Gesture in Canadiacy: Found object, Portland, Oregon, 2009

Found in SE Portland, June 22nd.

Gestures in (Statistical) Literacy: Graph of Lunches

From an elementary school newspaper, in its original, vibrant grayscale, we proudly present: The Graph of Lunches.

For greater graphical detail, just click on the image. Never has the lunchtime quandary been captured quite this well.

Gesture in Identity: Found object, Vancouver, Washington, 2009

Gesture in Literacy: Injury Explanation

2008 Gestures in Literacy Champion: PDX Writer Daily

Now that was a titanic battle--another instant classic, we say. (The action took place here.) Chris always gets his points--you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him--and Ms. Swift came out of nowhere to hit shots from waaaaaay downtown, but without the help of past stalwarts like Miss Malaprop, Keri and Co., Ben, or the mysterious Matthew, PDX Writer Daily was able to hold on and win Gestures in Literacy #6. And because of the sports narrative we've fallen into, that means we are also declaring ourselves winners of the series, four games to two. So now we hoist the imaginary GiL Cup, the symbol of our 2008 Championship, while not actually showering each other with cheap champagne, on account of we are just making this up.

Except for the part about winning. We really are claiming to have won this game that has few rules and almost no oversight or consistency. But of course those aspects of the sport only further made this a truly, truly special season for our team.

But you probably just want the answers to Gesture 6:

Star Wars light saber building kit
pocket knife
Indiana Jones costume
Spiderman costume
Ironman toy
All of the Pokemon Level X's
10 packs of Bakugan
rocket launcher dart gun
one golden Pokemon card
machine gun dart shooter
an iPod
a Pokemon pack of cards
the Ironman movie
a web shooter
some pants and some shirts
from Ethan
Nintendo DS game "Pokemon"
and more, too

Yep. That's it. "Some pants and some shirts," right? That one would have taken a couple levels of literacy backtracking for you to solve. You have to imagine a scribe who not only sometimes switches up "th" and "sh," but who also often transposes the letters, so that "ht" can actually mean "sh". And you would also have to imagine a culture in which the correct spelling of "pants" is [Weird P]-E-S.

Not fair. We know. But that's the breaks, kids.

So we would like to thank all players for a lovely 2008 Gestures in Literacy season. God bless you, every one. We will cherish this title forever, and no one will ever be able to take it away from us. Mostly, yes, because it doesn't exist. But still. But still!

Gesture #6 deadline tonight, midnight

PDXWD Readers have stalled on their deciphering of Gesture in Literacy #6, while the clock continues to tick.

Can you pitch in? Can you unlock the code? Santa's elves desperately need you to help them understand what is on the list...

We know everyone is curled in front of a fire reading books, but

Gestures in Literacy #6 is still open, and despite reader attempts, it continues to withhold many of its secrets...

Update 12/16: Okay, it continues to withhold four of its secrets...

Gestures in Literacy #6: The Christmas List Gesture

Series summary: PDXWD took games one and two, but then the Readers roared back to take an incredible, classic game three and then a game four that had PDXWD talking to itself. PDXWD offered what seemed a less-challenging gesture in game five, so many expected the Readers to take that game, as well. But in a stunning turnabout, the Readers stole defeat from the jaws of victory, and PDXWD took game five--and then also, somewhere in there, began narrating as if the whole thing were a pro sports playoff series in the 2-3-2 format.

Which means that now you're back in OUR house, Readers! Game six, baby! A sellout crowd in the arena, our discourse community basically shut down, all eyes on the Gesture--and just kind of comma-splicing fragments at this point, so damn excited!

BOOM BOOM shoof. BOOM BOOM shoof. BOOM BOOM shoof. BOOM BOOM shoof. Singing: We. Will. We. Will. Rock you.

Sing it!

We. Will. We. Will--[Oh! Interrupted by shockingly tasty guitar lick!] All right! [Super-70's guitar solo! Shredding as if to end all shredding!]

You have one week. And every time we say something tough like that, you solve it in an afternoon, so who knows what will happen? That's why we play the games, baby!

Gestures in Literacy #5: "It is a great day for bi birthing"

Gesture #5 is over. Here is how it played out:

Chris said...

"It is a good day for bike riding", I guess, although maybe there's a reading that doesn't require taking "b" for "d".

