Category Archives: humanities

Rock Names

Posted on Friday, 2003 March 28 by Anton

Yesterday I picked up a remainder copy of Rock Names from ABBA to ZZ Top: How Rock Bands Got Their Names, by Adam Dolgins. Looking through such a reference, naturally one thinks about what to call one’s own hypothetical band; … Continue reading →

Posted in language, music+verse | 1 Comment

about that sorry wave of suicide bombings

Posted on Sunday, 2003 March 23 by Anton

Also found in the archives, whom to blame.

Posted in history, security theater | Leave a comment

1914 and all that

Posted on Sunday, 2003 March 23 by Anton

Paul Berman in Salon It becomes ever more obvious that the First World War was the great trauma of modern civilization. Something huge cracked in the First World War and has never been repaired. Out of the First World War … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Leave a comment

it’s right there in black and white

Posted on Friday, 2003 March 21 by Anton

Found in the archives — on 1999 May 20 I wrote: The Examiner today used the phrase “one-month anniversary” at least three times on the front page alone. What’s next? Will monthly magazines be described as “one-month annual”? (What happened … Continue reading →

Posted in California, language | Leave a comment

inoculation

Posted on Tuesday, 2003 March 18 by Anton

John Cowan writes: All transliteration systems for Arabic are shite in one way or another. When T.E. Lawrence was writing Seven Pillars of Wisdom, he made a point of being as inconsistent as possible throughout.

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pure pure pitiful me

Posted on Thursday, 2003 March 13 by Anton

Another lustrum, another haircut. A lustrum is a period of five years; I’ve known that for about three lustra, but until now I never thought to look up why it’s so called and what the Romans used it for (which … Continue reading →

Posted in language, me!me!me! | Leave a comment

names on the pays

Posted on Sunday, 2003 March 09 by Anton

New toy: Dictionnaire Étymologique des noms de lieux en France, by Dauzat & Rostaing. I’m a bit disappointed that it lists only towns, not rivers, but that’s a detail. (Many river-names are too old to analyze anyway.) It’s fun to … Continue reading →

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