Tiefer, tiefer.

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:58:26 GMT

Look, I know it's unlikely, but should LJ actually go the way of the dodo, seek my reanimated corpse here.

Edit: OK fine.

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:40:00 GMT

Happy Katemas!

It is a golden jubilee this year, as Ms. Bush turns 50 today. In celebration, five YouTube favorites...

Headline News.

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:27:29 GMT

Another piece of incisive journalism to join the many sterling examples in the annals of the Santa Barbara News-Press. Do I smell a Pulitzer?!

Sun, 25 May 2008 15:58:32 GMT

So geeked out!

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 02:52:44 GMT

Um, yeah. If you can't take your cell phone away from your ear to say "Trick or Treat!" ... not gettin' much from me.

Siouxsie interview: one more moment of complete concurrence.

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:48:21 GMT

Speaking of animals, did you hear about this American footballer who was caught dogfighting?
Yes, I read about that! That guy is a fucking piece of shit. It's inhuman on a fucking Nazi level. Poor defenseless animals.

Well, he's found God now.
Oh, bullshit. They ought to let Siouxsie at him. Here's what I'd do. First, I'd shove a football up his ass. Then I'd put a very angry pussy in his underwear. And lastly I would baste him in peanut butter and throw him in a room with rabid, hungry pit bulls! Ugh, I swear I'd fucking kill him. Bastard!

"And you know what I found out? There are other great drummers out there."

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:58:53 GMT

Fantastic new interview with Siouxsie – THE WITCH IS BACK. I think the album is out in the US now? It's brilliant.

A highlight...

What do you make of the modern rock star look in the era of the stylist? You managed to pull yourself together quite well in your day.
They aren't exciting, are they? It's because the same high-priced stylist does all of them! I don't need one, thanks. It makes me feel cheated because I want to see what that personality would choose to wear, how they'd do their hair. They all have the uniform look with none of the attitude. It's a little Stepford Pop Star out there.

Your old guitarist, Cure frontman Robert Smith, is set to do a duet with Ashlee Simpson. Do you think he should be killed for treason?
Who is Ashlee Simpson?

I love that you said that!
No, really, who is he?

Preach it, sister!

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 02:07:13 GMT

Brand new video from my favorite SoCal singer/songwriter/chameleon Cindy Lee Berryhill WATCH NOW PLEASE.

When did Jesus become a Republican?
I thought he was the poor man's friend,
starvin' ol' greed right there in my time of need.

When did Jesus turn the tables on tender
and join the moneylenders?
'Stead of sharing with the lepers, sellin'
shares of Haliburton.

When did Jesus tear away the heartland
from the New York island?
Start throwin' stones at the helpless
when they can't get health insurance,
take away the shelters for the homeless –
this don't sound like you Jesus.

When did Jesus become a Republican?
I thought he was the poor man's friend,
starvin' ol' greed right there in my time of need.

When did Jesus become a politician
and whisper to the preacher men
to tell the congregation exactly who to vote for
in the next election?

When did Jesus join the corporate billionaires?
Did the tax cut take him there?
Still can't see him exportin' jobs for the cheap labor.

When did Jesus become a Republican?
I thought he was the poor man's friend,
Starvin' ol' greed right there in my time of need.

A meme I like!

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:03:12 GMT

Copied from mylaar...

Here is how it works: Copy this list; leave in the bands you've seen perform live; delete the ones you haven't, and add new ones that you have seen until you reach 25. An asterisk means the previous person had it on their list. Two asterisks means the last two people who did this before you had that band on their list, etc.

1. Blondie
2. Psychic TV
3. Spiritualized
4. Swans
5. KC and the Sunshine Band
6. Alien Sex Fiend
7. Franz Ferdinand
8. Pigface*
9. Nine Inch Nails*
10. Siouxsie & the Banshees*
11. Mommy & Daddy
12. Love and Rockets
13. Suede
14. Foetus
15. Blur*
16. Gene Loves Jezebel
17. Shadow Project
18. Duran Duran
19. John Cale
20. The Takács Quartet
21. Rufus Wainwright
22. The Cure
23. Laibach
24. Jane's Addiction
25. Michael Jackson/The Jacksons*

Public Service Announcement.

