Why Being a Knob Is Just Being a, well, Knob<tm>


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Anyone know this knob? This is just when it really, really goes South. It is mini-"Peekov" (pronounciation by said Knob). He is relentless, horrible, and the worst thing that one could hope for. He should be killed for the haircut alone. Idea: Take him to a sleazy LA vampire club, and have him done up proper. Meaning, to wake up in a dumpster, with his pubes shaved, reeking of absinthe, and slowly starting to realize that every psychosexual act within grasp has been performed upon him, including wondering why he has weird glow-in-dark vampire fangs super-glued into his mouth. Love the timeline, the whiteboard, the general knob-o-lishishness.

If there was ANY question about why people react strangely to Rand aficianados, this should suffice.

I believe Hunter Thompson once issued a form letter, when Rolling Stone had budding poets send work to him, something to this effect: "If I had the time, I would hunt you down and drive a stake through your forehead."

rde

Welcome to the UberKnob<tm>

Edited by Rich Engle
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Anyone know this knob? This is just when it really, really goes South. It is mini-"Peekov" (pronounciation by said Knob). He is relentless, horrible, and the worst thing that one could hope for. He should be killed for the haircut alone. Idea: Take him to a sleazy LA vampire club, and have him done up proper. Meaning, to wake up in a dumpster, with his pubes shaved, reeking of absinthe, and slowly starting to realize that every psychosexual act within grasp has been performed upon him, including wondering why he has weird glow-in-dark vampire fangs super-glued into his mouth. Love the timeline, the whiteboard, the general knob-o-lishishness.

If there was ANY question about why people react strangely to Rand aficianados, this should suffice.

I believe Hunter Thompson once issued a form letter, when Rolling Stone had budding poets send work to him, something to this effect: "If I had the time, I would hunt you down and drive a stake through your forehead."

rde

Welcome to the UberKnob<tm>

Oh Good Godwin! This reminds me of a diatribe against degenerate Jewish art given by some Nazi curator of art display.

Ba'al Chatzaf

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Heh. I think the worst violation was done at the barber shop, which means no recourse. Yeah, I'm making fun of his hair, but the real fright is his youthful, Nazi-like pedantic antics. It is of the high droning order.

Put it this way: if he was in ministry school, he would never make it past Sermons 101. No enhancement of ideas, too many quote-reads, and flipping the weird peace sign thing he does is not helpful either.

I can only imagine how frightening it has to be if he has somehow got minions--what it is to be one of them. I can only imagine, indeed: "Today, tiddly-wink music and tap-dancing . . . I have issued each of you color-coded Tiddlys<tm>, hammered on your tap shoes, and programmed (insert any dry song of choice) into your iPods: Dance, little monkeys . . . Dance!"

rde

Contemplating sending him a one-way ticket to Florida so I can have the Boys take him down to the Everglades and ditch his sorry self.

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Heh. I think the worst violation was done at the barber shop, which means no recourse. Yeah, I'm making fun of his hair, but the real fright is his youthful, Nazi-like pedantic antics. It is of the high droning order.

Put it this way: if he was in ministry school, he would never make it past Sermons 101. No enhancement of ideas, too many quote-reads, and flipping the weird peace sign thing he does is not helpful either.

I can only imagine how frightening it has to be if he has somehow got minions--what it is to be one of them. I can only imagine, indeed: "Today, tiddly-wink music and tap-dancing . . . I have issued each of you color-coded Tiddlys<tm>, hammered on your tap shoes, and programmed (insert any dry song of choice) into your iPods: Dance, little monkeys . . . Dance!"

rde

Contemplating sending him a one-way ticket to Florida so I can have the Boys take him down to the Everglades and ditch his sorry self.

You are just jealous of his puppy-dog eyes.

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Heh. I think the worst violation was done at the barber shop, which means no recourse. Yeah, I'm making fun of his hair, but the real fright is his youthful, Nazi-like pedantic antics. It is of the high droning order.

Put it this way: if he was in ministry school, he would never make it past Sermons 101. No enhancement of ideas, too many quote-reads, and flipping the weird peace sign thing he does is not helpful either.

I can only imagine how frightening it has to be if he has somehow got minions--what it is to be one of them. I can only imagine, indeed: "Today, tiddly-wink music and tap-dancing . . . I have issued each of you color-coded Tiddlys<tm>, hammered on your tap shoes, and programmed (insert any dry song of choice) into your iPods: Dance, little monkeys . . . Dance!"

rde

Contemplating sending him a one-way ticket to Florida so I can have the Boys take him down to the Everglades and ditch his sorry self.

