Ask the GAPAs, No. 3
Our perennial promise: to answer entertainingly, or not at all.
Continued from Ask the GAPAs, No. 2.
Archives from author » robert-coontz-administrator
Titles, Labels, and Nicknames
Requested by Capricious, to popular acclaim:
Can we have a “Titles, labels and nicknames thread?” for what people call you, are you a nerd? A jock? A Sue short for Susan? Or just… You? 
DD
Washington, D.C., Kokonvention
Continued above.
Robert says:
I’ve had a request by e-mail for a more organized and, well, educational program for a D.C. Kokonvention. So far, all I’d been planning to do was a quickish tour of my magazine (Science). But I can add other things if there’s a demand for them. I have other science-writer friends who can give tours, and of course there are loads of museums and things in Washington. I’d need a bit of advance notice, though, and it probably wouldn’t be worth planning anything for a group of fewer than four people.
So assuming something is going to happen this summer, when will it happen, and who is likely to be there?
Triangular Sentences, v. 2007.2
By request. They’re probably the silliest thing we do on the blog–but, oh, well, why not?
Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare!
In honor of his birth, the blog requests
That comments on this thread should be composed
In iambs, five per line -- in other words,
Pentameter. (Don't be afraid. It's not
That hard. We'll give some helpful hints below.)
In honor of his birth, the blog requests
That comments on this thread should be composed
In iambs, five per line — in other words,
Pentameter. (Don’t be afraid. It’s not
That hard. We’ll give some helpful hints below.)
An iamb is a pair of syllables,
One soft, one loud. It goes like this: ta-DAH!
Iambic words include po-LICE, ar-REST,
en-JOY, de-LIGHT, pa-RADE, a-LAS — got it?
Pentameter (pronounced “pen-TA-muh-tur”)
Means five of them are stuck together, thus:
Ta-DAH, ta-DAH, ta-DAH, ta-DAH, ta-DAH.
“De-NY thy FA-ther AND re-FUSE thy NAME,
Or IF thou WILT not, BE but SWORN my LOVE,
And I’LL no LONG-er BE a CAP-u-LET.”
(In practice, you’re allowed a little grace
To fudge the stresses. Some of Juliet’s
Strong “DAHs” are really weak. But that’s okay,
As long as all the syllables add up.)
An iamb, note, is not to be confused
With “DAH-da.” That’s a trochee. Trochees go
Like “CRU-el GA-pas TOR-ture BLOG-gers.” See?
Give it a try. It’s really not so hard,
Especially to anyone who has
An ear for music. Happy birthday, Will!
The Lord of the Rings
We had a Tolkien thread last year, but there’s been a request for a new one. With his latest posthumous book The Children of Húrin just out, now seems like a good time. Go to it!
WARNING: Inevitable spoilers.
Date: April 21, 2007
Categories: Fiction, poetry, and fanfiction, The Universe, Things We like
Hot Topic: Virginia Tech Shootings
It looks as if we’ll be talking about this horrific event for a while. Here’s a place for it.
RRR, v. 2007.4 (Humor/Fairytale/Fractured) – Part One
MBers have proposed that this new Round-Robin ‘Riting threat* thread be about humor, satire, and/or fractured fairytales. That’s fine with us. It’s your thread. Take it away, Musers!
NOTE: It doesn’t really get started until around Comment 60.
*It’s not really very threatening.
Name Changes
We’re having trouble keeping track of everybody. If you change your name and want other MBs to know about it, post a notice here. If you spot someone else’s new alias and think others should know about it, tell them here. We’ll update the Who’s Here page eventually, but there’s never enough time for everything, you know?
April Showers, Part 2
Continued.
The rain that started in Part 1 of the monthly random thread just keeps coming down. The forecast: cloudier, with scatter-brained showers giving way to torrential downpours.
(Thanks to Red-Tailed HAWK for the banner image.)
Movies
Dancergirl13’s idea. We haven’t had a movie thread in more than a year, and back then it was combined with books. Do Musers even watch movies? There’s only one way to find out…
Cryptids and Soccer
MBers have requested separate threads about soccer and cryptids. Each topic sounded a bit specialized, but together there might be enough posts to sustain a thread, so here you are. Let the confusion begin!
Incredible Beasts of Museica
Requested by Lord Raguevire, who mentioned Wungs, Knerwolves, Bvorgs, Raggets, and Ravangars.
That’s three threads in one day. No more requests until Friday, please.