Disclaimer: You are looking at a post I wrote some time ago. The information and opinions contained within may be outdated and may differ from my current views. Please proceed accordingly.

Yeah, Kerry's Been About That Exciting

Jul 12, 2004 7:41 PM
Tags:

God I love Fark:

Kerry picks vanilla

(via Boing Boing)


Comments: Yeah, Kerry's Been About That Exciting

That was a pretty good poking at one of my lest favorite news sources.

As for that particular pic of kerry and the vanilla... You know it's ice milk and not ice cream.

Posted by: O'dell on July 12, 2004 9:48 PM | permalink

For the record, after the comments board on this post:
http://www.joegrossberg.com/archives/001575.html

was closed by Mr Grossberg I sent him an email to explain that bu offering a suggested explanation to his post I was indeed
a. agreeing
b. conflating two different things

Perhaps it was because I explained to him what "conflate" means, a term he misused, that he never replied.

Anyway, regarding this post, is vanilla bland?
Perhaps this is like cheese, which for trade restriction reasons is not commonly available in America (a chedder should crumble), but vanilla is a definate and distinct flavour.

http://www.vanilla.com/html/facts-vanillamagic.html

I really object to the insinuation that vanilla=plain. Why might this be the case?

Posted by: AJE on July 13, 2004 4:56 AM | permalink

No, vanilla the spice is quite delicious. After saffron (and cardamom?), it is the most expensive of all spices -- and for a reason.

However, I think vanilla means boring in the sense that it is a popular, unsurprising taste.

As far as closing the thread, well, this is my personal site. And if you start in with the ad hominem (if I'm such a loser, why do you keep coming back?) and anti-American (then why are you here, a few miles away no less?) remarks instead of staying civil, then that's my perogative. I could, just as easily, have deleted your remarks.

And as far as "conflate" goes, I used it correctly. It means "to bring together two different things". Perhaps it has a different useage in British English.

Posted by: Joe Grossberg on July 13, 2004 8:22 AM | permalink

I agree with you on vanilla being a distinct flavor.

Some ice cream places in the US actually distinguish between vanilla and plain (which is sometimes called 'sweet cream').

Posted by: O'dell on July 13, 2004 10:17 AM | permalink

Yeah, real vanilla is #2, behind saffron. Which is why a large percentage of vanilla flavored items have the artifical synthesized vanillin flavoring.

Posted by: O'dell on July 13, 2004 10:21 AM | permalink

I'm glad to here 'plain' does exist as a seperate flavour, it's a sad indictment that familiarity breeds contempt.

Joe - suggesting that American football, baseball and basketball are not popular enough in other countries to sustain national leagues sufficiently able to compete with American leagues, doesn't make me un-American, nor indeed does it violate my right to form a contract with an American organisation. I've received your opinion a lot: "if you prefer soccer to football, go home" This is nonsense. Indeed by bringing my labour to America, and my critical, open, humble brain is precisely what America needs.

Yes, you could have deleted my comments, but I can't believe for one moment that anyone could be so spiteful. If i don't appear civil, I apologise. But you've made some pretty stupid comments. You still can't accept that you'd misread my posts, and you can't see that the phrase "conflated two different things" is entirely meaningless. Conflate does not mean confused, in any language.
Incidentally, I'm here, a few thousand miles away.

Posted by: AJE on July 14, 2004 4:56 AM | permalink

AJE:

You're right; "try not to react like an imperialist" and "you're just upset that I called American sports crap" ... nothing anti-American there.

I'm not saying "if you prefer soccer to football, go home"; I'm saying if you hate America so much -- a sentiment that comes through in your ridiculous remarks -- then fuck off. Period.

And

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=conflate

1. To bring together; meld or fuse: “The problems [with the biopic] include... dates moved around, lovers deleted, many characters conflated into one” (Ty Burr).
2. To combine (two variant texts, for example) into one whole.

So "conflated two different things" makes perfect sense.

Criticism, I can accept. I have several regular commenters who primarily speak up when they disagree with me, and I value their opinions. Childish insults, on the other hand, are a waste of my time and a misuse of this website.

Here's another definition for you, "troll": http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/T/troll.html

It explains why you're now banned from posting. (And I will delete your comments if you find a way around the block.) I hope you enjoyed your time here. Cheerio!

Posted by: Joe Grossberg on July 14, 2004 8:51 AM | permalink

No more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.