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Tuesday, March 02, 2004 |
Gadsby
I've heard of Gadsby
for years, but never actually seen it before. Ernest Vincent Wright
wrote it in 1939, using a typewriter on which the letter e had been
disabled. That is, it's a 50,000 word novel without the letter
which is used most often in the language;
As the vowel E is used more than five
times oftener than any other letter, this story was written, not
through any attempt to attain literary merit, but due to a somewhat
balky nature, caused by hearing it so constantly claimed that “it can’t
be done; for you cannot say anything at all without using E, and make
smooth continuity, with perfectly grammatical construction—” so ‘twas
said.
Wright must have been, not to put too fine a point on it, an unusual
person, though I can't find much about him with a quick search.
Spineless Books, the site containing Gadsby, also has a number of other unusual items, such as the amazing 2002 Palindrome.
10:45:18 PM Permalink
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Today's Bike Ride: Down to
Golden Gate Fields, up the hill around the parking log, past Point
Isobel, to Richmond Marina. Stop for a water and rest. Back. A bit
windy, but the air was really clear, beautiful views of the Golden
Gate, San Francisco, the bridges; fantastic sunset on the way back.
15.3 miles in 81 minutes. 404 total miles in the first two months of
the year; I only rode on 13 days in February, versus 16 in January.
Today I turned over 1200 miles on my bike, which I got on 8/19/03.
Today's the fourth anniversary of the purchase of the Suburu Forester,
coincidentally, and easily for running averages, I rolled over 40K on
it last weekend.
10:32:45 PM Permalink
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Bonds Did Steroids. That's what the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting regarding baseball slugger Barry Bonds.
Reason writes on of the sanest pieces I've read on steroids and sports here.
[Hit & Run]
Yet baseball statistics have never
existed in a vacuum. Babe Ruth became the sport’s chief pantheon
dweller without ever competing against a dark-skinned ballplayer. Chuck
Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies posted some eye-popping numbers in
the 1930s, but he did it in an era when runs were scored in bundles,
and he took outrageous advantage of the Baker Bowl’s right field fence,
which was a mere 280 feet from home plate. Detroit pitcher Hal
Newhouser won two most valuable player awards and a plaque in
Cooperstown in part by dominating competition that had been thinned out
by World War II’s conscription. Sandy Koufax crafted his run of success
in the ’60s with the help of a swollen strike zone. Also a boon to
Koufax was the helpfully designed Dodger Stadium, which included,
according to many, an illegally heightened mound. Gaylord Perry
succored his Hall of Fame career by often calling upon an illegal
spitball pitch. Take any baseball statistic, and something is either
inflating or depressing it to some degree.
3:33:29 PM Permalink
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The Valley of the Kings Online. Theban Mapping Project
This may be the best website I've ever seen. If you've any interest in ancient Egypt, you should take an hour or two and start exploring. You can pick any of the tombs and walk around a 3-D representation. You can zoom into actua [Bolo Boffin]
9:22:59 AM Permalink
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Bloomberg reports that opium production in Afghanistan is at record levels. It employs 1.7 m Afghans. This cash-flow will serve to reinforce the demonstrate the economic value of failed states for terrorist organizations. State failure = New sources of funding. [John Robb's Weblog]
8:18:17 AM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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