Category Archives: Books

sentence o’ the day

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BBBBBBBB 

Got this via Fark. I’m not sure what it means, and my University education compels me to take the next hour to diagram it out, then write an essay where the number of pages of essay > the number of words in the sentence. That way, I’m guaranteed an “A;” only the really conscientious profs add “may be over-reading it” under the grade, and I try not to hang out with conscientious people, as it harshes my mellow.

The sentence o’ the day, from Wikipedia via Fark:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

That's one, right there! He don't look much like a verb, do he?Redirected from Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo)

“Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.” is a grammatically valid sentence used as an example of how homonyms and homophones can be used to create complicated constructs. It was featured in Steven Pinker‘s 1994 book The Language Instinct, but is known to have been around before February 1992 when it was posted to Linguist List by William J. Rapaport, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo.[1]

Sentences of this type, although not in such a refined form, have been known for a long time. A classical example is a proverb “Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you”.

Also with bonus Boris!

Buffalo ho, yo!

doublespeak and TWAT

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from Timothy Lynch of the Cato Institute, who actually called it “Doublespeak and the War on Terrorism.”

The abstract:

Five years have passed since the catastrophic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Those attacks ushered in the war on terror. Since some high-ranking government officials and pundits are now referring to the war on terror as the “Long War” or “World War III,” because its duration is not clear, now is an appropriate time to take a few steps back and examine the disturbing new vocabulary that has emerged from this conflict.

One of the central insights of George Orwell’s classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four concerned the manipulative use of language, which he called “newspeak” and “doublethink,” and which we now call “doublespeak” and “Orwellian.” Orwell was alarmed by government propaganda and the seemingly rampant use of euphemisms and halftruths— and he conveyed his discomfort with such tactics to generations of readers by using vivid examples in his novel. Despite our general awareness of the tactic, government officials routinely use doublespeak to expand, or at least maintain, their power.

The purpose of this paper is not to criticize any particular policy initiative. Reasonable people can honestly disagree about what needs to be done to combat the terrorists who are bent on killing Americans. However, a conscientious discussion of our policy options must begin with a clear understanding of what our government is actually doing and what it is really proposing to do next. The aim here is to enhance the understanding of both policymakers and the interested lay public by exposing doublespeak.

and the full report as PDF here.

Harry Potter, terrorist

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Potter. Harry Potter.It seems that in the latest development in TWAT and The War Against Liquids, the forces that be have turned their beady little eyes to the tiny terrorist known as Harry Potter.

American airport staff almost stopped Harry Potter author JK Rowling boarding a flight because she would not part with the manuscript for the final book.

Rowling was not prepared to stow her top secret notes for book number seven in her check-in baggage when she flew back from a book festival in August.

Eventually she was allowed to take them on the flight, bound in elastic bands.

Seriously, doen't he look pretty sketchy to you?Indeed, if that manuscript fell into the hands of terrorists, what havoc could they create? Unimaginable, worldwide suffering would invariably follow the manuscript-napping.

But seriously, what was she going to do? Use it to threaten the pilot? “Turn this plane around NOW and land in Havana or Hermione gets written out!“

for medicinal purposes only

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 Shake it up, baby now!

W.C. Fields claimed he only drank brandy as a cure for the bite of a venomous snake, which, he said, “I also keep handy.” But, as always, we must look to James Bond for true leadership, yea, even in the field of medical mixology.

Canadian researchers decided to see if martinis had anything to do with Bond’s apparent good health — remember he was Bond. James Bond.cleared for duty by a medical professional in The World Is Not Enough. The researchers’ objectives: “As Mr Bond is not afflicted by cataracts or cardiovascular disease, an investigation was conducted to determine whether the mode of preparing martinis has an influence on their antioxidant capacity.”

The experiment found that shaken martinis contain more antioxidants than the stirred variety, and antioxidants have been shown to help ward off cancer and other common killers like heart disease.

the Yellow Submarine

And unlike in Ogden Nash‘s famous poem, it is the vermouth.

There is something about a Martini,
A tingle remarkably pleasant;
A yellow, a mellow Martini;
I wish I had one at present.
There is something about a Martini,
Ere the dining and dancing begin,
And to tell you the truth,
It is not the vermouth
–I think that perhaps it’s the gin.

Ogden Nash

September Shebeen Club: Making the Most of a Writers’ Conference

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kc dyerFor immediate release: post/forward at will!

Who: The Shebeen Club presents kc dyer, author of the Eagle Glen Trilogy

What: Making the Most of a Writers’ Conference!

When: 7-10 pm Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
Meet & Mingle 7:00-8
Listen & Learn 8-8:30
Trililoquizing and behaving like Young Adults 8:30-10

Where: The Shebeen, behind the Irish Heather, 217 Carrall

Why: Because we’ve got the Word on the Street, Surrey International Writers’ Conference, Vancouver Writers’ and Readers’ Festival, and Jewish Book Festival all coming up in the next six weeks!

Because if there’s a writer in this hemisphere that knows how to get the most out of a conference, it is kc dyer. She works a lunch table full of strangers like nobody else!

It seems but yesterday she was a dewy-eyed newbie accepting the Special Achievement Award at the SIWC, and now she’s seized absolute control as next year’s coordinator. Since that distant day, she’s found time to run the SIWC’s (huge) annual writing competition as well as become an integral part of the North Vancouver literary community. Somehow, she’s also managed to complete her acclaimed Eagle Glen trilogy for young adults, develop teaching materials for the books, and begin a fourth novel. Her books are: SHADES OF RED, SECRET OF LIGHT & SEEDS OF TIME, all published by The Dundurn Group.

How (much)? $15 before September 16, $20 thereafter, includes your choice of bangers and mash or vegetarian pasta, plus a glass of beer or wine; networking over food is a key conference skill!

Reservations and media inquiries: lorraine.murphyatgmaildotcom

Bio: kc dyer (www.kcdyer.com) was born in Calgary, and after a peripatetic decade or two now lives with her children (and other animals) north of Vancouver, British Columbia, where she works as a freelance writer. kc is the author of a number of books for young adults that are published in North America and the UK. Having a secret fondness for inducing nausea in teens, she can often be found sharing some of the greatest grotesque moments in history with large groups of high school students. Unable to see the folly of her ways, she continues to write and most days can be found sitting at her desk, staring out the window and trying to think of the perfect word.