Date: Tue, 06 Jan 98 07:53:47 PST
Subject: time for more from me
So, hello people. In here: books, security, spoilers (etiquette, not content), old computers, Hillsborough and bumping heads.
From Kati's form
Adrian Mole diaries by Sue Townsend
Oh, another Mole fan! Coolness and no errorrrrrr.
formula-1 (Berger, Alesi, Villeneuve, Hill)
Surely "There Goes Berger! Followed closely by Alesi, Villeneuve, Schumaccer, Schumaccer, Frentzen. But where is Hill? Yes, There Is Hill! He's driven his car up a tree!!"
Laura suggests
Hey, just a thought- since everyone is always looking for someone's phone number or address, why don't we make like a roster kinda thingy? With everyone's (who wants to) address, e-mail, homepage, phone number, yada yada yada. Maybe someone would even put in on their homepage...
A fine thought, but I have some reservations.
Linette's little pursuit of trivia:
1. The maker doesn't want it; the buyer doesn't use it; and the user doesn't see it. What is it?
Sounds like Windoze 95 to me (:
Sunshine wonders
K, so... what did I reveal? I mean... I hardly said anything about it. Yeah, I said that she died, but some people disagree. It's a matter of choice to believe wether she died or not.
Even so, you did reveal an important part of the plot. This would spoil the movie for someone that hasn't seen the movie yet. And that, I feel, is just bad manners.
Plus, I didn't go into detail like some other people did.
That's true, but you were, I believe, the first to reveal a plot development that isn't part of the historic record but part of the director's plot. If you weren't, please accept my apologies for suggesting you were.
One last thing... what's this about Tiny Tim?
Three words: "A Christmas Carol".
more...
Ben adds
Well, Ali, I hate to say this, but it's rather common knowledge that the Titanic sunk. Rather one likes it or not, it's STILL a somewhat historical movie. ;)
Yes, that is correct. The ship does sink. That much should be common knowledge to everyone seeing the movie. My point is that the script of this film has extended this historical fact, and added its own work. That's what makes it a good movie. And that's what I'm objecting to seeing on this list.
Francis and Andy spoke of their old computers. The first one I laid my hands on was a Commodore VIC-20, bought over Christmas '82. Something like 200 pounds for 3.5K memory, a bundle of tape games that loaded very slowly, and (er) that's it. Cheap, sturdy, and an unreasonable amount of fun for such outmoded technology.
Seven years later we got a work machine. An Amstrad 8086, 640K, off two (720K) floppy disks, for around 1400 pounds. It was outmoded even when we got it, but it is still in working order.
Just before Christmas 95, we got a good machine. CD ROM, 8Mb RAM - now upgraded to 24Mb - a 720Mb hard disk, stereo speakers, the works. The internal modem never worked, but we don't care, just bought a fast one last year.
And the one I'm using at work now: 48Mb RAM, 3.5 Gb hard disk, CD ROM, but no sound. Connected on a 100Mb/s network to a kilostream link to our ISP. State of the art technology, but somehow not as much fun as the humble VIC.
Still on the subject of old computers, hands up those who use a laptop. ALI's parents were once computer retailers, and still have an early Commodore portable. With a small monitor (like, diddy TV screen), near full-sized keyboard, 5.25 inch disk drive and something like 20cm deep. And about as much processing power as one of the credit-card organisers of today...
Other lists I'm on: Humournet, the moderated list for great fun, and the UK singles / albums charts. And, er, that's it.
Eli wonders
What specifically happened at Hillsborough, I know the general detail only. What The Sun magazine has to do with it? If there is a person (a Liverpool fan perhaps) that was there?
Hillsborough, Sheffield, April 15, 1989. The FA Cup Semi-Final, Liverpool -v- Nottingham Forest. 96 Liverpool fans are crushed to death at the front of the terraces due to massive overcrowding and what is (probably) culpable negligence by the local police. The reasons for this tragedy have never been fully explained: it's pretty clear that hooliganism was not to blame, and that terracing has since been removed at major stadia.
The Sun is a daily "newspaper" - in the broadest sense of the word - that alleged a couple of weeks after the disaster that Liverpool fans had picked the pockets of the dead, urinated over police giving first aid and other sundry unsavoury accusations. None of them are true, but many people in Liverpool want the rag to print an equally prominent apology over pages 1, 2, 3, and 5. Until they do, they won't purchase it.
Roman enquires
How come in movies when two people are destined to fall in love, they always have to bump heads when they both try to pick something up?? Is it a rule? Does this happen with lovers-to-be in real life?
No. I've never tried to pick something up at the same time as ALI, still less bumped heads while doing that.
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 98 08:45:17 PST
Subject: cotton wool
Thursday, isn't it. Mainly British stuff, and Western societal stuff.
Sunshine
Everyone, say hi to Sean (aka Slakala)!!!
Hi Sean!
UK bit: Free tickets for the Rainmaker in this weeks' Radio Times - the one with a very odd picture of Gillian Taylforth on the cover. You need to buy the magazine for details...
Rhiannon writes
I haven't seen the 'One With The Handcuffs', as it's never (as far as I know) been shown in the UK.
'Fraid it has, chuck. August 13 last year, in its appropriate slot on C4's re-runs.
I recently got hit by the news that MSCL is never going to be shown in Britain again. Well, not anytime soon, anyway. It was shown on channel four in the summer, but the rights have been signed away (or something) and, Its been axed.
True, but I strongly expect it'll crop up on one of the satellite channels (Bravo? Trouble? Nickleodeon??) within a year or two. No promises, though.
And let's not forget: C4 haven't yet graced "Party of Five" with as much as a single repeat...
Big storms here in Wales at the mo., and I've just heard my fence being blown down, oh well, time for a new one anyway.
Just be glad you weren't flying that morning, he said greenly.
Kris writes on Skeie
Watching Scream 2 was just so funny, she yells, "whoo hoo!" when she is happy!! I tried to scare her but I failed at my job :)
Skeie: boo!
"whoo-hoo" [/skeie]
This woman cannot be scared...
On Mark
I came home talking just like Mark, Dan had to hit me a few times until I found my own accent.
It's odd. I seem to have gone home talking just like a visiting Brit as well. Most truly bizarre.
Elaine
As for 90210, I must admit to being somewhat of a Spelling addict
C5 have dropped Herc (after showing seasons 1 and 2; I'll let them off :) to show ZipCode Saturday nights. And Daria's shifted to the morning. And if you're such a spelling addict, how come we've never seen you on Countdown? (:
more...
Ben, the Ben of the list, wonders
What's your favorite kind of cookies?
Ginger snaps. Crisp, hard, one swift dunk in a hot mug of coffee.
Ben reports Kentucky media:
they say the child most likely drew his influence from "The Basketball Diaries," the scene in which Leo bursts into the classroom with the guns.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah bo***ks. So the accused claims he's seen this movie? But is there evidence that he was an obsessive fan of it? Or could there be some other reason behind his actions, such as a cry for attention, or a heartfelt attack on organised religion? Blaming the media for crimes is the easy way out. A study released in the UK yesterday found no causal link between screen violence and violent actions in real life. Go fig.
C Brooks
we could say that he did get the idea from the movie, like he saw some guy wiht guns and had this idea...
It's possible, I'll agree...
however anyone with such a strange concept of what is allowable could have many ideas in their mind floating around.
You're assuming that he believed what he was doing to be right. I'm not convinced that that's a valid assumption. As I suggested above, he could be doing something he knows to be wrong to prove some point.
People behave this way in movies. But where do we draw the lines?
Movies are not real life. That's where we draw the line.
But anwyay...I think that it is importat to realize the scocial responsability that we all have. Even though others do bad things.
Of course we have social responsibilities. To not act in a way that will injure or harm others. To not pass by someone in need, but to give them positive assistance. To forgive other's mistakes, and sometimes to forget them.
Nancy enquires
Any one ever here Enigma's Music?
Raises hand. "Sad(e)ness" and "..Innocence" were catchy, but they become rather annoying after a couple of tunes. And not a patch on Enya. But that's MHO.
Lisa's Form II
Stupid girls' private school in Hammersmith (disgusting dump.)
Hey! Two tautologies in one line! I'm impressed!!
3 places! 3!