You are just jealous of his puppy-dog eyes.

Only because I want to lure him into my decompression tank.

rde

I bury puppies daily for .50 a cadaver.

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Subject: World's Most Boring Teacher

Part of being a teacher is you have to be able to avoid having your students become comatose.

Perhaps a few more puke-colored shades of brown or beige so the speaker fades -completely- into the wall?

Drone on in an -even more- flat monotone?

Keep your eyes glued to the text and make -even less- eye contact with the audience?

Hypnosis from the audience staring at that baffling drawing of a straight line with baffling ruler marks or cross-hatching on an empty whiteboard?

--- I was about to fall asleep after 40 seconds, but then I started laughing so hard it woke me up. Sorry, I couldn't make it all the way through.

Edited by Philip Coates
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Subject: World's Most Boring Teacher

Part of being a teacher is you have to be able to avoid having your students become comatose.

Perhaps a few more puke-colored shades of brown or beige so the speaker fades -completely- into the wall?

Drone on in an -even more- flat monotone?

Keep your eyes glued to the text and make -even less- eye contact with the audience?

Hypnosis from the audience staring at that baffling drawing of a straight line with baffling ruler marks or cross-hatching on an empty whiteboard?

--- I was about to fall asleep after 40 seconds, but then I started laughing so hard it woke me up. Sorry, I couldn't make it all the way through.

Sounds like a lecture by Ben Stein.

Ba'al Chatzaf

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--- I was about to fall asleep after 40 seconds, but then I started laughing so hard it woke me up. Sorry, I couldn't make it all the way through.

-Phil

I don't know anyone who has made it all the way through. And the horror of it is that he has made more of these--quite a few more...(shudders, chills run...)

rde

Knob-O-Licious

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This guy is Brandon Cropper.

He has been doing YouTube videos on Objectivism for a long time (about three years or so, I think). He has well over 1,000 videos up, mostly about Objectivism.

Say what you want about him, he's prolific. I think he perfectly embodies the up-tight repressed spirit of the old phrase from NBI days, "Student of Objectivism," to be solemnly used when a person wanted to call himself an "Objectivist."

I wonder what he would do if he read Robert Campbell's criticism of Peikoff's theory of arbitrary cognition, especially since he swallows Peikoff's theory whole as he bashes modern art and tells us--in identical fundy party-line terms--what modern artists "really think." I suspect it would cause him some intellectual indigestion.

Here is a Facebook page giving more information about the man from Utah, Mr. Cropper, if anyone is interested: Brandon Cropper's YouTube Videos Rock.

I don't know if the title means "rock" as in "rock and roll," or if it means "rock" as in being as interesting to watch as a rock on the side of the road.

:)

But hell, anyway. Let's give him some Brownie points for actually doing something. That already puts him way ahead of most others.

I have seen several of his vidoes and I put him in the same category as some other odd offshoots of the Objectivist subcommunity like Paul McKeever. Dogmatic, prolific, conservative, but not totally ARI party line. (To be fair, Cropper is less dogmatic than the other dude.)

And Rich, don't be so down on his grooming. I think he's trying to become Ayn Rand's next intellectual hair. :)

Michael

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Utah. Ah, precisely, yes...yes...

And Rich, don't be so down on his grooming. I think he's trying to become Ayn Rand's next intellectual hair. :)

And here is the gory irony of it: That is just the kind of thing I could see happening. Perhaps we should shave him down further and examine him for The Number of The Beast.

He needs to be chained to a seat in Marilyn Manson's roadie bus and toured like a carny gimp--that crowd would be perplexed, shocked, deeply disturbed.

Edited by Rich Engle
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Shayne,

If you look at it as a teaching style (or preaching style), I guess it is pretty bad.

If you look at it as a kind of video diary of Cropper's reading and thoughts as he goes along, it's actually pretty good (even if I don't agree with him on several issues).

So, please, take my quips as quips, not as spiteful nastiness.

Like I said, at least he is doing something that is all his. And he is doing a lot of it. I respect that.

Michael

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Shayne,

LOL...

I don't imagine you would ever be a fan of Hunter Thompson. Rich writes along those lines.

Sometimes the gonzo style uses nasty comments as literary color, not as actual hate--like "destroy a person" kind of hate. The underlying spirit is benevolent along with a childlike wonder at the daily affairs we all bump into along the way in life. Thompson even had good things to say about Nixon, and Nixon was a favorite target of his way back when.

