UPDATE: Links now work!
Detroit, Michigan -- Today, in the metro Detroit area, The Under Reprezented G-Man Funkalicious has declared the reign of "skillz" to have finally concluded.
"The ability is still, mos def, here," he was heard to say. "But the label has just gotta go."
Ever since Charles L Isbell brought the term to light with his fatefull alt.rap post of September '92, the word's Internet use has exploded.
Just two weeks later, Brian "D'Selecta" Millspaw proclaimed "Step cuz if you think it doesn't take as mad skillz to manipulate a rekkerd on a pair of 1200's as it does to play a damn electric guitar you're trippin"
The man was indeed tripping. And thusly, a new dialect, ebono-geek, was born.
Today, the Under Reprezented G-Man Funkalicious calls for us all "to just use some damn synonyms."
"Ability. Ingenuity. Technique. Adroitness. Proficiency. There are dozens of other words to choose from! By falling back on the same word again and again and repetitively, we dull creative expression."
"Phat", "snap", and "bomb" are also reportedly nearing retirement, though their use is nowhere near that of the geek-world adopted "skillz".
"Phat" never truly made it, probably due to its homonymic transgression.
"Snap" is onomatopoetic. One might just as well use "bang", "boom", or "crack".[homonym again -Ed.]
And the only place it is still hip to say "bomb" is at a major entertainment venue or an airport terminal. Bonus points are awarded for slipping "president" or "forgive me" in the same breath. [Hello Secret Service, NSA, and DHL.Oct. 21 is near.]
By the way, 'off the hook' seems to have made a comeback from the '70s, but others might argue that it never left. (link linkity link
While sifting through old belongings, I opened an old book with a stamp reminding me of its purchase at the Morehead Middle School book-fair. Yes. Morehead is a really amusing school-name to sixth-graders throughout the city.
Now I've just finished re-reading Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes. Ten years ago, it was just technical enough to pique my young geeky interest. It was also my first significant read in a first-person narrative style, which i later declared suprubly desirable during my Heinlein years.
Invitation to the Game is still enjoyable the second time around. It is also a nice Wellsian trainer book.
The paperback cover presents a pretty young-woman wearing what seems to be VR goggles that outwardly depict a desert landscape. Because, let us face it: inward depictions of desert landscapes just don't do you or me any good.
By the way, it doesn't have much to do with this book, but I think it would be nice to have a ranch-style residence atop a desert mesa. We could climb down off the mesa, camp aneath open sky and stargaze. Point out the satellites passing overhead. Look over to our desert plateau and know its welcoming design, and that we will return next morning
The year is 2154.Lisse has just graduate from a government school. Human job-opportunities are in short supply, with so many robots and all.
Lisse and seven of her high-school friends are sent along with other unemployeds to their own Designated Area whence they are given meager food stipends and must scrounge material home-goods.
Life is bleak until they are invited to The Game. The Game is mysterious. THe Game is desirable. The Game presents challenges which require the group ready themselves in a latter-day Robinson Crusoe style.
It is an enjoyable quick-read targeted at a young-adult audience.
(imdb)
Screened: 2004-09-18
Overall: 2/4
Have you ever wanted to imagine the 1950s whilst living in the 1930s? Do you remember The Rocketeer? It is sorta like that.
Gwyneth Paltrow plays Polly Perkins, an overly obnoxious and incredibly independent reporter... even for the 30s style of Lois Lane. (no more alliteration. I solemnly swear it.) The Sky Captain is so weak this is all I'll mention of him.
Can you recall how much screen time Cuba Gooding Jr. had in Pearl Harbor? Angelina Jolie gets that much plus sixty seconds in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
All of the side lighting started to annoy me. It might have been used to help with the psuedo-dream tone of the film. But it may also have been used just to avoid casting shadows on the blue/green screens. CG abound!
A saving grace might be the movie's originality... If you play by the rules that state "anything over 20 years old is new again".
(imdb)
Screened: 2004-09-06
Overall: 3/4
A normal sized man (McConaughey), from a dwarf family, deals with the implications of fathering a dwarf child. Arguments are most realistic thanks to superb acting skills all around.
Matthew McConaughey lends some star power to a film I didn't noticed in theaters. Kate Beckinsale is a most beautiful and intelligent actress. I am very interested in seeing other characters she portrays.
This is one of the most human movies I have ever seen.
I took my mother to see The Robert Cray Band and Buddy Guy performing as part of the Meadow Brook Music Festival. Robert Cray headlined, but Buddy Guy rocked his 78 year old ass off.
Is it good to say a blues band rocks? Or do they just jam? Ever hear that rock song Kick Out the Jams? It's not smuckers.
I tried to take a picture when Buddy was going through the crowd; my camera phone sucks donkey balls.
Micah just moved to Chicago. We need to visit and get some Blues Club on.
A picture from my recent weekend in Sarasota.
We stayed at the dot. No more pictures for the Gallery, though.
Soon after my arrival in Sarasota, I received a phone call offering me a job. I thought it over for a few minutes and decided it would be nice to walk back into the kitchen, pour myself another glass and announce my finding of gainful employment. Thus began the week-long job-finding celebration-spectacular through Sarasota, West Bloomfield, East Lansing, Mount Pleasant, and Royal Oak. (Why do all my Michigan destinations have two word names?)
Drinks at the Ritz. Champagne breakfast the next morning at the Hyatt. Out to Siesta Key Oyster Bar (SKOB) with my cousin and another friend for the night. The drink of choice was a large plastic pail filled with various rums and juices; it is affectionately referred to as the Village Idiot. Three digit bar tab.
My sister has a nice old house in East Lansing. It is next to the Marathon station on Michigan Ave.
Mt. Pleasant Meijer doesn't seem to carry the game Monopoly... for PS2
First day on the job was spectacular and party like. I guess the work hard comes after the play hard in this situation.
Looks like I might be bedding down with Ben B. in Royal Oak. Village Park is the current leading contender. It is within stumbling distance of various reputable establishments.