Unusual meme

[Christel Davies]

Does anyone know the origin of the meme
"Goats are like mushrooms
if you shoot a duck
I'm scared of toasters." ?
There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme.
Thanks
-C

[Mack A. Damia]

Yeah. Somebody has been smoking some bad shit.

--

[Don Phillipson]

"Christel Davies" <softer....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:55a4c223-fd61-4ce9...@googlegroups.com...

If not widely recognized, this passage seems not a meme.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[Peter T. Daniels]

Why do you think it's a meme? It looks like a quotation of absurdity or dada.

Where is this crossposted from?

[Derek Turner]

Has the meaning of 'meme' evolved then? How ironic. It was coined by the
evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkin as an analogue of 'gene', I believe,
and meant 'an idea that is passed on'. I can't see how a piece of nonsense
can be described as a 'meme' unless, of course, it's a mutation :)

--
Puzzled.

Derek.

[John Dunlop]

Derek Turner:

> Has the meaning of 'meme' evolved then? How ironic. It was coined by the
> evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkin as an analogue of 'gene', I
> believe, and meant 'an idea that is passed on'. I can't see how a piece
> of nonsense can be described as a 'meme' unless, of course, it's a
> mutation :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFn-ixX9edg#t=4m16s

--
John

[Jerry Friedman]

On 2/1/14 8:36 AM, Derek Turner wrote:
> On Fri, 31 Jan 2014 21:37:05 -0800, Christel Davies wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know the origin of the meme "Goats are like mushrooms if you
>> shoot a duck I'm scared of toasters." ?
>> There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme.
>> Thanks -C
>
> Has the meaning of 'meme' evolved then?

I think so. I don't believe most people who know the word would use it
for "The Blue Danube" or how they hold a knife and fork.

> How ironic.

Yep.

> It was coined by the
> evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkin as an analogue of 'gene', I believe,
> and meant 'an idea that is passed on'. I can't see how a piece of nonsense
> can be described as a 'meme' unless, of course, it's a mutation :)

If a piece of nonsense is passed on, that makes it just as frabjous a
meme as anything else that's passed on, right?

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

On 2/1/14 6:48 AM, Don Phillipson wrote:
> "Christel Davies" <softer....@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:55a4c223-fd61-4ce9...@googlegroups.com...
>
>> Does anyone know the origin of the meme
>> "Goats are like mushrooms
>> if you shoot a duck
>> I'm scared of toasters." ?
>> There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme.
>
> If not widely recognized, this passage seems not a meme.

If a gene is rare, is it not a gene?

--
Jerry Friedman

[Peter T. Daniels]

What is so rare as allele in gene?

[Christel Davies]

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a meme as "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture." and cites the word as an alteration of mimeme.

This isn't a cross post, a friend of mine wanted to know where this meme originated from. A search of Google Images reveals a picture of a child morphed with an image of Osama Bin Ladin, which makes me think it could be older than 2011. My next step would be limiting Google searches to a year range to try to narrow it down to the first instance.

[Frank S]

"Derek Turner" <frd...@cesmail.net> wrote in message
news:bl4ikj...@mid.individual.net...

I'm wondering if it is a latter-day attempt to emulate Roger Price's "I
had one grunch but the eggplant over there".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Price_%28comedy%29

--
Frank ess

[Christel Davies]

On Saturday, February 1, 2014 12:54:14 PM UTC-7, Stefan Ram wrote:

> Christel Davies <softer....@gmail.com> writes:
>
> >"Goats are like mushrooms if you shoot a duck I'm scared of toasters."
>
>
>

> Possibly, it is a pseudo-paraphrase of utterances like:
>
>
>
> »Old Navy commercials are like The Stepford Wives.
>
> If you shoot them, they multiply.«

I like that explanation, and I think I'll pass that along. Although, from looking at various forums, like that of 4chan, it seems to be associated with the lolspeak phrase "wat", meaning something that is such utter nonsense, one doesn't even know where to begin.

[Jenny Telia]

What? Is it fashionable now to throw up any old shit and call it a 'meme'?
Go back to Start, do not collect 200€, and miss 3 turns.

[occam]

This particular meme started and ended with your 'friend', with the
exception one gullible nincompoop.