Three!! Whoo Lisa!
Spice Girls rock
This is indubitably true.
"One" - U2
"Torn" - Natalie Imbruglia
"High and Dry" - Radiohead
"For Tomorrow" - Blur
"Boys of Summer" - Don Henley
Those are just the epic make-you-want-to-live-and-die-at-the-same-time ones. There are plenty more.
This is indubitably true squared.
Matthew Perry, as he was
Before he met the duck?
Stephen Twigg (took Michael Portillo's seat in May)
Oh, what a moment! Smug git taken out by disbelieving smirk.
The Simpsons
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (my greatest weakness. I even got my Mum obsessed with the cat on that show...but anyway...)
The Day Today
This woman has taste. For our American viewers, TDT was a spoof of a news programme, running opposite the main evening news, and drawing as many viewers. Oh, but not quite as funny. And they only made 6, but the memory lingers on. A-ha!
Garrett forewarns us of Disney's re-running of 60-ish of their best cartoons on a 1-per-day basis during November and December next year. If they're doing that to mark the end of the 90s, what are they doing for the end of the millennium? We would like to know...
Garrett again
[Kids coming out of school in various states of undress]
Dressing like a whore when you're 12 years old is... uhmm..... wrong? Dressing like a whore anytime is wrong!!!!! But people love it.
Well, do they? Who are these girls trying to impress? Are they in the majority of the people they respect?
It seems like most of society is rolling towards a more centralized sexual view; people have to reveal more and more as time passes.
Of course, this can only go so far. Like, till everyone's walking round wearing diddly-squat, and clothing manufacturers are Very Unhappy.
And seeing these children, who have so much of their lives to go, already acting like they're ready for the whole sexual fun of an adult.... it's... man. It burns me SO much.
It's just bad. Part of society, but bad.
That people can't enjoy the little things anymore.... like smiles, and eyes, and ... yeah. Even the face. A plain face, without all the extra make-up, it can be just like.. amazing. Like a shooting star.
This is, indeed, true. An unadorned face can, and in one case I know of does convey more beauty than all the exposed cleavage, midriff and leg on Malibooboo beach.
But nope, nobody cares about smiling and blue eyes.... it's about legs, it's about breasts, it's about bellybuttons and torsos and fake figures and.... [sighing] sex.
I guess these youngsters thing that sex is a goal in and of itself. Personally, I totally disagree. Sex, for me, is something that comes from a healthy, loving relationship. I don't go out of a weekend looking to bang at the first fit babe I see; it wouldn't be sex, just physical actions.
how am I going to ever have a child survive in this world that embraces filth and purgatory? Like, without losing him or herself?
By teaching them to be honest, questioning, and a free thinker; to follow their own heart; and, above all, to set a good example yourself. In spite of that, they may choose to act like a slut, they may choose to act like a nun, they may choose a sensible middle way. There are no cast-iron guarantees, but this is the pragmatic way I choose.
It seems to me that things are going to get worse... that people are going to get stupider... that the great dreamers like Walt Disney or Jim Henson will become lost souls.... that a human life will be measured on how much he or she can put out.
This will only happen with our consent. I withhold my consent from that. It will not occur, at least for me. There will always be a part of me that knows life can be stranger, and better, than I ever dared dream possible.
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 98 07:07:32 PST
Subject: Cheese graters
Hi there, friends.
Jared Wallin, greetings. Scott, hello. Tracy, hiya. Kanwal, welcome.
.~* reports that a historic cinema is to be demolished
becuz 'the architecture has become outdated and it is an eyesore in a nice modern suburb'
Two things. One: Architecture does not become outdated, unless the building collapses. It simply becomes unfashionable, and that's a whole other problem. Two: "A nice modern suburb". Isn't that an oxymoron, Rayanne?
BTW: Shannon-and-Shobi, another post from the tundra of uber-coolness. Loved it, cheers!
Moments that prickle my soul:
Laura reminds me of
VH1 brings us 'Pop Up Video' which I find strangely addicting.
Ah, the show where there are captions that give "interesting" info about the act, the vid and other stuff. Britain has had something similar on "The Chart Show" since it started in 1986. Only their captions have always been either widely-known facts or totally esoteric and of interest to 4 people.
Sarah wonders
What are they doing with the Charlie and Sarah thing? the age difference is pretty substantial though.
What always alarmed me was how Scott Wolf - 29, and clearly balding - could plausibly date JL Hewitt - much nearer her screen 17. Never quite worked for me.
And Erin comments
i admit to watching party of crap (it's kind of like a horrible car accident). i gave up on its dramatic value near the beginning of last season
That's a shame. IMHO, the series was crap for the first half of season 3, but it really picked up after Christmas, as Bailey's battles with the bottle, Charlie's situation with Grace and Julia's relationship with Ben all climaxed after long build-ups. From the first episode of season 4 (all I've seen in the UK) it looks like they're setting up something of a "Party of Murder One Five" thing. And finally giving Claudia a plot, and Owen some lines. Hoorah!
The class of XX thing. It's something totally alien to me, and I think the whole of the UK culture. In my case, I'm part of the class of 1990, when half my colleagues left after their GCsSE. And the class of 1992, when the rest of us went to university or work. And the class of 1995, when I finished my degree. And if I take a post-grad qualification, I would be part of the class of 2004 (or whatever). And, like Sara said, there's no real distinction between '95 and '96 graduates in the world outside uni.
The Unabomber. He is giving me the impression that he's barking mad and not fit to stand trial; but I'm wondering if that's part of his game plan. Either way, I'm wondering if the jury are sequestered at the moment; if they're not, then they're clearly contaminated by these shenanigans, and that's going to preclude a fair trial. From what I've heard, there's enough evidence to convict him of making bombs, but I remain to be convinced that he is, in fact, the Unabomber. But that's what the trial's for, I guess.
OJ's also cropped up here; personally, I don't think that the state was able to prove murder, but that he was probably guilty, as the civil case showed. The clinching point of his criminal innocence was the clearly racist evidence of Fuhrmann (sp) that raised enough of a doubt that he wasn't operating to the stated agenda.
~Bill
The Government wants us all to believe that what it did was justified because they got the right guy, and they got the right guy because of what they did.
This smacks of circular reasoning. We got the right guy coz of what we did, and what we did was right coz we got the right thing. Ergo, what we did was right coz we did the right thing. Does the FBI media unit want to hire a good logician? I may be available...
Robin writes
I didn't think Brasseye was all that funny really ...
Of the five I saw (down with the flu for one), I kinda liked it. Especially the "cake" spoof. And I recall hearing that new controller Michael "Ow!" Jackson has pledged a repeat this year. And we can't mention Brasseye without plugging the Armistace. Another classic act from Armando, Peter and David...
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 98 06:41:46 PST
Subject: seven folk sitting
Two posts from me in as many days? Something must be up.
Mae in Manilla, hello!
Jessica wonders
Wait sorry I must have missed something but why do u need our addresses?
The addresses posted to the list are from people who wish their address to be made public. There is no compulsion on anyone to give these details to the list as a whole. In fact, I'd suggest that this is a bad idea, given the security problems inherent in an open list.
Robin
The one thing I don't like is when radio stations (e.g. Radio 1 daytime) play certain pieces of music to death. Playlists are a bad idea. There's so much great music around, and yet we get lumbered with the same festering selection of records.
Playlists can be a good thing, if they're used correctly. Such as, to introduce new artists or songs that wouldn't get a huge amount of airtime otherwise. But the way Radio 1, and independent stations in the UK use them is to heavily promote 6 to 10 records, and give less strong promotion to about 20 more. And, thanks to the ubiquity of a few owners of many local stations, I can hear the exact same playlists almost all the way from my home to Bournemouth.
Talking of Vanilla, did anyone see them on TOTP this evening? What did you think ? (I missed it BTW ... what a shame)
I've seen worse. But then I've seen better as well. They sang, they danced, which immediately puts them in the top half of acts on the show.
more...
Roman writes about
The news media has way to much power over what people believe in the US). And as tired as this sounds, there are tons of people who believe whatever they see on the nightly news or read in the newspaper.
