Misheard Lyrics
It irks me when I hear wrongly sung lyrics, primarily because it derails my remembered enjoyment of the song I'm listening to. However, I often have to double-check myself because I'm guilty of the same thing!
For example, for the longest time I thought Boz Scaggs' "We're All Alone" had the following lyric: Close the window, come alive. Alas, the true lyric is: Close the window, calm the light.
I'm not alone... other versions of the same misheard line include: Close the window, come alight. Close the window, Carmelite. Close the window, come and lie.
Looking for a great collection of these misheard lyrics? Go here.
Here's a sample:
Heart's, "All I Wanna Do (Is Make Love To You)"
Misheard Lyrics:
All I wanna do is fake love to you
All I wanna do is tape bugs to you
All I wanna do is fake Fudd's 'yoohoo'
All I wanna do is take clubs to you
All I wanna view is clay stuck to you
All I wanna chew is snake gloves for you.
Correct Lyrics:
All I wanna do is make love to you.
Neil Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald"
I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes, of course. That's why this interesting "alternate universe" take on the story was immensely entertaining. The little twist at the end answered a nagging issue set up by the short "advertisements" at the beginning of each chapter of the short story.
Rather than spoil the story for those who've not read the story... I'll put the rest of my blog in light blue:
The story clearly establishes that in this dark world where the Old Ones have taken over, the terrible villains of literature are successfuly businessmen or even celebrities... but then, what are Sherlock Holmes (the heroic consulting detective) and his stalwart companion Watson doing in the employ of the terrible Queen? It was something that greatly puzzled me and annoyed me...
The twist is that it is not Sherlock Holmes who is the consulting detective. Nor is Watson the scribe of the story. Instead, James Moriarty and one of his right-hand men, Colonel (Major in the story) Sebastian Moran, who are the heroes of this grim little tale.
I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes, of course. That's why this interesting "alternate universe" take on the story was immensely entertaining. The little twist at the end answered a nagging issue set up by the short "advertisements" at the beginning of each chapter of the short story.
Rather than spoil the story for those who've not read the story... I'll put the rest of my blog in light blue:
The story clearly establishes that in this dark world where the Old Ones have taken over, the terrible villains of literature are successfuly businessmen or even celebrities... but then, what are Sherlock Holmes (the heroic consulting detective) and his stalwart companion Watson doing in the employ of the terrible Queen? It was something that greatly puzzled me and annoyed me...
The twist is that it is not Sherlock Holmes who is the consulting detective. Nor is Watson the scribe of the story. Instead, James Moriarty and one of his right-hand men, Colonel (Major in the story) Sebastian Moran, who are the heroes of this grim little tale.
Taken from Disinfo.com:
These days, even American and European gamers are outsourcing drudge work to China, Russia and elsewhere.'Multiplayer online gamers have long cut corners by paying real cash for in-game goods that would take them hours of playing to earn, while others have padded their offline budgets by selling excess game goods or even their characters when they stop playing.
'But now, the reality of exchange rates and international income gaps has spawned a virtual version of the real-world relationship between rich and poor countries. While players in wealthier countries casually drop hundreds of dollars to buy their way into better positions in the games -- or out of tedious parts of the games -- some workers in poorer countries are playing around the clock to produce virtual goods that earn them real money.'
How funny, so now there's a 3rd World-based black market for game items and characters? It gives an interesting twist to those who've long longed for being able to game for a living.
A Whole Lotta Shakin'!
This morning I awoke because I felt my bed shaking beneath me. I felt the my mind's normally slow transition from slumber to wakefulness race ahead of my body's own responses. It began positing observation after observation, and drawing inferences: the rhythmic shaking of the bed, the odd rocking motion transferred to my body, the tapping of the blinds against the windows in the same rhythm.
Earthquake.
The clock said 3:15, and I remembered in the way that one of those strange useless bits of trivia force themselves into your consciousness that the clock was often 4 to 5 minutes ahead.