[Christel Davies]

On Saturday, February 1, 2014 1:25:46 PM UTC-7, Stefan Ram wrote:
> Christel Davies <softer....@gmail.com> writes:
>

> >"Goats are like mushrooms if you shoot a duck I'm scared of toasters." ?
>
>
>

> This also might be classified as a so-called »anti-joke«
>
> (see also: »anti-humor«).
>
>
>
> In a livestock forums, apparently in 2010:
>
>
>
> »Goats are like fresh baked chocolate chip cookies!«
>
>
>
> Possibly hinting to this idea, seen somewhere else:
>
>
>
> »Goats are like Potato chips. You just can not have one!«
>
> (2011)
>
>
>
> An entry with »Goats are like mushrooms« possibly was posted
>
> somewhere on Aug 24, 2011.

I found using the n-gram viewer the first instance of the simile "all goats are like..." phrase in a dada sense is in The Collected Works of Horatio Colony, Volume 2 Branden Press, 1982:
"All hanging things are white, the very eaves Are white; the goats are like all color gone Sucked in by leaves; the shepherds each have on White leathers, though there is an undertone Of green; the fancied leopards turn to white. The green ..."

[Christel Davies]

On Saturday, February 1, 2014 1:34:51 PM UTC-7, Jenny Telia wrote:
> On 01/02/2014 06:37, Christel Davies wrote:
>
> > Does anyone know the origin of the meme

...

>
> What? Is it fashionable now to throw up any old shit and call it a 'meme'?
>

> Go back to Start, do not collect 200 EURO, and miss 3 turns.

Yes, since about 2001... Where have you been? Memes evolve and spread in a viral sense, and have their own etymologies.

[Christel Davies]

What a tremendously boring perspective. Why you even bother commenting, let alone get out of bed in the morning, is beyond me.

[Lanarcam]

I understand the concept of genes, I think so. Memes are a metaphor,
applying the gene concept to cultural phenomena. It is true that
seeing them from afar, they spread, fight, mutate, but where is
the proof that the model is valid since it is only a model, not
a biblical truth?

[Christel Davies]

That falls under the study of memetics. Here's an overview of memetics and modelling meme http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEMES.html .

[Christel Davies]

Seems Dawkins has embraced the mutation of the usage of meme, and in a sense the mutation itself strengthen his original definition,. Thanks for the link!

[Lanarcam]

Le 01/02/2014 22:36, Christel Davies a écrit :
>>>
>>
>> I understand the concept of genes, I think so. Memes are a metaphor,
>>
>> applying the gene concept to cultural phenomena. It is true that
>>
>> seeing them from afar, they spread, fight, mutate, but where is
>>
>> the proof that the model is valid since it is only a model, not
>>
>> a biblical truth?
>
> That falls under the study of memetics. Here's an overview of memetics and modelling meme http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEMES.html .
>

Thanks for the link, I understand that, but they are advocates
of the concept, where are its opponents?

I can't believe that it has not been disputed, it is
only a model. How can you jump from the gene with its
well defined biological characteristics to a "meme",
a cultural, vague, concept?

[Christel Davies]

On Saturday, February 1, 2014 2:57:31 PM UTC-7, Stefan Ram wrote:

> Lanarcam <lana...@yahoo.fr> writes:
>
> >Thanks for the link, I understand that, but they are advocates
>
> >of the concept, where are its opponents?
>
>
>

> Concepts have users. Assertions can have advocates.

>
>
>
> >I can't believe that it has not been disputed, it is
>
> >only a model.
>
>
>

> A concept is not a model. A concept can be a part
>
> of a model.

>
>
>
> >How can you jump from the gene with its well defined
>
> >biological characteristics to a "meme", a cultural, vague,
>
> >concept?
>
>
>

> If those biological characteristics of a gene are so »well
>
> defined«, then all biologists should give the same answer,
>
> when asked »How many biological characteristics of a gene
>
> are there?« I doubt that they will do this.
>
>
>
> In the humanities one can jump from everything to everything
>
> with a vagueness adequate to its subject.

