The Halfway House (HalfwayHouse)

[Mariner*]

10 Things Men Won't Say To Other Men

1. Me and the guys are all going to pitch in for some balcony seats at the opera. You in?

2. That colonic flush just left me all tingly inside.

3. No, I've got this one, you can pay for the next trip down to the tanning booths.

4. Would you like me to give you a hand cleaning the bathroom?

5. The inside of your truck smells like an apple orchard in spring blossom.

6. I just love the way you organize all the tools in your shop, you should come over to mine and give me some pointers.

7. The way you sit on that horse looks very regal.

8. Your skin looks really moist, what kind of moisturizer do you use?

9. I really enjoyed the actors portrayal of a sexually frustrated cowboy in brokeback mountain.

10. The way the underwear fits so snugly on that guy, no wonder the naked cowboy is so popular.

[BullNBear52]

Check the jail.

[AKvetch]

Down to 16. Who dropped out?

[BullNBear52]

They're all in jail except for us. Happy New Year. Just got back from church with 3 generations.

[AKvetch]

Fascinating. 17 boardmarks. Happy New Year!

[BullNBear52]

Defending Duccio

Published: November 13, 2004

More than a few eyebrows went up when the Metropolitan Museum of Art confirmed this week that it had bought a painting by an early Renaissance master, and the price was reported to exceed $45 million. The price is interesting, and so is the painter - Duccio di Buoninsegna, who is not widely known - and the painting's size, about the same as a sheet of typing paper. Perhaps no one would have thought twice if it had been a Leonardo da Vinci the size of an unfolded newspaper. But art is not just a matter of big names and dollars per square inch.

As always, a record art purchase sends some people into throes of comparative anxiety. Think of the possible uses of that $45 million, all the good it could do. But it has already done good. A painting that has been seen by only a few people in its 700 years of existence will be on display for everyone. These days, $45 million may not even buy much of a star's multiyear baseball contract, and this Duccio will draw visitors long after Derek Jeter retires.

The Met clearly feels a need to justify this acquisition, both because it fills a critical gap in its collection and on aesthetic grounds. Yet the most basic justification for a purchase like this nearly always goes unstated. The Met's essential job is to preserve art of the past for the future. For the experts, a purchase like this may not redefine the history of painting, but it will bring a new understanding of the period, and of art itself, to visitors who have never seen it before. That means almost everyone.

[BullNBear52]

ARTISTIC LICENSE: Florida artist Maria Alquilar initially refused to
return to Livermore, Calif., to fix spelling errors on a mural she
created at the city's new library. She admits the tile mural includes
11 spelling "oversights", including the names of historical figures
such as "Eistein", "Shakespere", "Van Gough" and "Michaelangelo".
Alquilar says the library should have caught them before she fixed
them
in with cement and was upset by the criticism of her spelling
prowess,
but changed her mind and agreed to fix the errors after the city
agreed
to pay her $6,000 plus travel expenses. She was paid $40,000 to
create
the piece. Alquilar says the work is meant to be "a testament to The
Enlightenment" and said the controversy over her spelling errors was
"idiocy". (Contra Costa Times, Miami Herald) ...But can she spell
that?

[BullNBear52]

[BullNBear52]

I should be so lucky.

[Phil(Hot Rod Chevy)]

I thought she was done with both of us.

LOL

Have fun,
Phil

[BullNBear52]

She wears her grudges well.

#msg-2560167

[Phil(Hot Rod Chevy)]

Pete,

You mean you haven't been successful enough yet in pissing her off that she hasn't stopped responding to you?

You need to try harder.

Try guns.

She hates them.

Have fun,
Phil

[BullNBear52]

I'm hiding from my stalker. I can't even post on my own board.

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2589977

[Phil(Hot Rod Chevy)]

Pete,

Who are you posting to?

Or should I ask?

Have fun,
Phil

[BullNBear52]

Dead on balls accurate.

You know how to present yourself in the best possible light, no matter how dire the circumstances. Today, you must do just that at least twice.

[hasher]

np.. I do it all the time..

[jwperk]

hasher,Ak..Bull...Sorry ,my alligator mouth just got my canary butt in trouble again...my apologies!

[hasher]

I have been very well ,except for my health and the fact that I'm broke. My family has disowned me, my dog only bites me and no one else, I could use a shower and a matching crutch, (I can only walk in circles till I get 2 the same length) but I am living proof that a botched lobotomy doesn't necesarily mean my shopping cart pushing days have to come to an end. Life on the street is very healthy and the air is fresh and clean (cough, cough). I found an abandoned Ferreri parked in front of the local exotic car dealership, and now have 4 wheels on my old shopping cart, so i can't complain. And you??

