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Entropy Happens.
Join the madness.
You don't have to push the boundaries when you set the standards.
Connotation. 1. a. The configuration of suggestive or associative implications consitiuting the general sense of an abstract espression beyond its literal, explicit sense. b. A secondary
meaning suggested by a word in addition to its literal meaning. 3. Logic The total of the attributes constituting the meaning of a term.
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Team Members
- Sven Bjorn Borg
- Sven has been with d-con since its humble beginnings, and is responsible for punctuating, finances,
guarding the office from rabid dogs and loud noises, and acting as mediator amongst the other members. Dr. Borge is well-known as the world's foremost (and perhaps only) underwater-basket-weaving expert.
Sven has recently published no less than 3 books, Klingon Grammar and Vocabulary
for humans, Life among the Grapes, and Escher, Bach, Gödel: A gigantic elastic bungalow. In it's copious spare time, the Sven enjoys playing the harpsichord and diagramming sentences. Sven is Chief of Staff
and Director of Intelligence in the UPICN,LLC.
- Dr. Bob William "The Orange" Lavoisier
a.k.a. Dr. Henry Parsons
- Dr. N, as we like to call him, is officially the initiator of the Daily Connotations Company, and also holds important
Offices in the VVIIPP society of America and The Department of Redundancy Department, which is a place where he
holds an important office in the department of redundancy. Henry also spent a good deal of his life studying the behavior of Walruses (Walri?) in the wild, inspired by a long-running correspondence with Mr. J. Lennon, who, in fact, convinced "The Orange" that he was, in fact, a walrus. Dr. Parsons' curriculum vitae is rounded out by his extensive family history (including a brother, Alan), and double Ph.D. honors in Botany and the Study of Scandinavian Languages.
Recently, Dr. Henry Parsons was elected president of the UPICN,LLC
- The Doctor
a.k.a. Dr. What??
- Dr. What joins us now as a member of d-Con in very good standing. It is important that the doctor not be confused
with his slightly-more-popular brother, Doctor Who, who has carved a niche for himself in the field of time travel.
Dr. What never developed the talent for time travel, and has the ability to visit only two distinct temporal locations:
The beheading of John the Baptist and that one time when Stanley met Livingstone (or was it Livingstone met Stanley?)
Consequently, he spends much of his time knitting (the scarves, natch) on the planet Gallifrey whilst (and at
the same time) contemplating Nietzschean philosophies and memorizing much of Immanuel Kant's work, both in the original
German.
- Dr. Phelealabean
- Dr. Phelealabean also uses the alias Dr. Olga Olathe Parsons-Uhlmer. Dr. Parsons-Uhlmer is a sister to Henry and Alan. She has a dual honorary doctorate in Arabian Literature and Language. She also has teaching experience at the University of Rekjavik which was held in a small grass-covered hut. She iswidowed after an incident involving her husband and abandonment which she is not allowed to discuss pending criminal charges. Now that she is alone, she enjoys spending summers with her brother, Henry, in his summer home, The Parsonon.
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There's a reason this section is at the bottom of the column. Um, I think someone called us 'interesting' once, maybe. That's about it.
copyright 2003-2006.
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10.30.2003
"I lack sufficient capabilities to express my disdain,"
--Richard Boucher (out of context quotes are so much fun! This was taken from a Yahoo! news story about three weeks ago. I don't remember what the story was about, and I have nothing to express my disdain about at present. I just liked the quote.)
--Posted by s. on Thursday, October 30, 2003.
10.28.2003
WMD's?? We just wanted to play Super Mario Brothers.
Granted, it's old. but man, it's funny
--Posted by s. on Tuesday, October 28, 2003.
10.27.2003
must. . . have. . .chocolate. . .
It's Blocktonian time again, and s. feels as if it has been working on this flickin' flacon machine for hours on end. . .
just taking a break for awhile. think i'll go do some physics. (horrible how that has become relaxation, even escape).
It's not that I mind work - it's that this particular variety of typing - transcribing, really- is just finger-wiggling. No thought really involved. Kind of makes me feel like I'm just existing, not really doing anything important. maybe it's just that kind of day (read: third person subjunctive day).
also got the music boosters/dep't (that be an abbrev. (so be that), there) site up and running today. i still want to do some tweaking, but the important stuff is all on the school webpage (smack dab in the middle, even. cool, huh?)
leaving. . .
--Posted by s. on Monday, October 27, 2003.
