from the serious to the ridiculous
It came up at work yesterday, for a story about a guy who allegedly made harassing calls to a Middle Eastern man, and whose house contained the martial arts weapon upon being searched by authorities.
The Oxford English Dictionary weighs in where Webster’s is silent.
Nunchaku it is, singular and plural.
below is an IM conversation i had with a coworker earlier today concerning my suggestion for how to spell the letters of the alphabet. it entertained me, but that’s not saying much. not hard to do.
Here and There: we is HQ
Here and There: hee hee
Beth W.: aitch-queue
Here and There: did you see my blog entry on spelling the alphabet?
Beth W.: I don’t think so!
Here and There: lemme find
Beth W.: I did see the one about the equator though
Beth W.: Does google have it in for the equator??
Here and There: http://www.hereandthereblog.com/2007/03/31/spelling-the-alphabet/
Here and There: they must
Here and There: prolly wants to acquire the ‘tor
Beth W.: Whoa, I disagree with you on I there
Beth W.: I think it’s eye
Beth W.: not Iy
Beth W.: and oh, not oe
Beth W.: *fussypants*
Beth W.: And, why is it Emm and Enn, but Es?
Beth W.: Where’s the humanity?
Beth W.: *shakes you by the shoulders*
Here and There: comment!
Beth W.: meh, can’t be arsed to sign in
Here and There: that’s why i wrote that one
Here and There: huh?
Here and There: you kid, no?
Beth W.: my ‘can’t be arsed’ meter is pegged on ‘high’ at the mo’
Here and There: and how the hell is “eye” i?
Here and There: eye is “eh-yeh”
Beth W.: nooo
Here and There: sure it is
Here and There: eye is a word in english, therefore not phonetic AT ALL
Beth W.: How do you prounounce the name of your ocular sensory organs?
Here and There: sure
Here and There: but
Here and There: you just made my point
Here and There: that’s english
Beth W.: Mmmhmm
Beth W.: And?
Here and There: um, need i say? F english
Here and There: how do you say “i”
Beth W.: I say it the same way I say “eye”
Here and There: it ends wtih a slight y sound
Here and There: but e is eh or ee
Beth W.: Well, the second e in “eye” IS silent.
Here and There: y is ya
Here and There: in english it is
Here and There: spelling the alphabet isn’t english, per se
Beth W.: But even your list isn’t standardized across all English accents and dialects
Here and There: i think yiou have more to say
Here and There: haha
Beth W.: you didn’t answer the Emm/Es thing
Beth W.: also the Brits pronounce Z as “Zed”
Here and There: you’ve got a valid point there
Beth W.: Yay, finally a valid point
Here and There: right, it’s based on american english pronounciation of the letters themselves
Here and There: but
Here and There: hahha
Here and There: touche
Beth W.: but?
Here and There: american english letters, but phonetic spelling of such
Here and There: a and i are related
Beth W.: Did you make these up?
Here and There: therefore, both should be constructed similarly
Here and There: oh god, yes
Here and There: can’t you tell?
Here and There: haha
Beth W.: you ARE defending them rather stridently
Here and There: hahaha
Here and There: i love the spirit of the debate though
Beth W.: it’s too bad we don’t go drinking more
Beth W.: we could clear whole bars with this kind of debate
I know I’m wrong. I must be wrong. I’m usually wrong, after all.
But last night on the commute home, I randomly started wondering whether Iraq sits to the north, south, or close to (on) the equator.
When I got home, the first place I sought my answer was, naturally, Google Earth, admittedly one of the coolest/dorkiest applications out there.
But damn me if I could find a way to view the equator on the gad-blasted thing. I mean, Iraq, that was easy. I just typed the country’s name into the application’s search field and hit enter.
Then I scrolled through the different layers offered by Google Earth, and lo and behold, no equator.
Someone help me solve this? Surely the best app ever has an equator feature? I did manage to find this, a great 3D model of the equator. But I have to imagine there’s a default-worthy feature that would include lines of latitude and longitude, meridians, etc. Right?
FTR: Iraq is indeed well north of the equator. In fact, it rests on a latitudinal plane shared by the United States, just one degree south of Los Angeles.
