Saturday, October 18, 2003

I've been reading confessions all day.....made a few myself...I just know more will follow. I think I have a lot to clear my conscience of!!

the best rapper coming out of the states [you might have already seen it]
posted by chriszanf , 10:47 PM Þ 

"I saw our planet. It's so beautiful."

One of the most ignored incredibly-important-stories so far this year. No one's analysed it. No one's speaking of what it means.

I confessed twice.
posted by Barrie , 9:57 PM Þ 

CES, that link is depraved. My confession is I can't stop reading the confessions!

I run Windows XP but I tell everybody on hacker forums that I'm actually running OpenBSD.

Beautiful.
posted by Alun , 10:14 AM Þ 
posted by Claus Eggers , 1:32 AM Þ 
Friday, October 17, 2003

Definitely NOT the biggity-biz-awmb:

A quiet revolution is taking place in US politics. By the time it's over, the integrity of elections will be in the unchallenged, unscrutinised control of a few large - and pro-Republican - corporations. Andrew Gumbel wonders if democracy in America can survive

Roxanne Jekot, who has put much of her professional and personal life on hold to work on the issue full time, puts it even more strongly. "Corporate America is very close to running this country. The only thing that is stopping them from taking total control are the pesky voters. That's why there's such a drive to control the vote. What we're seeing is the corporatisation of the last shred of democracy."
posted by Barrie , 10:27 PM Þ 

[The king (of Brobdingnag; the giant's kingdom) inquires into the state of England, which the author relates to him. The king's observations thereon.]
He desired "I would give him as exact an account of the government of England as I possibly could; because, as fond as princes commonly are of their own customs (for so he conjectured of other monarchs, by my former discourses), he should be glad to hear of any thing that might deserve imitation."

Imagine with thyself, courteous reader, how often I then wished for the tongue of Demosthenes or Cicero, that might have enabled me to celebrate the praise of my own dear native country in a style equal to its merits and felicity. [...]

He was perfectly astonished with the historical account gave him of our affairs during the last century; protesting "it was only a heap of conspiracies, rebellions, murders, massacres, revolutions, banishments, the very worst effects that avarice, faction, hypocrisy, perfidiousness, cruelty, rage, madness, hatred, envy, lust, malice, and ambition, could produce."

His majesty, in another audience, was at the pains to recapitulate the sum of all I had spoken; compared the questions he made with the answers I had given; then taking me into his hands, and stroking me gently, delivered himself in these words, which I shall never forget, nor the manner he spoke them in: "My little friend Grildrig, you have made a most admirable panegyric upon your country; you have clearly proved, that ignorance, idleness, and vice, are the proper ingredients for qualifying a legislator; that laws are best explained, interpreted, and applied, by those whose interest and abilities lie in perverting, confounding, and eluding them. I observe among you some lines of an institution, which, in its original, might have been tolerable, but these half erased, and the rest wholly blurred and blotted by corruptions. It does not appear, from all you have said, how any one perfection is required toward the procurement of any one station among you; much less, that men are ennobled on account of their virtue; that priests are advanced for their piety or learning; soldiers, for their conduct or valour; judges, for their integrity; senators, for the love of their country; or counsellors for their wisdom. As for yourself," continued the king, "who have spent the greatest part of your life in travelling, I am well disposed to hope you may hitherto have escaped many vices of your country. But by what I have gathered from your own relation, and the answers I have with much pains wrung and extorted from you, I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth."



As essential today as always. Read it for free.
posted by Alun , 9:40 PM Þ 

The following report was delivered to us by a high-level Brooklyn source: French public radio broadcasting in the Oise region has this summer implemented a new feature: 24-hour broadcast of an anti-mosquito frequency. This signal is transmitted similtaneous to the standard rock-and-roll fare, and apparently cannot be perceived by humans. Whether the mosquitoes liked French rock-and-roll enough in the first place to hang around the radio dial has not been documented.
posted by Josh Carr , 6:34 PM Þ 

im sorry.
iTunes is NOT the bomb.
Baz SuT is the BAWMB!
posted by Irdial , 6:23 PM Þ 

its called import folder.
iTunes is the total bomb.
everything is imporged.
hear that pig squeal!
posted by Irdial , 6:17 PM Þ 