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:46:37 GMT

~~North American women under 45!~~ All people!

Please stop pronouncing data as if it were spelled datta.

It is a Latin word fully integrated into English.

It has two syllables.

The first syllable ends in a vowel.

The second syllable begins with a consonant.

Therefore, the vowel is a "long" vowel.

Other examples:

major
label
hero
nolo
penis
Dido
Fido
Linus
humor
motor
viper
siren
locus
veto
lupus
homo
minor
zero
piper
papus
bonus
focus
total
super
tuber

Happy Katemas!

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 19:38:12 GMT

Ha. It seems the folks at Wikipedia are celebrating today as well. Featured article!

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:02:13 GMT

The Dark is ~~Rising~~ Ruined.

http://www.cinematical.com/2007/05/20/the-dark-is-rising-the-first-pics/

...Now I find out they have turned Will into a 14 year-old and not 11 and he's American instead British...

W

H

A

T

?!

Sinister forces are trying to RUIN MY LIFE with this!!

Please let this be a rumor.

HOW COULD SUSAN COOPER BETRAY ME LIKE THIS?!?!

ETA: Oh, and they "dropped all the Arthurian stuff" and added some action scenes ... um, OK — I don't even care anymore, this is not a film adaptation, this is a travesty and of course I will never see it.

Discerning Spirits.

Mon, 28 May 2007 01:55:21 GMT

In a curious confluence of calendar and kalendar, today is Pentecost (πεντηκοστή, "fiftieth," since it is the fiftieth day after Easter, inclusive) in both the Western and the Eastern church ... and Siouxsie Sioux's 50th birthday.

I'd like to mix them up in a celebration, but I can't think of any Banshees videos featuring the descent of the Holy Ghost in cloven tongues like as of fire. Oh, but perhaps if we combine flying carpets, the Star of David, rushing lava, fireworks, and a little voodoo darkness, magic will happen. (Again.)

Happy Birthday, Siouxsie!!!

Seven Obsidian Candlesticks.

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:28:48 GMT

The year is 1972 and you're a career gal on the move, but you haven't quite made it to the corner office yet. You'll do what it takes to get there—sign whatever infernal contracts are thrust before your piercing green eyes—but right now you are still doing time in the Steno Pool. Sigh! Consequently you are stuck at work on a Tuesday, AND IT'S HALLOWEEN. How are you going to get ahead at this rate?! You haven't even had time to paint your nails black, let alone whip up something sinister for the midnight potluck after Black Mass! What's a girl to do???

Never fear. I have unlocked the door to freedom and pleasure, and oh! the dark delights that await you in the recipe box of the Devil! Step in, my pretty, step in...

Samhain Soup

1 tbsp. chopped onion
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. mace
1/4 tsp. allspice
2 cups chicken bouillon
2 cups milk
1 cup cooked pumpkin
1 cup heavy cream
2 or 3 tbsp. sherry

In a saucepan lightly sauté onion in butter. Stir in flour until smooth and add milk, bouillon, and spices. Bring to a boil and add pumpkin. Simmer for about 25 minutes. Add cream. Cover and heat, but do not boil. Stir in sherry and serve either very hot or very cold. Serves 6.

That sounds delicious! And seductive! What should an enterprising gal serve (in a silver chalice, of course) to wash it down?

Damiana comes in a bottle that looks something like an Aztec fertility goddess. Inside the rounded breasts, buttocks, and thighs, you'll find what is reputed to be an aphrodisiac. This liqueur comes from Mexico, and until recently its import was illegal. It may be hard to find, but that suggestive bottle may make it well worth the search.

Naughty! And I thought the recipe served six?? (Why not 13!) Oh well, this is the Seventies. But what if one needs something a bit more hardcore, something a bit more ... diabolical. Let's venture on.

