Welcome to Notices and Queries. The purpose of this thread is to establish a space in which questions and information recommendations may be posted, either to specific forum participants or to the forum in general.
Please consider this thread a kind of collective post office box or bulletin board. Check in periodically to see if anyone has left a message for you. Use N&Q to mention information you'd like to pass on to one or more people without disrupting the flow of conversation in another thread. Use it, too, if you need to request a forum participant to email you, or to look out for email you have sent.
Discussions arising from information posted here are permitted and encouraged. However, exchanges that develop in N&Q and seem like they could contribute to discussion elsewhere may be moved. If a post or exchange is moved, a message will be posted here indicating the thread it went to. Participants are encouraged also to take initiative and copy interesting posts from this into other threads, as they deem appropriate.
Chat is strongly discouraged in N&Q. Idle exchanges will be moved to the Cafe. Commercial solicitations will be deleted per the RoE. Excessively hostile exchanges will be moved to the Inferno, unless they seem to pertain substantially to the subject of a different thread, in which case that's where they'll probably wind up.
Have fun, folks!
2. cazart - 2/28/2000 1:00:19 PM
Another thread doomed to the doldrums. For Christ's sake, what's next? A Fine Print on Cereal Box Conteststhread?
A TT thread is needed. Now. Urgently.
3. PsychProf - 2/28/2000 1:13:19 PM
Good thread Seguine.
4. Seguine - 2/28/2000 2:06:57 PM
For CANDIDE:
I mentioned it already in Suggestions when proposing this thread, but in case you missed it: there's a new or relatively new CD out called "John Dowland: In Darkness Let Me Dwell". The composer is apparently not well known--or used to be, then wasn't, now is. Anyway, "in Darkness..." is a collection of his songs performed by one John Potter (tenor), with accompaniment on lute, soprano sax, bass clarinet, baroque violin, and double-bass. It's incredibly lovely--not an exercise in original instruments fetishism--and this must owe something to the performers' intent to "engage" with the work, which is about 400 years old:
"The seeds of a new and largely improvised music which were sown in Dowland's own day came fully into flower a generation or so after his death. Musicians took his scores, stripped them to their essentials and re-negotiated the music with the long-deads composer. That's what we do here." (John Potter, from the liner notes.)
One caveat. The poetry is almost laughably melancholy--all of it--& includes such bathos as this last stanza from "Flow My Tears":
Hark you shadows that in darkness dwell,
Learn to contemn light.
Happy, happy they that in hell
Feel not the world's despite.
Naturally, one listens for the melody that somehow lends credence to all this gloom.
5. JJBiener - 2/28/2000 2:14:35 PM
To cazart
Why are you even here?
6. Dantheman - 2/28/2000 2:17:25 PM
JJBiener,
Caz-art thinks that disrupting the Mote is the highest accomplishment any mortal can aspire to. All of his posts serve that purpose.
7. Seguine - 2/28/2000 2:17:49 PM
ANYONE:
Hilarious book review in the NY Observer.
Once you're in, click on the Financial Observer link and see:
"Off to Work We Go—and Go—Never Sure Why We Bother", by James Buchan, on The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work, by Joanne B. Ciulla.
8. Seguine - 2/28/2000 2:26:53 PM
MARJORIBANKS, PINCHER, ET AL.:
If you haven't seen it already, a book entitled India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation is out. Author is George Perkovich, U of C Press. It's reviewed in the 17 Feb. issue of Nature I happen to have in front of me.
9. CalGal - 2/28/2000 2:28:14 PM
Seguine,
Recommendation--add target="new" to your links. This will open a new window. If you need more help, check out the HTML Hints page.
10. PincherMartin - 2/28/2000 2:34:16 PM
Seguine --
No I haven't seen it, but I will check it out.
11. PelleNilsson - 2/28/2000 2:55:40 PM
cmboyce
Your interest in the curious and the arcane is well known so perhaps you already have Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. A newspaper here called it "invaluable".
12. PelleNilsson - 2/28/2000 2:57:25 PM
cm
First edition 1870 and still in print.
13. Candide - 2/28/2000 3:24:44 PM
Seguine
I performed "Flow my Tears" in my first solo recital. Do you know I particularly liked the part that you found a touch bathetic. It invited the singer to alter the tone and introduce a touch of baleful menace and defiance.
Reading my first program it is a hoot. The history of Western music would have been a good title. The program included Schoenberg's "Hanging Garden" cycle. I had a terrific pianist who made the most of it. My father whose taste in music was closer to country and western said "They were awful making you sing that ghastly music." I didn't dare tell him that I had chosen it.
Oh yes, there were some of Canteloube's songs from Auvergne, "Come Scoglio" from Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" and a bracket of Charles Ives.
Well it was an OPPORTUNITY!
Thanks for info about the proliferation book.
14. Dusty - 2/28/2000 4:04:08 PM
Seguine
Interesting idea. I'm sure some people will want to read every post, others will just look for their name. Perhaps you could suggest a standard protocol for identifying the targets.
So far, most people are identifying the person in the first line, but I wonder if something more obvious, such as larger font, in green, makes sense.
Or it is distracting?
15. CalGal - 2/28/2000 4:05:52 PM
Seguine,
You can create links on the butterscotch bar. Given that some people might not come back for weeks, you may want to give them a bookmark of sorts--create a link to take people back to a given week.
16. PelleNilsson - 2/28/2000 4:27:27 PM
When we discussed this thread we agreed that it would not become a chat thread. and that it should be vigorously hosted.
Post #2, 5, 6, and 13 should be deleted asap (IMHO).
17. janjon - 2/28/2000 4:44:29 PM
Pelle. If you take out the occasional follow-on post that embellishes or relates to a prior one, you will quickly end up with an unduly sterile thread. The types of exchanges that could develop here probably will be quite brief and civil. All to the good of the forum, imho.
Vigor, yes. But not excessive pruning, please.
18. Seguine - 2/28/2000 5:04:46 PM
Dusty, I considered suggesting a standard protocol, but then it occurred to me that people might wish to establish their own. E.g., for new queries and notices I am (at the moment) using caps for the names of my posts' intended recipients. However, I thought about using a color font and certainly don't find yours distracting.
Use what suits you. If I see so much 42-point brown that it impedes reading, I'll make some rule about it, but at this point I'd rather just wait and see how people decide they want to use the thread.
19. Candide - 2/28/2000 5:12:15 PM
Pelle #16
If a response is called for,as in Seguine's message to me and my reply, should we give notice that we've moved to the cafe?
20. Candide - 2/28/2000 5:17:37 PM
I should add that I hadn't read the discussion preparatory to the establishing of this thread and just replied spontaneously. What are rules concerning a reply?
21. Seguine - 2/28/2000 5:21:38 PM
Pelle,
"When we discussed this thread we agreed that it would not become a chat thread. and that it should be vigorously hosted."
Your host is vigorous.
"Post #2, 5, 6, and 13 should be deleted asap (IMHO)."
Posts 2, 5, 6, and 16 will be deleted if and when I decide to delete them; 2, 5, and 6 may even be allowed to stand in perpetuity, as hoary examples of the kinds of messages that will not be tolerated in future.
Post 13 is perfectly acceptable. (See 1st sentence, 3rd paragraph, Message # 1.) Should a discussion emerge around Candide's early vocal performances, I'll move the relevant posts to Arts and Music. (Or, if you think that thread would benefit, you may copy them to it yourself.) If not, her remarks will not have disturbed the very important Van Halen discussion presently underway.
22. Candide - 2/28/2000 5:24:40 PM
Seguine
Thanks. Don't worry. I'm not offended.
23. Seguine - 2/28/2000 5:27:17 PM
CalGal,
Thank you, I'll revisit your suggestion (in Message # 15) after some time has elapsed. It may be that the thread moves slowly enough that a temporal link is unnecessary. However, if enough people were to request such a feature, I'd certainly consider it seriously.
24. Seguine - 2/28/2000 5:28:22 PM
Candide, see Message # 1.
25. Candide - 2/28/2000 5:41:25 PM
Seguine
I don't know whether it's still in print but this is the book that contains the Dowland song and many others.
An Elizabethan Song Book Lute songs, madrigals and rounds
edited by W.H.Auden, C.Kallman & N. Greenberg.
Faber and Faber Ltd.
24 Russell Square London
(you work out the date)
mcmlvii
27. Candide - 2/28/2000 6:34:53 PM
ILYA VINARSKY
See poetry 1374
29. Seguine - 2/28/2000 7:18:39 PM
Posts 26 and 28 have been moved to the Cafe.
30. Seguine - 2/28/2000 7:28:55 PM
ALL:
I'm not sure all browsers support this option (older Netscape for Mac did not), but recent IE allows one to search via the "Find in Top Window" function located under "Edit" in the menu bar. Anyone interested in locating messages by name might want to try that feature.
31. ScottLoar - 2/28/2000 7:45:30 PM
I've just tried it. It is as magic.
32. DanDillon - 2/28/2000 9:58:01 PM
I am to be married to my beloved Anne on Saturday, 25 March 2000 at 3:00 p.m. in Parkville, Missouri. We have bought a plot of land and are building our home in Overland Park, Kansas. I will continue to teach, and Anne will pursue her career in investments. Our honeymoon, delayed until the summer of 2001, will take us to France and Italy for three weeks. In a few years we hope to start our family.
33. joezan - 2/28/2000 11:01:11 PM
Seg:
Works great in Netscape 4.7, too.
34. joezan - 2/28/2000 11:05:30 PM
BTW...
CONGRATS to DanD.
(I pray, for her sake, that your betrothed is a good speller (-;)
35. Candide - 2/29/2000 2:19:43 AM
Just giving notice that after my death-defying posts on International I'll hide under a bushel for a couple of days. I may or may not agree with everything I have said until now.
36. Angel-Five - 2/29/2000 3:21:33 AM
Collective post office box?
Can we put up Missing posters here for Godlessclif?
37. PelleNilsson - 2/29/2000 3:25:55 AM
Angel
About those missing stories. Any idea where to find them?
38. Angel-Five - 2/29/2000 3:35:55 AM
Well, they were old Fray.
The basketball stories which predated the ones you have were both very short. One was an allegedly autobiographical story about Marj playing basketball in Trinidad in his sandals and tight clothing and winning over the skeptical crowd a la Sly Stallone in Rocky IV. My response was a short piece explaining what had really happened. They were some time before the foco desnudo stories, but not all that long.
39. IrvingSnodgrass - 2/29/2000 3:53:07 AM
Candide:
No need to hide under a bushel. A vigorous discussion is what this place is all about. And today's debate in Int'l was quite civil, if emotionally charged. Come on out and play.
40. Angel-Five - 2/29/2000 4:02:35 AM
Yeah, Candide, (hefting a driving iron) come out. (taking an experimental swing) No need to hide. (grabbing a two-iron) You can splain about Kissinger some more.
41. Angel-Five - 2/29/2000 4:08:44 AM
Don't glare at me like that, Irv. Golf is a peaceful pastime.
42. Dusty - 2/29/2000 8:44:39 AM
Candide
As Gwendolen remarks in "The Importance of Being Ernest" "It is obvious that our social spheres have been widely separated."
Interesting timing. I was listening to the play this morning. I haven't heard that line yet.
43. cazart - 2/29/2000 9:59:54 AM
Gene Lyons and Joe Conason will be discussing their book, Here's Where
Gee, TT has authors...we have...dusty.
44. cazart - 2/29/2000 10:01:47 AM
http://tabletalk.salon.com/webx?14@131.KYFfeWt7Rec^42@.eea7682/0
45. cazart - 2/29/2000 10:04:28 AM
46. DanDillon - 2/29/2000 10:25:28 AM
The recently deceased Education thread has been revived and repositioned in The Slow Thread. Any and all posts pertaining to education belong there.
47. Indiana Jones - 2/29/2000 10:26:43 AM
Notice of Security Hole in TableTalk:
Posting links to TableTalk from outside of TableTalk is a hazard as it allows others to log in as you, post as you, change your preferences and password, etc. Fortunately, this window of vulnerability expires after a while.
I would never take advantage of such a thing--even against someone I particularly don't like. But those who think the Mote has security problems should be aware of the risks they run.
48. DanDillon - 2/29/2000 10:28:49 AM
The recently deceased Education thread has been revived and repositioned in The Slow Thread. Any and all posts pertaining to education belong there.
51. Seguine - 2/29/2000 11:53:00 AM
Posts 49 and 50 have been deleted.
52. Seguine - 2/29/2000 11:57:07 AM
BOOKS THREAD REGULARS:
Following is an announcement I received from Blue Ear Forum yesterday. Perhaps some of what they're looking at will interest Mote regulars and can be imported into our threads for further discussion?
53. Seguine - 2/29/2000 11:59:23 AM
Zaheera Jiwaji and others discuss BOOKS ON AFRICA; Brendan Howley reviews a
novel set in THE BALKANS; Bo Melander appreciates Timothy Garton Ash's
ESSAYS ON EUROPE; Jeff Rigsby and James Hall review books of POLITICAL
THEORY by John Rawls and Richard Rorty; and Michael Betzold responds to Ian
Lind's review of THE CHAIN GANG.
*
"Hunter forces Esme to see things in a different way, and to see how she and
other members of the white community contribute to the hypocrisy of the
Hemingwayesque vision of Africa. ... The beauty of the continent is always
there, along with the shadow, always looming, of the brutality of that same
world. Rules of the Wild is an extraordinary achievement for a first novel."
