Adam Sandler is one of those actors who you either loved in the nineties when he was relevant or you didn't. I really didn't. It's not that I had such overwhelmingly cultured taste that I couldn't appreciate his low-brow humor. I just felt like most of his jokes were rehashes of his other jokes. There is one scene from Billy Madison, however, that rises above Sandler's typical mediocrity. I present it below.
For those who didn't click on the video, the main character in this scene has just provided a wildly inaccurate answer to a question in an educational competition. The judge then insults the main character with the assertion that everyone in the room is now dumber for having heard the irrational answer, but he does it in a much more humorous fashion.
I will frequently hear someone say something mind-numbingly idiotic, and my mind will come back to this quote. If I am honest I have to acknowledge that that someone is often me, but I realize how dumb it was in retrospect.
I'll stop now before I provide too much opportunity to justify this being quoted at me today.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
conversational companion
One question that I see pop up every now and then is what famous person would you like have a meal and a discussion with. This is an extraordinarily tough question for me to grapple with. Certainly, part of this is that I am an introvert, and so the implied social interaction would have to have some value to me.
A lot of people pick famous actors, writers, leaders, or pioneers in various fields.
Even though I could do without most of them, there are a handful of celebrities who I respect on one level or another. I can imagine myself having dinner with one of them I guess, but I have to wonder why I would care about the interaction more than to be able to say I've spent some time with the person. There are some celebrities who would probably be painful enough to be around that being able to say I had met the person still wouldn't be worth the conversation.
World leaders past and present would be even more difficult. I can find out their individual opinions and unique qualities if I want, so it wouldn't be too helpful to use my time asking them their position on such-and-such issue. I would be interested in getting a sense for some leader's individual personas, though I suspect that most successful world leaders are experts at hiding their true selves.
I can imagine wanting to speak with a Biblical author (such as Paul, Peter, or John) to clear up doctrinal confusions that I have, and to get their reaction to the issues of the day. Obviously, I would need an interpreter in this case, and there would probably be a hundred other logistical issues, but this is a fantasy question anyway.
I also suspect that most people that I struggle to carry a conversation with have as much interesting information that they could relay as a famous person would. Everyone has intriguing stories, or off-the-wall viewpoints, or quirky personalities that should make for a decent conversational companion. I am just not very adept at getting to that information. Perhaps my approach should be to treat everyone I talk to as if they are famous and use that to guide the conversation.
If you could have a conversation with someone famous is there a rationale that you would follow to decide who it would be? Who meets the criteria defined by your rationale?
A lot of people pick famous actors, writers, leaders, or pioneers in various fields.
Even though I could do without most of them, there are a handful of celebrities who I respect on one level or another. I can imagine myself having dinner with one of them I guess, but I have to wonder why I would care about the interaction more than to be able to say I've spent some time with the person. There are some celebrities who would probably be painful enough to be around that being able to say I had met the person still wouldn't be worth the conversation.
World leaders past and present would be even more difficult. I can find out their individual opinions and unique qualities if I want, so it wouldn't be too helpful to use my time asking them their position on such-and-such issue. I would be interested in getting a sense for some leader's individual personas, though I suspect that most successful world leaders are experts at hiding their true selves.
I can imagine wanting to speak with a Biblical author (such as Paul, Peter, or John) to clear up doctrinal confusions that I have, and to get their reaction to the issues of the day. Obviously, I would need an interpreter in this case, and there would probably be a hundred other logistical issues, but this is a fantasy question anyway.
I also suspect that most people that I struggle to carry a conversation with have as much interesting information that they could relay as a famous person would. Everyone has intriguing stories, or off-the-wall viewpoints, or quirky personalities that should make for a decent conversational companion. I am just not very adept at getting to that information. Perhaps my approach should be to treat everyone I talk to as if they are famous and use that to guide the conversation.
If you could have a conversation with someone famous is there a rationale that you would follow to decide who it would be? Who meets the criteria defined by your rationale?
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