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July 10th, 2001 - 5:00 a.m.
I'm Currently Avoiding:Song of the Day: "Mario Takes A Walk" by Jesse Cook.
Note about the song of the day(it'd be a sidenote, but this is supposed to be here and it's not off topic at all. Plus I'm not even sure sidenotes exist, seeing as how I can't seem to find a definition for it. I couldn't really use aside, because it's not, and then there's digression. I could say it was one of those, but it's not, and besides, people severely dislike that word. Maybe it's an anti-digression? It's not a gress, because that doesn't exist, although maybe it should damnit. And this explanation of the explanation has gotten way too long and we now must return to that sentence about a paragraph ago that I started and haven't finished.): I got this song off of PBS. They were playing it as an alternative to the rather strange commercialesque things they normally put on between programs. It was really quite amazing. I don't normally like that type of song. If done poorly, songs without words can be really boring. This one wasn't. You got to respect songs that actually make me want to dance. And while I don't know a lot (anything) about expertise on the guitar, it was clear to me that this guy was talented (although I could be wrong, since I don't know what talented is comprised of when it comes to playing the guitar). It was amazing to me at least, which is all that counts, and I am unanimous in that. (Bonus points if anyone knows where that last part is from.) Anyway, the point is that the song rocked, even if next to no one has ever heard it and that you have to respect musicians who are really capable and do what they do b/c they love it. Basically, quality is preferred to quantity, fame, and please someone save me from the crap and mush that is most pop songs today. Speaking of which,
July 10 is ........ Clerihew Day (Hmm...I was going to ask what/who the heck this was, but someone kindly found a definition for me, so...clerihew - A humorous verse, usually consisting of two unmatched rhyming couplets, about a person whose name generally serves as one of the rhymes. Interesting, isn't it? Anyone want to compose a couple? Oooh, I liked this one:
Cecil B. De Mille,
Rather against his will,
Was persuaded to leave Moses
Out of 'The Wars of the Roses'. )
recuse (v. rih-KYOOZ)
: to disqualify (oneself) as a judge in a particular case; broadly : to remove (oneself) from participation to avoid a conflict of interest
Recuse is derived from the Middle French word recuser, which comes from the Latin recusare, meaning to refuse. English speakers began using recuse with the meaning to refuse or reject in the 14th century. By the 17th century, the term had acquired the meaning to challenge or object to (a judge). The current legal use of recuse as a term specifically meaning to disqualify (oneself) as a judge didn't come into frequent use until the mid-20th century, however. Broader applications soon followed from this sense -- you can now recuse yourself from such things as debates and decisions as well as court cases.
weltschmerz (n. VELT-shmairts)
1 : a mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world to an ideal state
2 : a mood of sentimental sadness
The word Weltschmerz initially came into being as a by-product of the Romanticism movement in Europe of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The poets of the Romantic era were a notably gloomy bunch, unwilling or unable to adjust to those realities of the world that they perceived as threatening their right to personal freedom. Weltschmerz, which was formed by combining the German words for world (Welt) and pain (Schmerz), aptly captures the melancholy and pessimism that often characterized the artistic expressions of the era. The term was coined in German by the Romantic author Jean Paul (pseudonym of Johann Paul Friedrich Richter) in a 1827 novel, but Weltschmerz wasn't adopted into English until nearly 50 years later.
Hmm...I did mention commercials earlier. I wonder why the other stations don't follow PBS' example and put commercials on in the 5 minutes or so between programs. I know I'd be a lot happier if they were all lumped together and I didn't have to have my 1/2 hour show interrupted three times for "boy cow" and McDonald's/Atlantis commercials. Of course, PBS gets money from people who watch their programs in order to keep operating, so maybe that has something to do with it.
As a final "note," "The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu" is a damn funny movie. I hadn't realized that there were more of them or that they'd been based on novels, but now that I know, anyone want to buy me one? Or something? Come on, pretty please? It's my birthday soon, don't I deserve something?
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And I like it that way.