ZAHEERA JIWAJI and other members of the Blue Ear Books email community
discuss books set in Africa(February 16-19, 2000)
http://www.blueear.com/books/africa.html
"I grew strangely elated by the novel's final image, that somehow human
beings can rediscover their dignity after the worst, that another's evil
cannot subdue our good. Time steals from each of us his or her life, but
time alone heals us. And which is the more severe mercy?"
BRENDAN HOWLEY reviews S.: A Novel about the Balkans by Slavenka Drakulic
(February 7, 2000)
http://www.blueear.com/books/balkans.html
"From my little island off the west coast of Sweden, I have England and
Scotland behind the horizon to the west, and Germany to the south. ... We
have a responsibility to understand what's going on and to contribute to the
discussions."
54. Seguine - 2/29/2000 11:59:43 AM
BO MELANDER reviews History of the Present by Timothy Garton Ash (January
27, 2000)
http://www.blueear.com/books/history.html
"Rorty is right when he discusses the split between academics and unions,
NGO's and other organizations working for political change. Academics
concerned about carving out their small niche in the publications that keep
them advancing on a tenure track seem divorced from the real world more than
ever."
JEFF RIGSBY reviews Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in
Twentieth-Century America by Richard Rorty
http://www.blueear.com/books/achieving.html
"Though Rawls' book can be difficult at times, it rewards the attentive
reader with a host of ideas and concepts that the world will have to grapple
with as the global village is put together."
JAMES HALL reviews The Law of Peoples by John Rawls; SIMON HAND and ETHAN
CASEY respond (January 27, 2000)
http://www.blueear.com/books/laws.html
"I had the pleasure to meet and talk with Richard McCord a couple years ago
when he came to Detroit. I found McCord to be a hard-headed newspaperman
with great understanding of the difficulties of fighting Gannett."
MICHAEL BETZOLD responds to Ian Lind's review of The Chain Gang: One
Newspaper versus the Gannett Empire by Richard McCord (January 11, 2000)
http://www.blueear.com/books/chainresponse.html
To read and participate in Blue Ear Books reviews and email discussions
before they are posted on the BlueEar.com website, send a blank email to
blueear-books-subscribe@egroups.com
55. cazart - 2/29/2000 12:02:16 PM
56. Seguine - 2/29/2000 12:12:11 PM
TRIVIA FROM MY MOTHER:
"When we were in Prague several years ago, we learned that Yo Yo Ma was often referred to as Ne Ne by the young musicians. ("yo" means yeah in Czech, and "ne" means No.)"
57. Seguine - 2/29/2000 12:14:15 PM
Msg 55 is fine, Cazart.
58. Seguine - 2/29/2000 12:23:02 PM
ALL:
In recent months I've been in touch with Blue Ear's editor, Ethan Casey. Would anyone here be interested in my inviting him to host a brief discussion on the Mote, and if so, on which topic(s)?
59. ScottLoar - 2/29/2000 12:38:03 PM
Anyone!
I most urgently need help. You know of acts where two persons play as one - the arms of the one behind become the arms of the one in front, and his hands fit into shoes so that two persons become as a dancing dwarf? Or, where one person dances with a dummy, but the legs of the dummy are in fact his own?
What is this kind of act called? What is the name of this?
60. cazart - 2/29/2000 12:45:15 PM
Scott Loar:
It used to be called the 'Ronald Reagan.'
61. JudithAtHome - 2/29/2000 1:02:15 PM
(that was funny)
63. ScottLoar - 2/29/2000 2:05:08 PM
Can anyone yet answer? Please.
64. theDiva - 2/29/2000 2:05:42 PM
Scott, maybe Riv knows. I'll e-mail him for you.
65. ScottLoar - 2/29/2000 2:06:51 PM
Thank you. I know there is a word for this but I cannot think or find it.
66. theDiva - 2/29/2000 2:08:01 PM
You're welcome. I must confess I am stumped as well.
67. ScottLoar - 2/29/2000 2:10:00 PM
I need this for a translation.
68. JudithAtHome - 2/29/2000 2:12:37 PM
Why not ask Jeeves?
69. PelleNilsson - 2/29/2000 2:16:54 PM
Seguine
You are the host and you will shape this thread as you see fit. But please explain the logic behind placing a post to BOOK THREAD REGULARS here rather than in the book thread.
70. CalGal - 2/29/2000 2:18:30 PM
Scott,
If someone can help you with the actual term, great. If you're still stumped, you might want to call a dance studio, or a costume store in the area. I'm pretty sure that if you asked for someone who knew about novelty dances, they'd either be able to help or give you more terms for a search engine.
71. ScottLoar - 2/29/2000 2:19:50 PM
I'll have to call it a novelty act, but less than I aspired.
72. Rivendell - 2/29/2000 2:46:46 PM
ScottLoar,
I don't know if this will help. I know exactly what kind of puppets you mean and am not sure if that style has ever been given one particular name.
It is an adaptation of Japanese Bunraku and it was made popular by such groups as the Bread and Puppet Circus and Mummenshantz (sp?).
Irv might know if it owes anything to shadow puppetry.
Sorry to not be more help.
73. ScottLoar - 2/29/2000 2:55:24 PM
No, this does not involve puppets. I know and understand shadow puppets, marionettes, bunraku, Punch and Judy, et.al.
The basic form is as I described: one person in front, one behind, and so behind a dressed table create a dwarf figure.
74. ScottLoar - 2/29/2000 2:56:11 PM
We've all done it as kids. It's so simple and the very word eludes me.
75. Seguine - 2/29/2000 4:06:51 PM
Pelle,
Re Message # 69:
If you require an analogy for the function for this thread that's served by the post you question, consider seed flat. Not all ideas must be sown directly into the soil in which they may ultimately take root.
An interesting side effect used to occur sometimes when CoralReef and I would send out article suggestions to the list of people from the Mote whom we'd invited to write for TSE. Folks would occasionally pick up on topics and book review suggestions, and then discuss them here instead of writing essays about them for the magazine. IOW, although they weren't always interested in writing full reviews or articles for us, they did find our proposed subject matter interesting and were interested in discussing it with others. Perhaps our suggestions simply brought to mind topics they already knew about but had forgotten they wanted to explore casually.
I personally have no desire to start a discussion on any of the book topics I re-posted here from Blue Ear Forum, nor do I wish to give the impression, by posting them in Books, that I do. However, others might find those books (or that forum) worth looking into. If they should deem one worthy of discussion, then they will start a discussion around it. In Books.
76. Seguine - 2/29/2000 4:12:44 PM
Post 62 has been deleted.
77. Seguine - 2/29/2000 4:31:35 PM
FOR ANYONE who missed Spudboy's message in Books (respond in that thread):
"Anyone interested in chewing on Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian for a bit? I just belatedly read it and am eager to exchange thoughts with anyone else who's read it."
78. Seguine - 2/29/2000 4:47:47 PM
Pelle,
Sorry, the last sentence of my 75 was unimaginative.
...then they will start a discussion around it. In Books, Politics, International, Current Events, or wherever they believe the information is best suited to flourish.
79. Angel-Five - 2/29/2000 5:34:01 PM
I like the seed flat analogy. And I like the idea of this being a thread for nonspecific queries like Loar's dance question. I think it will crosspollinate discussion pretty nicely.
80. PelleNilsson - 2/29/2000 5:49:44 PM
Does anyone have a public e-mail address for tmachine? jexster and I would like to reach her brother who has written books on the Balkans.
81. Seguine - 2/29/2000 7:09:00 PM
Pelle, his name is Misha Glenny. You may be able to reach him via the New York Review of Books; otherwise, I have a private email address for tmac and will forward a message to her if need be.
82. cmboyce - 3/1/2000 3:08:52 AM
Pelle,
I only just discovered this thread, on my way to bed, so I only just saw your Message # 11 & 12. I do indeed know Brewer's, a splendid volume. Thanks for thinking of me.
83. cmboyce - 3/1/2000 3:20:56 AM
Well, bed had to wait til I'd read it all. Nice thread, Seguine. I'll look forward to keeping up (but not staying up. 'Night!)
84. Seguine - 3/1/2000 9:04:00 AM
Boyce, A-5, PP,
thanks for your encouragement re the thread.
Loar,
I've been wracking my little brain on your account and can only come up with pantomime. I'm sure this won't do. If all else fails, perhaps you might (swallow hard and) try contacting the dreaded Pseudoerasmus for assistance.
85. ScottLoar - 3/1/2000 11:52:26 AM
I recalled and rejected pantomime within a minute of facing the question but I thank you for this suggestion, although why you think Pseudoerasmus is qualified to answer this is beyond me.
86. cazart - 3/1/2000 12:01:27 PM
Absolutely fascinating thread, Seguine. Truly thought-provoking.
87. robertjayb - 3/1/2000 12:38:20 PM
.
I'm enjoying this week's diary section in Slate. It's by an elementary school nurse in Pennsylvania and it's interesting, well-written, and funny.
88. janjon - 3/1/2000 1:28:38 PM
Let me put in my 1 cents worth, too, and say that this thread has a lot of promise. Certainly off to a very nice beginning. It promises to be serendipitous and this forum needs that.
89. PelleNilsson - 3/1/2000 4:26:53 PM
If you are interested in a philosphical discussion about the limits to science check out Language starting at #4014.
90. PelleNilsson - 3/2/2000 8:35:46 AM
Angel
I found the Tobago stories. I assume you want your part credited to your current moniker.
91. Seguine - 3/2/2000 9:01:31 AM
From Science, 25 Feb, the Random Samples column:
Math and Asociality
Intelligence theorists go round and round on the theme of whether human intelligence is basically a unitary trait or whether different types of braininess can coexist independently of one another. A recent study of threee scientists with Aspberger syndrome (AS--a mild version of autism--suggests that deficiencies in "social" intelligence have no effect on math smarts.
AS can make people socially awkward, withdrawn, and unable to sense the emotions of others. In the December 1999 issue of Neurocase, psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues at the University of Cambridge report on a study of three men with AS: a 38 year old mathematician and two students, a physicist and a computer scientist. The mathematician, anonymous in the paper but who acknowledged his identity to Science, is Richard Borcherds, a recipient of the Fields Medal, math's equivalent of the Nobel Prize (Science, 18 August 1998, p.1265). The subjects and a control group of 14 young men with scientific backgrounds, took tests of "folk psychology"--how well they could read emotion from photographs of people's eyes--and "folk physics"--questions about how things work. The subjects did far better than the controls on the physics test, but they were far worse at reading moods.
92. Seguine - 3/2/2000 9:01:49 AM
The results "strongly suggest that social intelligence is independent of other kinds of intelligence, and may therefore have its own unique evolutionary history," the psychologists write. Other recent research has indicated that autism is more common in families of physicists, engineers, and mathematicians, and Baron-Cohen says his team is now "looking to see whether there's a tradeoff--as you get better at one you get worse at the other."
Borcherds, now at the University of California, Berkeley, is frank about his condition, although he describes himself as being "at the fuzzy borderline" of Aspberger syndrome. He's not sure the research says anything new. Mathematicians' socil ineptness has long been part of the profession's self-deprecating folklore, he observes: "I seem to have a hell of a lot of colleagues who are not too much unlike me."
93. MsIvoryTower - 3/2/2000 9:12:20 AM
Seguine
Fascinating stuff. Are there any studies that examine the line between functional AS and full blown autism?
The trade-off hypothesis is very interesting. Does this suggest that other types of intelligence is also independent? You know, Gardner's 7 intelligences?
94. MsIvoryTower - 3/2/2000 9:12:59 AM
other types are....
95. RosettaStone - 3/2/2000 9:27:41 AM
For the record: Today we make a big political/cultural decision and are disconnecting our Time/Warner AOL connection ($22 per month), and signing on to bargain-basement People PC ($10).
Our new e-mail address is cioppino@peoplepc.com.
Wish us luck!
97. cazart - 3/2/2000 10:18:51 AM
Hunting of the President
Conason and Lyons online in TT in the WH folder.
Anyway, return to your electrifying conversations, Moteheads.
99. PsychProf - 3/2/2000 10:38:26 AM
Missie...Howard Gardner's 7 forms of intelligence are linguistic, musical,logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal (e.g., insight, metacognition), and interpersonal (e.g., social skills). Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books
100. PsychProf - 3/2/2000 10:42:57 AM
101. MsIvoryTower - 3/2/2000 10:49:44 AM
PP
I knew that, just couldn't recall them off the top of my head.
What do you know wrt this issue of independence of these intelligences? What do you think about the trade-off hypothesis?
102. PsychProf - 3/2/2000 11:02:58 AM
On the one hand independence supports the notion that peculiar and unique neural structures serve as a foundation for individual intelligence traits(e.g. cerebral laterality and math competence) ...musical ability, spatial analyses etc. Social "intelligence" is not so easily related to a definable neuroanatomical area...hence the independence, at least from a brain-behavior view, is not established.
103. PsychProf - 3/2/2000 11:48:23 AM
104. Seguine - 3/2/2000 11:57:40 AM
From the NYer this week (Mar. 6), in an article about a Turkish kelim dealer, Mehmet Saggun:
“One day, a man from Berlin was standing in front of my shop. He said to his wife, ‘Watch how easy it is to take one of these carpet dealers. They are ignorant.’ He spoke in German. It never occurred to him I understood every word [Mehmet was raised in Germany]. I said, in Turkish, ‘Come in.’ We spoke in Turkish, in bad English, and in a few words of German.
