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

No idea! It just happens a few times a year. Everything will be back to normal soon, I guess...

(Staggers in from pub) Hey! On St. Patrick's Day, there's only one way to switch off your brain:

But how do I switch it ON?!?

How can I tell it's there at all?!?! My sister recently had a C.A.T scan and they showed her that SHE had a brain, but I've no conclusive evidence of mine.

Eh? They scanned your sister with a ?

Odd, isn't it? Who knows what they'll do these days?

I don't know, but if they try to scan me with an Oliphant, I'm outta here...

What's an Oliphant?

i read a book a long time ago with a teacher named oliphant in it, but the kid kept calling her mrs. elephant.

"Grey as a mouse,
Big as a house,
Nose like a snake,
I make the earth shake,
As I tramp through the grass;
Trees crack as I pass.
With horns in my mouth
I walk in the South,
Flapping big ears.
Beyond count of years
I stump round and round,
Never lie on the ground,
Not even to die.
Oliphaunt am I,
Biggest of all,
Huge, old, and tall.
If ever you'd met me
You wouldn't forget me.
If you never do,
You won't think I'm true;
But old Oliphaunt am I,
And I never lie."

Tolkien, J.R.R, "The Lord of the Rings" Harper Collins 1999; Book four, pp. 62-63.

Sorry, I forgot the 'u'...

sadly, that post probably won't last long....

I thought it might, but the thing that gets me is that that moderation is a complete misunderstanding of the meaning of plagiarism. Plagiarism is using the work of others and claiming it as your own. In that sense, previous posts about Oliphaunts (not withstanding misspelling ) are more like plagiarism because at that point I did not specifically acknowledge a source. In the passage I provided from "The Lord of the Rings", I fully explained the origin of the term (as I used it), and provided a complete Harvard reference to where the passage could be found. The material is copyright, no question there. However, copyrighted material can be used for the purpose of fair dealing, else noone could ever discuss anything. In this case, I was using it in providing a complete referrence to the idea I used as a joke in previous posts, crediting the original author - the exact opposite of plagiarism. I know the moderator was only following the instructions given to them, and hopefully the post will be returned - but it shouldn't have to be removed in the first place. If I hadn't provided the full reference at the bottom, and the moderator had never read Tolkien, the passage never would have been removed. Ironic, isn't it?

*makes note* "Do not get scanned by an Oliphant"

And it still seems to be there? Or it's back if it was gone. Looks like they agree with you. Either that, or they haven't found it yet.

It *was* removed, but now it's back. Yay! Going by what I'd read in other places, I wasn't sure if it would come back or not, I don't know how British copyright law compares to Australian copyright law, but apparently it's similar enough... Yay community team!

Yeah, get them drunk, then *everything* will be passed...

Or nothing

Good point...maybe we need to get all the moderators too?

That might work.

[ removed by moderator for testing]

this round is on me
*leaves more for moderators*


plus
and for cthulhu
and for sm or b
for me

good morning!