And welcome to February. Tracey Mitchell: hallo and welcome. Allison Kat, welcome back. Carole Tousignant, bonjour.
.~*
i've promised to a couple people now that if i don't seem better by monday, i'll go to the campus doctor and see what they say.
Probably "Hello Ms Laine, that'll be $2,000,000 if you'd be so kind." But hopefully you don't need to be there...
Returning to a previous theme of bad behaviour at the cineplex, Lisa
I had people behind talking on and off. I did my thing of turning round and giving them the dirtiest look. To which the female said, "Why does that girl keep fucking turning round and looking at me?"
Because she deserves it? Because her ego is too big to fit in her body and random bits have to keep slipping out of her mouth? Because nice, sweet, compassionate Lisa would dearly love to wrench your toungue out of your mouth, tattoo the words "I talked all the way through movies" in flourescent green ink all over it, and staple it to her forehead.
The inherant paucity of plot development in the movie also got Lisa's goat.
Instead of a million little plot developments (probably encompassing a million cliches)
There's no probably about it. This is a movie that has had so much spent on its visual effects that the little things, like scripting, editing and plot development fell by the wayside.
we get DANGER --> SEPARATION - - -->DEATH -->LONELINESS. This does not prove they love each other. It's just a lazy way to deal with things, not bothering to actually tell us why not being together would be such a problem for them. It's as if it's just inexplicable - it's love - that's it.
But is a sensible plot what the audience wants? Wouldn't they just prefer a patronisingly simplistic "girl in unhappy relationship meets handsome but dim chap whom she lusts after and mistakes it for love" plot? Quite probably, because the audience of teenage girls falls exactly into that camp. They're all lusting after Leo di Laine, they're all a little unhappy at being reminded that they're not dating him, and they all mistake their lust for love. And, yes, that's totally unfair to maybe 50% of the audience. But it does fit a significant proportion to the ground.
Oh, and I also have a billion Schindler's List comparisons to make - please, someone be interested...
Aim target, fire, Lisa.
I dreamed the night before last that I met Freud and shouted at him that he was crap. Is this so mightily symbolic as to portend the implosion of the Universe?
Only if you are a Freudian experiencing some pre-millennium tension. Given that you're Lisa Bing, I don't think either of these conditions apply.
Allison Kat
Buena High had a backwards dance. (a formal girl asks guy)
Erm, colour me stupid, but why is that a backwards dance. Surely a real backwards dance would be the aklop, or the nac-nac, or a ztlaw (done in 4/3 time, natch). Seriously, though, don't girls ask guys to other formal dances yet?more...
Kris threatens
I will have to repost the words to Barry Manalows Copa Cabana over and over and over.
You do, and I'll bring in the UN, coz that's a prima facie breach of our human rights (:
Laura
[Diana's] tribute Cd thing looks pretty good, I wanna get it...
Buy it if you like the music. If you just want the money to go to charity, donate 30% of the sticker price to the memorial fund. Or, even better, donate it to a cause that isn't fashionable, coz they have really suffered in donations recently.
Brem warns us of
Next week... an actual letter in sanskrit to see if anyone notices the diference.
I'll be interested. I would point out that this is, primarily, an English language list, but this seems to be a minor point.
Eli
Never read existianical philosophy, it is too true.
Yes, but extistential philosophy fails to define itself as true, thus totally invalidating itself.
So, yeah, never read it.
If a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears it or see it, did it fell?
Yes, by definition. Whether it makes a noise is a far more interesting question, but still answers as yes (See: Physics 4).
Courtney
I epitomize weirdness. I like to talk too much, be overly outgoing and scare people.
Boo! Boo-boo-boo! Hmm, a Laa-Laa of the list?
Tracy's form
favorite politician(s) or political thinker(s):Marx
Groucho or Zeppo?
Ben talks of his gay friend
I guess I could join...what was that club?
The Fag Hag Club (secretary: s. laine)
Sara
Me and Ross are getting married within the next two weeks.
Hey, congrats to the pair of you. What else is there to say? Other than to wish you both well...
Just a comment (not a criticism) on the recent forms. We've had one favourite visual artist as a friend; one favourite dancer as a friend; and one hero as a friend. Look at how much talent is out there, ignored by the rest of the planet.
Kris asks
Can you think of name for Brems 'link' off my Listee Tribute Page?
Salutations. Bless. Och.
See you all soon.
Hello, list.
Tracey Mitchell writes on the topic of Pres Clintern
I'm actually the only person I know who doesn't think he's guilty. I don't think he did it.
What exactly is it that you don't think he did? Screwed around? Lied under oath? Encouraged someone else to perjure themselves? There are a lot of things that he's been charged with. Some are serious, some are not.
My friends and I discussed this once, how different the world would be if everyone wore signs on their forehead that said exactly what they were thinking. We came to the conclusion that things are better off the way they are although it would make life more interesting:))
ObDaria: "The Road Trip", where our heroine is in Trent's van, on the way to Alternapolloza, and gets stuck in a traffic jam. Trent remarks on how this is like that REM video, only no-one can read other people's thoughts... more...
Courtney wonders
Is it just me or is there a limited amount of us Librans here on the world cuz I don't know anyway!
Yes, there is a limited number of Librans. About 1/12th of the whole population, I'd suggest.
And Courtney's boyfriend troubles... I have a maxim. If he doesn't want to be seen with you, or wants to have an on/off relationship, he doesn't value you well. And you deserve better than him. This advice also works for fellas, with appropriate alterations.
Chelsea Upham scrawled
Please take me off this stupid list so I will stop getting so many messages!!
Odd, I'm not on any stupid lists. None whatsoever. If you want stupidity, go to the Darwin lists. If you want lots of messages, don't move a finger.
Brem
One of my (many) problems is that I automatically assume everyone elses emotions are more real and important than mine. Hence if one of my friends fancy a girl, and I do likewise, I immediately revoke my claim completely: After all...they must like them more than you, eh?
No. They are merely a friend, a cypher for the real sex god that is Bremstrahlung X Jones. And he is the most important being on the planet.
And if you believe that, I have a smidgeon of worry for you.
But seriously, I do know where Brem's coming from there. Often, I'd drop out of going after someone when I found they were otherwise taken. Other times, it was just fuel to my lust... And now, of course, that sort of thing is all over.
Kris's baby. I think it'll be a girl, born during May, weighing less than me. And I'm not going to be any more precise.
Skeie! quotes the USA Today Grammy poll.
2065 'Every Day Is A Winding Road,' Sheryl Crow
1581 'I Believe I Can Fly,' R. Kelly
How come? A wonderful, gospel-tinged track is barely 75% as popular as yet another escrow slab of tedium...