This is a sad state of affairs. Yet, why do people trust these tabloid media over more reliable sources? It's not the media's fault that many residents of the USA are unwilling - or incapable - of following a complex logical argument, or debating rationally and sensibly. That is, at least in part, a fault of the education system, and that those media that are reliable - say, the New York Times, or the CBC - are not as easily accessible as local, vam-vam-vam news.
Sara's long post
I didn't care when Princess Di died. I thought it aws extremely annoying (that they took off of the tv shows and radio programs and stuff) and well...they made her death affect my life, and get in the way of my life, and I didn't want that.
Me neither! As far as I'm concerned, she had turned from a member of the royal family into the worst sort of media tart over a number of years, and she had been really irritating to me for quite a long time. The last thing I wanted was yet more of little missy tedious to be thrown into my lap. And to judge her passing as being of more importance than Teletubbies, the Top 40 and the Archers shows an utter lack of proportion from the BBC.
I don't want a wedding ring. or an engagement ring. though I know that Ross wants one. I mean..rings are okay and stuff, but people put so much empasis on that...and not on the getting married. I don't need a ring to feel married to Ross, and I don't need to have a ring to show to other people...to show off, like so many others do.
A simple, understated ring to show "I'm married, so don't look at me as though I'm not." That's all I'll consider accepting. Not anything ostentatious, flashy or otherwise noticeable. The main point is that I'm (going to be) married, and that is the important thing. Not the ring. Not the shade of pink that the bridesmaids are wearing. Not whether the flowers match. Not whether there are three or four layers on the cake. Marriage is the important thing. Everything else is just frills, detracting from the main point. In fact, people can get so caught up in the celebrations that it stops being "your big day" [© Every wedding magazine 1998] and starts being "the day that you two are on show to the whole world and they will judge you terribly if you don't spend oodles of wonga and, oh yeah, you say a few insignificant words or something, but that's so not the point". Or something...
Question of the moment
If Liberty was a class-room, where would everyone be sitting? What would they be wearing?
Sitting: probably up against a side wall, two or three rows back. Out of the teacher's direct line of sight, but close enough to the front that I can't be accused of shirking.
Wearing: Something smart-but-casual; trousers that aren't jeans, with some form of shirt that's not falling to bits. Something similar to what I'm wearing to work at the moment.
Doing: Sort of paying attention to the teacher's verbiage, but once in a while slipping a note round, or scrawling some notes that have nothing to do with the matter in hand.
Cherryanna wonders
Exactly how long is the theme song? It seemed really short.
One minute 6. Short by the standards of a single, but slightly longer than the average tv theme seems to be.
Erin, Francis, thanks for the wise words on chopping down the original messages. One tip - the way I do it - is to save every message I want to reply to into a text file (it's a lot easier if you're in digest, I'll agree), and work from that using multiple Notepad sessions. Offline, if you so choose.
Sara wonders about
T. Elliot is or Stephen Hocking
TS Elliot? Steven Hawking? Writers; one literary, one astrophysicist.
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 98 04:14:19 PST
Subject: heaven and erith
Greetings, fellow Lifers. Now: football, weather, rings, sex, words, letters, Oxford, icons, music and reviews.
Brem writes
And I have the first of my four finals tommorow, and I don't know anything about anything ever.
Well, belated good luck type wishes, dear Bremster. And remember, er, something or other. If you can.
Anna Lebbell
class of 200 would be your uni degree here,
Or just the usual class size at a state school.
Kristineo
So pray to football gods (you know those face painted, no shirt people in the stands wearing a block of cheese on their heads) that the Packers just stomp the Whinners!!! (they will playing The Bronco's gag in the Superbowl)
Quite frankly, the prospect of either the 44-9'ers or the Pack of Tins in the Superbowl fills me with a large dose of ennui. As does the presence of the Buckin' Denver team. Hence my sig. Superbowl 32. The One With the Added "T".
shim's alphabet
kris, brem, iain, liz
A-C-...-H-J-K-B-I-L
It's almost the middle row of the keyboard, but not quite. How most bizarre.
Eli
IT SNOWS HERE!!!
I am shocked! I am amazed! I am looking at a picture of one of the stereotypically Orthodox Jews sliding through the snow on his back. And then remembering that my local UK micro-climate has had about 0.5 cm of snow since New Year's Day 1997, and my visits to St John's have given about 100 times that. Oh, and last weekend we had 15. Plus 15. Centigrade. About 60 in decrepit money.
Eli on the subject of listee's information
Maybe Shana can keep the address on her page, but not include in her page a direct link to this info. The access will be available only to listies who desire it that way.
So, a hidden page? It's a fine idea, but many ISPs don't allow this practice. But I do agree that it would solve many (not all, but many) of my security worries.
Kris on wedding rings
It's a reminder, of the good things....not "THE BIG DAY" but the "BIG PICTURE".
This is, indeed, the most valid point. The day is over within 24 hours. The results persist forever. Even so, whether I have a ring or not, I'll still be married. That is more important to me than any symbol.
Sara writes of
Okay...I agree that there can be a major difference between rich/good communities, and poor communities. but Little Chute is by no means a poor community. Actually, pretty much everyone I went to school with was rich (except poor miss little chute usa:) and well...I guess, when we were in middle school, none of us had sex. I hung around with some of the faster kids (sexually wise) and well..the farthest they got was like french kissing, and a little touching smile BUT some kids these days are having sex...even in rich communities.
OK, here's some stuff. I grew up in Codsall, a fiercely middle class community just outside Wolverhampton. In my year, I didn't hear of anyone having sex until they were 14. We got through to 16 without a single pregnancy amongst my cohort of about 300 students - though that was unusual. It took me till I was nearly 16 to have a proper, touchy girlfriend, and a further year and a half till sex.
A couple of years ago, I was trying to be a teacher. One of my schools was an Officially Rich School in Solihull. That's snooty, upper class territory. There, it was boys only up to 16, and the amount of ribbing for being seen with a girl was amazing. Equally amazing was the change when girls entered your year; most of them seemed to pair off quickly.
Compare and contrast with my other school, in an Officially Poor Area of Coventry. It was mixed, and the head came across pregnancies at 12 and 13 on an annual basis. There was a general air of expectation that the 14, 15 year olds were at it.
more...
TeknoSound, the AOHellster
YOU AS*HOLES FILLED UP MY MAILBOX WHILE I WAS GONE ON A TWO WEEK VACATION AND I WAS EXPECTING IMPORTANT MAIL!!!!!
Honestly! Anyone would think this list wasn't important, or something(:
Phil
Well, here I am back in the UK... Now where I want to be is...
Two words: ME TOO!!!!! Certainly the city...
more...
Nicole quotes one of her teachers
"My concern about Nicole is not primarily in the field of her studies, for she is progressing satisfactorily, however I must say that i feel she is regressing overall. Her behavior can not be condemned because it is so intellegent in her own sence. Instead of focusing her energies on excelling academically, she is more focused on ridiculous comic things around her. I suppose my overall comment on Nicole is satisfactory although I do feel that this comment is not coming about by choice"
Which, as I understand it, means that Nicole is doing fine in her studies, but the teacher thinks she could fare a lot better if she put more effort in. So, Teach, why use so much excessive verbiage to say all that?
Mae wonders
Is there a mscl font? If there is, where can I get it?
The font used in the opening credits is "Harting", in the closing credits "Memorandum". They're both available from a number of font libraries; I'd recommend doing an Altavista search +Harting +font.
Kite-flyer Anna
WWJD bracelets have become a major fashion trend at my school.
Interesting. I can't say they've ever crossed the Atlantic and made any impact on my consciousness. The only piece of religious iconography that's become popular is the crucifix circa 86, in the style of Madonna.
more...
Cheesecake
Is Claire Danes at Queen Col' Oxford
No. The MSNBC and Rosie interviews November stated she's starting Yale this autumn.
Besides, why should la Danes risk going to Oxford and incurring the infinite wrath of Lisa Bing?
Ben's prickles include
"Here Comes The Sun."
Doesn't do all that much for me, but that's coz it seems to be a standard for buskers to massacre right across the UK. The main bit is easy, but has anyone heard a busker do the twiddly bit correctly? Thought not. And, thanks to the "Mary Whitehouse Experience", I always seem to burst into the "little darling" line part way through George Michael's "Faith".
