English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Robusto

00:03

@tchrist The destruction happened, but it wasn't earned. That was the problem. It just ... happened. Contrast that with TLotR. Every bit of the climax was earned.

tchrist

No, I mean when she walked into the flames to hatch her dragon eggs.

She should have burnt to a cinder.

That line I quoted is unlike almost any other in Martin. It uses the heightened language of lyric poetry, its rhetorical devices of personification and metaphor.

"the night came alive with the music of dragons"

The miracle was that she survived and woke dragons from stone.

Robusto

Yes, and that was a wonderful beginning.

Beginnings are always easier than endings.

tchrist

That's supposed to be the eucatastrophic moment.

Robusto

OK.

tchrist

Snatching salvation from the jaws of certain destruction.

It was not supposed to be repeatable. The show runners are idiots.

She can burn. They can all burn.

Robusto

00:08

Yeah.

IIRC these are the same show runners who botched Lost?

tchrist

But they knew they could never explain the why, because that's too much backstory and magic.

Oh I don't think they're the same ones, no.

Robusto

They had six seasons of 12 episodes each. That's way more than Peter Jackson had.

And he had a fine ending.

tchrist

5 * 10 + 7 + 6.

No, off by one.

6 * 10 + 7 + 6.

Robusto

Close enough for rock 'n' roll.

tchrist

73 hours.

Robusto

00:11

My point stands.

tchrist

Jackson had something like 13 hours.

Robusto

Max.

tchrist

Granted, there's more there there in ASOIAF. Plot-cards, if you would.

Robusto

I have all the extended versions of TLotR, and it's around 12:45 or something.

tchrist

"something like 13 hours"

I was unarsed to look it up.

Robusto

00:12

Yes, I'm agreeing with you.

tchrist

You know something strange?

Robusto

I know a lot of strange things.

tchrist

Brian Sibley also had 13 hours.

Robusto

But what's on your mind?

tchrist

And produced a remarkably more faithful dramatization.

Jackson is a schlocky director. He can't help himself. Plus, you know, the video games.

The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)

In 1981 BBC Radio 4 produced a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo installments. The novel had previously been adapted as a 12-part BBC Radio adaptation in 1955 and 1956 (of which no recordings are known to have survived), and a 1979 production by The Mind's Eye for National Public Radio in the USA. Like the novel on which it is based, The Lord of the Rings is the story of an epic struggle between the Dark Lord Sauron of Mordor, the primary villain of the work, and an alliance of heroes who join forces to save the world from falling under his shadow...

That one.

Robusto

00:14

Ah, never listened to that one. I wonder if it's available on Audible.

tchrist

It's way better than Jackson in many regards.

Robusto

No doubt closer to the books.

tchrist

By quite a great deal.

Robusto

But for all that Jackson did the films for the special effects, it still was remarkably faithful to the books as far as movies ever go.

I mean, some cuts here and there, some painful additions, yeah. But he got the scope of the thing.

tchrist

#RadioDrama.The Lord Of The Rings. The Fellowship Of The Ring. Episode 1. The Shadow Of The Past.

►

There it begins.

Robusto

00:16

Ooh, nice. I will definitely listen to it.

Which reminds me: R.I.P. Ian Holm.

tchrist

Ueah.

It even has bits that the Estate refused Jackson.

So like when the Nazgûl intercepted Gríma.

Robusto

And probably Tom Bombadil as well.

tchrist

No, it actually cuts him too.

Robusto

Ha.

Well, I guess it's out of the flow.

tchrist

And it has...music. The poetry and songs make a quite notably stronger showing.

Robusto

00:21

I liked the music underneath just now.

tchrist

It intercuts the alliterative poem of the Rohirrim, set to music, during the Battle of the Pelennor.

You'll see.

Robusto

Nice.

tchrist

And it preserves Sharkey’s End.

Robusto

BTW, in the realm of fantasy/mythology, you should have a look at Circe by Madeline Miller.

I thought it was spectacular.

tchrist

Ok.

Robusto

00:23

smile.amazon.com/CIRCE-New-York-Times-bestseller/dp/0316556343/…

M.A.R.

01:06

2

Robusto

@M.A.R. Too true.

And I thought you went to bed ...

M.A.R.

Woke up for morning prayers

Captain Bohemian

01:26

Why is reading on phone so hard?

Do computer engineers make PDA phone just for browsing?

Hey, why don't computer engineers make the PDA phone screen bigger?

I don't usually need a phone most of time because I am on desolate island.

Arjun

binod

Captain Bohemian

I just need be connected to the internet most of time.

Arjun

@CaptainBohemian why not use a tablet?

