The Banishment

I don't fully understand their authority on the matter, but Lake Superior State University has made a List of Banished Words for 2005. Also, where are these words banned from? Dictionaries?

Some of the words should be stopped, i.e. izzle. I didn't realise however that flip-flop was such a controversial expression. I've got a long way to go.

Just ridiculous. This money could have been put towards something significantly more helpful to the world.

The Potential

This is epic: http://www.halorising.com/epic/

It is about the future and how it relates to several computer related companies. It gets kind of ridiculous and almost humourous, but definitely worth the 8 minutes.

If I had some substantial comment to make about the events of last week, I'd make them, but as usual I don't, so I'll keep my trap shut.

The Distaste

Hi Vice,

I hate the color brown. I fucking hate wet socks. I hate people when they sneeze sitting next to me on airplanes. I hate the amount of time that I piss away doing nothing. I hate almost every movie that I have ever made. I hate that in America the right to vote is taken for granted. And I hate that having an opinion that might differ from the fucksticks on Capitol Hill is considered unpatriotic. It's the new McCarthyism (which I would have hated had I lived in that time). I hate people who use the words "organic" and "indeed" in a sentence. I hate shaved poontang (don't get me wrong, I will tolerate it, but I just hate it). I hate pleated pants. I hate puking when I'm drunk. I hate when I'm hungover and my tongue feels furry. I hate clever bumper stickers on cars. I hate crowds. I hate intolerant people, and I hate people with too much tolerance. One is full of ignorance, the other is full of shit. Oh hell, I almost forgot, I really hate pantyhose. And with the exception of Vladimir Nabokov and Iceberg Slim, I hate authors who use hundred-dollar words to complete their two-dollar thoughts. I hate the Santa Ana winds. I fucking despise West L.A. I hate people who think their religion is the only real truth. I hate anyone who picks a fight with someone they know they can whip. I hate when people think by fucking someone smart and talented that they themselves miraculously become smart and talented as well. And I hate people who think they are so goddamn smart.

Best,
Johnny

Not bad for the creator of jackass.

The Meanings to the Means

The only articles I have been reading as of late have been all about politics. I have no foundation with which I can comment effectively about politics and make coherent sense. So, I pay you all the courtesy to shut the hell up. Monday's Boasas is very reminiscent of a conversation I had with a roommate. It probably ended up with me getting made fun of.

Since my posts have been all talk and no pictures, I thought I'd post some pictures.

I'm being a monumental jerk.


I'm trying to be artistic apparently:


The first one was taken by my roommate, my plan was to take a picture of the view of the city that I could see from atop the wall...but being the photogenic person I am who seems to climb things on a regular basis, that photo was snapped instead. Another roommate then developed it in the darkroom. I am pretty sure that the second one was truly my attempt at being artistic. I'm so lame. That was the unnecessary explanation.

The Humour

The title of this article is far more entertaining than the actual article, but "Stray Mounties rescued in Idaho wilderness" (thanks inna) is still a kind of funny article, I guess. The title really says it all. This shatters the impression of mounties that I had before, one of respect, strength, knowledge and ridiculous uniforms. However, that was based on a television show with an impossible lead character, no matter how much we all wish he were real.

This, however, is a great article: "Family Secret Turns out to be Boring" We all need to read The Onion more.

There was some music trading last night and one result was rather humourous. If you want a good, solid laugh, download (or get me to send it to you) "Common People" by William Shatner. Apparently it is a remake of a Brit-pop song, I can't imagine. The person who recommended it to me, claims that he listens to this song with serious intentions. I have to give Bill credit for acting the lyrics out with conviction.

Oh and I learned a new, useless word, another to add to my collection.
"Homonecropetapyrobestiphiliac" is a word for one who prefers to have sex with underage gay animals which are currently on fire.

The Evident

Studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between the number of blogs posted and the approach of exams.

I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I have to say in addition to that, but I've got nothing. My head is currently full of terms that have no practical use and are also not in English. I also have a dictionary on my lap, it's not helping me either. In the last two days I have lost complete touch with reality, I was au courant with the happenings of the world. My hermit skills have improved significantly.

Caco is the Portuguese word for Kermit the Frog. And then there is Kippy, Kippy was a hedgehog not a porcupine, contrary to popular belief, or just mine since childhood.

I seem to have momentarily lost my sanity there, I hope you all enjoyed it. There were several hours yesterday spent procrastinating by reading the dictionary, it was between two languages, which shall remain unspecified. There were two results, one was that a new pet name around here translates to a bodily function (I'll leave that one to the imagination) because it sounds cute and that I got called a family secret. Fun things happen when you're supposed to be working.

Before I say or do something stupid, or dumber than I already have, I bid you adieu.

The Field of Dreams

I found this article pretty interesting, though there are some discrepencies about the test methodologies that were involved in proving this. And yes, I do in fact talk like this. Though I have to say I don't see any problems with their methods, except that this particular article is quite vague.
This is the article. It talks about how these scientists in Hawaii proved that sharks can detect changes in magnetic fields.