Does anyone know of a phone out there whose screen stays on the entire time a call is in progress? Seems absurd, I realize. Annoying as fuck, also. But no phone I’ve ever had performs this simple function, which of course would allow the user to a) tell time, b) browse text messages, c) access contact info, all while also taking a call.
I’ve asked many friends and coworkers, and no one seems to have a phone that does this. Do you know of one?
Seems many people out there agree that iPhone hype was a lot of hot air. Namely, Maddox.
I just don’t get what the big deal is. There’ve been products out there with all or more of the capabilities, and ones with keyboards. Ones whose screens aren’t touched and don’t smudge. Ones whose use isn’t limited, necessarily, to one carrier.
What the iPhone does have that other smart phones doesn’t is a Mac OSX interface. I’ll give it that. And visual voicemail is pretty cool and should be standard by now. I also like the idea of text messages that look, feel, and work more like email or IM, wherein you see all the messages in a conversation.
Other than that, I’m perfectly happy with my RAZR, seemingly the most ubiquitous phone ever. You could say the iPod of phones. I give Apple a year to make basic improvements to the iPhone before deciding I’ll simply never have one.
Not sure I could ever a) send 1,200 texts a day, nor b) get fired because of it.
That said, it wouldn’t be beyond me to enter a contest like our poor, poor Leszek. A bus driver trying to win his own car. Poetic, indeed.
A friend who works at a bookstore in Seattle sent me the following story today:
“last night I locked a tiny person in the bookstore. he must have been curled up in the corner somewhere. just wanted to caution those of you who lock up your places of work — it’s not always enough to holler loudly and assume everyone is off the premises. a tiny person may be sleeping off a bender, and not hear you! and it’s really a drag when your boss calls you at midnight because you locked a tiny person in the store.”
Hours later, this response, from another friend, thought not directly related, followed:
“is there an epidemic? i can’t say that he was tiny, but last week i locked one of my plumbers in the office.”
Ah, life …
I’ve often wished there were a way to collect and retrieve data about yourself. You know, without diagnosable OCD or autism, a way to tap into such facts as:
How many steps I’ve ever taken
How many times I’ve eaten at my favorite taqueria
How many hours I’ve spent online
How many times I’ve pooped
How long my fingernails would be if I had never cut them
So, if there’s a god (or if anyone from MIT is reading), it sure would be great if this could happen. I mean, wouldn’t that be a great trade-off for having to die?
“Okay, yeah, you’re not gonna live forever, but after you die, you get to know any and all facts about yourself (and hell, while I’m at it, everything else) you could possibly want to know.”
Or, a weekend adventure in Central Coast California.
(Warning: This is a long travelblogue post)
We left the Bay Area sometime shortly after midnight Thursday (technically Friday, but I’ve never been one to relent to the nextdayness of post-midnight hours). We drove straight through down U.S. Highway 101 from San Francisco to Paso Robles, a distance of 204 miles. We took the first exit in PR and meandered some back roads, eventually heading back toward 101 to a motel parking lot, where we parked and did our best to sleep.
Next morning (now, admittedly, Friday) we had breakfast at Denny’s. We got mistaken there for a couple who had come to the “restaurant” months ago and left upon feeling altogether ignored by the Denny’s staff. Nope, not us.
After our “meal” (read: pancakes with piles of “strawberry” goo), we headed down state Highway 46 eastdound to Firestone winery, a modernish estate with few visitors at 10:30 a.m.
A very friendly worker treated us (and they allowed Gida to come inside) to a nice, $5 tasting of five-plus wines. We left with a bottle of Cabernet Franc Rosé and Riesling.
After a short pause to sober up completely, it was time to head west on 46 to Eagle Castle.
The woman pouring our wine here was less than enthusiastic, yawning and just barely looking us in the eye. Maybe it had something to do with her glittery “Wine Princess” shirt. The wines were mediocre, but they did offer a nice late harvest Viognier that we picked up. And, I mean, it’s a castle. WIth a moat.
Hunt Cellars was our anamoly winery. The only reason we stopped off here was the namesake factor. Unlike most other area wineries, Hunt had shade trees, and it was hot, so we cooled off a bit before tasting.
Oddly, the tasting room’s decor smacked of my parents’ house in Texas:
More mediocre wines, but I felt compelled to buy some member of my family a bottle, so I left with their “Moonlight Sonata” Chardonnay. Interestingly, Hunt’s winemaker, David Hunt, is blind. That doesn’t stop him from being photographed for multiple chamber of commerce-type photos, sans protective shades.