Captain Bohemian

@Arjun because I need a phone number set on a mobile phone.

My phone number is most of time not to be called.

I feel like an outcast here.

I feel like an alien here.

Arjun

do you watch movies?

Captain Bohemian

01:39

No

Arjun

that's heart-breaking

i feel like an outcast now

do you listen to music?

Captain Bohemian

No

Arjun

you are a tough spirit

Captain Bohemian

I don't usually spend time doing things not requiring much mind unless that is necessary.

Arjun

not swayed by the momentary comforts of the arts

do you do drugs?

tchrist

01:45

@CaptainBohemian Because we use computers, not phones. :)

Captain Bohemian

Because I am on a desolate island,

I feel bored when doing things not requiring concentration.

Arjun

why not leave the island?

you've been too long on the island

look behind you, by the bush, you'll see a kangaroo

that's me

a green kangaroo

with a pink face

and a laptop in my pouch

Captain Bohemian

There is a travel restriction

So I can only travel so far

tchrist

02:11

Sometimes it seems like most of the world has travel restrictions these days.

Mitch

02:42

@Robusto, @tchrist nothing hazy at all this evening in the Boston area. The sunset was mostly yellow and clear, no noticeable haze or smokiness to change the color

tchrist

Yeah, a co-worker in Cambridge said as much this evening.

CowperKettle

03:09

A protester in Belarus carries a sign that says (without vowels and with some consonants dropped too) "Sasha [Lukashenko], fuck off, please"

Quite creative

Word of the day: eye chart

Xanne

05:38

Second word of the day: patent troll.

Melania (FLOTUS) has trouble with the “th” sound at the beginning of a word, not so much at the end of a word.

CowperKettle

05:54

> Frank Miller’s 1882 Telegraphic Code to Insure Privacy and Security in the Transmission of Telegrams offered the curious suggestion of telegraphing the word mortmain, rather than "President of the U.S."

Xanne

06:12

> The name code talkers is strongly associated with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the US Marine Corps to serve in their standard communications units of the Pacific theater. Code talking, however, was pioneered by the Cherokee and Choctaw peoples during World War I.

From Wikipedia.

Captain Bohemian

feel nausea

CowperKettle

07:31

> "Okkervil River" is the title of a well-known short story by Tatyana Tolstaya. The Austin, Texas-based indie rock band named Okkervil River takes its name from the story

From Wikipedia

Xanne

Ffhh

Captain Bohemian

looking for eateries on phone when being hungry makes me uncomfortable

why can dealing with hunger so troublesome?

not all eateries are on google map, I think.

Finland ran a two-year universal basic income study in 2017 and 2018, during which the government gave 2000 unemployed people aged between 25 and 58 monthly payments with no strings attached.

I think universal basic income is like universal basic food and universal basic housing and universal basic health care.

whenever I am hungry, I can call for hunger relief.

some food is too small though tasty; then after eating and settling to do other things, hunger will haunt again soon; that's so troublesome.

I don't want to be a person who needs to forage so often

I want to be a person like a camel who can eat a meal to travel in the desert for a week without food midway

Xanne

07:53

@CaptainBohemian You need to figure out a way to get food more reliably, to be happier and more productive.

Captain Bohemian

@Xanne this is not easy because there are not related real people around.

there are also not chore robots.

don't know how to make time doing the laundry and cleaning the ground.

because there has no enough time to explore literature after foraging.

if there are chore robots or peers around, all will be easier.

or if you can lend me a scooter, I can do a lot of things easier.

if you want to lend me a scooter, I would be glad to tell you my address for your delivering your scooter to here.

Xanne

08:23

@CaptainBohemian Doesn’t your school provide some equipment and food and a place to live?

Captain Bohemian

@Xanne school provides money only after traveling there.

not these services.

M.A.R.

08:43

Politicians, in the face of a pandemic:

Captain Bohemian

working on things interesting me is of more fun than going to eat.

that's probably why universal basic income in Finland doesn't provide disincentive for people to work.

there is not very much tasty food in the neighborhood, so if you eat so often, you can't find new tasty food easily.

CowperKettle

09:52

RegDwigнt

10:02

The actual fuck.

Knight

10:18

@Mitch (don’t take it offensive) yesterday we first met and from then on everything strange is happening to me. I don’t know ...

You see this is a poem named In a station of the metro

> The apparition of these faces in the crowd:
Petals on a wet, black bough.

Yes, it’s a complete poem.

It’s strange, and I don’t know... Mitch.. is all this happening because of what we did yesterday?

M.A.R.

