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― anthony, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

How are you doing anthony? What's the weather like where you are?

It's 10:15 ten in the morning here in England. I'm at work. I don't normally come in on a Saturday but I wanted to print off some books from the excellent site below while nobody else was around:

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/authors.html

So far I've done Gogol's Dead Souls & HL Mencken's Prejudices.

― scott, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i don't know how that extra ten got in there.

― scott, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It is 9:45 on Satday p.m. in New Zealand & I'm at Arc (cafe/bar) in "downtown" (does anybody call it that here?) Dunedin to see these guys I know from Christchurch play their music. Also there is a party at Matthew Middleton's after & I will go there too. I have gone out twice in the last week. Which just about beats my whole year I think. So I won't stay on the computer like a dork-geek.

― duane, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Trig Brother in 3 hours time. WILL I LIVE? And last night Jane and I hung around with Kate and Paul, and had a great ol' time.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The cricket is not going very well. My Sky One transmission has cut out in the middle of Smack Down. What are you doing today?...I may go and check out the bomb damage later, but I reckon the area will still be closed off. Later, I will start my methodology chapter. Oh well, have a good day, l8r!

― jel, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Do you live near Ealing? I think I'd be too scared to go out this weekend if I lived in London.

I just remembered that one of the computers in my office has a sound card and speakers so now I'm blasting out a ten minute live version of Foggy Notion from the Velvet Underground website. I wish every day at work was as good as this.

― scott, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's 9pm Saturday night. There is nowhere for me to go out to. I'm watching The Untouchables. Someone in the house is pissed off as I can hear doors slamming. I'm suffering from insane horniness and I've been awake for nearly 52 hours due to insomnia. Am trying to avoid coffee, for obvious reasons, but it's quite difficult for an addict like myself. Think I'll go listen to records....

― Mascara, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

12.45 am Saturday night. I am sort of watching experimental music in a Dunedin pub (the CM ensemble.) The musicians are all spread out around the room playing a cello, violin, flute, drums, recorder etc. My friend Ricko who is in the 'band' is pretty intoxicated and is doing a good impression of a serenading violinist lurching around the room. Someone pointed out that no matter what the band here, speed metal or this, they have the disco ball turning. And Duane made some atmospheric noise with a fork and a plate, then I noticed he was actually eating a piece of cake and I said 'are you chewing loudly enough?' and he said 'it doesn't matter because I know it's part of the music and that's what really counts.'

― maryann, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

1417 pm. Just put the washing out and am contemplating going to see Cats and Dogs at the pics with my son, but afternoon is shaping up to be warm and sunny so may just stay and chill in the garden.

― Billy Dods, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What's up, Anthony? I always like reading yer posts on stuff in general.

It's 9:30 am in Hoboken, NJ. I've been up for a while, doing legal research for a memorandum I'm supposed to hand in sometime next week (God this sucks). Probably will go get some pancakes or something for breakfast in a little bit -- debating whether i should shower or just go out in my current stinky unwashed & unshaven state (i did bathe yesterday).

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

4:00 pm.. I should be working on any of the following: a 1500 word essay on a e e cummings poem (Anthony's punctuation guru), a painting that must be completed by this coming Friday, the completion of a torso cast. But no, I am on ILE.

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ealing is all closed off, walked round the entire police blockades. Eating almond slices and drinking tea. England lost the cricket!

― jel, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Pondering whether I should go to London in two weeks to *hang out* (god I hate that expression) with friends at the Guided by Voices gig. I am eating yoghurt. And listening to YUM, a 90s update of new wave. Then I am off to read some Dennis Cooper. He's like totally cool, mang.

― nathalie (nathalie), Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Its 11 am. I a msupposed to be at work but called in sick. David is sleeping in the next room. I am about to bake bread. We are going to an art party tomorrow.

― anthony, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

7pm. How the fuck did SY get Daydream Nation to *SOUND* so great? Did they find the secret Phil Spector rulebook? Did they sell their souls to the Underground Cabal©? Did the give every current of electricity its own microphone? Did they teach Thurston's brain cells to sing? It's been 13+ years but -*cliche warning*- it coulda been recorded last week. Anway, I'm going out somewhere soon, not sure where. I hope I have fun. Like Duane, I often don't really enjoy it.

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Was it Duane? Someone posted a thread about how they don't like going out.

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yes, Duane. Maybe some lurkers as well but they didn't speak up. :-)

― nathalie (nathalie), Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's 12:30am Sunday 05.08.01. I have just got back from Trig Brother (which Tim Hopkins won). It's raining and I am pissed.

