Re: Cue Laugh Track

1

That's not even slang, man. That's just silly.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 6:42 PM
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Cops have been trolling the site

hmmmm...


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:05 PM
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I've mentioned this before, but I spent the first hour of my Craigslist NYC trolling trying to figure out why so many of the m4w ads were inviting girls to go skiing. I didn't realize that was such a common dating activity, since you'd have to travel quite a bit to get to any big hills, but I figured maybe they included that detail to sound worldly, like the guys who say they'd love to meet a girl who wants to visit Paris. If France and Italy are drug references too, that would explain a lot of the personals section.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:12 PM
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Yeah, I was all "East Coast skiing sucks! Who are all these weirdos?" And once I figured it out, I was all "Jesus Christ, are these people just begging to be arrested or what?"

The Tina Turner thing is completely craxy---so is meth, of course.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:17 PM
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"Tina" and "Christina" have long been widely used as a euphemism for crystal meth, but "Tina Turner tickets" is new to me. Makes sense, though.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:24 PM
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completely craxy

Permission to deploy this at every opportunity.

Skiing? Whassat, coke or sumpin?


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:25 PM
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What would really explain the personals section is if "not interested in games" is a secret codephrase for drugs.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:27 PM
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What is it with lame drug references using women's names? Mary Jane I can kind of vaguely justify (and please it has gone out of date since 1962 or whenever), but Tina Turner is...yeah. Geeze.

I like some creativity in my slang.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:27 PM
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Skiing? Whassat, coke or sumpin?

Rhyming slang. Pair of Skis / Nintendo Wiis. It's how hardcore Wii-fit devotees find each other.


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:28 PM
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9 made me laugh aloud.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:30 PM
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7: Yes, or if "partner in crime" literally meant "partner in crime."


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:31 PM
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I had an awkward drug-reference moment in high school. I worked at a pizza place, and a new pizza maker, after a few hours of having me train him, asked, "Do you smoke trees?"

I stared blankly at him for a good fifteen seconds before realizing what he was asking.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:32 PM
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||

LB's getting her wish - they're looking into the suspicious circumstances of Spitzer's dragnet.

|>


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:33 PM
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What is it with lame drug references using women's names?

It's an addict thing.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:33 PM
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Cops have been trolling the site and making busts, which include the high-profile arrest of Citigroup vice president Mark Rayner for selling 50 Ecstasy pills and 7 grams of cocaine for $1,200.

Is that in cash or preferred stock?


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:33 PM
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Here's a typical m4w ad, from today:

I was passing by for a little shopping / thinking about the loved ones.
I saw a few little women that i wanted to love but kept on walking with my neck turned towards them. I think its little Korea or japan around there because of all the signs. I am not a big shopper but wondered what is a cool toy for a 8 yr old boy and a 5 and 3 girls. I saw mostly junk that would last their interest for 10minutes. I saw a cool shoot me up game that shoots styrofome projectiles. 6.99// My parents anger// priceless// I found franky the dog gifts. Mom and Dad tomorrow.

At least this guy has given up entirely on communicating with a potential reader.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:34 PM
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From the article in 13, a new phrase I keep seeing crop up: "But that has not put to rest suspicions, expressed on left wing blogs, that..." Dare I hope that this will replace the old "rumors surfacing on Drudge Report"?


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:36 PM
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craxy

That's so craxy -- a friend and I have been using this word for years. As far as we know, we made it up.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:40 PM
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Quick, everyone express suspicions of things.


Posted by: washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:40 PM
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Next to a picture of a human-sized penis, oddly on missed connections:

for everyone want this is 7' long let me knoe mail me if u interesting tomorrow in tanksgivin bye

Seven feet?


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:44 PM
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It's how hardcore Wii-fit devotees find each other.

I can see I'm missing a great deal without Craigslist.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:44 PM
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I am missing some keys on my keyboard and cut and paste or avoid words. Sometimes I get cranky and take shortcuts. When it's important, I do load up the onscreen keyboard.

In related news, I'm going to get a new laptop for christmas! Please, what should I get?