10:41

@RegDwigнt I've been a poet all this time

What's "lvw ood" o.O

@Knight Wha O.o

SmokeDetector

11:16

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in link text in answer (80): Usage of "he don't" vs "he doesn't" by bikash sahu on english.SE

Robusto

12:38

@Mitch Smokiness doesn't change the color. It just blurs the sun, makes it fatter and less distinct. The bending of light only affects high clouds, nothing close to the ground.

Knight

@M.A.R. Yes, and people are writing 3 to 4 pages analysis on it.

Mitch

13:33

@Robusto OK. Just saying there was no noticeable difference.

"I’ve discovered that almost every single article on the Scots version of Wikipedia is written by the same person - an American teenager who can’t speak Scots"

Sometimes I feel like the same thing about ELU answers

CowperKettle

13:46

There was a short-lived Siberian language Wikipedia with hilariously written articles, because there is no Siberian language.

It was also written by a couple of Russian guys

meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Proposals_for_closing_projects/…

Mitch

@CowperKettle The Scots articles, sincerely written but by someone who does not know Scots, are being used by others as samples of actual Scots language in training NLP systems. It's not a comedy or troll attempt. It is just inaccurate.

RegDwigнt

14:43

@M.A.R. OMG that rhymes!

CowperKettle

15:24

A journalist in Russia went out to stage a single-person protest, with a sheet of paper, to protest the jailing of another journalist. She stood in a picket for 4 (four) seconds, after which the police grabbed her and detained her. She has just been fined 200 000 rubles by the court.

That's about 5 months' worth of salary for a 4-second peaceful protest.

zona.media/news/2020/08/26/lotareva

Gigili

@Mitch I think you've got the wrong number.

CowperKettle

There have been two cases of persons in Russia being jailed for years for peaceful protest. A new law signed by Putin a couple of years ago allows the jailing for "multiple violation" of rules. And the rules are written specifically to prevent any protest.

Kodiologist

Was this question closed correctly? It's asking for usage advice, which is on-topic for this site, right? english.stackexchange.com/questions/544518

RegDwigнt

15:43

0

Q: Who are "brown" communities in the US?

When Americans say "black and brown communities", who do they mean by "brown"? (Native Americans? Indians? Hispanics? Latinos?) (Some context: I am a non-American fan of the NBA and while watching many NBA-related videos in recent months, this is a term that has occasionally popped up. The contex...

meaning

Who even cares. Brown lives don't matter I don't think?

Robusto

RegDwigнt

@Kodiologist I don't really see anything out of the ordinary with it. But five people beg to differ, so shrug.

Robusto

@Mitch: That's about as much sky as I ever got in Massachusetts. ^^

RegDwigнt

And the laaahhyghts all went out in Ma-ah-ssachusetts!!! ♫♫♫♫♫♫ swings a lighter

Robusto

And this is a portion of what you can see in NM.

RegDwigнt

15:49

@M.A.R. nah, that's not Trumpism. That's just America.

@Robusto have you posted that view before on a different day? I seem to recognize it.

Robusto

Possibly.

RegDwigнt

It's kinda weird to start recognizing places you've never even been.

Robusto

I don't read all my shit, so I wouldn't know.

RegDwigнt

I would read your shit, but this is the first time I hear you'd posted any.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt I know I've posted views from Sandia crest, but I have a number of those. Not sure if I posted this one.

RegDwigнt

15:51

Well I recognize the thing and the thing with the thing.

And just generally all of it.

And I've not been there, so it must've been you.

Maybe it was like twenty yards to the left.

I don't think the rope was on the other one.

Robusto

It takes a heap of riding to get up to where you can take that picture.

CowperKettle

@Robusto Beautiful.

Robusto

Thanks.

But even in the flatlands the vistas are gorgeous.

CowperKettle

I'm trying to hide my Strava posts because I've gotten addicted to Strava

Robusto

Heh.

CowperKettle

15:54

I use to open it multiple times. So I've just made all posts "Me only" for now.

Robusto

Ah. No wonder I haven't seen you in action lately.

CowperKettle

When I started on Strava, I intended to only use it to log my jogs.

I did a 14 km jog the day before yesterday

But it's hidden.

Robusto

I did 76 km on Sunday and 57 yesterday.

@CowperKettle I have my Strava set to be available only to people I accept as followers.

RegDwigнt

Whoa, you can reject followers? How come that is not a thing everywhere else.

It sort of is on Instagram, but not really.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Not only that, but you can block people specifically.

RegDwigнt

16:01

Everywhere else, we basically took stalking and re-labeled it, and now you're supposed to like it somehow.

Robusto

Noop.

