Speaking of LOTR
 

I've taken that class, and I think you're confusing double entendres with secret meanings. I doubt very highly Shakespeare was weaving any secret messages regarding lesbian persecution into his works. Maybe he hid a few political jibes, but they were minimal at best. Its "pop music", brother, but kudos to the worthless Phds who'vve made a living dissecting it.

Keira
 

Keith has never fucked or been fucked by a man. Jagger was allegedly caught in bed with Bowie by one of his wives. And allegedly Lou Reed did some eperimenting, but that's pretty unconfirmed.

Keira
 

You say this like its revelatory.

Keira
 

How do you know this? You have a spy camera following his activities?

Speaking of LOTR
 

Hey! Don't disparage my discarded dream. If I'd had a reasonable expectation of actually making a living dissecting Shakespeare or any other great of the Western canon, baby, I would have been there. But some student loan debt to projected income ratios just don't make sense. So, I'm a worthless JD instead of a worthless PhD.

Of course, in making the financial calculations I failed to consider the value of the hot young undergraduate opportunities at all the different universities (community colleges?) at which I would have been stringing together teaching gigs. Sigh.

Random annoyances
 

So, I'm driving home last night, and the radio station I'm listening to starts playing this new single by the band Live, and it occurs to me. I hate that band. I mean really, really hate them. Hate them with the fire of a thousand suns.

Why, you may ask? They suck the ass. Every song I've ever heard by them, without exception, is a bloated, pompous bag of crap. They're like Rush without the musicianship.

So I change the station. The other station is playing a song by, you guessed it -- Live.

What the fuck is the appeal of this band, and for what reason, other than "radio sucks", do they get so much freaking airplay? Does payola still exist? Do they have compromising pictures of the two or three brain-dead chimps responsible for programming the majority of radio stations in this country? Can someone please tell me, why, for the love of God, this band even has a career?

(Dammit -- No XM this X-Mas)

[EOR]

Speaking of LOTR
 

No, I just think that sort of analysis is gay. Each person takes a little something different from art. Dissecting it like a scientist and trying to prove that you know the "real meaning" behind it means you're not content to appreciate the art on the simple merits of how it affects you. In short, you're more enomored with your powers of analysis than the art, and accordingly, you suck.

Criticize art all you like, but please, don't be a pompous ass and try to tell others what the art "really means." Sure, if you have some worthwhile historical fact which may add some context to the work, by all means, tell me. But if all you've got is some tenuous explanation of what the third act of Hamlet REALLY means based on some shlock you heard in a seminar, do me a favor and bite your lip and fetch me a drink.

Random annoyances
 

Yes, although it's called "vertical integration" and "joint venturing" now. Although I'm sure Str8 can set us str8.

Keira
 

Keef's a bedrock. He's too simple to be bisexual. If he's bi, Clint Eastwood's bi, and if Clint's bi, well, hell... I might just have to try this bi thing.

Speaking of LOTR
 

Write the fucking poems; don't analyze someone else's.

But yes, like every man alive, I have dreamt of being a professor and sleeping with cute young students.

Speaking of LOTR
 

Well said. I also think these analyses often speak volumes about the quality of the underlying art. If two black-garbed pretentious fuckheads are arguing over whether the wobbling grey streaks on a black canvas are a metaphor for the soullessness of modern industrialized society or merely an abstract of the Pittsburgh skyline, it's a fair bet the entire thing's meaningless talentless crap.

And the whole "what does this pop song really mean" thing seems ridiculous. Some drug-addled guitar god is lucky he can string text together vaguely coherently--subtext I think is near-impossible.

This Mad Cow Outbreak...
 

...just makes me think of Will Farrell on SNL (as Harry Carey):

Harry Caray: Hey! How bout this mad cow disease.

Dr. Ken Waller: What about it.

Harry Caray: Well it was here for a while then it went away.

Dr. Ken Waller: Yes! Yes! it was in the news for a while then it disappeared.

Harry Caray: Good point! I hope I never get it. Hey! What about this. If you had the choice of being the top scientist in your field or getting mad cow disease what would it be.

Dr. Ken Waller: well! Of course I would choose to be the the top scientist in my field.

Harry Caray: Oh good! I was worried you'd choose mad cow.

Speaking of LOTR
 

I am confused by your words.

You say the type of analysis is gay, and then you speak about it as if it is a bad thing.

Is there some negative context to gay about which I am unaware.

This negative context is not the common usage on this board, which is a bit redundant, as common usage for me necessarily implies [on the Lawtalkers > LawTalk Forums > General Discussion > The Fashionable > Fashion Board thread].

It is been suggested to me via a super secret hush hush instant messaging electronic communication forum that you may be suffering from mirror image syndrome. Is this the case? Do not worry. If you say no, I will understand that you really mean yes. I am sympathetic to your syndrome and am here to help.

Keira
 

Wondering why this image just popped into my head:

http://fusionanomaly.net/repomanmillerandotto.jpg

"John Wayne was a fag."

Speaking of LOTR
 

That would be a good philosophy if all poets, playwrights, and authors taught others how to read their work. Many people need to be taught how to understand literature (the actual text, let alone the context and subtext), just like they need to be taught how to look at art, listen to music, and the like. If everyone could be an autodidact, we wouldn't need liberal arts colleges, and then where would everyone learn to drop acid and eat shrooms?