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:44 PM
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Hey, speaking of drugs, my only friend who's also an incarcerated felon was just pardoned by the Predient. Viva Bush!


Posted by: robert halford | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:45 PM
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for everyone want this is 7'

... The Druids ...


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:45 PM
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Maybe the laptop bleg should be its own Ask The Mineshaft.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:45 PM
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Has anyone figured out what "misc romance" on Craigslist is for? It's separate from "casual encounters," but the content seems, if possible, even more full of offers to pay for sex.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:48 PM
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23.---Was it Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles, convicted of "unlawful use of a telephone in a narcotics felony"?


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:49 PM
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23: Hey, I saw that list. I was totally mystified by the food-stamp lady (though not enough to look it up). Either that was thrown in there to distract from all of the political-connection-based pardons, or she was running one heck of a food-stamp scam.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 7:52 PM
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I'm pretty psyched Bush pardoned that rapper dude.

The Tina Turner thing reminds me of this story.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:02 PM
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I thought it was Joh/n E. F/orte, backup singer to Car/ly Si/mon.

It's separate from "casual encounters," but the content seems, if possible, even more full of offers to pay for sex.

It's for people who can't figure out what 'casual encounters' means.

max
['Oooooo. Tacky. I want to pay with a credit card. Cash is icky.']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:03 PM
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And it seems people in misc romance offer to pay in "roses" or "hats" or other items. "BRR ITS COLD I HAVE 300 HATS FOR YOU!"


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:05 PM
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32

Now I want biscuits.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:05 PM
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33

30: good thinking on the googleproofing. We'd be fucked if she showed up here.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:06 PM
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34

Urban dictionary has "craxy" listed as a minor-league pwned.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:11 PM
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So what do you say in a personals ad if you actually like to ski? As in, you really do like to buckle long planks to your feet and allow gravity to pull you down a hill, turning this way and that?


Posted by: Otto von Bisquick | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:12 PM
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I am annoyed that so few of the m4w ads employ even reasonable spelling and punctuation that the ones who do seem far more attractive than they should.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:13 PM
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So what do you say in a personals ad if you actually like to ski?

Oh then you just say "I want to score some heroin."


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:14 PM
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38

You might start by suggesting that said activity will take place somewhere other than NYC.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:14 PM
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39

But 37 is of course the best answer.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:15 PM
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37: oh. Suddenly the James Brown song makes much more sense. It's about a fugitive ski racer!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:15 PM
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Oh my:

I give full body massages whichs includes deep tisse massage, swedish massage, sports typ massage, shitash massage, Indian head massage, I also provide body grooming with body scrabs

Shitash and scrabs? Sold!


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:17 PM
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You might start by suggesting that said activity will take place somewhere other than NYC.

Can you XC ski in central park?


Posted by: CJB | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:20 PM
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You might start by suggesting that said activity will take place somewhere other than NYC.

Can you XC ski in central park?


Posted by: CJB | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:20 PM
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44

deep tisse massage

Eisenstein always loved those.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:20 PM
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45

Damn it. if it asks you if you want to resend data hit NO.


Posted by: CJB | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:21 PM
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43: you can, but somebody's somebody'll sell you baking soda instead.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:21 PM
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Heroin! I knew it was either coke or heroin!

If Craigslist personals are mostly for hooking up one time only, it seems that punctuation and grammar shouldn't be relevant. OR DO YOU THINK THEY REFLECT ON CHARACTER, HM? HM?

Or, maybe the personals aren't just for one-night stands.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:21 PM
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Can you XC ski in central park?

MAYBE twice a year. And where the hell do you put the skis the other 363 days?


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:22 PM
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Under the Constitution, the president's power to issue pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled.

Ok, Associated Press, that's true and all, but leaves out a crucial element: that's because the check against improper use of the pardon power was meant to be impeachment. Just ask James Wilson.


Posted by: washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:23 PM
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47: or maybe the punctuation is code, too. What's a period stand for?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:24 PM
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47: or maybe the punctuation is code, too. What's a period stand for?

"I like to abduct small children."


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:24 PM
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the check against improper use of the pardon power was meant to be impeachment.