“He knew a lot about rugs,” Mehmet continued, “and he saw a beautiful antique. I told him it was only a thousand dollars but I had promised it to a friend who was travelling. ‘If he doesn’t want it you can have it,’ I told him. He looked at his wife and told her that I was an idiot—that the rug was worth ten thousand dollars at least. He was in my shop maybe thirty times in the next few days, always asking, ‘Did he call? Did he call? Did he call?’ Finally, about the fourth morning, he asked again. And I said, ‘My friend, today we speak in German.’ He was astonished. ‘Remember how you were going to make me small, that all dealers were fools? Well, I am a fool who speaks your language. That piece you wanted is beautiful, I congratulate you on your eyes. But there is no travelling friend. It is for sale. And for a reasonable price. Only not to you. Never to you. A piece like that deserves better than such arrogant German pricks.’ His wife couldn’t help it. She smiled.”
105. janjon - 3/2/2000 12:00:25 PM
Seguine. Rustler will love 104.
106. Seguine - 3/2/2000 12:04:10 PM
Posts 96 and 98 have been deleted.
108. Seguine - 3/2/2000 12:30:18 PM
MsIT: "The trade-off hypothesis is very interesting. Does this suggest that other types of intelligence [are] also independent?"
Don’t know, but I sort of wondered about that too. It could be that kinds of intelligence may be linked under certain circumstances and independent in others. Haven't got around to checking the links PP provided here; maybe they offer some info.
You know, it has long been said that mathematical and musical ability are linked, but I bet that this is true mainly at the margins. (My father is a pianist and has no mathematical ability whatever.) Nevertheless, I’ve long been curious as to whether anyone has ever done a correlation of something like IQ or SAT scores with particular skills/abilities. If it could be shown that there exist non-savant cohorts with, say, great musical ability and lousy verbal skills, then I guess one might proceed from there, asking similar questions of various areas of human ability, until one had a picture of linkages and disassociations of various kinds of thinking (or whatever it is).
BTW, I think it’s interesting that although universities typically contain social science and education departments, the SAT apparently does not test for an aptitude one might expect undergraduates planning to major in those fields to have: this so-called “social intelligence”.
109. Seguine - 3/2/2000 12:32:01 PM
Janjon: "Rustler will love 104."
Then direct him to this thread.
110. janjon - 3/2/2000 12:34:05 PM
Seguine. I tend not to address Rustler. Life is too short.
111. Seguine - 3/2/2000 12:37:48 PM
Dear Uzmakk of the Steppe, I thank you for your concern, but Post 107 has been moved to the Inferno.
112. Seguine - 3/2/2000 2:09:24 PM
PP: "Social "intelligence" is not so easily related to a definable neuroanatomical area...hence the independence, at least from a brain-behavior view, is not established."
Does it seem, from your perpsective, that locating "social intelligence" neuroanatomically is a likely eventuality? I mean, is anyone even attempting such a thing? Or is research looking mainly at areas of human expertise like math and verbal and spatial ability because they happen, at this point in human (western?) sociohistory, to be valued highly?
113. Seguine - 3/2/2000 2:20:14 PM
BTW, MsIT: I see on the Aspberger site PP linked that the ration of boys to girls diagnosed with Aspberger's syndrome is 4:1. If these kids grow up to be exceptional mathmeticians, engineers, etc., then here is evidence of at least one gender-linked biological superiority of males in those fields.
But I must say, I knew a girl in 5th grade who, I'm guessing in retrospect, had Aspberger's or something like it. Her family evidently hated her and she had no friends (other than me, and we weren't close). She went to college and majored in math. At the age of 16.
114. PsychProf - 3/2/2000 4:08:47 PM
Seguine...very unlikely unless we break the construct down into more measurable yet valid terms...such as emotion(temperament).
115. MsIvoryTower - 3/2/2000 4:27:51 PM
Seguine
RE: Post #96.....
I laughed.
116. cmboyce - 3/2/2000 4:31:48 PM
Neuroanatomical research on "types of intelligence" centers on discovering the locales within the brain where certain activities excite neurons, no? Pretty hard to exercise one's social intelligence while inside a CAT scanner, I'd think. Though maybe just answering questions might offer something. (Off the top of my head—or somewhere—I'd guess that surmising about maladroit relations with waiters or what have you would not employ many of the same synapses as surmising about Hilbert's space.)
117. Seguine - 3/2/2000 4:51:35 PM
Boyce, MsIT, PP et al., I'm planting a copy of the neuro exchange in the slow thread, where I'm responding to Boyce and hope the discusion will continue.
118. Seguine - 3/3/2000 8:11:35 PM
17 Feb Nature
"The South African government announced last week that it had rejected two reports commissioned from its Medicines Control Council on the safety of the antiretroviral drug AZT after public statements by political leaders on its potential hazards.
"Both reports are believed to endorse the use of AZT. But health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang told a press briefing held after last week's opening of parliament that the government is not curently prepared to release their contents. She also refused to reveal the findings of a third report compiled by the council, which she said she had only received on 31 January."
[...]
The reports apparently recommend AZT, esp. to minimize transmission to infants from their mothers; the government claims that benefit-risk asessment in the reports is not to its liking and wants the reports rewritten.
"..the government's efforts remain under heavy fire from AIDS activists.... "They are wilfully ignoring the best scientific advice, internationally and locally, on the safety and benefits of providing AZT through the public health sector," [says Mark Haywood, an executive of the country's largest coalition of non-governmental AIDS orgs]. "The immediate cost of this impasse is measured in thousands of unnecessary infant HIV infecions for which they now carry a very direct responsibility.""
119. profemeritus - 3/3/2000 10:44:47 PM
Irv
There's a quiz just for you on the Quiz thread.
120. CalGal - 3/4/2000 1:42:02 AM
DVD Converts (US only):
If you've quickly run through the selection at your local video store, you may want to try renting by mail.
Netflix is a great deal I thought people might want to be aware of. Their prices are about equivalent to those at Blockbuster ($3.49 for a 7 day rental), but then toss in $1 for shipping fixed and then $1 per each movie (I'm rounding up).
So two movies would be:
$ 7 (2 movie rentals)
$ 2 (shipping per movie)
$ 1 (fixed shipping fee)
$10.
That works out to a few bucks more than Blockbuster, but then you get it for two more days and you can order them online Wednesday and find them in the mail Friday--no trips to the store.
They have a number of freebie programs--for example, if you rent a DVD and decide to buy it, you can buy it from SamGoody.com and you get another free rental.
If you think you'd rent movies more than twice a month, they have the Marquee program. $20/month, unlimited rentals, unlimited time, no shipping charges, and the first month is free. The Marquee program works best if you build a long list of desired rentals--you can set and reset the order as desired. As soon as you send back a movie, they send you the next on the list.
If you have any questions, post them in the movies thread.
The selection is fantastic--if there's an available DVD title they don't have, I couldn't find it.
Thanks to Raskolnikov for selling me on Netflix; I grovel to him in gratitude.
If you haven't moved to DVD yet, then what the hell are you waiting for? The players are as cheap as VCRs, the quality is stunning, and they are here to stay. Early adopter status is well and gone; second wave is nearly over.
121. CalGal - 3/4/2000 1:43:32 AM
One other fun movie site--Reel.com. Their daily movie trivia contest gives back real money you can use to buy products on their site, and the questions are easy.
122. IrvingSnodgrass - 3/4/2000 2:33:44 AM
While we're recommending websites, I'd like to put in a word for Buy.com.
My office has bought about $10,000 worth of computer hardware over the internet over the past two years (since our trips to the USA are short, and we don't have time to do live shopping). Since we found buy.com, we're getting prices up to 40% lower than the cheapest we could find before, and quick delivery to boot. They've got all kinds of other stuff there, as well.
123. Seguine - 3/4/2000 10:41:57 AM
Fine recs, folks.
Let me add one: the Daedalus catalogue. You really need the printed version because the website is incomplete, but I think it can be ordered at www.daedalus-books.com, from which you can also place orders. I just bought a hardcover Harold Brodkey short story collection ($5.98), a cookbook (which, at $3.98, looks extremely promising, esp. the recipe for berbere sauce, which is actually why I bought it), a small and superficial anthropological survey of the Lardil people of Australia ($1), a children's story by Isaac Bashevis Singer that I had as a kid ($1.98), and an Etta James CD ($9.95--a few cuts are decent; the rest, eh). Total price, including shipping: $27.84.
Daedalus also is featuring at the moment a limited edition (1000 copies) of a reproduction of "The St. Petersburg Muraqqa', Album of Indian and Persian Miniatures from the 16th Through the 18th Century and Specimens of Persian Calligraphy," $150.
124. DanDillon - 3/4/2000 11:45:42 AM
Attn: Sharon Schroeder
Please remove my e-mail address from your group mailing list. It begins quelquechz. Thank you.
125. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:07:18 PM
A correction on my Netflix post--the Marquee program is not completely free the first month. You pay a onetime $5 for shipping and handling.
126. Candide - 3/4/2000 6:38:18 PM
This is the URL to an international forum which may be of interest to some on the Mote.
http://www.millenniumforum.org/
127. Candide - 3/5/2000 7:17:55 AM
ON THE WHOLE, I'D RATHER BE IN PHILADELPHIA
128. joezan - 3/5/2000 11:10:22 PM
Who can tell me the exchange rate from Australian to US dollars? I've run across some videos from an Australian children's show called The Wiggles, and our 2 y.o. daughter loves them.
Their website gives a price list in Australian Dollars, and the tapes are all $35, plus handling!. If it's roughly half that, my wife and I could probably be persuaded to buy a couple. But otherwise...
129. IrvingSnodgrass - 3/5/2000 11:19:24 PM
Joe:
It's roughly two-thirds.
130. IrvingSnodgrass - 3/5/2000 11:21:53 PM
One US Dollar gets you 1.64 Australian dollars, according to this site.
131. IrvingSnodgrass - 3/5/2000 11:23:43 PM
So your videos will be US$21.16 each.
132. joezan - 3/5/2000 11:27:09 PM
Thanks, Irv. I was at another site with a similar entry scheme, but it kept bringing me back to the original entry page.
So, the way I figure, it'd cost roughly $30 US per tape, including shipping. Too much, I'm afraid.
133. IrvingSnodgrass - 3/5/2000 11:35:38 PM
Joe:
If you look around, you can probably find a US distributor for the tapes.
134. joezan - 3/5/2000 11:50:31 PM
Irv:
Yea, most likely. We asked at Blockbuster, where we rented two of them, but they couldn't help us. There's a MediaPlay in Grand Rapids that I'll check out next time in the area.
BTW, they want $13 AUD shipping per tape! If you order 3, the third one's a buck. But really!
135. IrvingSnodgrass - 3/5/2000 11:53:41 PM
Joe:
That's very cheap for international shipping. It costs me about $20-25 to send a package the size of a video tape.
There are plenty of places on the web you can look for videos.
136. Absensia - 3/5/2000 11:54:05 PM
Joezan
Amazon's got a couple of them for $11 + s/h
137. Absensia - 3/5/2000 11:54:45 PM
$11 each, I mean.
138. joezan - 3/5/2000 11:57:40 PM
WOW! Hadn't even thought of Amazon...
Thanks, Abs!
139. joezan - 3/6/2000 12:09:12 AM
We are now (well, in a couple of days) the proud and happy owners of 2 Wiggles tapes.
Thanks again, folks.
140. bloodnfire - 3/6/2000 6:30:50 AM
Great thread, Seguine! Congratulations.
141. PsychProf - 3/6/2000 11:26:43 AM
Any Investment Bankers around? Write me at ozzienelson@hotmail.com
142. marjoribanks - 3/6/2000 1:20:43 PM
You want a website plug? Here's one that is only useful for Manhattanites, but damn it's so useful. Urbanfetch.com
From my office, I can order electronics, food, drinks, DVD's CD's whatever at the click of a button (and cheap) and it will be delivered within the hour and the delivery folk don't accept tips.
Today, I ordered bagels, a razor, the Buena Vista Social Club DVD, two CD's, a bag of popcorn and a pint of chocolate milk and had all of this at my desk in half an hour.
God bless Urbanfetch.
143. hashke - 3/6/2000 3:54:36 PM
Pak marj:
That diet yr on from Urbanfetch makes me Erpanretch.
144. Seguine - 3/6/2000 4:03:07 PM
Banks, I was curious about Urbanfetch, having seen an ad for it in something... maybe the NYer. What's their markup on the goods you ordered, or do they charge a flat fee per delivery?
Not that I'm within range, sad to say. There are only a billion instances I can think of when I could have used such a service.
145. Greystoke - 3/6/2000 6:29:57 PM
I'm thinking about taking the family to Wyoming in June for a vacation. I've never been there. I would like to stay at a motel or lodge and fish, hike, sightsee, and maybe check out some fossils.
I'm leaning against going to Yellowstone in order to avoid the crush of tourists.
Can anyone give me a recommendation on an area of Wyoming that I should visit?
146. PsychProf - 3/7/2000 8:42:26 AM
Greystoke...some are partial to St. Louis.
147. Indiana Jones - 3/7/2000 9:59:08 AM
Grey: I've never been there, but several friends have praised Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
148. marjoribanks - 3/7/2000 11:39:23 AM
Good one Pak Hashke!
