I’d have bet money that Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” would easily destroy the competition, but apparently science has confirmed that the most annoying sound ever is…whining. Remarkably, the Boys from New Jersey couldn’t even crack the top 10.
I’d have bet money that Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” would easily destroy the competition, but apparently science has confirmed that the most annoying sound ever is…whining. Remarkably, the Boys from New Jersey couldn’t even crack the top 10.
I spent last Friday checking out a small portion of the Columbia Plateau Trail with my son Jake.
From the Cheney trailhead, we walked to Turnbull NWR, where we watched and listened to what must have been about 20,000 species of birds, give or take a thousand.
It’s a well-maintained trail system, with multiple entry points, clean restrooms, water stations, and easy access for all manner of people. And, of course, signs like this:
Regular readers of the last word will no doubt recognize the comma splice, which we’ve covered here, here, and, most recently, here.
Am I surprised? Not really. It’s stuff like this—from no less an authority than the state government, presumably—that perpetuates illiteracy. What really boggles the mind is that at no point during the process of writing, designing, fabricating, and installing these signs did someone stop, scratch his head, and say, “Wait a sec—that’s not right.”
C’mon, Washington State Parks. You’re better than this. Aren’t you?
Johann Hari has some thoughts on e-readers that we hadn’t considered in our June 14 post.
He’s not opposed to e-books in principal. But the more they’re capable of doing, he says, the less they’re able to preserve those aspects of dead-tree books that we actually need.
“The object needs to remain dull,” Hari writes, “so the words – offering you the most electric sensation of all: insight into another person’s internal life – can sing.”
Sounds downright reactionary.
Fancy the good old days when the swastika didn‘t symbolize a murderous regime? Looking forward to joining others in welcoming the return of our alien-scientist creators?
World Swastika Rehabilitation Day (WOSRED) will be celebrated on June 26 through marches and informative events worldwide, according to a statement released this morning by the International Raelian Movement (IRM).
Nearly twenty cities—Vancouver, BC among them—are preparing for the “hundreds, or, hopefully, thousands of people” arriving to participate in marches and informative events.
“The goal is to return the swastika’s true meaning of peace and harmony to this ancient symbol regretfully hijacked by the Nazis,” said Brigitte Boisselier, Ph.D., IRM spokesperson.
You don’t say? And where did this ancient symbol come from, Brigitte?
“It’s part of the symbol given to us by the human scientists from another planet who created us, the Elohim – those who are at the origin of all religions.…Already in 1973, the Elohim were telling us that there is no beginning to an infinite universe, and this concept of infinity is essential to grasp before we can continue to advance scientifically from where we are now. By promoting the swastika, we’re actually helping the world scientists who have a few minutes to share with us. They need to make this major paradigm shift to progress!”
Just a couple of days ago, I wrote about my daughter Haley’s quest to get into a prestigious design school and some of the entrance challenges facing aspiring designers these days—as compared to my own experience back in the Dark Ages. I left off with “Drum roll, please…” since her acceptance had not yet been determined.
Today, she received the final answer: “Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the UW Division of Design.”
This, my friends, is what happens when you leave a trombone player unsupervised for a couple of weeks.
It’s probably a good idea I’m not smart enough to engineer one of these things. Otherwise, the entire string section from the EWU Symphony Orchestra circa 1985–89 might not be with us today.
Life was really simpler when I attended college.
I remember casually taking the SAT test one Saturday in high school, but I couldn’t possibly tell you the results (nor do I want to know). These days, GPA, SAT/ACT scores, AP courses – not to mention how much you help the poor – are all measures pored over by college admissions.
What happened to the days when attending design school was simply a matter of enrolling? As if a diploma and filling out a registration form didn’t demonstrate a real passion for a life-long career.
For my oldest daughter, Haley, who also has an interest in my profession, it’s something like being a contestant on American Idol: do or die. This past Tuesday, she attended an all-day tryout for future graphic designers (or, as it’s called these days, “visual communication design”) at the University of Washington.
Over 130 kids where there, vying for 42 spots. Bring your portfolio, they were told. Demonstrate your creative thinking with two live assignments that would make most professionals more than a little nervous, and make sure your resume and a letter of intention are free from typos.
A week will pass before Haley knows whether the design professors are more like Simon Cowell or Jennifer Lopez. And since they only encourage freshman to apply, don’t bother applying next year if you don’t make it. You only get one chance.
Jeez. And I thought some of my professors were tough when their critique was less than enthusiastic about one of my lame design solutions.
Nothing to do now but wait. Drum roll, please…
There are a number of two-word phrases that, when combined into one word, cause a shift in grammatical function. For example, set up is a verbal phrase; setup is a noun. Likewise login, a noun (or, in some cases, an adjective), becomes a verbal phrase when written thus: log in.
I bring this up because a depressingly large number of people seem to confuse everyday with every day.
The former is principally an adjective, as in “I need a suit for everyday wear.” The latter is an adverbial phrase: “I smoke three packs of cigarettes every day.”
To demonstrate the difference, here’s Big Joe Turner with Pee Wee Crayton and Sonny Stitt:
[audio:https://helveticka.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/04-Every-Day-I-Have-the-Blues.mp3|titles=04 Every Day I Have the Blues]“The only way to write is well,” said A. J. Liebling, “and how you do it is your own damn business.” He’s right, of course. Which means Stanley Fish is wrong. Joseph Epstein explains.
The Washington Post celebrates the 25th anniversary of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with a list of 25 Bueller-related contributions to pop culture.
Germany has Bach; Austria has Mozart, Britain has Elgar. And Norway? Why, black metal, of course.
Finally, Kuriositas takes a look at John Heartfield’s anti-Nazi photomontages.
A new study confirms what I’ve long suspected: left-handed people are no more likely to be gifted than their right-handed counterparts. One could even go so far as to suggest that left-handedness is an indication of cognitive impairment.
But I won’t.
Sometimes, an idea is so simple and obvious it seems like it can’t possibly work. Take…er, “breastaurants.”
“Why do regular customers come in three times or more a month?” asks the CEO of one particular franchise (called, with characteristic understatement, Twin Peaks). “What more could a guy ask for: great food, sports, beer, and a cute girl to look at. We don’t go real deep.”
Eddie Vedder’s new album of ukulele songs—called, um, Ukulele Songs—is 35 minutes of awesome. No, really. Check it out:
[audio:https://helveticka.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/03-Without-You.mp3|titles=03 Without You]“Hone in on.”
Not only did I hear this phrase—twice—yesterday, I also saw it in print. (Granted, it was the Inlander, but still.) The problem is, it’s incorrect.
To hone is to sharpen. You hone knives, lawnmower blades, and battleaxes. You also hone your skills at something—like wielding that newly sharpened battleaxe.
To home in on something is to move toward a target. (The center of a target is called “home.”)
Alas, it’s not nearly as simple as all that. My copy of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (fourth edition) approves of the use of hone in when referring to advancing toward a target or goal; likewise when directing one’s attention or focus.
But when you read on, you discover that hone in is, in fact, nothing more than an “alteration” of home in. In other words, enough ill-informed people have mistakenly uttered “hone in on…” that the editors of my favorite dictionary have effectively waved the white flag of surrender.
Yes, yes, I know that language evolves. But evolution—whether of species or of words—is a function of necessity, not of laziness or ignorance. In what possible way is hone in an improvement over home in? What gaping hole in our language does it fill?
Yeah. That’s what I thought.
Yeah, I like typography—almost as much as I enjoy sitting down. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I want to combine the two, even with the “coordinating floor lamps [that] cover more than 20 punctuation marks.”
Design Blog has the details.