Uncouth Reflections

No, I Don’t Fucking Love It

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

I spend way too much time online and, over the past couple of years or so, I can’t help but observe a new linguistic innovation. Have you noticed that many people no longer simply “like” or “love” something but “fucking love” it? Facebook comments, Twitter, reddit — anywhere people are discussing anything, sooner or later someone will use that phrase to express their approbation.

Excuse the Grumpy Old Manism, but I find the phrase incredibly grating. Yeah, I know, language changes, new idioms develop, and there’s no “right” or “wrong” way to express yourself. I get all that. It still bothers me, though, so I’ve been asking myself why.

While it’s not true of every person or every word, it seems that people resist new slang and idioms when they’re introduced. Have you noticed that too? It’s funny to see people physically recoil at the word “twerking” and lament its inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary. I resisted the phrase “my bad” for a number of years because it sounded so juvenile to me. Now, I hardly notice it and even say it myself, so similarly, maybe once the novelty of “fucking love” wears off, I’ll use it like anyone else.

But I’m not persuaded that’s the case with this one. I think I dislike the phrase because there’s an element of anger and aggression behind it. It’s one thing to say you “fucking hate” something, but gee, now we’ve gotta color our praise with aggression too? Is being amped up and angry now the default state in American public life? Jesus, people, will you please fucking calm down?

My theory as to why this phrase has caught on: the Facebook “like” button. If a mouse click is all it takes to express approval then the emotion has become diluted and cheap, so our language has compensated by puffing things up. I think the song “America, Fuck Yeah!” is a major influence too. On Tumblr, there are innumerable blogs called “Fuck Yeah [insert thing blog is about].” I guess the only way young’uns know how to express enthusiasm nowadays is by fucking things.

Related

I fucking love science is one of the more popular Facebook groups.
Back here, Paleo Retiree wrote about the phrase “actually kind of.”

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged annoyances, Facebook, get off my lawn, kids these days, language, slang | 20 Comments

“Behind Convent Walls”

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Low-budget Walerian Borowczyk nunsploitation from 1978. It’s verrrrrrrry episodic — the film feels like Borowczyk started shooting without much of a script and winged it. Its shifts back and forth between erotic reverie and satirical blasphemy — both crucifixes and dildos are major decor elements — feel more haphazard than they were probably meant to. And much of the camerawork is, for no apparent reason, as jiggly-cam / handheld as a modern Bourne thriller. Annoying.

But the film also has a lot going for it, including mood, light, decor, and — especially — eroticism and sensual intensity. The tenderness and grossness of flesh, the delirium of sexual feelings, the beastliness of coupling, the torrents of sensation and emotion that sex can release … Borowczyk was a master at portraying (and conveying) all these things. He was also, apparently, a master at convincing actresses to take part in outrageous movies and far-out scenes — how I wish I could have seen him (and his performers) in action on the set. The film’s a peculiar combination of the semi-amateurish and the really stunning. It’s also bursting at the seams with chic and daring Euro-beauties sporting awesomely exuberant ‘70s muffs.

Related

The film is available as a DVD at both Amazon and Netflix.
I wrote about another memorable nunsploitation film back at my old blog.
Nunsploitation has its own Wikipedia entry!
Here’s a good NYTimes obit of Walerian Borowczyk.

Posted in Movies, Philosophy and Religion, Sex, The Good Life | Tagged '70s, erotica, movies, nunsploitation, sex, Walerian Borowczyk | 7 Comments

Cocktail Du Jour

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

For the last month I’ve been making a close study of the 1920s-era cocktail called the Negroni. (Nothing wrong with being systematic, is there? Besides, as a Johnny-Come-Lately to the artisanal cocktail trend, I’ve got to do what I need to do to catch up.) It’s one of the more startling of the classic cocktails: medicinal, bitter, edgy … And notoriously hard for some people to learn to enjoy. Fans of fruity mixed drinks are urged to stay far, far away. But I’ve grown to love a good Negroni, and I enjoy mixing the drink too. Part of the fun: pouring Negronis for friends and enjoying the twisted facial expressions that usually result. “You like this?” many of them ask. Why, yes I do, and very much so.