Seguine, believe it or not there is no mark-up on the items they deliver. In fact, astounding as it may seem, the CD's and DVD's are cheaper than at any retail outlet around here, and the food prices (I swear) are lower than the corner deli. They have to be losing money on this but dammit I'm not complaining. Check out their website - the deals are outrageous. Right now they're selling any 2 CD's for an even twenty. Delivered. In half-an-hour.
God bless Urbanfetch.
149. greystoke - 3/7/2000 11:45:52 AM
PP and Indy
Thanks for the tips.
I can't find St.Louis, Wyoming. Where abouts is it?
150. Seguine - 3/7/2000 12:04:16 PM
Banks, that's mind-blowing. Are they nuts, or is this some calculated mimicry of the drug trade?
(Never mind; I'm sure you could care less.)
151. theDiva - 3/7/2000 2:23:09 PM
Does anyone know when Pseudoerasmus plans to return to grace us with his presence? I miss the young upstart.
152. arkymalarky - 3/7/2000 7:46:43 PM
He popped in a few days ago in International and remarked how boring the topic of discussion was.
153. cmboyce - 3/7/2000 11:31:47 PM
Message # 145
Greystoke, I'll recommend a day's drive, from Sheridan, in the northeast and just at the edge of the plains, up into the Big Horns and down Shell Canyon, to Greybull. I forget the Rte numbers, but it's evident on any roadmap I think. A beautiful drive.
Another like it, to the south, runs through Ten Sleep Canyon.
As for places to stay, I don't know. I had friends in Sheridan and in Jackson, back in those days, and did the trip three times in about 7 or 8 years. In between, I car-camped. (Nice in Ten Sleep. I slept just below grade level, at a little picnic ground kind of affair, beside the stream that paralleled the highway, a torrent just 6 feet across and a foot deep, but loud, wiping out the noise of any cars that passed—if any did; this is way the hell out in nowhere. And Shell Canyon was like it. At least it was in the 70s.)
Also, almost surely still there (it was just a few years back, I know), there's an afternoon-long rafting trip down the Snake River, in front of the Grand Tetons, that begins in at the Jackson Lake Lodge in Teton National Park (below Yellowstone) and goes down to handomely named Moose, Wyo. No rapids, just very lovely landscape and wildlife. I did it on the last day of Aug. (I think, maybe 9/1) 1968, and saw a bald eagle (my first), through a flurry of snow!
[more]
154. cmboyce - 3/7/2000 11:32:09 PM
I'd skip Jackson proper, on tourism grounds. And you'll find 'em in Teton Park, too. But try to get to the river ride. It's worth tolerating some hoi polloi on the way.
Leaving Teton Park, there's another wonderful drive, back to the east and south, through Wind River Canyon. The Big Horns are sort of Alpine (I guess, though I haven't really seen much of the Alps), with evergreen forests and high meadows and big rock outcrops, where Wind River is more southwestern, lots of yellow and red rock in more chaparallish country, eventually opening up into some very striking semi-desert. One can then go on south toward Rock Springs and Utah, or east to Casper or southeast to Cheyenne and Denver.
Wow. This makes me hungry to drive around out there again. My favorite kind of travel.
155. RickNelson - 3/8/2000 7:49:19 AM
Marj,
Again congrats to you with your new family memeber.
I have been remembering something I posted last year which makes me feel amends are in order.
I recall posting a glib response to a trip to Goa. I apologize.
Even if you've forgotten, please understand I feel I slighted Goa and you deserve this apology, whether you rememeber or not.
The same apology is in order for a book you recommended to me, about Sarawak. It's not a bad book, it's just not wholely accurate. I was short about it and you were so nice about it. I'm sorry.
156. marjoribanks - 3/8/2000 9:08:41 AM
Rick,
It's very sweet of you to apologize. But it's completely unnecessary. I don't remember the first incident at all. Secondly, your comments about the 'Borneo' book were spot-on. Most important, I definitely did not take offense to either your comments and am unlikely to in the future either. After all, we're on-line friends and have been for a very long time relatively.
Have a good day, buddy.
157. PelleNilsson - 3/8/2000 9:39:16 AM
So Rick posts in International to ask marj to check out a post here. Wasn't it supposed to work the other way around? (Not directed at you, Rick.)
158. Seguine - 3/8/2000 11:47:06 AM
Message # 16, Message # 69, and Message # 157
PelleNilsson, your dissatisfaction with the existence, use, and/or administration of this thread should be taken up with Wabbit.
160. Seguine - 3/8/2000 3:40:07 PM
Pelle, I advised you not to continue. Your post 159 has been moved to the Inferno, where you will find my reply.
161. Greystoke - 3/8/2000 9:15:16 PM
cmboyce
Thank you much for the recommendations. Sounds like you're talking yourself into a road trip.
162. cmboyce - 3/8/2000 10:23:59 PM
Well, I sure would love to do it, but it's going to be a while before I get either wife or daughter to employ two weeks to drive somewhere when they can get there in a day by plane. And, too, we don't have a car. (Come to think of it.)
When I did all that driving around—crossed the country 5 times in 8 years, plus a good deal of wandering around out west: a real Wanderjahre, octupled—most of it was in a Citoen DS station wagon. And I'll never be able to approach such majesty again and had perhaps better not try.
Anyway, to stay remotely close to topic, both Wyoming and Colorado (and no less the former than the latter, imo) are well worth spending some time tooling around in. Try Sheriden-Moose-Black Canyon of the Gunnison (sw Colo)-Denver. I imagine you can fly to Sheriden from Minneapolis, Denver or Salt Lake; home to anywhere from Denver.
163. cmboyce - 3/8/2000 10:24:29 PM
164. cmboyce - 3/8/2000 10:24:47 PM
Did I miss it?
165. cmboyce - 3/8/2000 10:25:55 PM
Sorry about that. The italics were to end at "never". Never, never, never.
166. RickNelson - 3/9/2000 8:00:55 AM
Marj,
Good, thanks.
167. Seguine - 3/9/2000 11:40:42 AM
ATTENTION ALL OF YOU WHO LONG for summer and have no aversion to capers: I will soon post a simple recipe in the Domestic (Home and Garden) thread.
168. ProfEmeritus - 3/9/2000 11:44:55 AM
For anyone interested in or knowledgeable about European Economic Integration, see my quiz on the Quiz Thread #5083.
169. cmboyce - 3/9/2000 4:51:22 PM
Message # 149
I don't think there is a St. Louis, WYO. I tend to notice St. Louises, having been born in St. L. MO., and I've spent many an hour dreaming and drifting over maps of WYO., and had I seen St. L., I think I'd have at least considered going there and remembered it.
And, I just looked in the index to the Rand McNally Road Atlas (not a great source, I admit, but closest to hand), and they don't have one either.
172. Seguine - 3/10/2000 1:34:35 PM
Folks, I hope the travel discussion will proceed at length, so I am copying the initial part of it (for context) and moving the last two posts to the Cafe.
173. Seguine - 3/10/2000 1:57:49 PM
The travel discussion--well, the U.S. Road Trip Discussion, not to be confused with discussions of excursions abroad to poorly outfitted train stations and Islamic militant zones--begins now at Post 11285 in the Cafe.
174. AceofSpades - 3/11/2000 7:51:53 PM
Anybody up for bridge? Let me know.
175. seguine - 3/12/2000 10:41:41 AM
A site for those who enjoy thinking deeply about worthless minutiae?
176. seguine - 3/12/2000 10:46:38 AM
An excerpt from The Journal of Mundane Behavior's submission guidelines:
"Our overall policy is to encourage the development of research in any academic discipline and by interested non-academic persons about the mundane aspects of everyday life. Interested members of the public and scholars from any discipline whose work touches on the everyday, ordinary, and apparently inconsequential are invited to submit works that meet the guidelines below. Our approach is serious yet playful, and authors should feel free to "let their hair down" in the writing of their papers and utilize a sense of humor in the development of their project."
Uh... yeah.
177. ScottLoar - 3/12/2000 11:04:09 AM
Our approach is serious yet playful....
I still can't take them seriously.
178. cmboyce - 3/12/2000 11:25:31 AM
Query: Is Jericho in fact the world's oldest existing city (as NYT has it, in a piece about Arafat inviting the Pope there)? I know I've seen other places nominated, though I don't quite recall them. One is in China, I believe, and I think Pseudoerasmus spoke, in his (late?) great travelogue, of someplace he visited, perhaps Yazd, that claimed the mantle.
Anyway, any ideas?
179. PelleNilsson - 3/12/2000 12:11:51 PM
All I can say is that it is a nice little town. Lot's of bougainvilla in the gardens, pleasant outdoors restaurants serving the classical mezzeh. Guides will take you to a pile of mud a mile or two away and tell you it's the remnants of the walls.
180. marjoribanks - 3/13/2000 12:41:40 PM
Boyce,
I've run across two cities which claim that mantle. Jericho, the one claim I believe. And Sanaa, the city in Yemen which also makes that boast.
All,
In my ongoing, unsolicited, heartfelt publicity campaign for Urbanfetch.com, let me note that today video rentals are free. That is, if you're in Manhattan, you can pick umpteen videos to watch tonight - and get them delivered in half an hour - and pay nothing. Of course, for the sheer pleasure of it, in addition to Tea with Mussolini, I've also ordered 2 CD's for 20 bucks and a book and a Fresh Samantha juice. All will be in my hands by 1. Oh yeah, and pick-up for the video is also free. Or I can drop it off at like one hundred convenient locations in the surrounding blocks.
God bless Urbanfetch.
181. janjon - 3/13/2000 12:45:58 PM
marjoribanks. If you listen to WNYC, you also will be aware of something called Kosmos. An obvious competitor to Urbanfetch. (Both of which sound like slightly more sophisticated and diverse city messenger/delivery services.)
My guess would be that what you have going on is a classic fight between two to become ONE. Enjoy the freebies and great prices while you can. (Which, hey, might be a long time.)
It does sound a bit like Alice in Wonderland, those deals you are getting.
Do they deliver in New Jersey? (low blow.)
182. Seguine - 3/13/2000 12:46:25 PM
Loar: "I still can't take them seriously."
Whereas it is the "playful" angle of which I'm dubious.
But that's because I like my satire pure. I never had that much use for the Gorilla Grrls--which for the innocent was a band of anonymous feminist artists, several of them supposedly well-known, who in the '80s used to demonstrate and post bills against sexism in the art world while wearing gorilla costumes. Much better was a group called LAW, or Ladies Against Women, which advocated in beehives and housedresses for such paleolithic causes as Phyllis Schlafly might endorse.
183. Wombat - 3/13/2000 12:47:28 PM
God bless full employment!
184. PelleNilsson - 3/13/2000 12:53:37 PM
marj
I never heard that claim about Sana'a while I lived there.
185. marjoribanks - 3/13/2000 12:56:51 PM
Wombat,
I've used Kozmo. They take an hour, far too long, but have the added advantage of delivering sandwiches for lunch. They also aren't killing themselves to provide unbelievable deals like my brothers at Urbanfetch. My hunch, since they've both raised a shitload of money recently, is that they'll go at each other for a good long time and we (Manhattan consumers) are going to be pretty happy.
BTW, I don't live in that foul state you mention -asshole- I live "just across the water."
186. marjoribanks - 3/13/2000 12:58:21 PM
Oh sorry, the asshole was janjon.
187. marjoribanks - 3/13/2000 12:59:36 PM
pelle,
I've heard it repeatedly. Mainly from tourism publicity people, but certainly they seemed to think they have a legit claim.
188. janjon - 3/13/2000 1:01:44 PM
marjoribanks. You may think of Wombat as being an asshole for other reasons, but your I-won't-name-it-again-but-it-starts-with-N-and-ends-with-Y phobia should be directed to me.
The only thing about your description of the Urbanfetch services that seems truly unbelievable is the idea that you could drop off your videos at a large number of locations in your immediate vicinity. I can't quite envision how that works from Urbanfetch's point of view.
189. Dantheman - 3/13/2000 1:04:03 PM
marj,
"They take an hour, far too long..."
In the famed words of Carrie Fisher: Instant gratification takes too long.
190. marjoribanks - 3/13/2000 1:07:01 PM
Check it out, I got my stuff one minute ago. That's fricking 25 minutes. For a random book, two random CD's, a juice and a video rental. How great is that.
JJ,
I note from my receipt that I can keep the movie till THURSDAY at 9PM. And there are at least three places I can think of to drop it off within three blocks. This is best service EVER. check it out, Moters, check it out.
(My spanking new album, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, will be on in a minute.)
Oh yeah, another free t-shirt too.
191. theDiva - 3/13/2000 1:07:34 PM
gasp
great, great album, Banks. Enjoy.
192. janjon - 3/13/2000 1:09:11 PM
I'm going to check and see if any of my mutual funds are in Urbanfetch. If so, I am going to dump them.
193. Wombat - 3/13/2000 1:13:22 PM
Marjoramibanks:
As it happens, I am from New York City, but am gratified that you no longer have to go there to get whatever you want. That's about the only good thing about New Jersey: it is near New York.
194. marjoribanks - 3/13/2000 1:15:00 PM
Janjon,
Don't lose out on this bubble. Get stuff from Urbanfetch NOW.
