Category Archives: Pedantry

Figurine Post of Noteworthy Win

Haruhi Suzumiya Peep Shot

Hi. I’m not a collector of scale models of female anime characters. I am most certainly not somebody that purchases dozens of them and then compulsively posts photographs of them. I’m not somebody who is really interested in ever doing so, even were an awful lot of disposable income and free time land in my lap.

That said, HappySoda has put together this excellent guide to help you, the novice taker-of-figurine-photos, get started. I like Haruhi Suzumiya as much as the next guy — well, maybe not as much as the guys that own dozens of 1/8 scale PVC replicas of her with removable skirts and such — but any well-executed ribbing of fanboy clichés make my day a little brighter. Well played, sir. Well played.

State of the Union

2006 word frequency

I’ve been working on some projects, at the pace my work and family obligations allow, and have found some pretty cool stuff out there. Related to the HTML Grapher I found several months ago, though only tangentially, is State of the Union an interactive index of every State of the Union address from 1790 to present. Key words (excluding particles like “a,” “the,” “in,” and so forth) are tallied laid out relative to the individual speech being viewed and relative to the entire texts of the 217 addresses. Ladies and gentlemen, the state of this index is strong.

panem et circenses

clown_500.jpg

Two things only the people anxiously desire — bread and circuses.
–Juvenal

Superbowl Sunday is upon us again. Millions of Americans that cannot be bothered to pay even slight attention to the activities of their government will passionately cheer for overpaid adults playing a child’s game. They will project loyalty and pride in the performance of these athletes, who nominally represent the cities of Chicago and Indianapolis. Through a complicated web of inflated rivalries, viewers that don’t hail from the midwest will root for or against one team or the other.

Or were you planning to watch it for the ads?