Tom, smoking is too bad to be advertized

Laura Braun   Sat Oct 25, 2008 7:00 pm GMT
You know while I was walking on the streets of a small city somewhere : it was wonderful spring evening, but nobody was outside, because all people were busy ...watching TV shows and probably eating pop corns. How those people live, Tom. They grew up with tv. Their minds accept only the reality shown on tv. It's live the biggest manipulation ever.
Tom   Sat Oct 25, 2008 7:20 pm GMT
Jasper: I moved our accent discussion here:
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t11984.htm
Another Guest   Sat Oct 25, 2008 11:09 pm GMT
You didn't use "advertize" quite right, and unless you're commenting on apparent health, you should say "look good", rather than "look well".
ex-Guest   Sat Oct 25, 2008 11:33 pm GMT
Laura, why are you assuming that it will make people want to smoke. It's just as likely that seeing a picture like that will make people think 'wow, I don't want to end up like this guy, I'd better not smoke'. Not saying Tom ain't cool or anything, but just food for thought.
Guest   Sun Oct 26, 2008 1:39 am GMT
Laura Braun is definitely a troll. Nobody is this stupid.
Laura Braun   Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:55 am GMT
No, I'm not a troll. I think that if someone smoke a cigarette it could tempt another people to smoke. That's my position. I will never stand against it. And please do no comment weather I'm stupid or not, because you have to show me respect as a member of this forum.
Laura Braun   Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:59 am GMT
I think that in antimoon go young people and what do they see 'Tom smoking a cigarette'. It's not a good example for young people. If you can say something to defend yourself, Tom then do it. Let God be with you.
Damian in Dunblane   Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:17 am GMT
I do not think that Laura Braun is a troll - she is a genuine poster posting under a valid handle unlike the plethora of "Guests" we are plagued with in here, and for this, at least, she deserves respect.

She also deserves a little tutoring in correct English and I'm sure she doesn't mind having her errors brought to her attention.....?

Corrected scripts:

***I think that if someone smokeS a cigarette it could tempt OTHER people to smoke***

***And please do not comment WHETHER I'm stupid or not***

'Weather' (what you see when you look out of the window) and 'Whether' (a conjunction used to express alternative factors just as you did) are generally pronounced the same way which is why people, especially learners of English, may well get them confused. You can, of course, aspirate the "h" in "whether" but not only does it take extra effort but it can be taken as being just a wee bit pretentious.

I make no comment on the "smoking" issue - it is a matter of personal choice, like everything else in life, and in the UK at least it is now regarded almost as an anti-social activity and inveterate smokers really are a minority group. You only have to see sad and desperate looking people standing outside pubs or any other public buildings puffing away like mad knowing full well that their ejection into the great outside more or less classifies them as some kind of social pariahs.

I can think of no other products other than cigarettes which are sold in packets emblazoned with dire warnings of possible death or at least horrible diseases resulting from their consumption....indeed, consumption* is probably just one of these conditions......well, something fairly similar through filling your lungs with nicotine fumes.

*Consumption - a very old fashioned word for tuberculosis of the lungs.
Gayst   Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:25 am GMT
Meh, smoking cigars is cool because of Fidel Castro. ¡Viva la revolución!
Tom   Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:37 am GMT
By the way, doesn't this discussion show that we're living in an image culture? I can spend 5 days writing a article and it will go virtually unnoticed -- but when I post a photo of myself smoking a cigarette, I get dozens of comments...

The problem, of course, is not that I don't like images. It's that images are so limited in terms of the concepts that you can express with them. They are pleasant and easy to absorb for the viewer, but they offer little knowledge and few insights.
RevolutionaryIdeas   Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:26 am GMT
You should have pictures of people applying the 'Antimoon method'. It would motivate learners more, especially if they are naked ladies. 30 hot naked ladies applying the 'Antimoon method' in a classroom would be a sure sell. Even better if it's a video, with occasional 'intermissions' in the actress' classes for 'unwinding'. You could revolutionise language learning by making it 'fun' in a different interpretation of the word. People have tried a lot of combinations for making language learning fun, but have they tried porn yet?
Fidel   Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:47 am GMT
This discussion calls for an expert analysis. Franco?
Laura Braun   Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:37 pm GMT
O alright I heard sample 1 and sample 2, so I've got a little bit interested about Tom's accent. I mean it sounds like real Englishman in my ears, but to be honest I'm not an expert. So Let us start with Thomas method. I to be sure can tell you there is no way to get rid of your accent if you don't spend at least half dozen of years before you merge with native.
Invité d'honneur   Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:24 pm GMT
Tom: “By the way, doesn't this discussion show that we're living in an image culture? I can spend 5 days writing a article and it will go virtually unnoticed -- but when I post a photo of myself smoking a cigarette, I get dozens of comments...”

Well, you must firmly believe that we're living in an image culture indeed, or you wouldn't use references to the universe of detective movies or film-noir to illustrate your article. A portrait of yourself smoking a cigarette, a sad face, alongside a caption that reads "This time I tell it all"... This is a confession... that you believe in the power of pictures! ;-)


Tom: “The problem, of course, is not that I don't like images. It's that images are so limited in terms of the concepts that you can express with them. They are pleasant and easy to absorb for the viewer, but they offer little knowledge and few insights.”

At any rate you do know that they can go a long way to capture the reader's attention. And you know how to use them for that purpose. Good for you!