Okay, but that's a kind of crappy check, isn't it?


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:27 PM
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You say that now, but when you're in prison for giant slalom and Obama's your only hope you'll see things differently.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:29 PM
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In practice, lord yes. Not sure if the framers expected fear of impeachment to keep Presidents from coming close to the line of abusing the power, expected impeachments to be much more common than they are, or just didn't think it through enough at all. Though, as my link mentions, the inclusion and scope of the power were both debated.


Posted by: washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:30 PM
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No, the personals outside of "casual encounters" and "misc romance" are supposed to be for something other than one-night stands, but they tend to be about half men offering to pay to go down on someone and the rest extremely sadly misspelled pleas for love and understanding in this cold, cruel world. Check out the "platonic" ads and weep.

In my personals-answering days, I tried being open-minded about spelling, but this turned out to be a mistake. Yes, I think an attempt at comprehensible spelling and punctuation, even if not perfect, is well within the grasp of someone who actually wants to communicate with a reader, especially when most browsers have a red underline now to help people. If writing something that can be read and understood isn't your bag, maybe writing all-text personals ads isn't your metier.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:30 PM
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55: I thought you said there was a picture of the seven foot cock.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:31 PM
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It was just a regular cock. The text was undermined by the photo, and so was ineffective.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:34 PM
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55: So did the bad spellers all have something wrong with them in common, or was each wrong in his own particular way?


Posted by: Zombie Stanley | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:36 PM
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57: Regular cocks aren't seven-feet wide? I'm cursed.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:37 PM
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Plus there's a zombie version of you.


Posted by: Zombie Stanley | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:38 PM
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60: Who tells jokes that go over my head. Life is shit, man.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:39 PM
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58: I claim coup de pwnage.


Posted by: Zombie Tolstoy | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:41 PM
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54.---I've always had the impression that the Framers ezpected impeachment to be more common. They all knew each other socially, you know.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:41 PM
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58: Extreme defensiveness upon meeting an English teacher, IME. I didn't say nuthin', I swear. Even good spellers can be pretty defensive. And for some reason, none of them realized they would feel this way until meeting me, at which time they began confessing how few books they've actually finished on their profile's "favorite books" list or whatever.

Being an English instructor in public is not nice for people. Waitresses who ask what I do start confessing to various crimes of plagiarism, etc. I think it would be nicer for everyone if I lied.

The only people who seem to be delighted upon hearing that I'm an English teacher are cute foreign boys who start telling me how much they love Shakespeare. There's that, at least.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:42 PM
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Hah! Impeached your nose!


Posted by: Zombie John Jay | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:43 PM
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"Ezpected". Craxy, Jack!


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:43 PM
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63: Wait, I thought you had an X but no Z. Does it change?


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:43 PM
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I have neither.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:44 PM
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It would help if you all used those letters a lot.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:44 PM
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especially when most browsers have a red underline now to help people

They do!?! Shit, man, mine doesn't! Did I disable it? Possibly.

Jackmormon's ruse has fallen apart. No Z, my axx.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:48 PM
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I am becoming more interested in the fact that impeachment can occur after a president leaves office.

I think the framer's problem is that they assumed a sense of shame. John Rogers at Kung Fu Monkey got this exactly right with his classic L33T Justice post.

As I watched Congressmen and Senators stumble and fumble and thrash, unable to bring to heel men and women who were plainly lying to them under oath, unable to eject from public office toadies of a boot-licking expertise unseen since Versailles, it struck me. The sheer, simple elegance of it. The "exploit".

The exploit is shame.
...
I cannot help but think that as Nixon walked to the chopper, somewhere in the darkened hallways of the White House Dick Cheney shook his head, spit, and whispered: "Pussy."


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:50 PM
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No, I swear it's true!


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:51 PM
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xxx zzz


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:53 PM
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Thanks, teo. I don't need them right now, but thanks.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:55 PM
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33: good thinking on the googleproofing. We'd be fucked if she showed up here.

No shit. The duet of the 'Green Manilishi/You're So Vain' medley would probably hurt.

