Free Thoughts 4/26/13

A few days ago I was listening to music, can't remember if it was my headphones or while driving, but it really doesn't matter.  What's important is that whatever song it was had the phrase "straw dogs" in it.  And the reason this is important, or at least important to this train of thought I'm expressing, is that it made me think of the movies entitled... yup you guessed it "Straw Dogs".  This created two questions in my mind 1) what the hell 'straw dogs' means.  I'm sure I could do a quick Google search and find a definition of the term, if it is in fact a term.  And 2) why are some movies titled what they are, but this really isn't limited to movies.  The same could be asked of certain books, plays, and Lord knows how many songs have senseless titles.

Mind you, I have a smart phone and put it to use on a daily, if not hourly, but sometimes I prefer to learn things the old fashioned way.  I know I can easily search for the reason the movie is actually called what it is, but I'd rather watch it (eventually) and learn that way.

I extend that preference in other ways as well. I still have reference books on chemistry, psychology, kinesiology, and an encyclopedia of dictionaries, that has a bible dictionary, a crossword dictionary, medical dictionary, synonyms and antonyms.  It's a great source for pretty much anything you could ask for... prior to 1980.  Again, all this information could be found on the internet with a few clicks and keystrokes, and that's great for what it's worth, but sometimes I just really enjoy the hunt for knowledge and all the peripheral facts you pick up during your search.

Addressing the second question, there are just some movies/books for the life of me I can't think of the meaning behind the title.  My favorite book for instance, "A Clockwork Orange", the title is never used in the book (or movie) and I'm pretty sure the word 'clockwork' was never used.  I've recently searched for the meaning, and found that Anthony Burgess has given multiple reasons and meanings behind the title, but none of them are explicitly described in the book.  Same goes for "Reservoir Dogs", none of the characters ever refer to themselves as such, nor is the word reservoir nor dogs ever used in the movie.

I'd like to think that the titles I use not only make sense, but are explained within the story, even the abstract ones.

If you have any other examples of oddly titles books/movies mention them in the movies...