Erin on "Titanic"
has mediocre dialogue that is often trite and performances that are a) boring b) hambone or c) just don't fit
You know, this is only the second criticism of this movie I've seen. The first was its review in SLATE late last year. So far as I'm concerned, 3 hours 15 is too long for a movie by a full hour. That the first two hours seem to be heavily padded don't help. I've not seen the movie, nor do I intend to, but anything that the critics rave about so much makes me suspicious.
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 98 06:45:52 PST
Subject: violintly
Howdy doody, post pickers. Contents: Sabrina, KBIL, web pages, eyebrows, bad gags, water and the end of the millennium.
Piper informs us that
Sabrina the teengage witch has been renewed til the year 2000.
Coolness and no room for error. Now, all I need is for ITV to realise that this is a High Quality Family Show, and not something they can stick in the muddy wastelands of kids tv. Something along the lines of the BBC not treating the Simpsons like a kids show.
I quoted shim's alphabet
A-C-...-H-J-K-B-I-L
Later, it hit me. KBIL. The station that Brem wants to take over and run. Playing gavel to gavel Kenickie, Bis, St Ettienne, Manics et al post infinitum. Well, it's better than gavel to gavel Led Zep...
Mae wonders
when I can get a PC good enough to support MS FrontPage?
Two words. Don't bother. Especially if you're going to use META tags to index your pages, coz FP doesn't properly support them. So far as I'm concerned, there's no substitute for properly hand-written HTML code. Notepad, or something similar.
If you, or anyone else, wants further recommendations, please write me off list.
And...
Okay, I've had it. I got another porno site. I was trying to go to ltavista.com, to look for the mscl font Brem was telling me about, but I typed altacista.com...Why does this keep happening to me? Am I a porn site magnet or something?
No, but many domain names very close to popular sites (Altavista, Yahoo, Lycos, Microsoft...) are porn sites. Think why these names would give high traffic...
Alfredo
having an ISP, and hosting mailing lists, and so on, gives me a measure of power... what I have, and what I do, I do not consider it power and I don't intend to use it that way.
That is, of course, re-assuring to hear. But let me play devil's advocate. Why should a new user believe you? You created the mail list, you let the user subscribe, why shouldn't you unsub them, or kill the list? It's only through time that the user will appreciate that a responsible admin wouldn't do that sort of petty stunt.
It is, I think, human nature or conditioning to expect the worst of people. A form of damage limitation: if everything goes wrong, we expected it to anyway, and if it works, that's a bonus.
Betsy's eyebrow piercing. Personally, I wouldn't. I don't know very much about your individual circumstances, but I don't think it's a highly smart move. Pretty much everyone will stare at the ring, and neglect the rest of you, including your personality. People will stereotype you as some form of mad hippie / fashion victim. And I think it just looks ugly on anyone.
But, if you can live with the first two reactions; your character is strong enough to shine through the physical distraction; then damn well do it!
Lisa on
My favourite is Peter o'Hanrahahanrahan:
He is just so useless. Even worse when he was on on "On the Hour". The new EC import quotas? 65% from the USA, 35% from Japan, 5% from Australia and 10% from South Asia. Past the finite barrier of 100% to 101%, 102%, all the way up to 115%. How much further will it go, Peter?
[Tapes of "On the Hour" are available from WH Smith and all good record stores]
And a blatant plug to TDT's unlawful child, the Friday Night Armistice, 9:30 tonight and sometime Sunday.
Actually, speaking of Lisa Bing, I hear that David Ginola, the piss-poor Tottenham striker, has signed to do shampoo commercials. And that Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Annoying from "Friends" will move in the opposite direction. Chandler would fit in better, though, coz he's not scored for years.
(Joke © Jeremy Nicholas 1998)
Robin writes
Here in U.K. we have had water shortages for the last few years in the summer. This year should. be O.K. as aparently the reservoirs are now full to bursting.
Let's be accurate about this: the overcrowded south east has had water shortages these recent summers. Us in the sensible Midlands haven't. And, sadly, recent rains haven't had huge impact on the reservoir levels, which is just physics.
Robin again
Don't forget that all web site addresses (URLs) are case sensitive.
To be exact, web site addresses held on UNIX systems are case-conscious. Those held on NT aren't.
Lady Firth writes
Did you guys know that the turn of the millennium is only 714 days away?
Well, no I didn't. But your warning is approximately 365 days early. Today is Friday January 16, the (gasp!) 16th day of the year. That leaves 348 more days this year. Add in 365 for next year, and 366 to wrap up the century, and that's 1079 days till the start of the millennium. Or, for those of you in Labrador, 1079 days and 30 minutes.
Though on New Year's Eve this year, we'll be able to party like the old Prince song recommended, like it's next year. And then settle down to re-runs of the Gerry Anderson show "Space 100 Weeks Or So From Now". And then watch the tv premiere of Titanic, brought to you by Last Century Fox.
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 98 04:47:36 PST
Subject: the fortune teller's rite
Another week looms. Bookended by some portentious sporting events - from Williams -v- Williams in Australia, to Henman -v- Rusedski in Australia, via Villa -v- West Brom in Aston. Oh, and some piddling little pigskin chase somewhere in California, but who cares about that (:
Subjects: millennium tension, maturity, digests, finance, web servers, sport and Take That.
Jennifer Barrigar, hello; thanks for trying to keep the number of postings down.
Deca writes
But as far as I'm concerned the "big day" is when all the digits of the year change and not when the millenium mathematically ends.
Well, many people will have big end of the decade parties at the close of 1999. But those that have end of the century bashes then don't get the chance to have another bash the next year, when the century and millennium properly end.
And Lady Firth
the world should just cancel the party to end all parties December 31, 1999 and move them to December 31, 2000.
Well, if nothing else, it will give Peter Meddlesome an extra year to find something to put inside the Millennium Dome.
For our non-British viewers, let me explain a little. The Government has decided to build a massive dome at Greenwich (east of London, in the middle of nowhere) to mark the millennium. It's funded by lottery money, that tax on stupidity. So far, there are 12 pillars and less than two years till it opens. And nothing to go in it. Peter Meddlesome, the cabinet minister in charge of the whole debacle, recently fell out with his creative director. Which means that it's all going to look a total mess, and be a triumph of style over substance. A fitting memorial to the current government, IMHO.
Evan! points out
the artist formerly known as Prince will be sure to get loads of royalties for the airplay of the song he had a hit with back in 1983.
At the grave risk of running something that wasn't all that funny totally into the ground, he intends to party like it's next year. Personally, I think the song fits best into this new year's eve celebrations. "Tonight we're going to party like it's after midnight already". Well, it almost fits...
Courtney quotes an ad
"Only 714 days till the millennium..have you bought all your CD's yet?"
Wow. A factual error and inaccurate grammar in the same blurb! Try "Over 1000 days till the millennium; plenty of time to buy more CDs." And why state the length of time to go. What point does it prove? "Less than 5 months till the World Cup, and our yoghurts are tastier than ever!" "Only a few months of the Spice Girls' career left... have you bought a good book recently?"
Kathy suggests
Anyway, I have a theory that many guys reach the peak of their maturity at 5.
Which bodes ill for Chuckie Finster and Owen Salinger, I guess. Never mind, they can always take a spot on "This Life: The Next Generation".
more...
Abuse corner:
Staci the AOHellster writes
Stop sending me this crap
Hey, you started it, chuck.
ElaineRr, another AOHellster
you are a sick sick child, no i'm not a spice girls hater, but I'm not a big fan of them either, please do not follow them!!!!!!!!!!!
Why the blazes not? If it's a choice between the spices and a serial killer, I know which one I'd recommend someone follow. And what makes Spice Girl fans sick in the slightest? Explain thyself!
Mae asks
Is anybody here subbed to the digest version of the list? If yes, what does it look like, and how does it work?
Did someone mention digests? That's my area, I think. The digests are a compact summary of the day's postings. List-owner and uber-cool dude byron sends out 2 or 3 at a time, on a daily basis. They're around 50K each, depending on the posts included. If you're worried about the number of mails you get (say, charged by the mail) then they're a good thing. Replying to the posts really needs some form of notepad to jot down topics.
Mae's form speaks of hating
people who smoke in front of me.
