Kurt Vonnegut wrote: “When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.
And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”
And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”
And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.
this is probably my favorite tiktok of all time and I finally got around to showing it to my dad the other day and now he comes home every day and tells me about all the places he saw crumbling concrete and says "guess they didn't add enough chinchilla flakes"
That is profound. I noticed this by accident when asked about adjectives by a Japanese student. She translated something from Japanese like “Brown big cat” and I corrected her. When she asked me why, I bluescreened.
I’m kinda reading “brown big cat” as “brown (big cat)”, that is, a “big cat” - like a tiger or lion or other felid of similar size - that happens to be brown. “Big brown cat”, on the other hand, sounds more like a brown cat that’s just a bit bigger than a regular housecat - like a bobcat or a maine coon cat or something like that.
yeah, if you put the adjectives out of order you wind up implying a compound noun, which is presumably why we have this rule; we stripped out so much inflection over the centuries word order now dictates a huge amount of our grammar
Just looked up why we do this and one of the first lines in this article is, “Adjectives are where the elves of language both cheat and illumine reality.” so I know it’s a good article.
Things this article has taught me:
This same order of adjectives more or less applies to languages around the world. “It’s possible that these elements of universal grammar clarify our thought in some way,” says Barbara Partee, a professor emeritus of linguistics and philosophy at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Yet when the human race tacitly decided that shape words go before color words go before origin words, it left no record of its rationale.
One theory is that the more specific term always falls closer to the noun. But that doesn’t explain everything in adjective order.
Another theory is that as you get closer to the noun, you encounter adjectives that denote more innate properties. In general, nouns pick out the type of thing we’re talking about, and adjectives describe it,” Partee told me. She observes that the modifiers most likely to sit right next to nouns are the ones most inclined to serve as nouns in different contexts: Rubber duck. Stone wall.
Rules are made to be broken. Switching up the order of adjectives allows you to redistribute emphasis. (If you wish to buy the black small purse, not the gray one, for instance, you can communicate your priorities by placing color before size). Scrambling the order of adjectives also helps authors achieve a sense of spontaneity, of improvising as they go. Wolfe discovers such a rhythm, a feeling-his-way quality, when he discusses his childhood recollection of “brown tired autumn earth” and a “flat moist plug of apple tobacco.”
Brain scans have discovered that your brain has to work harder to read adjectives in the “wrong” order.
TL;DR: No one knows why we do this adjective thing but it’s pretty hardwired in.
Since it’s never credited, this is from Mark Forsyth’s The Elements of Eloquence, and just one reason why I think it’s required reading for anyone interested in prosecraft. Every page is this useful.
A casual analysis of Shiawase Kanako no Koroshiya Seikatsu (Happy Kanako's Killer Life, 幸せカナコの殺し屋生活)
Kanako's manga run at the time of this article is 50 volumes long and contains perhaps one of the most brutal takedowns of Japanese modern culture as I have ever witnessed through the lens of a westerner that has never set foot in Japan. Over the years I have noticed a lot of themes cleverly layered beneath layers of sickly sweet cuteness and kawaii culture, that lay bare certain aspects of the populace. Some attack the work culture of impossible deadlines and stress, others attack the extreme misogyny that is pervasive and allows groping on public transit to exist, often going unpunished. Rarely are several negative aspects attacked simultaneously or even grouped together.
In the first two episodes of Kanako's TV debut, simultaneous punches are thrown at the work culture, date-rape culture, burnout, misogyny, public transit groping, and honor-based culture. Kanako is immersed in the working adult world, but hasn't lost her sense of innocence, or so it seems. Having quit her job in a high pressure office environment and hating her former boss, she is so disorganized that she accidentally applies to a hidden want ad for a company that assassinates people. During her “red test” she is required to kill her former boss. She doesn't hesitate and is instantly hired.
As is common in manga the character possesses a super power of sorts. She is so used to being invisible as a woman in the workplace that she can literally turn invisible. She can also eat really fast because she was told by a previous employer that she needs to finish her working meals in under 5 seconds. In fact, she possesses a whole host of other random “skills” she learned due to harsh working conditions. When asked how she knows how to handle weapons so well, she simply answers “online”, but we find that most of her finesse with pistols come from being a fan of a Power Rangers-like Sentai program where all of the heroes use pistols.