That's probably because iTunes is and probably always will be a piece of shit. I have never been impressed with iTunes since the very first version, and the program gets more problematic and illogical with every new iteration. There is a really easy way to put every mp3 file out of its directory and into the trash with iTunes, and that's after making sure that shouldn't happen. Oh, that and Apple's tendency to make an mp3 program that requires more processor power than my computer is capable of. For an mp3 player, that is completely and utterly ridiculous. Remember when mp3 players used to only need a 100mHz processor or so? You think they should require less now.
There are programs that, in an effort to do everything and be "easy to use" become much more complicated and problematic than they should. iTunes is one of those bloated, horrible programs.
That and it's uglier than an old witch. Apple might have good (great!) industrial designers but they sure as hell don't know how to make an interface look pretty. Brushed metal my ass. It didn't look good in QuickTime 4 and it still doesn't look good today.
posted by Barrie , 5:10 PM Þ 

iTunes for windoze.

Fascinating; On a VERY quick look, it seems like I cannot import all of my music files into iTunes; ie, to automagically organize them by artist etc. Freeamp's "My Music" does this of course, and brilliantly. My main problem MP3 wise is organizing many many files.

For me, imporging doesnt mean ripping. It means imporging, as in eating spit roast pork with a jug of cider for company.
posted by Irdial , 4:36 PM Þ 

olfactory

There is nothing like the smell of JFK. Or Manhattan. They are very particular, evocative, and powerful. Andrew will know what I am talking about when I mention the smell of places like The Electric Ballroom. A sweet mixture of old vomit, beer piss, cigarette butts mashed for years into the floor and carpets, and sweat.

Yes, sweet.
posted by Irdial , 3:34 PM Þ 

Happy belated birthday Mary! May the best of your past be the worst of your future.

a.these.....you're so right about the '33 1/3rd'. So many good things began happening to me after March [b'day in Jan].

Just got back in after another intense week working away [oh, the wonders of being a subcontractor]. I was in Woking, Surrey this week, staying at yet another Travelodge. These places are so hideously faceless. After a 10-12 hour shift then dinner with a few pints, it became harder to remember where my room was. I'm so glad to be back home in my own bed, with familiar sights, sounds and fragrances. It's amazing how [silently] powerful the olfactory senses are.
posted by chriszanf , 1:33 PM Þ 

Senate Turns Half of Iraq Aid Into Loans

This was a vote against the Bush administration btw. Anyhow it looks like you have to pay to be invaded now.
-
Law lords rule there is no right to privacy

Five law lords yesterday rejected an attempt to establish that a right exists under English law to sue for invasion of privacy.

The ruling, which had been keenly awaited by lawyers, establishes that there is no "freestanding" right to privacy in English law. Instead, those seeking damages when their privacy is invaded - including celebrities such as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas - will have to bring their cases under other, well-established types of action, such as breach of confidence.
posted by meau meau , 12:22 PM Þ 

The limbs say go back to bed, the back says where on earth did you sleep, the throat says give me water, the heart says help me. the brain says all of the above.
posted by meau meau , 10:19 AM Þ 

I probably won't get the oppertunity to go see it, but it looks awesome. What you can't get from the photos are the effect of the monochromatic lamps in the sun. Everything turns into a yellow-to-black duotone - think sepia, only yellow instead. He did an empty white(cube) room with only this lighting at the Venice Biannale this year. It was fascinating.
posted by Claus Eggers , 12:18 AM Þ 

posted by Claus Eggers , 12:08 AM Þ 
Thursday, October 16, 2003

Claus: I saw that sight at around 11:30am BST today. I think the silhouettes of stunned art punters really contribute to the effect.
posted by Mess Noone , 5:17 PM Þ 

posted by Claus Eggers , 5:00 PM Þ 
posted by Josh Carr , 3:24 PM Þ 

GM crops giant Monsanto pulls out of Europe
By Robert Uhlig, Farming Correspondent
(Filed: 16/10/2003)


Monsanto, the American pioneer of genetically modified crops, said yesterday it was pulling out of its European cereal seed business.

The move was widely seen as a sign that it has given up hopes of introducing GM cereals in Europe.

It announced its decision on the eve of today's publication of results of farm-scale evaluations of GM crops, the final and most influential part of the Government's investigation into whether to allow GM crops to be grown commercially.