I'm glad you don't think "it's a good day for berating" your readers for solving these quickly.

December 4, 2008 6:16 AM

The PSU Writing Center said...

"It is a good day for bike riding" is not correct. The contest is still open.

December 4, 2008 11:58 AM

Miss Malaprop said...

"It is a Jar Jar for tie fighting"
That might be wrong, but I'm guessing it has something to do with Star Wars and Gungans.

December 6, 2008 4:16 PM

Matthew said...

"IT is a gift bag
4 bi birthing"

is a comment on California's recent passage of Proposition 8. as well as Prince Rogers Nelson's support of said Prop.

December 8, 2008 1:33 PM

Each of those is an excellent answer, and Miss Malaprop's would probably be very popular with the young-man-about-the-schoolyard demographic that produces some of our gestures. But the winner is "It is a gift bag 4 bi birthing," because that is the best answer.

Though it's not correct. But it kind of looks like it is, right? And maybe it should be.

Chris, we know you are disappointed. But it's not a good day for bike riding. "It is a great day for bike riding."

And so, in a shocking turn of events, it is actually PDX Writer Daily that wins, and that now leads Gestures in Literacy by a score of 3 games to 2. They say a series doesn't start until the home team loses, so let us claim that since we thought you Writer readers would solve this in twenty minutes, and yet since you didn't solve it at all: now we have a series. You are going to have to take it one Gesture at a time, and leave it all on the floor next game, so that you can claw and scrape your way back in, & etc.

Game 6 will be posted soon. And fair warning: we are bringing the thunder. It will be the most almost-readable-but-totally-not Gesture we have ever unleashed on this fair blogspace. Cower. Tremble. Prepare...to enter the Gesture!

Gestures in Literacy #5: Speed Round!

Forwarded to us by a reader with an alert eye, Gesture in Literacy #5 was rescued from annihilation at a local elementary school. We expect you'll solve this Gesture quickly, so consider GiL5 a sprint.

And we promise not to complain this time about your proficiency. Though maybe we're just in a good mood because we've got a doozy of a Gesture for you already lined up for next week...

Gestures in Literacy #4 is over, defeated by--guh!--teamwork

The old record was 2 hours, 25 minutes. But today you've set a new record, keri (and whatever nefarious forces are on your "team"): Gestures in Literacy #4 was up for all of 55 minutes before you solved it. As keri said...

The hospital people said the acid was running to his heart and all they could do was put a magnet in his body

Team effort.

chris, of course, set the expectation that solutions will also include the contents of the other side of the page. So at least we denied you that satisfaction, keri and co., didn't we?

The only mystery left for our other, non-team-using readers, then, keri and co.--if that even is your real names, you fancypants scoundrels--is the flip side. Which is:

"So they did." Ha. You didn't get that. Because we didn't show it to you, but so what? You didn't get it. So we tie. Yep, that's right--tie. Oh, we're being petulant? Really? We're being sore losers? Is that right? Well excuuuse us!

We're taking our gestures and going home now. Bye. Buh bye. Maybe we'll be back tomorrow, maybe not. Bye now. We're leaving. Going now. Bye.

Bye.

Gestures in Literacy #4: No hints

You know how it works. And no hints this time. Should we assume you'll crack this code quickly? If you don't, we'll post the answer on Friday.

Gestures in Literacy #3: Behind the Gesture

So we said we'd explicate Gesture #3 on Friday, but then the Gesture was solved almost immediately. The answer, as chris said...

Plato was very good friends with Socrates. But Socrates died. Socrates was the teacher of Plato. He wrote about Socrates. [Picture of Socrates in coffin near where Plato writes yet another book and throws it on the teetering pile of his collected works.] On the verso, in rubric, the title: The Death of Socrates.

Excellent work, Chris. The score stands: Gestures 2, Readers 1.

And now: The story behind the Gesture.

The author of this Gesture, recently seeing a parent-person's photos of Jacques-Louis David's 1787 painting "The Death of Socrates," naturally asked about the photos. (The painting's current home is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.) A brief conversation was had regarding what was depicted in the painting, who painted it, why this painter may have painted this painting, etc. The parent-person assures us the evening then moved to weightier topics, which included a screening of the second half of Ghostbusters 2, a discussion of why baths are necessary, what was available for dessert, and etc.