Call the nasty comments a beatnik kind of crankiness. Definitely not for everyone.

I only really appreciate it when I'm in a quirky mood. But it gets quite funny when I'm in that state. All those metaphors! And I also see some parts of myself reflected that I don't get anywhere else. (Well... maybe some of those parts shouldn't be reflected, but that's another story. :) )

This kind of writing does contribute to the variety of our culture.

Knowing Rich as I do, believe me, if Cropper ever met him in real life and was not pissed to the gills because of this thread, they would probably sit down and have a great discussion.

Michael

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I won't pretend to know how other people interpret things, but I interpreted RDE's comments as positively mean-spirited and in extremely poor taste, almost akin to racism, like a kind of psychological racism. I mean this lecturer is what he is, he isn't going to be able to switch his psychology to match RDE's preferences on a dime, and even if he could that'd be appallingly second-handed.

I noticed something like this at SOLOP. I have a more serious manner, and didn't fit in with all the little jokes and jabs people liked to engage in. To me it looks like mindless and meaningless banter. To them it's some kind of fun thing to do or something (don't ask me to explain it). But I wasn't the one engaging in psychological racism in spite of the fact that I thought that, instead I'm attacked for being too uptight or serious or something.

Shayne

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Knowing Rich as I do, believe me, if Cropper ever met him in real life and was not pissed to the gills because of this thread, they would probably sit down and have a great discussion.

No.

I would take his books away from him, shave him down, and throw him into the trailer park to let the locals eat him. Well, actually, that is not all the way true, procedurally speaking. First, I would talk him into "my way of thinking," which would involve forcing him to down at least a half-bottle of green Chartreuse, and having him listen to some kind of foul YouTube videos, over and over again. Maybe The Residents, or Captain Beefheart, or, if I were feeling particularly inhospitable, one of those "Celtic Women" videos. Sporadically, I would say to him over-and-over again, in a meaningful manner "Nietzsche...yeah, Nietzsche..." He would find all these things, suddenly, strangely fascinating. His little Thing would get hard, despite years of engineering by the monks who make that foul liquour. Protein is important, after all, so I would, before he went into the full funk, make him amble across the street to the Circle K and "bring back hotdogs for the crew."

Of course there is that part where you scold them about "not bringing back blueberry slushies, I don't give a fucq if the machine was broke" section but this, really, is purely optional and open to circumstance.

This part is mostly because I have, courtesy of my violinist, a certain variety of Russian Mustard that will pretty much go into your mouth and then proceed to dig its way to China.

Then, and only then, would I throw him into the killing fields. They would rip the quarters out of his pockets and make him listen to the bad radio stations for hours. After that, he would "fall in love" with the local fatty, copulate, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

The deep crotch-itching would start sometime within 48 hours, one would hope, but timing is always dicey in these matters.

He would wake up in Soutwest FL's Regional airport, with a very large credit-card receipt for various items that he did not have in his possession, and, if I was feeling randy, a one-way ticket to somewhere nasty, like Buffalo.

The move there when you stick him into the plane is have one of those "I've Been To The Everglades!" Pins and ram it through his left nipple; right through his button-up beige shirt.

Were there anything left of him, he would have enough "rational reason" to board, and we would all be done with the problem.

rde

I Help People.

Edited by Rich Engle
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I noticed something like this at SOLOP. I have a more serious manner, and didn't fit in with all the little jokes and jabs people liked to engage in. To me it looks like mindless and meaningless banter. To them it's some kind of fun thing to do or something (don't ask me to explain it).

Shayne,

To get on the same wavelength with them, you have to get in touch with your inner bullying bigot. (I don't mean all SLOPPERS, but you know who I mean.) If you don't have an inner bullying bigot to get in touch with, it's hard to see that.

For the gonzo stuff, you have to turn back the clock a bit and get in touch with your inner brat.

:)

Michael

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I won't pretend to know how other people interpret things, but I interpreted RDE's comments as positively mean-spirited and in extremely poor taste, almost akin to racism, like a kind of psychological racism. I mean this lecturer is what he is, he isn't going to be able to switch his psychology to match RDE's preferences on a dime, and even if he could that'd be appallingly second-handed.

That's why I get the big bucks, baby. See you in L.A. this November?

rde

Damn I love Good Reviews

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I won't pretend to know how other people interpret things, but I interpreted RDE's comments as positively mean-spirited and in extremely poor taste, almost akin to racism, like a kind of psychological racism. I mean this lecturer is what he is, he isn't going to be able to switch his psychology to match RDE's preferences on a dime, and even if he could that'd be appallingly second-handed.