Satanic Electuary

Ingredients:
3 grams aenanthol
50 grams extract of opium
30 grams extract of betel
6 grams extract of cinqfoil
15 grams extract of henbane
15 grams extract of ordinary hemlock
250 grams extract of Indian hemp
1 pinch of powdered sugar
1 pinch of gum tragacanth

Preparation:
Mix the above into a smooth ointment. For external use only ; extremely dangerous.

Now you're talking. But whoa, bummer. We seem to be ALL OUT OF HENBANE. How in Hades could the winsome witch have anticipated the need? If only there were a comprehensive guide to stocking the cupboards of the covenstead...

Oh, look!

Spell-Makers Shopping List

Bats Blood Brand Oil: Nice for spells that have to be written, as it can be used like ordinary ink. So far, no impregnated ball point pens are available.

Chinese Oil: The cleaning of hands is very important before spell-making. This is a good deodorant-detergent preparation to keep evil away.

Cleopatra Oil: This alluring scented oil has a subtle enchanting power. A dab behind the ears, underneath the arms and between the fingers will transform you into a mobile spell-binder.

Incense: Never let the stock go low. Keep a good selection to meet with the moods.

Mandrake Root
A stock of colored candles
Ginseng root (Korean if possible)
Coriander seed
Celery seed
Cardamom seed
Pomegranates
Lavender flowers
Rose petals
A few Herbs for coloring are always useful such as madder for redness, saffron for varying yellowish shades, Sumac leaves for brown and Blue Malva for blue.
Dragon's Blood
Cumin seed
Orris root
Linen-faced notepaper, because parchment is not so easily obtained. Store away from light preferably in a cupboard which is not easily accessible to other members of the family.

Cool! Now let's look for some more spells to cast. Oooh, here's one!

To Raise the Dead

Mix together spermaceti, lignum aloes, pepper, musk, saffron, red storax, and the blood of a lapwing. Burn them in a cemetery at night, and you shall see strange spirits.

Fun! But what if our supple sorceress was looking for more of a chips-'n'-dip type of spell. Something to whip up in anticipation of her broomstick ride?

Meat Magic

Try to acquire a sensitivity for cooking glandular meats. With their succulence, you can reproduce the general taste, feel, and texture of a man's penis. When I resorted to emphasizing such treats, I had no trouble getting the phallus of a desirable warlock into my mouth. Roasting, baking, and stewing, my carnal love for him became so obsessive, I cast the spell which made us red-blooded lovers with staying power. Ensnaring a lover with foodcharms, however, makes it very difficult to forget him after the affair is over. After my lover and I parted, I thought of him every time I cooked. I couldn't get the taste of him out of my food.

I am not going to tell you what she says to do with a beeswax candle.

Now fellas, if you've read through all this advice for the Daughters of Darkness, I know what you're thinking, because it's one of the central insecurities of my own existence: Am I nothing more than a sex toy? No! You are so much more. You are a master sorcerer, psychologist, body language-ologist, and aphrodisiacal gunslinger! You, sir, are a Weekend Warlock!

The Devil's Meat

1 pound ground round
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons butter
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons cognac

Blend the first seven ingredients and form into four patties. Cook these quickly in a skillet, turning when they are brown on the underside. Then, for a creative touch, add the cognac and light it. The congnac and ginger should set your lady afire long after the flames have died down.

That sounds a lot like a hamburger. Got anything more romantic?

Double Trouble Shrimp

1 pound shrimp, still in the shell
1 can beer
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon celery salt; black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon mace
2 tablespoons parsley
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Let all the ingredients except shrimp simmer until they reach a rolling boil. Then, drop the shrimp into your brew, for precisely three minutes, drain, and serve them in a basket with a linen napkin. As she picks them up with her dainty fingers, don't let on that she will soon be swallowing an ancient magic potion.

Easy there, Dr. Bombay! You may be a warlock now, but don't go spilling your magic potion before it's ... uh ...

OK, that's about enough filth from me for a whole entire year. Happy Halloween!

A Place in the Sun.