Before bedtime, however, during time in which The Author is allowed to draw or play in his room while the parent-person cleans up and has a second drink (there is apparently a two-drink minimum in this household), The Author, working from memory of the photos, produced the Gesture. (In the verso, pictured at right, third from top, you can see how The Author accurately recalls the posture of the follower in red, but has translated David's upright Socrates to, here, a figure on the ground. And that is why eye-witness testimony can be attacked in court, people! Especially from those in the grades that have early recess.)

And but then, as we know, Chris solved the whole thing in minutes.



So things are going to have to get tougher around here, Gesture fans. This is getting competitive. Encourage your Gesturers to write about Longinus. Maybe that won't be so easy to figure out.

Click on any images you want to see up close, and be warned: another Gesture will appear sometime soon. And thanks for playing. If you have a gesture you'd like us to post, the email is wcevents@pdx.edu.

Now get back to writing, writers.

Gestures in Literacy: "The Classics"

Welcome to Gestures in Literacy, Vol. 3. We have entitled it "The Classics." Yes, that is a hint. Pretty oblique, but still a hint.

You know how it works. The answer will be provided Friday afternoon. And now: Welcome. Won't you...enter the gesture? Bwah ha ha ha!

Gestures in Literacy #2: The answer to HRASHES!

It's time to present the solution to "Gestures in Literacy 2: This time it's HRASHES!" But first, let's honor those readers who had the fortitude to "enter the gesture."

Ben Parzybok said...
This is obviously some kind of funereal ritual. Here we see various implements that were important to this person during her life. At top right, her favorite banana, at left a treasured handbag. In the center is a painting she composed of 8 black crows flying over a somber beach.

At bottom, of course, is the bag of 'her ashes'.

My blessings to the departed.

Anonymous said...
The general tank image alludes to the current standoff between Somali pirates and the military powers racing to recapture a Ukrainian vessel full of tanks and other arms.

The symbolism at the tank's top (flag = nation; crescent = religion) mimic Marxian notions of base/ superstructure.

At the pyramid/tank's base is, in effectively grand lettering, the name of an international brand that, like the romantic dream of high-seas piracy, invades the heart of every boy: Thrasher Skateboard Company.

Short answer: Thrasher.

Those are excellent answers, Ben and Anon. Not correct. But excellent.

And now: The gesture was...

Top row, L to R: Zip-lock bag holding crackers, single apple slice.
Second row: Bottle of water, zip-lock bag holding sandwich.
Bottom row: A HRASHES chocolate bar (manufactured in HERSHEY, PA)

The parent of this child would like us to make clear the following: the packed lunch holds more than one apple slice; the water is never decanted in an old perfume bottle; and the child has never been given a giant Hershey's chocolate bar in the lunch. So this gesture in literacy is a suggestion: one apple slice is okay, perfume water would be cool, and why, again, can I not have a huge chocolate bar in my lunch?

Thanks for playing, folks! More gestures soon.

Gestures in Literacy: HRASHES!

Gestures in Literacy is back. This week's contributor has given us a picture puzzle. What is the one word that appears in this picture? It is crucial that you decode the message! The fate of, um...of this game rests on it!

Answer on Tuesday.

(If you are in possession of a Gesture in Literacy you would like to contribute, feel free to email it to wcevents@pdx.edu, and we'll try to work it in.)

Cat's in the Cradle, last verse

The answer to Thursday's Gestures in Literacy puzzle:
"Busy. Don't come in. Even if you have to."

PDXWD's new game: Gestures in Literacy

(Some of the people who make up the loose collective that is PDX Writer Daily have, through their own moral laxness and irresponsibility, been charged with the raising of children. Some of these children are working, these days, on acquiring written language. So now, in the first of what may become an ongoing series, we present to you PDXWD's new puzzle game, sweeping the, um...sweeping the neighborhood. Or sweeping a few houses. Kind of.)

Gestures in Literacy

Here's how Gestures in Literacy works: we post an image of something a person--a small person, probably, and very young--has written. You: try to decode what it says. We: post the answer the next day.

Okay? Okay! Today's image is posted. Look at it closely. What does it say? What do you think? Show your friends. Show your co-workers. Work the problem, people. Talk it out. You can do it.

Answer tomorrow!