a whole life of crime avoided all due to underwear issues

QotD: I Smell Roses

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:17:48 -0400

What's your favorite scent?

Sex...

Culture QotW: For a Good Cause

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:59:19 -0400

If you could raise awareness about one cause, what would it be?

Oh this one's a no brainer: equal rights - specifically LGBT rights.
Which is why the HRC gets my money and my time (when I have any of either).

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

thought of waterbaby...

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:55:26 -0400

I was reading an August edition of The Economist and ran across this article and thought of Waterbaby and the conversation we were having earlier this week. So I figured I'd share...

You write potato, I write ghoughpteighbteau

Aug 14th 2008
From The Economist print edition

The rules need updating, not scrapping

GHOTI and tchoghs may not immediately strike readers as staples of the British diet; and even those most enamoured of written English’s idiosyncrasies may wince at this tendentious rendering of “fish and chips”. Yet the spelling, easily derived from other words*, highlights the shortcomings of English orthography. This has long bamboozled foreigners and natives alike, and may underlie the national test results released on August 12th which revealed that almost a third of English 14-year-olds cannot read properly.

One solution, suggested recently by Ken Smith of the Buckinghamshire New University, is to accept the most common misspellings as variants rather than correct them. Mr Smith is too tolerant, but he is right that something needs to change. Due partly to its mixed Germanic and Latin origins, English spelling is strikingly inconsistent.

More: http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920829

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

QotD: Sunday Brunch

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:44:23 -0400

Where's your favorite place to have Sunday brunch?

Heh. These days, there's only one place I want to have Sunday Brunch:
Hooker Tea
Ignore the menu - it changes weekly. This week it's baked eggs with collard greens and ham and sweet potato pancakes with chestnuts and creme anglaise. Last week, it was seafood or veggie quiche...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

QotD: I'm Going Crazy

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:24:38 -0400

What word or phrase drives you absolutely nuts?
submitted by, revolt

The use of "sex" when "gender" is meant.
I also really hate when people get "it's" "its" wrong.
Other than that, I can't think of any. I used to care a lot. But English is a living language and as phrases and words evolve, enter and leave the language, I can roll with it.
Sounds funny for a former English teacher to say, doesn't it?l

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

absence makes the heart grow...

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:22:11 -0400

something.

Sorry I've been missing in action the last week or so. It's been full of drama, not of my own making, and lots of good times.

Here's the question, however:
Do all y'all want me to go back to the Lyric of the Day? I haven't gotten complaints like I usually do that I haven't been doing it, and if you're not missing it, I'm going to just let it be and just occasionally post lyrics that strike me.

So you decide. Leave me a comment about it if you want. If I don't get many comments, then I know it can fade away like old wine evaporates.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Culture QotW: Most Valuable Possession

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:59:13 -0400

What is your most valuable possession and why?

I am my most valuable possession. Everything else is just the details.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

lyric of the yesterday 9/13/08

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:40:12 -0400

I've posted before that if I were to have a theme song, it would be Amy Ray's Driver Education. However, long before that song came out, there was another that I've recently been reminded of. This really has been me through my entire life - especially with a chosen few. I'm also a sucker for a well written love ballad.

I make friends.
I make enemies.
It doesn't matter all that much to me.
I'm not the kind
Who deals behind the scenes.
I won't sell my soul;
I'd be nothing
Without some integrity.

I wouldn't beg for water.
I wouldn't beg for water.
If my soul was on fire,
That's the last thing I would ever do.
I wouldn't beg for water.
I wouldn't beg for water.
If my soul was on fire,
But I'd get down on my knees
For you.

I've got pride.
It's not the foolish kind.
Don't owe people favors;
That's my piece of mind.
I don't know why
I deserve someone like you,
But you're my one and only sole exception
To all my rules.

I wouldn't beg for water.
I wouldn't beg for water.
If my soul was on fire,
That's the last thing
I would ever do.
I wouldn't beg for water.
I wouldn't beg for water.
If my soul was on fire.
But I'd get down on my knees for you.

Real love is hard to find;
It's holding back the sands of time.
And time can change my life
As much as you.

I wouldn't beg for water.
I wouldn't beg for water.
If my soul was on fire;
You know me well enough to know it's true.
I wouldn't beg for water.
I wouldn't beg
For water.
If my soul was on fire,
But I'd get down on my knees
For you.
- Sheena Easton, "I Wouldn't Beg For Water"

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Vox Hunt: Air it Out/ Lyric of the Day 9/13/08

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:45:11 -0400

Show us your dirty laundry.

No.
But you have inspired the Lyric of the Day...

We got the bubble-headed bleach blonde who comes on at five.
She can tell you bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die.
Give us dirty laundry.

Can we film the operation?
Is the head dead yet?
You know, the boys in the newsroom got a running bet.
Get the widow on the set;
We need dirty laundry.

You don't really need to find out what's going on.
You don't really want to know just how far it's gone.
Just leave well enough alone;
Eat your dirty laundry.
- Don Henley, "Dirty Laundry"

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

lyric of the yesterday 9/12/08

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:17:28 -0400

Woke up with this song in my head. Probably because I heard a story on NPR yesterday discussing McCan't and Obama. Think about the words "just like a woman". If you think of Dylan, you probably support Obama. If you think of Shania Twain, you probably support McCan't. Guess which one came to my mind...

Nobody feels any pain
Tonight as I stand inside the rain.
Everybody knows
That Baby's got new clothes,
But lately I see her ribbons and her bows
Have fallen from her curls.
She takes just like a woman,
Yes, she does.
She makes love just like a woman,
Yes, she does.
And she aches just like a woman
But she breaks just like a little girl.
- Bob Dylan, "Just Like A Woman"

Read and post comments | Send to a friend