Apollo BBS Archive - August 1991

Apollo BBS Archive - August 15, 1991

Mail from Apollo SysOp
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 07:38:26

Yes... I need the BLACK rubber type!   That was the original.  Do the oem
locks come with black rubber type?   

*=* the 'Mighty' Apollo SysOp *=*  <-clif- 

Enter a line containing only an <*> to stop
 1:I'll do some checking today and let you know.

$tatus Club Bulletin Board command:$C

Message: 8012
Author: $ Gordon Little
Category: Chit-Chat
Subject: Strunk & White
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 01:37:41

Actually there's nothing grammatically wrong with saying "Peter Piper's
Pizza", even if the company's registered name is "Peter Piper's" and not
"Peter Piper".  It's fine to use a noun or a nominal phrase attributively as
an adjective, by just sticking it in front of the noun.  We say "Ford cars"
or "Colt pistols", even though a century ago people have been known to refer
to "Colt's" pistols -- which is equally correct but just not normal usage
today.

I expect the company called themselves "Peter Piper's" for just that reason.
If they called themselves "Peter Piper", people would still talk about
"Peter Piper's Pizza" because it's the natural thing to say, and they
probably wanted to make sure they had trademarked the exact words that
people say.

Trademarks are a finicky business.  I always think it's funny when a product
has a plural name, like "Rolaids".  If I took one of them, I'd probably say
I was taking a "Rolaid", because I'm going to say what sounds natural to me
regardless of what the company calls it.  But if you see an advertisement
for the things, they'll carefully talk about "one Rolaids tablet", or even
"one Rolaids", which sounds weird.  But of course, the name they've
trademarked has the "s" on the end, so they use it faithfully.

I'm glad Mr. Lantern put up the Strunk and White quote.  I wish people would
follow that advice more consistently.  It bugs the heck out of me, as it did
Professor Strunk back in 1919, when I see people write things like "Charles'
house".  Yes, I know we write things like "for goodness' sake" and "for
Jesus' sake"; but that's the way we SAY them too.  Now I'm reading some
rubbish article about "Liz' eight marriages"; and isn't there a movie called
"The Boss' Wife"?  This is incredibly stupid and illogical.  We don't TALK
about "Lizeight marriages" and "the bosswife".  We say "LIZZIZ eight
marriages" and "the BOSSIZ wife".  Why can't we write what we say, for
heaven's sake?

I think newspaper writers are behind a lot of this mangling of the English
language.  Newspapers seem to be willing to do any cheeseparing thing to
save typing or printing one extra character.  It's always in newspapers that
you come across oddball spellings like "cigaret", which nobody else uses.

The schools don't help much either.  It's clear that kids aren't taught even
the most basic rules of handling plurals and possessives, and combinations
of the two.  When it comes to Latin and Greek plurals, forget it.  Half the
country doesn't seem to know that "media" is the plural of "medium", and
"criteria" is the plural of "criterion".  And "kudos" isn't a plural at all.
Give the man a "kudo", ha ha.  It's a bit like saying "Two cheers".

We ought at least to know the basic rules of how to handle plurals and
possessives together in our own language.  It's so easy.  The boss.  The
boss's wife.  The bosses.  The bosses' wives.  That's all there is to it.
But people get so tangled up, especially over possessives of plurals, or
people's names that happen to end with an "s".  Down the road from where I
used to live were two houses, both with identical signs obviously made by
the same signmaker who should have stuck to painting instead of trying his
hand at English.  One said THE BURFORD'S.  The other said THE KLEIN'S.
Obvious "THE BURFORD'S" is a house belonging to THE BURFORD, and I always
wanted to go and ring on the doorbell and ask "Is THE BURFORD in, please?"
And if they said no, I could just say "OK, I'll go and see if THE KLEIN is
in instead."

Names like "Jones" seem to throw people completely for a loop.  "Jones"
isn't a plural; the "s" is part of the name and has to be kept together with
it.  If there are two of them, then they're Joneses, as in "keeping up with
the..."  They really live in "the Joneses' house".  But people write about
"the Jones' house" instead, or sometimes you see references to "the Jones"
(now is that two of them, or is it like THE BURFORD?).  I always want to ask
"And how is Mrs. Jone today?" 

Message: 8015
Author: $ Green Lantern
Category: Chit-Chat
Subject: Gordon/plurals
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 07:53:45

My mother used to say that she was going to take me to "the doctors" when
we only had one doctor. I finally figured that she meant we were going
to "the doctor's [office]" omitting the implied word "office." Likewise, 
the sign painter may have meant "The Burford's [house]" instead of the idea
that there were several Burfords living there. It still sounds funny,
doesn't it ?

Message: 8016
Author: $ Bill Burkett
Category: Writers Cramp
Subject: Strunk & White et al
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 08:26:05

Good grief!  What a scholarly group we've become!
 
To put you all at ease, my much-used and tattered Strunk & White is always
on the shelf just above the computer.  My reference to it was merely a
comment in passing.
 
Hey, Gordon!  I've got a pimple on my butt.  Whadya think of that?  :)
 
(Stand by for 1/666; "Pus Through Time and History.")

Message: 8017
Author: $ Bill Burkett
Category: Get-Togethers
Subject: Peter Piper's GT
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 08:26:28

So, I guess no one is interested in a GT at Peter Piper's, eh?