Oh, me as well. That is just so anti-social. Thankfully, most people in Britain don't smoke, and those that do seem to closet themselves well away from me. Something to do with bashed knees, I suspect. But my main bugbear, the prime anti-social activity, is use of a mobile phone. It buzzes annoyingly every second it's switched on, it transmits its location every few moments, and makes a horrible tinny tune when it rings. And then there's all the radiation it gives off, enough to fry the user's brain, and those of anyone within some metres radius.
Mobile phones are intrinsically dangerous things. Do not use them! If they won't kill you, other people's hatred will.
And Mae remembers
Take That ... They ceased to be a band at one of the highest peaks of their success
Well, that's not strictly accurate. As I recall it, Take That's highest moment came with their autumn 94 tour, before the last album came out. After that came the sacking of Robbie and it all went downhill quite fast after that. I think it's fair to say that they quit while still the biggest boy band, rather than see Boyzone take that title from them.
Financial update, again from Mae
IMHO, it's George Soros' fault. Why the heck does he have to buy all that Thai money and convert it to $$$??? What a big creep.
It's free trade. It's commerce. It's spotting a gap in the market and exploiting it. It's also had the effect of exploding the success myth that many South-East Asian economies have been peddling. Instead, we find that it's all been built on borrowed money. And that's not a brilliant way to build a whole economy. A lot of debt requires a lot of interest to be paid, and that's money that could be better used somewhere else in the economy. Like, your pocket.
Robin quotes me
web site addresses held on UNIX systems are case-conscious. Those held on NT aren't.
Another of Micro$oft's "embrace and improve" strategies ...
In this case, I think it is an improvement. Case sensitive URLs are annoying, even to seasoned web users. It also provides a strong impetus for developers to use meaningful file names. In this case, I think it's a step forward.
this is just them being non-standard.
If the standard is less than perfect, changing the standard should always be a viable option. Otherwise we would never have developed the rotary press, for instance.
Sara suggests
but the packers rule!
Well, they may be the best pigskin chasers on the planet during 1996, but does that entitle them to rule anything?
The Packers are now the 'official' or 'unoffical' (whatever you want to call it :) American team.
I don't see much chance of them picking up a gold in Nagano, for some reason...
Seriously, though, I fear the Superbowl has become more than a little tedious in recent years. Last year, we could have had the Expansion Bowl, but wound up with Cheeseheads and Patontheheads. This year, we could have had the Jets and the Giants, or a KC - San Fran rematch, but got the Cheeseheads and *uckinbroncos. There's no romance left. All the excitement has been bled out of it. Channel 4 have set aside 75 minutes for a highlights programme; it could well be all over in 3.
Some travel news: those of you in cars will find your way blocked if the road in front of you is, in turn, filled by other vehicular traffic. Best solution: drive a snowplough, as this will enable you to clear a path by pushing the piddling little cars to the side.
And the front pages of this afternoon's papers: Birmingham Evening News: "Cook Dated My Hamster". London Standard: "Branson's Balloon Bid Bites Big Bharain Brands".
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 98 09:22:51 PST
Subject: some holey night
Well, I'm kinda stressed right now. Coz my intranet pages launched a few minutes ago, and it's been hard work making sure they function properly. But they do, and I'm happy.
Hello, Dara. I'm Iain, 24, from Codsall, Staffordshire, UK.
Cold remedies. There was a report in the local paper that coffee is the best treatment. I don't recall how they established this, or on what basis, but that's what it said.
Alterna174, the AOHellster, wonders
What is your website address?
http://permanantly.under-construction.com
Or, maybe not...
I wrote of
Henman -v- Rusedski
Due to unavoidable circumstances, this event has now been cancelled. I'd like to apologise to all readers for this unfortunate event, and especially to Jerome Golmard for underestimating his ability to squeak past the British #2 after nearly four and a half hours...
Eli's words of wisdom
Music is about feelings. Music is meant to raise emotions, to prickle our soul. If it does, it works. If it doesn't it fails. But it fails for you. Everyone has his own musical taste. It doesn't matter if it's rap, classic or miscellaneous, as long as it touches his/her soul. That's what music is about.
How do I avoid the charge of ME TOO!!!!!ing? Hmm. Tricky. One person's music is another person's cacophony. For instance, I have a soft spot for Gorecki's 3rd, and the music from "The Piano", but a blind spot for musicals. My sister can't stand "that woman in pain", didn't think much of the clunky keyboard, but really loves Lloyd-Webber's works. And we both liked the collaberative re-working of "Perfect Day".
Eric points out
For me, the only real problem with mixed case URL is that they are not the universal standard, so you never know if case really is important or if an MS-DOS derived system is gonna smash the case of your URL.
There are arguments to be made for standardisation that case does
matter, and that it doesn't. But not having a standard does my head in. E-mail is case insensitive, and longer file names tend to be more descriptive, so I'm on the side of "case does not matter".
.~* writes
i still think about setting her [sister] up with bennykins. ;-)
Hey, isn't Liz dating Ben? And doesn't that scupper Minor Laine's chances kinda permanantly.
all weeks should have 3 day weekends.~*
Don't sell yourself so short! All weeks should have FIVE day weekends, and the working days should rotate round - Mon and Thu, Tue and Fri, and so on... Every day is just before a two day break (:
Amanda Lynch (hello!)
Since I'm one of the newest, where do I rate in the seating chart? I've already been warned away from the back.....so what else is left???
The great thing about the classroom here is that it's very, very large. It's not quite infinite - in fact, we don't want it to be that big, but most of the walls are somewhat elastic. If Brem's on the back, then the room is wide enough to fit you in on the back, some way away from him. Though quite why you'd want to avoid Brem is beyond me. Anyway. You can have pretty much any other seat you want, and I'm rambling totally.
Eric points out that "Titanic" won no acting awards, and wonders
SO how can it be the best picture?
Well, it's fairly obvious. Either it genuinely was the best flick of last year, or there was some form of carve-up that would give one movie the minor honours and "Titanic" the best flick. I suppose there could be a subliminal message put up throughout the film: "The acting's lousy, but the director's worked his ass off to get this picture out, and doesn't that deserve some recognition?"
Cherryanna suggests
party of five just ran out of little problems for each character,
What with Claudia being mistaken for a ferret, Owen bonding so closely with Griffin that Julia gets jealous, Bailey keeping exactly to the terms of his sentence by getting a private helicopter, and Sarah getting the license to pilot it. Hey, enough plot development there to write Charlie out for the season (:
Nicole writes of
I am sure that this book you want to write could never surpass or contend with this book that is the best seller of all time and in my opinion the greatest book ever.
I don't think anyone intends to compete with the Guinness Book of Records. Just make something that's as easily accessible and has witnesses with credibility.
However, I don't think that's the book you're referring to. And again, no-one intends to compete with that. You may wish to interpret this effort as a way of making the lessons you derive more accessible. Of adding to their veracity. Other listees just want to spread some of the happiness of this list around.
Another day, another post.
Well, people kinda liked my intranet pages. It whizzes, it bangs, it conveys the information, and does so without lapsing into cliche. Heck, I wrote it, and justified almost every turn of phrase to my manager / editor.
Which is more than can be said for that cancer chain letter cropping up yet again. It is a hoax. No money is changing hands. No kid has started such a waste of internet space and time. It is a hoax. It is best left for dead.
Lisa said
I've read two not-very-good reviews today.
Good heavens! What is this: British media refuse to be led by the nose and follow the unthinking acceptance of their Stateside cousins? Why am I genuinely surprised?
Brooks writes
P.S. Please send pluralism.
You'll only waste it, and we'll have to send it again...
Nichole on Vanilla
I've never heard of him/her/them/it.... Is it a UK thing/band/singer? [g]
Erm, thing is just about correct. It's a four-piece female band, who compare notes about some rampant male egos they had the misfortune to bump into down the local nightclub recently. As if that wasn't old hat enough, they shout "no way no way" at every opportunity, while the backing track is heavily ripping off the Muppets' "M'nah m'nah" track. Oh, and did I mention that it's pretty dire?
Nicole
the whole history of humanity revolves around Jesus...
Nooooooo.... The whole history of humanity revolves around people. The whole history of Christianity revolves around Jesus. It could be argued that the story of Christianity and the story of humanity have effectively become one and the same thing, but this discounts the general non-Christianity of the world.