The trials, which investigated the effect of GM maize, oilseed rape and sugar beet on farmland wildlife and biodiversity, are expected to give a mixed verdict on the technology.

Two other Government reports on the economic benefits of growing GM crops and on scientific understanding of their environmental and health effects have also failed to present a strong case for rushing into commercial GM cultivation.

There are also questions about the value of the GM maize trials, which did not take the vital factor of crop yield into account.

Monsanto's announcement that it wants to sell its cereal development stations at Cambridge and in France, Germany and the Czech Republic, follows hardening resistance to GM crops throughout Europe.

Insurers are not prepared to underwrite GM farmers and 98 per cent of 37,000[...]



Telegraph

98% of 37,000 people polled said that they would not eat GM food.

Deal with it.
posted by Irdial , 1:41 PM Þ 
posted by meau meau , 10:31 AM Þ 

We all at times wish to be things we are not.

In times of despair I wish to have a brilliant mind for mathematics and not be bothered by the hundreds of contradictions involved in the damned "creative process."
posted by Barrie , 7:30 AM Þ 
Wednesday, October 15, 2003

... Sometimes I wish I am a man...
posted by Alison , 3:49 PM Þ 

posted by captain davros , 9:49 AM Þ 

Belated birthday cheer, Mary.

Have a peek at what some of your fellow 33 year olds are up to..
posted by Mess Noone , 9:15 AM Þ 

What a horrible thing to go through!
I have problems with IVF in general... not scientific ones, mostly personal moral ones. In the NHS, I think the money could be better spent on essential services which are underfunded as I don't see IVF as an essential service. There is also the problem of context re; how the other half (of the world) live. (It also twists my brainstem a little when my friends tell me their cat was offered chemotherapy, when there are people without food and water, let alone basic healthcare). Finally, it pains me to see people so troubled by the desire to have their (genetically) own baby; it makes me wish they could give their love to one of so many children that are without love... adoption coould be a cure for both parties.
Spread the love, not the pain.
posted by Alun , 9:00 AM Þ 

Problems with mitochondrial DNA can cause infertility or disease and it was to try to solve this problem that the research was done. The patient was a 30-year-old woman who could not have children despite repeated IVF attempts because all her embryos arrested at the two-day stage of development.

Following nuclear transfer and "electrofusion" to reconstruct the nuclei in its new egg, the researchers had five embryos that survived to the four-cell stage after 48 hours. These were transplanted into the patient's womb and three developed into pregnancies.

One fetus was then aborted, in an attempt to increase the survival chance of the others. But one of the remaining pair died at 24 weeks of respiratory distress due to premature rupture of the membranes. The other died at 29 weeks due to cord prolapse.

"We don't consider this a success because of the outcome," says Grifo. "But we were happy to see that the embryos created a viable pregnancy." He adds the foetuses were "normal genetically and morphologically".

This story is so disturbing to me. That poor woman. What a horrible thing to go through! I wonder if she is okay?
posted by mary13 , 6:37 AM Þ 

Thank you for the birthday cheer. All of you are very sweet.
posted by mary13 , 3:09 AM Þ 
Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Pogue Colonel: Marine, what is that button on your body armor?
Private Joker: A peace symbol, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Where'd you get it?
Private Joker: I don't remember, sir.
Pogue Colonel: What is that you've got written on your helmet?
Private Joker: "Born to Kill," sir.
Pogue Colonel: You write "Born to Kill" on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?!
Private Joker: No, sir.
Pogue Colonel: You'd better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant shit on you!
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Now answer my question or you'll be standing tall before the man.
Private Joker: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.
Pogue Colonel: The what?
Private Joker: The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Whose side are you on, son?
Private Joker: Our side, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Don't you love your country?
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Then how about getting with the program? Why don't you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?
Private Joker: Yes, sir!
Pogue Colonel: Son, all I've ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It's a hardball world, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.
Private Joker: Aye-aye, sir.
posted by Alison , 10:10 PM Þ 

Public Image Ltd. - Second Edition
Iro Haarla/Pepa Päivinen - Yarra Yarra
posted by Mess Noone , 3:26 PM Þ 

Hilarious!



http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031011/frontpage/121390.shtml


There cannot be anyone left, anywhere, that believes anything that comes out of a polititians mouth, or a journalists pen about this business, can there?

