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July 22, 2005
shooting
I’ve been amazed at how cool the kids I’ve spoken to have been about the bombs and everything. Apoa was genuinely shocked today, though, when she heard about police shooting someone on the tube. She acted like she couldn’t believe it. ‘But that’s the death penalty!’ she said. She couldn’t believe the police would administer justice on the spot. I pointed out that we don’t know what was happening yet and we had a discussion about the law on self-defence and stuff as well. There’s a discussion of this going at the Guardian’s newsblog just now.
I have no time to blog at the moment as I’m trying to get my stuff out of my office before they move everything to the new campus and get everything sorted before we go camping tomorrow. Hoping to catch a glimpse of Ohna overnight on the way. Wish I had time to tell you about the conference I just got back from. Some other time.
B
Posted by Billy at 2:02 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2005
inventor of Klingon dies
inttranews - inventor of Klingon dies
Here’s how inttranews reported it:
London, UK (Times Online): The actor James Doohan who died on July 20 after achieving cult status as the chief engineer ‘Scotty’ in Star Trek, is credited with devising the Klingon language that featured in that film. Although Klingon was later refined by linguist Marc Okrand into a full-fledged language of its own, Doohan can be credited with formulating the world’s most popular artificial language — Shakespeare and parts of the Bible have been translated into it.
For more information, please visit:
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1701993,00.html
Funny to see the whole Star Trek phenomenon described as ‘that film’. If you’re interested in carrying out more research on Klingon, visit the Klingon Language Institute
B-)
Posted by Billy at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2005
web-based stylistics
Not everything’s working just now but if you want to play with what the course I’m attending today is about it’s at:
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/stylistics/
B-)
Posted by Billy at 1:56 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2005
pattern-finder
Pattern-Finder is pretty cool. I’m not sure I agree that humans couldn’t do what it does, but it makes it easier to notice things and is bound to be useful for teachers.
B-)
Posted by Billy at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
REM
Well, I’ve done the first exercise so I’ll sneak the time to tell you about the REM concert which I went to on Saturday with Kiloh and 84,998 other folk. It was a great evening and an excellent show, aurally and visually. The highlight was watching Kiloh and Susie bouncing and waving their arms, but I also enjoyed the Scottish voice shouting ‘Come on! play Nightswimming, for fuck’s sake!’ (they did eventually - I was expecting to hear him shout ‘About fucking time!’)
I read two reviews so far, one of which said there was no reference to the bombs that caused the postponement (if it’d been a week ago as planned, Ohna and Apoa would’ve come too). Didn’t they hear him say ‘I am not afraid’ a thousand times while those words were endlessly repeated on the screen?
B-}
Posted by Billy at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)
sampa
I’m finally finding out about SAMPA
B-)
Posted by Billy at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)
pattern finding
I can never resit sneaky blogging when I’m meant to be doing something else. Right now I’m at a workshop learning about Pattern-Finder, software for finding (phonetic) patterns in texts. Will let you know more when I do.
B-)
Posted by Billy at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2005
Language Log: Learning the ropes in the trenches with Dan Brown
I love Language Log
Skipping past Arnold Zwicky’s post on splitting infinitives in Rumpole of the Bailey, I came to more of Geoff Pullum’s analysis of the prose style of Dan Brown (haven’t read Dan Brown myself but I can tell you that Ohna and Apoa enjoyed the Da Vinci Code and that Apoa’s English teacher despises it). Do click on to read about the 256 names of Henning Mankell
Who says linguists are nerds?
B-)
Posted by Billy at 10:37 AM | Comments (1)
restless night
Took Apoa through to my bed when I got home last night. She’s off school again today. Kiloh came through at 4.30 saying she’d heard plates smashing and the dog barking next door. After some discussion we decided it was probably not what she thought and that it wasn’t worth calling in the middle of the night to check. At 7.30 Andrew phoned from Ireland to ask me to check on Donal who said he’d phone when he got home last night but hadn’t phoned. I went round to find the house very quiet apart from a not-tuned-in radio playing upstairs. Donal was bleary but fine.
I encouraged Kiloh to keep her ears open. She has scared off burglars from their garden in the past.
B-)
Posted by Billy at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
help
Have you ever found a conversation so strange that your anxiety takes on human form and rushes round the room screaming ‘get me out’?
B-)
Posted by Billy at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
rationality and cycling
Blitz spirit? On your bike - Comment - Times Online
There’ve been a lot of conversations recently about rationality and the extent to which it does and doesn’t affect our behaviour. This article points out that, statistically, cycling is infinitely more dangerous than using the tube even though sales of bikes have shot up in the past week in London.
B-)
Posted by Billy at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
phone saga continues
Well, they just delivered the wrong phone. They’re trying again on Monday. In the meantime, I can use this different one. It has all the same functions but not the all-important radio. I wasn’t sure I’d bother with it since my ancient phone still works but Apoa wants to play with it and I want to play with the camera over the weekend.
B-)
Posted by Billy at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2005
end of the mobile
Well, the groovy new phone is going back to the shop tomorrow and they’re bringing me a new one. Still, I’ve already had a fair amount of photo fun (helped by both girls being off school today) and spent around a day working out how to do things and getting my old contacts onto the new phone. Now I’m about to spend half a day getting them back again. B-)
And Robbie and I have exchanged photos between here and Cyprus. I’m glad to see Robbie is blogging again. Got to work out that Cyprus/Hastings lifeshare for him.
