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18 February 2004
Happy days are here again
The days are perceptibly longer now. About time too, only two more months to a shift to daylight savings. The Midwest is enjoying a supposedly temporary let-off from the frosty winter with temperatures hovering at 4-5C. Rows of birds were spotted on pylons behind houses in West Lafayette while a gentle spray of rain passed through Pasadena today. The mountains flanking us in the north were slowly seduced by the mist and have receded behind the white screens.* * * * *
If there is one thing I would vigorously campaign for, it would be to ban pink, cyan, yellow and orange from being used as background colours. Someday I will probably end up losing my sight after endlessly switching between dazzling white and loud cyan. On another note of triviality, it is sad to note that Britannia cream biscuits or at least the ones exported are no longer made with the same sturdy quality as their native counterparts. It seems an insurmountable challenge to try and lick the slimy elaichi and groovy chocolate off the circular and rectangular biscuits respectively without breaking off the biscuit cover.
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I came across two weblogs (via del.icio.us) on linguistics and usage that make for interesting reading. The Language Log is maintained, among others, by Geoffrey Pullum who is more famous amongst theorists for "Scooping the Loop Snooper". Wordspy discusses words and phrases that are constantly being introduced and circulated in current vernacular. br>
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Personification as a medium to instil readability and maintain interest has been taken to new heights with a piece on BBC about "an unlucky star" that unwittingly came in the way of a big bad wolf -- in this case a massive black hole. A prayer service shall shortly be announced, a eulogy will be delivered remembering the services the star rendered to humanity and the United States president Mr. George W Bush shall renew calls to expand the fight for terrorism into outer space and bring such demonic celestial bodies as this one at the centre of galaxy RXJ1242-11 to heel.
