Archives: March 2004
Tue Mar 30, 2004
The End of "at the end of the day"
It's not just me who wants to slap people for saying it; the Plain English Campaign supporters voted "at the end of the day" the most irritating phrase in the language. I reproduce their entire press release because there's no permanent way to link it. There are a few Britishisms in there that aren't familiar to me: "diamond geezer"? More...
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Mon Mar 29, 2004
Mordification of the Diction
I thought I would have fun looking through "Prints the Chaff" today at lunch. I love reading copy editor and editor blogs--it is so fun to feel superior. But today I read this list of frequently mispronounced words and was mortified to realize that I speak so many of them incorrectly. I know how to spell them, but I say them wrong. "cannidate," "dialate," "Febyuary," "mawv," "Tiajuana." Gack. But I'll keep saying "persnickety," the Scots can have their "pernickety."
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Thu Mar 25, 2004
More Spring Icons
We went to Waddell Creek yesterday. Everywhere were signs of spring. I was able to photograph some of them. One, I did not. More...
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Why I'm Not Married
Often, I don't agree with Alexander Cockburn, but I do agree with his position on gay marriage. In this essay, he writes: More...
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Tue Mar 23, 2004
Strong Secrets
Today I had to think up a strong password for a new system. It is always best to base a password on a phrase, and then make some of the letters numbers and some of the internal letters capitals. You've heard all that before. But I believe that your passwords should help you live in a higher life condition. More...
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My Spring Icons
Obviously, the cherry trees at McHenry are one everyone's favorite spring signs. I stopped by there today to return some library books. More...
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Mon Mar 22, 2004
Still Signs of the Old UCSC
I was testing the network by clicking on various UCSC webpages and came across this most excellent news about sports at UCSC. More...
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Sat Mar 20, 2004
Just Try Reading This Poem Aloud
Several years ago I found many instances of a poem, supposedly written by people NATO, that was used to teach English pronounciation. via Language Log, I have found the definitive source for "The Chaos." Gerard Nolst Trenite, the author of the poem according to this source, died before NATO was established (1949). More...
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Thu Mar 18, 2004
The Sound of Sappho's Songs
Until just recently, I had never heard ancient Greek spoken outloud. I had never heard Sappho's poetry in her language, and had only read it in English. Now through the miracle of audio streaming, you and I can hear her poetry at sites like Society for the Oral Reading of Greek and Latin Literature More...
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Mon Mar 15, 2004
Another Downtown Mystery
I was sitting on a bench outside of the Literary Guillotine last week, when I thought I saw something strange tied to a tree next to the library. More...
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Sea Dragon
Oh, if only the junk in the river could talk. The Sentinel had a better photo of this last week, but they don't include photos in the on-line edition. I wish I knew the story behind this. More...
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Sun Mar 14, 2004
What Time Is It?
The Santa Cruz Town Hall broke, and the hands had to be removed last week. Metro Nuz had a little story explaining the whole thing; search for "Cleaning Your Clock." Here's a photo I took last Wednesday night: More...
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Sat Mar 13, 2004
Koi Murderers: No Contest
As it turns out, the MTV film crew following the fraternity around recording their antics recorded the capture, murder, barbeque, and consumption of Goldie, a koi living in the pond at Porter College. "But MTV said they didn't know about it? Do people lie?" Yes, people do. Here's the Sentinel story. Two of the men were supposed to appear in court yesterday; one did; they both pleaded no contest; a bench warrent was issued for the missing one. They face up to two years in jail, but that's unlikely. More charges may be forthcoming.
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Tue Mar 09, 2004
What Preys on Banana Slugs?
The other day, behind the Environmental and Marine Sciences Building, I found this interpretation of UCSC's mascot and, uh, someone else's mascot. More...
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New Mural at City's Northern Entrance
I got this photo of the new mural at Upper Crust Pizza the other day. How wonderful that they spent the money on it, and just didn't leave it to deteriorate. More...
