Word: superhumanize
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...tough going, but salvation did eventually come. First working the superhuman task of reviving a crowd dead in a glorified gym, Perry and friends rumbled through adequate renditions of a speed-metal-like "Ain't No Right," "Then She Did" and a well-punctuated "Stop!" Compared to the superb later fare, all this would in fact seem somewhat haphazard, even throwaway, but the imperative of regaining the audience's attention made it all worthwhile. By that odd slower, leisurely drum-pulsed section in "Stop!" the crowd was about as enthused as one could reasonably expect them...
Aside from that sacrilegious entreaty, there were no other interuptions from the attentive audience. Curiously, Stereolab are not exactly the superhuman figures the crowd makes them out to be. Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier, the principals of Stereolab, are, in fact, decidedly normal. Indeed, there's something supremely understated about the group, something peculiarly subtle about them that not only begs for an answer, but apparently has the power to make even crowds docile...
...myth Hercules was a tragic figure: born with the strength to strangle serpents in his cradle, but with far less than the normal quotient of self-control, he kills his wife Megara and their three children in an inexplicable fit of rage and is condemned to perform his superhuman feats as a way of atonement. There's a lesson here, maybe, about the disproportion between human ability--mental or muscular--and our capacity for moral reflection. But in the movie the tormented demigod becomes "Herc," an ultra-buff teenage superstar who adores "Meg" and addresses the Great Goddess Hera...
...more profound needs weren't being met as well. At its core, the Myth is a secular way to give the universe meaning, and humanity a renewed place at the head of the table: not only are we not alone, not only are the skies populated by superhuman beings, but their visits here are prima facie evidence that we are of some consuming interest. In Saler's words, the Roswell Myth is "an effort to put enchantment back in nature." UFOlogists, he says, "are employing idioms of science in what is really a romantic pursuit. I find that fascinating, even...
...tough when you're on the same staff as Tasha Cupp, your classmate and superhuman lefthanded pitcher. But this past weekend, it was Brown's day to shine...