Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Interesting words: Redux

Redux is an interesting word.  I read about it in The Word Detective.  It sounds like it means "reduced" or perhaps summarized or something like that.  But it doesn't. Redux means "brought back" or "revived".  According to Wikipedia, it is mostly used in literature, film and video game titles, and was made much more popular when John Updike published Rabbit Redux in 1970.  Google's ngram viewer shows that the use of redux has had a lot of peaks and valleys, peaking in 1806-1808, then again in 1904, then there was a long decline in use and, indeed, a resurgence after 1970 that, so far, shows no sign of slowing down. Indeed, one could say "redux redux". But it's never been really popular - the peaks are at about 0.0000045% of all words, or about 1 in every 22 million words.

One unusual thing about redux is that (unlike nearly all adjectives in English) it is used only after the noun it modifies. Another unusual thing is that it has no comparative or superlative form (the -er and -est of most adjectives). It comes from Latin reducere "to lead back or bring back" - the same root as reduce, which changed its meaning later on.




Sunday, November 27, 2016

The Balloon Joke

This is a joke I made up  when I heard that people with nonverbal learning disabilities (which I have) do not have a sense of humor.


A guy is flying in a hot air balloon, and he's lost. He lowers himself over a field and calls to a guy "Can you tell me where I am and where I'm headed?"

"Sure. You're at 41 degrees 2 minutes and 14 seconds North, 144 degrees 4 minutes and 19 seconds East; you're at an altitude of 762 meters above sea level, and right now you're hovering, but you were on a vector of 234 degrees at 12 meters per second"

"Amazing! Thanks! By the way, do you have Asperger's Syndrome?"

"I do! How did you know that?"

"Because everything you said is true, it's much more detail than I need, and you told me in a way that's no use to me at all."

"Huh. Are you a clinical psychologist?"

"I am, but how the heck did you know that???!!??"

"You don't know where you are. You don't know where you're going. You got where you are by blowing hot air. You put labels on people after asking a few questions, and you're in exactly the same spot you were 5 minutes ago, but now, somehow, it's my fault!

Intersting words: Acnestis: The parts you can't reach

Does your back ever itch?  Mine does.  And, sometimes, it's in the part I can't scratch!  That's so annoying.  Sometimes I will rub against a chair or something like that.  And they even sell back scratchers to let you reach those parts.

But ... what are those parts?  Not only is it annoying to be unable to scratch where it itches, it's annoying to have to say "where I can't reach".  And now, you don't have to.  Because English has a word for those parts: Acnestis.

Can you scratch my acnestis?

Do cats even have an acnestis? 

Where is your acnestis?

When I was younger, my shoulders were so flexible that I had no acnestis, but now I do.

And do you know of any animal that has an acnestis that is not on its back?

Saturday, November 26, 2016

What are you reading? November 26, 2016

(Sorry I missed last week)
Here is what I am reading this week.  Use the comments to tell us what you are reading.

Books 

  • The Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois.  A good annual "best of" book. On p.181  (12 pages read).
  • Tips on Cardplay by Mike Lawrence.  Lawrence is one of the best bridge writers alive.  Play is the worst part of my game.  This book also includes some tips on defense. p. 138 (no pages read this week).
  • Watson's Play of the Hand at Bridge, the classic book on play. On p. 113 (no pages read this week).
  • A Beautiful Question by Frank Wilczek, it's a combination of physics, philosophy and art. The question is whether the world can be regarded as a work of art. On p. 65 (8 pages read this week).
  • How to Reassess your Chess by Jeremy Silman.  A really good chess book. p 32 (no pages read).
  • How to Reassess your Chess Workbook also by Silman and the companion to the above. On p. 43 (no pages read). 
  • The Dream of Reason by Anthony Gottlieb.  A history of philosophy from its Thales to the Renaissance.  This is a really good survey, I think. Gottlieb writes very clearly and uses analogy and humor to help. page 330 (24 pages read this week).
  • John Quincy Adams by James Traub.  A bio of our 6th president, an unjustly neglected figure. On page 379 (100 pages read).  
  • I finished A Clean Killing in Tokyo by Barry Eisler.  The first book in the John Rain series.  Spies, assassins, fun stuf.. My review
  • I also finished The Word Detective by Paul Simpson.My review.

Periodicals

Your turn

Use the comments to tell me what you are reading and what you think of it.

Book review: The Word Detective by John Simpson

Year published: 2016
Date I finished reading: November 26, 2016
Genre: History, memoir, English
Rating: B
Review: The Word Detective is the story of John Simpson's time working at the Oxford English Dictionary.  He applied for a job in 1976 after his girlfriend (and later his wife) saw an ad and thought it might suit him.  He stayed for 35 years, rising to become the chief editor of the  famous dictionary.