31: And it seems people in misc romance offer to pay in "roses" or "hats" or other items.

There was a guy who had an ad in the misc section in the Dal/las Ob/server starting in the mid-80's, offering to meet meen he would then fellate. After a couple of years of running the ad, he added the line: 'I'm not gay, I just like to suck cock.'

max
['Just to be clear.']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:55 PM
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Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:55 PM
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After a couple of years of running the ad, he added the line: 'I'm not gay, I just like to suck cock.'

Imagine the misunderstandings that must have led to that!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:56 PM
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78

You know what's a great town?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 8:57 PM
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claim coup de pwnage

After the collapse of civilization early in the 21st century, the neo-feudal droit de pwnage would come to structure remained of online social relations ...


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:00 PM
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79: pwned.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:02 PM
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78:

Curtis also imported animals from around the country to attract more families to visit his ranch. He used Zzyzx until 1974, when he was arrested by the United States Marshals for misuse of the land as well as alleged violations of food and drug laws, and the land was reclaimed by the government.

So awesome.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:06 PM
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The name is taken from book three of The Prelude by William Wordsworth

Two voices are there: one is of the deep;
It learns the storm cloud's thunderous melody,
Now roars, now murmurs with the changing sea,
Now birdlike pipes, now closes soft in sleep;
And one is of an old half-witted sheep
Who bleats articulate monotony,
And indicates that two and one are three,
That grass is green, lakes damp, and mountains steep:
And, Wordsworth, both are thine: at certain times,
Forth from the heart of thy melodious rhymes
The form and pressure of high thoughts will burst;
At other times--good Lord! I'd rather be
Quite unacquainted with the A, B, C,
Than write such hopeless rubbish as thy worst.


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:07 PM
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... it was also the beginning the Great Connecting Word Elimination, surely due the influence texting.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:07 PM
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Sometimes, Gonerill, it's just really awesome to remark on the dampness of lakes, you know?


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:13 PM
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82: if I ever enter a game in the interactive fiction contest I'm totally calling it An Old Half-Witted Sheep.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:15 PM
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78: The Tonopah and Tidewater railroad which went through that town is pretty great as well. It was never even planned to go to Tonopah, much less Tidewater (it basically was a route to Death Valley area borax mines).

Another geographic town naming oddity in that area is a series of artificial in-order alphabetic "town" names on the Southern Paciific route through the Mojave.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:16 PM
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86: Interesting. Kind of like how the Santa Fe railroad didn't actually go to Santa Fe.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:24 PM
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86.2: Amboy, Bristol, Cadiz, Danby, Edison (later changed to Essex), Fenner, Goffs. (later Homer, Ibex (changed to Ibis) and Klinefelter were added.)


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:24 PM
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87: Yes, a lot of early railroads were named aspirationally. Brought home to me as a kid when I'd lay awake at night listening to the trains on the AC&Y (Akron, Canton and Youngstown), which started in Akron and then went in the precise opposite direction of the other two cities.



Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:28 PM
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So swimming posts are *not* in fact the fastest way to kill Internet discussions.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:29 PM
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The weird railroad-"town" name thing recurs in various forms in a lot of places. There's an area in Virginia where they were named after places in Sir Walter Scott novels. There are also the ones in western New Mexico between Albuquerque and Gallup (Guam, Coolidge, Thoreau, Anaconda, etc.) that were apparently just totally arbitrary.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:31 PM
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I'm always up for late-night geography threads.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:33 PM
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Quick zephyrs blow, vexing daft Jim.

This is the shittiest isopangram I've ever read.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:35 PM
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91: Supposedly somewhere in Kansas there is a string of small railroad towns named after early Chicago White Sox players.

