Big Lake Forge Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 So today i was watching an army commercial and they said something but then i heard ''it was forged in the crucible of training'' it brought back all the memories of the questions that all of us blacksmiths hate ''Oh, you're a blacksmith, do you shoe horses?'' , ''Do you make horseshoes?'' Sometimes it just makes me a little frustrated. And i know all of you know exactly what i mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel.85 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 What about the Mac & Cheese blacksmith commercial? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I doubt any 19 year olds thinking of joining will care.....I know I don't.... :mellow: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 yes its just verbally very slack - youd have thought that the army as an institution, should be a first rate user of language and metaphor as an example to all their little recruits...! :) (will this make a good soldier - i dont know actually...) your right though macbruce - nobody (but blacksmiths and those interested in accurate use of language ) will notice... :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I was with my wife in a Dr's waiting room talking about an upcoming blacksmithing show which prompted a woman to show us a picture of her horse. "Yes," I told her, "I shoo horses every time they come too close." Mac & cheese commercial, nuf said. Saw a few minutes of a newer Conan movie this morning and they were "forging" a sword. Yeah right. Therefore it is up to us, if we chose to do so, to set the record straight to the uneducated/uninformed masses. Or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r smith Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Liquid GOOOOOOOOLLLLD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaaU1HZsQuE&feature=relmfu :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r smith Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I forgot to mention that he says he is a blacksmith. Anothe good one is when he is in the freezer section of the grocery store wearind an apron of cast iron pans- OOOps maybe they are skillets :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lake Forge Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 That mac and chese commercial is just stupid. at the start he was hitting the horseshoe in mid air. now looking at it again he was holding it within 2 inches of yellow hot steel. at least they got the right hammer. and his ''forge'' had no place to heat the iron. and then it said ''weld the skillet, forge the family dinner'' yea right my family would sure want food cooked on a ''forge'' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Oh for crying out loud. Its a commercial. I could care less if they get the details right. It just silly fun. In a way its a homage to blacksmiths everywhere, if your thought processes go that far. Goes for the Army commercial to. Its the sentiment that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lake Forge Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 Well no one here was trying to make it seem like people are stupid. I really just wish people would think again and consider to not make our proffessions seem like a walk in a park. Blacksmithing is fun but it isnt easy and you know that. See you said it is just sily fun, you are right and that makes other people think that the whole day we spend in our shops, we are only working for 10 minutes to work on a 10 foot tall ornamental iron gate and the rest of the time we are playing. And you know just as well as i do that isnt true. Not tryin to be mean but sometimes that is how commercials make us like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 When you put it that way I see what your saying. But, in my humble opinion, I don't belive this makes us look anything to anyone. Just being honest in my feelings. The people who know, know its wrong, the people who don't, don't and won't think about it any further than its a commercial. Just my thoughts on it and I wasn't trying to step on any toes. Just voicing my opinion, and if I did that a little too vociferiously I appologize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lake Forge Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 Yea that makes sense. And i appreciate you expressing your thoughts. But hey isnt that what forums are for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r smith Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Well no one here was trying to make it seem like people are stupid. I really just wish people would think again and consider to not make our proffessions seem like a walk in a park. Blacksmithing is fun but it isnt easy and you know that. See you said it is just sily fun, you are right and that makes other people think that the whole day we spend in our shops, we are only working for 10 minutes to work on a 10 foot tall ornamental iron gate and the rest of the time we are playing. And you know just as well as i do that isnt true. Don't you know that to the rest of the world if you are a blacksmith and spend 10 minutes in a shop or any other amount of time there you ARE making horseshoes. I mean that is what the liquid gold guy does it his shop :o :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevan Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 "....forged in the crucible of training" I fail to see the problem. It is perfectly acceptable metaphorical language, and quite eloquent in fact. How did this lead to blacksmiths shoeing horses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lake Forge Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 "....forged in the crucible of training" I fail to see the problem. It is perfectly acceptable metaphorical language, and quite eloquent in fact. How did this lead to blacksmiths shoeing horses? read my first statement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhoman Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 ....Sometimes it just makes me a little