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's 8 PM, I've spent most of the day packing my stuff and I'm taking a short break. My girlfriend moved into our new apartment today an said that her friend Josh who came to help her out (and who will be the best man at our wedding next month) was babbling psychotically the whole time. After this, I'm gonna pack a couple more boxes, then go see Planet of the Apes in French. There are many movies I'd rather see, but that's what's playing at the theatre 5 minutes from here, and walking to the movies is the coolest thing.

― Patrick, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's 1 am, I'm back(ish) from Trig Brother. I missed the last train home, so I'm posting from the floor of my brother's flat, via the magic of Psion organiser and pointlessly flash mobile phone. I'd better say something before sobriety clouds everyone's judgement.

Dinosaurs.

― Graham, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Robot dinosaurs!

― Richard Tunnicliffe, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tis I, the DG, posting at 1:45am after taking about 2 hours to get home. Gah. I thought the best way back would be to get to Green Park and ride the Jubilee line to Stratford, and it seemed to take forever. Damn London Underground.

― DG, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

My friend Randy's visiting from New York this week. Today we went to Forrest J. Ackerman's house/museum. He has this enormous collection of Science Fiction and Horror memorabilia in his house--posters, masks, dummies, books, dioramas, just wall-to-wall stuff. Probably the largest collection of that sort of thing in the world. It was incredible. And he was very charming. After that we went to the Griffith Park Observatory and then shopping on Vermont Ave. I got a new copy of the Disco Tex and the Sex-o-lettes album which was stolen when I was DJing. Then we went to see the Alain Delon movie The Samourai at the New Beverly. Loved it. It's 10 pm and I'm at home, drinking tea, trying to get rid of this nasty cough that's been bugging me all week.

― Arthur, Sunday, 5 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

There should be an EU directive aimed at France, outlining their reponsibility to produce more films about robots and especially dinosaurs.

― jel, Sunday, 5 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Trying to research this Cummings poem on the net. It seems, if you're going to believe Google, that nowhere on the internet exists the phrase "pulp of ecstasy". Until now. Bwahahahaha!

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Sunday, 5 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I am not wearing underwear at 3:36 on Sunday.

― Ally, Sunday, 5 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hopefully, by now, @ 6:39, Ally has remedied her problem (if, indeed, it is a problem) (if, indeed, it needs to be remedied).

I'm trying to write this all-encompassing essay about music writing (yawn) that touches on Steve Albini, glenn mcdonald, Brent DiCresenzo, and (vaguely) Mr. Ewing. (A yawnfest in the making, unfortunately. I'll need to "work on it".) In a little while, I'm going to run down to the nearby newspaper dispenser and "steal" about 5-6 copies of today's edition, since I GOT PUBLISHED!!! (Not to be loud or annoying about it. Not that I'm usually not loud or annoying.) (Of course.)

And Justin needs to get some play, because those ballads on _Celebrity_ are SO DUD.

― David Raposa, Sunday, 5 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Trying to figure out the subtext of "From Dusk 'Till Dawn" -- namely, why wouldn't kate want to go to El Ray at the end? Hmmmm.

― Sterling Clover, Sunday, 5 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Quick! Grammar mavens: is it "Cummings's poety" or "Cummings' poetry" ?

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Baking bread, Anthony? Yer turning into a regular Hausfrau!

:-)

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Not only that but i took off work to do so.

― anthony, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think either Cummings' or Cummings's works. I'd go with the more aesthetically pleasing option, though. Too many essesssssses.

― David Raposa, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Cummings's poetry".

You've managed to hit upon one of my pet peeves: people who drop the 's' after the apostrophe on non-plural words. It doesn't matter what letter the word ends in - if it's a singular noun, then you need to put the apostrophe-s on it, not just an apostrophe. I've spent years getting angry over this.

― Ally, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It is about 3 PM, Monday. I've just got back from a very nice lunch with Ned and Jane, and I'm working on a very boring report. The boringness of the report gives me far too much time to turn various personal dilemmas and issues over in my mind, and my mood is now likely to worsen steadily until whenever it is I get to leave.

― Tom, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I thought it was grammatically acceptable to omit the possessive S after a singular word which ends in S so as to avoid awkwardness of sound. And that in some constructions - usually with words ending in double S - it's obligatory to drop the possessive S. For example you wouldn't say "For goodness's sake" would you?