Then I realized that I was also praying. In the back of my mind, I caught the last words of a prayer that I suppose is my natural response to waking at this strange hour: "... world without end. Amen."
I checked with Manang Connie if she'd felt the earthquake. I tried to get back to sleep.
About an hour later, I did.
From the Philippine Star:
This morning I awoke because I felt my bed shaking beneath me. I felt the my mind's normally slow transition from slumber to wakefulness race ahead of my body's own responses. It began positing observation after observation, and drawing inferences: the rhythmic shaking of the bed, the odd rocking motion transferred to my body, the tapping of the blinds against the windows in the same rhythm.
Earthquake.
The clock said 3:15, and I remembered in the way that one of those strange useless bits of trivia force themselves into your consciousness that the clock was often 4 to 5 minutes ahead.
Then I realized that I was also praying. In the back of my mind, I caught the last words of a prayer that I suppose is my natural response to waking at this strange hour: "... world without end. Amen."
I checked with Manang Connie if she'd felt the earthquake. I tried to get back to sleep.
About an hour later, I did.
From the Philippine Star:
MANILA (AFP) - An earthquake registering 6.2 on the Richter scale shook the Philippine capital and surrounding cities Thursday but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, government agencies said.
The quake, with an epicenter off the coast of Batangas province, just 110 kilometers (68.2
miles) south of Manila, set objects swaying in the capital and the neighboring provinces of Bataan, Batangas, Pampanga and Zambales at about 3:10 am (1910 GMT).The quake, which was tectonic in origin, is expected to have aftershocks, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
Justice League vs. Cthulhu?
Well, apparently in the Season Two season ender of the Justice League cartoon, they go up against a villain known as... Ichthulhu. Hm. The minions of the villain (who is an alien / god from another dimension) all seem to be similar to other Lovecraftian horrors. Like Gugs, and the Old One with mouths in the palm of his hand... and...
Interesting... especially since I'm running my Champions campaign again.
Well, apparently in the Season Two season ender of the Justice League cartoon, they go up against a villain known as... Ichthulhu. Hm. The minions of the villain (who is an alien / god from another dimension) all seem to be similar to other Lovecraftian horrors. Like Gugs, and the Old One with mouths in the palm of his hand... and...
Interesting... especially since I'm running my Champions campaign again.
Three Words: VAMPIRE The Masquerade
Jon Henley in Paris
Wednesday September 8, 2004
The Guardian
Police in Paris have discovered a fully equipped cinema-cum-restaurant in a large and previously uncharted cavern underneath the capital's chic 16th arrondissement.
Officers admit they are at a loss to know who built or used one of Paris's most intriguing recent discoveries. "We have no idea whatsoever," a police spokesman said. "There were two swastikas painted on the ceiling, but also celtic crosses and several stars of David, so we don't think it's extremists. Some sect or secret society, maybe. There are any number of possibilities."
Members of the force's sports squad, responsible - among other tasks - for policing the 170 miles of tunnels, caves, galleries and catacombs that underlie large parts of Paris, stumbled on the complex while on a training exercise beneath the Palais de Chaillot, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
After entering the network through a drain next to the Trocadero, the officers came across a tarpaulin marked: Building site, No access. Behind that, a tunnel held a desk and a closed-circuit TV camera set to automatically record images of anyone passing. The mechanism also triggered a tape of dogs barking, "clearly designed to frighten people off," the spokesman said.
Further along, the tunnel opened into a vast 400 sq metre cave some 18m underground, "like an underground amphitheatre, with terraces cut into the rock and chairs". There the police found a full-sized cinema screen, projection equipment, and tapes of a wide variety of films, including 1950s film noir classics and more recent thrillers. None of the films were banned or even offensive, the spokesman said.
A smaller cave next door had been turned into an informal restaurant and bar. "There were bottles of whisky and other spirits behind a bar, tables and chairs, a pressure-cooker for making couscous," the spokesman said. "The whole thing ran off a professionally installed electricity system and there were at least three phone lines down there."