Diva,
'In a sentimental Mood' is playing and it is everything I wanted. Plus -d elivered in half an hour. For an even 10.
195. theDiva - 3/13/2000 1:16:21 PM
Banks
Sometimes I really miss NY.
196. Uzmakk - 3/13/2000 1:17:57 PM
I grew up near and in NYC and Mon
197. Uzmakk - 3/13/2000 1:18:07 PM
I grew up near and in NYC and Mon
198. marjoribanks - 3/13/2000 1:21:56 PM
Wombat,
Sorry about that wasted slur. I wish I could get this service 'just across the water', it's unfortunately Manhattan only right now.
199. janjon - 3/13/2000 1:23:44 PM
marjoribanks. Even the competitive Urbanfetch wouldn't be interested in delivering as far out of the B.A. as I am.
200. CalGal - 3/14/2000 6:40:34 PM
Ace, if you see this this afternoon, could you email me? Home address is fine; I'm at work and don't have it here. (but I can pick up from incoming to home.)
201. Seguine - 3/14/2000 9:41:38 PM
Re-posted from Arts & Music (pls respond there if you can assist):
1955. KuligintheHooligan - 3/13/00 7:18:54 PM
An open question:
Does anybody here have experience with MIDI compatible software, like Cakewalk or Finale or Sibelius? I have a Yamaha Clavinova and am writing music, and would like to have some software that I can have automatically write what I play on the piano. Some years ago I had some MusicPrinterPlus software, but that is quite old and useless now. I want something new.
Anybody that has any experience in this area, please help if possible with your recommendations and experience. Thank you.
202. alistairconnor - 3/15/2000 5:18:12 AM
Hey, I know this doesn't help, but I'm interested in the answer too...
203. 109109 - 3/15/2000 9:39:07 AM
I have a query:
Will rats (regular, garden variety city rats) eat a living man who is bound and gagged and tied to a pole, bleeding, while he is still alive?
204. theDiva - 3/15/2000 9:39:37 AM
Jaysus.
Can't you just settle out of court?
205. 109109 - 3/15/2000 9:41:24 AM
Diva
This time . . . it's personal?
(actually, it is a legitimate question - I saw the scenario in a movie and I thought I'd see if some animal behavioralist or hobo could help me out)
206. theDiva - 3/15/2000 9:43:04 AM
ah.
207. marjoribanks - 3/15/2000 9:45:31 AM
Sure, rats will eat a living creature if it is tied up and it doesn't even necessarily have to be bleeding. I've seen garden variety city rats (okay fearsome Bombay bandicoots) ambush and eat a living wounded crow. Why would it be different for humans.
208. 109109 - 3/15/2000 9:53:01 AM
marjori
I guess I thought the size of the prey would make it unlikely. A crow is smaller than a rat. A human is like Goliath the Rat.
209. marjoribanks - 3/15/2000 10:03:54 AM
Meat is meat, 109. Helpless bleeding meat is just that, whether human or crow. Does not the lowly jackal hunt down enfeebled buffalo?
210. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:06:02 AM
marj
I suppose so. I guess city rats are a ferocious lot. I wonder if they find strength in numbers? (the scenario had a struggling, bleeding and incapacitated man being swarmed by NYC's finest vermin)
211. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:06:56 AM
Doth not the vile vulture peck at the very loin and gizzards of the noblely wounded?
212. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:08:02 AM
I was, of course, trying to match the strength of Majoribank's blank verse.
212. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:08:02 AM
They do?
I thought the vulture waited until the loin was devoid of life.
213. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:08:51 AM
I thought vultures ate dead loin and gizzard.
214. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:09:33 AM
Oops. I thought my first post had been eradicated. Sorry for the insistence on what is otherwise a minor point.
215. marjoribanks - 3/15/2000 10:10:28 AM
Meat is meat, 109. Helpless bleeding meat is just that, whether human or crow. Does not the lowly jackal hunt down enfeebled buffalo?
216. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:10:32 AM
I for one can't imagine a city rat feeding on anything half live or half dead, surrounded as that rat is by the cornucopia that is the average dumpster. Rats don't like trouble but if driven to near madness by hunger I'm sure they'd eat writhing flesh, yet they'd probably eat their own kind before knawing away at Big Man. Sounds fictitious to me.
217. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:11:45 AM
Yes, vultures are carrion-eaters. I was being blithely poetic.
218. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:12:32 AM
The scenario had the crazed psycho killer tying the guy up in an abandoned warehouse of some sort in NYC. He then cut him several times, but he was still alive. Then, the rats came out and started chomping.
I was most skeptical of an abandoned warehousethat had as yet not been converted to housing.
219. marjoribanks - 3/15/2000 10:12:40 AM
whoops, how did that happen.
Loar is right, many birds dubbed carrion-feeders don't wait until their intended meal is dead. It's one of the cruellest sights in nature. They do head for the eyes first.
220. theDiva - 3/15/2000 10:13:30 AM
yuck, what movie is that? Remind me never to rent it.
221. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:14:18 AM
Diva
Your reminder is in the Movies and Television thread.
222. marjoribanks - 3/15/2000 10:14:19 AM
Loar,
The Indian bandicoot (giant rat) is a fearsome creature. I'm not saying that they regularly hunt down humans, I'm saying that a trussed-up and bleeding human would surely become rat-dinner if left in any number of vile byways I'm familiar with in India.
223. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:14:43 AM
What is the incidence of rats biting babies in the Big City? I haven't heard any substantiated tales of gangs of rats jumping infants much less tortured adults.
224. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:14:58 AM
marj
How big does a bandicoot get?
And what is the largest rat you have seen in NYC?
225. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:17:36 AM
Yes, but we're talking about New York where monster alligators may play in the sewers, pythons slither along radiator pipes, rats the size of dobermans frolic under the floorboards - but no bandicoots.
226. theDiva - 3/15/2000 10:18:45 AM
9r
gracias.
227. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:19:56 AM
I'm sure if the scenario were true the method would long ago have been employed to familiarity by drug dealers, mafiosa, street gangs and the idly curious.
228. marjoribanks - 3/15/2000 10:20:26 AM
NY rats are pikers. Bandicoots get huge in comparison, over a foot-long bady, ugly as sin, black, with a long obscene naked tail. They're frightening, believe me.
229. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:23:14 AM
The New York Times
February 19, 1999
"Last year on Long Island there were 1,510 reported cases of dog bites, 206 cat bites, 53 rat bites, 21 bat bites and 20 raccoon bites. Statistics on human bites are not kept."
230. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:25:36 AM
And that's Long Island with a higher per capita income. What about the City? Exponential, eh?
In other words, Loar pronounces the movie scenario as fictitious.
231. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:25:40 AM
Charleston Daily Mail
April 17, 1998, Friday
"In New York City, the rat patrol battles the growing rodent
population that overruns buildings, spreads disease and attacks human beings. One official said the growing rat infestation "is a sign of decay and economic decline in society and in our quality of life."
With a ratio of one rat for each person in New York City, a rat patrol exterminator said, "What scares me is their attitude."
232. marjoribanks - 3/15/2000 10:26:49 AM
"Bandicoot Rat, common name for three species of rat that inhabit Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, India, and China. Bandicoot rats weigh between 0.2 and 1.5 kg (between 0.4 and 3.3 lb) and have a body length of 16 to 36 cm (6.3 to 14 in). They are major agricultural pests that eat or destroy tons of grain each year in many countries. Some species carry the fleas that are vectors of the plague. The pest rat, a smaller species that is an agricultural pest in Egypt and northern India, is sometimes known as the short-tailed bandicoot rat.
Scientific classification: Bandicoot rats belong to the family Muridae. They are classified as Bandicota bengalensis,Bandicota indica, and Bandicota savilei. The pest rat, or short-tailed bandicoot rat, is classified as Nesokia bandicota."
233. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:27:15 AM
In 1996 1,102 human bites were reported in New York City. Rats represented a mere nibble in the city's tooth-to-flesh incidents, with only 184 reported biting incidents that year.
234. theDiva - 3/15/2000 10:27:51 AM
why am i reading this?
235. marjoribanks - 3/15/2000 10:28:34 AM
Yep, that 3.3 lb and 14 inches long. Though I'm sure I've seen bigger along the Bombay Docks.
236. marjoribanks - 3/15/2000 10:32:21 AM
I was in a building a few stories up above Sassoon Docks in Bombay when a fire broke out in an abandoned filthy warehouse. From above, the road came alive, seething and roiling with hundreds of thousands of these monster bandicoots fleeing the blaze. The tarmac was layered with them, and their screeching reached even our ears several stories above.
On another note, I've eaten roasted rat. Not filthy city beasts but good grain-fed farm rats, in Tamil Nadu, in the company of good-natured Irula rat-and-snake-catching tribespeople. Not too bad.
237. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:33:09 AM
Niner, get a grip. Can you recount a verifieable instance of a rat let alone a pack of rats "jumping" a human being? Yes, I saw the program on the Nature Channel recounting the travails of N.Y.'s rat fighters, but like the mythological rabies that supposedly infest rats which then wander about looking for humanperson contacting rabies through a rat bite. Now we're to believe rats mob contact there has never, never been a single documented instance of a humans? And for a meal?
238. 109109 - 3/15/2000 10:38:41 AM
Scott
I am merely tossing out facts. I have not as yet taken a position on the feasibility of a rat swarm on a bleeding man. This serious question merits more research.
239. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 10:39:02 AM
Message # 237 is jumbled. Enough to say that we're expected to believe rats mob persons to take them as a meal?
240. Seguine - 3/15/2000 12:27:11 PM
"NY rats are pikers. Bandicoots get huge in comparison, over a foot-long bady, ugly as sin, black, with a long obscene naked tail. They're frightening, believe me."
You are describing a creature I have seen (dead) on the Mall in Washington, D.C. My date laughed when, after inspecting it, I asked whether it was a possum.
This was back when I still lived in Texas. Now, of course, I'm better educated & would ask whether it was a member of Congress.
241. Seguine - 3/15/2000 12:28:46 PM
Wait, that D.C. rat was grey-brown, not black.
242. janjon - 3/15/2000 12:48:58 PM
A movie script about rats eating a tied-up person, eh. Sounds to me that Ace has given 109109 an advance peek at something.
Boston still trembles collectively at the havoc that was created in their BAMBOOZLE of all BAMBOOZLES, the BIG DIG (a massive tunnel and road relocation project going on now for many years, woefully over budget, full of corruption - classic Boston, and also now the U.S.'s largest $$$ public works project) created in terms of the relocation efforts of the millions (well, at least hundreds of thousands) of rats that were rudely disturbed by all of this.
243. wabbit - 3/15/2000 7:50:11 PM
A rat discussion! I hand-reared three pinkies from one day old and they were fabulous pets, much better than nasty gerbils.
The largest rat I've ever seen was in downtown Trenton, NJ. The body was easily a foot long; from a distance, I thought it might be an injured cat and I slowed down thinking to rescue it. Upon realizing it was a rat, I showed it the proper respect and gave it wide berth, lest the impact damage the Corvette I was driving at the time.
My fiance (known here as Misunderstood Genius) says that what Banks says about the Sassoon Docks in Bombay is absolutely accurate. The multitude of stray cats hide from the bandicoots, I hear.
Sometime in this past year there was an article in George magazine about the rats in NYC. Worth reading, if one is inclined in any way toward rats.
244. cmboyce - 3/15/2000 7:52:30 PM
NY rats will nibble on babies left alone in rat-infested apartments. (The leaving alone of babies is, as you might imagine, correlates closely with rat-infested apartment dwelling.) I suppose the "jump 'em", but it's hard to say.
I'm with Seguine. I've seen rats the size of the bandicoots Marj described. There are also lots (rather more, in my experience) of smaller ones. But the big guys are around; I saw one in a PATH train station just the other day. Charcoal gray, very nicely camoflaged against the filthy ties, rails and floor.
245. cmboyce - 3/15/2000 7:55:23 PM
Delete "is" and for "the" read "they", in the first paragraph of 244. Sheesh.
246. ScottLoar - 3/15/2000 8:05:12 PM
A true story. I was just outside the compound talking to the Vietnamese guards when a terrier came leaping towards the knot of us, passing right between our legs as one of the guards began to viciously kick at this animal which went right on by. I realized then it was a rat, biggest I'd ever seen. Some while later I noticed the rat some small way off, grooming or whatever. I took a carbine from a guard and fired. The rat took the round with a jump, shuddered and lay flat. I walked over, honestly thinking to put a second round in him, for I wasn't sure he was dead. He was, but I remember marvelling the thing could take a round like that all out of proportion to his size. The Vietnamese guards, bored to hell, were thrilled by it all, one hurrying up with an ammo can and stuffing the rat into it. This is an ammo can, the kind that carries linked rounds for machineguns, and the rat was stuffed into that can with a stick.
My day was done and I left them to their amusement which was to burn the corpse, but that was the biggest damned rat I ever saw. I honestly thought it was a terrier at first glance.
247. joezan - 3/16/2000 12:07:19 AM
The herpetarium at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids has a bandicoot - it shares a glassed-in "habitat" with a giant tree sloth, for some reason. The bandicoot has to be at least 18 inches long (minus tail, which adds another 10 inches or so). It is the rattiest loking rat I've ever seen - Gilbert Gottfried's got nothing on this monster. Enormous, razor-sharp teeth, too.
248. RosettaStone - 3/16/2000 12:26:07 AM
Rats!
