Dictum Ridiculum - October 2003

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Dictum Ridiculum: October 2003

Archived rants and raves from the main page of the Colin Campbell Network.

Monday, October 27, 2003
Ironic New York Times Error of the Day
You hate to see stuff like this happen … well, actually, no, you probably don’t. ‘Cause every now and again it’s good to see the Old Gray Lady taken down a peg or twenty. I know they've had a tough year, what with all the fib-filled Jayson Blair stories, but come on, New York Times guys and gals, you’ve got to do better.
In a Times article announcing the appointment of Rotisserie League Baseball founder Daniel Okrent as the new “public editor” (essentially, an ombudsman) of the paper, we found this unfortunate error:
Mr. Okrent's columns will appear primarily in the Week in Review section on Sundays, beginning in early December, though not necessarily every week. Mr. Keller said he and the newspaper's other senior editors had waived any right to review Mr. Okrent's commentaries before they are published, though the newspaper will make available a copy editor to review his work for technical issues like grammar and style.
The Times should have made a copy editor available for that last sentence. What is meant, of course, is this: “issues such as grammar and style.”
If they were issues like grammar and style, they wouldn’t be grammar and style … they would be issues like them. Like does not equal such as.
As a colleague of Dr. Mom pointed out, it’s kind of like making a spelling error in a headline about a spelling bee.
I think we’ve all learned something new today about grammar and style, haven’t we? And that’s really what this website is all about. (Well, that, and obsessive rants about Finnish hockey statistics.)
Transmitted 02:03 PM PST | Link |

Saturday, October 11, 2003
Odd Little Fact That Is Tough To Find on the Internet
Well, you'd think there would be plenty of Star Wars geeks out there who'd already picked up on this, but apparently not.
So, just so the 'net maintains its reputation as a repository for every fact in existence, here's my contribution.
(WARNING: This weblog entry contains a high "dork" content.)
I'm currently finishing up a major project -- entering data about all of my CDs into a very cool program called CATraxx. It's fairly simple; you put a CD in the CD-ROM drive of your computer, the program scans it, then grabs all the info about it from a central Internet resource called Gracenote. (It's the same service that powers a lot of those computer CD players that suddenly display artist and title information.) I tweak the results to fit my particular stylistic needs, and voilà, I've slowly amassed a very cool database of my CDs. (So far, we're up to about 1,350 listings ... with another box or two left to go!)
So as I'm listening to my favorite radio show (Pop Secret on KCRW, of course!), doing mindless data entry, I scan in the first CD in a three CD set of NPR's radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi. I remember being disappointed that after a wait of several years (the adaptation came out in 1996, long after the radio versions of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back), they couldn't get Mark Hamill back to do the voice of Luke Skywalker. Mark and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO were about the only two cast members to appear in the first two radio dramas, and Mark, post-Star Wars, had gone on to a very successful career as a voice actor.
Anyhow, this is all the background noise going on in my head as I slide the first CD in and out of my CD-ROM drive, glancing down at the disc's credits to see who they got to replace Hamill as Luke in this production.
If this story had a great ending, it would be something like, “And that young actor’s name was Jack Black.”
But this story only has a very good ending, which is that while a guy called Joshua Fardon took over the role of Luke, my eye drifted further down the credits, to the unassuming “Additional Cast” list. These are the people who probably did a lot of the background vocalizations; nothing specific, just the chatter and noise that brings a radio drama to life.
In that list, it was tough not to see the name Nia Vardalos.
That’s right – my big, not-so-fat, Greek Nia Vardalos.
So, the obvious temptation here is to wrap up this entry with some kind of “My Big Fat Jedi Wedding” joke, but I’m not gonna do it. It’s too late, and I’ve still got a whole stack of these CDs to scan.
However, this fact -- that Nia Vardalos appeared in the radio version of Return of the Jedi -- has now been properly noted, and may soon lead Googlers from all over the world to this very page. To you, I say, "Welcome!"
Transmitted 02:13 AM PST | Link |

Wednesday, October 8, 2003
Oh, I Voted ...
As a matter of fact, on this Finnish hockey page, I voted for Mikko Eloranta, my favorite former King. I just have no idea what I voted him for. But the good news, I think, is that Mikko appears to be winning the vote.
Of course, the question is: "Valitse oma ehdokkaasi kuukauden pelaajaksi?" Here's hoping the English translation is NOT "Which player for TPS sucks the most?"
Any of those Finnish hockey fans who visit this site care to help out?
Hey, hockey season has started! Yay!

Transmitted 07:40 PM PST | Link |

Place Your Bets!
I've been to Las Vegas exactly once in my adult life, and didn't gamble at all. So, of course I was the best person to turn to when the producers of Conquest wanted a slightly off-format episode called, "How to Win in Las Vegas." Here's the program description I wrote:
CONQUEST: How to Win in Las Vegas
The Conquest team has battled pirates, barbarians, Romans and ruffians. Now, instead of facing off against dagger-wielding bandits, the team takes on one-armed bandits … slot machines … along with the rest of the world’s most popular casino games, as we learn how to win in Las Vegas.
For this special episode of Conquest, host Peter Woodward and the team are joined by 1989 World Champion of Poker Phil Hellmuth, who instructs them in the finer points of craps, blackjack, roulette, and many other casino favorites.
Which are the bets you absolutely must avoid? Which games offer the best odds to the amateur player? How can you avoid getting played like a sucker? The team finds out the answer to these questions, and more, then faces off in a high-stakes final challenge where more than just pride is on the line. This time, the team members are playing for money … and playing for keeps!
A very poorly re-written version of this summary is available on the History Channel website, if you want to see the types of changes my professional stuff goes through before reaching the American public. (And no, I'm not bitter, it's just ... well, read the other one, then join me in a sigh.)
Anyhow, I know you're all dying to set your TiVos, or your VCR's, so get ready -- Friday night, October 17th, at around 11:30PM is when this show is set to premiere. (Conquest has apparently lost its Sunday night at 10:30pm time slot to Roger Daltrey's heavily-promoted beaver eating series.) This was an episode I researched, outlined, and wrote from scratch, then supervised the editing and the final cut in the edit bay. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

Transmitted 10:25 AM PST | Link |

Surprising Speech
I was a bit concerned about this part of Arnold's victory speech last night.
"Even as we speak, shock troops loyal to me are taking up positions around Sacramento, and preparing for the final battle to oust Gray Davis. He can hide no longer. We hope this battle will be swift, with minimal casualties, but we are prepared to do whatever it takes, because the people have spoken..."
Or maybe by that point, I was hallucinating ...
On the other hand, here's a quick warning for Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona: If Arnold starts talking about how California needs "breathing room," watch out.
By the way, you can see some interesting breakdowns on the election returns at the official California Secretary of State Website. It's fun to see the porn star got more votes than the 2002 Republican nominee for Governor. And just how many people punched a chad for Gary Coleman? Those answers and more await you.
Transmitted 10:05 AM PST | Link |

Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Quick Check of the Headlines
Let’s see … the Cubs and the Red Sox both won in the first round of the baseball playoffs, and could meet in the World Series.
My fellow Californians just elected Arnold Schwarzenegger to be their new governor.
These and other recent events have led me to believe one thing: Somebody tell the plague of locusts, they’re on in five.

Transmitted 09:48 PM PST | Link |

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