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Author Topic: HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"  (Read 80677 times)

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Tomovoz

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #90 on: January 09, 2005, 01:24:08 PM »

Scones - such a different thing in Oz and the UK. Can't imagine Jam and Cream being served on a US scone.

A devonshire tea has scones - with jam and clotted cream.
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"I'm sixty-three and I guess that puts me with the geriatrics, but if there were fifteen months in every year, I'd only be forty-three".
James Thurber 1957

bk

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #91 on: January 09, 2005, 01:26:11 PM »

What in tarnation IS clotted cream?

I will NOT eat a scone.  I barely will eat a muffin.  I like donuts, of course.
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bk

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #92 on: January 09, 2005, 01:27:17 PM »

I'm now listening to the music from The Alligator People.  it's SCARY.  Scarier than the Mushroom People and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  I'm quivering and shivering at what this music is delivering.
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Tomovoz

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #93 on: January 09, 2005, 01:38:58 PM »

Clotted cream is cream skimmed off the top of very rich milk after it has been let stand, then gently heated.  It is also referred to as Devonshire cream.
 "Natural Cream". Very English very Enid Blyton.
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"I'm sixty-three and I guess that puts me with the geriatrics, but if there were fifteen months in every year, I'd only be forty-three".
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Sandra

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #94 on: January 09, 2005, 01:39:57 PM »

I only have one thing to say on the subject of scones. It's a pointless story that I have no reason to post, but I will anyway because I'm bored.

When I was a senior in high school, we were studying one of Shakespeare's plays (I don't remember which one, and I didn't read it anyway) and for an assignment, we had to make food that people in Shakespeare's day ate and bring it to class. I looked up some Elizabethan English food, and it was all pretty gross (like this thing called "love-in-disguise." Blech!) So I decided to make scones because they weren't gross.

Only, I didn't know how to make scones, which fact I didn't realize until the day before it was due. My only back-up plan was love-in-disguise, and there was no way I was making that. I don't even think the ingredients for that are legal to feed to people. So my mom bought me some scone mix. Just add water and bake.

I had to present my scones in front of the class, and I needed something more to say than "Just add water and bake," so I made up a story about how when my great aunt Rosemary came to this country from England, she brought her scone recipe with her and then gave it to me. My teacher believed me and I got an A.

See? I told you it was a pointless story.
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PennyO

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #95 on: January 09, 2005, 01:43:36 PM »

Not so pointless! Brazen wins the day!!
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Matt H.

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #96 on: January 09, 2005, 01:44:49 PM »

Just like he attempted with "Can We Start Again, Please?" (am I remembering the title correctly?) in the film version of Superstar.  And we know how well that one turned out.

On the other hand, that thoroughly mediocre "You Must Love Me" that he added to EVITA actually WON him the Oscar, so I'm sure he's thinking lightning may strike twice.
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If at first you don't succeed, that's about average for me.

PennyO

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #97 on: January 09, 2005, 01:44:58 PM »

You entertain the Teacher, you get an A.
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PennyO

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #98 on: January 09, 2005, 01:46:48 PM »

Teachers tend to get even more bored than their students... after all, they have been teaching the same thing, on a schedule, with detailed lesson plans, for -- well -- maybe eons. So if you can think up something to break up their monotony, well, jeez-Louise! You get an A. Or thrown out of class.
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Sandra

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #99 on: January 09, 2005, 01:48:45 PM »

That teacher had a lot more to break up her monotony than those scones. Have I ever told y'all the story of Kudo-head and the Giant Green Blob?
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PennyO

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #100 on: January 09, 2005, 01:48:51 PM »

And ANTIQUES -- particularly FAMILY ANTIQUES -- particularly IMPORTED FAMILY ANTIQUES like Aunt Rosemary's genuine imported English scone recipe -- are fascinating. You get an A. Even if all we have to do to get the experience is add water and mix.
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PennyO

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #101 on: January 09, 2005, 01:49:35 PM »

Kudo Head??? Giant Green Blob??? I'm breathless with anticipation!!!
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Matt H.

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #102 on: January 09, 2005, 01:50:31 PM »

What disappointed me most with A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC as a film, other than Prince's less than brilliant direction, was that the MUSIC was shortchanged. Like bk, I LOVE the new "Glamorous Life" given to the daughter, but too much of this exquisite score is missing. All of the Broadway players are just fine, and Diana Rigg couldn't be better casting as the Countess.

BTW, Elizabeth sang "Send in the Clowns" herself, but for the rest of the movie, she's dubbed by the same singer who dubbed the little girl!
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Matt H.

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #103 on: January 09, 2005, 01:56:14 PM »

Finally got around to COLLATERAL today. For 3/4 of the film, I found it wonderful, exciting, and full of surprises. But, as with so many other films I've seen recently, coming up with a decent ending seems to be really difficult. The chase through the subway is SO old hat, and Tom Cruise became part Jason Vorhees and part psychic to know exactly which train they decided to take among other decisions he made stalking the lawyer that didn't ring true.
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Matt H.

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #104 on: January 09, 2005, 01:58:33 PM »

Leading up to the wonderful season premiere of '24' tonight, I am re-watching ELAINE STRITCH AT LIBERTY, the commercial DVD of her entire show rather than the HBO documentary on the making of her show.

