Zompist Bboard Again

Does anyone here know whether the R.E.M. song Shiny Happy People was intended as a parody of certain things, or as a serious work? I'm asking because IMO, if you take it as a parody of certain sub-genres of pop culture, it's pretty brilliant, while if you try to take it seriously, it's pretty much an embarrassment.

Raphael wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:30 am Does anyone here know whether the R.E.M. song Shiny Happy People was intended as a parody of certain things, or as a serious work? I'm asking because IMO, if you take it as a parody of certain sub-genres of pop culture, it's pretty brilliant, while if you try to take it seriously, it's pretty much an embarrassment.

I know almost nothing about REM except that they have a song called "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", but based on that alone (and watching the video) I'd say it's satirical.

Raphael wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:30 am Does anyone here know whether the R.E.M. song Shiny Happy People was intended as a parody of certain things, or as a serious work? I'm asking because IMO, if you take it as a parody of certain sub-genres of pop culture, it's pretty brilliant, while if you try to take it seriously, it's pretty much an embarrassment.

Since basically all other R.E.M. song lyrics are quite elaborate and meaningful (and, at least to me, often feel like they deliberately allow several different possible interpretations, and this in a remarkably balanced way), this song is almost certainly a parody.

Also, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiny_Happy_People wrote:The lyrics for the song were allegedly written as a satirical translation of the Chinese government's propaganda used after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

Slightly belated thank you, zompist and cedh!

cedh wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:25 am

Raphael wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:30 am Does anyone here know whether the R.E.M. song Shiny Happy People was intended as a parody of certain things, or as a serious work? I'm asking because IMO, if you take it as a parody of certain sub-genres of pop culture, it's pretty brilliant, while if you try to take it seriously, it's pretty much an embarrassment.

Since basically all other R.E.M. song lyrics are quite elaborate and meaningful (and, at least to me, often feel like they deliberately allow several different possible interpretations, and this in a remarkably balanced way), this song is almost certainly a parody.

Also, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiny_Happy_People wrote:The lyrics for the song were allegedly written as a satirical translation of the Chinese government's propaganda used after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

I removed the word 'allegedly' from the Wikipedia page becaue the source used includes a citation of the singer.

I really like the latest xkcd:

https://xkcd.com/2573/

Frislander wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:23 pm I suppose if anyone's been wondering where I've been recently, well I finally have some news - having completed my master's at SOAS and had a few months aimless wondering/wandering, I managed to land a PhD position with funding at the University of Surrey in the field of historical morphology. Obvious this means I'm probably not going to be super active here over the next 3 years, but I'm at least doing something purposeful and getting money for it which is an improvement on before.

Oh, congratulations! I'm waiting to hear back from PhD programs now, so I know how unpleasant the process can be. I hope all goes well. If you have time, spare us a post or two about your research every once in a while!

Has ye olde Geoff Eddy webpage on bogolangs permanently disappeared from the internet? I was prompted to look for it and anyplace which refers to it only has dead links.

Civil War Bugle wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:13 pm Has ye olde Geoff Eddy webpage on bogolangs permanently disappeared from the internet? I was prompted to look for it and anyplace which refers to it only has dead links.

I think you'll probably have to ask him that.

Civil War Bugle wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:13 pm Has ye olde Geoff Eddy webpage on bogolangs permanently disappeared from the internet?

If I've successfully divined the page you're seeking, it's been archived here using the esoteric technological sorcery of the Wayback Machine. Of course, this will provide little benefit to you if you're wanting to do more than simply ogling at it wistfully.

Just in case Civil War Bugle hasn't figured it out yet, I'll spell it out for them: alice is Geoff.

I am now very confused.

Is this the same Geoff who made Noyahtowe?

Sol717 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 01, 2022 1:51 am

Civil War Bugle wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:13 pm Has ye olde Geoff Eddy webpage on bogolangs permanently disappeared from the internet?

If I've successfully divined the page you're seeking, it's been archived here using the esoteric technological sorcery of the Wayback Machine. Of course, this will provide little benefit to you if you're wanting to do more than simply ogling at it wistfully.

This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks.

Just in case Civil War Bugle hasn't figured it out yet, I'll spell it out for them: alice is Geoff.

I was unaware of this; thanks for the pointer. I must have missed out on the name change and regret that I did.

Raphael wrote: ↑Tue Feb 01, 2022 11:03 am Just in case Civil War Bugle hasn't figured it out yet, I'll spell it out for them: alice is Geoff.

Obviously, that depends on your precise definition of "is", but you have the right idea.

Moose-tache wrote: ↑Tue Feb 01, 2022 8:50 pm Is this the same Geoff who made Noyahtowe?

Not to the best of my knowledge.

In other words, go ask alice!

Ares Land wrote: ↑Thu Feb 03, 2022 9:34 am In other words, go ask alice!

alice #2

For a while, I've been trying to decide whether, if I try to read Picketty's main works, I should read him in a German translation or in an English translation. I don't know French, so I can't read him in the original French.

The argument for a German translation is that German is my first language, so if I can't read something in the original language, and a translation into my first language is available, it feels stupid to read a translation into some other language instead.

The argument for an English translation is that, with my life looking the way it does right now, if I should eventually talk about his work to other people, it would probably happen in English-language online spaces, like, for instance, the ZBB, so it might be useful to have quotes, chapter headings, technical terms, and so on, available in English.

Decisions, decisions...

Well, I'm reading it in French and talking to you lot here occasionally in English so it doesn't seem a bother to me.

That does remind me though that some books I would like to read in German (basically anything interesting that's originally in my mother's language). There's a book I bought in Edinburgh but the original is in German so that would have been preferable.

I'm currently reading "Capitalism" in English because that's what I got from my daughter for Christmas. I had thought of specifically asking for the French version, but I didn't want to add an extra layer of complexity - my French isn't good enough to read books without a dictionary.