Three days later, when the police returned accompanied by experts from the French electricity board to see where the power was coming from, the phone and electricity lines had been cut and a note was lying in the middle of the floor: "Do not," it said, "try to find us."
The miles of tunnels and catacombs underlying Paris are essentially former quarries, dating from Roman times, from which much of the stone was dug to build the city. Today, visitors can take guided tours around a tightly restricted section, Les Catacombes, where the remains of up to six million Parisians were transferred from overcrowded cemeteries in the late 1700s. But since 1955, for security reasons, it has been an offence to "penetrate into or circulate within" the rest of the network.
There exist, however, several secretive bands of so-called cataphiles, who gain access to the tunnels mainly after dark, through drains and ventilation shafts, and hold what in the popular imagination have become drunken orgies but are, by all accounts, innocent underground picnics. The recent discovery of three newly enlarged tunnels underneath the capital's high-security La Santé prison was put down to the activities of one such group, and another, identifying itself as the Perforating Mexicans, last night told French radio the subterranean cinema was its work.
Patrick Alk, a photographer who has published a book on the urban underground exploration movement and claims to be close to the group, told RTL radio the cavern's discovery was "a shame, but not the end of the world". There were "a dozen more where that one came from," he said. "You guys have no idea what's down there."
Jon Henley in Paris
Wednesday September 8, 2004
The Guardian
Police in Paris have discovered a fully equipped cinema-cum-restaurant in a large and previously uncharted cavern underneath the capital's chic 16th arrondissement.
Officers admit they are at a loss to know who built or used one of Paris's most intriguing recent discoveries. "We have no idea whatsoever," a police spokesman said. "There were two swastikas painted on the ceiling, but also celtic crosses and several stars of David, so we don't think it's extremists. Some sect or secret society, maybe. There are any number of possibilities."
Members of the force's sports squad, responsible - among other tasks - for policing the 170 miles of tunnels, caves, galleries and catacombs that underlie large parts of Paris, stumbled on the complex while on a training exercise beneath the Palais de Chaillot, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
After entering the network through a drain next to the Trocadero, the officers came across a tarpaulin marked: Building site, No access. Behind that, a tunnel held a desk and a closed-circuit TV camera set to automatically record images of anyone passing. The mechanism also triggered a tape of dogs barking, "clearly designed to frighten people off," the spokesman said.
Further along, the tunnel opened into a vast 400 sq metre cave some 18m underground, "like an underground amphitheatre, with terraces cut into the rock and chairs". There the police found a full-sized cinema screen, projection equipment, and tapes of a wide variety of films, including 1950s film noir classics and more recent thrillers. None of the films were banned or even offensive, the spokesman said.
A smaller cave next door had been turned into an informal restaurant and bar. "There were bottles of whisky and other spirits behind a bar, tables and chairs, a pressure-cooker for making couscous," the spokesman said. "The whole thing ran off a professionally installed electricity system and there were at least three phone lines down there."
Three days later, when the police returned accompanied by experts from the French electricity board to see where the power was coming from, the phone and electricity lines had been cut and a note was lying in the middle of the floor: "Do not," it said, "try to find us."
The miles of tunnels and catacombs underlying Paris are essentially former quarries, dating from Roman times, from which much of the stone was dug to build the city. Today, visitors can take guided tours around a tightly restricted section, Les Catacombes, where the remains of up to six million Parisians were transferred from overcrowded cemeteries in the late 1700s. But since 1955, for security reasons, it has been an offence to "penetrate into or circulate within" the rest of the network.
There exist, however, several secretive bands of so-called cataphiles, who gain access to the tunnels mainly after dark, through drains and ventilation shafts, and hold what in the popular imagination have become drunken orgies but are, by all accounts, innocent underground picnics. The recent discovery of three newly enlarged tunnels underneath the capital's high-security La Santé prison was put down to the activities of one such group, and another, identifying itself as the Perforating Mexicans, last night told French radio the subterranean cinema was its work.