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Tourists In Santa Cruz, Litter Sidewalk with Luggage
Santa Cruz Surf
April 12, 1901 4:2
Tourists in Town
A large party of tourists arrived on the broad-gauge train yesterday afternoon. They occupied three cars. Things were lively around the St. George. The office being crowded with tourists and the sidewalk obstructed with a large amount of baggage it taking two drays to carry the trunks from the depot. Today the visitors have been sightseeing.
More...
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Body Found in San Lorenzo Valley
I'm working fairly steadily on my local history project, where I try to find old newspaper stories about the people who lived in my neighborhood a hundred years ago. But I keep getting sidestracked by odd little stories like this one. More...
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Mon Mar 08, 2004
Blood Sisters
A few weeks ago I picked up another remaindered gem: "Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent and Deadly Foe." It reads like a novel; Michael D'Antonio, the science writer, gets a well deserved by-line instead of simply ghost-writing it for the scientist, Andrew Spielman, Sc. D. I had no idea how common it was in the United States, even as recently as the 1930s, to die, DIE, of malaria. More...
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The Catholic Church is a Universal System
I read the Mark Morford's SF Gate Morning Fix for the language as well as the sympathetic opinions therein. The other day he wrote a blurb about the latest in the Catholic pederasty scandal that is an excellent example of his style. More...
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Virgos Make Better Drinkers
Here's a quiz that results in a poorly punctuated, but completely accurate of characterization of your drinking habits based on your Astrological Sign. Here's mine: More...
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Sun Mar 07, 2004
Early Example of SC Women Only Space
More than a hundred years ago, on Santa Cruz's Pacific avenue, about where Peet's Coffee and Noah's Bagels is now, Mr. A. I. Morrison operated a shooting gallery. In May of 1889, he opened it to women: More...
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Sat Mar 06, 2004
Lewis and Clark Travel Plan
Sunset magazine (March 22004) has a rather late article about Lewis and Clark tours; most publications made theirs available last summer. This one was the best written and easiest to follow. More...
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Fri Mar 05, 2004
Bible Fun
Now that gay marriage has been come this campaign's wedge issue, it's time for hilarity at the christians' expense. God Hates Shrimp is a quick parody, with a photoshoped photo of a real creepy protester. What's with the mask?
There's also Biblical Sense: Making Marriage Religious where the hypocrisy is written in terms that any sunday school student could understand. And while I'm at it the "Letter to Dr. Laura." Still funny, although it's been around a while.
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We Lost
We learned yesterday that we lost the union election. We lost big. I thought we might win by a thin margin. I feared that we might lose by a thin margin; I thought we might lose because of challenged votes; I thought we might lose because at the last minute a few too many undecided people would choose to vote "no." But what we learned is more than 1300 people who TOLD US THEY WOULD VOTE YES changed their minds without telling anyone. More...
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Wed Mar 03, 2004
Another Constitutional Amendment
Today this story is making the rounds, by Nicholas D. Kristof, who brings out from history the story of the Congressman who introduced a constitutional amendment in 1912 that would ban marriage between "Caucasians" and "Negroes." More...
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Tue Mar 02, 2004
Excoriation of the Mortgage
Another gem from the Santa Cruz Surf of 1899, giving a picture of how harmful mortgages are to our liberty. More...
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Mon Mar 01, 2004
Those Wacky Sacramentans
I read some of the pages at cockeyed.com and thoroughly embarrassed myself in the Cowell Coffee shop laughing out loud. Just try to read the "How Much is Inside VegeMite?" without giggling. Or, "How Much is Inside A Keg?" The pranks are great, and science experiments are amazing. A friend of mine has already made the Hot Pocket Dissection his wall paper. I'm so inspired. I'm even inspired to travel to Sacramento after reading his "Why would anyone want to visit Sacramento?" article. (Well, I was wanting to go anyway.)
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