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"If we fail to
cultivate wonder we risk missing the very heart of what is going on."
- Eugene Peterson
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The Absurd
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Technical DifficultiesWe apologize as we are currently experiencing a few technical problems (registration and some sections). The good news is these problems are the pre-cursor to a new site we are working on (both in design and philosophy). In the short term, we hope to fix these problems soon. Thanks for your patience. Most Popular (Absurd)REDNOW FAVORITES 2007 LISTS
About "The Absurd"When we think of the wondrous and the mysterious we often think of the deep and the profound. The deep and the profound obviously create a sense of wonder in us and move us in ways that we can't explain. But there is another aspect of wonder that often gets overlooked-the ABSURD. In the same way that there are things that move us because of their profundity and beauty, there are other things that move us to a joy that cannot be intellectualized, a sense of enjoyment that has no explanation. The author G.K. Chesterton describes this inability to explain these things that move us to joy as the "problem of pleasure." "Why is sex fun? Reproduction surely doesn't require pleasure: Some animals simply split in half to reproduce, and even humans use methods of artificial insemination that involve no pleasure. Why is eating enjoyable? Plants and the lower animals manage to obtain their quota of nutrients without the luxury of taste buds. Why are there colors? Some people get along fine without the ability to detect color. Why complicate vision for all the rest of us?" It is this pleasure and joy that we cannot begin to explain (why the lip gloss song is so catchy, why Strong Bad's randomness is so funny, why Sufjan's costumes and inflatable props make the concert so much more than a concert, etc.) that we hope you can experience in the Absurd section of this site. There are many times when exploring mystery and wonder expand our understanding... but there are also times when we must revel in the absurdity and let a piece of art, a song, a video, etc. simply be what it is and to enjoy it at that level. Welcome to the Absurd section of rednow. |
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Remember the very first 8-pixel video games? So does Guillaume Reymond, a Swiss artist who created these stop-motion videos of the old school video games Pong, Space Invaders, Pole Position and Tetris as a part of his 
American folk music has been mother of metaphor for hundreds of years, creating some of the most beautiful metaphors in the English language. But seriously, there is a bear in the field.
It's amazing what some fun music and intermittent slow motion face shots can make one believe. I didn't realize that this type of advertisement had become such apart of our culture that without any critical thought I immediately responded to the signifiers that I'd obvious seen before (the music and type of camera shots and method of mixing a narrator with personal statements). If this ad had come on TV and I wasn't paying specific attention to it, I never would've realize that it was a satire.
Muttonopoly?!?! Come on, that's funny... check out the faux ad for the game, it's even funnier. (Vegans may want to skip this one).
