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

I'm not going to tell you what I read instead of "Internal Dialogue" font.

(It was the last word that tripped me up.)

Oh God, this is getting ridiculous.

I've just seen an ad for a placement in Madagascar doing "voluntary underwear research".

It was actually "underwater research", of course, as in diving and surveying marine wildlife.

No, wait...



No...





Never, in the field of h2g2 forums, has so much, been said, to so few, with so many smileys

I was unaware of that research.

In the link from post 11, I saw the word 'beautiful' rather than the word 'stunning'.

(Depend on me to play it straight.)




Fundamental principles of rumor control:

1. 'The telegraph effect'.

2. 'The King Kong effect'.




1. The telegraph effect, taking it from a classroom demonstration in my 4th grade class in elementary school: the teacher first arranged 10 seats in the front of the classroom, facing the class. Next, she selected 10 students from the class and had them take seats facing the remainder of the class. As it happened, I was the seventh student selected. Next, the teacher read something from a note held in her hand, whispered it in the ear of the first student in the row, directed the students seated in front of the class that each was to whisper what they heard in the ear of the next student, word for word, making no changes, student number 10 being directed to repeat what they heard aloud to the entire class. When student number 6 whispered the message in my ear, I duly repeated it word for word to student number 8, sat back and waited expectantly to hear what student number 10 had to say.
There was not one word in common between what that student had said and what I'd heard and repeated. The teacher next wrote out the original message on the blackboard for the benefit of the larger class. Perhaps needless to add, there wasn't a single word in common with either the message I'd heard and repeated and that announced by the 10th and final student in the row.

2. The King Kong effect: one begins with the classical myth of "Psyche and Eros", a love story. Eros, son of Aphrodite, had fallen in love with a mortal woman, Psyche. Before Aphrodite would countenance the marriage, she required that Psyche first undergo a grueling initiatory ritual. Psyche was not being singled out on this. All of the female divinities of the classical pantheon were required to undergo that same ritual. Psyche, having succesfully completed the initiatory ritual, Aphrodite gave her blessing to the marriage, Psyche and Eros married and lived happily ever after. Over time, the story evolved into the medieval French fairy tale of "Beauty and the Beast", still recognizably "Psyche and Eros". Next, Hollywood laid hands on "Beauty and the Beast", transformed it into "King Kong", which no longer bears any very strong resemblance to "Psyche and Eros" at all.

Erg... speaking of that, there's a new sitcom/romcom on US TV very loosely based on Pygmalion called "Selfie". It still features an Eliza (Karen Gillan) being "fixed" by a Henry (John Cho), but instead of her learning grammar and poise, she's learning to not be a social media obsessed slut.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/10/selfie-pygmalion-in-2014-is-kind-of-a-creepy-idea-right/380981/?single_page=true


So, from Greek tale of a sculptor in love with his statue, to Shaw, to 1956 musical to vapid sitcom.

And what a waste of good actors.

I wonder what Shaw would make of it, the lovable, cantankerous, beardy old Stalinist.

I wonder what he would make of most of our culture, actually! I'm sure he'd have some interesting observations to make.

So here's a dilemma.

A friend has asked me to proofread her PhD thesis. While I'm delighted to be able to help, I'm wondering whether I'll do more harm then good, given this recent habit to see words that aren't there.

She's not a hootooer, or else this journal might have her slightly concerned...

Shaw would undoubtedly wail about standards having gone down the drain, though thirty years later he would praise what he now denounces, having decided that what's playing thirty years hence is much worse.

"I'm wondering whether I'll do more harm then good,"


Wanna proofread that?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Well, as long as it's harm *then* good and not the other way round...

Oh dear.

so in my philosophy textbook I have just read the title of Blaise Pascale's Pensées as Penises.

The phrase is usually "as happy as a dog with two..." But I guess "a Frenchman" works too.

I just read that Sinn Féin distributed 8000 leaflets in east Berlin today.

Er, that would be east *Belfast*.

Sean Penn distributed what?