...talk about being off topic. This should be in Wabbit's Inferno, not notices and queries.
Where is the the deletor Pill when you need him?
249. Indiana Jones - 3/16/2000 8:55:10 AM
If anyone is interested in hosting the Temple of Doom, I would be open to stepping aside. I volunteered only as an interim move to "restore order." Four months and about a 1,000 posts later, perhaps someone else would like to give hosting a try.
In preparation of the new host, I've renamed the thread "Religion and Philosophy."
250. marjoribanks - 3/16/2000 9:59:36 AM
Zan,
What you saw was a bandicoot, not a bandicoot rat. The former is a marsupial.
251. marjoribanks - 3/16/2000 10:02:38 AM
Wabbit,
You're marrying a desi? How wonderful. Congratulations. Is he a Mumbaiite?
252. marjoribanks - 3/16/2000 1:00:08 PM
Urbanfetch produced my order in exactly ten minutes today. My mind is blown.
253. janjon - 3/16/2000 1:01:57 PM
God, they do that TOO?
254. marjoribanks - 3/16/2000 1:40:34 PM
Ha.
JanJon, Urbanfetch is the SHIT. The Stan Getz quartet with Chet Baker (Quintessence) is playing right now. Delivered. For a tenner. In fricking 25 minutes. Of course, I also got the Enminem album (my name is..my name is..my name is...) but I've been barred from playing it by the nearby office mates after the first seven plays of the #2 track. Free chocolate chip cookies and a hat this time.
God Bless Urbanfetch.
255. marjoribanks - 3/16/2000 1:41:14 PM
Ten minutes. It was ten minutes today. Mindblowing, eh.
256. Jenerator - 3/16/2000 1:42:09 PM
Please tell me that you tip these guys.
257. marjoribanks - 3/16/2000 1:44:22 PM
Tips not accepted. A crucial element to the Urbanfetch appeal.
258. marjoribanks - 3/16/2000 1:45:21 PM
259. wabbit - 3/16/2000 9:41:27 PM
Banks,
First of all, congratulations to you and Mrs. Banks!
And yes, I am, thank you. His family is from Kerala, but moved to the big city where he grew up. He knows all about those bandicoot rats.
260. joezan - 3/16/2000 10:28:41 PM
Banks:
What you saw was a bandicoot, not a bandicoot rat. The former is a marsupial.
No kidding?
It's still the rattiest rat I've ever seen.
261. Seguine - 3/17/2000 10:09:26 AM
Have we discussed snakes yet? No?
262. Seguine - 3/17/2000 10:12:16 AM
02:06 PM ET 03/16/00
Snake With Legs Fossil Found
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP)
A team of researchers has reached into a dusty
drawer and pulled out a snake with legs.
The discovery could upset at least some theories about the
evolution of snakes.
The fossil had been sitting in the museum drawer at the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem since the death in the early 1980s of
researcher Georg Haas, said Olivier Rieppel of the Field Museum in
Chicago.
A team of researchers led by Rieppel rediscovered the fossil and
gave it a scientific description and official name _ Haasiophis
terrasanctus _ in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
The snake's legs aren't much to brag about. They are too small
in relation to the animal's body to have any function in moving the
snake, Rieppel said.
Modern pythons have a rudimentary hind limb, usually little more
than a claw of cartilage tipped with bone that they use during
mating and occasional fighting, and it is possible that Haasiophis'
leg served a similar purpose, he said.
Found in the West Bank area of Israel, Haasiophis was a marine
snake, Rieppel said. He said it appears to have been able to widen
its jaw like boas and pythons, enabling it to eat prey larger than
its body.
Haasiophis is the second limbed snake to come from the same
site. The first, Pachyrhachis problematicus, had been thought by some
researchers to be at the base of the snake family tree, indicating
a marine origin for snakes. Others speculate that snakes evolved
from small land lizards.
(cont.)
263. Seguine - 3/17/2000 10:12:38 AM
Rieppel said the new find appears to be closely related to
Pachyrhachis. But his team's analysis also indicates that these two snakes were not primitive ancestors, but advanced snakes similar to modern boas and pythons. The new anatomical interpretation suggests that neither Pachyrhachis nor Haasiophis have anything to do with snake origins.
265. Seguine - 3/17/2000 2:37:55 PM
Sorry, MizPhys. Post 264 is now in the Inferno.
266. Adrianne - 3/20/2000 12:00:53 PM
Does anyone on The Mote *read* Chinese?
267. Indiana Jones - 3/20/2000 12:01:55 PM
Ad: I know someone who reads Chinese.
268. theDiva - 3/20/2000 12:02:03 PM
I think ScottLoar might.
269. JadeGold1 - 3/20/2000 12:12:30 PM
Depends, Adrianne.
270. Adrianne - 3/20/2000 12:23:58 PM
Jade? Hi, nice to see you.
It's not important, I just have a really stupid, embarrassing, provincial question that I can't get out of my mind to ask someone. Obviously, via email.
271. ScottLoar - 3/20/2000 1:27:54 PM
Yes, I read Chinese, much colloquial and some classical, can usually divine independently of simplified or traditional characters if the text is from Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, or from the Straits and am a fair translator as well. PincherMartin can read Chinese.
272. ScottLoar - 3/20/2000 1:30:14 PM
I won't charge for simple translation of short length. You want mo' bettah' and the timeclock starts ticking.
273. CalGal - 3/20/2000 2:28:51 PM
All right, folks, come on and play the Oscar contest. The announcement is in the headlines on the front page; it will take you to the ballot. No need to have seen the movies; it certainly won't do much to improve your chances.
Cash prizes.
274. Max Macks - 3/23/2000 12:49:25 AM
Wow , someone who can read Chinese.
This is my first time in the Mote and already I am overwhelmed.
Someone once showed me the Kanji for book.
One Kanji and only 5000 more to learn.
275. Max Macks - 3/23/2000 12:49:56 AM
what means "Check for Dust"?
276. ee - 3/23/2000 1:42:53 AM
Welcome to the Mote Max Macks. Check for dust is a reminder to see that you've closed any HTML tags you may have used to juice up your post.
277. PelleNilsson - 3/23/2000 1:46:00 AM
Also, Max, you will see your post in a preview window as it will appear in the Mote.
278. Max Macks - 3/23/2000 11:28:58 AM
A preview window, Pelle? Do you mean the box I am writing in?
I dont see any thing that says "preview window"
279. Indiana Jones - 3/23/2000 11:31:14 AM
Max: When you click on "check for dust," you should see what your post will look like above the box you're writing in.
280. Dantheman - 3/23/2000 11:31:51 AM
Max,
If you hit the "check for dust" button, then you will see a preview of your post. You can check your links, make sure only those words that you want to be italicized or in different colors or fonts actually are, etc.
Welcome to the Mote.
281. JudithAtHome - 3/23/2000 11:38:35 AM
Hi Max and welcome...the check for dust button is for editing purposes. In theMote, however, you edit before you post.
282. theDiva - 3/23/2000 11:41:01 AM
Max! Welcome!
Judith is correct, it's prolly a good idea to edit before you post....unless you're in the Cafe, in which case carefully composed posts kinda stick out like a sore thumb.
In any case, nice to have you here.
283. DanDillon - 3/23/2000 3:23:04 PM
Max Macks,
This is my first time in the Mote and already I am overwhelmed.
Welcome to The Mote. There are many impressive folks here. And something tells me you'll be able to contribute a great deal. What is your native language? Please respond in Language, since this thread is only for Notices and Queries.
284. Raskolnikov - 3/23/2000 3:30:30 PM
You mean we can ask questions here, but answers have to posted elsewhere?
285. Indiana Jones - 3/23/2000 7:27:29 PM
I'll be offline until Monday but will try to check the Gatekeeper mailing account between now and then.
286. Seguine - 3/23/2000 9:02:57 PM
Rask,
Answers need not be posted elsewhere unless you believe I'll decide they constitute "chat", in which case you should move the conversation to the appropriate thread.
Flaming and unprovoked hostilities won't be tolerated here; they'll be deleted or moved, depending on how much I've had to drink. Peculiar conversations may be allowed to stand if I think they have no better place to go. Interesting exchanges that I think should continue, but not here, will be copied into the thread where I believe they ought to live.
Max/cks,
Hey howdy yo, ya'll. Hope you brung some cupcakes to this party, by which I mean beer.
287. Max Macks - 3/24/2000 5:42:17 PM
Thanks for warm wecome folks.
This should not be construed as an "answer" , Dan Dillion..
just my private opinion. I speak some English but often mispell the words there in.
My native language is Minnesotan.
I am hoping this opinion slips by the stern hostess.
Is she a she or is she a he and is Seguine as sanguine as her name?
288. ProfEmeritus - 3/24/2000 6:28:20 PM
Max Macks
I want to add my warm welcome. I can also read Chinese, but my reading skills are rusty and not for sale. I learned the language during WWII, and even used to correspond in Chinese, but disuse has taken its toll.
289. Max Macks - 3/24/2000 7:43:40 PM
Just the thought of folks who know more than one kanji , boggles my mind.
Tell, me Professor, how do folks here keep track of where they post?
do they have a little note book and jot down the thread and the number. I don't mean you. Anyone who can read Chinese probably has
a photgraphic memory and probably remembers every post that has
ever been posted here.
Which reminds me to ask how this forum ( is that the term?)
get started.
290. Seguine - 3/24/2000 9:15:49 PM
cks/x,
Seguine can be bloody or rosily carefree.
I'm a girl, but goatish.
The forum was begun when Slate's Fray changed its format to BBS. The membership, with notable exceptions, hightailed it en masse to this location provided by Jay Ackroyd, engineered by Alistair Connor, and interfaced by CalGal. Others provided financial and volunteer assistance early and later. Wabbit is our supreme being; IrvingSnodgrass has supplied advice; JJ Biener was original gatekeeper, I believe (the job now apparently belongs to Indiana Jones).
Inquire of Wabbit, CalGal, or Alistair to confirm, correct, or elaborate on the foregoing.
291. Max Macks - 3/25/2000 3:16:58 PM
Thanks, Goat Girl, for the historical perspective . Wonder how folks
find this place.
Yes Indiana Jones is the gatekeeper who let me in. Tho it was
not easy , I had to prove that I was an American Citizen and
would never vote for a Republican. After that she was very
pleasant and efficient.
292. profemeritus - 3/25/2000 3:43:12 PM
Max
I can always remember where I have posted by the subject. If I want to refer to a particular post later or reread it, I jot down the number.
293. Lucky - 3/25/2000 3:56:46 PM
Howdy, Max. I hope we can forget old differences and proceed from this point. Good to see you.
294. CalGal - 3/25/2000 5:00:25 PM
Don't forget, everyone, to submit a ballot in the Mote Oscar contest. Admission is free, and you don't need to have seen any of the movies. For details, check the link in the headlines.
Oscar Ballot
Oscar Quiz
295. CalGal - 3/25/2000 6:20:22 PM
Seguine:
I drove up to Emeryville the other day to visit a friend, and insisted on Le Cheval for dinner. I did not have to insist for more than a second; she easily consented.
We had their spectacular banh hoi (with shrimp, since she won't eat meat, dammit), claypot shrimp, calimari with lemon grass, and their broiled mussels.
296. Max Macks - 3/25/2000 7:52:27 PM
293-
Lucky???
I think I "met" a Mr. Lucky somewhere....Salon Table TAlk??
Please remind me of whatever differences we had so that I can
then forget them, because I can't remember any.
297. Seguine - 3/26/2000 11:09:18 AM
CalGal, any more unnecessary cruelty and you and your shrimp will be banished from this thread.
298. Max Macks - 3/26/2000 11:29:52 PM
Seguine...as a Newbie I see some discussions/threads or whatever
your term is...that I don't understand what they are about.
Is there some brief description of the threads herein?
299. Seguine - 3/27/2000 2:43:38 PM
x/cks,
Threads are more or less topical depending on the whims of their hosts. You can get an idea of what a thread is about either by consulting the first few messages in that thread, where the host often provides a description of the thread's purpose(s) and parameters, or by clicking on the link some hosts provide (usually at the top of the yellowish column, locally referred to as the "butterscotch bar", located to the right of the discussion) that says something like "XYZ Thread's Purpose".
Also, of course, reading the thread is advisable. A quick-moving discussion (look at the post dates) often is best comprehended if you look back over at least the previous 100 posts.
More questions of this sort can be posted to the Technical Issues or Try the Mote threads. Also, you might get good advice in the New Thread and Feature Suggestions thread, which is read regularly by Wabbit.
300. Hadrian - 3/27/2000 7:58:43 PM
This time last month I subscribed to "The Well". I canceled my subscription yesterday. The place is mainly populated by people that have been their for more than 5 years. Many 10 years plus. They are not hospitable to newcomers. One of the hosts on a help section referred to new subscribers as "stupid newbies". The head of the place a woman named Gail Williams (gail@well.com) does not even answer email unless you make a point of it in a thread. These people charge $15.00 a month unless you are a old timer and for them its $10 or less. They really do not give you anything for this except access to their discussion boards and an email address.
Someone at TableTalk told me about The Mote and I hope I will enjoy myself here. I have been using online community boards since 1985 and I really enjoy them, the information that can be found out, relationships with regulars and more.
301. SnowOwl - 3/27/2000 8:04:09 PM
Welcome, Hadrian. I suggest you begin by poking around in the various threads to get a feel for the place, or just jump right in and join in anywhere you feel so inclined.
