h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There's a mildly confusing sentence in the first paragraph with a typo in it:

'Each of the characters in the story is represented by an instrument or group of instruments, with their own particular themes, and it is used to familiarise children with the instruments of the orchestra.'

This could be changed to:

Each of the characters in the story is represented by an instrument or group of instruments with their own particular themes. The piece is used to familiarize children with the instruments of the orchestra.

In the fourth paragraph, the word 'travelled' should be 'traveled.'

There's another run-on two paragraphs later.

'Prokofiev died in 1953 on the same day as Stalin, as such he was unable to benefit from the relaxation of government policy towards the arts.'

This could be resolved by using a semicolon instead of a comma.

In the next paragraph, 'characterised' should be 'characterized.'

And in the paragraph on the Toccata Line, '3rd Piano Concertoin C' should be '3rd Piano Concerto in C.'

I did thoroughly enjoy the article. Peter and the Wolf is near the top of my list for fun things to play the piano part on.

Fragilis, you are a star.

D'you feel like doing me a massive favour?

You bet. What would you like me to do?

The phrase "A preposition is not a good thing to end a sentence with" comes to mind. After all that correcting of grammar, one would think ... well, really!

Here's the short answer:

Here's the long one:

Writers once considered ending a sentence with a preposition a serious writing fault. This is rarely the case now. These days, the general flow of the sentence is usually considered more important. Ending with a preposition does, however, lend the sentence a more informal tone. Since h2g2 is a medium dominated by informal writing, I don't consider this a palpable concern.

I do frequently make spelling errors. However, I would expect to correct them (or have them corrected by an editor) if my words were going to be published. Forums are not "published" in the same manner as Official Guide Entries. That's why I correct entries, but I do sometimes miss my own spelling and grammar errors when posting to forums.

the favour would be to read through the solar system project http://www.h2g2.com/A349012
The entries which need looking at are Mercury, Venus, (Moon- I've not posted that yet), Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Kuiper Belt/Oort Cloud.

Thanks very much

Fragilis

Thanks for the comments.

Just to point out that we use British rules of spelling hence the reason why I haven't changed the word 'travelled'. Also, with words such as 'characterise', we use -ise rather than -ize. Exceptions to this include 'realize'.

Thanks again

Joanne, I will go through those entries for you. I'll either finish today or tomorrow.

Crusader, thanks for the tip. I suppose it makes sense to use British-style English at h2g2, since that's where the main office is located. I can find a British dictionary online to check spelling differences. I knew about the added 'u' in words like colour, but I wasn't aware of the 's' for words like charictarise. Thanks!

Pleasure...

If you post to my page with bits you'd like to me work on for the Garbo page, I'll do some collating at the weekend.

There is one person in her life who I think there is more information state side than here and that is Mercedes D'Acosta. Any sites or publications that you now about would be greatly received.

Thanks Fragilis

Isn't she a treasure?

Yep.

Stop that. You're making me blush.

Good luck on the interview, by the way. They're never as bad as you think they will be.

Thanks

Is tomorrow today now Joanna.

Yes, unfortunately.

Well all the best when are you off for it.

train at 1.25 interview at 2.30

One more nitpick about the original article. It opens by describing Peter and the Wolf as a piece of classical music, which is technically incorrect, as the article later defines the Classical period as 1750-1810.

Perhaps "orchestral music" would be a better term.

On the other hane maybe I'm a terminal pedant.

Its not a contradiction - I was using the 'classical' with a small 'c' for Peter and the Wolf, and 'Classical' with a captal 'C' for the period of music between 1750 and 1810. Peter and the Wolf is 20th Century classical music, as opposed to, for example, 20th century pop music. Whereas Mozart's requiem is an example of Classical classical music...

Its a confusing distinction, but its the one that is employed by musicians I've met. I guess the entry should make it clearer.