Album of the year
2611 'OK Computer,' RadioHead
2317 'The Day,' Babyface
1663 'This Fire,' Paula Cole
1213 'Flaming Pie,' Paul McCartney
1017 'Time Out Of Mind,' Bob Dylan
Ha! Bye-bye Bob. You know you won't be missed...
Best pop album
2968 'Travelling Without Moving,' Jamiroquai
2159 'Surfacing,' Sarah McLachlan
1592 'The Dance,' Fleetwood Mac
1117 'This Fire,' Paula Cole
663 'Hourglass,' James Taylor
This is just wrong. Though, given that Hanson are an absolute shoo-in for best Pop album in any poll, this is a bit of a rum do, really. Oh, and Jamiroquai suck massively.
Kate looks for topics that are
In The 20th Century AND
Have Something to do with US History
Given that US history is an indistinguishable part of world history, how's about "The Russian Revolution and its Effects on American Society". Or "NATO: Winners of the Cold War?" Or "Witchita, a Modern History." That's just as useful as it is late...
Someone suggested a great sportsman:
Alexi Lalas
Hey, what about Mikkel Po? Or Jonafan Dipsy? Or Jorge Tinge Winge? And April 6, PBS, 11am ET. You have been warned. more...
Nicole muses on the topic of morning television
in the morning talk shows and news shows they like recycle the same guests over and over.
So, how might a radio station that does tv previews (a common happening in the UK) handle this...
"So, appearing with Eammon and Judy on the GMTV couch will be Nick Raynsford, pilot of the round-the-world balloon attempt, and cookery from Anthony Worral-Thompson...
"Kilroy! discusses the morality of green beans, with guest experts Alan Titchmarsh and Anthony Worral-Thompson...
"Over on ITV, The Time The Place will debate modern ways of transport, with balloonist Nick Raynsford and Claire Thompson of Save Our Railways.
"And the morning wraps up with Richard and Judy on This Morning. Guests include rising pop stars Cleopatra's Needle, hot air from pilot Nick Raynsford, cookery from Anthony Worral-Thompson. There will be gardening tips from Alan Titchmarsh, and Fred's Weather Map."
I know all of the Rockies by heart
Now go to work learning the Bullwinkles (:
Nancy wonders
How many episodes does a show have to have before they can show re-runs?
Logically, just the one, that they show twice. In practice, US shows tend not to get major re-runs unless they're being renewed the next season; daytime shows can go into syndication from around 100 episodes.
Sarah enquires
Do Star-Crossed lovers really need to "get to know one another"??
No. Says the voice of experience.
Neil Barnham (hi!) uses the A word.
Asterix
Another one! Pass the golden sickle, O mighty druid...
I have a scar on my forehead from an 'accident' in Singapore.
Have there been any other "accidents" from .sg lately?more...
Laura wonders how Angela and Rayanne met up. I have an inkling that it was something that happened in a public area - the girl's room, the canteen, somewhere like that. Rayanne strikes up a conversation, and it all goes from there... As to when, in OPM (the one with Rayanne's OD), Angela says she's been friends with Rayanne for about 6 months. That would put the start at least 3 months before the start of the series. We also know Rayanne and Angela are from different sides of town, so they may well not have been to the same school prior to Liberty, and the two met late in their first year...
Onwards, onwards, further onwards.
.~* writes, comparing Mozart to Leo di Laine
the one difference being that mozart was at no time engaged to me.
Erm, are we to take it that our happy couple are no more? Shome mishtake shurely...
Mae asks
(What is the world coming to?)
I'd suggest Saturday night, personally.
Eli on Titanic
Second, the charechter. Very streotipacl and flat. Not one bit of sophistication, as in most of the Holiwoodian films.
Stereotypical, flat, two-dimensional, unsophisticated. Hmm. Pretty much like your average Hollywood picture, really. But what was it about the characterisation that went so awry?
Marguerite suggests
water is in abundance in both films (is this to satisfy the Leo gets wet quota? ; ))
Hey, how's one supposed to set a movie aboard the Titanic and not be involved in some watery ending? Shim posted something around a year ago explaining how Baz Luhrmann (sp?) used water as a metaphor for life, or something along those lines. If you notice, there was water visible in just about every key scene of R+J...
And is it really a year since I made my grand return? Must be....
Look! It's the good old "Join the Crew" virus infecting our list again. Armed with nothing more than a can of spray detergent, let me tell you just one thing. It Is A Hoax. No Such Virus Exists. The quotes and damage claimed in the mail forwarded to this list are totally made up.more...
Elaine
I've got to profile a market for soap, and I can't be arsed.
People who think that they have to get themselves clean or the whole world will stop due to their lack of cleanliness.
Lisa comments
Neither of these extremes fits me
Ho hum. Back to the old draw-ing board, as Marvin Martian once said. Well, he said it in at least one cartoon; it's been repeated so often that he's probably said it many millions of times. Such is life for a small alien who looks exactly like a Roman soldier.
For starters: there is a reason that they actually mention Freud by name in reference to the image of the ship. Thus we should keep it in mind when watching the huge scale of the ship's demise. Anyone who's anyone knows that sex and death are linked (thank you, Angela) and so it makes perfect sense for this swarming mass of mortality to be presented as ... well, an orgasm. Not to mention (oh, alright I will then) the fact that the couple's sexual encounters can be seen as leading both directly and symbolically to the collision with the iceberg, a kind of consummation in itself.
A very interesting sequence of thoughts. Of course, we could put the whole matter of the massive loss of life down to the fact that other ships in the area mistook the distress flares for a fireworks party, thus suggesting that the ship was fated to sink.
I came across an interesting article in my local paper the other night, pointing out 20 things that were inaccurate or totally unbelievable about "Titanic". I'm not going to post it to the list; a) because I've not typed it in, and b) coz I want you all to come visiting my web site when I launch it in a week or so. It'll be there. Trust me...
Sara writes
I know, his plays were played even when he was alive, but there weren't the legend they are now (or even close to that)
Well, let's keep a sense of proportion about this. Theatre then occupied a similar position to the cinema circa 1960 - the main medium of mass entertainment. Shakespeare was the high-profile playright of his day; most of his plays were given Royal Premieres. And while the majority of people in England then wouldn't have heard of him, he was well known amongst many people who otherwise would have known nothing about contemporary theatre.
So, given all that, I think we can say that Shakespeare was a legend in his own lifetime.
Kate, whose site crashes MS Explorer on purpose... ;o)
My workplace has recently installed a new 128 Kpbs (ie fast) internet connection. Instead of coming up with "Poxy server errors", it now says that "The connection with the server has been reset" when the line goes dead. So, I'll just have to reset Kate's site (;
[Note: This is a gag. This is not a threat to disrupt the server on Kate's or any other site. Anyone suggesting it is will be subject to English laws of libel. Thank you.]
Eli, I wish you every fortune and success.