That's why I get the big bucks, baby. See you in L.A. this November?

I'd have what he's having but I'm afraid of the police.

Shayne

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Subject: Snarkdoggery vs. Occasional Satire

Shayne, I think you raise three issues:

> this lecturer is what he is, he isn't going to be able to switch his psychology to match RDE's preferences on a dime

Satire and ridicule are valid forms, when they are well-directed. And just reacting with amusement and roars of laughter at something over the top is a natural and appropriate human reaction This guy is a -terrible- lecturer and he does capture something that is so often found among pointy-headed "out of it" Oists. Sometimes ridicule is the thing that gets through, just knowing how many listeners feel can be valuable. Changing immediately or 'on a dime' is not realistic, sort of a straw man.

> I noticed something like this at SOLOP...all the little jokes and jabs people liked to engage in. To me it looks like mindless and meaningless banter. To them it's some kind of fun thing to do or something.

That's a different issue. It's not just at SOLOP. You will find certain posters who have that style here. To me the issue is not the occasional jibe or banter (or even ridicule), but three other issues: i) is it fair, is there an element of truth to it? ii) is it constant, or done in such a way that one is not a serious person about serious issues? iii) is it a cover for hostility, a way of taking a shot at someone when you don't care to or are inadequate to answer the points that were made?

> I thought that, instead I'm attacked for being too uptight or serious or something.

What people say they are criticizing you for may or may not be what's really at root. For example, when I was over at SoloP, Linz coined the term 'schoolmarm' for my giving a lecture to the Wolfpack about how they were treating Sciabarra unfairly or whatever other issue was on the table. Those who picked up the term were able to deflect the focus from the points and arguments and evidence I was offering to a tangential issue, of my -manner- of presenting arguments and evidence.

If this were conscious and deliberate, it would be evasion. But with many of the pack members the snarkiness and making a joke are subconscious. Their emotions tell them it's all hugely funny because that masks self-doubt or inadequacy -- an inability to deal with the serious issues and not wanting to feel you've been 'bested' in an argument. Sometimes there is a legitimate issue they are criticizing, such as if one is too abrasive or pedantic. But more often that is something to pounce on, a nit to pick, a way to shift the topic. Their -emotions- tell them that that side issue is really the crucial one, and their subconscious fools them into considering that the overriding area they want to focus on right now. In two words, it's a defense mechanism.

It's not immoral or dishonest, but it's a neurotic or not entirely psychologically healthy thing. We all have some defenses from time to time, but for the "SnarkDog" it has maetastatized. When someone is always doing it, he's getting a lot of mileage out of it psychologically. It's much more than "aw, I'm just having a little fun."

Hence all the little cartoons and crude jokes and undercutting and lack of seriousness and trying to humiliate so predominantly. (I'm not talking about any one person or people on only one discussion board.)

Edited by Philip Coates
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What’s the big deal here? YouTube provides a forum for every kind of amateur and crank, this one’s nothing special, and isn’t even interesting. My favourite is a sedevacantist who posts loony talks about how the papacy is vacant and Vatican II was a Communist conspiracy. But here let’s stick to Ayn Rand commentary. There’s a new series up by David Duke where he opines about Rand, here’s a quote that serves as a fair summary:

"[Rand’s characterization of collectivism is]one more Jewish originated idea, practiced by non-Jews, that will lead us to our destruction as a people."

3 minutes in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI79csbHKfo

And here’s another new face, I can’t watch more than 30 seconds though. I mean really, have some self respect man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LBXD_vaY4c

Oh hell, you gotta hear some of this Catholic nut:

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Vatican II was heavily influenced by marxists, fellow travelers, and useful idiots. Look at the "Liberation Theology" produced by marxist Jesuits.

I won’t debate that, I was only sharing this because it’s so funny. “That’s apostasy, that’s anti-christ!” Check out his channel, he’s very prolific, and the videos are fairly well produced.

Try the one's on the Fatima conspiracy/cover-up, and Dinesh D'Souza.

Edited by Ninth Doctor
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The shirtless dude talking about Peikoff is at his peak when he says "you really have to accept nature, don't you?"

Yeah, I guess so, including, in this case, pasty white skin and hairy man-boobs. I was becoming afraid that he was going to take it up a notch after that. Would the carpet match the curtain? What on EARTH was he thinking? I'm figuring maybe he is trying to attract females. Or other males. Or small apes, maybe.

Jeez.

rde

Today's special word is "boobylicious"

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