[AKvetch]

Oh, THAT nemisis. Well, once he got into soliciting all the ladies on iHub for pics of their hooters I figured how bad a guy can this be, except for his penchant for Diet Coke, of course. Sometimes I think he lives in Newfoundland just so he can get those bargain sled dog trips to warmer climes. If he lived in a decent climate he wouldn't go anywhere. I see it snowed in the San Juans last week. Did you get one of those rare snowfalls too?

Here's a live cam from Mauna Kea. Had snow a few days ago.

http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/cgi-bin/irtvid

AK

[AKvetch]

So how have you been? Missed seeing you around. You might enjoy the Cowboys and Cowgirls board, #board-2053 if, for nothing else, the iBox which is changed daily. Hope all is well. Cheers.

AK

[hasher]

I am not poor... wait.. you are correct.. je n'ais pas d'argent or mai mi satang or ich haben keine geld. excusez-moi, je suis, in fact, impecunious. Some of my old fans will be expecting a limerick, no doubt, explaining my sad state of business affairs.

.. and Kvetchy.. how's your old nemisis, churncrap

[hasher]

yeah, six months of palm trees and no computers. Hibernation is a beautiful place to vacate in, as long as your gaelic is up to snuff.

[BullNBear52]

lol.

[jwperk]

This is a swell board....some poor sap post by mistake..and the attack gerbils.....go in for the kill..! Bravo.

[BullNBear52]

Somebody made a wrong turn maybe?

[AKvetch]

You just get out of hibernation?

[hasher]

oh sorry.. thought I was in another room

[hasher]

morons

[gotmilk]

BullnBear (or) Rocky & Bullwinkle

http://www.rockyandbullwinkle.com

or http://www.abc-kid.com/rocky
THE ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE SHOW.
The first show [ran] from 1959 to 1961 on...
The main plot line featured Rocky, the flying squirrel,
Bullwinkle, his devoted companion,
Mr. Big, the evil midget, and his Pottsylvanian accomplices,
the infamous Boris and Natasha.

© 2001 Fun Group Inc.

[gotmilk]

8. Gotmilk still can't
9. Matt still has a Mattitude
10. Send a Yeti E-card to your friends!
- Yo! The Yeti looks like you in the morning!
- 'Sup Dawg! Have a chillin' day.
- Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, the Yeti smells like you!
11. Yeti Ads
Chill out and check out the latest Pop-Tarts® ads!
- video = 293k
- radio1 = 65k
- radio2 = 69k
... These clips require Real Player
12. The Legend of the Yeti
... known by most westerners as the Abominable Snowman,
has been a mystery of the Himalayas for centuries.
Standing about... this elusive furry monster has recently been
spotted eating frozen chocolate... For years [diet] consisted
of tree bark, and mountain climbers, until one day
it all changed. A mountain climber named Sir Edward O' Churak
was on an expedition in the Himalayas. While crossing a crevasse...
© 2003 19 Touring LLC and 19 Merchandising ™,
© 2003 Kellogg Company
http://www.kelloggs.com/promotions/pt_chillout/yeti_legend.shtml

[BullNBear52]

Flying Squirrel....

[AKvetch]

Trial answering machine message...comments?

audio file

#msg-1151615

[AKvetch]

Paulie found this picture and posted it on the SOAP thread, but the link to it is unclear. Does this mean something?

http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/pauliecashews/Paulie2.html

AK

[AKvetch]

Spammer. This isn't a stock thread. And yes, it is dead, defunct, gone, unused, killed off, deserted, unappreciated. But if you are looking for a hot stock, try #board-1751 and you can clean up.

Regards,

A former Assistant

[hornett]

is this board dead......like the stock it represents?

[Susie924]

I actually found that interesting AK. It explains Surfit to a tee!
With your permission I am going to reprint it.

[AKvetch]

Poor Spelling, Grammar Help Defendant in Web Libel Suit

By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

If you're going to trash someone on an Internet message board, it pays to use bad punctuation.

Just over a week ago, a U.S. federal judge in California ruled that an anonymous investor who had been lashing out at a hedge-fund manager didn't libel the executive or his firm, Rocker Partners LP, in part because the investor used poor grammar and spelling in his postings.

Judge Charles Breyer said in his decision that the investor's haphazard writing style made it unlikely that any Yahoo Inc. readers who saw the postings would take them seriously. As a result, the judge said Yahoo isn't required to hand over the true name of the investor, who used the screen name "harry," to Rocker or Mark Cohodes, the executive targeted by the online postings, likely ending their quest to pursue their case.

"The messages are replete with grammar and spelling errors; most posters do not even use capital letters," Judge Breyer wrote. "Many of the messages are vulgar and offensive and filled with hyperbole."

The judge also noted that Mr. Cohodes did some mudslinging of his own, at one point telling "harry": "DISRESPECT ... EVERYONE GETS WHAT THEY DESERVE...MAY YOU EAT CAT FOOD UNDER A BRIDGE. You lowlifes."