James Ahab writes of a Simpsons - MSCL parody. I'd look forward to the BBC showing it. Except that by the time they get round to it, in about 2006, I'll have been out of the country for many years.
AndiWD
i have always wanted to at least go to an Olympic games to watch an event.
I'll agree with you on that. So, maybe see you at Salt Lake City in four years?
Stinky tinky-winky plinky-plonky honky-tonky winky-wonky. Or something like that...
Anyway. You know the drill, I'm sure. If not, you must be a newbie, so hello there.
Deca points out (oops!)
And let's not forget the scene in which the stern of the ship goes way up into the air before it vanishes into the sea, if that isn't phallic I don't know what is.
Though it is accurate to what happened. The aftermath is rotten physics, but that's another matter. And another subtle teaser for my looming web site...
Eli entered the dreams as real life thread with this word of warning
I don't really know what I'm talking about.
Well, at least he's honest enough to admit it. It's a thread where no-one knows what they're talking about. Just where people have ideas and theories that they submit for other people to look at.
I would really appreciate any of the philosophy people here (Iain) that can help me understand, or explain better the conception of Decarte here.
Me? Philosophy? I'm flattered (*: [or whatever the blushing smilie is]
Descartes: "cogito ergo sum", I think, therefore I am. I'll point the interested reader to http://www.friesian.com/hist-2.htm for a good discourse on this matter, but to summarise briefly:
Descartes' basic premises were to doubt whatever he can doubt, and not accept anything as known unless it can be established with total certainty. He reasoned that our perceptions can and do modify external objects, so that we only get to see (touch, feel...) what we perceive them to be, not what they actually are.
Obviously, this is a potential death-trap for philosophers, so he established a ground rule, an axiom, that he deemed to be self-evidently true. "I think, therefore I am". He proves his existance as someone who can think. Not someone who physically exists, but someone who can think.
From this comes the problem of proving that other things also exist. Descartes did this by the rather circuitous route of proving that God exists, but I'll refer back to Brem's post for further details.more...
Eli on Titanic pointed out
As I said in my Titanic post, this movie is led by time and events and not by personnals and dialogues.
So, it's an incident-driven movie. The characters are merely pawns in the plot, heading for an inexorable, unavoidable ending. In its way, it's similar to r+j for that.
It's also further grist to the mill that the special effects are the real star of the picture.
my English is so misreably poor, but I read Hamlet, and it was pretty difficult. At least for me, because I insisted on learning every new word.
That shows unreasonable, inhuman, courage. Learning every new word in Hamlet would take me, a native English speaker with a little erudition, a very long time indeed.
Nicole's school daze continue with a rant about
the gum issue. okay every other teahcer in my entire school allows us to chew gum as long as we dont make a big deal out of it except for one teacher; the priest that teaches me theology for an hour and a half every single morning. he must have something stuck up his ass.
Two points here.
1) The guy has a point. I find anyone chewing gum is incapable of doing it quietly, and always makes a clicking noise. I think it's a disgusting sound, and would happily ban the substance tomorrow. Oh, and there's the litter and the impossibility of removing it, but they're minor concerns.
2) He has something up his ass. He bans gum in class. Could the two events be connected?
Derhic mumbles, through sleepy eyes,
*YAWN* ...i'm bi
yeah, me too, and so what.
Kris writes
ive been here a year.
Happy anniversary, grand duchess.
Sarah points out
I love it when people try to act all menacing with their big letters. See how creative this individual is?? It uses "U" instead of "you" and "YR" instead of "your".
Gosh, what a wonderful breakthrough for the English language. However did we cope without it? (Without any problems whatsoever)
But we have to ask ourselves this question: Are we too free that we have to send these sickening and absolutely irritating e-mails??
Yeeeeeeeessss...... Though anyone who tries to call me "free" is on a hiding to nothing. Coz it ain't the case.
Then Eli commented
Yes. He is defiantly a member in Menza.
Hmm. I've heard of mensa, the society for self-proclaimed highly intelligent individuals (entry requirement: IQ 148, boy/girlfriends 0). I guess Menza would be a club for highly anti-social Mazda drivers, or something.
Evan! wonders
Isn't language like this illegal in Singapore?
Yes, it is. Singapore, one of the most heavily regulated societies in the world.
...you are an international gum smuggler. Isn't that a capital offense in Singapore?
Pretty much. As is being caught in possession of cds by Guns n' Roses, Pearl Jam, Black Grape or Alanis Morissette.
Eli writes on the topic of Leo
If he'll give me 1/1000 of his girls I'm ready to give him free lessons :)
Erm, I was under the impression that Leo only had one girl, which (sadly) just about entitles Eli to (erm) two used toenail clippings.
Then Brem ponders
What is "submiting myself Iain style"? Some kind of submissive sexual position? A Basic sado-masochistic MSCL-related ritual? And, frankly, how about some photographs.
I have no idea what my honourable friend is referring to. Though some recipients of this mail just might. But not those in a UTC+x zone, for 0<=x<=12.
Huey, welcome aboard. Hey, Brem, it's another listee from Staffs. We're as populous as St John's now!
Ya know, folks, this Spanish thing is good for a brief moment, but it is kinda exclusive. Like you're making a mini-clique within the list. So, well, a translation at least would be nice...
Jaime B (hello welcome hallo)
I just subscribed to the list yesterday and i had 33 new emails!!! do you guys usually write so much?
No, it's been pretty quiet over the last few days.
So, hasn't the test been exciting these last few days. First England are up. Then the WIndies lead. Then it's England. Now it's 187/5, the Indies need 95, we need 5 wickets, and it's all too tense for words!!!!
The Oscar nominations are in. 14 for Titanic. Jack Nicholson gets his 11th personal nod, an all-comers record. Dane Judi Freekin gets her nomination, and acclaim for The Full Monty.
The main names:
Best director: Best picture: Best actor: Best actress: Best supporting actor: Best supporting actress: Best original screenplay: Best adaptation to screenplay:
Peter Cattaneo for "The Full Monty;"
Gus Van Sant for "Good Will Hunting;"
Curtis Hanson for "L.A. Confidential;"
Atom Etgoyan for "The Sweet Hereafter;"
James Cameron for "Titanic."
"As Good As It Gets,"
"The Full Monty,"
"Good Will Hunting,"
"L.A. Confidential,"
"Titanic."
Matt Damon, "Good Will Hunting;"
Robert Duvall, "The Apostle;"
Peter Fonda, "Ulee's Gold;"
Dustin Hoffman, "Wag the Dog;"
Jack Nicholson, "As Good As It Gets."
Helena Bonham Carter, "The Wings of the Dove;"
Julie Christie, "Afterglow;"
Judi Densch, "(Her Majesty) Mrs. Brown);"
Helen Hunt, "As Good As It Gets;"
Kate Winslet, "Titanic."
