Word: absurder
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Amid its shortcomings, the script of "Showboat" does have its moments. A particularly witty scene--in fact, the funniest in the entire show--presents a satirical parody of "showboat" theater, the kind of absurd melodrama that makes the framing drama look great in comparison, and reaches its pinnacle of hilarity with Cap'n Andy's spirited one-man enactment of the denouement and the wonderful punchline: "Curtain! No refunds." And the irresistible swing of "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" will have you humming or whistling it before you exit the theater. No wonder that song, along with...
When the prosecution's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing trial made this observation about his close friend Timothy McVeigh a few weeks ago, he provoked gasps and nervous laughter in the courtroom. The remark was absurd--an amazing, morally obtuse Yogi Berra-ism. And yet it serves as a perfect summary of the argument the defense must now make in order to save McVeigh's life...
...News ranking was not the only judgment that Harvard deemed absurd...
Winning at chess, of course, is much harder than adding numbers. But when you think about it carefully, the idea that Deep Blue has a mind is absurd. How can an object that wants nothing, fears nothing, enjoys nothing, needs nothing and cares about nothing have a mind? It can win at chess, but not because it wants to. It isn't happy when it wins or sad when it loses. What are its apres-match plans if it beats Kasparov? Is it hoping to take Deep Pink out for a night on the town? It doesn't care about...
Insecurity? Nobody believes me when I say this, but journalists have been the single most insecure group of human beings since God, as a gag, invented the Chicago Cubs. Nobody believes me when I say this because (I'll concede) it seems absurd. Peter Jennings, whose haircut costs more than your monthly car payment, insecure? Diane Sawyer, whose haircut costs more than Peter Jennings' monthly car payment, unsure of herself? All those reporters who race to the scene of an airplane crash and shove their tape recorders in the faces of the survivors and ask them how they feel--those...