"If there's one thing that can be said, it is that yesterday's cultural pessimists were more interesting than the pessimists of today."
HT: Marginal Revolution
the most delightful sentence I read today.
risky vs risque
"risky" is an adjective meaning, "attended with or involving risk; hazardous: a risky undertaking."
"risque" is also an adjective, but means, "daringly close to indelicacy or impropriety; off-color: a risqué story."
I notice a lot of people use "risque" when they mean "risky." Why, I have no idea, but based on their drawn-out enunciation of it, I figure it's because it sounds foreign and, hence, sophisticated. But to paraphrase George Orwell, never use a foreign term when there's an English equivalent--especially when said foreign term is neither foreign nor appropriate.
what's the shortest sentence in the english language?
"Go" is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
HT to our friend, Melissa.
cease and decease
Here's one for you: If "cease" means, "to stop; discontinue," and the prefix "de" means, "removal, separation, negation, etc." then shouldn't "decease" mean the negation of cessation?
he's not right on the money
I take on corporate giant Michael Moore in my review of Capitalism: A Love Story, read it here.
How to get your comment noticed on Roger Ebert's blog.
In case you haven't read it, you can read Ebert's blog here.
The comments generally run in the few-hundreds, but, if you're like me (in that you want to read the blogger's responses to some of the comments) you look for the bold-faced end-notes that say Ebert: and then follow with his response..
With all the invective that goes on in the comments section, I'm surprised no-one's put words in his mouth. I don't think I'd do it--or if I would, not maliciously, but I figure that others would similarly be on the lookout for bold text, so were I to post a comment, I would include a bolded citation just to give other readers pause.
Some other bloggers, such as Tyler Cowen over at Marginal Revolution, usually refrain from commenting in the comments section, and when he does, it's only to correct an improper citation or clarify a statement in the original post that his readers have misread--never to argue. And he does it without adding in bold his own thoughts to the comment. That may be the wisest way to do so.
I read a lot of blogs, and Ebert's is the first I've read that comments on comments in such a way. I hope it's not exploited, but it likely will be.
Anyway, here's my comment on his latest.
In the Words Part I
Sorry for the dearth of posts lately. I'm writing an autobiography of writing. You can read Part I here: http://frothygirlz.com/2009/09/14/in-the-words/
oh yeah
Already I have heard from a few people who don’t want to see it “because it’s Japanese.” This is solid-gold ignorance. “Is it only dubbed?” I was asked. You dummy! All animated films are dubbed! Little Nemo can’t really speak!
That's your head-smack moment of the day, brought to you by Roger Ebert's review of Ponyo
notes on goats
From Wikipedia:
Female goats are referred to as does or nannies, intact males as bucks or billies; their offspring are kids. Castrated males are wethers. Goat meat from younger animals is called kid or cabrito, and from older animals is sometimes called chevon, or in some areas “mutton.”
what's a kubrick
"Kubrick" was chosen in honor of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. In further homage to the filmmaker, the Kubrick logo is designed in the style of the logo created for his movie A Clockwork Orange. By linguistic coincidence, the name Kubrick may also be seen as a hybrid word of the Japanese word kyu, meaning the number nine, and the English word brick.
More here.
evident vs apparent
evident means "based on the available evidence"; apparent means "based on evidence that may or may not be factually valid."
Huh?
Think of it this way: When you say something is evident, like, It's evident that gravity's responsible for the trailer backing over the cat, you suggest there's little to no doubt that that's what happened. However, when you say, It's apparent that gravity's responsible for the trailer backing over the cat you leave some room for doubt.
guthrie et voltaire
Arlo Guthrie on Woodstock, the nature of free concerts, and why he's a registered Republican.
My favorite line:
Have you ever seen “American Idol”?
No, I have never watched it. But I’m thankful we’re living in a world where we can actually afford to waste your time. What a great thing that is.
Somewhat related: Would you feel more insulted being called a Pollyanna or a Pangloss? Answer on Twitter, and I'll post some responses here.
thursday links
The worst poem ever scrawled.
Are political differences merely rhetorical?
What the Headline?: 'I love Jon,' Gosselin's new galpal gushes
William F. Buckley: Ping-pong pilferer.
The worst actor ever:
Coates claimed that he wanted to improve the classics. At the end of his first appearance as Romeo he came back in with a crowbar and tried to pry open Capulet's tomb. In another of his antics he made the actress playing Juliet so embarrassed that she clung to a pillar and refused to leave the stage. Eventually no actress would agree to play the part with him.
more on print from trunk
The more I read of Penelope Trunk, the more I wish I read more of her.
An oldie but goodie is her advice on how to get your blog mentioned in print. My favorite:
1. Don't pitch yourself, pitch an idea.
Yes, yes, yes, yes yes.
Unless you're a celebrity (or someone moderately famous and beddable [or just attractive and beddable]), you're going to be disappointed over how few people care to hear you talking about yourself.
One of the first things I learned in this business is that the people who have the fun jobs--writing editorials, the lyrical pieces, the humor column (well, to an extent)--are the guys and gals who made their bones by first writing really good, really informative articles--and that holds true in a lot of print mediums, not just magazines.
Number 5--answer questions strategically (read: succinctly, then flesh out the details if they ask) is another gem--the only thing I would add to it is, if you're explaining something, do it in terms of an anecdote. Nothing especially long--just four or five sentences--if you keep it interesting, informative, and short (and in that order), it'll be tough not to mention you.
Anyway, the whole thing's worth a read and available here.
Anyone else have some advice?