Robert Forster, "Jackie Brown;"
Anthony Hopkins, "Amistad,"
Greg Kinnear, "As Good As It Gets;"
Burt Reynolds, "Boogie Nights;"
Robin Williams, "Good Will Hunting."
Kim Basinger, "L.A. Confidential;"
Joan Cusack, "In & Out;"
Minnie Driver, "Good Will Hunting;"
Julianne Moore, "Boogie Nights;"
Gloria Stuart, "Titanic."
"As Good As It Gets,"
"Boogie Nights,"
"Deconstructing Harry,"
"The Full Monty,"
"Good Will Hunting."
"Donnie Brasco,"
"L.A. Confidential,"
"The Sweet Hereafter,"
"Wag the Dog,"
"Wings of the Dove."
Omissions? "Titanic" in either of the screenplay categories - nice to know the Academy agrees with me on something (; Also nothing for Leo di Laine, which does surprise me a little. Further debate and discussion will, no doubt, ensue on these and other awards over the next months.
A regular post from me, just for once (:
Neil Barnham
W.G. "Snuffy" Walden did the music for Crossroads, surely not. I thought that was Del Amitri.
Odd. I thought it was a collaberation between the Verve and Oasis. Well, it was boring enough...
Scott
I'm here to post again about irrelevant stuff. I know you can't wait ;)
I would tell you whether I could wait or not, but that would be relevant to your post, and hence banned under the rule of irrelevance. So, I guess I just get to be irreverant to it.
Jaime wonders
Oh, who doesnt' cry at party of 5???
Erm, me, for two. I laugh, I snigger, I wonder about Bailey's sanity in dating a woman he's met at AA, but I don't cry.
And that reminds me of developments in my so-called grange hill. Jo, the kid with the boozing problem last year, has her stomach pumped while her mother is out of the house. Familiar, anyone?
Nicole asks
"can i borrow your eyebrow pencil?"
No, I'm not finished with it yet. Where did I put the glitter gel?
Amanda Kalkins: greetings. Don't worry about being a tad illiterate, we all were at some time. And some people learn to improve, though not me, for some reason.
Sara quotes her sister (oops)
she said that they were breaking up, because they couldn't get along.
Erm, if that's true, then no-one's actually bothered to tell the fab five themselves, coz they're still performing and promoting as a group. Heck, they're booked to do a TOTP next month, which is just about impossible for a group that has ceased to be. So, er, no. Sorry, Serena's gotten hold of the wrong end of the stick. And, somehow, that just does not surprise me.
Jaime B adds some light
They fired their manager, who was supposedly getting his groove thang on with Baby.
Allegedly.. But, yes, manager Fuller ceased to be employed last October.
So now Geri wants to be the manager, and Sacry wants to go solo.
The girls are "managing themselves", which probably means Geri is in charge. And as for Scary's solo career: forget it. Ginger might cut it, Sporty would, Posh might but she's hard at work injuring the England football squad. Scary and Baby have little chance of using this group as a springboard to further solo success.
And Valerie Bowers has a subject
spic girls
Which, sadly, is copyright © ALI 1997. Please send one tube of smarties direct (:
Alfredo
I have forwarded to [the admins] all of Guo Rong's content-free and purely harrassing emails.
If the admin there agrees with me, and in his/her judgment this constitutes harrassment and cannot be construed as reasonable argument, they will take care of this Guo Rong for us.
I hope they do; I just don't hold out a huge hope for them to do anything. I've had cause to complain to pacific.net.sg about spamming from their site in the past, and it's continued unabated. I even wrote to them about this user early last week, before he started being abusive to the list as a whole, and they appear to have done diddly-squat, as you've seen.
Sarah's theology teacher is quoted
people who form relationships over the computer have serious problems communicating with others.
P'thah! Arrant nonsense. What a load of piffle these theology teachers spout. Here's why he's wrong.
If you use a computer to form a relationship, you have to communicate. Be able to translate your thoughts, feelings and expressions into words. That is, quite frankly, one of the best methods of communication about.
And the stereotype that computer users are a bunch of geeks? Well, are you a geek, Sarah? Is Brem? Eli? Sara? shim? Shana? No, no, no, no, no and no, respectively. All of them have real lives, beyond the computer screen; all of them have posted the list about it in the last few weeks.
In conclusion, then, it's clear that the priest has grave problems in communicating with his brain. Oh, he's a priest, that's a requirement of the job (:
Eli suggests
ObIain, if he maintained inventing a new title every post for three (two?) years, he certainly gets my award for Iain The Title Master Weaver
A pleasant thought, but possibly not deserved. I've only been posting these composite posts since about March last year, and that's only 11 months of new titles.more...
It just reinforces my opinion that the secret component in hamburgers is machine grease.
Ssh! Don't tell the burger manufacturers, else they'll try to have you up for spilling trade secrets.
Please send more mails with the word bloody in it.
Bloody heck, Eli, what do you want from us? Blood? An account of the bloody battles of the Hundred Years' War? Or the bloody trade of pirates in the south seas?
Until next time's Weaverpost brings you next time's Weaverthoughts, this is weaver, signing out...
Date: 17 Feb 98, 14:33
Subject: parachuting planets
A long time since I posted. So, here's a quick resumation.
Sunnysmile pointed out
One thing about Singaporean government affiliated companies is that they are really into the image factor. Anyone who makes an ass of himself and brings embarrasment to the organisation is making a target of himself for retaliation.
Of course, this is not just a national quirk of Singapore. It seems to be common amongst many nations of South East Asia. I'm reminded of a plane crash in Japan some years ago. There was a military base within a few miles of the crash site, but the commanders declined to help, as they believed that the shame associated with the tragedy would rub off on them. It's odd to western ears, but it does seem to be the culture in that part of the world.
ObMSCL. What the team would be reading at college.
Angela: English, Psychology, Sociology and other Liberal Arts branches. She won't declare a major till her third year at earliest.
Rayanne: Skips college to try and make a life of her own. And not succeeding, yet, but drifting into menial jobs.
Brian: Biology and Chemistry at an Ivy League establishment.
Sharon: Throws off the "goody-two-shoes" albatross from high school, and discovers her latent bitch. The lecturer's nightmare in her social studies classes, coz she criticises everything.
Delia: Working with kids is a strong contender.
Rickie: Artisan, working with sculpture and visual arts. Does volunteer work at a gallery.
Jordan: Final year at Liberty, with a useful GPA boding well for next year.
Kyle: Yeah, some sports scholarship at a C-league uni.
Jaime B: hope the appointment went well...
Snipping a long argument, Brem suggests
The safe, well-balanced and open thing to say is "I have a sexuality".
Anything else indirectly leads to bigotry and sexual dicotomisation.
Well, given all that, I can declare openly and honestly to you all that I, Iain T. Weaver, Have a Sexuality.