RegDwigнt

If you walked down the street, and random strangers started turning around and following you, without even showing their faces, you'd call the fucking police.

But on the Internet, you're supposed to like it.

Robusto

Why I'm not on most social media sites.

RegDwigнt

Yeah how is that social at all. Random anonymous passersby stalking you.

That is, like, not very social at all.

Matt E. Эллен

Matt E. Эллен has started following you

Robusto

16:04

Help!

RegDwigнt

Matt E. Эллен suddenly had a cup of tea

Matt E. Эллен

Matt E. Эллен continues to follow you

RegDwigнt

in a hospital

skullpatrol

skullpatol has started following Matt

RegDwigнt

C-C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!!

skullpatrol

16:06

:D

RegDwigнt

I must be off to my violin lesson. Everyone please follow me down the stairs and onto the bus.

skullpatrol

cya pal

Matt E. Эллен

Matt E. Эллен follows you onto the bus

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Way ahead of you.

Knight

Hey! Are you kidding me? Was Skull really here?

2

Knight

16:28

Ping me pal when you think it’s time.

CowperKettle

People are social, and social networks use this and monetize this. Because people are also profit-oriented.

I was watching the official Russian state TV, the news report on Belarus. It's so amazing to see European-looking Russian journalists, well-built and well-groomed men with beards, prostituting themselves by lying. I can understand lying in Stalin's Russia, but why now, when you can just walk away and find another job?

Surely they would not starve. They have good education, probably know languages, and have enough money saved for last for a training and job-seeking period.

And by this moment they perfectly well know that they are lying, because it has gotten to the stage when the state TV cannot just get away by using half-truths. By this stage, it's a lie that you have to tell.

Are they not afraid that their children would break off all contact in the future and would scorn them?

Robusto

@CowperKettle You may as well ask why Republican senators in the US would totally abase themselves to such an unworthy pustule as the current president.

CowperKettle

16:50

@Robusto Do they fully agree with him in all his statements? I thought that some internal discussion must be allowed in a party

Robusto

@CowperKettle The public face they present to the world is 100% support. They had a golden opportunity to remove him from office and they blew it, along with their own credibility.

Conrado

18:52

Re: social media: > If an average person on the subway turns to you, like an ancient mariner,
and starts telling you her tale, you turn away or nod and hope she stops,
not just because you fear she might be crazy. If she tells her tale on
camera, you might listen. Watching strangers on television , even
responding to them from a studio audience, we're disengaged -- voyeurs
collaborating with exhibitionists in rituals of sham community. Never
have so many known so much about people for whom they cared so little.

CowperKettle

19:07

Word of the midnight: price gouging

> If I should learn, in some quite casual way,
That you were gone, not to return again—
Read from the back-page of a paper, say,
Held by a neighbor in a subway train,
How at the corner of this avenue
And such a street (so are the papers filled)
A hurrying man—who happened to be you—
At noon to-day had happened to be killed,
I should not cry aloud—I could not cry
Aloud, or wring my hands in such a place—
I should but watch the station lights rush by
With a more careful interest on my face,
Or raise my eyes and read with greater care

skullpatrol

19:35

It's been a pleasure chatting with you all. Take care my friends.

3

M.A.R.

@Conrado You don't need so many big words to describe social media anymore. Maybe you did in 1992. I wasn't around back then.

And I don't know why that would necessarily be a bad thing. Yeah, it promotes a culture of pretentiousness, shallowness and even apathy. Those are bad things. But you go to social media to find out about people's opinions, while you don't when you're on a bus.

The real problem is, as Mitch eloquently puts it

Aug 13 '19 at 19:18, by Mitch

Aug 1 at 14:32, by Mitch

Jul 14 at 18:02, by Mitch

Dec 4 '17 at 21:05, by Mitch

Sep 2 '16 at 15:26, by Mitch

Aug 1 at 19:27, by Mitch

Jun 27 at 21:28, by Mitch

Dec 17 '15 at 15:36, by Mitch

people are idiots

Contributing something of value takes time, so the people that can are doing something else instead. Social media tends to be biased towards the dregs of the society. Stupid is more commonplace and more noticeable.

Robusto

20:25

@tchrist: It's cleared up quite a bit here. I can make out features on the mountain slopes clearly now from 11 miles away.

tchrist

22:30

@Robusto Yes, it's better here. And less stable stormwise, which I think is good.

RegDwigнt

23:46

@M.A.R. meh. Who died and made @Mitch an expert on idiots?

I demand that he pass a couple exams first. Or rather, fail them all.

@M.A.R. SE has a word for that, bikeshedding.

A FURIOUS MIND

aka the Law of triviality

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…