Random Noise #15 : Noises In Noyes's Poetry.


What is a noise, that it annoys us so?

Noise is, in a given situation,  any sound or sounds which one or more listeners consider to be any of: irrelevant, unwanted, intrusive, distracting, irrelevant or annoying.  By analogy, dots, blots, graininess and such may be considered to be visual noise.

Noise is a barrier to communication: whether it be the babble of the market-place or the hiss in an old recording, most of us would rather filter it out.

Little Pigeon-Boxes

It seems to be a universal characteristic of humans that we like to label each other, often in simplistic binary fashion.  Friend or foe, left-wing or right-wing, smart or dumb, sane or psycho, we never seem to run out of pigeonholes into which we can stuff people like socks in a drawer.

Like socks in a drawer?  What is the connection between socks in a drawer and pigeon-holes?

When Things Smell A Funny Color


I have often heard people in Britain say in jest something like:

"I don't like that, it smells a funny color."


From time to time our senses play tricks with our brains, and we 'hear' or 'smell' colors. 
Such switching of sensory modalities and perception is called synaesthesia.

Synaesthesia is a neurological condition that often involves a ‘blending of the senses’. It is thought to affect less than 1% of the population, and people experience it in a variety of ways.

Random Noise #14 : Colorless Green Syntax

Formal grammar is heavily based in syntax.  It is possible to generate sentences by using word lists and rules in a computer program, but the output rarely makes much sense and can be exceedingly funny.

By ignoring syntax whilst chaining words together based on the frequency with which words follow one another, one can build an interesting 'sentence'.  The most famous such chain is Noam Chomsky's 'colorless green ideas sleep furiously'.  It obeys the rules of syntax but it makes no sense.

The Real Ira Hayes

The world's largest statue is a bronze sculpture 110 feet high.
It depicts six Marines.  Each figure is about 32 feet tall.
They are hoisting an American flag on the island of Iwo Jima.

I would like to introduce my readers to an artist who has painted a wonderful version of this iconic image.  He has also written an article about the real Ira Hayes to go with his painting.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to contact him through his website for further information.

The Buzzword Blog #4 : Irrational

What does 'irrational' mean?

The term 'irrational' is too often just another  buzzword.  It is used very loosely, even by scientists, to imply that somebody has formed an opinion without thinking about it 'properly'.