Eli suggests
Let an author host a Radio Show, s/he'll probably fail.
I'm not so sure. There are a lot of radio stations in the UK. Most of them are, quite frankly, not worth the candle, but a good number are worth an ear. And I find that programmes hosted by people who aren't specialist radio presenters are more interesting than those hosted by journalists or DJs. People like cinema reviewers, agony aunts, actors and authors make for interesting listening.
Mark Frost quotes someone
> Long distance Clive
> (I drive a big ol' truck)
No relative of Long Distance Clara by any chance...?
No, no, no, no, no. Long Distance Clara drove a juggernaut, way down the highway to the busy port.more...
Mark also wonders if those in list LDRs have found people thinking that it's somehow a lesser type of relationship. I haven't found that myself. In fact, it's been something of a talking point...
Kate: i kinda like you... [hugs]
Andi wonders
wait...what's wrong with talking about the weather?!?
Absolutely nothing, says one of the resident Brits. Heck, we've been having temperatures of around 20 (twenty) Centigrade, when the seasonal norm is nearer 6. It's been great weather for sitting in the garden, sipping tea and cakes, and listening to the cricket. A perfect summer's day. In mid February.
Shana reminds us that
The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.
So, with one of the beasts as the head of the armed forces, that suggests a good victory in Gulf War II.
Pamela Anderson Lee is Canada's Centennial Baby, being the first baby born on the centennial anniversary of Canada's independence.
Hmmm. I have my doubts about that. Sure, she has the right birth date, but I never knew that she was born in the Newfoundland time zone. And, of course, they get July 1 some 90 minutes before the Greater Toronto area. Sounds like a fib from her publicist.
Alfredo, the Valerie Singleton of the list
A Blue Peter is a sailing flag that means "I'm sailing off", to adventure, presumably.
Well, simply that the ship is leaving port within the next two tides. That said, the creator did intend that meaning.
Hey, if they need a replacement for Valerie, let me know.
Sadly, Val left the series around 25 years ago, and has been replaced many times since. And, given that the current trend is to use presenters who look somewhat better than they present, I'm not sure this is a hugely good career move (:
Grand Duchess Kris
Your going to give me a big head with all this 'Grand' Stuff!!!
I guess we'll just have to club together and buy you an ego-shrinker. Should look good by the ice maker.
Nichole points out
Here in the US, Smarties are little "tart" candies? They dont have any chocolate, and dont come in tubes.
That is just too bad. Smarties are chocolate heaven. No tart
little fruity thing is acceptable under that name.
Deca warns
When you launch your web site please tell us, I'll be right there!
Stay tuned for an announcement within the next day or so. I'm currently testing the site for bugs, errors and lynx compliance.
James Ahab reminds us
Like, Rickie wasn't in the English class with Angela when Vic took over, but he was when Katimski started teaching.
We know Rickie turned up in Vic's class. It's possible that he made a formal transfer at that time, and stayed with the class when Vic was resigned, and hence still there when K came aboard.
On the same topic, Amanda suggests
Brian however is genius calculus boy. He should not have been in any of those classes if the rest of them were in average.
What's the betting that Liberty was one of those odd schools that don't take English to levels above average? Or it's possible that Brian declined a chance to be in a higher group, as he hated the subject and wanted an easy ride to a reasonable grade.
Neil Barnham
Texas and Method Man were cool
Too right they were! That and the Spices were my highlights of a terribly dull ceremony.
Eli submits some short books. I saw some novelty Christmas gifts a year or two ago, with names like "Things I Wish My Mother In Law Had Told Me" and "A Supermodel's Guide to Intellectual Conversation". They were perfectly bound A6 books, containing 128 pages of blank paper.
~ Sarah suggests that I
ease up on the priest-bashing. He's still a good guy.
He's a priest. I reserve the right to bash any priest who deserves it. Heck, I reserve the right to bash anyone.
Scott wonders why Gulf War II is looming. Put simply, the US and Iraq are in dispute over access to eight presidential palaces that may or may not be holding chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. In my view, some form of US attack is inevitable. Possibly a bombing raid on strategic targets, possibly an assassination of Hussein that isn't sanctioned by the US, no, honest it's not. It should all be over within two weeks. Unless Iraq attacks Israel with chemical or biological weapons, in which case I'm tuning to the radio, and taking up Eddie Mair's standing offer: "Should the world end tomorrow, we'll give you unrivalled coverage here on Five Live."
Huey propagandised
Iraq is a country where a million children suffer from chronic malnutrition and the only reason the U.S.A.
Ack, dear chap, this is a load of bunkum and you know it. Why do people suffer? Because most of the money that the Iraqi government makes from selling its oil is being diverted, squandered and frittered by the government and not reaching those who really need it. That some people are starving is not a reason for leaving the country alone; indeed, quite the opposite, it adds to the moral case for removing the corrupt and inefficient government.
Eli reminds us all
I heard today that Brazil lost today 1-0 to US.
Yippers. I heard some CBS commentary of the goal, and it caused the commentator's teeth to fall out, or something. A big shock, but I suspect the USA might cause upsets of that size in the WC this summer.
Iain, thank you for you kind bloody words.
No bloody trouble.
On the topic of The Full Monty, Eli points out
the American audience got a terms dictionary in the cinema?
Really? In that case, how come British audiences don't get a translation - or even in-vision subtitles - when we go to see a show that uses American idioms?
The Lord:
>I don`t speak italian. But I know a man who can.
Don't state thing you can't stand for. I want names. ;)
Two words. Karol the Pope.
Fantasy football teams:
The names for this teams are usually nuts.
Too right they are. My current team is "The Dipsy Maniacs", and features Beckham, Peacock, Wanchope and Izzet, inter alia. Previous sides include "The Rampant Peaches", "The Mathemafia", "Cabot Quincenturions" and "Better than Ezra's".
A word to all the people asking us to collectively f*** Valentine's Day. I'd have preferred to do very, very few things. But all I get is a new pair of Docs, some cheap records, and a card (singular...) And I had to buy everything but the card myself. Ho hum.
Cory wrote Saturday
Did you know that today is National Condonm Day?
Yep, coming at the end of National Contraception Week, which is (coincidentally) also National Marriage Awareness Week. Coming at the end of June is Divorce Support Week. April 14 is National Constipation Day. And on April 19, National Doris Day.
Aren't Phone Cards the world's coolest invention? I got my first one yesterday, and I'm just totaly in awe of it's powers.
Indeed they are. You stick them in the machine and make your call without the need for fiddly change. Wonders of modern technology will never cease.
Kevin's vegetable. I got peas. Go fig.
Me? I'm off to feed the pigs. Here, john john...
So, let's start with the news that Po5 gets a renewal for season #5 already. This time, maybe, I'll stop wanting to wring Charlie's neck. But no promises, mind.
