I first saw it in WHSmiths a few months ago and had a flick through. It looks like total rubbish to me (the language we call “English” predates all other languages spoken here, including the one we call “Old English”) but possibly interesting rubbish. All the references I can find to it online take it seriously, even when pointing out the flaws in substance and style. But, look at the Amazon page and the quotes from – “proper”, not Amazon punters – reviewers, in particular:
So, clever spoof or serious kookery? And would I even be able to tell if I handed over some cash and read the damn thing?
[Update] – within hours of posting I received this e-mail (quoted with permission):
Hi-ho, Steve. I’m the author. If you have a look here you’ll be able to decide whether to go ahead or not. http://www.applied-epistemology.orgKind regards Mick Harper
So pink_weasel has picked three interests from my Live Journal Profile and asked me to explain them. Those of you reading this on LJ can comment and I’ll pick three from your list for you to do likewise.
Savlon
This was added to my interests by a hackerpink_weasel and reflects the fact that there’s rarely any time when a tube of Savlon isn’t handy in our flat. And why not? It’s useful stuff. Unless she wants me to tell everyone about the time her *** ****** ******* and she asked me ** *** Savlon ** ****?
Alyson Hannigan
Cute. Funny. Always gets the best lines. Played one of the greatest characters ever.
Wine gums
Actually, I’m going off these a bit now.
Uh oh, I haven’t been doing weekly reviews of Doctor Who episodes this season. Spoilers below. ( Season Three so far... )
Meanwhile, I’ve watched “The War Machines” and “Vengeance on Varos” recently.
“The War Machines” is a very odd story, it’s the first story set in the present day (with the possible exception of Planet of the” Giants, but that doesn’t count) and the first to feature the British Army. But unlike all the UNIT stories that follow it feels too short rather than too long. The threat of the War Machines is never really made obvious and the climax is rushed. Also, Dodo gets the worst exit of any companion, and the Doctor is called “Doctor Who” on screen for the only time. It also has a superb performance from William Hartnell and provides agood introduction to Ben and Polly.
“Vengeance on Varos” looks incredibly prescient these days. Reality TV has almost caught up with it, all we need to do is move from mental to physical torture and we’re there. But the plot needed some major tightening – scrap the whole mad scientist / turning Peri into a bird sub plot and there would have been room to come up with a less contrived and rushed solution to Sil’s approaching invasion fleet. Doesn’t Owen Teale (he was the lead cannibal in Torchwood’s “Countrycide”) look young? The sixth Doctor demonstrates his callous streak here and poor old Colin Baker only gets a few bits of decent script with most of the good stuff going to Martin Jarvis and Nabil Shaban, both of whom excel.
The miniature in some shots is Captain Nathan from Heresy Miniatures (adds to potential shopping list foir Salute tomorrow) and he’s “heroic 28mm” scale, so 30-35mm tall. That makes that paper model of the Serenity quite big.
Very True Mood: impressed
Very True Music: Twist In My Sobriety (Extended Bumps Fluidity Mix) - WTF?
<form action="whatever" method="POST">
<input type="hidden" name="foo" value="a very long string" />
<input type="checkbox" name="confirm" />
<input type="submit" />
</form>
In Internet Explorer (confirmed in both 6 and 7) submitting this form with the checkbox ticked results in no response from the server. (Submitting it without the checkbox ticked just brings you back to where you started.) No problem at all in Gecko-spawn or Opera.
Anyone seen anything like that before? And better still, got a solution?
Spilling olive oil on the keyboard. Pros: gives it that nice shiny look. Cons: too many to mention really.
Sigh. Not a bad weekend really. Lovely weather, which I saw out the window as I was working. Got some nice JavaScript written and identified a few more IE CSS bugs that will need to be worked around. And a cracking episode of Doctor Who yesterday.
Which of the following characters from the following science fiction movies/ programmes do you think is the most attractive?
Seven of Nine (Star Trek Voyager)
Princess Leia (Star Wars)
Rachael (Blade Runner)
SuperGirl (SuperGirl)
Barbarella (Barbarella)
LeeLoo (Fifth Element)
Padme (Phantom Menace)
TX (Terminator 3)
Lt Uhura (Star Trek)
Sil (Species)
Don’t know
None of these
Having watched Vengeance on Varos last night I read Sil and had a very different image leap to mind than the one they intended. Has anyone see if there’s an equivalent question about the boys?
curious![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
contemplative
chipper
irritated
morose