The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#1

Post by davidw » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 9:33 PM UTC

The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read
roughtype.com

Re: The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#2

Post by pius » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 9:42 PM UTC

Mike Arrington seems like a nice enough guy, but the quoted sentence does have a certain, rather chilling, Ellsworth Toohey flavor to it.

Re: The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#3

Post by henning » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 9:47 PM UTC

When you start sounding like Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, you know something is wrong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-hUkO13Fy8

Re: The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#4

Post by jsjenkins168 » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 9:53 PM UTC

That sentence is taken out of context.

Reading the whole post, it is clear that Arrington is referring the importance of recorded music in monetary terms, not artistic.

Re: The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#5

Post by dkokelley » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 10:16 PM UTC

Suggested revision: A significant function of recorded music is to provide marketing material to drive awareness of the recorded music.

Basically it means it's supposed to promote itself. It's also a final product, and it has a very measurable value.

Re: The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#6

Post by pg » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 10:19 PM UTC

jsjenkins168 wrote: post #4

That sentence is taken out of context. Reading the whole post, it is clear that Arrington is referring the importance of recorded music in monetary terms, not artistic.

I agree. Between the two, Arrington seems closer to the truth. Pretty cheesy to quote him twice like that.

Re: The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#7

Post by bmaier » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 10:23 PM UTC

He mistakes a mistaken analogy. The poets that he names are not selling out live readings and the sculptors are not putting on live creation events.

When it comes to music, yes, a concert tour is more profitable for the artist than their recorded music is. This is the one difference between musicians and other artists.

While I don't completely agree with Arrington, I do believe that this blog post calling it the saddest stupidest sentence ever is guilty of the same sensationalism that Arrington is.

Re: The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#8

Post by razorburn » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 10:26 PM UTC

jsjenkins168 wrote: post #4

That sentence is taken out of context. Reading the whole post, it is clear that Arrington is referring the importance of recorded music in monetary terms, not artistic.

Out of context? Sorry, saying something is "nothing but" means that your saying it's "nothing but."

Re: The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#9

Post by pg » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 11:03 PM UTC

razorburn wrote: post #8

jsjenkins168 wrote: post #4

That sentence is taken out of context. Reading the whole post, it is clear that Arrington is referring the importance of recorded music in monetary terms, not artistic.

Out of context? Sorry, saying something is "nothing but" means that your saying it's "nothing but."

Context changes the meaning of every phrase, including that, and often implicitly.

Re: The saddest, stupidest sentence I've ever read

#10

Post by sabat » Sun, Mar 23, 2008, 11:13 PM UTC

I suppose a song is a physical object, then. I get it now.