Angela's middle name? Something reasonably old-fashioned, but not clearly dated. Kate, perhaps? Lizzie? Fay?
Patty's maiden name was Wood. Though that was her adoptive family, leaving room for her to be born Patricia Cake...
A quick word about signatures. 2 lines is brief and to the point. 6 lines is beginning to push the boundaries of identification and turn into an ego-trip. Three pages goes beyond the solipsistic to levels of selfish self-promotion that aspiring politicians would die for. Moderation in everything, if you would be so kind...
Betsy points out
When you're at the bottom, it's such an acomplishment when you get better and improve. When you're near the top, one slip could cause a lot of disappointment from people you need support from.
This, I think, is the problem underlying positive-only thinking. Back some years, when I were at school, we had to fill out an annoying form every term, detailing the positive achievements we'd made over the three months or so. On this form, we could only write things in a very positive tone. For instance, "I have baked apple pie, cauliflower cheese and hash browns." But not "I have improved my handwriting skills", as this admitted that there was a problem to begin with, and that's verboten.
It was an easy task for those who wanted to improve, and had some room to tilt at. It was harder for those of us who were already excelling in many areas, as we simply couldn't write anything like as much as the rest of the group. And it was nigh-on impossible for those who didn't want to improve, or didn't want to admit that they had improved.
So, to return to Betsy's quote. The people lower down improve, and can make capital from that. The people at the top don't have anything like so much room to improve, and are conditioned to interpret a time of standing still as failure. Stasis is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. The more people that can accept that, the better, IMHO.
Jaime wonders
did anyone on the show smoke?
We saw Jordan on the weed, and I wouldn't make a book that Rayanne did as well, though not necessarily with tobacco. And I kinda think Camille and Amber had smoked equally nefarious substances in the past. Maybe Graham had also used tobacco.
Incidentally, the New Scientist reports that the World Health Organisation has been sitting on a report that states cannabis is less harmful to the health that tobacco or alcohol. Further details from http://www.newscientist.com/
Shana rambles
go me and my pointless posts. they're um pointless... does that make them curved? or maybe rounded? If so, they should be well-rounded.
In this case, I'd suggest that they remind me of nothing more than the British railway system. You may wish to take this as some form of compliment. If you must.
Sarah, who just had a discussion about who would win a barnyard civil war. I say the pigs.....
I vote for the chickens, after a strategic air-raid on the pigs. Chicken commander Bill Clucken pointed out that the pigs had consistently flouted the resolutions they'd agreed to after the last Sty War, by producing chemical and biological droppings, and failing to handle properly the proceeds of the "Pigs to Pork" sales scheme. Coverage of the war was provided by Chicken News Network, who have taken out crowing advertisments in the Daily Carrion.
Eli: you tried, and that's good. Too bad that it didn't work, but keep trying and I'm sure things will pick up.
I heard that in Britain, people don't stand in the bus for a pregnant woman, because then you state you know she's pregnant. Is that true?
First I've heard of it, but that wouldn't surprise me. It's more like people don't stand on the bus for anyone, full stop.
my dance abilities are worse than my accent
Mine as well. Heck, I was best man at a wedding last summer, and had to take part in the first waltz. 63 seconds and no more, thankfully.
Huey, rather sarcastically, follows my solo destruction of the Spamela myth with the point:
little pam was in fact born on a wild shingly pine smelling beach with the surf caressing her mother somewhere near st john's.
On July 1, let's remember. When the temperature of the sea is about 6 degrees, and the air temperature at midnight is somewhere around 9. Or, for those of you south of the border, blinkin' cold and still very parky. Now, call me an old cynic, but I don't think anyone in their right mind would want to give birth under those conditions. Not even Mrs Spamderson sr.
a black ops take out of saddam hussein might be a possibility within a few years.
They could, I think, do it within a week, if they set their minds to it. Yes, it's illegal under an edict of President Ford. Yes, it plunges the country and the region into total turmoil. So, is it worth it?
also angela in psychology? whoah stop right there. she's more of a cultural anthropologist.
I'm not sure cultural anthropology is a first year course at many universities. I think Angela would take a broad mix of arts / social science courses, including psychology, and not choose her main study for a year or two. But it could be cult-anth.
Neil Barnham squealed
WOO HOO! England have won a cricket match
[checks scorecard]. Yes, they have. Which, I suppose, makes the score from the last three tests 2-1 in our favour. Not to mention the victory in the Sharjah tournament, except I just did. Heck, carry on at this rate and we might start to be some sort of cop.
The whole MENSA thing. Their world office is based in Wolverhampton, a stone's throw from my house (well, a fairly vigorous throw, of about five miles, but I'll let that pass). They claim to be interested in the top 2% of the population as measured by their own IQ tests. Now, I've actually taken one of the preliminary tests, and declined a further test. Mainly coz the grouping seems just too elitist for my liking. All singles, and highly esoteric discussions, and stereotypical nerds. Not really my scene.
Skeie forwarded some horrorscopes. Tuesday:
Escalating discussions, misinterpretations of your motives/ statements/actions, past mistakes that come back to haunt and challenges from past behavior may seem to be swirling around once again on the merry-go-round of life. Rather than curse the ride, look at it as a chance to show yourself and others that you can handle the "up and down" motion.
I have a quiet day at work, celebrate as the manager leaves us for the afternoon, and get badly delayed and almost crushed on the way home. No escalating discussion. No misinterpretation. No up and down motion.
Wednesday:
Sticking feelings on the shelves and not acknowledging your "needs," even to yourself, is NO WAY to deal with pent up emotions. All it gets you is jumping on someone later, barking out, "leave me alone" or "I don't KNOW!" or your favorite; "NOT NOW." Putting if off only keeps YOU in the dark. Let yourself in on how you feel and take it from there.
Some pop psychology that any cheap agony aunt regurgitates every ten seconds or so. They could re-use this for any sign at any time.
Thursday:
I'll bet right about now you are saying, "things have gone too easy lately. Something will rip soon." You could be right. For Scorpions who have had it all quite on the western front; it may be over sooner then you thought. Look for clashes with Leo, Sagittarius and Cancer to rise.
No, it's not been easy lately. It's been easier than a couple of weeks ago, but still tough going. And, oh! clashes with 1/4 of the population are expected to increase.
So, we have two predictions that are just wrong, and one that's too vague to be of any use. Now, I don't think that that's a high level of accuracy, myself...
Alfredo cites himself as
against the death penalty except for spammers
I can almost agree with him there. Almost, but not quite. I don't think that anything is sufficiently serious to warrant killing people over. Not a single murder, not even the massacre of 20. I don't want to have deaths on my conscience, and I won't support it. There are alternatives that force the perpetrator to reflect on what they've done, and hopefully to repent, and these laws I'm happier with. Like, life in prison for murderers. Or massive fraudsters. Or, I suppose, spammers.