It was here that the first celebrity mistaken-identity incident took place. “You look like, ah god, who is it?” “Andy Dick,” I replied, without hesitation. “That’s it!” he said. “And she looks like someone, too.” “Angelina?” “Yes!!! What’s up, Brad?”
From Hunt Cellars, we drove farther west on 46 to what was billed as “punk rock wine,” Four Vines. I wasn’t disappointed. First of all, they let Gida in and gave her treats. Nice. Secondly, upon entering the tiny tasting room, a very loud winery worker launched into how much I looked like Andy Dick. Wow, I thought, is my hair that curly today? “I hope I’m just not half as annoying as that guy,” I said, spending my stock response all at once.
Four Vines was great. Very down-to-earth, both in wine and people. We ended up buying a bottle of their “Loco” Tempranillo blend, but tasting “Naked” chardonnay, “Maverick” zinfindel, and, honestly, I forget what else. And we were graced with Four Vines tattoos.
Then we continued down a beautiful stretch of road to Cayucos, a non-sleepy coastal town. To change into beach clothes, we stopped into the Cayucos Saloon, whose motto is “Liquor in the front, poker in the rear.” I know, original, eh? I’m bummed I forgot to get a T-shirt or hoodie from that place.
Wine tasting finished for the day, we plopped over to the beach and did a little relaxing and a little wading. Well, not wading exactly. The water was still so cold, I only allowed my ankles such a privilege.
We finished the trek to San Luis Obispo, driving past Morro Rock, which had just begun to be enveloped in fog, and some lovely smoke stacks.
Down the road from our motel was the famous Madonna Inn. I’ll let photo tell the story.
We ended up having decent-enough Mexican food at Vallarta in SLO.
Next morning, we presciently choose IHOP over Applebee’s for breakfast, then made our way to Tolosa winery. Tolosa had great wines and a very modern design. Here, we did a spot of vineyard frolicking, then took off with our Chardonnays and bottles of Pinot Gris in tow.
On to Edna Valley vineyard, with its crowds and excellent views.
In the parking lot at Edna Valley, we saw a stretch-limo version of the ZZ Top car.
It was basically a newly made, old-timey car, and tiny as hell inside. But what eye candy.
Our last winery, Talley, was the best. It came recommended by a friend, and though the tasting room itself was nothing to write home about, the wines were superb. We left with a 2005 Riesling and a 2005 late harvest Riesling. From the Bishop’s Peak Vineyard, with whom Talley partners, we got a Paso Robles rosé, a 2004 petite sirah [sic], and 2005 “Stone Cold” Chardonnay, easily the best late harvest Chardonnay I’ve ever had.
After a quick stop for lunch in Arroyo Grande, which ended up being a failed attempt to find paninis, we ended the trip with a stop at Avila Beach. Avila had been billed as having the warmest waters in the region, and what sage advice that was. It was a nice, long beach, and surprisingly, the hundreds of people out enjoying the warm weather didn’t bother me. What did was the fact that Avila doesn’t allow dogs on its beach before 5 p.m. What???
The water is warm there because its mostly protected from the current by a jut of land out into the ocean. Nice work, earth. We got in up to our waists, a rarity in the Pacific.
On the three-hour trip back home, we decided all the warm weather and beach dwelling inspired a seafood dinner, and so we went to PJ’s Oyster Bed in San Francisco.
All in all, it was a highly recommended easy weekend getaway from San Francisco or Los Angeles. And, as with every trip I’ve taken since I moved to SF seven years ago, I was happy to be home, even if it was cold and foggy.
Why, just this last weekend, I and my travel companion deliberated between Applebee’s and IHOP while visiting San Luis Obispo (more on that trip coming in travelblogue form). Today, we find out one is eating up the other. In the end, we chose IHOP, mostly due to its breakfast-centricity. It was a wise choice, as today’s news bears out.
Out of pure spite, I decided not to attend today’s one-hour “blessing” of the new San Francisco Federal Building. I had tried twice in the past, only to be either mislead or have attitude flung at me by people who are, essentially, my employees (true, they’re also self-employed).
Those who did see the building’s interior feel free to comment. I plan on going after presumed crowds have died down.