10.26.2003
Blog spotting
I have made a few observations on the blogs I've circled recently. Both left and right (democrat and republican, liberal and conservative - call it what you will. for this post the terms are interchangable) blogs exist. There are good ones of each. But on the whole, computer geeks are democrats.
Ah, what evidence have I for this, you ask? I shall tell.
Firstly, there are more left-leaning blogs, and they are more connected. This means that either computer web-design type people are more likely to be liberal than conservative OR liberals are more likely to be computer geeks. The "blogs I read" columns on liberal blogs are on average maybe twice as long as those on similar conservative blogs.
Secondly, left-of-the-fence blogs are more likely to sport "sophisticated" technology, such as blogback and comment features, accurate site counters, and referral services. Note Daily Kos as a good example. Democratic blogs are also usually maintained and designed better.
What does this mean?
Admittedly, the difference is demographic - most younger people (think maybe under forty - give or take a bit) are dems, while baby boomers & up are republican (they don't call it the GOP for nothing). Note that the group most likely to be liberal is also the most computer literate (early exposure counts for something). So looking at web presence is not an accurate method of determining public opinion (at least, not yet). Last I checked, the older generation is still more likely to actually vote, even if younger people are more likely to express their opinions online.
I think that the difference will be influential in the upcoming presidential election, but will fade after that. The people of the republican party will pull their party back to its noble roots (much as howard dean has done for the dems - remember Abraham Lincoln was the first of the 'modern' republicans), W's administration brouhaha will be a distant memory, campaigns and I will be able to truthfully claim bipartisanship again. Because, yes, it has been slipping. I have opinions, but usually I'm wishy-washy, I mean flexible enough to see most issues both ways (the mark of a good journalist, neh?), but I cannot justify any of the Bush administration's major actions logically or emotionally to myself (NCLB, War on Terror (fill in your own spooky music effect), or Economy/tax cuts being the big three. Israel/Palestine I've not been following much, so I won't comment.) They just seem counterintuitive - even contradictory to the values I've grown up with. So, yes, my friends. I'm declaring my official position in the Anybody But George-2004 party. It's a move I'm sad to have been forced into making, but proud to do, considering the circumstances.
(This post has grown longer than I expected and segued into a new topic. here's where i end it.)
--Posted by s. on Sunday, October 26, 2003.
10.25.2003
I try not to break the rules but merely to test their elasticity.
-- Bill Veeck
--Posted by s. on Saturday, October 25, 2003.
10.24.2003
Wise (well, whatever!) Words from A Geocentricity Primer
Never being one to turn down free reading material, I present these quotes I gleaned from the complimentary copy of A Geocentricity Primer we received in the mail. For reference, A Geocentricity Primer was written by Gerardus Bouw, Ph.D., in support of the idea that the earth is the center of the universe and all else rotates around it.
The existence of the book itself is a fascinating study of how weird people are. That topic may be addressed later.
"But is God really a clumsy grammarian?"
"It is usual for thrones and footstools to be at rest relative to each another."
"We say that milk turns sour, for example, but milke does not start to spin as it "turns" sour, nor does it spin faster and faster as it gets more and more sour."
"Thus the "laws" of physics are "laws" only in the tradition of men."
"It controls also the motions of the irregular or occasional objects there, viz.; comets and meteroids, and nowadays an occasional rocket."
"There argument was that one could not move if one were encased in lead."
" 'After all,' they claim, 'if the geocentrists are correct, then according to the Bible, trees have hands.' "
So there. Be convinced. Or don't, I don't care!
--Posted by s. on Friday, October 24, 2003.
10.22.2003
Two fish jokes:
*Two fish are in a tank. One says to the other "You drive. I'll man the guns."
*What did the fish say when he ran into a wall?
-Dam!
*groan.
--Posted by s. on Wednesday, October 22, 2003.
10.20.2003
It's dangerous to be right. . .
. . .when the government is wrong
Here's to Nat Heatwole.
The kid's got guts - and a valid point -
So let's throw him in jail for a decade!
I certainly can't argue with that logic.
But honestly, if it takes our security dep't FIVE WEEKS to find box-cutters put on a plane by a peace-loving college student with everything but neon lights pointing them out (and even a Notification E-mail! for the love of Pete); by the time we find really dangerous weapons cleverly hidden and placed with intent to kill, it'll be too late. And the results will be tragic.
Just pity the man who pointed that out.
--Posted by s. on Monday, October 20, 2003.
10.19.2003
The Return of the King (haha)............................