On the one hand, Judge Breyer's ruling likely will be met with cackles from message-board denizens, known for their lax spelling and aggressive use of abbreviations, capitalizations and punctuation tricks. But the ruling nevertheless could send a serious message about what is off-limits on the Web. "The court is not ruling a person cannot commit libel on the Internet," wrote Judge Breyer, who is the brother of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. But the context of the postings by "harry" make it unlikely that "a reasonable reader" would take them seriously, Judge Breyer wrote.

The judge also ruled that "harry" didn't use enough specificity when he went after Mr. Cohodes's firm in their online arguments about a stock, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. "Harry" was bullish on the stock, but Mr. Cohodes posted warnings about the company and its management. The pair soon began insulting each other's writing style, favorite sports teams and appearance. "Harry" wrote in a posting that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was "sniffing around" Rocker Partners, but the judge ruled that the phrase was too vague to be fodder for a lawsuit. "What does 'sniffing around' mean?" the judged asked rhetorically. As such, it couldn't be a libelous statement.

So what did "harry" write that so offended the judge's English-grammar sensibilities?

One passage Judge Breyer cites includes a string of small errors: "Looks like there is trouble brewing at rocker partners," "harry" wrote, deleting the capitalization in the hedge fund's name. The posting went on: "Well its not as if I did not warn cohodes that people were responding to my calls and letters," leaving out an apostrophe in "it's," failing to capitalize Cohodes' name and omitting a comma after "well." In another posting cited by the judge, "harry" wrote: "there is a lot more two it. ITS BASIC MANIPULATION 101." Sure, these mistakes are quite common in online discussions, but that didn't seem to sway the judge.

Judge Breyer didn't respond to a telephone call requesting comment.

Referring to Rocker Partners, Solomon Wollack, a lawyer representing "harry," said: "We hope they got the message and will go away." He added, "I hope this sends a message to Rocker and others like them that would try to use their considerable economic muscle to stifle criticism."

As for "harry," he says in an interview that he doesn't take the judge's critique of his writing style personally. "I'm not insulted at all, I just bang things out, and no one gets any punctuation and spelling right," he says. Internet message boards are "almost like a bunch of drunks arguing in a bar. The language is salty; I just want the stock to move, I don't care about the grammar."

Mr. Cohodes shows no signs of backing off his battle with "harry." As recently as early this month, Mr. Cohodes e-mailed him again, sending a copy of a new stock report on Take-Two.

Although Mr. Cohodes didn't indicate an interest in appealing the ruling, he might have a strong case: At one point in his ruling, Judge Breyer misspelled Mr. Cohodes's name, calling him "Mark Chodes."

Write to Gregory Zuckerman at [e-mail]

Updated June 13, 2003

Copyright © 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

[AKvetch]

Churak, I see you changed your answering machine message...

audio file
[Suppressed Sound Link]

AK

[Lownumba]

New board name of the day:

Martial Arts Releif

[Susie924]

Sounds a little like da Bronx to me Low.......perfectly normal IMO

[Churak]

cause none of us guys have hooters...

[Lownumba]

Susie, there are some here who actually do say, "I'm talking to daboata youze." It hurts one's ears.

[Susie924]

Not you too AK!!!
Why is everyone always pickin on me!

[AKvetch]

Bet you wouldn't recognize a Hawaiian accent if you heard it. But then, what Hawaiian in their right mind would go to New York.

AK

[AKvetch]

HARR!!! JMHO

[Susie924]

But the painful truth, de Nugent says, is people with Rhode Island accents don't sound so bright. They drop Rs from words. (Ladder becomes ladda.) They add Rs to words. (Idea becomes idear.) Most especially, they emphasize their As. (Car becomes caaa.)

I thought that was more of a Boston accent?

FWIW, I happen to agree with the article. Not necessarily Rhode Island accents but I know when I hear my own NY accent I cringe because to me it sounds ignorant.

No remarks Churak!!!!!

[Lownumba]

Quit your whining.....er, I mean "no."

[AKvetch]

You don't have another alias begininning with "gp" do you? Do you post to me on the RANTSAP board?

AK

[Lownumba]

I question the sincerity of your statement.

[AKvetch]

Thanks for the link low...

Speak like a Roe Dyelinda at your own risk
06/12/2003

BY BRYAN ROURKE
Journal Staff Writer


PROVIDENCE -- On the blackboard, John de Nugent writes the seemingly incomprehensible: daboata youze.

His students look lost. So de Nugent, a voice and accent trainer from Johnston, pronounces the phrase. He puts it in context, too, pointing to two students as he speaks.

"I'm talking to daboata youze," he says.

