English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwighт

20:01

Never mind buses, how about streetcars.

And it continues on the inside, too.

Mitch

Yeah, that's hot!

RegDwighт

They will sometimes refurbish the entire inside. Complete with rug.

Mitch

Now rugs, that's just pandering.

Also, hard to clean with all the footballers peeing on them.

RegDwighт

Red carpet and handrails wrapped in velvet, and fake fireplaces on the walls.

David Wallace

@Mitch Yeah, you need to ask them to stop peeing before you clean them, otherwise it's just embarrassing for everyone.

Mitch

20:04

@Cerberus As to witty, the reason Germans have no sense of humor, it was taken away from them as part of war reparations.

RegDwighт

Also, the latest addition are actual, functioning mailboxes.

Mitch

@RegDwighт on a streetcar? Can't they wait to get off first?

RegDwighт

So you don't need to go to the post office anymore. Just get rid of your mail on your morning commute.

@Mitch of course they can, but not everyone is into canning.

Mitch

@RegDwighт wait.. what movie is that?

RegDwighт

@Mitch Big Trouble as the caption says.

Mitch

20:06

Farina doesn't have a 'chicago' accent, he just has a movie gangster accent.

RegDwighт

Like 5.something on IMDb.

Mitch

which is how chicagoans normally speak.

!!/rimshot

Caprica Six

instantrimshot.com

Mitch

@RegDwighт Oh. Right. That didn't sound like a movie to me.

RegDwighт

Looks like it didn't sound like a movie to the people who watched it.

Mitch

20:08

It didn't sound like a sneeze either, so that's why I was confused.

Not a movie or not a sneeze, I mean you can't get more confusing than that.

@CapricaSix: SNACKTIME

RegDwighт

Well it could also not be the wild dog Dingo, for starters.

Cerberus

@Mitch So budybodies they become, huh?

Mitch

What, no that'd be crazy. Dingo's.. what a wild idea. Who would a thought of that.

Cerberus

We have that too.

@Mitch That is an inhumane punishment: not only are you punished, but you are rendered incapable of making jokes about it? Ouch.

Mitch

@Cerberus Are you trying to say Germans don't have a monopoly on beauty? That's a bit rich. Also a very non-German thing to say, or think.

You should reconsider.

Cerberus

20:11

At least Russians have this great cynical humour.

@Mitch Okay, I have reconsidered, and decided that this is not Germany, after all.

Mitch

@Cerberus I was told that joke by a German. It's funny.

Cerberus

For a German.

RegDwighт

The really sad part is that the people who took away that sense of humor never did anything with it themselves.

Mitch

@RegDwighт Ha ha! Ha. ha... hm.... what?

RegDwighт

I was making a cynical Russian statement.

Mitch

20:14

@RegDwighт I keep reading that as a cyclical Russian statement.

RegDwighт

Now that is funny. Not.

Mitch

Not that that is funny now.

RegDwighт

It might be funny in 2053.

Mitch

What happens in 2053?

RegDwighт

We will see. That's what.

Mitch

20:16

That's not funny.

In fact I'm scared.

Scared that I've missed snacktime.

RegDwighт

Well you can just keep your eyes closed during 2053, then.

Mitch

I definitely think they'll be closed then.

RegDwighт

Awww. Now that is hilarious.

Mitch

Oh...the whole year? that's a bit extreme.

RegDwighт

But only a bit. Think two years. That'd be like twice as extreme.

Mitch

20:24

So you know how nobody is allowed to say 'no' to the queen? I wonder if she's aware of that.

Cerberus

No.

Mitch

!!/

Caprica Six

@Mitch That didn't make much sense. Use the help command to learn more.

Mitch

Yeah, duh it makes no sense because nothing was said.

And really if it makes so little sense to you, maybe it is your problem and you should be getting some help... AssPrica Six.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Absolutely Sout' Side Chicago.

RegDwighт

20:29

Gosh now you have sides, too.

This madness is like Sparta. Is that how you say in English?

Robusto

There's the North Side and the Sout' Side.

RegDwighт

I am running out of RAM for all that information.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Spoken by a man whose whole friggin' country used to have sides.

RegDwighт

But it's a whole frigging country, see. Not a measly village.

