The grammar nazi strikes again
by Tim Faircloth on Aug 12, 2008, 9:45 am
So I was reading the wording of my last post, and I noticed a mistake that I’ve noticed a lot of people making recently. At the bottom of the image, you’ll see the words:
Even though you buy legit DVDs, F.A.C.T. still think you’re:…
Did anybody else catch it? “…F.A.C.T. still think…”
What, are we regressing to caveman grammar now? TARK LIKE PIE! TARK GO GET WOMAN! TARK KILL TIGER — HE ARE GOOD HUNTER!
The argument in this case is that though the subject (“F.A.C.T.”) is a singular noun, it represents a group of people. All over the place I see “Company A are looking out for you” and “Company B have an account at the local bank”. You people need to learn about subject-verb agreement. Yes, you may be talking about a group, but you’re using a singular noun. F.A.C.T still thinks. Company A is looking out for you. Company B has an account at the local bank.
The confusion comes in place when we think of words like “people” or “we”, which are a plural nouns, not representations of a group. Some people are stupid. A group of people is stupid.
Think of it as you would the noun “sand”. Is it “The sand are hot” or “The sand is hot”? That’s right. The sand is hot. The grains of sand are hot. You see what I did there? I changed the plurality of the subject by making my original subject the object of a prepositional phrase. Though I’m saying the same thing, I’m actually using a different subject in those two sentences.
I'm watching a movie. I must be a pirate.
by Tim Faircloth on Aug 12, 2008, 9:16 am
It’s good to know I’m not the only one that feels this way:
As the watermark shows, this image was shamelessly commandeered from BrokenTV
New gaming rig
by Tim Faircloth on Aug 11, 2008, 11:31 am
So, I’m thinking of saving up for a new computer — an awesome gaming rig. For those of you that are interested here’s a newegg wishlist of the components that I plan on using.
Now I just need to get up $1500 (plus another $250 or so for an “oops, I forgot that part” budget), and some sort of justification for buying another computer that I likely won’t use too often since I have an XBox. I think it’s more so I can flex my geek muscles. It’s been a while since I’ve built a computer.
Tell me what you think, folks.
Apples vs. Lemons
by Tim Faircloth on Aug 8, 2008, 10:27 am
Should you pay twice as much for a Mac?
So, now that Apple computers run on Intel processors and fully support running Windows via Bootcamp (or through various virtualization software packages), what’s the one thing keeping you from buying a mac?
The price.
On average, a Mac costs twice as much as a PC. There are many excuses given for Apple’s pricing:
- Apple uses superior hardware.
- Apple provides excellent support.
- There is no competition as far as “supported Mac hardware” goes (except for a few rogue cloners).
- “The high price model works” — which means when you buy a Mac it’s like saying “I have money to throw away because I value stability in an operating system”. Basically Apple is catering to a higher-class “elite” clientèle.
To me, none of these excuses work; that last one even sounds kinda snobbish.
In my opinion, price is the only thing keeping Macs from dominating the world market. When Vista came out, they should have dropped their prices and forced Microsoft out of business… so why didn’t they? Do they consider themselves ethical for not taking advantage of a weakened opponent, or are they just confident enough that they welcome competition?
In my opinion, Apple should level the playing field and lower prices… but I guess that’s just me.
Why So Serious?
by Tim Faircloth on Aug 6, 2008, 11:06 am
I got to see The Dark Knight about a week ago. I have to say it was a brilliant film, and I left the theater with the same feeling I had when I went to see Batman Begins. I’m glad to see that Hollywood is finally making quality sequels now.
I was truly impressed with Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker — truly cracked, unforgiving, and psychotic. In my opinion he did an even better job than Jack Nicholson back in 1989.
Batman is often touted as “the superhero with no powers”, but very often people ignore the fact that the villains are just as crafty and “super” when they themselves have no superpowers (unless you consider insanity a super power).
The Joker in Dark Knight is especially chilling, and every aspect of his visage helps to portray his mental condition. His clothes, despite being custom made, are bedraggled and dirty. His hair is wild — long and poorly colored (green of course). He wears makeup “to scare people”, and it’s always smudged and comes off easily.
Perhaps his most notable physical characteristic is the set of scars which extends his mouth, twisting it into a permanent crooked smile. He uses his scars to further terrorize his victims by telling stories about how he got them.
There may be a spoiler or two below, so if you haven’t seen the movie you may want to proceed with caution.
The first time he tells a story, he has a mobster in his grasp and he’s got a knife in his face. The story he tells paints him as a horrified child with a drunken father, and almost makes the listener feel sad for him.
You wanna know how I got these scars?
My father was a drinker and a fiend. One night, he goes off a little crazier than usual. Mommy grabs the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn’t like that. Not. One. Bit.
So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He turns to me and he says “why so serious?”
He comes at me with the knife — “Why so SERIOUS?”
He sticks the blade in my mouth. (The Joker forces the goon’s mouth open and sticks the blade of the knife between his teeth.) “Let’s put a smile on that face!” and… (The camera pans out and we’re looking at the Joker’s back as he draws his arm out quickly and dramatically to his side. The goon falls to the side, apparently dead.)
…why so serious?
The chilling part of this story is that it’s so believable, and it bridges a gap between a psychotic killer and the common man.
He tells the second story to Rachel (Bruce Wayne / Batman’s love interest) as he has her at knife point.
Well hello beautiful! You must be Harvey’s squeeze. Mmm… and you are beautiful!
You look nervous. Is it the scars? You wanna know how I got ‘em? (Rachel turns her head to the side brashly.)
Come here. Hey, look at me! (The Joker jerks her head forward so she’s looking at him.) So I had a wife — beautiful, like you — who tells me I worry too much; who tells me I’ve got to smile more; who gambles, and gets in deep with the sharks.
One day they carve her face. We have no money for surgeries. She can’t take it. I just want to see her smile again. I just want her to know that I don’t care about the scars. So, I stick a razor in my mouth and do this (The Joker points the blade of his knife to his scars) to myself, and you know what? She can’t stand the sight of me! She leaves.
Now I see the funny side; now I’m always smiling.
When he starts telling the second story, the audience realizes that he’s most likely making these stories up as he goes just to taunt his prey… or is he? Are either of the stories true? It’s also possible that both stories are true. Maybe his father didn’t actually cut him, but his mind was twisted by the childhood trauma and the event with his wife pushed him over the edge and turned him into the psychotic killer he is today.
At the end of the movie, the Joker is captured, but still alive. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him, and I can only hope the next person to play him does as good a job as Heath Ledger.