And for others so inclined, tonight also has the season premiere of CARNIVALE. I'll have to catch it at some other time this week.
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bk

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #105 on: January 09, 2005, 02:02:07 PM »

The rain was just pounding down so hard it was unbelievable.  I yelled at the rain ("Oh, rain, stop that ridiculous pounding or you'll feel the back of my boot"), and now it isn't pounding - just raining hard.  As they say in the wine industry, this is a corker.
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Sandra

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #106 on: January 09, 2005, 02:03:39 PM »

THE MARVELOUS STORY OF KUDO-HEAD AND THE GIANT GREEN BLOB

It all started one day in English class, when my teacher made us write some in-class essays. Then, we had to exchange essays with each other and fill out peer evaluations on them. I traded papers with my best friend Vespi. At the end of the evaluation sheet, there was a spot for additional comments on the essay. I didn't know what to write there, so I wrote "Kudos" because the essay was pretty good.

When I handed Vespi his essay and the evaluation sheet, he read through it, and when he got to the end, he said, "Kudos?" and laughed. We sat right next to the whiteboard, so he picked up a dry erase marker and wrote "Kudos" on the board.

The next day, it was still there, so he drew a circle around it. There was also a small green dot on the board from a green marker. I don't now how it got there, but I picked up the green marker and made the dot a little bigger.

The next day, "Kudos" with the circle around it and the green dot were both still on the board. Vespi made the circle around "Kudos" into the head of a stick figure, and I drew another green layer around the dot.

Each day before the teacher got to class, I added another layer to the green dot, and Vespi added something more to the stick figure, whom we christened "Kudo-head" because he, you know, had "Kudos" for a head.

As the days went by, Kudo-head became pretty styling, decked out as he was with a hat, sneakers, and the other accessories that Vespi gave him each day. And the green dot soon became a giant green blob. I had to stand on my chair in order to add its daily layer of green marker.

Kudo-head and the Giant Green Blob stayed there all year, and they were still there when I checked at graduation.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2005, 02:14:02 PM by Sandra »
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Charles Pogue

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #107 on: January 09, 2005, 02:16:22 PM »

You'd like scones, BK...they're good, as long as they don't have raisins in them.  In fact, you'd like most British food...It's meat and taters, butter and sugar.  My favourite snack food is McCoys' Grilled Steak Flavoured Crisps (potato chips to you).  I would have a pack almost every day in London with lunch or my afternoon snack.  I am also partial to McVitties digestives and Hobnobs.  
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bk

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #108 on: January 09, 2005, 02:31:33 PM »

I've had scones in New York, New York, and didn't care for them because they were heavy.  Maybe I had bad ones.  But I would never have a scone with multiple grains.  What other kind are there?
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Sandra

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #109 on: January 09, 2005, 02:35:20 PM »

My- I mean my great aunt Rosemary's- scones were blueberry and cherry.
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The mountains are pretty.

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bk

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #110 on: January 09, 2005, 02:39:16 PM »

Well, I'll eat anything with cherries in it - I love cherries.
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Sandra

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #111 on: January 09, 2005, 02:46:10 PM »

Well then you should try my great aunt Rosemary's scones. Here's the recipe:

Put mix in bowl.
Add water.
Bake.
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The mountains are pretty.

"I'm gonna put the little fish in the big tank, and the big fish in the little tank." -- talkative bus driver

bk

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #112 on: January 09, 2005, 02:52:18 PM »

Mix?  Where do you get mix?  I don't know from mix.
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Sandra

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #113 on: January 09, 2005, 02:54:30 PM »

We got it at one of those import stores.
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The mountains are pretty.

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Panni

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #114 on: January 09, 2005, 03:01:52 PM »

DR Sandra - If you would sell me the rights to  THE MARVELOUS STORY OF KUDO-HEAD AND THE GIANT GREEN BLOB, I believe I could adapt it as a Lifetime Movie.
Log line: Two mixed up young kids find meaning in life through their friendship with a green social misfit. (And we'll throw in life-threatening illness and some sex - perhaps by way of the teacher  - who is as yet under-developed in your story. We need some arcs, we need a journey, we need women in jeopardy.)

I, personally, need an ark.
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Panni

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #115 on: January 09, 2005, 03:03:26 PM »

Mix?  Where do you get mix?  I don't know from mix.

Trsder Joe's, Vons, Gelsons.
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JMK

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #116 on: January 09, 2005, 03:05:37 PM »

Scones are a favorite food of a certain people who may or may not have settled in the Salt Lake Valley, in order to pursue polygamy and ersatz muffin making.  I cannot say more lest they come after me with locusts.

I believe DRs Elmoore and MattH have missed earth-shatteringly important postings of mine today.   ::)
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Sandra

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #117 on: January 09, 2005, 03:08:18 PM »

Dear Reader Panni, that would become my favorite movie. Who should we get to play me?
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JMK

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #118 on: January 09, 2005, 03:10:06 PM »

Dear Reader Panni, that would become my favorite movie. Who should we get to play me?

Judging by your avatar, maybe Erroll Flynn?   ;D
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Panni

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Re:HOW ARBITRARY IS THE "U"
« Reply #119 on: January 09, 2005, 03:14:59 PM »

Dear Reader Panni, that would become my favorite movie. Who should we get to play me?

Amber Tamblyn. And Valerie Bertinelli as The Teacher with the Life-Threatening Illness.
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