There’s no real point to ordering a Negroni at a clueless bar. Though it’s one of the classic drinks, many everyday bartenders barely seem to have heard of it. At one otherwise smart-seeming business-style bar where I ordered a Negroni, the bartender sneaked away and consulted a cocktail recipe book before mixing my cocktail for me. Clueless bartenders don’t just not-know how to mix the drink; they don’t know what the point of the drink is. They follow the recipe, put the glass in front of you, then stare at you with curiosity as you take your first sip of it.

But, after some months away, the Question Lady and I are now back in NYC, where the cocktail renaissance has been in full swing for a longish while. If New York’s virtuosic mixologists don’t know what to do with a Negroni, then no one does. So the other evening I dragged my wife off to Elsa, a well-respected little place in Alphabet City (that’d be the East East Village to some of you). On their Classic Cocktail list they offered a Negroni described as “barrel-aged,” something I’d never run across before. The basic elements of the Negroni are there — gin, sweet vermouth, Campari. But instead of being mixed in front of your eyes, they’re pre-mixed; and then the mix is aged in a charred oak barrel for a month. When a customer orders the drink, the barrel-aged mix is poured over ice — as you can see in my snapshot, the mixologists at Elsa take some serious care with their ice — and an orange slice.

The result is a Negroni and then some. The time in the barrel takes some of the bitter edge off of the Campari, it plays down some of the botanical aromas of the gin, and it muddies up the whole glass with notes of molasses and smoke. It’s so distinctive a twist on the classic Negroni that, as pleased as I was with what I was sipping, I found myself wondering if it shouldn’t go by some name other than “Negroni.” But, nah: it’s great — mellow, and with a touch of non-sugary sweetness, yet still something that’ll put hair on your chest … It’s closely-enough related to the classic Negroni to deserve the name. Bonus pleasure at Elsa, where we’ll definitely be returning soon: a staff of smart and enthusiastic bartenders eager to discuss their concoctions as well as happy to share their knowledge.

Here are a couple of views of Elsa. We showed up as the front door was being unlocked; by the time we left, the joint was starting to hop. I hear that the scene can get beyond lively on weekends.

Related

A visit with Scott Schneider, the general manager of Elsa.
I’m eager to read this new ebook by Vince Keenan, my favorite cocktail blogger.
Anthony Bourdain makes a Negroni. Tony unloads some caustic/sardonic Bourdainisms and shares one key piece of Negroni-drinker wisdom: never have more than two.
Giada De Laurentiis proposes an “Herb and Orange Negroni” based on vodka instead of gin and relying on a lot of orange juice. Something tells me that Giada, deep down, doesn’t really care for Negronis.
Of the inexpensive London-dry style gins that I’ve been pouring during the last month, the one that’s made me happiest is from Trader Joe’s: Rear Admiral Joseph’s London Dry Gin. As usual, I’m late to the party: Bon Appétit called it the “best deal in gindom” way back in 2007. It’s not a gin to highlight, but if you’re looking for a gin that plays well with other ingredients without doing too much damage to your wallet, it’s a hard one to beat.
Here’s a Camper English bulletin on what’s trendy in the cocktail world now.

Posted in Food and health, The Good Life | Tagged Anthony Bourdain, booze, cocktails, Elsa, Negroni, Trader Joe's, Vince Keenan | 13 Comments

“Zack and Miri Make a Porno”

