Doug: My oldest son and I frequently evaluate life's pleasures in an ongoing conversation about "The Man".
Doug: For example, one of his contentions is that the inventor of brown sugar-cinnamon Pop-Tarts is The Man. I have been known to counter that the person who invented crunchy Cheetos is The Man. But just to show that it's not always positive, we both agreed last week when I was feeling a little under the weather that whoever created DayQuil is also a strong candidate! Take a dose of those, and your cold goes on vacation for four hours!
Doug: So please join the conversation. I think you get the hang of it. What are those pleasures in life that you just think, "Whoever made this..." Show some love today!
22 comments:
The public library.
Ben Franklin was indeed "The Man" (which, not to be indelicate, a bevy of free-thinking society ladies in post-Revolutionary France would apparently attest to. Or. . . so I've heard. . . )
HB
All I know is, in the words of that great philosopher Ric Flair, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man." Sorry, couldn't help it. Back to the topic:
For me, "The Man" is the person or people who created 5 hour energy drinks. I don't drink them every day (that wouldn't be healthy) but if there's a 3:30 meeting on a Thursday afternoon, I'm very grateful that energy drinks exist.
And now I'm off to toast a brown sugar & cinnamon Pop Tart.
Whoever invented the internet is The Man. I'm embarrassed to admit that in the '90s I was one of those people who dismissed the infant internet as something that only excited geeky computer nerds...oops. And who did invent the internet anyway ? Here in the UK the invention of the world wide web is attributed to Tim Berners-Lee but I believe this is disputed - and I've read that the internet (as opposed to the world wide web) was invented by the U.S. military in the 1960's.
Stan (of course) is "The Man". Excelsior!! Nuff said.
It's funny.., occasionally I announce I'm 'just a poor white boy workin' for the Man'.
Then, since I'm a gov't employee, my fiancé politely retorts, 'No, you ARE the Man'.
(sorry, made me think of that...)
Funny enough, the crunchy Cheetos are pretty dominate in my home, I'll add chewy vitamin gummy's from Target and Airborne tablets. I know they're just a big shot of Vitamin C, but I still rely on them when I'm traveling.
Coke Cola.., on ice. Like Nancy Sinatra once commented, it's my favorite drink, ever. I tend not to drink it much, but it's a treat on occasion. At my age, I'm pretty much just water and coffee (black, no creamer).
And then there's COFFEE. I'm trying to curb my intake on that as well, typically only up until 10am.
As for Stan Lee..? I'll add Adam West. I watched the extras (finally) for the '66 Batman DVD boxset, especially a nice roundtable discussion with Jim Lee, Kevin Smith, and others. Luckily none of the guys (like Smith) were too obnoxious, and it was a pleasant, laidback hour discussion over coffee and cheesecake with Mr. West at a restaurant. Lots of laughs and sincerity.
Whoever keeps inventing new flavor of coffee creamer is The Man. I'm not ashamed to admit I need some sort of sugary substance to enjoy coffee. Once upon a time it was cream & sugar, then hazelnut or French vanilla. Now, I can choose from salted caramel chocolate or mudslide or bourbon vanilla pound cake. Truly, these are the best of times.
- Mike Loughlin
We have a pretty good list of 'men' growing here today! J.A.- those energy drinks certainly do have their benefit from time to time. HB- good call on Mr. Franklin, and I'd add Mr. Gutenberg for giving us the books in the first place...
From this corner, today anyway, 'the man' is whoever devised a method of pumping heated water through pipes and out as a spray, giving us the Hot Shower. It's good for so many situations:
Trying to wake up in the morning and get started- take a nice invigorating Hot Shower.
Struggling to recover from a vigorous physical workout- unkink with a nice Hot Shower.
Fighting a headache, feeling stressed? Escape with a soothing Hot Shower.
Shivering from a bout of winter snow shovelling (as in yesterday...)? Warm up with that Hot Shower.
Wireless technology = The Man!
Calculators = The Man!
Cookies & Cream ice cream = The Man!
I am so thankful that The Man has been so concerned for my well-being all these years.
Doug
First, I agree with Doug's eldest, brown sugar cinnamon Pop Tarts inventor = The Man
Actually, I like Humanbelly's suggestion too. The library = free books! What's not to love?
Microwave = The Man!
What did we do before microwaves? I don't remember, and I don't want to remember. That is one thing I'm not nostalgic about.