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:54:11 GMT

Slim Aarons has died. I suppose I can't really say he was my favorite photographer of all time, but I certainly do love his work—it just makes me so happy. I grew up seeing his photographs in Town & Country, but I didn't understand it collectively as the work of one photographer—or know the truly iconic images—until a special issue, it must have been around 1990. I remember taking it to Kinko's and doing color copy blow-ups of some of them. (Definitely the Lady Daphne Cameron one!)

For about five and a half years I've been the only person to list Slim Aarons as a LiveJournal interest, which I find both comforting and surprising, especially given the reissues of the past couple of holiday seasons.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll all recognize at least a couple of these, but I just felt like pulling together a few of my favorites. Enjoy with a nod or a sneer, it's up to you.

Rest in peace, Slim. I'm sure you are having a wonderful time, wherever you are.

C.Z. Guest with her son Alexander in Palm Beach, 1955

George Clarke in Palm Beach, 1955

Kevin McClory, his wife Bobo Segrist, and their family in Nassau

Joan Collins, ca. 1955

Lita Baron with Nelda Linsk and Helen Dzo Dzo at a house in Palm Springs in 1970

Lucille Brown and husband Louis Armstrong in Rome, 1949

Marilyn Monroe with her fan mail, 1952

Kings of Hollywood
Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper, and James Stewart at a New Year's party in Beverly Hills in 1957

Peter Pulitzer in 1968

Lady Daphne Cameron

EDIT: This photograph was taken by Jack Robinson, not Slim Aarons. I still like it.
Wyatt Cooper, Gloria Vanderbilt, Anderson Cooper, and Carter Cooper in 1972

Patsy Bartlett and Peter Pulitzer

Feast of the Translation of St Swithun

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 19:37:03 GMT

St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain na mair

Criminal!

Fri, 26 May 2006 17:47:30 GMT

Rep. William Jefferson deserves to be stripped of his office and put in jail for a long, long time. Here he is, PUBLICLY violating one of the cardinal rules by which a man lives his life.

I hope I don't have to explain why this is so wrong, but just in case there are any readers who are unaware of the basics of men's tailoring: A MAN MUST NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BUTTON THE BOTTOM BUTTON ON A SUIT JACKET, SPORT COAT, OR BLAZER. (Unless it's a one-button jacket, of course.)

And you can see why! Not only is it JUST PLAIN WRONG, but it causes the jacket to bunch up at the sides, since the jacket was not made to have the bottom button fastened. Two buttons? Button the top one. Three buttons? Button the middle one, top is optional. More than three buttons? Shoot your tailor in the face and then turn the weapon on yourself.

Lock him up and throw away the key. You would NOT see this shit in the Senate, I can guarantee you.

A Very Serious Question.

Tue, 23 May 2006 19:54:47 GMT

Why are people from Canada called Canadians? Why not Canadans? I mean...

Ethiopia → Ethiopians

Australia → Australians

Macedonia → Macedonians

Virginia → Virginians

but...

Libya → Libyans

Cuba → Cubans

Andorra → Andorrans

Uganda → Ugandans

Seriously, Canada, what's up with the extra i, huh?

I think you should drop it. It looks a bit pretentious on you.

And on the eighth day Scythrop uninstalled fourteen useless freeware video editors.

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:11:24 GMT

The universe has reached a state of symmetric, divine, and perfect balance & order heretofore imagined only by the loftiest thinkers of the late Renaissance. That is right — the Art School Girls of Doom are now slumming it on YouTube.

† † † † †

Episode I

Please click on the image above for the first (shaky sound quality) episode,
featuring their stuffed kitty Morrissey and the Manhattan club scene.

† † † † †

Episode II

Please click on the image above for the second episode,
which showcases a misguided escape to the beach.

† † † † †

Episode III

Please click on the image above for the third, final, and BEST
episode, highlighting the sacrifices gals will make for the perfect bra.

