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Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019) and AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021).

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Where's Professor Chaos when you need him?

In the post that I linked to yesterday, Steve Leiva sez:
Last summer while attending one of KJAZ’s fabulous and free outdoor concerts at the Hollywood-Highland complex here in Los Angeles, something happened that put in perspective for me exactly why we need heroes in our popular entertainment—whether super or just extremely competent in fast cars. My wife and I were listening to the fine music of the Downtown Jazz Project when four young women sitting directly behind us began to talk loud enough for us to have joined in the joy of one anticipating her upcoming wedding, and commensurate with another about the vicious politics at her office. Despite this being an outdoor concert where people may feel freer to chit and chat than they would if they were in a concert hall, I found the women to be exceedingly rude and discourteous.
He then goes on to share his pet fantasies about how various action heroes or superheroes would have handled the situation.

I could have done with the help of a supervillain at the tennis last night. The women's singles and men's doubles finals were both enthralling, but the pleasure was diminished to a degree by the bloke a few seats up who insisted on blathering away at the top of his voice even during points. Where's Professor Chaos when you need him?

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