{"id":8065,"date":"2011-04-01T13:02:10","date_gmt":"2011-04-01T17:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=8065"},"modified":"2011-04-01T13:02:10","modified_gmt":"2011-04-01T17:02:10","slug":"ineffable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/ineffable\/","title":{"rendered":"Ineffable"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[For information about this image, see the note<\/a> at the foot of this post.]<\/em><\/p>\n

From whiskey river<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

There it is; the light across the water. Your story. Mine. His. It has to be seen to be believed. And it has to be heard. In the endless babble of narrative, in spite of the daily noise, the story waits to be heard.<\/p>\n

Some people say that the best stories have no words. It is true that words drop away, and that the important things are often left unsaid. The important things are learned in faces, in gestures, not in our locked tongues. The true things are too big or too small, or in any case always the wrong size to fit in the template called language.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Jeanette Winterson)<\/p>\n

…and<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Magic Mountain<\/strong><\/p>\n

A book opens. People come out, bend
\nthis way and talk, ponder, love, wander around
\nwhile pages turn. Where did the plot go?
\nWhy did someone sing just as the train
\nwent by? Here come chapters with landscape all over
\nwhatever happens when people meet. Now
\na quiet part: a hospital glows in the dark.
\nI don’t think that woman with the sad gray eyes
\nwill ever come back. And what does it mean when
\nthe Italian has so many ideas? Maybe
\na war is coming. The book is ending. Everyone
\nhas a little tremolo in them; all
\nare going to die and it’s cold and the snow, and the
\nclear air. They took someone away. It’s ending,
\nthe book is ending. But I thought — never mind. It
\ncloses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(William Stafford, The Way It Is<\/em>)<\/p>\n

…and<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The invisible and imponderable is the sole fact.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Not from whiskey river<\/em>:<\/p>\n

I discern a practical apparatus for seeing through a wire; i.e., a device for looking into a receiver at one end of a metallic wire and seeing therein a faithful reproduction of whatever optical images are impressed on a transmitter at the other end, even though thousands of miles intervene. I see the possible use of the step-down transformer for the preparation of a roadbed or road surface by the vitrification, in situ<\/em>, of clay or other suitable soil, by the intense heating power of enormous currents of electricity.<\/p>\n

These things I believe I see with fair distinctness. In the farther background I faintly see, dimly outlined through the clouds, an apparatus for the automatic registration of unwritten, unspoken thought, and its accurate reproduction at any indefinite time afterwards.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Edwin J. Houston, “The Edge of the Future in Science,” McClure’s Magazine<\/em>, vol. 2, 1894 [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

\n

“I cannot jump the distance, you’ll have to toss me!
\n… Don’t tell the elf.”<\/em>
\n— Gimli, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Hilarity Ensues<\/a> because a character must perform an act that is either against their nature or which they have vehemently and constantly protested against doing. Said action can also be just plain humiliating or all of the above — to all parties, perhaps. When this act is aided or witnessed, a character insists that either they must all never speak of this again, ever; or that a specific person who is guaranteed to ride them never hears of it.<\/p>\n

This trope can be used to introduce a Noodle Incident<\/a>, with one character reminding the other they promised never to speak of that again.
\n…
\nIn the film version of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers<\/em> Gimli says the above quote before having Aragorn use him in a Fastball Special<\/a> (a reference to a scene in the first movie in which he objected to being thrown by Legolas.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(from the TV Tropes<\/em> site, regarding the “Let Us Never Speak of This Again” trope<\/a>)<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

Sonnet 23<\/strong><\/p>\n

As an unperfect actor on the stage,
\nWho with his fear is put besides his part,
\nOr some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
\nWhose strength’s abundance weakens his own heart;
\nSo I for fear of trust, forget to say,
\nThe perfect ceremony of love’s right,
\nAnd in mine own love’s strength seem to decay,
\nOre-charged with burden of mine own love’s might:
\nO let my books be then the eloquence,
\nAnd dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
\nWho plead for love, and look for recompense,
\nMore than that tongue that more hath more expressed.
\nO learn to read what silent love hath writ,<\/span>
\nTo hear with eyes belongs to love’s fine wit.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(William Shakespeare [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

I can’t decide if the band name “Dashboard Confessional” is a beautifully allusive metaphor or just a gimmick— Well, okay, never mind. I see, per Wikipedia<\/a>, that it comes from the lyrics to their song “The Sharp Hint of New Tears”: “On the way home \/ this car hears my confessions. \/ I think tonight I’ll take the long way.” So I guess it does say something. Beautifully allusive metaphor after all.<\/p>\n

Here’s the video to “Don’t Wait,” from their 2006 album Dusk and Summer<\/em>. (Lyrics, as usual, below the video.) If you’d prefer a version more in keeping with the theme of today’s post, you might want to check out the “interpretive dance” version<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Lyrics:<\/p>\n

Don’t Wait<\/em><\/strong>
\n(Dashboard Confessional)<\/em><\/p>\n

The sky glows
\nI see it shining when my eyes close
\nI hear your warnings but we both know
\nI’m gonna look at it again<\/p>\n

Don’t wait, Don’t wait
\nThe road is now a sudden sea
\nAnd suddenly, you’re deep enough
\nTo lay your armor down
\nTo lay your armor down
\nTo lay your armor down<\/p>\n

You get one look
\nI’ll show you something that the knife took.
\nA bit to early for my own good
\nNow let’s not speak of it again<\/p>\n

Don’t wait, Don’t wait
\nThe road is now a sudden sea
\nAnd suddenly, you’re deep enough
\nTo lay your armor down
\nTo lay your armor down
\nTo lay your armor down<\/p>\n

Don’t wait, Don’t wait
\nThe lights will flash and fade away
\nThe days will pass you by
\nDon’t wait
\nTo lay your armor down
\nTo lay your armor down…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

________________________
\n<\/a>
\nAbout this image: <\/strong>according to its caption on Ville Miettinen’s (willi_hybrid) Flickr photostream<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Polar Star<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our icebreaker Polar Star somewhere on the Antarctic Peninsula. We ended up on this vessel after our original ship, Ocean Nova, got into an accident on the Antarctica. Also, we got a brand new captain, as the previous one hurt himself badly in a storm when crossing Drake’s Passage. March 2009.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A label alongside the photo says:<\/p>\n

This photo was taken on September 27, 2009 in a mysterious place with no name.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[back to top<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[For information about this image, see the note at the foot of this post.] From whiskey river: There it is; the light across the water. Your story. Mine. His. It has to be seen to be believed. And it has to be heard. In the endless babble of narrative, in spite of the daily noise, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[247,1393,74,196,250,5,36,251,372],"tags":[225,1345,1496,2291,2292,2293,2294,2295,2296,2297,2298,2299,2300],"class_list":{"0":"post-8065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ruminations","7":"category-whiskey-river-runningaftermyhat","8":"category-music","9":"category-television","10":"category-art","11":"category-06_writing","12":"category-reading","13":"category-poetry-writing_cat","14":"category-style-and-craft","15":"tag-shakespeare","16":"tag-william-stafford","17":"tag-jeanette-winterson","18":"tag-polar-star","19":"tag-antarctica","20":"tag-the-magic-mountain","21":"tag-ralph-waldo-emerson","22":"tag-prognostication","23":"tag-mcclures-magazine","24":"tag-lord-of-the-rings","25":"tag-gimli","26":"tag-dashboard-confessional","27":"tag-ville-miettinen","28":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-265","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8066,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8065\/revisions\/8066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}