Isn't it the guy who gave us the Yo-Yo?
Well, besides Stan, I've always thought of William Shatner as "The Man," his larger than life character exemplifying what it is to be master of oneself, and therefore, of the universe itself...
The person who decided to mush up avocado and make guacamole -sheer genius.
Levi Strauss - for the most comfortable and practical of clothing, jeans.
Dern, William beat me to the obligatory Stan Lee comment...
Heh, it's funny, since it's been raining heavily here quite a bit of late, the other day while driving I was honestly thinking about the genius who invented windshield wipers. Your post today actually prompted me to look up 'The Man' who did so, and I learned that in this case 'The Man' in fact a woman.
Oh, and Colin -- here in the States there was a joke many years ago that former Senator and VP Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet. Pretty sure it's not true :)~
Doug
There are soooo many in world of tools and construction--
The Bevel Gauge is such an ancient tool (two straight edges, connected by a pivot point at one end-- used for the precise transfer of angles between two pieces of material) that it's inventor could well have been The Cave Man.
The ratcheting socket wrench/driver-- clearly invented by someone who had at some point faced installing a couple of hundred 3/8" carriage bolts armed with nothing but an adjustable crescent wrench. The Man is a saint.
Pneumatic tools have been around for decades and decades-- but The Man who figured out how to apply them for bradding, stapling, and nailing opened the door to superior construction to even moderate carpenters. Believe me, that old maxim "ANYone can drive a nail with a hammer" is, frankly, wildly untrue. Most folks really can't (which is sad-- makes me kinda crazy). But those tools enable them to bypass a lot of skill-set issues, and gets them a-buildin' with confidence. And the kits have become incredibly affordable in recent years.
35 or 40 years ago, some The Man on a worksite had the bright idea to stick the shaft of a philips-head screwdriver into the chuck of an electric drill. . . and unwittingly birthed what eventually became the HUGE battery-powered tool industry. Hunh-- wonder if The Man's name was Makita. . . ?
Hmm-- and somewhere out there is The Man (or The Woman that was The Man) who accidentally dropped a wavy potato chip into some melted chocolate. . . and discovered their own little alternate route to heaven. . .
HB
Ok, I nominate the inventor of 'the true unsung geek-hero' of Apollo 13..? The slide-rule by William Oughtred of Cambridge (1630).
Long before the pocket calculators.., college Math majors swore by 'em, and many still do. LOVE 'EM.
Hiya,
How is it possible that such a learned collection of scholars could possibly overlook the two individuals who both hold the status of "The Man"!!
Maxwell Gaines and Harry I. Wildenberg, who in 1934 convinced Dell Publishing to put out 'Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics' which is now regarded as the first true American comic book!!
Seeya
pfgavigan
PS, I would also like to nominate whoever developed American style toilet paper. I once used the English version and it was an experience that I have struggled to put behind me for years.
Clearly, it was Jack Albertson in character. (You'll have to put on your mid-1970s thinking caps to get the reference.) :)
Oh, good one, Comicsfan, good one. . . ! :-)
HB
Christopher Lee was the man. You ever read about that guy's life? Holy moly.
M.P.
Oh we got lots of men here as already mentioned, Stan Lee, Tim Berners-Lee, Ben Franklin.
To me, Leonardo Da Vinci was the Man. Why? Just research his life and works and see for yourself! Here was a guy who truly was 500 years ahead of his time, not to mention the huge body of artwork and inventions he left for posterity.
Other honourable 'the Man' candidates - Jeff Bezos for internet shopping, Thomas Edison for the lightbulb and other stuff, Muhammad Ali, Mahatma Gandhi, and numerous others.
- Mike 'the boy' from Trinidad & Tobago.
"pfgavigan
PS, I would also like to nominate whoever developed American style toilet paper. I once used the English version and it was an experience that I have struggled to put behind me for years."
PUT BEHIND ME FOR YEARS!?!
pf - you da man!!! That was a pun to shame all other puns!!! Well done, good sir, well done!!!
(And I don't hand out "!" lightly)
I know this much, I'm not a robot!
Mike from T&T: Thomas Edison?! Sorry, but he was so out-The Manned by Nikola Tesla...
Haha OK Edo, Tesla trumps Edison! On deeper reflection, I have to nominate the guy who invented ketchup (my favourite condiment) as the Man!
- Mike 'mustard is for wusses' from Trinidad & Tobago.
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