Because all of her powers come from the work culture and it is played for laughs the message is subdued a bit by the tone of the narrative. Kanako questions her morality here and there, but when confronted by the terrible actions of the people she is to eliminate, she rarely hesitates. Eventually she even participates in finding contracts for people that she thinks deserve to die. This reveals a critical point for the moral core of the show: Kanako’s conscience.
Throughout the narrative Kanako is given asides that pause the story to represent her thinking or deliberating about something. Usually this is a moral question, or her mistaking someone’s intention through the lens of honor-based culture (usually to hilarious effect). During these asides her conscience is portrayed by various small cute animals, often in Chibi or plush form. Appearing with a pun involving the animal or type of animal, they give us part of her internal monologue and help to reveal what Kanako is currently overthinking.
In my opinion these asides are a literal psychotic dissociation that is common with comorbidity of schizophrenia and psychopathy. While the dissociation is relatively benign it rarely interferes with her decision to murder someone. The author uses the cuteness of the character and her Chūnibyō-like mental issues to soften the impact of her vulgar vigilantism in an extremely funny way.
I don’t think that it is a hyperbolic statement to say that. ‘Happy Kanako's Killer Life’ is possibly one of the most important social commentary pieces of Japanese media in the modern age. It is pure societal satire wrapped up in chibi sheep’s clothing, but is nevertheless very entertaining.
Japanese subcultures have a way of using subtext to pollute political discussion and have always done so. As westerners we tend to witness these subcultures as absurdist or at least comical. The most well known subcultures of Jirai Kei, Bōsōzoku, Japanoise, Gyaru, and Decora, barely scratch the surface of the deepest depths of true convention breaking fashion and lifestyle choices. Many if not all of these subcultures are born out of a need to go against the status quo, that is extreme conformity. Manga as an art form has more than once been the tool of political agitators and the rallying point for non-conformists.
In 1970 the Red Army Faction of the Japan Communist League hijacked a passenger flight. The members of the hijackers all repeated the phrase “We are Ashita no Joe!” in reference to the Manga Ashita no Joe’s titular character. It is rumored that the manga was used as a recruitment tool in various subcultures, as its themes were very popular with the disaffected youth of the time. Like Joe’s themes of corporate decadence amid repressive poverty were able to reach the hearts and minds of the 1970’s post war reconstructionist era, I believe that given the right platform Kanako has the ability to be a similar cultural touchstone.
While I don’t predict more hijackings, I think it is entirely possible that if it becomes popular it may lead to more reforms like the ‘female only’ train cars during rush hours. Instead of prosecuting people more harshly for the crime of sexual assault, the government opted for the option that attempts to use honor culture against sexual predators. Kanako’s admission just before killing a groper on the train that she ‘felt guilt as though it was her fault’ for being sexually assaulted is haunting and poignant.
While her cathartic killing of criminals is slightly satisfying, it is not something we can emulate if we hope to affect change. Rather, I suggest the message is, “Don’t get mad, take action.“ Despite the fact that Kanako’s actions are extreme and morally reprehensible, society is always portrayed as worse so we still accept her as a hero. She is still a positive role model in my opinion despite her terrible actions, because she is aiming to improve society. She is misguided and naive, but so are we all.
It is my hope that more people watch this (assuming it is ever released outside Japan) or at the very least read the manga, and get inspired to take action in their local communities. The problems described, while not identical to Japan’s epidemic of loneliness, overwork, burnout, and depression, these problems exist everywhere. We can make a difference at least in the lives of those around us. This isn’t just a message for the downtrodden, but also for their allies. If enough people make a difference, the world really will change. Then we can all say, “We are Kanako!”
Seems to me like Dr. Weller is probably a lot more of a pinball guy and might not have any interest in video games whatsoever.. 🤔🕹️
BTW I originally played that RoboCop arcade game on my Tandy 1000HX console style PC and it was a compromised experience because it didn't have VGA graphics and the performance was noticably lower than the arcade version especially when I would fire the "Cobra Assault Canon" weapon and it would pretty much kill the frame rate and it would crash on later levels
