The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Niall McAuley:

Show all comments by Niall McAuley.

Posted on entry Open thread 129 ::: September 26, 2009, 09:39 PM:
abi@#888 writes: It's like hearing the same rare word twice in a short span of time. Is there a name for this?

"Plate of shrimp"
Posted on entry The Bully Pulpit ::: September 18, 2009, 11:11 AM:
Greg Laden @ #380 writes: I can't think of a single voice on the internet that is saying anything that is not being said by many other voices on the internet.

Aliens built Clonmacnoise!
Posted on entry The Bully Pulpit ::: September 15, 2009, 06:08 AM:
heresiarch @ #202 writes: Self defense should never be more than the last option in a long series.

As adults, parents, teachers and so on, we should not rely on kids physically defending themselves to prevent bullying, and in an ideal environment it should never be necessary, but for a kid being assaulted, self defense shouldn't be an option at all, it should be a reflex.
Posted on entry Life affords few such opportunities ::: August 07, 2009, 05:29 AM:
I will run no base humour: here, take the
humour-letter: I will keep the havior of reputation.
Posted on entry Two smart things amidst the global Michael Jackson mediagasm ::: July 01, 2009, 04:22 AM:
I always thought Jackson's "Neverland Ranch" should have been called "Uncanny Valley".
Posted on entry Open thread 126 ::: June 30, 2009, 04:20 AM:
Elvish Light

OK, not really Elvish.
Posted on entry Litchfield means "Graveyard" ::: June 25, 2009, 08:05 PM:
Mary Frances writes: Those must have been some powerfully literate and socially conscious fourth graders!

Well, no. Lots of them probably didn't get it at all. A bit like all the other novels we make them read.

Except that I hope there aren't prepared notes called "Lies You Should Tell about Hardy to 9 year olds" like all the "Polite Lies about Shakespeare" I remember.
Posted on entry Open thread 126 ::: June 25, 2009, 01:47 PM:
Dave Bell @ #272: I have actually contributed to that h2g2 site, odd to see it linked here.

For some reason, pseudonyms seem to be the norm there, hence my secret identity.
Posted on entry Open thread 126 ::: June 25, 2009, 08:40 AM:
The theory is indeed correct, and I have not discovered the bug which will destroy the internets.

Yet.
Posted on entry Open thread 126 ::: June 25, 2009, 08:36 AM:
Jules, OK, I can see how that could happen. This suggests that the reason post 192 looks different is that I didn't actually close that italics tag at all, and the two html cleaners are doing it differently, whereas in the other posts I closed that tag myself so they look the same in both versions.

And now, a test: I will close this tag myself

The next one, I will not close at all.

If this theory is correct, this text will be non-italic except when viewed at the "view all by" page.
Posted on entry Open thread 126 ::: June 25, 2009, 07:50 AM:
Another technical this-blog implementation nitpick:

In post 192 on open thread 126 I used italics for a single phrase. On the view all by page, all the text in that post following that phrase is in italics.

Looking at the page source for each, I can see that the /i tag is in a different position in the "view all by" version.

This does not happen every time. I used italics in the following 4 posts, and they all look OK in the "view all by" page.

Posted on entry Peeling the onion ::: June 25, 2009, 05:16 AM:
From the NYT: Mr. Sanford and his wife had joined an intensive Bible study group for couples in the last few months, according to William H. Jones, president of Columbia International University, a conservative evangelical college.

This month, we'll be studying the commandments, one through six.
Posted on entry Open thread 126 ::: June 24, 2009, 01:37 PM:
John Houghton writes: That would be more of a worry

Apparently not, if you're eight.
Posted on entry When Guns Are Outlawed ::: June 24, 2009, 01:29 PM:
Serge writes: the Earth protests when Boone uses his accordeon one time too many.

Well, that eldritch piping, it does kind of grate on the nerves, especially when you're as old and rugose as me.
Posted on entry When Guns Are Outlawed ::: June 24, 2009, 01:01 PM:
Serge says I have only one photo of a naked Pat Boone getting intimate with a sheep.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth, yes?
Posted on entry Open thread 126 ::: June 24, 2009, 11:14 AM:
File under Wait, that's not what we meant!

SKY news are currently running a loop of some dude in Miami saying portentiously: "On the streets of Miami, an AK-47 is cheaper to buy than a Playstation".

My 8 year old son's reaction: "Hey! Cool!"
Posted on entry Open thread 126 ::: June 24, 2009, 11:08 AM:
I thought the second Transformers movie was better than the first: less teenage "humour", more giant robot battles.

Still too much shakycam, though.
Posted on entry When Guns Are Outlawed ::: June 24, 2009, 10:57 AM:
I, too, am on the Terrierist Watch List.
Posted on entry In Brooklyn, about a mile south of us ::: June 23, 2009, 07:04 PM:
Jon writes: We don't know. Ultimately we have to fall back on "My thoughts are not your thoughts."

My religion says that in this life, we all earn Korma, which is a kind of meat/dairy combo.

But I prefer Jhal Ferezi, with some garlic and coriander naan, basmati rice and a little dish of vicious green chile pickle, with limes and cardamom seeds, and some poppadoms to dunk in everything.
Posted on entry When Guns Are Outlawed ::: June 23, 2009, 06:48 PM:
Caroline: Typing "I'm right fed up" into Google gives a load of hits on Gracie Fields, followed by lots of stuff from other folk oop North.

So yes, you sound like someone from Lancashire.

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2009100
200857
2007277
200669

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