I told you not to read it in fear that some people may have gotten offended.
Does anyone else see the inherant problem here? If you don't want people to read it, don't post it. Not that difficult logic, or am I missing something? Hey, that was a rhetorical question (:
Robin wonders
Rotary press ? Is that like a DaisyWheel printer ? ;-)
Quite possibly, though I was thinking of the one that they print newspapers on.
Wondering in Chicago
Um, forgive me for sounding really stupid, but (what is a Prince Albert?)'
Prince Albert. Long suffering and highly fertile husband of Queen Victoria. Father of her (count 'em) 9 kids. Passed away 1861, causing the monarch to retire from public life for 15 years. [Ears Windsor please note]
more...
Alfredo suggests
CRL's mail servers are trained to reject emails from machines that it thinks are spammer machines.
This is why the list "went down" in November. The Netcom machine that spews out Liberty email to everyone got blackballed as a spammer machine, and suddenly everyone was rejecting its mail, not just CRL.
I strongly disagree with this analysis of events. From my standpoint, it appears that November's outages were caused by problems at Netcom, with the servers there retaining mail for a number of days. I believe that this problem has intermittently afflicted the list since it moved to Netcom from Virany's account.
more...
if my CRL account keeps bouncing people's mail, it's not that I'm filtering you out, it's that CRL thinks your server is used by spammers.
The real solution is to get your provider to swear off helping spammers, and to report that both to CRL and to the anti-spamming project at [url deleted]
Boring and tedious, but it's the extremes that these net-abusers are pushing us to, to keep them from flooding your mailbox with their "important messages".
As I stated in November, this strikes me as putting the cart some way before the horse. Innocent users, who have nothing to do with spammers, are being treated as though they are sending out torrents of junk mail. This strikes me as being a deliberate denial of service, as an impediment to free speech, and a generally odious thing to do.
Please note that I am not in any way defending the actions of spammers. While blocking third party mail is bad, their unsolicited junk is pure evil. My argument is with the tactics being employed to stop them.
Sara quotes me
I don't see much chance of them picking up a gold in Nagano, for some reason...Nagano? huh?
Sara again
Two weeks ago..about, you were all writing to the list going, oh Titanic was SO great, oh Titanic was so wonderful...kate was awesome, leo was awesome...it couldn't get any better. NOW..I see posts saying, oh Kate didn't do the best that she could...leo should have had a more 'meaty' role..and someone else saying that he could have done better too.
Tell me, are the same people writing these posts? Or are different people writing different opinions?
Marissa on Dawson's Creek
Just don't buy into all the hype!!!
Let me link to Titanic. Don't buy the hype. Form your own judgements.
Kris writes
* On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.
Er, what's a $2 bill? Don't you mean the bi-metallic, shiny, push it hard enough and you get two coins for the price of one Toonie? [© the whole of Canada 1996]
* In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
Except in the UK, where it's usually 1:50. Must be something to do with driving on the left...
Date: Fri 23 Jan, 12:00 GMT
Subject: icicle
So, on the day after "Our Town" premiered 60 years ago, I be back.
Religion is the tail of the dog, or something. For me, raised as a Catholic, I don't believe in much of it. A higher power, maybe, but I remain to be convinced. And, as I don't affirm that greater being as existing, I cannot honestly praise or modify my life to reflect it, and get more than a trifle annoyed when people assume that I will do that.
On the other hand, I don't want to go around telling people that they're totally wrong without some evidence to back it up. So, I don't (intend) to attack someone merely because they believe in a supreme creator. If their actions are offensive, I will protest at them, whether they wish to cover themselves under the cloak of religion or not.
And if that made any sense, please let me know...
Garrett (I think) wonders
Now you tell me if this is shabby dialogue:
"You jump, I jump. Remember?"
On its own, as a fragment of dialogue, yes it is shabby. It's cheap, tawdry and inherantly cliched. And what's worse, it makes me even less likely to view the movie. I get the distinct impression that not only is "Titanic" way longer that I'm happy with, but the acting, script and basic plot are patchy at best; and that much of the movie is padding. The special effects may be good, the soundtrack is good (apart from Celine, but that's to be expected), but I won't be going the extra miles to see it. I can't justify spending 5 hours out of my weekend, and probably the best part of 10 pounds, to see something that won't hugely entertain me.
Let me make Marissa happy again
I finally made it into one of Iian's posts!
...and then I just realized I had a typo in my last post....here I was so excited about being in one of Iain's posts, and I misspelled his name!
[daria mode]
anyone would think it was an exciting thing to have happen...
[/daria]
Hey, you put two "i"s in, which is more than most people do. So I'm taking no offence.
.~* suggests
and gannon should get the #1 qb slot next year.
There's no "should" about that. Richie must be the starting QB next time around. Being 1st gives a hard schedule, and the Chiefs need to be at their very best. That needs the Gannon firing well - better than Elvis can.
more...
really doesn't like ironing as much as she did when it was like a special priveledge when i was like 10
Ironing is an evil but necessary business. Like air travel. Or listening to road reports when you're on a train. Oh for some good non-iron shirts, trousers, skirts and blouses. Or a matter transporter that works.
ok, time for me to talk up my fiancee, since i've been all quiet about it and all. more...
Indeed you have. All those visitors while Leo was off touring the world and spending less time with his barber.
if you wanna feel better about yourself, spend 7 cents a day to sponsor a starving child in africa.
If you want to do a really good deed, do something that no-one else would. Like mail Bill Clinton and express support that he's wholly innocent of the charges against him. Or give money to the "We Think Denver Are A Really Interesting And Successful Team Fund". Or just mail me and tell me you understand what I'm wittering about.
Garrett is unhappy
AWWWWWWW MAN! They're advertising in my tagline!!!!!!!!!!!!
Take a quick look at my sig for one way to dis-associate yourself from these commercial pronouncements. But do come back and read the rest of the message. Heck, someone has to...more...Sean wonders
Were not the Broncos in the Superbowl last time 'twas in San Diego? :)
Dusting off my archives, I see, yes, in 88, and they lost 42-10 to Washington. Another tedious game, IIRC.
Evan! wonders
What do we Americans do that you Canadians think is off the wall?
Well, I'm not a Canadian (yet...) but I am a Brit. Which gives me some leeway to answer.
Allowing almost anyone to be able to own a gun? Or a car?
Well, owning guns is alien to the British culture, and I am alarmed to see how widespread they are. But then, the rest of the world is worried about how many big, nasty dogs there are in Britain. And cars are just crazy, full stop.
Not requiring health insurance as a benefit of employment?
We taxpayers pay for that through the nose. Well, basic healthcare, subject to massive delays and wastage, but that's only to be expected from a state-run system.
That whole Cuba thing?
Now that does puzzle me. I know that relations between the US and Cuba have been frosty for some years, but the continuation of the total boycott just strikes me as perverse. What does anyone actually gain out of it. Does anyone even gain votes from it? Answers on a postcard...
And finally. In most of the British papers today is a report that Microsoft would like to take over British Telecom, the main phones company in the UK. My work uses BT lines, and they all went dead for a few minutes late this morning. About the right length to pass for a server reboot. You do the math...
Date: Sun 25 Jan 1998, 15:45 UTC
Subject: crackles
Well, hello.
Lady Firth
Now if they would only bite the bullet and get rid of the 1 cent penny. A two cent penny would be much more useful if they must have a coin less than 5 cents.
It's a valid thought, but it would be a nightmare in practice. Say you buy $44.62 worth of goods, and pay with a $50 bill. Assistant hands over $5.38 change - that has to include four 2c pieces. But $5.39 change would have to include two 2c pieces. Personally, I'd suggest either revaluing the dollar so that $2 now is $1 new, or just phasing out the existing 1c coin.
Until they privatize the postal service, we will always have what are commonly called "disruptions".
Interesting. Britain's Post Office was distinctly not privatised, following a very cleverly organised protest. Since then, the industrial record hasn't been any worse than before. So, in the home of privatisation, we have a reasonably happy post office still in the public sector.