Patrick Alk, a photographer who has published a book on the urban underground exploration movement and claims to be close to the group, told RTL radio the cavern's discovery was "a shame, but not the end of the world". There were "a dozen more where that one came from," he said. "You guys have no idea what's down there."
Getting Ahead
Only a few weeks ago I seemed to be getting ahead in work! Now it seems I'm behind and I've got to stay in late to keep afloat. Gah.
Michael Moore
I find myself looking forward to viewing Michael Moore's Farenheit 9/11. It promises to be an excellent film, despite the accusations of folks who support Bush.
I don't expect the entire film to be completely logical (mostly logical would be nice) but I do expect to enjoy it and learn a few things.
Why don't I have this expectation, having admitted that I haven't seen it yet? I picked up Moore's book Dude, Where's My Country? and perused some of it.
MOORE'S CONCLUSIONS: I noticed that Moore had essentially come to the conclusion that Osama Bin Laden could not have run the terrorist operation because he had to undergo regular dialysis in a country without modern conveniences (such as the fax, the ATM, the local photocopier/office center franchise).
This is a dangerous conclusion, despite the tongue-in-cheek nature of the writing. To underestimate someone just because they don't have the same equipment that someone in the U.S. would use to perform the same tasks can be fatal. A highly motivated individual can work wonders or wreak havoc despite seeming handicaps.
Filipinos in particular are familiar with this. Examples include the earlier discussions on the .45 Colt and running amok, experiences as U.N. Peacekeepers, and the ability of old Katipuneros to run their organizations from inside American-run prisons in the Philippines...
He may yet be right on Osama Bin Laden. Given the relative dearth of FACTS that we common folk have available to us, such a thing is possible. However, I caution against underestimating someone who may have nothing to lose... with an organziation around him who feel much the same.
Only a few weeks ago I seemed to be getting ahead in work! Now it seems I'm behind and I've got to stay in late to keep afloat. Gah.
Michael Moore
I find myself looking forward to viewing Michael Moore's Farenheit 9/11. It promises to be an excellent film, despite the accusations of folks who support Bush.
I don't expect the entire film to be completely logical (mostly logical would be nice) but I do expect to enjoy it and learn a few things.
Why don't I have this expectation, having admitted that I haven't seen it yet? I picked up Moore's book Dude, Where's My Country? and perused some of it.
MOORE'S CONCLUSIONS: I noticed that Moore had essentially come to the conclusion that Osama Bin Laden could not have run the terrorist operation because he had to undergo regular dialysis in a country without modern conveniences (such as the fax, the ATM, the local photocopier/office center franchise).
This is a dangerous conclusion, despite the tongue-in-cheek nature of the writing. To underestimate someone just because they don't have the same equipment that someone in the U.S. would use to perform the same tasks can be fatal. A highly motivated individual can work wonders or wreak havoc despite seeming handicaps.
Filipinos in particular are familiar with this. Examples include the earlier discussions on the .45 Colt and running amok, experiences as U.N. Peacekeepers, and the ability of old Katipuneros to run their organizations from inside American-run prisons in the Philippines...
He may yet be right on Osama Bin Laden. Given the relative dearth of FACTS that we common folk have available to us, such a thing is possible. However, I caution against underestimating someone who may have nothing to lose... with an organziation around him who feel much the same.
Faith
The funniest things come to you when thinking about the grand design of life and living. I remember a little anecdote told to me in grade school. Grade 4, if I'm not mistaken.
The funniest things come to you when thinking about the grand design of life and living. I remember a little anecdote told to me in grade school. Grade 4, if I'm not mistaken.
It was in a the American Midwest, and there was a terrible drought. At a church, a congregation had gathered to pray for rain, and lots of it... they were all praying so fervently. Then the priest spotted a small girl in the congregation.Our teacher never did tell us if it rained.
She'd brought an umbrella. In the huge throng of people, she alone had enough faith (and foresight) to bring an umbrella to ward of the deluge they were all praying for. The priest commented that if the rains came, it would be due to the faith of this little girl.
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