Just returned from Ames. Had been to wedding. Held at St. Thomas Aquinas Center on ISU Campus. Same day as homecoming upon which a devastating lost was suffered.
Please excuse the brief explanation of the weekend in fragments, I just felt like it. I am actually writing to defend the absence of Ayn Rand on my Desert Island list. I feel that Ayn Rand's work is something that I could never read more than once. Of everything that I have read of Ayn Rand (and yes for you critics I am almost done with We The Living thanks to the long car ride to and from Ames) I think that it is something that if you profoundly believe in will never need refreshment. It is a second hand knowledge that of which you take for granted. Ayn Rand isn't a fictional or non-fictional author. She is a visionary writing for the prospects of a newly revised way of culture; a daily toil in which we all find ourselves bound to in some form.
I hope the weekend has found you well and good (depending on how you speak English)...........
--Dr. Henry Parsons
--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Sunday, October 19, 2003.
I'm Ba-a-ack!
yi. The lists are great, guys. I don't agree with all of them, but that's what makes this interesting. I'm surprised not to see some Ayn Rand on Dr. N's, but Lindsey filled that void. And a point for him for his choice of Bible translation (NRSV). NIV is good but clichŽd and unsurprising because it's what everyone uses. If I were familiar with the original Greek/Hebrew I'd prolly take it, along with appropriate dictionaries, just to kill some time (constructively). But besides that, New Revised Standard is one of the best. None of this "Living Bible-Paraphrased" junk! A point for Lindsey for 1984 and perhaps for To Kill a Mockingbird. Let's call it killing two mockingbirds with one point. A point to the unknown friend who spends his life leaving modern classics in random houses.
Žr. I believe it was George Bernard Shaw who said that the five books he would take would be five completely blank books and a well-sharpened pencil. (I've not verified that, so don't quote me. I know someone said something like it sometime - that's good enough for now)
san. I went to Borders (big surprise, huh? it wouldn't surprise me to learn that certain of our acquaintances place bets on which bookstore i pick when i go to "the city"). I prefer used bookstores because they're 1) more exciting, and 2) slightly cheaper. Oh well. After browsing the music, political science, art, and humor sections, i settled myself down in the philosophy/linguistics department and read (a bio of s¿ren kierkegaard) for an hour and a half. (The philosophy-linguistics connexion is none too obvious, but wide-spread. Both are covered by the same department at MIT. The topic is too long for me to tackle in one post - Hofstadter explains it best, but that's only because he's the best living nonfiction author in the entire world. I don't exaggerate) As always, dollar amount will remain undisclosed. It's just lucky that I am independently wealthy. Actually, according to my latest calculations, I have money enough to last me the rest of my life, provided that I die by 2:00 tomorrow morning. It's all good!
sz�. (warning. slightly sports related topic ahead.) How 'bout them cubbies? It's interesting that the only games that the cubs seem to win are those that place them in a position so that their losses are more publicly recognized. I don't follow baseball much, dad does, and Chicago Cubs fans are a breed of their own. But imagine a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. Neither team could win - the world would end or something, before they could finish the last game. They're both cursed. Hell would freeze over. A North Dakotan communist group would take over America. (ok. that's it. you're home safe (sorry! (I love nested parentheses)))
wu. Remind me not to use mandarin numbers again. The diacritical marks are killers, and it makes me mad because they're not really part of the language, just our method of anglicizing it. Sadly, our current system does not support pictoral Chinese characters. Let's just say I did my utmost best.
--Posted by s. on Sunday, October 19, 2003.
10.17.2003
My desert-island list can be found below listed in order of no particular importance.
1) Orchid Fever Eric Hansen
2) Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien
3) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
4) Ishmael/My Ishmael series Daniel Quinn
5) The locally famous field guide to flora of the island (and if one isn't present I shall write my own!)
6) The Bible (NRSV)
7) Sibley's Guide to Birds
I know there are seven here but hey no one said anything about packing much for clothes!
--Dr. Henry Parsons
--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Friday, October 17, 2003.
Yo, dawgs! (to use a common vulgarism)
I'm facing an extended period of time (read: a day and a half) without computer access beginning in about ten minutes, but I'm expecting some action in my absence, please.
Here's my list of desert-island books - if you were forced to live for a year or longer in isolation, which five books would you take? Put some thought into it and post your lists also. We'll do a comparison.