Coalinga, Califonia is often thought to derive from Coaling Station A. The "Coaling Station" is not in dispute, but apparently the standard view is that the "a" was simply added to make it sound Spanish.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:36 PM
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New Munich, Minnesota was not named after Munich, Germany. It was named after Munich, Minnesota, a mile or two away from New Munich. Munich, Minnesota was named after Munich, Germany. Munich, Minnesota is now a ghost town, whereas New Munich has over 200 people, the ruins of a brewery, a beautiful Catholic church, and a nice bar whose owner knows all about local history.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:38 PM
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93: Thank you. Am interested in non-craptacular ones you might share with us.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:38 PM
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It's not an isopangram, Ben. You could call any sentence a shitty isopangram if you like.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:45 PM
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96, 97: Ah right. Just a relatively short pangram.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:47 PM
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(Guam, Coolidge, Thoreau, Anaconda, etc.) that were apparently just totally arbitrary

That's not arbitrary! They're named for snakes, contemplative dudes, or places where snakes and contemplative dudes can live in harmony.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:50 PM
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They're named for snakes, contemplative dudes, or places where snakes and contemplative dudes can live in harmony.

Sounds pretty arbitrary to me. Anyway, there are others; I just named a few of the better-known ones.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:57 PM
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To compensate for my misdirected pique at Ben (in contrast to AWB's correctly aimed pique), I will note that "This be close reading" might not get Obama Antichrist numbers, but I see that it is still slowly reeling them in. Quality not quantity.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 9:59 PM
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It's not an isopangram, Ben

And yours isn't a mind too fine.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:02 PM
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I mean, obviously it isn't an isopangram.

rel.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:04 PM
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100: Here is a brief discussion of the prevalence of classically related names in upstate New York. Apparently there is an entire book on the subject.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:12 PM
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Apologies for pulling a semi-threadjack and then fleeing the scene to do work like 80 comments ago. Anyhow, if anyone cares, friend who was pardoned is John Forte, which is unjust b/c his pardon was in large part due to having gone to a fancy high school and having made friends with Carly Simon's son, but also totally just b/c he's a great, thoughtful, nonviolent guy who it was painful to see locked up for so long. Seriously, this is the first and only thing that Bush has done that has made me unambiguously happy, although this is a totally trivial thing in the grand scheme of horrors we've witnessed.


Posted by: robert halford | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:15 PM
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105: plus he worked with the fugees! Can a reunion tour be far behind?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:18 PM
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It's been mostly email blasts about politics and prison life, so I don't know if he's gained the superpower necessary to de-crazify Lauren Hill. Mostly just glad to see him out before he's old.


Posted by: robert halford | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:24 PM
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You should take him skiing.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:25 PM
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Hey dude hear u r prdnd by prsdnt want to join SKI TEAM yeah!


Posted by: robert halford | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:28 PM
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I find weird appelations to be endlessly fascinating, as well as their pronunciations. Pe Ell, WA; Weed, CA; Yreka and Eureka, CA, the former home to the palindromic Yreka Bakery; Des Moines, IA (duh moin), but Des Plaines, IL (des plains); Boring, OR; Truth or Consequences, NM. Among many others.


Posted by: F | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:29 PM
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109: so I'm curious about the process; was there a lot of lag, or did they pretty much cut him loose the minute word came down?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:32 PM
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There is a string of railroad towns in MT named: Joplin, Inverness, Rudyard, Hingham, Gildford, and Kremlin. Tell me what the pattern there is.


Posted by: F | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:35 PM
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Free as of end of this year is what I hear. Commuted sentence, not full pardon.


Posted by: robert halford | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:36 PM
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Did you know Tina Turner is 69? And still strutting around energetically in skimpy clothing on stage. I'm decades younger and already too old for that.

After a couple of years of running the ad, he added the line: 'I'm not gay, I just like to suck cock.'

After we finally get over homophobia, etc. we'll recognize this as a reasonable statement. No one would blink an eye if a woman said "I'm not gay, I just like to make out with girls sometimes", and it would probably be accepted if a gay guy said "I'm not straight, but I like to fuck women sometimes".


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:37 PM
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You sound pretty gay, PGD.


Posted by: robert halford | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:40 PM
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I'm not gay. I just want the freedom to suck cock without being judged.

Cops have been trolling the site and making busts, which include the high-profile arrest of Citigroup vice president Mark Rayner for selling 50 Ecstasy pills and 7 grams of cocaine for $1,200.

