April 20, 2006

Nervous attention

Yesterday I recorded a short interview for Weekend America in which I play "Rock, Paper, Anything" against cohost Bill Radke. It may air this weekend, it may not, it may end up being rerecorded for another week -- not sure. In any case, I thought readers might enjoy seeing the sign that greeted me as I entered the building:

attention.jpg

I love "As many as 28 or more". Maybe you've seen 28 cameras and you think you know where all our cameras are, well, you don't know nothin'. Really, this is a silly thing to say to a completist like me, because the first thing I thought was "How do I get myself taped by all of them?"

I also enjoyed "As you enter this building, you are warned...", which implies that this sign is not the warning, merely an advisory that as soon as you get through the door, there will be someone there to deliver the actual warning in person. Sadly, this was not the case.

Posted by Francis at 09:17 AM
Comments

*brain explodes from trying to comprehend "as many as X or more"*

That sign? Is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: Trip at April 20, 2006 10:28 AM

Don't you love the construction, "as many as 28 or more"?

Mathematically that means, "less than or equal to or more than 28", i.e., a completely unconstrained number of cameras.

I can see why they would have phrased it that way, but the end result is verbose and uninformative.

Posted by: Virge at April 20, 2006 10:51 AM

Yes, it's a truly wonderful turn of phrase, usable for many situations in which one would like to cover all possibilities -- for instance, "The war in Iraq will end in at most one year or more."

Posted by: Francis at April 20, 2006 01:08 PM

I have no problem with "...you are warned...". Imagine inserting the word "hereby" after "are"; then you certainly wouldn't expect someone else ahead to warn you. "Warn" is performative language, in which the utterance (or other communication) of the sentence is the very act described.

"As many as 28 or more" is indeed simultaneously sensible and nonsensical. Wonderful indeed.

Actually, on rereading, maybe it's not the warning that's true as you enter the building. Perhaps, just perhaps, let me warn you that, as you enter the building, 28 video cameras will be taping your entrance. FROM EVERY ANGLE IMAGINABLE. Please do not step on the one embedded in the floor.

Posted by: Lance at April 21, 2006 04:42 AM

I wouldn't have a problem with "you are warned" if it weren't preceded by "as you enter the building".

Posted by: Francis at April 21, 2006 09:14 AM

Man, how'd you get that picture? I was there last time I was in NYC and took my camera out to be told to put it away ...

You must be stealthier than me.

Of course, maybe it was just that my camera would have been #29.

Posted by: Erin at April 21, 2006 01:29 PM

I guess I look less like a terrorist than you do.

Posted by: Francis at April 21, 2006 03:18 PM

I do hope you used your stage voice to project to all up to 28 or more cameras. And were you voguing (in >=

I once blogged about a hotel pool sign that mentioned "swim ware". Now I get hits from people who Google things like "swim where." Crappy signs...I love 'em so.

Posted by: Orange at April 21, 2006 06:33 PM

If it is true that a camera steals part of your soul, as many as 28 or more cameras should leave you pretty much soulless. What's it feel like?

Rock smashes Surveillance Camera. Paper covers the lens of Surveillance Camera. Surveillance Camera basically sucks.

Posted by: RichM at April 21, 2006 10:51 PM

My kid's only in kindergarten, and he's already learned (or coined?) the concept of "Rock, Paper, Gun." (Public schools these days...sheesh!) (And I had to backspace to put the L in public. Sheesh!)

Posted by: Orange at April 22, 2006 10:52 PM

My friends and I took to "Rock, Paper, Anything" like a simile takes to a cliche. I beat Trish's "Tom Cruise Getting Mad At That Reporter" with my "Ceiling Fan", but Joe beat my "Staple Remover" with a "Third Grader". There was much laughing.

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