The Word Detective is partly about words.  Simpson looks at various words in depth, showing their etymology and how their meaning changed over time.  It's partly about Simpson's personal life - marriage, children and so on. It's partly about what it takes to be a lexicographer (one note: You shouldn't love words).  But mostly it's about moving the Oxford Dictionary into the 21st century, putting it first on CD-ROM and then on the Internet, updating words, finding editors and all the parts of editing the massive dictionary.

I found it quite interesting, but it's a bit repetitive (how many times do we need to be told that the OED was behind the times?).  Except for this, Simpson writes with a nice style. He has a very dry English sense of humor, and his love of his former job comes through quite clearly.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Book review: A Bomb Built in Hell: Wesley's Story by Andrew Vachss

Year published:  2012

Date I finished reading: November 22, 2016

Genre: Crime/thriller

Rating: C
 
Review: I picked this up because I am a fan of Vachss' Burke series, especially the earlier volumes, and, in the forward, Vachss notes that, although A Bomb Built in Hell was published in 2012, it was written much earlier.  Fans of the Burke series will recognize Wesley's name as one of the deadliest and coldest assassins.

 But the subtitle to this book could better be "Watch Wesley Kill".  There's a tremendous amount of killing - killing by gun, knife, poison gas, killing for revenge, killing for money, killing at random.  But the book doesn't really tell Wesley's story.  It doesn't cover his childhood (how the bomb got built) and there's a minimum of plot and character development.

Fans of the Burke series will like Vachss' prose and may want to read this to add to their knowledge of Wesley, but I found it rather disapponting.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Great quotations: Israel Salanter on morality

The quote:
Most people worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls, when we all ought to worry about our own souls and other people's bellies

Who  said it:  Israel Salanter
 
Source:

Thoughts on the quote: 

 Why do I, an atheist who doesn't even believe in souls, like this quote? I think we can take "soul" as a metaphor.  Salanter is saying that we should help others in material ways, and worry about ourselves in spiritual ways. This is,  as the quotation notes, too often the reverse of what people do. Many people seem concerned with how much stuff they have and how evil other people are being.
 
This quote and modern politics
To me, this quote could be the foundation of liberalism and progressivism. I think that the current definition of "conservative" often fits the "most people" and the current definition of "liberal" fits the "ought".  Conservatives are very worried about gay marriage, abortion, drug use, and all sorts of things that are really "other people's souls", while liberals tend to be more worried with making sure that other people have enough to eat and so on.

About the author: 
Israel Salanter (ne Lipkin) was a rabbi in Lithuania. He was born on November 3, 1810,
in  Zhagory and died on February 2, 1883 in Konigsberg. Israel Salanter was a noted Torah scholar and talmudist. A devoutly orthodox Jew, Salanter's views were, nevertheless,  outside the mainstream, and he stressed ethical and moral teachings, and also wrote about the role of the subconcious.

 

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Book review: A Clean Kill in Tokyo by Barry Eisler

Title:  A Clean Kill in Tokyo

Author:  Barry Eisler

Year published: 2002

Date finished:  November 16, 2016

Genre: Thriller

Rating:  B+

Review:  John Rain is a Japanese American man living in Tokyo.  He loves the city, whiskey and jazz.  And ... he has an unusual profession: He's an assassin.  And his specialty is making his killings look like they were of natural causes.

In A Clean Kill in Tokyo (originally published as Rain Fall), the first in the John Rain series, he is hired to kill a man, which he does by stopping the guy's pacemaker.That would be that, but ... complications ensue. First, he meets a beautiful jazz pianist who turns out to be the daughter of the man he killed. Then it turns out that the reason for the killing is that the guy had a computer disk with information that would compromise the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.  And a lot of people want that disk.

Lots of violence, lots of twists in the plot and it kept me turning the pages and that's what a thriller should do.


About the author:  Barry Eisler is an American author and lawyer. He worked at the CIA and at startups in Japan and America before going into full time writing.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Great Quotations: Curly Howard on thinking

The quote:
I'm trying to think, but nothing happens
or, in dialect, "I'm tryin' ta tink, but nuttin' happens"

Who said it: Curly Howard of the Three Stooges. 

Source: Personal memory and the episode is available in many web sites

Thoughts (ahem) on the Quote:  This is just perfect so often.  I especially like it when I am doing badly at bridge in which game you often have to consider a great many different things at once, but it is useful in other situations as well.   

Saturday, November 12, 2016

What are you reading? Nov. 12 2016

Here is what I am reading this week.  Use the comments to tell us what you are reading.

