Ayn Rand and the Super Bowl

[syrakusos]

It is Super Bowl week-end, and, obsessive Ayn Rand fanatic that I am, I got to wondering: what did Ayn Rand think about football?

What did Ayn Rand think of table tennis. Or women's field hockey?

How did she evaluate hot dogs versus hamburgers; and what would she have said about ketchup on hotdogs? Honestly, some gourmets think that good ground beef deserves only a proper blend of mayonnaise and mustard. It is not clear if that is a mixed premise.

[Dennis Hardin]

It is Super Bowl week-end, and, obsessive Ayn Rand fanatic that I am, I got to wondering: what did Ayn Rand think about football?

What did Ayn Rand think of table tennis. Or women's field hockey?

How did she evaluate hot dogs versus hamburgers; and what would she have said about ketchup on hotdogs? Honestly, some gourmets think that good ground beef deserves only a proper blend of mayonnaise and mustard. It is not clear if that is a mixed premise.

I really don’t know the answers to all your questions. Personally, I think you’re silly to worry so much about what Ayn Rand thought about all these minor little things. Why don’t you get a life? Oh well, since you are so desperate to know about Rand’s likes and dislikes, here are Harry Binwanger’s recollections on “Ayn Rand and Scrabble”:

When I got to know her best, I used to go over to play Scrabble with her. And I just thought you would like to know what kind of Scrabble player this genius, ruthless Egoist was. She played cooperative Scrabble. She said, “Do you want me not to go there?” “Were you planning to go there, because I don’t want to mess up what you’re doing.” She was not competitive – she was cooperative. And I reciprocated.

Harry Binswanger on Ayn Rand and Scrabble

According to Charles and Mary Ann Sures (Facets of Ayn Rand), she liked Godiva chocolates. Also, blue-green was her favorite color. There was no mention about whether she preferred guys who wore boxers or briefs.

Ayn Rand was just a human being, after all. Try to keep things in perspective.

Edited February 20, 2011 by Dennis Hardin

[Philip Coates]

> I really don’t know the answers to all your questions. Personally, I think you’re silly to worry so much..... [Dennis]

I think you missed (or just didn't acknowledge) that M was being satirical. Or that it was a clever post.

[Jerry Biggers]

I wonder: Does it really make a person feel superior to write “clever” posts that insult people who don’t share your interests? What a silly, pointless waste of time.

Certainly not. We should all write serious posts that advance ideas and positions that carefully avoid anything that could be misconstrued. We should certainly not write anything that would cause other posters to examine the premises (whoever came up with that idea, anyway?!) of any positions (especially those that they may regard as untouchable "sacred idols") that they have taken in their own posts. We certainly should not even make the slightest implication that such preferences might have led them out onto thin ice.

No, this is never done on this forum.

And when someone attempts to use satire or hyperbole on these "untouchable" subjects, we should respond by psychologizing that that poster must have done it out of a sense of superiority and/or silliness (I mean, what other explanations could there be?).

Sacred idols are sacred idols (a proposition that has greatly benefitted mankind).

So, to avoid any misunderstandings in the future, posters should first check to make sure that any attempts at humor do not exceed the examples laid out in OPAR.

Well, Harry, since you were the literary spawn of Graham Greene, a master of social satire, I should have known better than to take anything you said seriously. All those smiley faces should have been my clue.

Incidentally, I liked you better when you got reincarnated as Michael Rennie.

Considering the state of the world, this nation, Objectivists/libertarians in general, ARIan/Peikovians/Hsiehkovians/Perigonians in particular, - if I kept all my posts serious, I might lose whatever tenuous grasp of reality that I have left. So don't expect my comments on sports to reflect any more sanity than is present in the behavior of (some of) its participants.

Kinda prefer Orson to Michael. With the exception of Rennie as Klaatu. I wasn't aware that there had been a TV series based on The Third Man. I'll have to check that out. On the other hand, Michael Rennie managed throughout his career to continue to look like, well, Michael Rennie. Whereas, Orson sort of, er, "metamorphed" by the time he got to Touch of Evil(1958).

[Dennis Hardin]

Kinda prefer Orson to Michael. With the exception of Rennie as Klaatu. I wasn't aware that there had been a TV series based on The Third Man. I'll have to check that out. On the other hand, Michael Rennie managed throughout his career to continue to look like, well, Michael Rennie. Whereas, Orson sort of, er, "metamorphed" by the time he got to Touch of Evil(1958).

He sure did. He metamorphosed into Sydney Greenstreet.

My mom used to love Michael Rennie, and I remember watching the show with her back in the 60s. I'm not sure how many seasons the show lasted, but it had a terrific opening theme and a very exotic feel to it. I think the Harry Lime character was only loosely based on the one created by Graham Greene.

[Dennis Hardin]

> I really don’t know the answers to all your questions. Personally, I think you’re silly to worry so much..... [Dennis]

I think you missed (or just didn't acknowledge) that M was being satirical. Or that it was a clever post.

Abandonnez l’espoir, tout ceux qui entrant ici.

Boxers or briefs?

Disbelief is my only refuge.

[Selene]

> I really don't know the answers to all your questions. Personally, I think you're silly to worry so much..... [Dennis]

I think you missed (or just didn't acknowledge) that M was being satirical. Or that it was a clever post.

Abandonnez l'espoir, tout ceux qui entrant ici.

Boxers or briefs?

Disbelief is my only refuge.

None of the Above!

The Male Commando Movement

[caroljane]

> I really don't know the answers to all your questions. Personally, I think you're silly to worry so much..... [Dennis]

I think you missed (or just didn't acknowledge) that M was being satirical. Or that it was a clever post.

Abandonnez l'espoir, tout ceux qui entrant ici.

Boxers or briefs?

Disbelief is my only refuge.

None of the Above!

The Male Commando Movement

What are you, some kind of weird Italian Scotsman?

Jeez, even wss wears pants even if he puts them away in strange places.

[kiaer.ts]

> I really don't know the answers to all your questions. Personally, I think you're silly to worry so much..... [Dennis]

I think you missed (or just didn't acknowledge) that M was being satirical. Or that it was a clever post.

Abandonnez l'espoir, tout ceux qui entrant ici.

Boxers or briefs?

Disbelief is my only refuge.

That's "entrent," if you want to use a third person plural verb. You should probably stick with the vous form of the verb to be consistent. And tout is singular - you need a plural form. But a frog would have understood your meaning nonetheless.

I recently sang the Marseillaise to my three-year-old nephew who often asks me to "talk funny" - by which he means in some foreign language. He loves it when I speak Spanish or Zulu. But in this case he threw a fit and would not be consoled.