Sitting on my desk is a Lord of the Rings "The Return of the King" Exclusive DVD Collectible statue of Minis Tirith. It also serves as a coin bank. Unfortunately I cannot find a picture.
Why am I the happy owner of something I would never buy for myself? It has to do with trivia night at Scarecrow Video, for which I just happened to be in the store, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As I was standing in line to rent Jandek on Corwood, the employee running the trivia said that the statue would go to the person who could answer this question:
"What is the best thing in life?"
He gave us a hint: Conan the Barbarian
As I stood there, vague memories resurged from the movie. No one was answering. Suddenly, in this very public place, I shouted out:
"To see your enemies fleeing before you!"
The people in front of me turned and grinned.
"That's close," said Trivia man. "What's the rest?"
No one was saying anything. Another memory surfaced and I yelled:
"To hear the lamentation of their women and their children!"
"Close, that's part of it, too. I need the whole thing." Trivia man was being a stickler. I was done and feeling strangely self-conscious. But no one else was taking a stab.
"Well, we'll give it to this guy because he was the closest." said Trivia man.
The entire quotation is, of course: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!"
Why do I know this line? Because Lang Martin, in his best Austrian immigrant voice, has a penchant for quoting it. If you see him, ask him to do it for you some time. I also recall that he loves J.R.R. Tolkien and mortally loathed the movies, which makes the prize particularly fitting. Perhaps I'll send it to him for Christmas.
Posted by pjaussen at December 9, 2005 12:02 PM | TrackBackThat is AWESOME!!
Hey, send my your mailing address. It is Christmas card time...
Posted by: charity at December 12, 2005 09:40 AMSo, is that "ironic" or "fitting"? Incidently, I'd lost the name of your blog and googled for it; have you seen this?
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=470762
Posted by: Lang Martin at December 12, 2005 10:28 AMI reserve "irony" for situations that have to do with a sign seeming to say one thing but meaning another. So "humorously fitting" may be better. Or serendipitous. Or "non-poetic (?) justice"?
A buddy sent me the "rate my prof" review. Apparantly I'm "helpful."
Posted by: paul at December 12, 2005 03:42 PMWHAT?!?! a zero on hotness? ...undergrads...
Posted by: ARoss at December 13, 2005 09:17 AMMan, I'm looking forward to the day my extensive knowledge of Lewis, Tolkien, and St. Francis theorizing will pay-off with some schwag.
Though Paul, this post does set a strange precedent for the commodification of the substance of communication 'tween friends, and I'd assert (wanting to avoid a certain amount of alienation between the speaker and the thing spoken) to some extent the commodifiction of the friend.
Headache. Too early in the morning to be thinking like this, even in a tounge in cheek fashion.
Posted by: JosiahQ at December 15, 2005 05:08 AMI'll give you some points for hotness, I wish I could give you 'badass' points...you'd be the badassest professor there is.
Posted by: Timmy at December 15, 2005 09:09 PMThanks Timmy. And the shortest badass professor.
Josiah, it all comes down to exchange. However, as Marxist as I can be at times, not all exchange is commodification and hence not all exchange requires alienation. My minis tirith exclusive DVD collectible (which I'm looking at right now) is not Lang, in fact, Lang has never seen it. Yet, when I look at it I think of him and smile. Indeed, the narrative process (another form of communication) also has something to do with that.
Incidentally, I am gearing up to do a paper next quarter on cyberculture and iconography. I think the ontological and representational status of the icon in Catholic and Orthodox cultures has interesting parallels to "trans-humanism" (the new buzzword for, well, this.) I wonder if I have turned my Minis Tirith exclusive DVD collectible into an icon of sorts.
Sheesh, I've been grading too many finals.
Posted by: paul at December 16, 2005 09:56 AM