailboat That is true...Youtube?

Johan Larsson

@Cerberus I think you should work on your child skills

Cerberus

Damn.

Then I give up.

Johan Larsson

23:02

I find it surprising that tv can be as bad as it is and still have people watching it.

Anonymous

@Cerberus I've watched Youtube videos with the automatic transcriptions turned on before. They were pretty amusing.

Cerberus

@JohanLarsson It's the ultimate passive medium?

@snailboat OK but with real translations!

Anonymous

@JohanLarsson You said almost all, right? Would you care to name any exceptions? Or were you just hedging?

Cerberus

I sometimes learn stuff from subtitled songs I like: a great way to motivate myself.

Or just by looking up the lyrics/libretto.

Anonymous

Oh, I love learning from lyrics!

Cerberus

23:04

Yay!

I was busy learning Turkish from a certain song that is probably cheesy pop, but I like it because it's in Turkish.

Johan Larsson

@snailboat one exception.

Anonymous

What song is that?

SAJ14SAJ

2

This is a picture of Cerberus as a puppy.

Cerberus

Hmm seems I remembered incorrectly: I must have looked up the lyrics and had them in another window:

►

I notice I have forgotten what most of the lyrics mean already. My Turkish grammar is basically zero.

I know git = go, me = not.

Ne = whatever, olur = "happens".

Robusto

23:32

@RegDwighт Nah. Johan's OK. He picks up on good things.

Cerberus

@Robusto I wasn't talking about BB any more, except in that first comment on Reg's description.

In case there was a misunderstanding.

Robusto

Ya makes me tired.

KitFox

23:54

Hi.

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