I'll answer Sean's 21 questions in a later post. Meanwhile, you may wish to read all about me on my so-new-it-still-smells-of-the-plastic-wrapping web site: http://geocities.datacellar.net/Heartland/Valley/8414/obiain.htm
Brem posits
surely the most joyously funny sight of the evening was Texas dueting with Method-man. Frankly the most funny, brilliant pop moment in years.
Indeed it was. And the soundtrack to that event seems to be getting an awful lot of airplay. I hope it becomes commercially available, coz it's far superior to the original. Something about the string section that Kevin Greening thinks appeals to dogs, I feel...
All Saints on Top of The Pops for the first and second time... that was much slinkier than a gospel choir could ever hope to be.
Too right it was. Enough to turn them from passable Spice Girl clones to a quality group in their own right.
Elizabeth Angellla-Brem Skeie-Leih Fredrick Oatmeal Innes Wrigley-Field
Gods, she's changed her name again.
Pass the trademark kit, Ralph.
date: 24 Feb, 11:01 GMT
subject: need to reboot
And hello again to you.
Courtney ponders the meaning of life
I thought of a rhubarb. So, does that mean I have a creative, free-flowing mind or something like that?
Either that, or you're making rhubarb crumble for pudding some day soon, in which case I might just sidle over and drop some raisins into the crumble mix...
Brooks wonders
"how can I waste your bandwidth today?"
Dial 192 and ask what the number for directory enquiries is. (Non-British residents will have to work out their own gag on similar lines.)
Visit your local shopkeeper and say that their apples have too much light in them.
Listen to the radio and change station every time a DJ starts to speak.
Drop by http://geocities.datacellar.net/Heartland/Valley/8414/index.htm and take a look at the picture of me and ALI there.
Eli
BTW, I heard the today on the first time Kenickie. It was the Robot Song and it was quite good.
Ah, of such small acorns are great oaks made. Previously Sunderland, then TOTP, St John's, Kansas; now Israel. Where next?
"Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, eludium Q-36 explosive space modulator yeah"
- Marvin Martian.
"Oh. I'm in heaven. I've been told. Personally, I don't believe a word of it. And did I tell you about the pain in the diodes down my left side?"
- Marvin the Paranoid Android.
"I choose my feelings."
- Mr Spock.
"Hey! Kenickie!"
- Olivia Neutron-Bomb.
I and all my generation were raised on the facts that the brits are the most polite people on the world.
Alas, no more. The perception of over-arching English politeness has been exposed as the myth it's always been over recent years. Come to Britain now and there are people who will cede their seats to pregnant, elderly or other people who need it more. There are also those who won't. Most of the latter seem to read (or be seen holding - there's a subtle difference) the Grauniad.
Kate thinks
This is my college choice. My future. Shouldn't I be allowed to choose?
Absolutely. The decision is yours, and yours alone. For instance, my school really wanted me to apply for Oxford or Cambridge unis - they'd had five pupils get in the previous year, and wanted the publicity that an Oxbridge offer gives. But I didn't give the idea a second thought. Neither Oxford nor Cambridge offered the sort of environment that I thought I'd do well in. Too upper class, too toffee nosed, all work, drinking and rugby. Not my scene at all. In the end, I made applications to five unis that were neither Oxbridge nor their close competitors, and had an absolutely wonderful time at Birmingham. No-one from my school went to Oxbridge that year.
So, to return to Kate's dilema. I don't think her father has any business trying to guilt-trip his daughter into an unsuitable choice. It's Kate's alone. And I think she'll choose well.
Jo Bayes-King
If the Spice girls are a band, then the Pope's Jewish!
Shalom, Karol. [that's enough hebrew - ed]
Someone wrote
I'm not sure because the reception on my tv is crappy (and it was on Channel 5), plus I had the computer on as well, which makes the picture even worse for some reason.
Electromagnetic interference. Your computer spews out a small, low-powered aura of electrical and magnetic gunk. This hits the cable running from your aerial to your tv, and interferes with the quality of the picture. It's especially noticeable on pictures from low-powered stations, such as (5). The alternative solutions are a) to invest in expensive, shielded cable, or b) to move your computer further away from your tv lead.
Laura
Orange and yellow are two colors noone likes...but they're soo happy!
Orange and yellow are two wonderfully warm colours. No other colour is quite as nice. The colours of autumn leaves. The colours of an open fire. The colours of warmth and hapiness and positivity. See also: scarlet, magenta.
Otay, does anyone know how to put MIDI files on your page? Like the code or whatever?
It can be done, sure; an alternative is to include a link to the midi file as a usual [a href="tune.mid]Play me![/a] sort of link. I will point out that forcing a tune on your unsuspecting viewer is a bit annoying; especially if it's a big tune that takes ages to download and stops the viewer seeing your content.
Bronwyn
on march 4th, i'll be re-joining the list.
I'll be looking forward to it...
"writing emails drunk may end up making you look like a raving looney"
Oh! Is this the new issue of the $1 coin? Featuring a small bird that's acting in a most bizarre manner. (And, no, it's not got a picture of Spamela Hamderson on it.)
Blowing the cobwebs off my weekend horrorscopes
Friday conversations give you great insights as to what is going on around you in personal AND career arenas. Catch those little waves of info and ride them to inside knowledge.
One of the busiest days in memory, in which I do so much I fall asleep on the train.
Saturday an emotional fire storm may change directions and start heading YOUR way. Stay away from trouble makers and whip out, "oh, no, don't get ME involved in this!" the minute you recognize the signs.
Saturday I stay home and sleep. Nothing else happens, really.
Sunday old problems may once again be haunting you in thought, dream or as you recognize situations setting themselves up for repeat. Just watch them; don't screw with them.
?Que? This makes, like, zero sense.
So, with an 0-2-1 record there, and an 0-4-2 for the past week, I can conclude that these horrorscopes aren't worth the candle.
Valerie, confused lass she is, posits
The Spice Girls are the New Kids On the Block reincarnated into something FAR more horrible.
Nay, nay and nay again (he said, horsing around). That's the Backstreet Boys. The Spices are more a case of Bananarama meets Take That, with added dashes of fin de siecle hero(ine)-searching and mass summation.
On that topic, I note that there's a retrospective album of late 80s hits doing the rounds. Which, I guess, means we must be on for a 1992 revival by the end of this year, and next year we'll be looking back on the 1960s revival filtered through the tinted spectacles of 1996.
Jo Bayes-King points out that
The government are using a parody of @Alice's Restaurant@ to publicise their New Deal. I mean, we all know politicians are corrupt - but using @Alice's Restaurant@!! Like, is nothing sacred? Those of us with hippie parents grew up on this song, man!!!