Mine:
1. Gšdel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter
2. Le Ton Beau De Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language ditto
3. The Lord of the Rings By J.R.R. Tolkien
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy By Douglas Adams
5. Ulysses By James Joyce (because maybe, with a year on a desert island, i would begin to understand it)
what do you think?
--Posted by s. on Friday, October 17, 2003.
10.16.2003
It is with great happiness and joy that I return to the Daily Connotations Company after an extended absence. In order to account for the lack of my presence I detail the events in the following dialogue.
Upon my last posting I shortly thereafter received a very important phone call from Dr. Sharon Ptsery (that's prounouced Pete-surrey), a fellow speech coach and college forensics professor. Dr. Ptsery had encountered a student who was entirely capable of reproducing any state of the union speech of any president in total mime. In a state of disbelief I soon disembarked to Dr. Ptsery [herein referred to by her middle "pseudo" as Bic (that's prounouced Beek)]. Bic's home is located in a very remote region of Zaire known to many as the Republic of Mabili, a country torn by corruption, war, an almost feudal system of cultural government, and a large knife located in the center of a forest (locally referred to as Nayókité -- don't ask what it means because "I don't understand" ;) ). Bic's home is rather unusual, it's made of entirely organic products and has no roof...this is why she took up speech rather than architectural design.
Bic had brought this student who's name shall not be revealed for purposes only known to the Witness Protection Program. We will refer to him as "X". "X" had a sister who lived with him, herein known as "Y". "Y" was married to a rather strange man who's actual name was almost 17 letters long (can you guess what it begins with?) and who subsequently was nicknamed "Z".
"X" and myself worked with each other for several weeks. I realized that he had a very immense talent and promised him I would do my best to promote his fine work. I then placed a call to a very close friend of mine, known only to her close associates as Roberta. Roberta was in a rather cheerful mood (especially promising for a women suffering from mild depression and a severe case of technobabbling) so I asked her if she knew of an outlet for "X". She said she would make a few calls, send some faxes, write her congressman, type an email, send a message enclosed in a bottle out to sea and she what she could do.
Three weeks later......(it takes long time to properly prepare message enclosed in bottles) I heard from Roberta. After making a few calls, sending some faxes, writing her congressman, typing an email, and sending a message enclosed in a bottle out to sea she said she finally had the key.....the California Recall!
I had been out of the states for some time and had not been up to date on all the ridiculous incidents that were occurring in relation to the CA Gubernatorial Recall. "X" has now been appointed to Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger's Interim Entertainment Department (remember we are trying to get CA out of debt). "X" makes a fine member of Arnie's staff mainly because he isn't overly outspoken on the issues.
After "X"'s appointment I returned to the Parsenon and after a brief side trip to the International Museum of Arts and Crafts Made by Women Over 75 I found myself once again teaching speech and drama in a small 2 sided room with a roof at Friends University in Wichita, KS.
Hopefully this is a good enough explanation. It is a sickening pleasure to be back. Thanks for all the memories and the all the Academy's help. Guten nacht!
Hysterically deprived,
--Dr. Henry Parsons
Professor of Speech and Intellectual Desires
Friends University
"Where every body is our friend!"
--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Thursday, October 16, 2003.
I thought that the Self-Referential Aptitude Test merited a link, so here it be:
SRAT
--Posted by s. on Thursday, October 16, 2003.
10.15.2003
So, this neutron walks into a bar and asks for a drink. He downs it, then asks the bartender, "How much?"
"For you, no charge."
*groan.
--Posted by s. on Wednesday, October 15, 2003.
10.14.2003
Notes from the "Dean Deal"
Dr. N and I were lucky? enough to have one of the frontrunners of the dem pres race stop in our own backyard. Howard Dean stopped at the Junction Caf? for awhile today, and, like the good little blogger I am, I'm posting my report instead of doing other important things (read: Physics.)
The first thing that I noticed when he arrived was that his jacket was wrinkled. He must be human! Not only that, but he had to battle the flies while he was speaking.
The spiel: Old news. He didn't say anything today that he hasn't said before (I wouldn't pick Bedford to make any major announcements in, either). He did have a few noticably intelligent barbs to throw at W., John Kerry, NCLB, and even himself. A president with a sense of humility - what an odd idea!