† † † † †

Three perfect episodes, and then ... nothing. Liquid Television continued for years, spawning Beavis & Butthead and Aeon Flux, among others, but not a gasp has been heard from the Art School Girls of Doom since 1991. I like to think they fell into a giant K-hole and emerged in a parallel universe where hair is always big, fishnets are always perfectly distressed, twerps in Bimmers are still totally uncool, and the whole flannel shirts fiasco never happened. Stephen Sprouse is with them. Kiss, kiss.

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 01:16:52 GMT

Metranil dreams of becoming a neon.

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 05:19:12 GMT

I solved an Esoteric Mystery today, so please allow me to tell you about that.

There's a Julian Cope song called "Metranil Vavin." It is a great song. In his book Head-On, Mr. Cope says that the song (which was first recorded by The Teardrop Explodes and appears on their posthumous record Everybody Wants To Shag The Teardrop Explodes) was inspired by his love for Russian dwarf poet Metranil Vavin. The only problem with this is that no one has ever been able to find any poems by Metranil Vavin. And it wouldn't be the first time Julian Cope sort of, um, said something a bit odd.

Anyway, before I go any further, here's the song...

† Julian Cope — World Shut Your Mouth — Metranil Vavin †

And while we're talking about Julian Cope, here's my favorite...

† Julian Cope — Fried — Sunspots †

So back to Metranil, I knew that bird was really on a mission to find out the truth regarding him, so I did a bit of research yesterday evening. Googling was no help whatsoever, of course, so I turned to the subscription biographical and author databases. Nothing on Metranil, but I did find a reference to a "Metro Vavin" (ungoogleable because the Paris subway station takes over). So this morning I followed up on that at the library and discovered the truth!

Metranil Vavin is not the invention of Julian Cope. He is the invention of American poet Clayton Eshleman, who in 1975 published a book called The Gull Wall, which contained "The 9 Poems of Metro Vavin." In a page-long intro to these nine poems, Eshleman claims that a hastily-written note from a friend led to his confusing the name of a Paris Metro stop — Metro Vavin — with a person he was supposed to look up. In so doing, he stumbled across a 64-year-old Russian dwarf named Metranil Vavin, who had only been called "Metro" as a small child, by his parents. Upon meeting, though, Eshleman tells the dwarf that he is a poet, and Vavin then reveals these nine poems — the only poems he has ever written! — which he has translated from their original Russian into crude French. Eshleman then claims that he has translated these naive works into English.

Looking at books about Clayton Eshleman was no help in ascertaining that this was a hoax, until I consulted an annotated bibliography, which noted:

Notes: "The 9 Poems of Metro Vavin" were written by Clayton Eshleman.
The persona of Metro Vavin was conceived by Eshleman, (see appendix A).

I was so excited to be able to figure this out! I really love solving mysteries, so this is right up there with learning the true botanical identity of the "grass olieribos" (childhood obsession) in the Necronomicon straight from the lips of "Simon" himself.

So to tie this all up, here's a pdf of the Metro Vavin poems, along with the Eshleman introduction and the annotated bibliographical description, plus appendix. The question now is whether or not Julian Cope knew about the hoax.

† † † † † † † † †

My own notes.

I may not be the first person to connect Mr. Cope's Metranil with Mr. Eshleman's, but there's certainly nothing online about it, so I'm going to leave this a public post; maybe it'll show up in Google. Who knows. If anyone reading this is really, truly obsessed, here's where I'd go next:

"Clayton Eshleman's Metro Vavin scam." Second Aeon, Issue 19-21 [a single volume, and the final one] (1975). (Second Aeon was a contemporary poetry journal published in Wales.)

Clayton Eshleman Papers (MSS 0021). Mandeville Special Collections Library, Geisel Library, University of California, San Diego. Box 39, Folder 6 — Writings : Original Poetry : Gull Wall : Individual Poems : "The 9 Poems of Metro Vavin."

UCSD also has a copy of Grotesca, the mimeographed, limited-edition work of Eshleman's from 1977 that features another Metro Vavin poem, "The Red Snow."

These books were consulted:

Christensen, Paul. Minding the Underworld: Clayton Eshleman & Late Postmodernism. Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1991.

