SageAgainstTheMachine

My favorite pastime is over-analyzing things that are barely worthy of analysis whatsoever.

There's a subset of situational irony called cosmic irony, which essentially refers to the discrepancies between our expectations/desires (oftentimes based on social, cultural and thematic constructs) and the reality of a situation. Rain on a wedding day fits into this mold, in my opinion. I was using situational irony more as an umbrella for the song as a whole. Among the lyrics that are certainly NOT ironic... "A traffic jam when you're already late." "Good advice that you just didn't take." "A black fly in your Chardonnay." The rest seem to represent ironies, if only loosely.

I've never really understood the criticism of this song's lyrics. Pretty much every example that she gives is indeed an example of situational irony. In specific regard to "rain on your wedding day", a wedding is an occasion theoretically filled with optimism and vitality, whereas rain is normally associated with pessimism, bad luck, and the interruption of plans. Therefore, the juxtaposition of the two concepts is ironic. The term "irony" indeed is constantly misused, but Alanis gets it right in her song for the most part. As someone else suggested, it's very possible that the 14 year old has younger siblings. Even if that's not the case, does it really count as "pussification" when the kid is sticking it to the babysitter?

"The trouble with citing quotations in online forums is that people rarely bother to check for accuracy or correct attribution." - Abraham Lincoln

I'm on record for predicting Tebow will struggle to succeed, but it's patently incorrect to say the stats mean zero. We all know numbers tell part of the story. Or are you saying the sample size is too small?

150-1? I'd put a Benjamin up on those odds.

I don't know. It seemed appropriate to punctuate the excessively verbose bickering in this thread with something purely meaningless. I was going to take it further, but how could I after such a well-placed Lebowski reference?

How many boxes of thin mints can I mark you down for?

Ok, we are on the same page then. My mistake if I misread the tone of your last response.

John, you're responding as if I'm trying to drag Tebow through the mud. I entered this thread to attempt answering your question regarding why it seemed like some people were rooting for the man to fail. I don't think I said anything particularly incendiary. My opinion is that Tebow is an awesome guy who has to overcome some bad habits if he wants to succeed as an NFL quarterback. His beneficial personal qualities will help in this endeavour, but they guarantee nothing. That's all I'm saying, honestly.

There's recognizing leadership (which Tebow has in spades) and then there's the irrational assumption that this leadership acts as a Midas Touch that can overcome any and all potential deficiencies.

I don't think there are too many (rational) people who want to pile on Tebow and wish him to fail. Rather, I think many football fans are annoyed by the mindless assumption that Tebow was destined to succeed simply because of some inherent and undefinable "winner" quality. Tebow's fans were putting SB rings on his fingers before he had ever played a down of NFL football. This, not the man himself, was what people reacted negatively to.

Fair points all, but most reports on Tebow indicate that he's having some considerable difficulty making the leap to the NFL game. This doesn't preclude Tebow becoming an effective QB in the future, of course.

They all do an admirable job, in my opinion, and nothing else matters.

Some things, you can live down. Others...

Don't quote me on this, but I believe it's "Taxed Enough Already"?

I like it. In fact, I think the players should spend an entire day off from team meetings, studying playbooks, and everything football related. People just operate better when things aren't omnipresent.

People have an emotional connection with the Bills, so their successes or failures are bound to lead to an emotional reaction. Me? I prefer to approach the whole thing with a sense of humor. I don't, however, begrudge anybody their right to complain. To the OP, maybe try to understand why people react the way they do instead of demanding optimism? "Life is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think." ^^ Which is why sports are great...because it's always a little bit of both.

Haha yep, there's a late night metal show at my radio station called Last Exit for the Lost. I love to tease them about how the biggest fruit in rock history (in a tie with Sir Reginald Dwight) invented their genre. I've worn out my Queen LP's enough to know all the little secrets. To me, the best moment of SHA is the seamless transitions between Tenement Funster, Flick of the Wrist (perhaps Queen's darkest song) and Lily of the Valley. Back in the days when there was artistic cogency in the creation of an album, rather than the laboratory production of two catchy singles tossed into a leafy bed of filler crap. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjc0IjyqrGQ

Mercury was known as a quiet and reserved person, so wouldn't his rock god personality be a spectacle, by definition? Oh well, it's all semantics. Best thing to do is listen to the tunes...I'm gonna throw on Sheer Heart Attack when I DJ later today.

Or XTC and Britney Spears...remember that guy? Oh and I was about to do a mea culpa for hijacking the thread into a music thing, but then I realized how retarded it was to begin with so I figured it's all good.

That's the ticket.

Not so much. Image and spectacle have always played a role in deciding what becomes mainstream. Queen is probably my favorite band of the 70's, but it's funny that you should mention them and then decry the role of spectacle. Freddie's on stage persona was just as big as his talent. The difference between Spears and Gaga is that you can close your eyes and still enjoy Lady Gaga's music. Same can't be said for Britney.

I'm generally not a fan of pop music, but those two shouldn't be lumped together. Just sayin.

Just goes to show what you can accomplish when you apply yourself.