frustrated. And i know all of you know exactly what i mean. Same happens when I walk around with a camera, tripod and some flashes - no they don't ask if I make horseshoes :P but you get similarly silly questions. I'm sure any hobby/profession has it's 'public image' which gives rise to senseless questions and comments that can be annoying to the hobbyist and the professional alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainely,Bob Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 This post reminds me of the tourists we used to get that would come and look at us working on the most recent boat we had hauled out on the marine railway at the shipyard I worked at. They`d ask questions like. "How long is that boat going to be here?" If I felt like responding they`d get answers like "110 feet"(the total length of the hull) or, "right up until the day we`re done fixing it". Some days you just don`t have the strength to worry about both the ignorance and the boat so you just concentrate on fixing what produces a paycheck and let the rest walk on by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 here is one that the Catholics just put out.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9vQt6IXXaM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Although the semantics and images seen on tv re blacksmithing are I'd say 98% off, they all show blacksmiths stand for strength, hard work, honesty, integrity and so on....Not such a bad rap.... B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a62rambler Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I haven't had TV in my home for many years and seeing commercials reminds me why. That and "reality TV" which has to be the ultimate oxymoron which many people think is reality. Macbruce makes a good point though so perhaps all is not lost. I joined the Army not because of ads but because I met and got to know Veterans. I became faithful not because of a commercial but because I met people who had faith. I want to learn to forge iron not because of this site but because I enjoy working with steel and have met through this site some good people who have encouraged me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borntoolate Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Although the semantics and images seen on I'd say 100% of the ads are off. They all show blacksmiths stand for strength, hard work, honesty, integrity and so on....Not such a bad rap.... B) Let's not be too picky here. We should forge ahead when we see these things and not be too hung up on our definition of a word. My websters has one definition that says..."To form or bring into being by an expenditure of effort". The use of the word forged was illustrative I think and more matching the above definition. Now the cheese commercial was just idiotic. Actually, too idiotic to really merit any of our time typing about it... oops to late One comment I heard above about reality TV. I actually find these shows embarassing. They depict us Americans as petty, childish, shallow losers. just to name a few... This we package up and project to the world as reality. I am sure some countries think this is all there is to America. It is embarassing but it also makes me angry that we would project ourselves so prolifically in this fashion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 All this discussion about commercials would make the copy writers very VERY happy. When was the last time you watched a commercial that didn't make the person buying the product look like an idiot? Oh okay, I almost never watch a commercial though some are charming, like the mother and kids riding through the carwash pretending to be in a storm with dangerous octopus around. So, there are some I enjoy watching. The guy writing the Army commercial is just that an ad writer and like other talking heads, say the news casters said person doesn't need to know anything but how to work spell check and have a pleasant prose. What really bums me is commercials are the most creative thing on the tube anymore. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a62rambler Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 What really bums me is commercials are the most creative thing on the tube anymore. <sigh> That is one of the funnier things I've read. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r smith Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 One comment I heard above about reality TV. I actually find these shows embarassing. They depict us Americans as petty, childish, shallow losers. just to name a few... This we package up and project to the world as reality. I am sure some countries think this is all there is to America. It is embarassing but it also makes me angry that we would project ourselves so prolifically in this fashion. So true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quick60 Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 My daughter drove a Junior Dragster for four years. Last year a TV production company hired by popular TV channel wanted to do a TV reality show depicting kids with more "wholesome, down to earth" values. They wanted to get away form the jersy shore type of programming. IMO theyt hit a goldmine. Dragracers I know are much like all of the blacksmiths I know. Honest, trustworty, sportsmanlike, willing to lend a helping hand to anyone who needs it. These kids are great and nothing like the teenagers youd see wandering the mall. After a week of shooting footage, conducting interviews, etc, my daughter told me they wanted to create a "rivalry" between the kids. I knew it would be down hill from there. In the end they left and the production never took off. The demo tape said it all. The opening line started out with a girl saying Hertford North Carolina is the most boring place on earth. Nothing could be further from the truth. Goes to show that wholesome and honesty was not what they wanted or at least thats not what would sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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