EYE! TWINKEL IN HIS FUCKING EYE!
On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 3:34 PM, Douglas Roberts <d...@parrot-farm.net>wrote: > Well, (he said with a twinkle in his, yet hoping for a friendly riposte in > return), that explains a lot. > > :) > > --Doug > > > On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 3:30 PM, glen <g...@ropella.name> wrote: > >> >> The interesting thing about making fun of people is the amount of >> peripheral or contextual information that's necessary. I'm not really a >> fan of Louis C.K. But if you watch his stand-up, you can see him say >> the nastiest things without it seeming so nasty. He says these things >> while smiling or laughing. Of course, he's not a wild-type subject >> because you know he's a comedian tuned to his audience. >> >> But I can also confess that my dad was a master at deadpan cruelty. Not >> only were we (his family, but mostly my mom) his victims, but I would >> watch him, in bars [*] and at the Wurstfest, shred someone completely >> without them having any clue what was happening. The smarter ones would >> notice that, while he was "ribbing" them, he would watch them extra >> closely. So, they learned to recognize when they were the butt of the >> joke by watching him as he told his "story". At his funeral, they would >> wax poetic about the "twinkle in his eye" when he was telling a joke. >> Of course, this behavior tended to slough off the people who were just >> smart enough, yet just insecure enough to recognize when they were the >> butt of a joke, but not able to recognize it as a joke. >> >> That said, my dad was a bully of the first order. If you were too >> insecure to _take_ the joke, then you were a wimp and a coward. He used >> his abilities to engineer swaths of people so that they behaved as he >> wanted them to behave. And the ones that didn't play along were >> ridiculed and pushed out of the clique. Luckily, he couldn't do that to >> me. ;-) >> >> [*] I was practically reared in a bar called Lloyd's. Lloyd was a >> one-armed bartender who taught me how to open a beer with one hand at >> the age of about 8. Oh, and Lloyd had also had a laryngectomy and while >> not opening beers with his one arm, had to hold a wand to his throat in >> order to speak. >> >> Steve Smith wrote at 01/18/2013 11:43 AM: >> > OK... so as an example of insider/outsider behaviour, my cartoons >> > starring Doug are a form of ribbing that has the same quality as >> > practical jokes. I feel I know Doug well enough on and off list to >> > know what he would find rude or hurtful and what he would not, so I am >> > comfortable poking a little fun at him. For example, I know that >> > Doug's self identity includes that of being a Skeptic (Zhiangzi >> > reference) and of being tenacious (as stated). >> > >> > I also know Stephen well enough to do this, but he wisely (or out of >> > boredom with us!) stays out of the fray here, so he is relatively >> > safe. I'm getting to know others well enough that I think I could >> > parody some of you with impunity and possibly with appreciation by the >> > recipients as well as the audience. >> > >> > Glen and I have not finished our back-n-forth about technology, but deep >> > in that conversation is another subconversation about insider/outsider >> > and language... >> >> >> -- >> glen >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> > > > > -- > *Doug Roberts > drobe...@rti.org > d...@parrot-farm.net* > *http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins*<http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> > * <http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> > 505-455-7333 - Office > 505-672-8213 - Mobile* > -- *Doug Roberts drobe...@rti.org d...@parrot-farm.net* *http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins*<http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> * <http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> 505-455-7333 - Office 505-672-8213 - Mobile*
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