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Who wrote FCJR? Video Evidence from Misty Bennett
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Someone hates me. Who is responsible for #FCJR ?
I recently learned of a book called FCJR which seems to be an expose of sorts. While I don’t know for sure what FCJR stands for (Finally, Cancer Just Rebelled, Faulty Car Jams Roadway, Flatus Causes Jocular Resentment), I can only assume it’s something bad. Based on the reviews of this book, I’m starting to think that I’m a pretty shitty guy.
The book, written by someone who calls himself Anonymous (I think it’s Greek) was brought to my attention recently during an episode of Booked Podcast. Starting with minute 47:30, episode 99, you can hear the hosts, Robb Olson and Livius Nedin, describe the book as an expose that elicits some pretty hostile reactions.
I haven’t yet read the book. I’m not sure I want to.
But, for no logical reason, I’m including a bunch of links below to help you find out more about it.
The likely culprits have been narrowed down to those people pictured below. I’m still investigating, so if you are one of the people pictured below, you can expect a call from Jack Daniels’ legal team. Prepare to be subpoenaed with roses and fresh cookies.
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Video Book Review of Um: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean by Michael Erard (Video Blog ep 022)
Click the image to play the video review (opens in YouTube)
I’ve realized during my few months of video-making, along with my previous couple of years making podcasts, that I tend to break apart my speech with ums, uhs, ers, ahhs, and every other sort of cerebral flatus out there. A desire to break away from so many speech errors is one of the reasons I picked up Michael Erard’s book Um: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean. My thinking was that if I could understand why I flub my words, then I could eventually eradicate those flubs.
I’m likely beyond help, but at least this book did teach me that speech blunders are perhaps less something that needs to be cleaned away, and more something that we all need to approach differently. Speech errors aren’t, by themselves, errors at all. Instead, what’s important is measuring speech disfluency from a baseline. Think of reading ums and uhs as similar to reading a lie-detector test; we’re all our own level of nervous even without being hooked up to a spooky machine. The trick is to measure how much more nervous we get when asked potentially compromising questions.
Among the questions addressed in Um: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean are
- Why is um-lessness thought of so highly?
- Why do we praise pristine speech?
- Has it always been this way?
Many theories have been created to explain the meaning of a speech error including ones from Viennese professor Rudolph Meringer who supposed that language is like a living organism whose evolution is responsible for our collective blunders; Yale psychologist George Mahl who chalks speech errors up to anxiety; and the famous Sigmund Freud who felt that speech errors were windows into the speaker’s subconscious.
Click here to watch the video review of Um: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean (or click the image above). DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!
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Interviewed at the Books and Booze podcast. I think I validate 50 Shades of Grey as culturally relevant…
A couple of nights ago I was invited to be the interviewee on an episode of the burgeoning and fun Books and Booze podcast. This, episode 4, has me chatting books with Renee Pickup and Dakota Taylor, sans books or booze in my hands, unfortunately.
We talk a lot about my books, of course, but we get larger issues such as the implied cultural relevance of books that we (Renee, Dakota, and myself) don’t necessarily assume are good (ahem…50 Shades of Grey…) but must strike a unique chord if they are selling so well. We don’t always have to agree with cultural shifts, I suppose. But we’re all interested, it would seem, in the idea that mass consumption of a product must mean that product has some relevance beyond the aesthetic (but if now, doesn’t wide aesthetic appeal still say something about a culture).
Anyway, it was tremendous fun. Thanks to both of them for killing an hour with me. Click over this is amazing podcast episode to listen (or use the player above). Better get over there quick, too; Books and Booze only keeps the latest 2 hours of its programming live, meaning in 2 more interviews, my interview will no longer be available!
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New column at Manarchy Magazine. Reviews of things. THE CONOSAUR ARTIFICIONADO
Today my first of hopefully many quick reviews goes live at Manarchy Magazine. My different approach? Rather than describe traditionally sophisticated things using the sophisticates dictionary, I’m reviewing in stream of conscious style, adhering to the following measures of artifice (the “artifice” part of The Conosaur Artificionado”):
- Reviews will be written while imbibing the reviewed item.
- Reviews will be written as a narrative or vignette.
- Reviews will not bother with the connoisseur’s jargon.
What marks the debut review: Oban Scotch. Click over to read it. Then drink it.
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