If he'd only waited for the bailout. It's like he didn't have any faith in his country.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:52 PM
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This thread made me Wiki Truth or Consequences, NM, which has a way weirder story than I anticipated. Apparently, it was called "Hot Springs" until 1950, when it voted to rename itself after a popular radio show. Just like Price is Right, OR and The Newlywed Game, WI, I guess.


Posted by: robert halford | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:54 PM
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||

Found something.

|>


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:56 PM
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I just want the freedom to suck cock without being judged.

Few people know that FDR was originally going to speak of Five Freedoms.


Posted by: Otto von Bisquick | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:57 PM
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116: Did you know that on every $20 dollar bill in the country you can find minute traces of banker's feces?


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:57 PM
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Bankers' feces are all over everything right now.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:58 PM
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120 is awesome.


Posted by: robert halford | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 10:58 PM
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117: Yes, that really is the origin of the name. There are continual low-level murmurs about changing the name back, but they never seem to go anywhere.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:00 PM
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117: Yes, I always found that one a bit pathetic though. Similarly for Jim Thorpe, PA.

Following the 1953 death of renowned athlete and Olympic medal winner Jim Thorpe, the boroughs of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk merged and adopted the name of Jim Thorpe in hopes of attracting attention and tourism to bolster the local post-industrial economy. The township bought the athlete's remains from his third wife and erected a monument to the Oklahoma native.

Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:01 PM
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If the name of your town's "Mauch Chunk", you've no business changing it.


Posted by: David Weman | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:06 PM
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"East Mauch Chunk" is a better name than "Jim Thorpe".

But I do think Akron, OH should change its name to "Lebron James".


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:11 PM
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pwned by David Weman! I thought the one benefit of Unfogged's slow death would be the disappearance of late-night pwnage.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:14 PM
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125, 126: Conversely, "Hot Springs" is a very common, boring name.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:17 PM
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I'm saddened to learn that the town of Ismay, Montana, didn't really rename themselves "Joe", except unofficially.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:18 PM
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On David's blog: a disturbing yet compelling chart of recent Latvian GDP growth! Also, how is Spain's fifth largest property company like a happy family? Read to the end of the longest blog post ever to find out!


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:20 PM
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128: Agreed. Such towns should rename themselves "Hot Mauch Chunks".


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:22 PM
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Pueblo Colorado, Arizona, was so frequently confused with Pueblo, Colorado, that it changed its name to Ganado.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:27 PM
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129: they could at least call it "Ismay Ontanamay".


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:34 PM
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Just like Price is Right, OR

There was a Half.com, OR for a while. I can't imagine why anyone outside of Halfway thought that was $100,000 well spent.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:36 PM
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Hayward, California was called Vallejo's Mill for a while. Why Vallejo had a mill outside Vallejo, I don't know.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:40 PM
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And then hold a secret beauty pageant there.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:43 PM
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136 is to 133. I thought I wrote the comment number, but I guess not.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:44 PM
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No, it's Fremont that was called Vallejo's Mill, after the family Vallejo, who owned the land that became the town of that name, as well as a mill.


Posted by: jms | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:47 PM
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A town... tbat became a mill? California is truly a wondrous place.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:49 PM
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The land became a mill. If you're going to misread, at least misread right.


Posted by: jms | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:51 PM
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Fremont was created in the 1950s or 60s as the incorporation of five already existing towns.

Google says that Vallejo's Mill is now Niles. Which sounds right; I remembered wrong.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:52 PM
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Ah, and one of the towns that went into Fremont was Niles. So there's that too.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:53 PM
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140: I maintain that my misreading is just as appropriate, since if the land became a town and a mill, the town would have been a mill.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:55 PM
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Wow, 138 really is mess. Who knows what it means. Not me.


Posted by: jms | Link to this comment | 11-25-08 11:55 PM
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The Vallejo family owned a lot of land. On part of the land was a mill. This area became known as Vallejo's Mill, then Niles, then became part of Fremont but is still called Niles. There's also a town of Vallejo. The mill was not there. The end.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:00 AM
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The thought occurs: maybe we should try to get a bunch of California towns to change their name to "Gay Marriage" or something similar. You know, run the interference play.