Sattler, Martha J. Clayton Eshleman: A Descriptive Bibliography. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., c1988.

Thank you and good night.

This country! I despair!

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 18:59:36 GMT

We live in a country where supermodels are more important than fennel. Think about that.

† † † † †

Supper is dinner with its shirt undone. It's relaxed, languid, louche. It's Sunday-ish. It's Sundayissimo. If 'dinner' is a middle manager from Leicester sucking up to Japanese clients, 'supper' is an Italian language student, sunning himself on a June Sunday evening in Hyde Park, stretched out on one of those picnic rugs, tossing his floppy mane like a Tuscan Hugh Grant.

† † † † †

Point your 'mouse' at our recipes, or whatever it is you do. Feast on our knowledge. Source what we source, flay what we flay. But please. Shave first.

† † † † †

Whatever it takes to get Posh Nosh to BBC America, I will do.

Possession.

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 23:11:52 GMT

I like how NO ONE said a damn thing about the similarities in the two melodies, but the tacked-on apostrophe mechanics poll generated plenty of comments.

OK. Let me say right away that despite what I am about to say, IF YOU PICKED THE FIRST ANSWER (Vaughan Williams') I DO NOT NECESSARILY THINK YOU ARE WRONG. Or a bad person. Or scorn-worthy. In fact, it was the choice of professional writers and editors as well most of the non-pro people on my friends list whose writing I respect. I certainly do not hold myself up as an exemplar of the English language, and I'm obviously not a professional writer or editor ... just a nit-picker.

Now then. When I was making the entry, I initially wrote "Ralph Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on Greensleeves," which I do personally believe to be more correct, as do a few of the more linguistically-minded of you. However, it is becoming clearer and clearer that the alternative is, if not the dominant usage, at least appreciably common. And I knew that my choice would look awkward to some people, so I avoided it altogether and made a poll to confirm my suspicions.

A little research pointed me to what I now believe is the source of the shifting tide: the Associated Press stylebook. After consulting a dozen reference manuals, it became apparent that there is a great deal of confusion — and in fact outright dissent — among "authorities" when it comes to forming possessives of singular nouns ending in s. This, from the Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, is fairly representative of the official prescription, and singles out the AP as a rogue.

Singular Possessives.

To form a singular possessive, add -'s to most singular nouns—even those ending in -s and -x (hence witness's, Vitex's, Jones's, Nichols's). E.g.: “Noting Congress's move to regulate maternity hospitalization, managedcare advocates predict that politicians would legislate health care” (U.S. News & World Rep.). Although the AP Stylebook (6th ed. 1996) calls for nothing more than an apostrophe if the word already ends in -s (p. 163), most authorities who aren't journalists demand the final -s as well (i.e., Bill Forbis's farm, not Bill Forbis' farm). See William Strunk, Jr. & E. B. White, The Elements of Style 1 (3d ed. 1979).

There are three exceptions to this rule. The first is the standard one: Biblical and Classical names ending in -s take only an apostrophe, hence Jesus' suffering, Moses' discovery, Aristophanes' plays, Grotius' writings. (No extra syllable is added in sounding the possessive form.) The second exception is for words formed from a plural. Thus General Motors should make General Motors', not General Motors's—e.g.: “A merger by General Motors will excite great interest in an enforcement agency simply because of General Motors's [read General Motors'] size” (E. W. Kintner, An Antitrust Primer, 1973). The third exception (a minor point) is discussed at (J).^†

Plural Possessives.

For most plural possessives, use the ordinary plural form and add an apostrophe to the final -s: Smiths', Joneses', bosses', octopuses'. The one exception is for plurals not ending in -s, for which -'s is added as in the singular possessive: brethren's, children's, men's, women's.

Writers sometimes confound the singular and plural possessives, most commonly by misusing the singular for the plural—e.g.: “I don't much admire the Wales's [read Waleses'] taste in expensive schools” (Guardian). (The reference was to the Prince and Princess of Wales.)/ “According to the lawsuit, on the day before he died, a classmate walked into the boy's bathroom [read boys' bathroom (because it's a school bathroom)] and interrupted Shawn before he could hang himself with a shirt” (Austin American-Statesman).

