The Warriors Can you dig it scene

The #ds106 radio stream always starts with “Can you dig it!?” which is from (1979) The Warriors. I know this because coincidentally over the Christmas break I watched it on Netflix. @noiseprofessor even made awesome @jimgroom art about it. I really think you guys should all get matching leather vests. For real. Not Photoshopped.

I really thought this movie was hilarious. As if really tough gang members would all coordinate their costumes that way. “Let’s all wear white make-up and be the toughest MIMES in NYC!”

I also can’t get over what cell phones have done for organized crime. I just loved the rotary pay phones in this movie. It’s like 2600 porn. Sigh. I really miss pay phones. Where do superheroes go to change now? Yet another casualty of technology.

In any case, when the big gang leader says his big unifying speech at the beginning, “Can you dig it? Can you dig it?” …all I could think of was that crazy Frog from that 80s Cereal. It was so long ago. And he’s not saying Dig it, but Dig’Em. Because that’s the frog dude’s name. But wow, Dig’Em the Frog was pushing Sugar Smacks! Shocking. Imagine if he had a cell phone…We’d all be running around getting whacked on sugar smacks.

This is when I decided there is a food meme going on inside my mini brain schemata. Maybe I’m hungry all the time, who knows, but I thought my psyche would appreciate if I explored this a bit.

Okay so then there is – We Jam Econo– Yup, I had to look that one up too. Although I am sure I should have more reverence for the Minutemen, I must admit, my brain has an impenetrable image of cheap Jam of the PB & J variety. Speaking of PB…

I saw all those “If we don’t, remember me” animated GIFs a while back and was taken by them but not to the same extent that the #ds106 crowd seems to be. I saw quite a few submissions for the “Say it like Peanut Butter” assignment and to be quite honest, I had no bloody idea why it was called that. But hey, #ds106 is a rich landscape bursting with over-ripe allusions. Maybe it was because the GIFs were like peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth and then suddenly- whoop- there’s movement. Then it sticks again. I dunno, there’s too much to look up, I can’t be Googling every darn thing all day long. So Assignment name aside, I set out to do my own homage to The Warriors, a la Say it Like Peanut Butter assignment. As I am working on the GIF, I’m listening to Stephen Downes and George Seimens in their CCK11 Elluminate session. Stephen tells the group that he thinks that the GIF it should be a hard G, although he’s been told that it is a soft G. The chat session lights up with people debating the Soft or Hard G. Someone says, “JIF” – like the peanut butter. And the chat goes on for quite a bit about peanut butter.

Ooooh, THAT’s why the assignment is called, ‘say it like peanut butter’. Because it’s an Animated GIF! Facepalm. Am I the last to get that? Oh well, I am making my ignorance transparent for the sake of learning. You’re welcome. I hope I’m helping you feel smart.

Now, personally I have always used a hard G when saying GIF, because I assumed the G stood for Graphics, not Jraffics. Then again, my name is GIULIA and I fully understand how the *I* can make a *G* soft. Apparently, Oxford lists both. So we are all CORRECT and we’re all INCORRECT, too.

Perfect, that’s just the perfect state to be in. #ds106 always keeping me thinking.