Acronyms are fun! They are time-saving, mnemonic devices to remember a series of 2-10 words in a row. Radar, laser, scuba, sonar, aids, and Necco, acronyms are very productive in English. Ancient acronyms include SPQR and INRI. In Linguistics, coming up with a clever or at least memorable acronym for one’s corpus is an very important step in one’s research, apparently. CHILDES is, in fact, full of children’s speech while DOE, COLT, ICAME, ACE, LOB BASE, all fidget their letters to create speakable words. (COLT is Corpus of London Teenage Language.)
Erm, I think we’re losing sight of the real issue here, which is: what are we gonna call ourselves? Erm, and I think it comes down to a choice between “The League Against Salivating Monsters” or my own personal preference, which is “The Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into Society.” Erm, one drawback with that: the abbreviation is “CLITORIS.”
[and then suddenly…]
April 16, 2012
in Autobiographical,Words & Origins
1. In The Garage – Weezer
I write these stupid songs, I write these stupid words, and I love every one.
2. Across the Sea – Weezer
Goddamn, this business is really lame.
3. I Suck ft. Rivers Cuomo – Mark Ronson
I suck. What the fuck.
April 16, 2012
in Music,Playlists,short list
1. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
2. I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise – Rufus Wainwright (cover)
3. Come Downstairs and Say Hello – Guster
4. Creepin Up the Backstairs – The Fratellis
April 9, 2012
in Music,Playlists,short list
This is a companion post to last month’s Alcoholic Watergate Hamburgers post. (I just learned that a com-pan-ion is someone with whom you eat bread. So adorable.)
So my friend [ɦɑnɑ] has been playing Jeremina Paxmina for the University of York University Challenge team for the last few months, and while their fate in the tournament is a mystery until July, Hannah’s involvement in British quizzing got me to look into the serious fare offered in the UK. Here’s what I found: Serious British quiz shows are MEAN. They are unforgiving, humorless, exacting, and demanding of minutiae in zero seconds. I checked out University Challenge episodes on Youtube, as well as Only Connect, a Question of Genius, Countdown, Eggheads, and Mastermind.
My favorite of the bunch is Only Connect, which ruthlessly demands teams to find the connection between words with the fewest clues possible. (I made my own Only Connect Wall but I wasn’t able to upload it onto the site.) On the Champions of Champions episode last August, one question revealed the word Marathon, followed by Hamburger, Alcoholic, and finally Watergate. Having recently written about this, I knew the connection when I saw Hamburger.
[and then suddenly…]
March 22, 2012
in best post ever,career,english,greek,IPA,neologism,wordnik,Words & Origins,yiddish
Well folks, it’s been a wild ride.
This project was directly motivated by Ms. Shelley and the PDX Fun-a-Day project. On the record, the York Uke 30 project took a little longer than 30 days due to unforeseen schoolwork and illness. To view the full playlist, go to the York Uke 30 on Youtube.
I think I’ve been the most shocked at the videos with the most views: Public Property, I Am A Wizard, and Decomposing Composers. I’m not sure if I filled a certain ukulele youtube void, or if it was just the luck of the digital draw.
From the player’s perspective, my favorite songs are the ones in which I sing the instrumental breaks:
24: Friend is a Four Letter Word by Cake
21: Something by the Beatles
17: Sad Songs and Waltzes by Cake
13. Where Is My Mind? by the Pixies
8: Then I Met You by The Proclaimers
6: Mother of Pearl by Nellie McKay
4. I’ll Follow the Sun by the Beatles
[and then suddenly…]
March 19, 2012
in 2012,Autobiographical,cake,coulton,elsewhere,legitimate playlist,Music,Playlists,ukulele,wizard rock
I break into song a lot, and this trait seems to manifest exponentially during my radio show. Tonight, I was talking about Becky’s 366 Days in the Life photoblog and how I’m famous because of a picture when I heard someone open the door to the radio station. I couldn’t see them at first, and so I nervously sang “I hope they don’t kill me.”
Hear the clip: Don’t Kill Me
I’ve included the full 90 second arc from mentioning Becky’s blog to joyfully wishing Ali a happy birthday. I have done this as a study in panic and the danger of death question. I’m pretty sure it’s the best moment of any of my radio shows, including the 4 years at KDUP.
Subliminal Panda DJ (still alive)
Also Happy Birthday to Finnegan from Tinker’s people!
March 18, 2012
in Autobiographical,best post ever,end of the world,Music,singing,Subliminal Panda,University of York,URY
