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  Daily Connotations  

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.

Observations, opinions, and ideas, all brought to you by Daily Connotations Company. Who Else?

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Disclaimer: Any opinions contained on this page are those of, well, we don't really know who. Any offense taken to anything present should be directed to Sven, who will file and ignore your comments. Praise or compliments can be directed to either Dr. N, Dr. What, or Dr. Olga. All plagarized material has been tested and deemed satisfactory according to the esteemed code of Lehrer, version 2.3.
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO VIEWERS:
The Entire Physical Universe, Including This Blog, May One Day Collapse Back into an Infinitesimally Small Space. Should Another Universe Subsequently Re-emerge, the Existence of This Blog in That Universe Cannot Be Guaranteed.



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.


Accolades

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.
steal what you want.

12.26.2003


 

The mostly successful completion of the Lord of the Rings into movie format restored a long-lost faith of literature lovers in the silver screen. Granted, one success means little, but it does mean something. I've been considering other books that I've read that I wouldn't mind seeing made into well-made movies. I'd like to be promised that the treachery that befell The Cat in the Hat wouldn't happen (a classic of children's literature befuddled by sex and money. a pox be on't). But now that I know that a book can be made into a movie without being raped and left to be devoured by the money-grubbing buzzard, I've compiled a list of screenables from the books i've read (and indeed, i've read a lot)

The Chronicles of NarniaThe success of LOTR bodes well for Aslan & Co., and I believe I've heard rumors of production work beginning. I lived in the land of Narnia for a time before I moved to Middle-Earth, and I would so like to see it again. The story provides action and excitement as well as emotion and insight, albeit not as structured as LOTR.

Ender's Game Everyone loves Ender, right? It would be interesting to see the Shadow and the Game combined into one movie maybe. Also the battle room would give animation and spfx teams something to do - after all, Peter Pan is already done and Quidditch matches aren't really that much fun. The only stipulation is that it must wait until Haley Joel Osment is well past 20, because I don't want him sneaking in.

1984 Granted, the story of Winston Smith and Big Brother are prevalent in society to an aburdly extreme amount. But a fine disturbing movie could be made of this with the guy who plays Hannibal Lecter as Winston. His name escapes me, but he'd be great.

A Wrinkle in Time Combines science with fiction with normal people . . . makes for enchanting reading. I'm leery to let the story off the page. I guess I'm still scared of the bad-director-people out there.

Finnegan's Wake Just kidding!



--Posted by s. on Friday, December 26, 2003.


12.19.2003


 

i can die happy now.


--Posted by s. on Friday, December 19, 2003.


12.15.2003


 

A selection of what I've read in the past two months:

a. The Phantom Tollbooth
b. Slaughterhouse-Five
c. Harvey
d. Flatland
e. A Wrinkle in Time
f. 1984
g. Fahrenheit 451



--Posted by s. on Monday, December 15, 2003.


12.13.2003


 

1. Go to Google.
2. Type in "Miserable Failure" (with the quotes).
3. Hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky! button.
4. React appropriately.


--Posted by s. on Saturday, December 13, 2003.


 

Last night i dreamt i had insomnia. . .

at least, I think i did.

(I'm not sure if that merits a *groan or not. Feel free to add it as you see fit)


--Posted by s. on Saturday, December 13, 2003.


12.12.2003


 

Today during the Alliance for the New Humanity Conference in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico former Vice President Al Gore made the following statement:

"Gore said that to avert an environmental 'catastrophe' the world must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases contributing to global warming."

That was hard to figure out. Amazing that *distinguished* diplomats go to conferences in 3rd world countries and tell us things we already know!!

Being critical,
--Dr. Henry Parsons
Championer of the Environment


--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Friday, December 12, 2003.


 

Learning has nothing to do with school. Nothing to do with teachers, or the lack thereof. Learning, real true learning, has got to come from within the individual. The responsibility of learning should be placed solely on the student. Teachers should not be judged on the performance of their students.

Remember the old game called Snakes and Ladders? If you landed on a ladder, you got to climb ahead, but if you landed on a snake you slid backwards. Everything that the school system throws at us is either a snake or a ladder. But by taking the responsibility ourselves, we enable ourselves to overcome the obstacles. We, as humans, like to place the blame on everything, everyone else. EverythingÕs a problem, but nothingÕs our fault. But at heart, yes, it is our fault - at least, we have to allow it to be our fault, and only by accepting blame for the obstacles we face are we able to overcome the snakes and employ the ladders. When we allow our learning to be shaped by someone else, we put ourselves at risk of sliding down the snakes - sometimes maybe even sliding down a ladder! (Good things can pull you back too).

One major part of taking charge of your own education is choosing your battles. No one can fight everything and survive. The question is not merely about education - itÕs survival skills. The system is in place, and is unlikely to change while weÕre still being ground through it, so learn to use it. Complaining about the bad teachers and useless tests the school forces us through is about as useful as complaining about the poisonous snakes and lack of food when youÕre trapped in the middle of the rainforest. It may feel good, but complaining about it isnÕt going to change anything. (amendment: Complaining wonÕt change anything quickly. It doesnÕt matter how high up you go - youÕre still just a small tooth in a small gear in a big system of wheels and axels. Systems donÕt like change, because it means readjustment and systems, being as interconnected as they are, donÕt like readjustment!) Since youÕre here, use it! Nothing is so corrupted that you canÕt get something out of it. WeÕre humans, weÕve won the right to survival (of the fittest? Perhaps) not because weÕre bigger, or stronger, or even smarter than other animals, but because weÕve learned to adapt to our environment. We canÕt make it rain, but we can use irrigation systems to wet the land. We canÕt stop a hailstorm, but we can make stronger roofs. We canÕt fix the school environment, but we can, by accepting all responsibility for what happens, use it to acheive our purposes.


