Society of the Hobbling

• John Jenkins
• May 13, 2005
• 6:30 pm

All of these are examples of how, as a society, we have increased the amount of work and time spent on communication. For some unknown reason we think it is such a good idea to fill our day with wasted time.

In a room of 100 people, how many people do you think have the first name John? I would be willing to bet more than one. In that same room of 100 how many people have the last name Jenkins (barring John's own family members)? While there may be more than one, I would be willing to say that the number of people with the last name Jenkins is far less than the number with the first name John.

When we talk about dates throughout time, why do we always start of by saying December 7th, 1941? There are any number of Decembers throughout time. It makes more sense to say 1941, December 7th. From the first word your brain is propelled back 64 years, then to the next of that year, and lastly the specific day. Using the way we speak currently, anyone you talk to will have no idea reference till you get to the end of the date when you finally state what year.

Time fails the same as dates. 6:30.... Ok morning or afternoon? Then, again, at the end we get the reference... PM.

In all of these cases the listener is required to retain the complete context of what is being said, till the very end when they then have to filter back through the retained information and reasymbol using proper context.

I have worked with multiple programming languages and I can say without a doubt that I have saved so much time by simply working with a drill-down language rather than a drill-out language. Here is an example...

Drill-down
_window("Main").element("text1").text.line[4].word[1]


Drill-out
the word 1 of the line 4 of the element "text1" of the window "main"


Look at most any form you might fill out these days, such as at the doctors. Last name first. Because it is much easier to locate when the proper information is presented first.

Another example of wasting our time while communicating is using redundant or superfluous words. Here are a few examples.

• I was very surprised.
• It was a super huge event.
• She was extremely happy.

Lets rework these by removing the superfluous words and using proper words.

• I was flabbergasted.
• It was a enormous event.
• She was ecstatic.

Sure these are bigger words, but there is a reason they were created!

I suggest reading The Evasion-English Dictionary

Feeding The Frenzy

This marks my first post to our collective's blog. I look forward to being flamed and roasted by you.

Now for the blog proper...

Growing up as a kid, in the 70's, I always looked forward to going out trick 'r treat'n with my brother and friends. It was a time I was allowed outside, at night, without my mother yelling at me to get back in the house. Really, that was my main motivation. Candy was a nice side bonus.

We would make our way up and back down the street we lived on, gathering sugary highs all along the way. We would also scare the other "littler" kids by jumping out of the bushes and screaming. Of course I would cause extra panic to the girl up the street who I "liked".

These days parents take their kids to the mall to go trick 'r treat'n. Why? Because of the razor blades, pin and needles, and other assorted harmful instruments people put into apples and candy of course. At the same time these mall events started cropping up, I noticed a news cast which talked about how malls were organizing these events because kids were increasingly finding harmful items in their candy and other treats. This in addition to kidnapping, alien abductions, and other criminal activity.

"Of course! Protect our children!" ....right?

Yes, but I would offer not from the "criminals" were hear about on the news. Rather, from the news itself. What percentage of the news is about death, murder, kidnapping, and other related crimes?

How does this relate? What is one of the biggest heart aches for parents while their children are growing up? Lose of innocence. I am not suggesting that kids are watching the local news. No, what parent would have the local news on the television between 5 and 7 in the evening? Not like their family is together eating dinner and doing homework while they gather the local news.

The news media is breeding criminals each and every day. The news is desensitizing all of society, not just our children. This leads to a common lack of knowing what is right and wrong. Thus, this can lead to any degree of criminal behavior. Do you get a ping of horror everytime you hear about Jane Bag'a'Donuts being rapped or murdered? I am willing to bet not. Perhaps you need to ask yourself why?

So, while the news media broadcasts all the different ways kids might get hurt, stolen, and altered this Halloween, just think of all the people who just got a "good" idea from that same report.

When life imitates South Park.....

So some very enlightened folks in a Massachusetts school have banned Halloween.

You can read about it here:
www.boston.com/news/local/Massachusetts/articles/2005/10/28/
student_ghosts_unmasked_in_newton?mode=PF


Reminds me of the first Christmas South Park where the Jewish mother of Kyle gets in an uproar because her son , a Jew, is playing Jesus in the Nativity play. The next thing you know every Christmas icon from the nativity, to the Christmas Tree, to Frosty is removed from the town and the only thing left to save the Christmas spirit of South Park the a talking turd, Mr. Hankey.


The best part of this news story is the principal who last year dressed as Johnny Damon. Damn, that would have offended me. Just look for your self.

Hmm..... and if you only need a few parents to keep their kids home from school to change a school's policy, wow, imagine the power parents now have. If you are a racist and hate black folks, or if you just hate the segregation of history, all you would need is a few parents to keep their children out of school and --BAM!-- adios Black History Month.

If I'm offended by Amelia Earhart, and Susan B Anthony, and Sandra Dey O'Connor --BAM!-- Women's History Month vanishes from your local school.

See the power you have parents. The public school system has been castrated by the PC police in such a manner that they can't even hold to a principle as basic as dressing up in goofy costumes and passing out candy.

Can Matt and Trey write in an appearance by Korn in the Mystery Machine to save us from these spooky pirates.

Welcome

Welcome to the inaugural post to Sleepy Hollow Lane. This is where the kooks rant and rave upon their soap-boxes. Just ignore the headless guy on horseback. He's all bluster anyway.