Things that I liked: He seems to have realized that money doesn't grow on trees. Perhaps its a well-perpetuated political myth (it seems rather partisan to place the blame solely on the reps) that it does. W seems to think so - Ah-nold seems to think so. If the shoe fits. . .Sidebar: I think that the Republican party has strayed from its roots. There was a time when the reps really did represent the people, but now, demagogues, idealogues, and the very rich are using powerful "Republicans" as puppets to gain power and money. I also liked his slightly underhanded allusion (intended or not) to 1984. Note:
A great many [words] were euphemisms. Such words, for instance, as joycamp (forced-labor camp) or Minipax (Ministry of Peace, i.e., Ministry of War) meant almost the exact opposite of what they appeared to mean.--George Orwell
(roughly)George W. Bush's Clean Air Act gives factories the right to spurt pollution into the air, and the campaign to save the forests means that it's all right to cut down trees over 30 inches in diameter.--Howard Dean
Things I didn't like: No specifics on how the programs that were implicated with success in Vermont would need to be modified to fit the US as a whole, not even a vague hint that he was concerned with the issue at all. He turned the analogy inside out: If Vermont, a small rural state, can do it, surely America can too! Well, guv, let me tell you, America's a heck of a lot bigger than Vermont. It would be nice to see some evidence of his ability to deal with obstacles and his flexibility.
--Posted by s. on Tuesday, October 14, 2003.
10.13.2003
Left and Right
skippy
Blog for America
Ask not. . .
A Republican's Blog
Right We Are!
Conservatism
--Posted by s. on Monday, October 13, 2003.
10.09.2003
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happy
birthday
sweet
my
john
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--Posted by s. on Thursday, October 09, 2003.
10.08.2003
Because sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
The Headline Game
1. NSQ impedes hormone production
2. FDA reconsidering silicone breast implants
3. Beatles' Club Set to Rock Around the World
4. Sonar may cause the bends in dolphins
5. Yen Weighs on Exporters, Shares Mixed
6. Kerry Accuses Dean of Liking the Yankees
7. French thong ad a buttock too far
8. Oink if you love 'Olivia'
9. Sheep Languish on Ship in Persian Gulf
10. Nobel Winner MacKinnon in Need of a Cell Phone
++
It's been a good couple-of-weeks for news, neh? All of the above, with the exception of #1, are real live headlines. And none of them even mention Ah-nold. Point for me!
--Posted by s. on Wednesday, October 08, 2003.
Hey, Ah-nold!
Democratic Californians are shaking in their skivvies right about now. A decent, albeit not extremely well-liked governor has been replaced by Terminator - and even worse, he's Republican!
Some good things have come from the fiasco, though.
1. Renewed interest in politics. Between 60-70% of registered voters are said to have voted - may be a state record.
2. Both the new and old governors have expressed interest in making the tradeover as smooth as possible. That doesn't prevent threats of recalling Schwarzenegger from Davis loyalists, but it bodes well for the political sanity of California. Cruz Bustamante, who will retain his position until his term expires in 2006, has also said that he is willing to work with the new governor for the good of the state.
3. It's over.
--Posted by s. on Wednesday, October 08, 2003.
10.06.2003
Things I've learned.
1. Everything is better when it rhymes.
2. When you run off a cliff, you don't fall until you realize that there's nothing underneath you.
3. When there's no other way out, blow something up, eat something, or throw penguins in the air.
4. Computers work well as doorstops.
5. "Hey, you up there - you lost your safe!"
6. If you run into a wall, you will go straight through leaving the exact outline of your body in it.
7. You know who the bad guys are because of the background music.
8. Almost infallably, when you drop a piano on someone, it ends up falling on you. In the real world, this is a physical impossiblity.
9. Anytime you get a present that ticks, get rid of it! Quickly!
10. When you get stranded on a desert island, remember to bring a bottle.
--Posted by s. on Monday, October 06, 2003.
10.02.2003
I did it - downloaded the Return of the King trailer (at the request of my brother). I shouldn't have. It's October 2. The movie doesn't come out until December 17. It's going to be a long wait.
Homepage with trailer
(It took 22 minutes with my computer.)
--Posted by s. on Thursday, October 02, 2003.
10.01.2003
I don't like the term "political humorist" because it implies that our political system is nothing more than a joke. We of course know that isn't true. After sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, politics is the most serious aspect of our society. Besides that, it usually doesn't even resemble humor. I personally prefer "political satirist", or even merely "satirist". Webster's II defines satire as "Irony, derision, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity." Folly, vice, and stupidity are not limited to the upper reaches of our government, and a good satirist can attack things that "political humorist"s (what an oxymoron!) by definition can't deal with.
--Posted by s. on Wednesday, October 01, 2003.
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