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Pastimes : A CENTURY OF LIONS/THE 20TH CENTURY TOP 100 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jbe who wrote (1297)	11/9/1999 4:19:00 PM
From: Bill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3246

Joan, some points to ponder: How come wrong numbers are never busy? Do people in Australia call the rest of the world 'up over'? Does that screwdriver belong to Phillip? Can a stupid person be a smart-ass? Does killing time damage eternity? Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard? Why is it called lipstick if you can still move your lips? Why is it that night falls but day breaks? Why is the third hand on the watch called a second hand? Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio? Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons? Are part-time band leaders semi-conductors? Can you buy an entire chess set in a pawn-shop? Day light savings time - why are they saving it and where do they keep it? Did Noah keep his bees in archives? Do jellyfish get gas from eating jellybeans? Do pilots take crash-courses? Do Roman paramedics refer to IV's as "4's"? Do stars clean themselves with meteor showers? Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID that he just whipped out a quarter? Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations? Have you ever seen a toad on a toadstool? How can there be self-help "groups"? How do you get off a non-stop flight? How do you write zero in Roman numerals? How many weeks are there in a light year? If a candle factory burns down, does everyone just stand around and sing "Happy Birthday?" If a jogger runs at the speed of sound, can he still hear his walkman? If athletes get athlete's foot, do astronauts get mistletoe? If Barbie's so popular, why do you have to buy all her friends? If blind people wear dark glasses, why don't deaf people wear earmuffs? If cats and dogs didn't have fur would we still pet them? If peanut butter cookies are made from peanut butter, then what are Girl Scout cookies made out of? If space is a vacuum, who changes the bags? If swimming is good for your shape, then why do the whales look the way they do? If tin whistles are made out of tin, what do they make fog horns out of? If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi? If you can't drink and drive, why do bars have parking lots? If you jog backwards, will you gain weight? If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented? Why do the signs that say "Slow Children" have a picture of a running child? Why do they call it 'chili' if it's hot? Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game," when we are already there? Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour? [Points courtesy Lenny Grasso.]

To: jbe who wrote (1297)	11/9/1999 4:37:00 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3246

That is very good, Joan, and more of the sort of argument I was hoping for. I agree that one cannot confine the phenomena entirely to the 20th century. On the other hand, it is unlikely that the misery experienced by the small percentage of persons in the early proletariat exceeded by much the misery common to many of the peasantry for centuries, and therefore it is difficult to determine the net "misery index". Industrialization progressed during the century, but even in this country, it was not until the 20th century that most people lived in cities and were employed in non- farm occupations, and of course, the greatest labor strife (such as Homestead) occurred as a result, as did the most extensive urban slums... As for Darwinism, Matthew Arnold was among the elite who knew enough to be troubled by it. It was not until the next century that it became a commonplace, for example, with the Scopes trial... The growth of nationalism and establishment of empire? These did not convulse strongly until the next century, with the growth of fascism and the restiveness of Third World elites.... I am using unsettlement in an objective sense, actually. In a traditional society, much is settled, including the lore to be learned and believed, the latitude with which dissent will be met, the social order and one's place in it, and so forth. In the modern world, the "taken for grantedness of tradition" is gone, and even adherence to tradition is a choice. The old ways are subjected to new examination even in the process of defending them, a degree of revision is inevitable, and there is continual adjustment and adaptation. For example, my mother is of English and Italian descent, was raised a Catholic, married a Jew, was divorced, went back to the Catholic Church. One brother was raised a Jew for the first 7 or 8 years of his life, then a Catholic, and is now an Evangelical. His wife is African- American, and they belong to a predominantly black church. The priest who officiated at my grandmother's funeral is a Palestinian who grew up in a Catholic household on the West Bank. He emigrated to the United States, and now is the pastor of a parish in Anacostia, with a dwindling, aging population, reasonably integrated. These are all the kind of situations that become commonplace is the modern world. Choice and examination is good, in many ways, but there is also frequently disorientation and anxiety, in trying to negotiate one's way through all of these changes.....