These "tactics", these infantile psi-ops keystone cops student pranks cannot fool anyone any longer. Its over!
posted by Irdial , 1:47 PM Þ 

A human pregnancy involving fetuses with three genetic parents was reported by US and Chinese scientists on Tuesday. None were born, but the researchers say this was due to obstetric complications rather than the fertility technique used, and that it would work in future. [...]


http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994266



Okaaaaaaayyyyy........
posted by Irdial , 1:21 PM Þ 

London too was full of autumnal splendour. Well, as much as it can be... at least, it was in our garden. Worldwide beautiful weather for your birthday! It's a pretty generous and altruistic gift you've got there Mary! Best wishes... hope your thirty-fourth year is at least as wonderful for you as mine was for me.

A buncha handsa bananas.
posted by Alun , 1:03 PM Þ 

Did Somebody say bananas?

Bananas come in hands

Happy Birthday to Mary & Alison's mother
posted by meau meau , 12:25 PM Þ 


You have birthday on the same day as my mommy - how easy for me to remeber...
- in Denmark the weather was (Yesterday - but also today) so beautiful: Fall, crispy, clear sunshine.
How was your day?

posted by Alison , 11:29 AM Þ 

the flowers of romance?
posted by captain davros , 10:48 AM Þ 
posted by Mess Noone , 10:02 AM Þ 

mary, 33 is a great age to be...when you get to thirty three and a third a lot of significant stuff starts to kick in...(not joking!) best wishes.

a.these
posted by THESE , 2:51 AM Þ 
Monday, October 13, 2003

Happy Birthday Mary! Best wishes.
posted by Barrie , 10:10 PM Þ 

May you have a long and fulfilled life Mary...
posted by Irdial , 9:03 PM Þ 

Ah, the northern Canadian accent. I think (hope/pray) that I have trained those inflections and expressions out of my speaking voice, but in certain situations, with certain people, they come tumbling back. I can only describe it as 'goofy', with a very hard edge. We must go softly ...

I am 33 today. It is a beautiful fall day, fresh and clean from many days of rain. I am going out to dig up the flower beds, and get them ready for spring bulb planting. It is Thanksgiving Day today, the national holiday, and hurrah, we will not be having turkey!



posted by mary13 , 8:12 PM Þ 

biggest language pet peeve:

the mainly Americanism, 'buncha'

As in... I did a buncha work today
I bought a buncha records.

Flowers and bananas come in bunches. Work and records do not.
posted by Alun , 6:55 PM Þ 

form a proper sentance

tsk tsk.
posted by alex_tea , 6:09 PM Þ 

I live in basically the Canadian version of Texas. Among many, many other things, no one here can talk. No one knows grammar either, and redundancies abound. Unfortunatey this tendancy does travel into my speech from time to time. Though, I do not have an Albertan accent... it is fairly neutral since I was raised by English parents. It fits somewhere between Albertan and Lancashire-talk. I say "innit," "summit," "bollocks" among "eh," "beauty," "fer shure."
I say "Aunt" how it is spelled. That is, I pronounce the "au," which sort of sounds like an inflected "o." Aa-u-h-nn-t. Which, I suppose rhymes with "can't," though I don't pronouce "can't" that way (rather, the "American" way).
Thankfully though I do not sound like my peers around here, who are basically slackjawed and can't form a proper sentance if their lives depended on it.

Mimi Majick DESPISES "bubble writing"
What is bubble writing? Would that be non-cursive or...? I happen to have one of the worst examples of handwriting. Mostly due to the natural shakiness and inflexibility of my hands. The schools tried to train my handwriting. But it just hurts too much to bother.

biggest language pet peeve: "he's got berries" (for example). I hate redundancies. Why can't people just say "he HAS berries?!"
posted by Barrie , 5:45 PM Þ 

more on english. people i know from essex truncate any word they can at every opportunity; national westminster becomes nat west, abbey national becomes abbey nash, etc.

they alzo cut off the ends of often used words, and then add the suffix "y" or "ie". Mobile becomes mobie, television becomes telly, gandma becomes granny etc.

i jnow a man with two 11 year old daughters; when he speaks to them, he does this charming trick with every word he says to them... in front of whoever is there. he also raises the pitch of his speech by an octave when he does this.


hmmmmmmmaaaaaarrrggghh!!!!!!!!l
posted by Irdial , 5:30 PM Þ 

It's grim up North.