Perhaps it's just my generation, but until today have generally accepted that model as de facto, especially in regards to data mining social networks for capitalizing upon trends. Memetics is the basis of viral marketing strategies. It follows a second derivative curve to find what's trending at any instant of time. Utilizing tools like histograms, PR firms predict what trends their clients can opportunistically piggy back on, thanks to the viral-like exponential growth/spread of memes. From that we'll (at least in the States) see something like an ad for Friskies cat food with the instantly familiar Grumpy cat saying something to the extent of "I wish for your demise; and wet food" with a Christmas tree in the background and a coupon at the bottom.

[Peter Moylan]

On 02/02/14 07:25, Stefan Ram wrote:
> Christel Davies <softer....@gmail.com> writes:

>> "Goats are like mushrooms if you shoot a duck I'm scared of toasters." ?
>

> This also might be classified as a so-called »anti-joke«
> (see also: »anti-humor«).
>
> In a livestock forums, apparently in 2010:
>
> »Goats are like fresh baked chocolate chip cookies!«
>
> Possibly hinting to this idea, seen somewhere else:
>
> »Goats are like Potato chips. You just can not have one!«
> (2011)

As an earlier example, I offer "Changing one law of physics is like
trying to eat one peanut."

--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.

[Peter Moylan]

On 02/02/14 10:41, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 02/02/14 07:25, Stefan Ram wrote:

>> »Goats are like Potato chips. You just can not have one!«
>> (2011)
>
> As an earlier example, I offer "Changing one law of physics is like
> trying to eat one peanut."
>

Sorry, I forgot to attribute the source. Larry Niven, possibly in his
essay "The Theory and Practice of Time Travel".

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Saturday, February 1, 2014 2:43:20 PM UTC-5, Christel Davies wrote:
> On Saturday, February 1, 2014 9:26:42 AM UTC-7, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > On 2/1/14 6:48 AM, Don Phillipson wrote:
> > > "Christel Davies" <softer....@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > > news:55a4c223-fd61-4ce9...@googlegroups.com...

> > >> Does anyone know the origin of the meme
> > >> "Goats are like mushrooms
> > >> if you shoot a duck
> > >> I'm scared of toasters." ?
> > >> There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme.
> > > If not widely recognized, this passage seems not a meme.
>

> The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a meme as "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture." and cites the word as an alteration of mimeme.

I don't recall that Mr. Dawkins cited "mimeme" when he introduced the word.

> This isn't a cross post,

sorry about that, you seem to be new here and your query was odd

> a friend of mine wanted to know where this meme originated from. A search of Google Images reveals a picture of a child morphed with an image of Osama Bin Ladin, which makes me think it could be older than 2011. My next step would be limiting Google searches to a year range to try to narrow it down to the first instance.

What on earth does morphing (which was introduced to the gen.pub. in the
second Terminator movie) have to do with the poem(?) you quoted? And what
does the poem you quoted have to do with memes?

[Christel Davies]

It's a term for blending two images in a photo editor such as Photoshop so that becomes a mean image between the two (that is blended with a blur tool and smoothed with opacity adjustments). It doesn't have to be the whole image, and in this case is only a few distinct attributes.

And what
>
> does the poem you quoted have to do with memes?

Seems at first glance you're confusing what I initially posted as a poem, whereas it's a meme. The return carriage spacing reflects how the meme is superimposed on the image. Unless you are referencing where I posted the n-gram hit that has the first instance of the simile "Goats are like..." in an abstract sense. That's a note on usage that may or may not have inspired the meme.

[Christel Davies]

On Saturday, February 1, 2014 5:01:11 PM UTC-7, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> On Saturday, February 1, 2014 2:43:20 PM UTC-5, Christel Davies wrote:
>
> > On Saturday, February 1, 2014 9:26:42 AM UTC-7, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>
> > > On 2/1/14 6:48 AM, Don Phillipson wrote:
>
> > > > "Christel Davies" <softer....@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> > > > news:55a4c223-fd61-4ce9...@googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > > >> Does anyone know the origin of the meme
>
> > > >> "Goats are like mushrooms
>
> > > >> if you shoot a duck
>
> > > >> I'm scared of toasters." ?
>
> > > >> There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme.
>
> > > > If not widely recognized, this passage seems not a meme.
>
> >
>
> > The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a meme as "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture." and cites the word as an alteration of mimeme.
>
>
>
> I don't recall that Mr. Dawkins cited "mimeme" when he introduced the word.
>
>
>
> > This isn't a cross post,
>
>
>
> sorry about that, you seem to be new here and your query was odd

Initially, I thought about positing my question to alt.non.sequitur, but was hoping for a better answer than something to the extent of "spoon."