How are these names changed anyway? Local ballot measure?


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:00 AM
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Let's just go down to the old mill and get some cider.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:03 AM
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How are these names changed anyway? Local ballot measure?

The US Postal Service is usually involved. Assuming that there's a post office.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:08 AM
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148: Hm. Never mind then. The headlines about the gay rights crowd "going postal" just won't play well.

Damn.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:12 AM
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145: yay! Storytime!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:16 AM
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Vallejo and Fremont are pretty far apart. Couldn't the Vallejo family find a more convenient location for their mill? Stupid Vallejos.


Posted by: Otto von Bisquick | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:42 AM
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151: you don't want the mill too near your town. You know who a mill attracts? Mill-type people. Can't have that.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:44 AM
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A rolling mill gathers no floss.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:46 AM
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You know what sucks? Writing grad school applications again. I thought I was done with statements of purpose(s) years ago.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:51 AM
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154: I'm so glad I got those out of the way back when I was still idealistic. No way could I pull off that degree of enthusiasm, aspiration, and wonderment now.


Posted by: Otto von Bisquick | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:53 AM
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Hm. Tell me more about these "grad school applications".

Oh! OHOHOH! Also! Ask the mineshat: say you're in an undergrad program where you could get either a BA or a BS degree: does that make any difference? What about when applying to grad schools?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:56 AM
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154: Word.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:59 AM
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Fortunately, I'm just looking at 1-2 year masters programs that get you what's really a professional degree. I get the since that you don't have to be as full of awe as you do for doctoral programs in fields where grad school is the start of another kind of life (or whatever). It's really sort of odd to see programs with majority acceptance rates after the 10-20% rates for the history programs I applied to years ago. I suppose it makes rejection hurt more, in some ways.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:59 AM
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say you're in an undergrad program where you could get either a BA or a BS degree: does that make any difference? What about when applying to grad schools?

Depends on the discipline, I'd think. If there's a choice between the two it's probably more likely to matter.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 12:59 AM
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Some fields don't care that much about your degree as opposed to your preparation (relevant coursework, etc.).


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:04 AM
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Hm. Okay, so say your grades are mostly crappy, and getting the BS would mean 3-ish more classes in the major, and possibly another couple good grades here and there?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:08 AM
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Also say the anonymous elderly undergrad in question was thinking that external experience (work, maybe projects) would play a significant role in helping him talk his way into grad school. Is that realistic?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:09 AM
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Then it might be worth it. I'm applying to library/information schools (but for library, not information studies), and a number of them place more weight on your GPA in your last two years (measured in units/credits) than on the first two.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:11 AM
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IMX, scientific research doctorate programs (if that's what the anonymous "nontraditional student" is thinking of) tend to value practical experience quite a bit. So, yes, that would be a significant feather in his cap. But it's still wise to get the best academic credentials one can.


Posted by: Otto von Bisquick | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:12 AM
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I'm applying to library/information schools (but for library, not information studies), and a number of them place more weight on your GPA in your last two years (measured in units/credits) than on the first two.

This is also true of planning schools, and I suspect is pretty common for professional-type grad programs in general.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:15 AM
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Last two years... okay could be a problem. So getting a good solid last year with okay grades is probably important, eh?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:16 AM
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How much additional course work is the BS? IIRC, due to some weirdness, the difference between my getting a BS and a BA ended up being a fairly wussy linear algebra course. So I said fuck it, I'm getting the BS. I haven't asked the admissions committee whether they would have still admitted me if I had only earned a BA. I believe there are number of people in my program who earned science BAs, but many of those people may have come from small liberal artsy colleges where BSs may have not been given out.

Programs in my field tend to tend to tolerate more eclectic undergrad backgrounds than do programs in some other fields though, so there is reasonable expectation of variation in your mileage.


Posted by: Otto von Bisquick | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:18 AM
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It would be one additional quarter of course work, between two and three classes. Not that tough, but the non-traditional student in question is (a) old to be an undergrad and (b) really quite ready to be done.