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

I’m never quite sure what to make of Kevin Smith, but I found myself enjoying his “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” With the possible exception of the Farrelly brothers, no one gets more pleasure out of juvenile sex jokes than Smith; when he manages to avoid parodying himself — his actors sometimes fall into the trap of sounding too much like Kevin Smith — his gusto for greasy-kid humor is cheerily infectious. Smith reminds me of the Farrellys in another respect: like them, he has few pretensions, and he has real feeling for blue-collar perspectives and idioms. Here that understanding extends to his characters’ attitudes about sex, which in spite of the movie’s over-the-top raunchiness remain rooted in recognizable human complexity — you rarely feel as though Smith is scoring points off these people or sidestepping the untidiness of their feelings. (In this it’s reminiscent of my favorite Smith film, the 1997 “Chasing Amy.”) “Zack and Miri” is also an affectionate tribute to the tradition of DIY filmmaking: it’s no accident that it’s set in Pittsburgh, the home base of zombie auteur George Romero, and Romero’s makeup wiz Tom Savini turns up in the role of a man who rents a”studio” to Seth Rogen’s wannabe film crew. (I wonder: Is the cheap-o sex video to the 2000s what the cheap-o horror flick was to the 1900s?) The actors seem to be having as much fun as Smith. I particularly enjoyed Craig Robinson as the porno’s browbeaten, racially aggrieved producer (he just wants to see some titties), and Justin Long is a hoot as the gravel-voiced queer who inspires the whole scheme. The ending is disappointingly conventional, but by then “Zack and Miri” had won me over.

Posted in Movies, Sex | Tagged Film, George Romero, Kevin Smith, movies, Pittsburgh, pornography, Seth Rogen, Tom Savini, Zack and Miri Make a Porno | 5 Comments

Downtown Vegas Neon

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Here are a few snaps of Vegas neon from my latest trip there a few weeks ago. I shall not rest until I’ve collected every sign in the city.

Related

My first gallery of Vegas neon.
My post about Vegas’ Neon Boneyard.

Posted in Architecture, Art, Photography, Travel | Tagged Las Vegas, neon, signage | 4 Comments

Britney/Peggy

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Which do you find sexier? Britney’s new one:

Or this old Peggy Lee perf:

And why do you find one sexier and/or more pleasing than the other?

Posted in Music | Tagged Britney Spears, Music, Peggy Lee, sex | 16 Comments

Linkage

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

HBD*Chick enjoys a book by two of the Chicago Boyz, but has a few quibbles too.
Dennis Mangan wonders why so many MSM sites are cutting back on comments.
Are big cruise ships helping to destroy Venice?
Steve Sailer wonders if reading Chekhov can make you more of a human.
Heartiste offers up a Feminist Catchphrase Translator.
Bloomberg’s losing the battle.
Slumlord describes himself as a “Eusemite.”
What’s wrong with egalitarianism from an extreme-right perspective. FWIW, I’m on board with the critique but I’m not crazy about the proposed solutions.
Lots of recent Federer magic to be enjoyed here.
Foseti tries to make some sense of Winston Churchill.
Will S. is troubled by instances of police entrapment.
Are fossil fuels the drivers of population growth?
Quote Du Jour: “Of course humanity could all shift to vegan diets, forgo national parks and crowd in a few more billion people, hoping that new levels of efficiency will allow us to survive. But it is well to ask if this really is the kind of world that we want.”

Posted in Linkathons | Tagged alt right, Bloomberg, demographics, Dennis Mangan, egalitarianism, Feminism, Foseti, HBDChick, heartiste, population growth, Roger Federer, Slumlord, Steve Sailer, Venice, Will. S. | 8 Comments

Over-educated, Over-promised, Over-priced

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Epaminondas

epiminondas writes:

It is becoming increasingly evident that we are putting the cart before the horse. We have great colleges BECAUSE we’re wealthy…not the other way around.

Posted in Education | 9 Comments

Etymology of the Day

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

We’ve talked about polysemy several times, the phenomenon of one word having several meanings, some of which eventually come to overlap. An example is the word uncouth, the history of which we can chart with information from the OED. The word couth comes from a Germanic root meaning “known.”

Dates of Usage: Meaning of Uncouth

Old English–1650: unknown
Old English, now obsolete: unfamiliar or strange
1380–present: strange or unpleasant
1513–present: uncomely, awkward, clumsy
1542–present: rough, rugged
1694–present: uncultured

Note how the meaning of uncouth moves from a particular condition to a description grounded in that condition. Something that is unknown becomes alien, strange, weird, rugged, rough, and ﬁnally, uncultured. Couth has since taken on an imagined status, as in the phrase “He’s got no couth.” The usage here is completely ahistorical. Future lexicographers may record couth as a word emerging in the late 20th century to mean “propriety, ability, culture, knowledge, or skill.”