~Bill
"the right of the people to keep and bear arms" is a right guaranteed by the United States Constitution
That is true. But is that a right given to the people as a whole - the entire population of Americans in general - or to specific people - ~Bill, Evan!, Kristine, or anyone else. Reading Brooks' posting of the full amendment:
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."I would side with the reading that an individual's right to bear arms (under this amendment, at least) is contingent on their membership of a well-regulated militia. And, by custom and practice, such a militia can only be the regular US army. Of course, other laws may be brought in to extend arms to other members of society, but these are not protected under this clause. In summary, then, ~Bill's conclusion I quoted above is correct, but the conclusion he's pointing to, that all gun control laws are probably unconstitutional, is seriously flawed.
Taking this issue wider, let me point out that Britain has never had a written constitution, and that our lawmakers here don't have to worry about whether their law might be struck down as "unconstitutional" by a UK court. If Parliament wills it, then it happens. It's the checks and balances of a mature, participatory democracy that keeps Parliament's excesses in check. People on the street caring about small bills, such as the current proposal to outlaw fox-hunting. Unelected peers in the House of Lords provide a review of law before it passes, and do so far more independently of the party machines than members of the Commons - or Senate.
Rain Sabre points out that under the US Primary system
The people (as in the public) elect everyone, and then from there they can go further up in the office. It's just like a promotional thing in a way.
So, there are popularly-elected city councillors, Justices, other law officers, traffic wardens, dog catchers... This strikes me as a recipe for distinct power building, where individuals are able to gain high office based only on the size of their personal power base, not their individual talents. That leads to inefficent government, working to super-serve small sections of the community. Mmm, pretty much what happens here (:
Continuing the American-bashing theme, Anna Lebbell
americans are poo when it comes to english accents, they always represent the upper class who are like 5% of the population.
OK, let me try this out. If someone claims that Jews are all conniving, they're damned as anti-semitic. If someone claims that Italian armies march best in reverse, they're shot down for being unfair and untrue. Claims about black people are almost always stamped on as racist without a first (never mind a second) thought. But claim that Brits are class-obsessed, and you can make a monster movie out of it: Independence Day, English Patient, Titanic. All these movies, and many others, perpetuate the only form of racial discrimination that still seems acceptable to Hollywood: Brits Are All Upper Class Twits. And, like all the examples I quoted above, that's a complete load of tosh.
Cherryanna
Yeah, you do have freedom of speech. But you don't have to criticize other people's ideas and opinions, and you don't have the right to force your opinion on other people. we have freedom of speech too.
you don't have to be sorry about your beliefs just don't force them onto the rest of us and don't state them out so rudely.
The words "kettle" and "pot" spring to mind here, for some unaccountable reason...
more...
Courtney
ACCCK, more opposition to my poor little town.
I can only speak for myself, but I'm only damning the football team, not the city as a whole. And I'm damning them only because I expect them to participate in yet another Super Bowl (sic) that's devoid of the one component that makes great sport: drama and the chance of an upset. more...
What do the rest of you listees thinK? Should they give him the boot?
Only if it's not attached to some girl's leg at the time (; Seriously, though, I don't see that having an affair is enough to get Clinton thrown out of office. Getting someone to commit perjury on your behalf is a major moral crime, irrespective of its standing under the criminal law, and if he's done that, he has to go. The middle ground, of having someone perjure without your asking them to, leaves the president on uncomfortable ground, but doesn't force him to go.
gala, the AOHellster, shouted
IN MY OPINION THE SPICE GIRLS ARE NOT 4 TEENY BOPPERS.
(she did an ian paisley impression, i'll just whisper this bit. of course the spice girls aren't four teeny-boppers. there's five of them, and they're all over twenty. oh. did you mean something different? that their target audience is not the young, repetitive beat segment of the modern market? well, stop abusing the number four and say what you mean. thank you.)
I can start talking again now. Only, there's nothing more for me to say right now. Other than, enjoy today's sport, and I'm backing Stevenage to lose by fewer than 26 goals.
Any more humble pie and I'll be 111. And ill as well.
Sara suggests that 5 hours is a bit long to watch Titanic in. Well, it's 3h15 for the movie itself, another 20 minutes for the previews and commercials, another 20 minutes to get in, buy the ticket, hit the gents and get out again, and 30 minutes each way from home to the cinema. That adds up to at least five hours, and I'm not prepared to sacrifice that much time on a movie that I don't think is going to be world class.
Sillyness abounds: the New Scientist reports these amazing, instructive, technological breakthroughs
Sara also remarked that many British gun owners had to hand their weapons in last year. This is, of course, accurate. However, it only tells a small fraction of the story. In March 1996, a madman shot 16 people in a school in middle Scotland. Six months later, the judicial report blames the police, who should have acted to take the guns away. The government sees the report and decides to take action not called for, to outlaw the possession of pistols. That's what Sara was seeing, the forcible confiscation of a class of weapons from people who had passed strict and stringent tests, but were being sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. Britain's policy is to deny people guns unless they can prove that they are capable and competent to hold them. If the approval system fails, I believe it's unreasonable to wreak revenge on the people who were wronged by the system, in preference to improving the checks.
And Sara on UK coins
1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and pound coin. That's too many!
Guess what: I'm not convinced. Personally, I think that the UK coinage is a masterpiece of functionality; there are no notes for small amounts, and the coins (apart from the 2p) are carefully scaled in both size and weight by their value. I find them far more easy to use than their Canadian equivalents: especially the 2p, which seems to be a uniquely British brainwave.
Evan! quoting Brem
> I know what boys want
Another musical reference I can get! I love the Waitresses!
Far be it from me to disappoint, but I fear Brem is not quoting the Waitresses but the original instigators of Girl Power. But then again, I could be wrong. (see posts passim) more...
Courtney reminds us that
~ 43% of all statistics are useless.
57% are made up, and 126% have some error in calculation.
~ Get the facts first. You can distort them later.
Clinton, please note. Get the facts first. Not the bimbette.
~ If the word "Arkansas" is pronounced "Arkansaw," why isn't "Kansas" pronounced "Kansaw"?
Because these southeners can't tell their saw from their...
Sarah suggests
Leo in his tux. Man, I would seriously commit a violent, henious crime just to have him as my Prom date for a few hours
Should I mention how I (just about) saw said posh suit when di Laine was at the London premiere of Titanic last November? No? Oh, then I won't.
Eli rises to the Presidential challenge
It is really weird to think that way. I mean, you know what's Clinton taste [...] but think of Gore, what a bad taste he might have? :-)
Eli, I really don't want to think about that! Ew! Though I think we know that Billy doesn't think of that sort of thing as adultery...
Shana, who's making a little birdhouse in her soul
Good luck building, don't forget to put the light switch in.
Brem
Couples who are not spontaneous SHOULD NOT BE COUPLES!
So, couples who plan their lives all the way to the last detail should split up and go their miserable, separate ways. Heck, look what happened to Mr and Mrs Alan Partridge.
And on THAT bombshell...
Date: Wed 28 Jan, 16h51
Subject: the people we are
When I last wrote, two days ago, I had no idea of the storm that would ensue around the world. But, these sorts of thing tend to take everyone, not least the participants, by surprise. Strange, really, the way this cookie crumbles. more...
Jason Newton suggests that
my personal interpretation of the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales was that it was a pile of horse manure. Somehow I doubt I would have passed the A level if I'd written that.
A very interesting opinion, Jason. Care to share some of your reasoning with us? I won't be able to write back myself, coz I've not read the play, but an attack on what everyone else sees as classic literature is always interesting.
Garrett suggests that
I think the only one who really understands the spirit of Liberty, and clings onto it wholeheartedly, is Sara.
Just for reference, could you, Sara, or someone else please define the spirit of Liberty. I am genuinely confused by what this "spirit" business refers to. more...
Deca imports
Vince Clark ran out of ideas in 1985, as far as I'm concerned. :)
Hmm. Interesting. Yeah, you do have a point. When the best Erasure songs I can remember are off "The Circus", mainly, with a slow decline to 1994's "I say I say I say", and then going splat on their face. I really liked the Abba covers ep, but then that's not Vince's writing at all.
anyone know the lyrics of "Two tribes", btw?
Um, I have the cd at home. Let me know if you want me to twiddle the keys for them over the weekend.
Sarag asks
Why is it called the Superbowl anyways??