― scott, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Exception to apostrophe rule: where the following wurd begins w/ an "s" it's not necessary to keep the other "s". Eg. "cummings's poetry" & "cummings' scripts" are correct. (This post passes no judgment re: capitalisation of c/Cummings.)

― AP, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yes, you would. Just like you should say "Cummings's poetry", pronounced how it's being spelled. Agreed that most people don't do it in proper conversation, but that's because people are lazy, not because it makes it right.

― Ally, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

maybe the problem is not that people are lazy, but that language is inefficient.

― kevan, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Cummingses poetry?" That just SOUNDS wrong. To hell with this "proper grammar" shit - the language should sound good and read well, too. Stupid rules...

― David Raposa, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Of course language is inefficient, all languages are. If you needed this to tell you the English language is inefficient and cumbersome, then you are a bit behind - I mean, really, "i before e except after c except sometimes other than that too" - does this sound like a sensible language?

Language is basically a collection of stupid rules held together to help people understand one another. It's not meant to be efficient or easy, it's meant to get a point across.

― Ally, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It's not meant to be efficient or easy, it's meant to get a point across.

I'm going to assume this statement was meant to be droll.

― David Raposa, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'd like to point out that many people who are PROFESSIONAL grammarians (don't ask me how they make money) note that none of the rules for the English language are set in stone and the language is evolving all of the time. So, everyone is correct, let's all hold hands and be hippies.

― Dan Perry, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hippies are disgusting.

No language's rules are set in stone, that's why they have to send out a new dictionary every year. That and the fact that the dictionary companies would go out of business if they didn't.

― Ally, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

of course language is inefficient, and the entropic nature of language is something that i would rejoice in rather than condemn. but that is exactly why the insistence that everyone should cling to largely redundant rules seems more annoying than breaches of those rules, especially when those breaches would appear to define rather than defy language. surely language is a big enough playground for poeple to swap an e and o around here and their and, use the wrong word or punctuation occasionally.

at the end of the day if meaning is conveyed then i am happy, irrespective of any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. all i am saying is that failing to use an extra s after an apostrophe does not in any way annoy me, and should i omit that s myself from time to time then i won't be losing any sleep over it.

― kevan, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

None is, Danno. Ha ha. It's a downward spiral.

― Greg, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Is none singular or plural? Fuck it, I'm inventing my own grammar. From now on construct sentences like Yoda I will.

― Dan Perry, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh, Christ, that's ARE. None ARE. None of you ARE leaving.

I think I inadvertently was snookered into ordering copier toner for our office. Good thing we need it - otherwise, I'd feel like a doofus.

― David Raposa, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

None = Not One, so- singular, then. I'm really pretty sure. Ally will be happy to know that I went with "Cummings's" though the essay was in before I read any of the replies.

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I like that everyone is raving abt correct this-and-that on a thread titled with a word containing three successive ts. Ally's rant abt possessives has an unexpected aspect: which is that her crossly invoked rule is RECENT rather than ANCIENT (as Fowler puts it, writing (I guess) in the 1920s, "It was formerly customary, when a word ended in -s, to write its possessive with an apostrophe but no additional s"; not so now, he goes on to say, somewhat concurring, no surprise, with the Unchallenged Empress of this Beeotch). Thus a pedant or a maniacal traditionalist — Fowler being neither — could call her out. Tho frankly I don't advise it.

― mark s, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

HA! Right I am! My smug dance of joy see!

― Dan Perry, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"None of you is leaving" and "None of you are leaving" are BOTH grammatical and mean slightly difft things. First = a description (ie at this precise moment everyone here is staying put); second = a prediction or a demand (ie everyone will stay here or everyone shall stay here).

― mark s, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think generally just pick whatever sounds best. I wouldn't put that extra s in there because it's just stupid. I wouldn't generally say "none is" unless it sounded better or I was in an exam.

― Greg, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

So, my even smugger English teacher wan't entirely correct after all. This pleases me somewhat, 'though I would like to believe in the infallibility of some people.

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mark's clarification sounds familiar..maybe Mr. English was right after all..I *believe* again!

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I like the title "Unchallenged Emporess of this Beeeotch". I will make t-shirts and hand them out.

I just really wanted an excuse to share this quote: "In the box of man candy that you are picking from, you seem to pick the nuts all the time" - my mom on me.

― Ally, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the "are" or "is" there belongs w/ the word "rule(s)", not the word "none". So Dan was right the 1st time.

― duane, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh Ok, he already said that. sorry, i didnt see it.

― duane, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"A language is a dialect with an army." Noam Chomsky.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Tuesday, 7 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Cute, but historically false.