excudit [translation]

According to Blows Against the Empire: The Return of Philip K. Dick, "it's hard to imagine any circumstances in which [Philip K. Dick] would have ended up as Doctorow, or wanted to."

Do you think he means Cory or E.L.?

Last updated by eric Tue Aug 14 08:25 2007 | word | link

exegi monumentum aere perennius [translation]

[Recently-appointed Amtrak CEO Alex] Kummant, who in 2003 left the freight rail business for stints at several equipment manufacturers, said he was happy to be back in the train world.

"There is nothing in my view quite as complex and, in the end, engrossing as a railroad operation," he said. "I tell my manufacturing friends, take a roof off your plant and spread it over 500 miles, and have two guys at a time managing 5 million in capital unsupervised. It's a real management challenge, and it's a fight against the elements."

— Amtrak CEO calls for public money for rail capacity

Last updated by eric Sun Jan 28 09:05 2007 | word | link

adversus solum ne loquitor [translation]

Have you seen the premiere episode of Aaron Sorkin's new show "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"?

I have. In fact, I've watched it three times now. I think I'm obsessing, perhaps. You see, it's on pretty late, because it uses adult words and addresses adult concepts. Words like "Christianity", concepts like "bigot". Or do I have those two reversed? Anyway, it's on late, and on a weeknight, so I can't stay up and watch it "live". I have to record it. But once I've recorded it, I can watch it over and over and over again. And I have. Though I may have already mentioned that.

I just watched it again today. Every viewing I notice something different. For example, consider these spoilers:

• First viewing: Did Matt Albie just say "he's never not been there for me"? This is the writer character using a double negative, mind you. And yet it works perfectly. Sigh, such dreamy words.
• Second viewing: Why does Jerry Jones say, "If you still had the muscle..."? Later a character talks about "balls", so it's not like they're not allowing that word. Ohmigosh, that's IT—Jerry's character is the Standards and Practices guy, so of course he's going to be familiar with alternatives to rude language and actually uses them. One word choice tells you everything you need to know about a character.
• Third viewing: I still can't figure out why Harriet Hayes says "truer words were never spoke" instead of "spokEN". But this time around I notice that Jack Rudolph tells Jordan McDeere that he fired Matt and Danny, yet later tells Matt that he wasn't fired. Such fascinating posturing going on among those characters.

Speaking of dreamworlds, the show's acting is solid, too; I never catch a whiff of Chandler Bing in Matthew Perry's characterization, and Amanda Peet's subtle facial expressions draw me in, make me wonder what exactly she's smiling about. Or is she smiling? Hard to tell, and all the more alluring because of it. Timothy Busfield doesn't remind me at all of his West Wing character.

No, really, judging these actors I've seen over and over again in other television roles by how they don't do something is completely valid. Stop laughing!

I loved the show completely. I hope I have enough time to give the second episode an appropriate view count. If you haven't seen it yet, it's available online here. I heartily recommend it.

Last updated by eric Sat Sep 23 22:53 2006 | word | link

diem perdidi [translation]

Dana: How do you know I even want your job?
Isaac: Everybody wants my job.
Dana: Not me. I think your job stinks. You get to create your own show and make all the decisions and have a big staff and make a lot of money. That's not for me, Isaac. I like to answer to people, I don't want to create. When I get a thought in my head I like it to die right there.

— Sports Night

Last updated by eric Sat Mar 18 12:46 2006 | word | link

si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice [translation]

I can't remember now what brought me there, but I recently found myself researching word and phrase origins, and for some reason the origin for "thinking outside the box" stuck with me.

Well, not so much "some reason" as "a really complicated story".

Several months ago, a co-worker brought in a large-ish cardboard box that contained a plastic bag filled with beanbag filling. It was intended for the beanbag in their office, but since it would be such a mess to transfer the little toxic pellets into the beanbag, there was much procrastination.

Finally, weary of having a big box in his office, and concerned about a forthcoming shared office situation, Bt stuffed the pellets (still in the plastic bag) into the bean bag and put the box outside his office to be taken away by whatever magic fairies come and take away the things we don't want any more.

Bt must not be paid up on his fairy plan, because the box sat there.

And sat there.

For several more months.

Since I walked by the box in the hallway every day, now it was starting to annoy me. One day I realized that the box was nearly the same dimensions as one of the low-backed chairs in my office. I wasn't sure, though. I mean, it could be a little too narrow, since the chair...well, there's only one way to find out!

We now have a chair in our office that sits inside a box. There wasn't really enough room in the box for most of us to be able to sit in the chair, so it got a lot of comments (I'm sure if it had been the right size to readily fit an occupant, it would have garnered no comments whatsoever). Av was able to actually fit, though, so we took pictures and made all sorts of obvious jokes.

One day I came in to work and someone had written in blue marker on the box:

i am bad
i am bad
i am bad
i am bad
i am bad
i am bad
i am bad
i am bad
i am bad
i can't take it any more

Recently, though, during an especially crowded moment in the office, someone (was it Jl?) sat on the chair without paying heed to the box, and now the box more readily conforms to the shape of the chair, and people sit in it more frequently.

We still make all sorts of obvious jokes about it, of course.

Last updated by eric Thu Oct 27 06:57 2005 | word | link

pro re nata [translation]

Her: What the [INTERJECTION]!? More than one dead person??
Me: Well, yeah. It's not "Carnival of Soul".
Her: True. Then it would need James Brown.

Of course, the only reason we'd rented Carnival of Souls was due to the homage in Romero's recent Land of the Dead. Still haven't found a copy of Sergeant York, though.

(BTW, my apologies to Mighty Girl and Defective Yeti for stealing the dialogue format, but it's just too handy not to!)

Last updated by eric Mon Oct 24 08:08 2005 | word | link