Because the "AFC - NFC Champion's Match to Find the Final Champions of the NFL" doesn't really trip off the tongue. And, FYI, it's a name the then Kansas City Chiefs supremo took off his daughter's toy, the Super Ball.
Sara
OH well...we'll win again nextyear!
Well, maybe not. I have my money on (pulling name out of a hat) the Cleveland Browns. Er, let me dust my crystal ball a bit more...
A fairly self-evident scribe
Elizabeth Angellla-Brem Innes Wrigley-Field
Didn't you have this trademarked once? Can we all start calling ourselves Brain-Deca Outies Edgbaston-Oval?
Sundrinker
i'll might just have to engage Eli in a discussion on the use of the fourier transform in solving differential equations, though.
Please don't. Especially as it reminds me of the only time I got a stonking 0 (zero) on a problem sheet. Thankfully, it was only a small part of the course, and I passed it anyway.
Sara again
My best friend Becky is...and of ALL the jerks that she could have gotten pregnant by he's decided to leave her, and go back to his ex-fiancee, who he has two kids with, becasue she (the ex-fiancee) wants to have a 'real' family again. Can you believe the nerve!? What a jerk!
This is just dashed bad. Clearly, he can't live and love both his partners, but he might at least be consistent in which one he lives, loves and supports directly.
Brem's Titanic post (no, not a spoiler for anything)
Old people in the seat behind me chatting through the entire thing: DIE! HURRY UP AND DIE! I`M WATCHING A FILM!
This is one of the most annoying things about public cinemas. The old biddies who have nothing better to do than yak on endlessly about their rheumatism, how old Mr Jones at number 26 has a good crop of rhubarb this year, or how young people these days have no manners. Shooting's too good for them.
Eli quotes Lou Reed
"Ohh, What a perfect day". Not.
Well, not if you're Bill Clintern. But it is a better song than, say, "Barbie Girl".
The baseball final is also called The World Series. Why? I don't know. Americans ;) [sigh]
Interestingly, there's a cricket series going on in Australia at the moment, between the home side and South Africa. That's billed as the World Series, too. England aren't taking part, as last time they were bundled out by (er) the Australian youth side.
I'll start: The English soccer sucks.
[panto mode] Ooooohhh no it doesn't!!!!! [/panto] (:
Shut your mouth Montrose!
Aw, don't. We need a new Kenickie single. Just because, k?
Julie Stevenson, welcome back! Someone remembers you...
CRIS
the cable company took away WB and so now i can't watch DAWSON'S creek, I am like so sad =(
The blighters! The buzzards! Do they want to receive lots of nasty mail from you or something?
Another case of name-dropping
Special K
Welcome back, Kent.
Hmm. Ya know, I'm sure there's something big going on, and it's all passing me by. Ah well. I'll catch up in time, I guess...
Well, I did something of a reverse Groucho in the last post, and clean forgot to mention the big story. Apologies to anyone expecting either calm, rational debate or a series of jokes on the Clintern scandal, but I don't think either of these things are possible right at the moment. more...
A thought on comparing shows to MSCL. I don't think that there can ever be another MSCL. There can be shows that take elements of the MSCL plots and use them to advance their own stories. (Season 2 of Party of Five, for example) There can be shows that attempt to re-create the feel of MSCL, and generally fail. There may yet be shows that try to duplicate the look of MSCL, but I've not seen any yet.
I posted last year about the British school drama "Grange Hill". Last year's series incorporated many parts of MSCL, from kissing in the boiler room to a battle against alcoholism. The new series started last Tuesday, with all the familiar faces around familiar scenes but an indescribable feeling that something has changed for good. While GH will never be a British MSCL, no matter how hard the scriptwriters try, it remains the only contemporary British drama that I think is worth sticking with. Why? Because it's a high-quality show. It has that in common with MSCL.
Brem's annoying cinema companions
So I followed the couple home after the show and burnt down the entire building.
They begged me to let them out, or at least their pet cat Flossy, but I refused to relent.
What a jolly decent chap you are, Brem. Showing appropriate levels of kindness, compassion and decency to poor, suffering creatures.
~Bill comments on Dawson's Creek
I think Joey's missing a good bet. If she worked it right, she could have sex with Dawson any time she wanted, because his parents are so comfortable with her presence in the house, they've put a ladder up as a permanent fixture on the side of the house so she can climb into her son's window any time she wants.
Why does the pairing of Clarissa Darling and Sam (ack! what's this guy's
last name?) spring to mind?
Weaver reports Infobeat reporting the Enquirer reporting
Leonardo DiCaprio must not really be sure of himself, either. Seems he befriended a woman in a video store, but lost her phone number. He then called the store's manager to ask if any women there had given him their number. By the time Leonardo got back to the store, the manager had a bagful of phone numbers for him.shim: what is your fiance playing at!? Talking in a store is one thing; getting a number off someone else is really bad. Personally, I'd dump him, if he weren't Leo...
And yet we press on...
My s-cL. Bit of an emotional day, as Giles, the guy who took a chance on bringing another failed teacher into his employ, leaves the company for fresh challenges. It's a wrench; he's not only a manager, but someone to swap tales and moans of the trains, and have a good heart-to-heart with. I'll miss him.
Ben, the Ben of the list, has a memory lapse
John Paul Jones. No relation the Monkee's one. Wait...was it the Monkees? Or the Doors? Or Zepplin?
Naah. The Monkee was Davy Jones. Maybe a John Paul in Led Zep...
Dana writes
what is completley pathetic is the fact that i have absoloutly nothing to say...there is no point ot this massage and i sort of pity the person who decided to read this thing
Well, when you say that you have nothing to say, it means that you suddenly have something to say. So it's not a sensible or logical thing to say, in which case you shouldn't say it, but then it becomes true that you now have nothing to say.
And I really pity the person who tried to make sense of that last
bit.
i could blab on about phil and what it is like to be a rabbit with him but i think i will spare you all the graphic details.
Thank you. It's enough hearing about the Clintern scandal...
Jason Newton on the "Prologue to the Canterbury Tales"
Very basically it's about this guy who is on a journey with some other people and he spends the entire book describing them, ie how they dress, how rich they are etc. The whole thing bored me. I certainly couldn't relate to any of it. No story and little depth once you've translated it.
From the way you've described it, it sounds like a plot that could
be interesting, but needs to be handled well. And with all the archaic language, it's not accessible and not worth the candle.
Sara puts up something of a bait
I need a subject about Titanic.
One screen (only) on why I should go see it.
my name is heidi
Greetings, Heidi. I'm Iain, I waffle about stuff all the time.
Eli's wish list
25-30 A rerun of MSCL in UK.
This is unlikely
30-35 Next year, Dallas AND Green-Bay will win the superbowl
This is very unlikely. But more possible in 2000, if this Turner-NBC league gets off the ground.
35-40 Clinton will become a nun
40-45 Israel will won the World Cup
Shouldn't these be the other way round?
55-60 Win95 won't be needing 16 Tera RAM
What's more improbable than that. Er.... erm..... pass.
Sun wonders about next month's net shutdown
I wonder why the 28th? Wouldn't the 14th be more approprate?
Actually, I was thinking of the 30th.
Greg! Hello again.
Nichole's weather. Come to foggy Britain, where today is foggy, with patches of mist and reduced visibility. And no power outages or roads blocked by the weather...
Kate's friend Brownie suggests
6) As soon as you think no one cares, you realize who your true friends are.
This is true. This is very true. See posts passim.
8) Forget regret or life is yours to miss.
Forgive, but don't forget.
10) You will explode if you keep everything inside.
But sometimes it's useful to bite your tongue for a moment. Such as when someone's shouting down the phone and you're trying to compose a list post.
Liz
Bringing LUNCH!
I love lunch. I am such a foodie.
Lunch is totally under-rated. Far too many people take a purchased sandwich - machine-made by someone who knows nothing of you and cares less - put it together with a mass-produced chocolate bar and a can of something fizzy, and call it lunch. That's not a lunch, that's a mess. Lunch is a brief meal, but one that needs to have as much loving and careful preparation and thought as a gourmet dinner. Whether it's hand-cooked shepherd's pie, a toasted bacon and tomato sub, or a cheese sandwich prepared the night before, some thought and planning goes a long way.
Anyone else care to dine?
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