Bill Drummond

How To Be An Artist

Leeds City Art Gallery
13th to the 26th of October
The exhibition is free but for tickets for the evening performance
(performances are not every evening-mm)

Geordie accent can be really lovely, especially when spoken by women. I think the Leeds accent fits somewhere between Scouse and Birmingham.
posted by meau meau , 4:49 PM Þ 

I think not.

You think not. You do not.

And its all good.

Its OK By Me®.

YMMV

Subject to change without notice.
posted by Irdial , 4:16 PM Þ 

Hackney has so many variants on English (pidgins and accents) that I fail to properly understand at least three-quarters of the people I hear round and about.

Aunt Ant
Bath not barth or barf

Bugger with an ug

I think most swearwords sound better in Northern. It's grim up North.
posted by Alun , 4:12 PM Þ 

If, however, you were to say "Aunty" it should be pronounced to rhyme with "can't", which of course, does not rhyme with "Ant" the insect.

I think not.

Words should be pronounced the way you pronounce them. The way they roll off your tongue; your voice is your own, and variety is good.
posted by captain davros , 3:29 PM Þ 

How do you pronounce "Aunty"

Ahem; Aunty is slang for "Aunt", the sister of your Father or Mother. Thats "Father", not "owldfellah", "dar" "$slangterm".

If, however, you were to say "Aunty" it should be pronounced to rhyme with "can't", which of course, does not rhyme with "Ant" the insect. English is completely different from French, where "a" cest toujour "a". (I cannot write in French, ICYDN).

Is there anyone in here who thinks that "Axe" sounds like "Acts"?

The wonderful Mimi Majick DESPISES "bubble writing".

ave'n you been o ha supamarke called escoes?

I met some dudes from Bradford if I remember correctly; they had a superb way of saying "Grass" - a clipped, clear and very audible pronunciation.

I do not like the sound of a Birmingham accent at all; I also dont like any "sing song" languages either, like Brazillian Portugese. Spanish sounds beautiful to me, as does German, French, Russian, Xosa, Hindi, Italian and Sanskrit. Chinese seems to my ears to be on the edge of being a singing language. Quebec French has some strange localizations, not altogether unpleasant. Pidgin english, whilst not a language, always makes me laugh. This includes the West African versions and the priceless Jamaican Pidgin; "Gwaaaaaan!"

What a life!
posted by Irdial , 2:54 PM Þ 

There is a bit on Ping Pong on the latest Plastikman LP about halfway through (just after the claps come in) where the groove in the vinyl is almost perpendicular to itself, (it also seems to collect dust)
It took about three attempts to get my record player to play it.
The bass is immense.
posted by meau meau , 2:25 PM Þ 

I speak with a southern/Surrey accent. Everything has R sounds.Aunty Arnty
Can't Carnt
Castle Carsell

Also when people pronounce the letter H as haitch it annoys me. I say it aitch.
posted by alex_tea , 1:29 PM Þ 

Aunt aren't
bath ba'ath
castle hassle
posted by meau meau , 1:07 PM Þ 

I say "a-gain" rather than "uggen". I have an mp3 of a local radio dj reading out an email I sent into his latenight phone in on the subject accents and the associated pronunciation differences.

Quick easy-blog poll now.

How do you pronounce "Aunty" (if you use the word at all)? This is the word for your mother or father's sister, or a close older female friend of the family.

I say "Anti". Most people here in the south of the UK say "Arnty".

And you?
posted by captain davros , 12:44 PM Þ 

>>Homonyms

"Standard contemporary American pronunciation"

That is not English, by definition. This should be more properly called a list of American mispronunciations of English. "Rain" and "Again" rhyme. "Again" is not pronounced as you would say "eggen" (a made up word for illustration).....

"The Chef refuses to butter your toast"

I'm not making this up.
posted by Irdial , 11:29 AM Þ 
Sunday, October 12, 2003
posted by Claus Eggers , 8:03 PM Þ 
posted by meau meau , 5:21 PM Þ 

tsk ... would you believe it ? ... it wasn't my poor beige friend's fault after all ... never mind ; a big kiss & all seems to well between us again ... have promised to take it to the pub next time by way of an apology ... on the condition that it doesn't keep nagging for crisps
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 1:17 PM Þ 
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