302. CalGal - 3/27/2000 8:12:11 PM
Hello, Hadrian! Welcome.
You may be called stupid here at the Mote. But it won't be because you're new. Insults are issued regardless of a poster's seniority.
Threads have varying degrees of civility; tone is set by the thread host.
Here is a draft FAQ. Please don't view it as gospel, but just a starting point--this hasn't been blessed by the members yet. If you have any questions, post them in Suggestions.
Wabbit is our forum administrator, but anyone may step in and answer a question based on their understanding.
303. profemeritus - 3/27/2000 8:46:51 PM
Welcome, Hadrian! The facilitator of the Mote's predecessor dragged me into it, and I have never been sorry. I wasn't treated as a "newbie". I have never been insulted or called bad names. Some Moties like that sort of thing, but you will not be forced to participate in calumny - I hope. Keep away from a few maladjusted people.
304. Max Macks - 3/27/2000 10:59:27 PM
Hadrian , as an old timer here of one week ( ok --maybe it's been only 5 days)
but I wanna extend to you a special welcome since I am no longer
the newest Newbie.
I too am a recent immigrent from Salon TT... and
even after 5 days I am finding this place still very plesant.
305. Seguine - 3/28/2000 12:08:33 PM
Query for ANYONE:
Has anyone read a new book by Amartya Sen, "Development As Freedom"? I'm thinking it looks interesting, would like any recommendations for or against.
306. Seguine - 3/28/2000 12:17:07 PM
ScottLoar, in International: "...business associates (the euphemism for people you'd love to do without but can't as you're all thrown together for commercial convenience even while busy advancing over each others' mistakes and weaknesses)"
I wonder if this witticism of Loar's indicates to anyone else that it's about time for us to construct a Mote Dictionary of Special Terms and Interpretive Insights.
307. Indiana Jones - 3/28/2000 1:00:42 PM
DantheMan: You may not have noticed it because the Movie thread has been so busy today, but re your question about Shakespeare videos, please see my post #7052 in that thread.
308. Dantheman - 3/28/2000 1:04:11 PM
IJ,
I saw it. Not what I necessarily wanted, though.
309. 109109 - 3/28/2000 1:07:32 PM
I saw Boiler Room, a film I enjoyed. I have queries to anyone who has a) seen the film and b) knows about stock brokers and such (janjon?).
How plausible was the scam that lay at the heart of the picture?
Have there ever been any high profile (or low-profile) arrests of such "chop shops"?
Explain to me the mechanics of getting investors in on a crappy or non-existent company on the market? While I understand buzz drives the stock price up, and the head of the company owned the stock, so he could sell at the zenith (thus being able to pay the high fees to his brokers), how could a non-existent company get on the market?
310. janjon - 3/28/2000 1:32:13 PM
Haven't seen the movie. Yet. Have some knowledge about stock brokerage but not anything sufficiently hands on to have insights about boiler rooms or stock brokerage "sales encouragement" techniques.
311. janjon - 3/28/2000 1:34:08 PM
a non-existent company? One that, say, had a NASDAQ listing so that the schmucks who were doing the buying presumably could look in their papers or on their screen and find out how the stock was doing?
No way, IRL.
312. Max Macks - 3/29/2000 12:40:44 AM
What happned to Hadrian...Did all this friendly welcoming scare him away? I hate to be the only new kid on the block.
313. PincherMartin - 3/29/2000 8:15:08 PM
Could someone send me MsIT's e-mail address? My reason for contacting her concerns a matter regarding her hosting responsibility in the Legal Corner thread. Thank you.
314. CalGal - 3/29/2000 8:28:18 PM
She doesn't check her hotmail account all that often. You might want to send a note to wabbit.
315. PincherMartin - 3/29/2000 8:36:35 PM
Thanks.
316. pseudoerasmus - 3/29/2000 9:26:35 PM
Pincher, go to WTO thread and take care of a few problems.
317. PincherMartin - 3/29/2000 9:41:30 PM
Thanks.
318. Max Macks - 3/29/2000 11:10:41 PM
Do all the Mote Folks live in the Eastern Time Zone
or do most of the Motes post from work and not after 5PM EST
Or what?
319. Max Macks - 3/30/2000 2:54:50 PM
Hello....time to begin the Seguine
320. cazart - 3/30/2000 3:03:52 PM
So, Stinky aka Indiana Jones is gonna sued for defaming Nelson Mandela?
Hell, he's done a lot worse than that.
321. Indiana Jones - 3/30/2000 3:15:30 PM
Toys.
322. PincherMartin - 3/30/2000 7:11:22 PM
Is the Mote Moderator on vacation? Almost twenty-four hours ago, I sent an e-mail requiring immediate attention, and I still have not had a response. Does she check her e-mail?
323. Indiana Jones - 3/30/2000 7:58:03 PM
Pincher: Is there something I can help you with? Probably not...but you can email me gatekeeper@themote.com.
324. PincherMartin - 3/30/2000 8:04:50 PM
Indiana --
Incoming.
325. Indiana Jones - 3/30/2000 8:12:14 PM
PM: Outgoing.
326. Seguine - 3/31/2000 12:53:05 PM
Pincher,
I gather from the above that you discovered the source of the ID problem and took measures to have the, um, hole sewn shut?
327. Seguine - 3/31/2000 12:54:51 PM
My apologies, BTW. I kept thinking it would right itself. Didn't occur to me immediately what had happened or why.
328. CalGal - 3/31/2000 1:00:06 PM
That WebX bug is a bitch.
329. PincherMartin - 3/31/2000 1:54:47 PM
Seguine --
Thanks, it's solved.
345. Seguine - 4/1/2000 12:34:37 AM
PsychProf: PincherMartin had a legitimate concern and posted a legitimate query about it. In future, please take personal criticisms and baiting to the Inferno, or to one of the other threads where they're welcomed.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Notices and Queries Thread has entertained enough bickering for one evening. Posts 330-344 will be moved to their natural home.
346. Seguine - 4/1/2000 12:45:19 AM
(That is, they were moved, to the Inferno. But only the first of them is showing up there now; I have no idea why.)
347. Ubiquitous - 4/1/2000 4:04:01 AM
Question:
What time zone / region do you sysop from ?
The time stamp on my posts are several hours prior to me in E.S.T.
348. SnowOwl - 4/1/2000 4:14:28 AM
Ubiquitous
You can change the time to your own zone by clicking on profile data in the butterscotch bar and editing your data.
349. SnowOwl - 4/1/2000 4:16:05 AM
And welcome to The Mote.
350. Ubiquitous - 4/1/2000 4:26:38 AM
Do i enter a plus or minus sign and do the time stamps update all post to my zone or just my posts ?(" hope that made sense ")
351. Ubiquitous - 4/1/2000 4:43:47 AM
And thank you !
352. SnowOwl - 4/1/2000 5:25:33 AM
Yes, enter a plus or minus sign and the number of hours you are away from GMT. All posts will then show in your time.
359. Seguine - 4/1/2000 9:43:57 AM
Rosetta, you get your wish. The transfer this morning of your 353 to Inferno somehow unveiled the terribly important messages you wanted preserved for posterity. (Which is as I intended it originally, so all to the good as far as I care.)
It does not trouble me that you are annoyed. Nor am I concerned that the loss of any of your witticisms to the ether will damage the substance of the Mote. But one more snipe and I will blithely DELETE your exchange with Candide through post 358.
Candide: if you would prefer not to have that slightly paranoid, short cadenza of yours about Ubiquitous left standing, I will be happy to delete your posts, and so Rosetta's comments to them, upon request.
360. RosettaStone - 4/1/2000 9:59:57 AM
Keep it here, or fear the wrath of Khan!
361. PsychProf - 4/1/2000 10:34:15 AM
Seguine...I shall not annoy you with any more posts in this thread. I will, however, watch your posts carefully to see if you live up to the lofty criteria you set for others. If you don't, I expect you to delete/move your own posts with swift and final action...haha...in any case, it's a neat thread, and seems to serve multiple need for Moteheads.
362. Candide - 4/1/2000 3:43:32 PM
Seguine 359
Thanks. I did feel a bit stupid afterwards. Please delete it.
363. Candide - 4/1/2000 4:39:52 PM
Seguine I meant 354 and 355. You can go on to 6 and 7 if you like.
366. RosettaStone - 4/1/2000 5:08:23 PM
You have to be one tough SOB to post in the Balkan Civil War thread, SnowOwl. Some birds just don't cut it.
I was at a yard sale one day and saw a box marked "Electronic cat and dog call--guaranteed to work." I looked inside and was amused to see an electric can opener."
(thanks Bret Sohl)
367. Seguine - 4/1/2000 5:09:24 PM
Posts 354-358 will be deleted. The discussion of the hideousness of these and other deletions, and the even greater hideousness of your host's shortcomings, should continue in the Inferno, toward which end I've moved posts 364 and 365 there. (With a nod to SnowOwl--I know you're trying to be helpful, but let's please change the subject.)
368. RosettaStone - 4/1/2000 5:44:27 PM
Darn it. You screwed it up again Seguine. If you're going to move all those gosh darn posts include 366. And Make sure it follows #365.
Can't you do anything RIGHT???
369. Seguine - 4/1/2000 8:31:58 PM
Gee, Rosetta, I sort of liked the second paragraph of your 366. Non-sequitur though the post may now appear, there is a certain light harmlessness to it.
But of course, I would honor your request to delete it if you were to ask with a modicum of civility.
370. Seguine - 4/2/2000 10:19:17 AM
ANYONE:
Has anybody read Robert Conquest's "Reflections on a Ravaged Century"? I'd like to see an endorsement or dismissal of it (here, or if lengthy, in Books).
Thanks.
371. CalGal - 4/3/2000 5:46:59 PM
The Mote's movie review site, The Mote @ the Movies has recently been updated (reviews posted through beginning of March).
For those of you who don't know of the site: If you ever post a review in Movies, I'll put it on the site. The reviews don't have to be long, but they do have to be reasonably standalone and something beyond the words "I liked it" or "I didn't like it". I'm trying to find an easy way of tabulating thumbs up/thumbs down votes, but no luck yet.
As an example of a self-sufficient short review, here's Niner's paragraph on Bowfinger:
This was a very funny picture, and I recommend it as a solid rental to all. Eddie Murphy pretty much steals the movie in two roles, but Steve Martin's script is smart, and the physical comedy is laugh-out-loud. I was disappointed that I did not get to see Heather Graham's breasts (as was suggested by the previews), but "Boogie Nights" and the Lenny Kravitz video for "American Woman." will have to suffice.
You can also find IMD reference links for each movie, and if you buy a movie from the site 15% of proceeds go to the Mote.
There are bound to be bugs; please mention any you find in Movies, or email me at the_calgal@yahoo.com.
372. Candide - 4/3/2000 8:46:27 PM
Does anyone know whether Ilya Vinarsky has been hurt by the Microsoft fiasco?
Good luck Ilya if you're reading this.
373. Indiana Jones - 4/4/2000 5:00:27 PM
This is to announce that cazart's ID was disabled yesterday for his disruption of the Mote Movies thread. I took this action in wabbit's absence based on precedence (she had previously disabled his login when he did the same thing in policies) and the initial list of duties Alistair assigned when appointing me to the position of Gatekeeper. I simultaneously notified wabbit so that she could override my decision if she thought it was in error.
Until wabbit had a chance to respond, I considered the matter closed. But as cazart's status has caused some confusion in the Mote thread at TT, I want to clarify the situation.
Disabling cazart's account was a unilateral decision by me that I judged the best response to his behavior. When wabbit returns, she will as always make the final call.
374. PelleNilsson - 4/4/2000 5:29:19 PM
Indiana
With all due respect I consider the banning premature. It was not all that bad and CalGal handled it well. Knowing that there is a lot of bad feelings between you and cazart it could be construed as abuse of power.
375. CalGal - 4/4/2000 5:34:57 PM
We might want to move this conversation to Suggestions/Features? or Policies, now that I think of it.
376. Raskolnikov - 4/4/2000 5:40:05 PM
Conflict of interest be damned. If Wabbit had delegated admin responsibilities to me, I would have cut off Cazart's access after the first reposting of spoilers.
377. PelleNilsson - 4/4/2000 5:54:21 PM
I start to wonder about the "Move Post" feature. The above posts are in Policies but they remain here as well.
378. CalGal - 4/4/2000 5:56:04 PM
I wonder if Seguine is copying them? I used the feature yesterday and it worked. But maybe it works differently when moving multiple posts.
379. Seguine - 4/4/2000 5:57:10 PM
Posts 373-376 have been copied to the Mote Policies subthread (located within the New Thread and Feature Suggestions thread--look for the blue link to Policies near the top of the butterscotch bar.)
Further discussion and commentary should probably be posted in the subthread, now that Indy has made his announcement.
380. Seguine - 4/4/2000 6:00:19 PM
Pelle, CalGal--You guys are running slightly ahead of me....
381. pseudoerasmus - 4/4/2000 6:00:48 PM
Ilya announced that he was leaving Microsoft. I've no idea why. I suspect it has nothing to do with the recent court decision and everything to do with opportunity elsewhere.
382. Raskolnikov - 4/4/2000 6:02:31 PM
Ilya had announced that a couple of weeks ago, long before the MS announcement was made.