Robusto

Berlin had sides too.

RegDwighт

20:31

Hold on, I need to make room.

May 27 at 16:55, by RegDwighт

downloadmoreram.com

Robusto

Hell, Dublin has a north side and a south side.

It's the reverse of Chicago, though. In Dublin, the south side is posh and the north side is working class.

RegDwighт

I read that as a newspaper title. "Hell and Dublin have a north side and a south side".

Cerberus

@Mitch I know how you feel.

Robusto

Better download a little more RAM.

RegDwighт

I'm on it.

Mitch

20:39

@Robusto The East Side of Chicago is the baddest part of town.

Robusto

That would be the Southeast side. You go north of Oak Street and the east side is Lake Michigan.

Mitch

Daddy was a cop
On the east side of Chicago
Back in the U S A
Back in the bad old days
http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-night-chicago-died-lyrics-paper-lace.html

There are in fact two exceptions to the rule 1) The East Side of Chicago is a small neighborhood on the border with Gary, Indiana

2) East Chicago, Indiana which is actually bordering Gary Indiana, unlike that snake-like imposter East Side which only borders Indiana. Both ore to the east of Chicago in the most stretched meaning of the word East. Stretched mostly towards the south.

Robusto

All of which confirms my assertion. Thank you.

Some Eggs Benedict I made yesterday in my new kitchen.

There should've been three plates, but my wife couldn't wait long enough for the photo.

I should have garnished with parsley, but, well, fuck it. The meal was superb anyway. I mean, the Hollandaise sauce was like Heisenberg perfect. Walter White would have been proud.

It's great to be able to cook with precision again.

►

I got your real Chicago right here.

And here:

►

That's Otis Spann's South Side piano, baby.

And while we're at it, let's give Junior Wells a nod:

►

RegDwighт

21:06

Feb 7 '11 at 15:07, by Kosmonaut

Oops, am I walking in on a psychiatry session?

s/psychiatry/blues/

Robusto

These songs are proof that whiskey trumps psychiatry.

c x

I'm wanting to name a field all_time_pnl ( pnl = profit/loss), all time in the sense of from the begining, total, any better idea?

Robusto

Anyway, I never got a decent buzz off a bottle of psychiatry.

c x

o well let's call it imply pnl, and rename another field pnl->current_pnl (for current opened orders

Cerberus

21:36

"All time" sounds fine?

David Wallace

22:05

@Mitch Does that include her husband?

@cx Please don't ever come and work with me on a programming project, if you're seriously considering naming a variable pnl. Umm, all_time_profit is fine. Clarity trumps grammar.

Cerberus

22:38

What can we learn from all this?

All that matters is profits, profits, profits.

It appears Cameron is not so U after all.

Wrong shoes, wrong tie.

David Wallace

@Cerberus what's wrong with the tie? I'd be more worried about the haircut myself.

Cerberus

It's black and he is not attending a funeral.

David Wallace

It's brown.

Cerberus

Even worse.

What's wrong with the haircut?

David Wallace

You don't mind the haircut?

Cerberus

22:50

What's wrong with it?

David Wallace

He looks kind of scruffy.

Cerberus

Is that a problem?

David Wallace

He won't be coming to MY funeral looking like that!

Cerberus

How will you stop him?

David Wallace

By outliving him, probably.

Cerberus

22:54

That would seem to be the only "viable" strategy.

David Wallace

Also, when I die, I won't tell him about it.

Cerberus

Indeed, I would not expect you do.

Being dead and all.

David Wallace

Maybe you're right. It could be a black tie, and it's just the light that makes it look brown.

Cerberus

It's wrong either way.

David Wallace

In any case, he doesn't look like the prime minister of a major country.

Cerberus

22:56

Why not?

PMs are rarely U any more, these days...

David Wallace

Hmm. I'm just thinking about my own one.

Cerberus

What's he/she look like?

Antipodean, presumably?

Feet on his head?

David Wallace

He's usually well dressed.

Cerberus

How well?

Cameron is reasonably well dressed.

Compared to, say, Chavez.

David Wallace

Most of his ties are blue.

google.co.nz/…

Cerberus

23:00

@DavidWallace He's all right too.