--Posted by s. on Friday, December 12, 2003.


12.10.2003


 

For all you math folk (and those interested in the seemingly impossible)..................

Student Finds Largest Known Prime Number

The number is : 2 20996011 -1 {In other words [or rather numbers ;) ], 2 to the 20996011 power minus 1}

--Dr. Henry Parsons
"I don't do math, I think it does me."


--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Wednesday, December 10, 2003.


 

The following are my top 5 favorite "MAILER-DAEMON"/failure notices/bounce backs of recently. As usual when mailing out large quantites of things to my customer list I always get back a LARGE number of these, mainly because people change emails, forgot to check certain accounts or just plain don't care.

Without further adieu................

1) Sorry, I couldn't find any host by that name. (#4.1.2)
I'm not going to try again; this message has been in the queue too long.
Dr.H.P. sez...my favorite. Very disciplinarian or rude-receptionist like.

2) 64.136.28.83 does not like recipient.
Dr.H.P. sez...simple, straightforward, and blunt.

3) I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses. This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.
Dr.H.P. sez...Apologetic, forgiving, compassionate, secretly saying Haha!

4) Sorry, I couldn't find a mail exchanger or IP address.
Dr.H.P. sez...Interpret for yourself!

5) 64.156.215.5 failed after I sent the message.
Dr.H.P. sez...Passive, the usual "It's always someone else's fault!"

Very insincere,

--Dr. Henry Parsons
Pres. VVIIPPAA
"My greatest accomplishment is being myself, after all I am a speech judge!"


--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Wednesday, December 10, 2003.


 

Somebody has been neglecting his or her duty here, eh?

I have explanations and excuses, however. Not very good ones, but oh yes, i have them!!!

1. The fifth season of M*A*S*H came out on dvd recently. 24 episodes of wonderfully-written Hawkeye Pierce goodness! For some things, free time must be made. MASH is one of the only two tv shows ever that is actually worth watching consistently (the other is the Simpsons, if you care). They don't write like they used to (Wait a minute - Survivor . . The Bachelor. . .they don't write at all anymore!)

2. It's December. That means that my fingers, body, and brain are usually previously occupied. I don't understand exactly what it is about Jesus' birth that makes us feel we must run ourselves down into frazzles, but we do it, every time.

3. Umm . . . I can't think of anything. Anything interesting, that is. So farewell, my friends. . .


--Posted by s. on Wednesday, December 10, 2003.


12.04.2003


 

Back in the day. . .

I was cleaning out my computer desk today and I found a bunch of old Commodore 64 manuals (copywrite 1986).

After a few moments of nostalgia (and noting with amusement the lack of web or email addresses), I read a bit and thought that this bit of computer history needed to be preserved.

    Key Commodore 64C features include
  • Versatile Commodore BASIC 2.0 programming language, offering more than 70 commands and functions
  • 64K of RAM (Random Access Memory)
  • 40 column screen output
  • Ability to run thousands of off-the-shelf software programs for buisness, industry, science, education and home, including word processors, spreadsheets, databases, financial market software, telecommunications programs, etc.
  • Ability to handle software packaged in disk, tape, or cartridge formants
  • Ability to work with a wide variety of peripheral devices, including video monitors, printers, modems, controllers (joysticks, mouse, etc.)
  • Sophisticated graphics capabilities, including 8 individually programmable sprites and several animation modes
  • Sixteen colors
  • A professional style low-profile keyboard
  • Ability to incorporate 6502 machine language data in BASIC programs
  • Eight user-programmable function keys
  • A three-voice, six-octave, synthesizer for sound and music.
    These Commodor 64C features can be translated into wide-ranging capabilities. THe advanced software included with your new 64C incorporates icons, pulldown menus, a mouse and other sophisticated techniques, and is typical of the ever-expanding capabilities you can expect to exercise with your Commodore 64C.


Life has changed more and more quickly in the past two decades than ithas in the 400 years since the Renaissance.


--Posted by s. on Thursday, December 04, 2003.


 

"I met a man who fell into an upholstery machine. Fortunately, he's fully recovered now."

*groan



--Posted by s. on Thursday, December 04, 2003.


12.03.2003


 

Have you heard of the "e-less" wonder?

The novel Gadsby contains over 50,000 words - none of which contain the letter "e"

The previous sentence, on the other hand, contains eight of the slippery vowel.

It's one of the sad ironies of the literary world that the author of the work was named "Ernest" by his well-meaning parents.


--Posted by s. on Wednesday, December 03, 2003.


12.01.2003


 

Tom Burka of Opinions You Should Have is a consistently funny man.

s. is tempted to stop attempting humor at all here and begin merely referring you to his site. . .

Enjoy, please.


--Posted by s. on Monday, December 01, 2003.

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