By popular demand, or three people just being completely neutral and not deciding, I am going to rant about something other than an article I read. I really don't know what to talk about, these last few days have been rather uneventful... So, let's give this a go, shall we?

A) Well, it is my humble opinion that everyone should have a waffle emoticon. They help to express any emotion really, I usually use it for comical frustration or when no other emoticon will do the job. If you are interested in this emoticon, you know where to find me.

b) I have come to the conclusion that I am a difficult person who will never be able to have a regular blog about me. I was just told that I will eventually write something vague and confuse everyone, just like a good indie kid. Go emo, go. Though I'm not much of an emo kid, whenever authentic emo music hits the deck on rotation I get an inexplicably sad feeling and then I realise what I'm listening to. I don't enjoy being inexplicably sad, I like to know why I am sad.

New Letter:
c) The Romans had something good going, they had this letter called 'eng', and this is what it looks like: ŋ. It stands for n+g, imagine how much time, money, trees, space, etc. this could save. Just think about it. (Note there is also one that looks similar that represents g+n, but that is seldom found in English.)

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get some tea.

The Rant?

So it's been a few days since I've posted anything, mainly because I haven't found anything of interest that I would like to post.

Here is a question with regards to format of my blog:
Should I continue with my current trend of posting random (and interesting) things? Or should there be more about me? I'm leaning towards the former... but I suppose this is a survey of sorts, post a comment, I guess.

The Slice

I really like this song and its lyrics seem to have substance. I present
"Pale Horse" by John Vanderslice

from the haunts of daily
lifewhere is waged the daily strife
common wants and common cares
cuts the human heart with tears

rise like lions after a slumber
in greatly unknowable numbers

let the tyrants pour around
with apocalyptic sound
on the charge of iron wheels
and the crash of horse’s heels

rise like lions after a slumber
in greatly unknowable numbers
free the blood that must ensue
we are many and they are few

from the workhouse and the prison
pale as corpses newly risen
knives are drawn now let them see
standing tall that say they’re free

your strong and simple words
set to wound as sharpened swords
wide as targets let them be
with their shade to cover me

rise like lions after a slumber
in greatly unknowable numbers
free the blood that must ensue
we are many and they are few

The Chop

This has nothing to do with the theme I usually have running through my blog, but I think, for anyone who knows me, this is a big accomplisment for me:
I ate dinner today with chopsticks and I only learned today how to use them. I think this makes me unstoppable now.

The Word

This is what I want to do if I grow up.
from here

Dude -- professor studies 'dude'
Linguist says word draws power from cool kinship

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Dude, you've got to read this.
A linguist from the University of Pittsburgh has published a scholarly paper deconstructing and deciphering the word "dude," contending it is much more than a catchall for lazy, inarticulate surfers, skaters, slackers and teenagers.
An admitted dude-user during his college years, Scott Kiesling said the four-letter word has many uses: in greetings ("What's up, dude?"); as an exclamation ("Whoa, Dude!"); commiseration ("Dude, I'm so sorry."); to one-up someone ("That's so lame, dude."); as well as agreement, surprise and disgust ("Dude.").
Kiesling says in the fall edition of American Speech that the word derives its power from something he calls cool solidarity -- an effortless kinship that's not too intimate.
Cool solidarity is especially important to young men who are under social pressure to be close with other young men, but not enough to be suspected as gay.
In other words: Close, dude, but not that close.
"It's like man or buddy, there is often this male-male addressed term that says, 'I'm your friend but not much more than your friend,"' said Kiesling, whose research focuses on language and masculinity.
To decode the word's meaning, Kiesling listened to conversations with fraternity members he taped in 1993. He also had undergraduate students in sociolinguistics classes in 2001 and 2002 write down the first 20 times they heard "dude" and who said it during a three-day period.
He found the word taps into nonconformity and a new American image of leisurely success.
Anecdotally, men were the predominant users of the word, but women sometimes call each other dudes.
Less frequently, men will call women dudes and vice versa. But that comes with some rules, according to self-reporting from students in a 2002 language and gender class included in the paper.
"Men report that they use dude with women with whom they are close friends, but not with women with whom they are intimate," according to the study.
His students also reported that they were least likely to use the word with parents, bosses and professors.
Historically, dude originally meant "old rags" -- a "dudesman" was a scarecrow. In the late 1800s, a "dude" was akin to a "dandy," a meticulously dressed man, especially out West. It became "cool" in the 1930s and 1940s, according to Kiesling. Dude began its rise in the teenage lexicon with the 1981 movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
"Dude" also shows no signs of disappearing as more and more of our culture becomes youth-centered, said Mary Bucholtz, an associate professor of linguistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
"I have seen middle-aged men using 'dude' with each other," she said.

The Mann

This came up today: http://wearcam.org/steve.html
Make of him what you will.


This is a good one:
John Vanderslice - "Pale Horse"

The Cut

TOP 10 WORDS OF 2004
The top 10 words of the year based on searches of Merriam-Webster Web sites.
1. blog
2. incumbent
3. electoral
4. insurgent
5. hurricane
6. cicada
7. peloton
8. partisan
9. sovereignty
10. defenestration

See them all! http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/04words.htm