# What the hell is Triangle Man's problem, anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006 "2005-10-06T04:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/41 "2005-10-07T02:28:53Z")
> [@Electronic Chaos](#): > > I can’t believe in this board of geeks, nobody has answered this yet: > > Why does Triangle Man hate everyone? > He just isn’t right. Very acute. ---
**Author:** ![TonyF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@TonyF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonyF)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/42 "2005-10-07T02:38:03Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > No no no. TMBG are all anime fans. It’s a song about the Cell saga in Dragon Ball Z. Triangle Man is Cell. Hmm… I’m pretty sure a friend of mine made a music video with this music using the Cell saga as the theme, which we released on our site… And now this damn thing is stuck in my head! ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/43 "2005-10-07T03:17:21Z")
No no no, I can out-nerd all of you. It’s traditional orthodox Church of Rome trinitarianism defeating a couple of medieval and early modern heretical sects. Particle Man represents the heresy of Monophysitism, holding that Christ is of only one, divine nature, not two (man and God) as is held in the doctrine of hypostatic union (variation-- insert modal monarchianism and rework reasoning). Person Man is the Jesus of the heresy of socinianism, which holds that he was similarly not of two natures but one, but in this case being completely man and not divine (variation-- insert arianism and tweak the argument). Woo! I need to get a hobby. Or a drink. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/44 "2005-10-07T12:20:09Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > The song is told from the point of view of a nightlight in a socket on a wall. Across the room from the nightlight is a painting or photograph of a lighthouse. The nightlight contemplates the picture and thinks he comes up short when compared to the lighthouse. After all, in lightbulb-world, the lighthouse is a big deal. The nightlight says he doesn’t think he’s up for the job of lighthouse and spins a fictional and anachronistic scenario about the _Argo_ running aground against the rocky shores. It could have been any ship, but the _Argo_ just give it that certain something that you expect from the guys who brought you the saga of “Paritcle Man.” Okay… I didn’t really clue into the nightlight theme in the song, but it does explain a lot of things… (‘really I’m not actually your friend’… ‘secret to tell from my electrical well’ and so on.) Just a few things still confuse me: - Why does it want to be the only bee in [my] bonnet? - Why would a nightlight filibuster? (Or was that only a word thrown in because it fit the rhythm nicely??) - is the Longines Symphonette particularly relevant?? Concerning the Jason reference, I had a somewhat odd thought this morning… what if the picture was actually of Jason on the Argo or something like that, and the artist had thrown in a tiny little lighthouse on the shore, but the nightlight thinks that it’s a picture of the lighthouse because… ‘he’ is a light as well? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/45 "2005-10-07T14:58:32Z")
I’ve always been partial to the [Tiny Toons](http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/461/) explanation of it all – _Particle Man_, quite simply, is a song about wrestling. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/46 "2005-10-07T15:13:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Hmm… I’m pretty sure a friend of mine made a music video with this music using the Cell saga as the theme, which we released on our site… Your friend made that? Cool! Tell him it is a very great video, especially the Mister Satan bits. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/47 "2005-10-07T15:22:03Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Just a few things still confuse me: > > - Why does it want to be the only bee in [my] bonnet? Got me. Because it wants to be loved, maybe? Nightlights need love, too. > [@](#): > > - Why would a nightlight filibuster? (Or was that only a word thrown in because it fit the rhythm nicely??) Filibuster in the sense that it keeps doing the same thing without ceasing every night. it’s always on, and it will yeild the floor to no one. > [@](#): > > - is the Longines Symphonette particularly relevant?? No. Freakin. Idea. > [@](#): > > Concerning the Jason reference, I had a somewhat odd thought this morning… what if the picture was actually of Jason on the Argo or something like that… Maybe it was a painting of the Pharos of Alexandria (“primitive anscestry”) and the nightlight extrapolated the _Argo_ from there. ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/48 "2005-10-07T15:40:37Z")
Not to piss on the silly parade, but Particle Man is based on a book written in 1884.[FlatLand. A Romance of Many Dimensions](http://www.eldritchpress.org/eaa/FL.HTM). Link is to the complete eBook. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/49 "2005-10-07T16:12:58Z")
> [@TonyF](#): > > Hmm… I’m pretty sure a friend of mine made a music video with this music using the Cell saga as the theme, which we released on our site… > > And now this damn thing is stuck in my head! Tiny Toons did 2 TMBG music videos - Particle Man featuring Plucky getting pounded in a wrestling ring and Istanbul featuring Plucky in an Indiana Jones style adventure ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/50 "2005-10-07T17:27:30Z")
Did no one read my previous post? I had the answer, from the mouth of John himself. > [@edwino](#): > > I’ve always been partial to the [Tiny Toons](http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/461/) explanation of it all – _Particle Man_, quite simply, is a song about wrestling. I have an animation cel from that. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/51 "2005-10-07T18:48:04Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > Did no one read my previous post? I had the answer, from the mouth of John himself. > > I have an animation cel from that. sorry - i replied before reading the whole thread anyway - i don’t think anyone come up with the explanation that Triangle Man’s mood was greatly affected when he lost his luck ball and chain ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/52 "2005-10-07T20:43:45Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > OMG, can’t believe somebody else posted this. I bought a few TMBG songs on puretracks a little while ago and was wondering the same thing! Interesting replies so far. Funny, I was _this_ close to starting this exact thread just yesterday. I was going to title it something like “What makes Triangle Man so tough, anyway?” ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/53 "2005-10-07T20:59:27Z")
Simple. Triangle man is a dick, despite(If you’re familar with the Tiny toons take on it) not having one. I don’t feel so bad for paticle man because particles are indestrucable, but person man lives in a fracken garbage can, and really doesn’t deserve that kind of abuse from his three-side neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/54 "2005-10-07T21:19:06Z")
He \hates\ the accordian. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/55 "2005-10-08T05:54:33Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > - is the Longines Symphonette particularly relevant?? The Longines Symphonette iwas an old 8-track tape player. 8-track tapes were set up to play continuously. The only interruption to playing the same tape forever was the KA\_CHUNK of the tape heads flipping when the tape reached its end and had to reverse. So the comparison to the continuous tape player and the continuous light is apt. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/56 "2005-10-08T08:24:45Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > …and Istanbul featuring Plucky in an Indiana Jones style adventure Maltese Falcon, actually. Or Maltese Duck, as it was. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006/57 "2005-10-08T15:36:06Z")
**Mac** , 8-track tapes don’t reverse direction. It’s a continuous tape loop; the tape comes out of the center of the large reel, over the heads, then coils onto the outside of the reel. The KA\_CHUNK sound is the tape head moving up or down to the next track when the tape splice passes over and signals the end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-triangle-mans-problem-anyway/325006.md?page=2)