Oh, now the students understand. He's speaking their language, the Rhode Island dialect of English: the both of yous.

No, the plural of you is not yous, and "the" is not pronounced "da." But then this is Rhode Island. And this is the Great Rhode Island Accent Reduction Program.

"If your accent is too heavy, you sound like a cast member in The Sopranos," de Nugent says. "If you're a sophisticated business person trying to give a presentation to Californians or Midwesterners and out comes Tony Soprano, you've lost them."

Four students are enrolled in this Learning Connection class. Three are Rhode Islanders. All ask for anonymity. It would be embarrassing to be identified, they say. They don't want to look like linguistic defectors, renouncing their Rhode Island roots.

The fourth student is Chinese. She's trying to diminish her Asian accent. However, she is married to a Rhode Islander. But, curiously, he wasn't interested in the class.

"He thinks his language is perfect," says Katie Bogue of North Kingstown. "It makes me laugh all the time. That's the Rhode Island mentality."

Go figga. Rho Dilandahs say dey talk bedda dan anybody.

de Nugent, 48, was born and raised in Rhode Island, studied linguistics at Georgetown University, and lost what little accent he had. Now, he feels a little badly about criticizing the Rhode Island accent.

After all, he says, "these are my people I'm talking about."

But the painful truth, de Nugent says, is people with Rhode Island accents don't sound so bright. They drop Rs from words. (Ladder becomes ladda.) They add Rs to words. (Idea becomes idear.) Most especially, they emphasize their As. (Car becomes caaa.)

"Think of a braying jackass," de Nugent says. "That's what this sounds like to people in California."

California? you say. Yes, de Nugent says, Los Angeles in particular. It's the home of movie stars and the ideal American accent.

"I hate to say this about my beloved Little Rhody, but the accent sounds barbaric to other people," de Nugent says. "It's too severe."

But it's a lot less severe than it used to be, according to de Nugent. He recently returned to Rhode Island after living 30 years elsewhere in the country and the world.

"I've seen the accent halfway disappear," he says. "Rhode Islanders are conscious that it's not the most elegant accent."

The Rhode Island accent is not too different than the Boston accent or, for that matter, the Charleston, S.C., accent. All are slight variations on what de Nugent calls a 17th century fad.

Between 1680 and 1776, England couldn't agree on a monarchy, de Nugent says. So it brought in Dutch rulers, followed by German rulers, none of whom pronounced their Rs.

"The nobles and the court started imitating the king," de Nugent says. "People wanted to talk like the king to show they were cool. This fad barely made it across the Atlantic."

Shortly after the fad arrived, the Colonialist's imitation of all things English abruptly ended. A war will do that. But the linguistic legacy continued, but only along the Eastern seaboard.

"No one should be ashamed of the New England accent, but it shouldn't be too heavy," de Nugent says. "People will listen to your accent and not you."

Do you have a Rhode Island or New England accent? A tape recorder will tell you. Or more basic, de Nugent suggests you stand in a corner, cup your hands to your ears and push them forward. Now, start talking.

"That's what your voice really sounds like," he says.

In Rhode Island, as elsewhere in the world, de Nugent says, the local accent is retained longest in people of the blue-collar class.

"The more you rise up the pyramid, the more you're forced to discard the accent," he says.

A strong accent stunts professional and social advancement, de Nugent says. Think of the movie My Fair Lady. The main character was still the same person from the beginning of the film to the end. The only thing about her that changed was her accent.

Pick one you like. Then practice.

"All success in life involves acting," de Nugent. "It's all self presentation."

People are judged by how they sound, de Nugent says, and how they look, how they dress and what they drive.

"Animals size each other up instantly by externals," de Nugent says. "You can't get rid of that."

Rather than fight that, work with it, de Nugent says. Use your voice to your advantage. Reduce your accent. Former Providence Mayor Joe Paolino did so in the 1980s with the help of speech coach.

The goal is not just softening your accent, de Nugent says, but improving your sound. Men, he says, should aspire to sound deeper, and women lighter. And everyone should enunciate and pronounce properly. Throw in a little modulation for good measure.

"People think 'That's a phony voice. I'm not on the radio,' " de Nugent says.

"We don't have a love affair with the English language. For most Americans, the English language is a tool. When we hear the French speak, we think it's too much. But if they've gone over the top in style, we've gone under the bottom."

Watch some movies. Imitate well-speaking actors. Act yourself. That's de Nugent's advice.

For Rhode Islanders, when you come upon a word with an R, he says, think of the letter, and a growling dog -- rrrrr. Then speak.

Before you can correct a problem, de Nugent says, you must identify it, or at least acknowledge it.

"Once you're aware of it, it's very easy to clean up that R situation," de Nugent says.



http://www.projo.com/yourlife/content/projo_20030612_riaccent.a49cd.html