Books 

  • The Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois.  A good annual "best of" book. On p.169  (No pages read).
  • Tips on Cardplay by Mike Lawrence.  Lawrence is one of the best bridge writers alive.  Play is the worst part of my game.  This book also includes some tips on defense. p. 138 (no pages read this week).
  • Watson's Play of the Hand at Bridge, the classic book on play. On p. 113 (15 pages read this week).
  • A Beautiful Question by Frank Wilczek, it's a combination of physics, philosophy and art. The question is whether the world can be regarded as a work of art. On p. 56 (8 pages read this week).
  • How to Reassess your Chess by Jeremy Silman.  A really good chess book. p 32 (no pages read).
  • How to Reassess your Chess Workbook also by Silman and the companion to the above. On p. 43 (no pages read). 
  • The Dream of Reason by Anthony Gottlieb.  A history of philosophy from its Thales to the Renaissance.  This is a really good survey, I think. Gottlieb writes very clearly and uses analogy and humor to help. page 306 (28 pages read this week).
  • John Quincy Adams by James Traub.  A bio of our 6th president, an unjustly neglected figure. On page 279 (45 pages read).  
  • I finished The Detachment by Barry Eisler.  Spies and hit men and stuff.  Good fun. Link goes to my review.
  • I started A Clean Killing in Tokyo by Barry Eisler.  The first book in the John Rain series.  Spies, assassins, fun stuf.. On p. 133. 
  • I also started The Word Detective by Evan Morris.  Morris had a career at the Oxford English Dictionary, rising through the ranks to the top. Interesting!  On page 56

Periodicals

Your turn

Use the comments to tell me what you are reading and what you think of it.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Interesting words: Paskudnyak

The word: Paskudnyak






Pronunciation:  rhymes with pass could we yak

Definition: A paskudnyak is a vile, rotten, nasty person. The adjectival form (rarely heard, in my experience with Yinglish) is "paskudne".







Origin: Paskudnyak is Yiddish, and earlier from Polish and Ukranian (Yiddish started as mostly German but amalgamated words from lots of languages).

Notes: It is difficult to distinguish this word from other terms of contempt such as schmuck or putz. Paskudnyak is, at least, not vulgar. Looking through Rosten's Joys of Yiddish, I think that paskudnyak is more like "sleazy", "mean" and "disgusting"; schmuck is more fully evil, and putz is more idiotic. Both putz and shmuck are obscene. Also, paskudnyak is much less known, which can be good.

Source: The Joys of Yiddish.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Book review: The Detachment by Barry Eisler

The Detachment is the 7th book in the John Rain series.  I usually like to read series books in order, but I got this one for a low price so I started in the middle.

John Rain is a professional assassin. In this book, he is hired to kill two people who, purportedly, are plotting a coup against the government of the USA. His employer is Scott Horton, a colonel who specializes in "black ops".  But ... there are twists and twists and more twists. 

Although Rain usually works alone, this time he is leading a team of four - and there are lots of interpersonal problems.  And it's soon unclear whether the coup attempt is real.  Then there are terrorist attacks.

I won't say it's great literature, but it kept me turning the pages, which a thriller should do.  I'll be looking for the earlier books in the series.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

What are you reading? November 5, 2016

Here is what I am reading this week.  Use the comments to tell us what you are reading.

Books 

  • The Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois.  A good annual "best of" book. On p.169  (6 pages read).
  • Tips on Cardplay by Mike Lawrence.  Lawrence is one of the best bridge writers alive.  Play is the worst part of my game.  This book also includes some tips on defense. p. 138 (no pages read this week).
  • I finished Anathem by Neal Stephenson. My review from my first read is here
  • Watson's Play of the Hand at Bridge, the classic book on play. On p. 98 (no pages read this week).
  • A Beautiful Question by Frank Wilczek, it's a combination of physics, philosophy and art. The question is whether the world can be regarded as a work of art. On p. 48 (16 pages read this week).
  • How to Reassess your Chess by Jeremy Silman.  A really good chess book. p 32 (no pages read).
  • How to Reassess your Chess Workbook also by Silman and the companion to the above. On p. 43 (no pages read). 
  • The Dream of Reason by Anthony Gottlieb.  A history of philosophy from its Thales to the Renaissance.  This is a really good survey, I think. Gottlieb writes very clearly and uses analogy and humor to help. page 278 (5 pages read this week).
  • John Quincy Adams by James Traub.  A bio of our 6th president, an unjustly neglected figure. On page 232 (73 pages read).  
  • I started The Detachment by Barry Eisler.  Spies and hit men and stuff.  Good fun. On p 108.
  • I also started The First Tycoon by T. J. Stiles.  A bio of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Well done. On p. 78

Periodicals

Your turn

Use the comments to tell me what you are reading and what you think of it.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Great quotations: Isaac Asimov on discovery

The quotation:
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” (I found it!) but “That’s funny …”

Who said it:  The quotation is widely attributed to Isaac Asimov, but no direct evidence of him saying it or writing it seems to exist.  Nevertheless, it does seem like he said it, according to the invaluable Quote Investigator.


Source:  See link above.

Thoughts on the quotation: 

When we notice something odd, something unexplained, we can ignore it.  Or we can attribute it to mysterious forces. Or we can say it's a miracle.  Or .... we can investigate.  And maybe discover something.  As my favorite professor in graduate school used to say:

If you're not surprised, you haven't learned anything
So, we should welcome the unexplained.  It might lead somewhere.