Monday Post
My Teeth Are Extra Shiny
I thought I'd keep the title of today's blog simple and not push my brain too hard to think of anything relevant and witty and / or random as a result of my run of immense stupidity so far this morning. The highlight of this series of moronic happenings was a process I went through consisting of waking up, having breakfast, brushing my teeth, having a shower and... brushing my teeth. And I've actually been to bed relatively early these last two nights so I can't put it down to tiredness.
"It's Gooood"
I watched Bruce Almighty on TV2 again last night, third time I've seen it. Seriously - what is up with people not liking this movie? For one thing, regardless of what I gave it before, it has made me bump Fun With Dick And Jane down to a D+ because Bruce Almighty is way better by comparison. I'd say that overall it's an above average comedy featuring a great performance by Jim Carrey and a nice solid crazy-humour-filled story that stays on task by having Bruce realise that being able to do whatever he wants in his life isn't going to solve all his problems - Bruce's powers make things worse and only by refraining from using them and facing issues without taking the easy way out, can he get anywhere in his life and realise what's important to him. Sure it's very Hollywood and is typically ideologically ignorant as with most such films that appeal to the mindless masses, but it's also very entertaining and with this kind of movie that's all that matters. I'll give it a C+ bordering on a B-, and I look forward to Steve Carell's Evan Almighty even though I generally despise pointless sequels. Come on, it's Steve Carell!
Wanganui. Whanganui.
I'm sick of people saying that something is the "correct" spelling of a word or a name in favour of an increasingly common/popular spelling and that this "correct" spelling must be used. Language is constantly evolving, and people who spend their time resisting changes in language are wasting that time.
The "correct" spelling that someone is clinging to in any given case regarding a word is undoubtedly just a form which evolved from something else before it and was probably resisted by similar nimrods itself a hundred or so years ago. The fact is, these people are overlooking the whole purpose behind language which is, correct me if I'm wrong, to enable us to easily communicate our thoughts, feelings and ideas with one another in some common way which we can understand amongst ourselves and each other. A common use of a word for a place or for any other purpose (like the commonly "misused" combinations of their/there/they're) is surely acceptable on the grounds of it being common and being perfectly understood in context by a typical person engaged in the conversation in which it is used or who is reading it or whatever the circumstances may be. Tell me you don't no what I'm talking about in this sentence just because I removed a few silent letters your so used to seeing, or because I dropped an apostrophe and an "e" from another word to implement the used of an "incorrect" homophone. I'm not saying add another meaning to "no" in the dictionary to encompass all listed under "know", I'm just making a point that it's seriously not that big a deal.
For those of you unfamilar with the "Whanganui" issue: after local iwi kept whinging on about the official spelling not having an "h" and thus being meaningless in the Maori language, a referendum was held in which over 80% polled said to keep Wanganui the way it is currently spelled. And why should they change it all? There are countless places all around the country in which the Maori spelling has evolved in common language either to a different commonly used way of spelling it or saying it (ie. there are many Maori place names in which "Wh" is commonly pronounced "w" by many people and not "ph") or else even replaced entirely by some name derived from New Zealand's British ties. The fact is, people know is as Wanganui. If they want to call it Whanganui, they are welcome too. That's the beauty of it: either way, we all know what everyone is talking about. But going out of our way to officialise a change which goes against the grain of the way in which our language in this country has developed is something which I strongly oppose. Like the Borg say in that First Contact movie I told you all to see: "Resistance Is Futile."
I thought I'd keep the title of today's blog simple and not push my brain too hard to think of anything relevant and witty and / or random as a result of my run of immense stupidity so far this morning. The highlight of this series of moronic happenings was a process I went through consisting of waking up, having breakfast, brushing my teeth, having a shower and... brushing my teeth. And I've actually been to bed relatively early these last two nights so I can't put it down to tiredness.
"It's Gooood"
I watched Bruce Almighty on TV2 again last night, third time I've seen it. Seriously - what is up with people not liking this movie? For one thing, regardless of what I gave it before, it has made me bump Fun With Dick And Jane down to a D+ because Bruce Almighty is way better by comparison. I'd say that overall it's an above average comedy featuring a great performance by Jim Carrey and a nice solid crazy-humour-filled story that stays on task by having Bruce realise that being able to do whatever he wants in his life isn't going to solve all his problems - Bruce's powers make things worse and only by refraining from using them and facing issues without taking the easy way out, can he get anywhere in his life and realise what's important to him. Sure it's very Hollywood and is typically ideologically ignorant as with most such films that appeal to the mindless masses, but it's also very entertaining and with this kind of movie that's all that matters. I'll give it a C+ bordering on a B-, and I look forward to Steve Carell's Evan Almighty even though I generally despise pointless sequels. Come on, it's Steve Carell!
Wanganui. Whanganui.
I'm sick of people saying that something is the "correct" spelling of a word or a name in favour of an increasingly common/popular spelling and that this "correct" spelling must be used. Language is constantly evolving, and people who spend their time resisting changes in language are wasting that time.
The "correct" spelling that someone is clinging to in any given case regarding a word is undoubtedly just a form which evolved from something else before it and was probably resisted by similar nimrods itself a hundred or so years ago. The fact is, these people are overlooking the whole purpose behind language which is, correct me if I'm wrong, to enable us to easily communicate our thoughts, feelings and ideas with one another in some common way which we can understand amongst ourselves and each other. A common use of a word for a place or for any other purpose (like the commonly "misused" combinations of their/there/they're) is surely acceptable on the grounds of it being common and being perfectly understood in context by a typical person engaged in the conversation in which it is used or who is reading it or whatever the circumstances may be. Tell me you don't no what I'm talking about in this sentence just because I removed a few silent letters your so used to seeing, or because I dropped an apostrophe and an "e" from another word to implement the used of an "incorrect" homophone. I'm not saying add another meaning to "no" in the dictionary to encompass all listed under "know", I'm just making a point that it's seriously not that big a deal.
For those of you unfamilar with the "Whanganui" issue: after local iwi kept whinging on about the official spelling not having an "h" and thus being meaningless in the Maori language, a referendum was held in which over 80% polled said to keep Wanganui the way it is currently spelled. And why should they change it all? There are countless places all around the country in which the Maori spelling has evolved in common language either to a different commonly used way of spelling it or saying it (ie. there are many Maori place names in which "Wh" is commonly pronounced "w" by many people and not "ph") or else even replaced entirely by some name derived from New Zealand's British ties. The fact is, people know is as Wanganui. If they want to call it Whanganui, they are welcome too. That's the beauty of it: either way, we all know what everyone is talking about. But going out of our way to officialise a change which goes against the grain of the way in which our language in this country has developed is something which I strongly oppose. Like the Borg say in that First Contact movie I told you all to see: "Resistance Is Futile."
posted by Steve @ 10:46 AM
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