Message: 8018
Author: $ Rod Williams
Category: Chit-Chat
Subject: Last
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 11:53:04

Saturday, August 17th, 11 E. Ashland Gallery, 8:30 P.M. there will be a
performance of Hernia Retraction Accordian (Petrisko's group).  All the
information is listed in Pic Hits, this weeks New Times.

As for Elvis and Peter Piper's Pizza, well, I love Pizza but hate what
cheese does to my insides.  Elvis was okay but I'd prefer John Lennon. 
Metro Center is okay but I'd rather bike someplace closer.  I live less than
a mile from Michael James' place and only a half a mile from 11 E. Ashland.

There will be three different groups there, at 11 E. Ashland (2 blocks south
of Virginia) plus art works from several different people.  Admission is
$3.00.

I know they serve coffee but not pizza.  Jet fuel I can handle but you won't
catch me sucking a cow's tit, even by proxy.

Message: 8019
Author: $ Rod Williams
Category: Chit-Chat
Subject: Gordon,correct usage
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 11:57:56

The last grade I completed was the eighth but for all practical purposes I
stopped studying in the sixth grade, the year my parents were divorced.

I am Apollo educated and even though I still have a long road ahead I am
making strides.

I moved out of my Mother's house when I was fifteen hitchhiked around the
country for a while before ending up in San Francisco in 1969, fully
expecting to die but met Jasmine instead.  

Message: 8020
Author: $ Rod Williams
Category: Chit-Chat
Subject: flesh
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 12:07:13

I made the comment on this sig that in order for humans to evolve to a
lifeform more suitable for space travel that we would have to change our
diet and for the most part stop eating meat.

Well, cows are grass eaters and look at them, heavy flesh.  I don't see them
evolving.  Maybe they eat a lot of bugs in the grasses they chew or perhaps
human intervention is making them heavier and more meat laden.  If left
alone would they be naturally thin?

These and many more questions remain a mystery.  

X-Rated Cosmos Bulletin Board command:$C

Message: 5007
Author: $ Nick Ianuzzi
Category: Cosmos-Chatter
Subject: last
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 03:46:26

Well, there is the ol' D&C.

Public Bulletin Board command:$C

Message: 77567
Author: $ Gordon Little
Category: Chit Chat
Subject: Beau/Risks item
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 01:42:40

Turns out I had it after all.  I posted it in the COMputer SIG.

Message: 77568
Author: $ Rod Williams
Category: Chit Chat
Subject: Gordon
Date: 08/16/91  Time: 11:59:45

One cannot expect to have a decent world when the world in question is
basically corrupt.

The demands that are placed on the majority of humans are enough in itself
to cause disharmony in our society.

Children growing up are faced with some really difficult decisions and that
is why escapism is so popular on planet earth.  Get an education, get a
job, pay for a house, a car, children, insurance, water, everything, pay,
pay, and then pay the taxes on the payments and keep doing so.  Have a run
of bad luck and you're out of the game, or at least in serious hurt.

Methods of escape will remain as long as and in direct proportion to the
hardships that are thrust upon the working class.  Humans just wanna have
fun.

The natural human animal wants to lay in the grass, watch members of their
chosen sex partners and enjoy.  Well, it's a mighty long way from that
state, mighty long.

Smoking and drinking go way up in times of stress but what do you expect? 
Take the average joe who feels they can do nothing to change the avalanche
of happenings around them.  Their house payment is still due, they know they
can't afford to get sick and miss work.  They know they need a new
transmission and their tires are going bald but what the hell, taxes are
due, and a hole is appearing in the right knee of their jeans.

Just escape, pick up that bottle or bible, sniff some glue, get deeply
involved in D & D, whatever but don't think too much because what you see
is sick and sad and uncaring in its root form.

A child observes their parents arguing over finances, sees them looking
old and tired, doesn't understand why dad has to be gone all day and then
wonders why he is tired on days off.  A human is required to give the peak
part of their lives to the company store and more.  What remains looks like
left overs.  The child wonders if that will happen to them and sees that it
most probably will.  Time to taste some of dad's brandy.

A 'buck' becomes an important aspect to a child because he hears his
parents say things like, "If only we had the money we could do such and
such but we don't."

Hey kid, take a trip, pop some LSD, shoot some speed, whoopee, it's all of
a sudden differrent and who cares about tomorrow.

Jails, prisons and hospitals are full of such people and there are an
awful lot of them and more and more keep coming.  Talk war and alcoholic
drink producers have a field day with profits.  People start smoking again
and doctors prescribe lots of valium type drugs.

There is so much pressure on the average joe that we can only expect just
what we have, a lousy, ill planned society.  When people are put in a
pressure cooker then one can only get fried brains as the result.

Then add religion to all this, it is escapism in a true form, just as
cocaine or heroin.  But what is really sad is the illogic there as it turns
the adherents into sheep only to be harvested regularly.  Leave you mind
here should be posted on church doors before entering.  The lack of logic
of religion turns people against people, divides and separates and makes it
hard to make valid decisions.  But I guess alcohol does the same.  

I can't really blame people for escaping into the woodwork but I wonder
what is the lessor of the evils?  Model cars?  Stamps? Fantasy?

It seems that the way we are divided makes it hard for constructive
escapism such as working together for change.  Life is a short trip pushing
a heavy object uphill it would seem.  Making the best of this trip would be
the obvious answer.  Anyone wanna sponsor me?