I don't quite know how much tolerance of variation there is in this field, but I suspect it could be significant.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:21 AM
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Some library schools say that if your GPA was high enough, you don't have to take the GRE. Others exempt only people who already have PhDs. And some make everyone take it. And yet you look at their websites and graduates from all these programs seem to end up at the same or similar institutions!


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:22 AM
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I am extremely skeptical that anyone on a hiring committee would bother figuring out that there was a choice between a BA and a BS and that the BS meant more rigorous coursework. Names of degrees are idiosyncratic and university dependent, there's no way that the different name of the degree is going to make a difference unless it's somehow reflected in the rest of the application.


Posted by: Unfoggetarian: "Pause endlessly, then go in." (9) | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:24 AM
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hiring committee s/b admissions committee. I'm applying for postdocs and have the former on the mind.


Posted by: Unfoggetarian: "Pause endlessly, then go in." (9) | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:30 AM
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128: Conversely, "Hot Springs" is a very common, boring name.

Yes and one with a more famous representative in another state (Arkansas). I've thought Truth or Consequences should just merge with next door neighbor Elephant Butte and either take that name or something even more awkward. A local Pittsburgh-area mill town named "Hoboken" back in the day improbably changed its name for the worse when it became "Blawnox" to reflect the Blaw-Knox steel mill in town. Actually there were a lot of town names derived from either incongruent aspirational or pragmatic commercial boosterism back in the day that are now just part of the landscape. (Kind of like naming your stadiums after commercial organizations. I think we should go back to the old way, so, for instance, the Met's new park could be Henry Paulson Stadium.)


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 4:59 AM
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146: How are these names changed anyway? Local ballot measure?

Yes, or city or town council, then I think you do also need to petition the Post Office if you want the mailing address to change as well. Back in the late 19th century, the Post Office made an effort to standardize names. One initiative was to standardize all "burgh/burg/borough" endings to "burg". It took most places except Pittsburgh, which was officially "Pittsburg" for a bit (and it is spelled that way on the inlay at the great old Union/Penn Station at Grant and Liberty ).


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 6:56 AM
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Google says that Vallejo's Mill is now Niles. Which sounds right; I remembered wrong.

Ah, and one of the towns that went into Fremont was Niles. So there's that too.

Obviously named after Niles, Ohio, hometown of William McKinley and one of the most decayed assortments of strip malls you'll ever see, although it does include several asian restaurants and a hookah bar.

Also home to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, who once had a Jim Traficant night where you got in for free if you dressed up like him.


Posted by: Cryptec Nid | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 7:35 AM
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but also totally just b/c he's a great, thoughtful, nonviolent guy who it was painful to see locked up for so long.

I'm sure he's a lovely fellow but my immediate thought was - and remains - that Bush probably wants to make sure there's at least one person with a connection who'll take his call on 21 January.


Posted by: Robust McManlyPants | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 10:59 AM
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Sifu, submit your Unfogged portfolio for extra credit.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:00 PM
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Posted by: | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 1:58 PM
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78. True fact: One of my best friends while I was a Marine was Curtis Springer's grandson. He asked me if I knew Zzyzx, which of course I did. Grandpa was definitely a black sheep, in that my friend's dad, Curtis' son, was a federal judge.


Posted by: Tassled Loafered Leech | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 2:07 PM
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177: I've always agreed with that, SMFD, but look how I turned out.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 2:31 PM
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SMFD is the Troll of Sorrow, BTW.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 2:49 PM
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So it seems. He and I have a few things in common. But only he has ever applied to grad school.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 3:13 PM
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Me!


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 3:13 PM
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I said recently that he was lonely and wanted to transition to being a regular blog commenter. So he could warm himself by the cheery fire of the Unfogged community.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 11-26-08 3:17 PM
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I was so waiting for this thread to grow to post 420.


Posted by: Econolicious | Link to this comment | 12- 7-08 5:32 PM
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We could move the cupcake discussion to this thread. "Cue Laugh Track" would be a better title for it than "The war of all against all".


Posted by: Crypptec Nid | Link to this comment | 12- 7-08 5:57 PM
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