Saturday, November 06, 2004
Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
Among other things, this weekend I watched Dirty Dancing yet again. I know I have seen this movie more than 20 times now. It never amazes me how awful the movie is… the acting, the premise, the acting, Swayze, Swayze’s acting, Swayze’s singing… Yet I always watch it. It goes to show that “good” movies and good movies aren’t always the same thing.
Another fun thing today was hanging out with my brother for a short amount of time. I don’t get to do this nearly enough any more. We talked about our normal range of things… girls, new DVDs that have been released, getting into shape, our jobs, and music (we decided the new Helmet album is embarrassing).
I have a fun relationship with my brother. We are more like best friends than brothers. But we’re more like brothers than best friends. Get it? I don’t. Anyway, people say that when we are together, we recede into a country-like drawl, and we speak in our own language. It is true. We have a flurry of references and code words that allow us to talk about anything and not be immediately understood by others. I am not sure when or how this started, but it is a beautiful language into itself. And it is forever evolving.
A lot of it is dependant on the shared experiences we have. Similar movies we have seen, CDs we have heard, sense of humor, anecdotes we have told… all shared. We share a lot. A lot of stories, ideas, frustrations, opinions, and most importantly, we share one killer CD collection. Our tastes are about 95% the same. Yet, people constantly fail to link us as brothers. Weird, considering we look nothing alike. :)
One instance came up today. I probably shouldn’t even use this particular story, for a couple reasons, but I am tired and have measurably weakened inhibitions. And, in truth, it is more appropriate than some of the other tales…
I was in the final stages of making a mix CD for a friend (actually working on a couple). My brother is always interested to see how I choose songs, and what order I put them in, and other such boring stuff. Well, he feigns interest anyway… So I told him who the CD was for, and started through the set list. When we got to one track in particular, he chuckled and said “Superliminal.” I laughed, and we let the topic drop. Then I erased the set list, and that particular friend isn’t getting a CD, not just yet.
You see, the term “superliminal” in the Smith Brothers context has roots in an episode of The Simpsons. In it, an evil plot is revealed; the US Navy is using a popular boy-band to talk American kids into joining the Navy. Nioj eht yvan. An evil Navy officer explains his plot to Lisa; they employ three levels of suggestion. Subliminal, liminal, and superliminal. Lisa inquires, “Superliminal?” The man demonstrstes. He leans out the wondow and shouts at a passerby “Hey you! Join the Navy!” And the passerby says “Okay!” and runs off to enlist.
Although my main intention with these CDs is to share my music with others, Mark reminded me that I tend to theme it up on occasion. By saying “Superliminal,” Mark not only demonstrated the classic Smith knack for comedic timing, and total recall of useless info, he also communicated that he thought my message maybe was coming through too loud and too clear for the intended listener. Point taken. Possible embarrassment avoided.
We all communicate in this way, to some degree. Within our in groups, whether it is family, friends, religions, social classes, countries… we all have messages encoded within our words. We share ideals and experiences, and so we are able to communicate in a way that is not fully aware to outsiders. It is really interesting when you think about it. It speaks to the ugly xenophobia and capitulism (not capitalism) that is inherent in society.
To close, Mark and I had several Smith Brothers moments today… some intentional, some that went by completely unrecognized. But one did stick out, and because I was the butt of it, I won’t explain it, only tease you with what we call it. I had a “Nike sandal” incident.
See ya!
Another fun thing today was hanging out with my brother for a short amount of time. I don’t get to do this nearly enough any more. We talked about our normal range of things… girls, new DVDs that have been released, getting into shape, our jobs, and music (we decided the new Helmet album is embarrassing).
I have a fun relationship with my brother. We are more like best friends than brothers. But we’re more like brothers than best friends. Get it? I don’t. Anyway, people say that when we are together, we recede into a country-like drawl, and we speak in our own language. It is true. We have a flurry of references and code words that allow us to talk about anything and not be immediately understood by others. I am not sure when or how this started, but it is a beautiful language into itself. And it is forever evolving.
A lot of it is dependant on the shared experiences we have. Similar movies we have seen, CDs we have heard, sense of humor, anecdotes we have told… all shared. We share a lot. A lot of stories, ideas, frustrations, opinions, and most importantly, we share one killer CD collection. Our tastes are about 95% the same. Yet, people constantly fail to link us as brothers. Weird, considering we look nothing alike. :)
One instance came up today. I probably shouldn’t even use this particular story, for a couple reasons, but I am tired and have measurably weakened inhibitions. And, in truth, it is more appropriate than some of the other tales…
I was in the final stages of making a mix CD for a friend (actually working on a couple). My brother is always interested to see how I choose songs, and what order I put them in, and other such boring stuff. Well, he feigns interest anyway… So I told him who the CD was for, and started through the set list. When we got to one track in particular, he chuckled and said “Superliminal.” I laughed, and we let the topic drop. Then I erased the set list, and that particular friend isn’t getting a CD, not just yet.
You see, the term “superliminal” in the Smith Brothers context has roots in an episode of The Simpsons. In it, an evil plot is revealed; the US Navy is using a popular boy-band to talk American kids into joining the Navy. Nioj eht yvan. An evil Navy officer explains his plot to Lisa; they employ three levels of suggestion. Subliminal, liminal, and superliminal. Lisa inquires, “Superliminal?” The man demonstrstes. He leans out the wondow and shouts at a passerby “Hey you! Join the Navy!” And the passerby says “Okay!” and runs off to enlist.
Although my main intention with these CDs is to share my music with others, Mark reminded me that I tend to theme it up on occasion. By saying “Superliminal,” Mark not only demonstrated the classic Smith knack for comedic timing, and total recall of useless info, he also communicated that he thought my message maybe was coming through too loud and too clear for the intended listener. Point taken. Possible embarrassment avoided.
We all communicate in this way, to some degree. Within our in groups, whether it is family, friends, religions, social classes, countries… we all have messages encoded within our words. We share ideals and experiences, and so we are able to communicate in a way that is not fully aware to outsiders. It is really interesting when you think about it. It speaks to the ugly xenophobia and capitulism (not capitalism) that is inherent in society.
To close, Mark and I had several Smith Brothers moments today… some intentional, some that went by completely unrecognized. But one did stick out, and because I was the butt of it, I won’t explain it, only tease you with what we call it. I had a “Nike sandal” incident.
See ya!
Comments:
Man, I love your family and have some of my best memories hanging with you & them. Watching the dynamic between siblings is always intriguing. Tell Mark "Hello!" and tell him I'll buy him another pitcher of Newcastle when I come back to visit. ;)
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