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Saturday, February 1, 2014 7:59:33 PM UTC-5, Christel Davies wrote:
> On Saturday, February 1, 2014 5:01:11 PM UTC-7, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > On Saturday, February 1, 2014 2:43:20 PM UTC-5, Christel Davies wrote:
> > > On Saturday, February 1, 2014 9:26:42 AM UTC-7, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > > > On 2/1/14 6:48 AM, Don Phillipson wrote:
> > > > > "Christel Davies" <softer....@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > > > > news:55a4c223-fd61-4ce9...@googlegroups.com...

> > > > >> Does anyone know the origin of the meme
> > > > >> "Goats are like mushrooms
> > > > >> if you shoot a duck
> > > > >> I'm scared of toasters." ?
> > > > >> There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme.
> > > > > If not widely recognized, this passage seems not a meme.
> > > The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a meme as "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture." and cites the word as an alteration of mimeme.
> > I don't recall that Mr. Dawkins cited "mimeme" when he introduced the word.
> > > This isn't a cross post,
>
> > sorry about that, you seem to be new here and your query was odd
>
> > > a friend of mine wanted to know where this meme originated from. A search of Google Images reveals a picture of a child morphed with an image of Osama Bin Ladin, which makes me think it could be older than 2011. My next step would be limiting Google searches to a year range to try to narrow it down to the first instance.
>
> > What on earth does morphing (which was introduced to the gen.pub. in the
> > second Terminator movie) have to do with the poem(?) you quoted?
>
> It's a term for blending two images in a photo editor such as Photoshop so that becomes a mean image between the two (that is blended with a blur tool and smoothed with opacity adjustments). It doesn't have to be the whole image, and in this case is only a few distinct attributes.

Yes, I know what "morphing" means. I don't see what it has to do with
anything else you've brought up!

> And what
> > does the poem you quoted have to do with memes?
>
> Seems at first glance you're confusing what I initially posted as a poem, whereas it's a meme. The return carriage spacing reflects how the meme is superimposed on the image. Unless you are referencing where I posted the n-gram hit that has the first instance of the simile "Goats are like..." in an abstract sense. That's a note on usage that may or may not have inspired the meme.

I really have no idea what you're talking about. You included no link,
to a picture or anything else, in your initial message, so no "image"
is involved.

Your initial three lines -- which you enclosed in a single set of
quotation marks, but now it seems you're saying _aren't_ intended
as a coherent whole? -- are not a meme according to any usage of the
word in the not-quite-40-years since it was introduced (*The Selfish
Gene*, 1976); see the dictionary definition that you yourself quoted.

[Christel Davies]

Peter T., it appears you are having some problem following this thread as a whole. Can you please re-read it and be more specific in what you don't understand, as opposed to what you disagree with.

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Jerry Friedman skrev:

> If a gene is rare, is it not a gene?

You are presupposing that which you want to prove.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Sunday, February 2, 2014 1:11:58 AM UTC-5, Christel Davies wrote:

> Peter T., it appears you are having some problem following this thread as a whole. Can you please re-read it and be more specific in what you don't understand, as opposed to what you disagree with.

You asserted that a three-line absurdist or dada poem(?) is a meme.

It isn't.

You then started talking about a morphed photo as if it had something
to do with the three-line poem(?), but if it does, you didn't establish
a connection.

So unless you are posting some of your information in a different
newsgroup -- yet you said you're not crossposting -- you are not
comprehensible.

(Nor do I know what "4speak," "lolchat," or "wat" are, but they don't
seem germane to the initial problem.)

[Horace LaBadie]

In article <23ea811d-97a2-4d21...@googlegroups.com>,

The whole thing appears to be some poorly designed marketing or mass
psychology experiment to see if a meme can be created from the most
nonsensical random words using the least effective social networking
location, usenet.

[Ian Dalziel]

How about something to the extent of "bollocks"?