B-)
Posted by Billy at 2:39 PM | Comments (0)
English language
I’ve just been looking through one of Apoa’s English books. She’s looking at etymology and language variation and change. It’s really impressive how it moves from one interesting topic to another. Her current homework is to write a letter to Prince Charles to try to persuade him that the English language syllabus shouldn’t just be about literature. One line she’s taking is to point out that if you don’t do language work you can’t really understand Beowulf. Meanwhile, QCA are consulting on what should be in the various English curricula.
B-)
Posted by Billy at 9:15 AM | Comments (0)
popping spoffles
I don’t believe this but I like it anyway (from those bad popbitch people):
Many moons ago, when Hugh Laurie and Sir Stephen of Fry were just becoming ‘known’, they were interviewed on a BBC radio show. Mr Fry asked what the foam covers on the end of the mics were called. To which Mr Laurie said, ‘They’re called ‘Spoffles’ and they prevent what’s known as ‘Popping’. Mr Fry, the Host and the Engineer were all impressed by Mr Laurie’s knowledge and the interview continued.
Years passed, and once again Fry and Laurie were in a radio studio. The Engineer said something like he’ll just adjust the Spoffle. Mr Laurie says, ‘The what?’ And the Engineer explains that this is what the foam things are called. ‘Good Lord,’ laughs Mr Laurie, ‘I made that word up on the spot years ago in a studio!’
B-)
Posted by Billy at 7:30 AM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2005
mobile life
[PICTURE REMOVED AT REQUEST OF SUBJECT]
Had a nice day at Alice and Justin’s picnic on Sunday. Played a couple of hours of football until Tim ruined it by pointing out that grown-ups were taking a game against five-year-olds a little too seriously. Mai came with some friends and a birthday cake. Nicki came with Clemmie and they came home for tea and a bit of a play afterwards. And a Lancaster Bomber, a spitfire and a hurricane flew over fresh from dropping poppies on the mall.
This was likely to be the last we see of Ohna for a few weeks as she gets back from Milan just after we all leave for summer camp and we all get back from that just after she goes to New York B-(
After years of being the one with the ancient bashed-up phone, I leapt to the other extreme the other day and got a phone that does all those groovy things like taking photos, browsing the web, bluetooth, etc. My favourite feature is the radio as I won’t have to think about packing one now. I hoped to be able to send Ohna some photos while she’s away but phone and blackberry technology has been defeating us so flickr should do the job. This is the first pic I took.
B-)
Posted by Billy at 3:27 PM | Comments (0)
July 8, 2005
graduation
I’m sitting in my office wearing a ‘suit’ (well, as close as I get) having spent the morning at our graduation ceremony. It’s always good to see students when they’ve got their degrees. Three students shared our ‘outstanding academic achievement’ award and they had all taken at least some modules with us, which was great. Even if there was a bit of confusion onstage about who had one, and Hanna’s prize-winning wasn’t even mentioned. As I type, I’m also listening to a really good compilation Hanna made for us (I’m on ‘Crap’ by the Tiger Lillies right now).
Came back on the tube and I can report that everything seems very normal. Everyone looks like they normally do. The only differences were one policeman (not sure if this was a one-off or one of many) and attendants at the rear door on the overground train (ditto). Apart from that, it seemed like any other day.
Hope it doesn’t seem wrong to notice linguistic things in this context, but I do find it interesting how we adopt each other’s phrases more quickly than usual when we have to make difficult public statements. ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with…’ is absolutely standard now. Yesterday ‘cowed’ became a word that everybody used (‘…we will not be cowed…’). Hope I don’t get many more chances to notice things like this.
(Listening to ‘Sesame Street’ by The Singers Unlimited now)
B-)
PS Sample lyric of ‘Crap’:
There’s CRAP! on CD
It’s got to be CRAP!
It’s an in- dus- try
This CRAP makes me angry
This CRAP makes me sad
This CRAP
This CRAP
This CRAP
Is so bad
(love the backing vocals too: ‘crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap…’
Sample lyric of ‘Sesame Street’ (even though you know them)
Sweeping the
Clouds away
On my way
To where the air is sweet
Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street?
(love the bass on this one)
Posted by Billy at 3:57 PM | Comments (1)
July 7, 2005
London bombs
Thought I should post to tell family and friends that me, Ohna and the kids are OK. Ohna is in the chaos of central London and can’t text or phone anyone.
Posted by Billy at 11:30 AM | Comments (2)
July 1, 2005
storms and politics
Had a really nice woodcraft evening on Tuesday night. We did a peace walk in town which was bookended by fantastic thunderstorms with sheets of rain sweeping through and flash-flooding Trafalgar Square and then Parliament Square. The second one came on as we were talking to Brian Haw who’s still there with his tent and display. We failed to find Mountbatten at the Ministry of Defence but the kids were excited to spot a see-through tardis with a man inside it in the car park. They then noticed Downing Street and spontaneously started chanting ‘cancel third world debt!’ until they were hoarse. At the South African Embassy, Apoa was extremely shocked to discover that it was only ten years since the end of apartheid.
B-)
Posted by Billy at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
balloons in bulger
Message from Kim:
I found a balloon once – along at Bulger Harbour from a fair up the Moray Coast – I got a £ 5 Book Token for returning it…………
B-)
Posted by Billy at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)