— "possessives" The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style. Bryan A. Garner. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed 13 January 2006. http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t26.e1727&category=

Of course, the "Vaughan Williamses" question was plural, not possessive, so since we never use apostrophes to form plurals, "Vaughan Williamses" is the only acceptable answer. Sorry, that was kind of a trick question. I don't even remember who said what for that one, so don't worry if you got it wrong.

I actually found a grammar forum online that deals specifically with the surname Williams, but the answer, while good, only adds to the confusion.

The vast majority of the reference works I consulted agree with my Vaughan Williams's, but I think it ultimately will come down to pronunciation and a subjective call on what "sounds awkward."

CHW, J'y, H_R, PoP, FMF ... we are fighting a losing battle, I'm afraid.

† † † † †

^†J. Attributive Nouns Ending in -ed. Words ending in -ed become awkward as possessives. This happens primarily in law. With such phrases as the insured's death or the deceased's residence, it's better to use an of-phrase—hence the death of the insured and the residence of the deceased. (Or you might try the decedent's residence).

Heirs & Rebels.

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 02:11:20 GMT

In news slightly related to my earlier entry, I was shocked to come to the realization recently that a certain Mr. Nik Kershaw appears to have lifted one of his most recognizable mid-'80s melodies from a certain Mr. Ralph Vaughan Williams (co-editor of The English Hymnal with liturgist/hottie P.D.), specifically his Fantasia on Greensleeves. Please have a listen to both of these excellent pieces and tell me if I am ~~reading~~ hearing too much into the matter.

☞ Nik Kershaw – The Riddle ☜
(The main melody, as in 0:05 – 0:28.)

☞ Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields/Marriner – Fantasia on Greensleeves ☜
(The middle third, which joins the two more traditional instances of "Greensleeves," esp. 02:09 – 02:30.)

† † † † †

And finally, a punctuation question. I will not judge you based on your answers, or subcategorize people or any of that nonsense. I just want to get a sense of what people think is correct or most acceptable. So please, answer truthfully and without fear...

View Poll: #651234

no more wash day blues.

Tue, 06 Sep 2005 18:24:54 GMT

Monday's wash day down South — hard work with lye soap and blueing, scrubbing and line-drying. Well, maybe not so much hard work these days, but my grandmother still has her old washboard hanging up on the back porch as a reminder. There are other reminders, especially down in the delta, where Blue Monday persists in the traditions of red beans & rice (takes all day to soak & simmer, but not much fussin') and hoodoo "blue water" uncrossings.

So please join us this Monday for some uncrossing ... and just maybe some simmerin' and fussin'.

On the menu are authentic sazeracs, red beans & rice, crawfish étoufée, and café brulot, served in real café brulot cups & saucers just like Brennan's used to use.

Don't miss out on your chance to make the society column of these very pages next Tuesday morning!

Suggested donation (bring cash or your checkbook) is $25.

All proceeds will be promptly forwarded to Habitat for Humanity Hurricane Recovery Effort and American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Fund.

R.S.V.P. right here.

Tiefer, tiefer.

Happy Katemas!

Headline News.

Siouxsie interview: one more moment of complete concurrence.

"And you know what I found out? There are other great drummers out there."

Preach it, sister!

A meme I like!

Public Service Announcement.

Happy Katemas!

WHAT?!

HOW COULD SUSAN COOPER BETRAY ME LIKE THIS?!?!

Discerning Spirits.

Happy Birthday, Siouxsie!!!

Seven Obsidian Candlesticks.

A Place in the Sun.

Feast of the Translation of St Swithun

Criminal!

A Very Serious Question.

And on the eighth day Scythrop uninstalled fourteen useless freeware video editors.

Metranil dreams of becoming a neon.

This country! I despair!

Possession.

Heirs & Rebels.

no more wash day blues.

W

H

A

T

?!