[Christel Davies]

Peter T., you're making some wild jumps to conclusion that I can't even follow how you arrived to your initial assumptions. Horace, same jumps to conclusion, but I see where you could have concocted the wrong assumptions from. But in both cases, your assumptions and conclusions are absolutely erroneous and therefore I shall not adresss them any further.

[Peter T. Daniels]

How diabolical! Christel as a latter-day Skinner!

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Sunday, February 2, 2014 12:00:36 PM UTC-5, Christel Davies wrote:

> Peter T., you're making some wild jumps to conclusion that I can't even follow how you arrived to your initial assumptions. Horace, same jumps to conclusion, but I see where you could have concocted the wrong assumptions from. But in both cases, your assumptions and conclusions are absolutely erroneous and therefore I shall not adresss them any further.

Since you've simply repeated your previous erroneous assertion, I can
only refer you to my previous reply.

[Christel Davies]

Intresting group dynamics, 24hrs go by and my thread is like 5 standard deviations away from the norm. Perhaps an introduction is in order! I'm an artist, musician, part-time engineering and science student, and a US Navy veteran. I first started hanging out on usenet when I was 11 or 12, in the early 90's, but stopped in the late nineties due to the influx of spam.

Thinking about the evolution of word usage as a complex system is very interesting to me. Memes achieve mutations in their usage in a few months or years, whereas words slowly mutate over a few decades or hundreds of years, and perhaps investigating the change in usage in memes could provide new insight on the change in word usage. As for my motive, it's purely out of curiosity and the desire to gain a better understand of culture, be it online, in real life, historically, and to make informed predictions about the future of culture.

How about you all?

[Tony Cooper]

If you are going to continue to post in this newsgroup, it would be
appreciated if you would either set your newsreader to a line length
of 72 characters or manually insert line breaks at about 72
characters.

As it is, your posts require the reader using most newsreaders to
scroll across to read the entire line.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando FL

[Christel Davies]

On Sunday, February 2, 2014 12:39:46 PM UTC-7, Tony Cooper wrote:

>
> If you are going to continue to post in this newsgroup, it would be
>
> appreciated if you would either set your newsreader to a line length
>
> of 72 characters or manually insert line breaks at about 72
>
> characters.
>
>
>
> As it is, your posts require the reader using most newsreaders to
>
> scroll across to read the entire line.
>
> --
>
> Tony Cooper - Orlando FL

I can approximate that. Seems Google groups doesn't
offer an option for restricting the line to a fixed length.
Or perhaps can you recommend a newsreader for the Chrome browser
and/or the iOS?

[Peter T. Daniels]

Well, you've certainly "mutated" the sense of the word "meme."

Also, it appears, "standard deviation."

[Tony Cooper]

The only newsgroup reader I've ever used is the Forte Agent one. I'm
not the only one, but some here use other readers.

[Christel Davies]

I was trying to set up SeaMonkey, but from talking to
my ISP tech support seems they have no freaking clue
what an NNTP server is, let alone how to reset my
password so I can access it. Le sigh! :^D

[Mack A. Damia]

On Sun, 2 Feb 2014 14:36:59 -0800 (PST), Christel Davies

Are you looking for a free news reader?

There are a few. Forte Agent had a free version, but they stopped it.

I know Noworyta News Reader is free, but if you have anything to do
with "prodigy", you cannot use it. Some kind of war between them.

http://www.tucows.com/preview/209067

There are a few others. Do a Google on "Free news readers".

--

[Leslie Danks]

I don't know if this is of any use to you:

<http://www.ngrblog.com/best-usenet-apps/>

--
Les (BrE)
The days are long gone when the equipment for an attempt on Nanga Parbat
comprised stout walking boots, a tweed jacket and a stolen washing line.

[Christel Davies]

Very useful! Thank you both, Tony and Leslie!

[Christel Davies]

Whoa, I wouldn't recommend downloading from
http://www.tucows.com/preview/209067 . I
just had to uninstall 3 other programs, one
being a adware system scanner.

[Mack A. Damia]

I can't recall having problems with Tucows. I thought that it was one
of the safer downloading sites.

