Author: Robert Coontz (Administrator)

Conjugation Game, v. 2009

Is anyone familiar with this kind of joke? Sometimes called “prejudiced triples,” it takes an an activity or trait and shows how one’s perception of it changes depending on distance from the speaker.

Showing is better than telling:

I am firm. You are stubborn. He is pig-headed.

(That’s the classic example, which we’ve seen attributed to Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, and someone called K. J. Stavronides.)

On MuseBlog, of course, the gender-specific “he” can be replaced with the gender-noncommital “en”:

I am thrifty. You are cheap. En is a tightwad.

I am eloquent. You are loquacious. En is a blabbermouthed bore.

And so on. Anyone want to add some?

Muse / Harry Potter Fanfiction, Part 3

Ages ago, Robert started inserting the Muses into the action of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. First, the whole gang burst into Chapter One. Then, in a scene unlike anything in the book, Feather met Fleur Delacour and discovered her poetic side.

Robert planned some other scenes that he never got around to posting. This one is from Chapter 24, “Sectumsempra.” Looking for the girls’ bathroom, Mimi accidentally walks into the boys’ loo a few minutes before Harry Potter arrives for his fateful encounter with Draco Malfoy…. Continue reading “Muse / Harry Potter Fanfiction, Part 3”

Chess Lesson 2 — with Tesseract

Robert is going crazy with this chess software. Tesseract, Lovely Lunegood, Adeia, Pseudonym, SudoRandom, and mas0n have all expressed interest in a lesson, in approximately that order.

Tesseract — ready to roll?
 
(Note: “Lesson” games are played in public. Players may comment on their own or each other’s moves; observers may ask questions, which the players may or may not answer. It’s all highly experimental.)
 
Continue reading “Chess Lesson 2 — with Tesseract”

Pumpkin Drop Coming Up!

Attention, MBers within driving distance of Morgantown, West Virginia: West Virginia University will hold its 22nd annual Pumpkin Drop on Friday, October 30.

What’s a Pumpkin Drop? Nancy Kangas and her son Aaron can tell you. So can Purple Panda and her family. They’ve all dropped pumpkins in previous years.

You can find more information at www . mae.cemr.wvu . edu/news/news-details.php?item=1272 .

And you can see how Pan & Co. did it right here on the blog.

Chess Lesson, with bookgirl_me

Robert has an idea for a new way to use the chess software: He’ll play a game with one MBer (at a time), trying to create interesting positions for his opponent to exploit. He’ll make comments on the action as it unfolds and will answer questions from anybody on the blog. Sound interesting? Continue reading “Chess Lesson, with bookgirl_me”

Attention, oxlin! (and everyone else)

You’ll score major points with your anthropology professor (or ens secondary-school equivalent) if you mention the major discoveries Robert’s magazine has just published about a fossil called Ardipithecus ramidus.

If you loved Lucy, you’ll adore Ardi.

You can also read about the discovery in

International Darkness Appreciation Month

As the nights get longer in the Northern Hemisphere, it strikes us that darkness gets a bad rap. People associate it with evil, as in “the Dark Lord” and “the Dark Side of the Force.” Ridiculous! (Every MBer knows that evil is pink.) To redress the imbalance, MuseBlog hereby dedicates October and its Random Threads to the wonders and delights of darkness. Continue reading “International Darkness Appreciation Month”

October 2009 “Happy Birthday!” Thread

Known Muser birthdays this month*:

10-01 Kiki the Great’s birthday (1995 – black and red)
10-09 Gimanator’s birthday (1993 – purple)
10-12 Ebeth’s birthday (1991 – blue or octarine)
10-13 Paul Baker’s birthday
10-16 crazyquotescollector’s birthday (1993 – jewel tones)
10-16 Kagcomix’s birthday (1993 – green)
10-17 BushBug’s birthday (1997 – black, blue, silver)
10-19 LittleBasementKitten’s birthday (1997)
10-20 Goldendoodle’s birthrday (1994 – evergreen and gold)
10-23 kokopelli #13’s birthday (1992 – camouflage)
10-24 cromwell’s 5K Day
10-25 Red-tailed HAWK’s birthday (1994 – blue)
10-25 Randomosity 101’s birthday (1995 – blue, green, orange, and black)

You turn 5,000 days old this month if you were born between and January 24, 1995, and February 23, 1996
You turn 6,000 days old this month if you were born between April 29 and May 29, 1993.
You turn 7,000 days old this month if you were born between August 3 and September 2, 1990.

You will have been on MuseBlog for six months if you started posting in April.

*Note: Listed MBers who have been inactive for several months won’t appear on next year’s birthday calendar unless they show up again.