Quite clearly, I've missed something here. Now, I know what the New Labour, New Unemployment Figure Fiddle deal is. But I've seen no publicity for it other than on the news. And I have no idea what Alice's Restaurant is, other than a passable eaterie somewhere in Bangor Uni. So, much as I'd like to take an excuse to bash Bair, I can't. Boo hoo.
Brem writes a critique of Jo's blasting of the Spices.
Superficial? Define superficial, frankly. Do you really consider the verve or whoever to be deeper?
Speaking only for myself, I find the verve to be nothing short of tedious, dull, decrepit. I wouldn't mind sending their records a few miles deeper into the ocean.
Do you view being superficial as a bad thing?
Superficiality makes the world go round.
i) People like "Great Art". They like to know an intrinsically empty art-form (Cinema, Writing, Comics, Music, whatever) has some meaning. People enjoy trash, but watching self professed (Capital letter) Art. This is why everyone went nuts over Contact in the states. This is why The Godfather and Titanic dragged millions into the shops. This is why the Verve are selling so many goddamn records. People much prefer the appearance of serious intellectual merit to real intellectual merit.
To summarise: People don't want to think about their art, but they want other people to have the impression that they are prepared to exercise the old grey matter.
To summarise the summary: people are hypocrites.
They`re a fine basic pop band. When they release a best of, I`ll be first in the cue.
I just might be over in another store, doing the same thing.
Alfredo explains his problems receiving mail from hotmail.com accounts.
CRL will not accept mail from Hotmail. :( That's because CRL thinks that Hotmail is a spammer-friendly Internet Service Provider (ISP).
There is an internet-wide campaign to stop spammers by rejecting all the email from ISPs that are spammer-friendly. This is supposed to boycott people like hotmail into changing their spammer-friendly policies. CRL subscribes to this program. If enough hotmail users complain to hotmail, that helps, too.
So, if you write me and the email is bounced, it's not that I have killfiled you, it's the anti-spammer thing.
Two points on this. One: anyone concerned about spam from hotmail.com needs only to review their terms of service, which (effectively) states that any spam from any account is grounds to close it. Now, I'll be first to agree that doesn't stop spammers from setting up one-time accounts, but this is an argument just as true for any other ISP.
Two: As I've said before, this blockage of whole domains strikes me as a huge overkill. It's comparable with deliberately bombing a city the size of Detroit to the ground in order to stop perhaps twenty people. It does the job you want it to, but the damage to innocent parties is worse than the gains achieved by the blockage.
And finally, the question that needs an answer. Is there another word for synonym?
What does Friday mean to you?
Nicole posts
i havent been able to send out mail either. i think its stupidass aol
Ah, the return of bad old AOHell. Service outage. Maybe worth billing them, or finding another ISP...
Brem's word of wisdom
The central point of music journalism: It is pointless. That is where it gains its worth. The point isn't to be informative in a music debate. It's to be entertaining.
Oh, that more people knew this to be true! Music is, first and foremost, an entertainment. The music press - Q, Rolling Stone, NME, Addicted to Noise - is all part of the entertainment industry. If it's not an interesting, provocative but ultimately entertaining read, people won't bother reading it next time. Even music chart shows are meant to be entertaining - witness the rise of Rick Dees' and Casey Kasem's fun shows at the expense of the scientifically correct Billboard survey on American radio.
ii) You`re suggesting that Dance and any non-traditional melodic music isn't music.
Music is what someone, somewhere, finds entertaining to listen to. That might be Winston Churchill speeches. Or a string arrangement from "The Last Time". Or a 137 bpm gabba breakbeat. Or even Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". It's all music. It may not be music you like, but it is all music.
Eli adds in
Grammys. It's an award. It doesn't really state anything about music. It's mainly politics. Why do you care so much about it, except the obvious need for competition?
It's a manifestation of the big business end of the music industry. These are not awards that go to the best album, single, whatever made during the last year. They are given to the acts that the industry thinks will best generate good publicity for their companies. Sure, it's gratifying to hear that one's favourite act has won an award - it gives a sense of pride and superiority. But with nearly 100 awards, that means most people who take note of the results will have that pride.
Erin quotes .~*
which means everyone on the planet with the possible exception of erin podolsky and eric geyer are now seriously fixated with my fiance.i'd just like to point out that i have several acquaintances who adamantly refuse to see the mighty behemoth known as _titanic_.
Sarah Snowbunny wonders
Wait, it's finally beaten out ET and Star Wars??
On the world totals, yes it has. On the ultimately less important Canadian and US totals, it's still some way behind Star Wars.
Mae suggests
Somebody told me that if you listen to "Mellon Collie" by the Smashing pumpkins when you're in this weird mood, you'll end up committing suicide.
That would be laughable if someone didn't take it seriously. As Brem's been reminding us, music is entertainment. For my money, "Mellon Collie" is a downbeat yet uplifting album. It provides a bottom to a foul mood, and slowly lifts me back up towards my usual life view.
.~* enquires
is it like a big issue to go to a dance with someone who's gay? i mean, i guess it would be to some people, but if you ask me and kristine, it's far better to go dancing with the gay crowd anyway!
I wouldn't disagree with that. Heck, if I were going to a dance without ALI, and needed to have a partner, I might well ask around ladies who just wanted a "date" for show, and not give a flying whether she were straight, gay or purple-haired. And maybe I wouldn't stop at asking ladies.
Liz
Speaking of Girl Power, I need a Spice name for myself. (No particular reason, I just want one.) Suggestions?
Hmmmm... Cee Tee Why? Spice.
To gratuitously snip a l-o-n-g discussion of Eli's
In conclusion, we are sattelites of our society.
This assumes, of course, that people positively identify with the society they find themselves in. Now, I'm a resident of Britain, and I'm being asked - at various times - to be a British citizen, a good European, a member of the Commonwealth, a user of trains, someone from Codsall, Staffordshire and the rural counties, a citizen of cyberspace, liberty and a putative citizen of Canada. These pull in many directions. Most of those directions are contradictory. Personally, I find the societies that I can be a part of are (in roughly this order of importance) Codsall; Liberty; Rural England; Railways; Cyberspace in general; Canada. The rest - including the ones that the government want me to be a part of - mean very little to me.
Eli returns
Nobody remember the casualties at the great victory of the English Navy over the Spanish Armada.
Equally, though, no-one remembers why the Spanish felt the need to defend the Scots, attack the English queen, and install King James of Scotland as a puppet king of a united kingdom, centred in Edinburgh under Spanish control.
You can not expect ancient Greece to develop a social welfare.
Well, didn't Ancient Greece look after its own citizens, by a form of mutual assistance that worked far better than modern welfare programmes?
On May, there is a game between England and Israel. Prepare an eulogy.
Remind me to be out of the country at the time. Just remind me, 'k.
And we pose the question. What do vultures take on holiday with them?
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