Maybe this will work for you:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/News-Newsgroups-Blog-Tools/Noworyta-News-Reader.shtml

--

[Christel Davies]

Just signed up with eternal-september.org for my newserver, and
successfully configured SeaMonkey as my netbook's newsreader.
If I can set up my iOS, I'll be good to go!

[Mack A. Damia]

Yes, that was it, not the newsreader. Anybody with:

att.net
ameritech.net
bellsouth.net
pacbell.net
prodigy.net

......cannot use eternal-september.org. Some kind of dispute.

--

[Christel Davies]

I noticed my ISP Terms of use forbids using any other newserver despite the
fact it doesn't offer one.

--
-C

[Mack A. Damia]

I had an account with eternal-september configured through
Noworyta-News-Reader a few years ago, but I have prodigy.net. I don't
know when this dispute began, but I suddenly discovered that I could
not access newsgroups through that account.

I also had/have Forte Agent configured with News.Individual.net, so it
isn't a problem.

--

[Christel Davies]

Perhaps when I try to connect my new NNTP server through my mobile internet
(provided by AT&T) it may be blocked. I just set up NewsTap on my iOS, so
I'll turn off my wifi, and post a follow up if it's blocking me.
--
-C

[Jerry Friedman]

On 2/2/14 5:11 AM, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
> Jerry Friedman skrev:
>
>> If a gene is rare, is it not a gene?
>
> You are presupposing that which you want to prove.

I'm sure you knew perfectly well what I meant. If a DNA sequence
(possibly interrupted) that codes for a protein is rare, is it not a gene?

--
Jerry Friedman

[Christel Davies]

Since I wasn't blocked by AT&T, I suggest setting up a gmail or other
alternative email address to re-sign up with eternal-september.org services
if you still desire to use their service. Most ISPs allow one to add other
email accounts across the web, so it's likely if you use prodigy's web
hosted email interface you can view multiple email accounts at a time,
seamlessly.
Hope this helps! :^D

--
-C

[mrucb...@att.net]

On Friday, January 31, 2014 11:37:05 PM UTC-6, Christel Davies wrote:
> Does anyone know the origin of the meme
>
> "Goats are like mushrooms
>
> if you shoot a duck
>
> I'm scared of toasters." ?
>
> There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme.
>

> Thanks
>
> -C

I think we need Chance in here to address this topic.
He has the depth and experience to speak cogently on matters like this.

[Mack A. Damia]

On Mon, 3 Feb 2014 02:41:44 +0000 (UTC), Christel Davies

Thanks very much, but I don't understand it. I am not too technically
savvy, but when I configured the newsreader with eternal-september a
while back, it picked up that I was operating through prodigy.net
(smtp), and I could not download a list of newsgroups. That is my
understanding, anyway, but I can fool around with it to see if I can
get it to work.

IE: smtp.prodigy.net.mx:119

--

[R H Draney]

Jerry Friedman filted:

Recherche Metaphysics for Dummies: if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is
there to hear it, does a tree fall in the forest?...r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

[Christel Davies]

Seems if a meme is rare, then it's a unpopular meme. But as Jerry points
out, it doesn't cease to be a meme... All metaphysics aside! But if a meme
dies out, does it cease to be a meme?

--
-C

[Frank S]

"Christel Davies" <softer....@gmail.net> wrote in message
news:774781311413092056.49504...@news.eternal-september.org...

'It's not pinin'! It's passed on! This meme is no more! It has ceased to
be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! It's a stiff! Bereft of
life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it'd be
pushing up the daisies! Its metabolic processes are now 'istory! It's
off the twig! It's kicked the bucket, it's shuffled off its mortal coil,
run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS
AN EX-MEME!!'

--
Frank ess

[Jerry Friedman]

On 2/2/14 12:12 PM, Christel Davies wrote:
...

> Perhaps an introduction is in order! I'm an artist, musician,
> part-time engineering and science student, and a US Navy veteran.

...

And incidentally, a friend of mine.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Christel Davies]

And incidentally, Jerry happens to be a friend of mine! =^D

--
-C

[R H Draney]

Christel Davies filted:

It becomes a meme-orial....r

[Django Cat]

XanaNews. It works. It's OK. At some point in time I decided it suited
my purposes better than Agent.

DC

--

[Mark Brader]

Jerry Friedman:

> > And incidentally, a friend of mine.