Hopefully he had a chance to exercise his stock options, and cash them out, first.
383. CalGal - 4/4/2000 6:03:23 PM
I saw that. I was surprised at some folks assuming it was related to the MS decision. I wish him well, wherever he ends up.
385. Seguine - 4/5/2000 4:17:22 PM
Announcement: Rosetta has made a post calling for a change to the RoE. It does not belong in this thread, so has been moved to Policies.
386. Seguine - 4/5/2000 4:20:40 PM
Correction: Stone's 384 was moved to New Thread and Feature Suggestions.
387. MsIvoryTower - 4/5/2000 5:00:48 PM
I just want to announce that I've been reading and reading the last 24 hours of posts.
I'm positive there must be a full moon out.
Somewhere in the world, at the very least.
388. TabouliJones - 4/5/2000 5:15:52 PM
I'd just like to announce that I picked up the cigarette habit to get me through exams. I would blame Ace (as one of his posts was the inspiration for this madness), except it is so fucking cool. I am in flavour country and digging it.
You can now go back to your regularly scheduled programming.
389. PelleNilsson - 4/5/2000 5:25:37 PM
MsIt
When the moon is full it's full everywhere.
390. pseudoerasmus - 4/5/2000 5:47:42 PM
I am in flavour country and digging it.
Tabouli, I smoked from 16 to 28 (that was almost four years ago). The reason I quit was not the scare stories about nicotine destroying blood vessels and causing impotence (which doesn't really happen until Pelle's age), but because after a while you can only taste cigarettes....
391. Raskolnikov - 4/5/2000 5:53:52 PM
Fear of lung cancer or emphysema wasn't sufficient?
392. pseudoerasmus - 4/5/2000 5:56:33 PM
Barely occurred to me.
393. TabouliJones - 4/5/2000 6:00:08 PM
PE,
I am only up to five or six cigarettes per day, so I can't make any claims to a respectable habit. I will probably quit for aesthetic reasons: I just can't seem to get the proper affectations down and invariably end up looking like a complete bonehead whenever I light up. Also, my girlfriend won't stand for it for too long, so I will be a non-smoker again by the end of April. Still, I plan to enjoy the habit while I can. I'll smoke a few for you.
394. Raskolnikov - 4/5/2000 6:02:08 PM
I had a grandfather and an uncle die of smoking related lung cancer, and my wife's grandfather had to carry a large oxygen tank with him for 20 years because of smoking related emphysema. Watching their illnesses soured me on the idea of ever taking it up.
395. pseudoerasmus - 4/5/2000 6:03:13 PM
Tabouli, Northamerican women are particularly intolerant about smoking. Perhaps they're different in Montreal.
396. CalGal - 4/5/2000 6:03:17 PM
My favorite aunt died of emphysema--much earlier than we expected, thanks to lousy medical advice. But I never wanted to smoke anyway.
And I grew up in Saudi Arabia, lest you all make snide remarks about Californians.
397. Seguine - 4/5/2000 6:07:16 PM
TJ: "...it is so fucking cool."
Very. You sound more fascinating already.
PE: "I smoked from 16 to 28... "
Me too. I wonder if it's a designated age-range, after which one somehow, almost automatically, quits.
Tabouli, how much more time do you have? Smoke imports, make it count!
398. TabouliJones - 4/5/2000 6:08:48 PM
My girlfriend is actually Hungarian. Montreal is well known as a relative smokers' paradise. More people smoke on average in Montreal than most other cities. Toronto, is relatively uptight about smoking, however, and that is where I will be moving in May.
By the way: going back three generations on my mother's side, my father's side, and my stepmother's side, every single member of my family took up the habit come the age of fifteen or sixteen. I was always the notable exception.
399. Raskolnikov - 4/5/2000 6:08:51 PM
Pseudo: in your non-smoking days, did you ever date a smoker? Smoking is uncommon enough here that if woman doesn't want to lick an ashtray every time she kisses her boyfriend, she doesn't have to. I dated a couple smokers, and it was the thing I liked least about both of them. The damned smell and taste permeates everything about them.
400. Seguine - 4/5/2000 6:09:56 PM
[cp]
401. TabouliJones - 4/5/2000 6:10:31 PM
Seguine,
I am smoking a Quebec brand called Craven A. They are cheap and much scorned by proper smokers. I couldn't resist the name, tho. It just seems so appropriate.
402. SnowOwl - 4/5/2000 6:13:53 PM
Craven A used to be an English brand. I'm a chain smoker, but today was to be yet another day when I was going to try giving up. I think I'll leave it till tomorrow. All this talk of smoking has me twitching.
403. Seguine - 4/5/2000 6:14:52 PM
Craven A?!
Well I would have smoked them. A pack, anyway. How could one not, with marketing like that?
Preferred Murcan brands were Winstons and Camels. I had a friend who smoked Viceroys--I think it was Viceroys. Blue package...? Anyway, the stench was distinctive.
Dunhills were good.
404. pseudoerasmus - 4/5/2000 6:15:18 PM
#398: I have visited only two places in Canada, Toronto and Montréal, and I infinitely preferred the latter. Not an uncommon reaction, I'm sure. Hungarian from Hungary, or one of these second-generation types that Canada is simply brimming with?
#399: Raskolnikov, the only time I didn't smoke was before 16 (or maybe it was 15) and since 1996. My fiancée, the one I've been with since 1996, is definitely intolerant of smoking. But I had quit before I met her.
405. pseudoerasmus - 4/5/2000 6:16:48 PM
Dunhills are absolutely awful. So are most other Brit brands, like Rothman's. Hamlets are okay.
406. TabouliJones - 4/5/2000 6:20:54 PM
The Dunhills caught my eye as well. If I do take up the habit, I will end up smoking a brand marketed by Imperial Tobacco (a division of British-American Tobacco). A good friend of mine works for them and actually gets a free carton of cigarettes a week.
Of course, I am most certain that I will be done this little hobby as of April 18th, my last day of exams. For now, the nicotine seems good for my brain, and it is certainly reducing the strell level.
I should actually hit the books again.
Smokers of the Mote Unite.
407. ChristinO - 4/5/2000 6:23:10 PM
Camel Filters were my brand of choice although the occasional American Spirit was nice for a change. I always wanted to smoke Balkan Sobranies because of the little tin, but I didn't like unfiltered and they were too hard to find.
408. Candide - 4/5/2000 6:24:36 PM
I once played Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus and I had to walk down a curved silver staircase wearing a monocle while smoking a black sobranie. Do I win?
409. TabouliJones - 4/5/2000 6:29:09 PM
PE,
I prefer Toronto, but most people agree with your view. Montreal's charms are far more obvious. Toronto does have its charms, but it takes some time for them to properly reveal themselves. My girlfriend is a real Hungarian. She moved to Canada when she was twenty, which was about nine years ago. The last 11 months, however, she has been in Europe working and attending school in Berlin and Budapest. When she returns to Canada in May, it should be interesting. Whenever she returns from a trip to Europe she immediately begins to disdain North Americans, especially North American women. Lord help me.
410. pseudoerasmus - 4/5/2000 6:32:28 PM
Tabouli, I envy you your Hungarian. Hungarian women are quite desirable and luscious.
411. ChristinO - 4/5/2000 6:37:14 PM
Candide,
Yep. That beats any smoking I had to do on stage.
412. TabouliJones - 4/5/2000 6:38:46 PM
PE,
My Hungarian babe is indeed beautiful and I am lucky. I am also happy to report that her mother managed to hold onto her looks as she aged and is indeed still quite the babe herself -- which really makes me hopeful for the future. Me, I plan on letting myself go as soon as my girlfriend and I get married.
Cheers. Time to actually study for a couple of hours.
413. Seguine - 4/5/2000 6:40:50 PM
PE: "Dunhills are absolutely awful."
Pshaw. As of 1988, they were still far superior to American cigarettes of any variety.
But that's about when I quit, after waking up three mornings in a row having dreamed I smoked all the previous night.
Candide, I had forgotten about Sobranies, which were extremely cool indeed.
414. Candide - 4/5/2000 8:20:43 PM
ChristineO #411
What smoking did you do on stage?
415. Candide - 4/5/2000 8:21:40 PM
Seguine
AND I could blow smoke into the face of a tenor!
416. Indiana Jones - 4/5/2000 8:22:14 PM
If any Motier is a member of Mensa, I would like to ask a favor of you. Please email me: IndianaJones@resourceful.com.
Thanks.
417. Candide - 4/5/2000 8:28:29 PM
I've got a bet on who is and I BET I'm right. Not saying whom.
418. Indiana Jones - 4/6/2000 11:55:48 AM
soupisgoodfood: I have temporarily disabled HTML in your posts and am notifying wabbit. If you'd like it reinstated, please email her or me.
During wabbit's absence, I will disable HTML for anyone who deliberately distorts the Mote's interface or otherwise uses HTML to interfere with other community members' access to the Mote, other than in the Inferno or Try the Mote.
419. Seguine - 4/6/2000 1:35:52 PM
NOTICE:
I am thinking about linking to this thread a list of public (Hotmail and the like) email addresses for Mote members who wish to have a centralized resource through which they might contact each other easily.
No address would be listed without permission. Only addresses that Mote members explicitly requested to be linked would be included in the list. An "explicit" request would be one made publicly, in this thread. Addresses could be removed from the list in the same manner, or by contacting me (or any future host of this thread) privately.
Responses to this proposal (support for and objections to) will be entertained here for the next 48 hours, or until I make a decision.
420. AceofSpades - 4/6/2000 1:37:07 PM
I think it's a good idea, Seguine.
421. theDiva - 4/6/2000 1:39:08 PM
Yes, it is. Here's mine:
jazzdeev@yahoo.com
422. Indiana Jones - 4/6/2000 1:39:48 PM
I agree. Please add my email: IndianaJones@resourceful.com
423. Adrianne - 4/6/2000 1:42:17 PM
Adrianne3@hotmail.com
424. PincherMartin - 4/6/2000 1:44:35 PM
PincherMartin@yahoo.com
425. 109109 - 4/6/2000 1:45:42 PM
slawyer@hotmail.com
426. Seguine - 4/6/2000 1:48:43 PM
seguine@hotmail.com
427. AceofSpades - 4/6/2000 1:51:33 PM
Kevin_Blackthorn@yahoo.com
Not my real name. A rather embarassing made-up name. I should have just called myself "Flash_SteelyGaze"
428. 109109 - 4/6/2000 1:52:27 PM
Also, and this is just a suggestion Seguine, but on your list, it would be nice to see the city of residence for the person, if they so choose. I'm in Washington, D.C. and I do some traveling. I'd like to know where others are should I be coming their way, and I'd like people to feel free to email me if they are heading into D.C.
And then maybe, Turn-Ons (sunsets, gentlemen, Top Gun) and Turn-offs (rude people, dog sled races, Montel).
429. PsychProf - 4/6/2000 1:53:50 PM
ozzienelson@hotmail.com
430. Dusty - 4/6/2000 1:55:59 PM
Indiana Jones
Good call.
soup messed up the interface in Try the Mote, and did not, despite my request, fix the change.
Lest someone start whining about different rules for different folks, I wouldn't urge suspension generally if someone makes a change in Try the Mote that they cannot fix. However, soup is known to be HTML proficient, and neither attempted to change the settings back, nor asked for help. Still, this would merely be the sign of an asshole if this is all that happened, and I don't support suspensions for "merely" being an asshole. "Try the Mote" is a thread for experimenting, and it would be a close call to suspend someone for experimenting in that thread, even if we were sure it wasn't an accident.
However, once soup learned that the HTML commands would, in fact, mess up our interface, s/he made the changes in another thread, requiring post deletions to fix the problem.
If I were in charge, I might have opted for a warning, but bending over backwards to accommodate adolescents hasn't worked with other trouble-makers, so I support IJ's decision. I'll let wabbit decide on the appropriate length of time.
BTW, I'm making this post because some of the evidence of soup's misdeeds has been erased as part of the recovery procedures, and I don't want others to think that this decision may seem like over kill given the (remaining) evidence.
431. Seguine - 4/6/2000 1:56:00 PM
Yeah, but then someone would probably call you Gash-Bloody Gauze, or Smash Steely Dan, or Hash Mealyworm, or something like that. And you would weep and weep.
432. Seguine - 4/6/2000 2:02:33 PM
Sorry so sluggish of me, my last should have been directed at Ace's Message # 427.
Niner, I'm slightly leery of providing any extra info in this list. But I'm not extremely averse to it and would be interested in hearing what others have to say about your suggestion.
433. 109109 - 4/6/2000 2:05:27 PM
Seg
Well, the Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs was a joke, though it should be required if anyone posts a centerfold spread with their email.
Bu a list that states
109109 - slawyer@hotmail.com (Washington, D.C.) seems valuable.
And those who want to keep their residence in Fat City a mystery may do so.
434. theDiva - 4/6/2000 2:07:32 PM
does this mean no centerfolds of Niner?
435. AceofSpades - 4/6/2000 2:08:19 PM
If most moties provide a hotmail address, it can't fit on the butterscotch bar.
Ergo, perhaps we should just have a single page containing this information, along with any sorts of biographical information a Motie wants to offer.
436. theDiva - 4/6/2000 2:09:02 PM
We could link it in from the Cafe, too.
437. 109109 - 4/6/2000 2:09:05 PM
Diva
Of course not.
But I'm gettin