But those thick pinstripes...

David Wallace

What's wrong with thick pinstripes? I own a suit with thick pinstripes.

Cerberus

And I see some very ugly ties.

David Wallace

Not many.

Cerberus

I don't know, thick pinstripes seem a bit...out of date for someone young.

Under 70.

David Wallace

Hey, what do we think of a moderator who answers a question, then closes it as "unclear what you're asking"?

@Cerberus Really? I am in the height of fashion when I wear mine.

Cerberus

23:06

@DavidWallace Haha, ridiculous.

Which question.

@DavidWallace Present company excluded, of course.

David Wallace

Oh, this was a couple of days ago. I think it's probably got deleted by now.

Cerberus

David Wallace

Haha, no, the moderator in question is not a user of this particular chat room.

Cerberus

Are these Maori symbols or something?

David Wallace

No. He looks kind of bored, though, doesn't he?

Cerberus

23:09

Quite.

David Wallace

That is the debating chamber in parliament, by the way.

Cerberus

So I figured.

David Wallace

He IS looking towards the speaker of the house.

Cerberus

23:25

I suppose that's something.

Are ministers members of parliament in your country?

David Wallace

All cabinet ministers are members of parliament. Not all members of parliament are cabinet ministers. Is that what you're asking?

Haha!

The event [the birth of William and Kate's son] would be marked by a 21 gun salute at lunch time today in Wellington, which he [Prime Minister John Key] hoped wouldn't frighten city residents too much in the aftermath of recent earthquakes.

Robusto

Mock the royal brat, go to prison. Welcome to the U.K.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Yes. Ministers are no members of parliament here.

I suppose royal brats have always been major news items, probably since the dawn of time.

David Wallace

23:41

@Cerberus So are they elected?

Robusto

Our forefathers died face down in the mud so we didn't have to give a fuck about the royal wedding. And the same goes for the progeny of the royal couple.

David Wallace

One of a prime minister elect's first duties following an election is to choose the cabinet ministers from all the elected members of parliament.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace No, basically appointed by parliament.

David Wallace

@Cerberus But not from among the members of parliament?

Cerberus

They can be, but then they must leave parliament.

David Wallace

23:47

So you then get by-elections?

Cerberus

No, I think they get to pick someone to fill their seat, which will be the next in line in their party. I think.

Separation of powers.

Not that it matters a great deal.

David Wallace

So I could vote for someone to be my electoral representative; and he/she then gets chosen to be a cabinet minister, so I end up being represented by somebody that NOBODY voted for?

Cerberus

Yes.

David Wallace

I suppose our way, you end up with someone who is too busy to represent the people who elected them, because they're off doing cabinet ministerial stuff. Not sure which is better.

Cerberus

(Nearly) all candidates are part of a longer list of candidates (= of a party). If you vote for one candidate, you know that your vote may in the end go to someone else on that particular list (=party).

David Wallace

23:51

So you don't actually get to vote for the candidate? You're really voting for the party.

Cerberus

You vote for the candidate; but what happens when one candidate gets 2 million votes?

Do you throw away most of those votes, because you need only 50,000 for a seat?

David Wallace

Essentially, yes.

Cerberus

So you have a district system?

David Wallace

But how do you only need 50k for a seat, when there are 2M on offer?

Yes, we have a district system.

Cerberus

Well, 2M/50K=40. That would be 40 seats.

David Wallace

23:53

You get two votes. You vote for the candidate that you want to have representing your district; and for the party that you want to have governing the entire country. The candidate that you vote for doesn't have to belong to the party that you vote for.

Cerberus

We have 150 seats and about 12 million votes, so about 80k votes per seat.

David Wallace

Each district is only represented by one seat here; then you have a whole lot of people who don't represent anybody.

Cerberus

Huh.

So what happens with a party vote?

David Wallace

The parties each have a list of people. The party votes are used to calculate how many seats each party is allowed to have. If they didn't win enough districts to make up this number (which is nearly always the case), then they go to the list, and pick off how many people they need to make up their quota.

So our MPs are a mixture of district representatives and off-the-list extras.

@Cerberus So you don't have districts at all?

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Ah, I see.

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