Christel Davies:

> And incidentally, Jerry happens to be a friend of mine!

"Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action."
--
Mark Brader | "I thought at first that you had done something clever,
Toronto | but I see that there was nothing in it, after all."
m...@vex.net | "I begin to think, Watson, that I make a mistake
| in explaining." --Doyle

[Christel Davies]

A requiem for a meme?


--
-C

[Christel Davies]

Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> wrote:
> Jerry Friedman:
>>> And incidentally, a friend of mine.
>
> Christel Davies:
>> And incidentally, Jerry happens to be a friend of mine!
>
> "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action."

A frienemy action?

--
-C

[Robert Bannister]

On 3/02/2014 8:52 am, Christel Davies wrote:

> I noticed my ISP Terms of use forbids using any other newserver despite the
> fact it doesn't offer one.

It's amazing they even know what a newsgroup is. Many of them don't.
--
Robert Bannister - 1940-71 SE England
1972-now W Australia

[bill van]

In article <blanl9...@mid.individual.net>,

Robert Bannister <rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote:

> On 3/02/2014 8:52 am, Christel Davies wrote:
>
> > I noticed my ISP Terms of use forbids using any other newserver despite the
> > fact it doesn't offer one.
>
> It's amazing they even know what a newsgroup is. Many of them don't.

A few years ago when my ISP's news server was experiencing serious
indigestion, I had to claw my way through the first two layers of tech
support before I got to someone who had heard of Usenet and would admit
that they provided access to it.
--
bill

[Christel Davies]

I was imaging I'd have to do something to the extent of that when the
bewildered weekend tech support guy instructed me to request the "tier 1.5"
Internet chat support team during the work week. I could press the issue
with my ISP, or could just as easily accept that I've successfully worked
around needing my ISP... For now, I think I'll save that argument for
leverage if I have any future issues with them.
--
-C

[madcli...@gmail.com]

On Friday, January 31, 2014 9:37:05 PM UTC-8, Christel Davies wrote:
> Does anyone know the origin of the meme "Goats are like mushrooms if you shoot a duck I'm scared of toasters." ? There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme. Thanks -C

this is why you don't eat the RED mushrooms

[z28...@gmail.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_deviance

[Mike L]

What's the difference between a duck?

--
Mike.

[Peter T. Daniels]

Why a duck?

[Mike L]

Because.

--
Mike.

[R H Draney]

Mike L filted:

Two-fifty, same as in town....r

[Christel Davies]

For reasons.

[Traddict]

"Mike L" <n...@yahoo.co.uk> a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
1n1o4adb6heg522df...@4ax.com...

Let me guess... No difference, its legs are identical, especially the right
one? (An old Dadaist joke)
>
> --
> Mike.

[musika]

On 27/10/2014 19:44, Traddict wrote:
> "Mike L" <n...@yahoo.co.uk> a écrit dans le message de groupe de
> discussion : 1n1o4adb6heg522df...@4ax.com...

at's the difference between a duck?
>
> Let me guess... No difference, its legs are identical, especially the
> right one? (An old Dadaist joke)
>>

The usual answer I've heard is "One leg is both the same."


--
Ray
UK

[FromTheRafters]

musika pretended :

Similar here, "Why is a duck? Because one of his legs are both the
same". I always thought it was just a nonsensical thing. This seems to
agree.

http://www.answers.com/Q/Why_does_the_riddle_Why_Is_A_Duck_have_the_answer_Because_One_Of_It's_Legs_Are_Both_The_Same

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Monday, October 27, 2014 6:06:06 PM UTC-4, FromTheRafters wrote:

> Similar here, "Why is a duck? Because one of his legs are both the
> same". I always thought it was just a nonsensical thing. This seems to
> agree.
>
> http://www.answers.com/Q/Why_does_the_riddle_Why_Is_A_Duck_have_the_answer_Because_One_Of_It's_Legs_Are_Both_The_Same

But the question, from the Marx Brothers movie *Cocoanuts* (1929),
is "Why a duck?" cerived by Chico from "viaduct."

[FromTheRafters]

Ah, I didn't know that.

[R H Draney]

Peter T. Daniels filted:

It's being confused with the riddle "What's the difference between a duck?",
which does have the above answer...this riddle can be found in the 1941 film
"Playmates", where it's told to John Barrymore by Ish Kabibble....r

[Peter T. Daniels]

Egad. Which one was at the point in his career when he'd take _any_ gig
just to get some work? (Kinda like Bela Lugosi in *Plan 9 from Outer Space*.)

[knobby...@gmail.com]

OK my wife just brought this meme to my attention. I think I know what the designer is saying, though I think his appeal will only be reached by a select few. The effigy depicted above is pertinent to the use of the terms Goat "for goatie", or in some racist subtexts "goat fucker", and the mushroom is the representation of the topmost hair style. The thing that a goat and mushroom have in common in this sense is HAIR. Except your perception of the kind of hair, the position, the colour, will draw on your prejudice between different looking humans. Basing difference on looks, to the moderately connected and loving, seems completely illogical and meaningless. The last phrase "If you shoot a duck, I'm scared of toasters" is exactly that -- completely illogical and meaningless. It is an intelligent man's way of expressing himself without relation to the majority of less intelligent.

[emptines...@gmail.com]

Overthinking is rife here. The words are lyrics from the Levi Massie song, Nonsense is What I Talk (When You're Not Around). There are a number of similar statements in the song.

[Jerry Friedman]

On 4/5/15 6:52 PM, emptines...@gmail.com wrote:
> Overthinking is rife here. The words are lyrics from the Levi Massie song, Nonsense is What I Talk (When You're Not Around). There are a number of similar statements in the song.

I don't think it's fair to say people are overthinking if the problem is
that they haven't heard a certain song by one of the mainstays of the
folk and country scene in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QodK7qbEJQw

Also, the article you linked to is from 2013. "Goats are like
mushrooms" might date back to 2012 or 2011--I'm having trouble telling.

--
Jerry Friedman

[joy000...@gmail.com]

On Friday, January 31, 2014 at 10:37:05 PM UTC-7, Christel Davies wrote:
> Does anyone know the origin of the meme
> "Goats are like mushrooms
> if you shoot a duck
> I'm scared of toasters." ?
> There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme.
> Thanks
> -C

It's been around for a bit. Originated on 4ch. Generally alludes to the previous post being well unclear.

[Don Phillipson]

> In message <43c1688e-e13d-4e6a...@googlegroups.com>

"Lewis" <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote in message
news:slrnmkqdnb....@amelia.local...

> This is a new meaning of 'meme'?

Exactly . . . This instance does not fit "meme" as proposed by
Dawkins (viz. a coherent idea that survives and evolves.) It
seems more like an earworm.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[william....@ssdstudent.org]

On Saturday, 1 February 2014 00:37:05 UTC-5, Christel Davies wrote:
> Does anyone know the origin of the meme
> "Goats are like mushrooms
> if you shoot a duck
> I'm scared of toasters." ?
> There are no n-gram hits, so I think it is a newer meme.
> Thanks
> -C

your butt

[william....@ssdstudent.org]

fu

[william....@ssdstudent.org]

hfbkjrehgfkhevfluyewhgfluh34gg1yu4royg43ofrgluh

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

Surprise, surprise:

Injection-Info: glegroupsg2000goo.googlegroups.com;
posting-host=50.205.174.4;
posting-account=Tus0iwoAAAAAIz1U5WHm3kTgF5DRVe6C


--
athel

[monste...@yahoo.com]

I can't believe that meme has been psychoanalyzed by so many people the whole world over. Seriously can't believe it even has its own t-shirt. Truth be told: I was really super-duper-friggin high when I wrote it, because the doctor had over-medicated me and had me on waaaay too much Xanax.
Here's where it came from: Naked Survivor Man was on TV and had just snared a goat. I had mushrooms cooking in a pan on the stove, and a fresh duck from the morning hunt was in the oven. I was stirring the mushrooms when the toaster popped up with my nicely-browned sour dough bread, the pop of the toaster startled me and tripped up my brain.
Not that anybody needs to know this, but there it is... and I'm off the Xanax now, so I've got that going for me, which is nice. It has been interesting reading all the analogies over the years.

[Steve Hayes]

On Sat, 28 Nov 2015 16:30:36 -0800 (PST), monste...@yahoo.com
wrote:

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk