Pronoun Trouble

As an English-speaker, it's something I didn't notice until I studied Spanish in 7^th grade.  Assigning a gender to every noun seems very strange to me.  Everything in English, with few exceptions, is neuter.  This makes sense to me.  I only need to know about gender if we're talking about sex or reproduction.

Then there was the experience of living through the Women's Lib stuff when we switched from job descriptions like fireman to fireperson and dropped titles like waitress and stewardess.  Although it was cumbersome at first, this made sense to me.

Now, I'm starting to realize that we infuse gender in our personal pronouns where it really isn't needed.  I feel a hitch when I use an indefinite person ("...the player must hit the button or he will die.").  We once defaulted to "he" but now this has often  become "he/she".  I wonder why we just don't drop the sex-related information and call this indefinite person "it".  This is truly uncomfortable, though, and I don't know why exactly other than I feel a little insulted to be called an "it".

It seems strange how often we use "he" or "she" when the sex of the individual has no bearing on the topic and carries no relevant information, ...it seems strange, as strange as gendering all nouns like the Europeans.

I have a pretty good memory for the past, and I spend much time there in my head.  For the life of me, though, this is one thing I can't even force back into memory.

After playing SiN last night, it stroke me (shit, I mean struck me) that I can not remember that this was cutting edge, holy shit technology.

The models, the textures, the weird proportions of doors and ceilings, ...it all looks so foreign.

This, I remember!  The trip to Ireland just before SiN was released, I can recall every little detail from that piece of the past.

Well, what a great night!  ...and one that will Shirley go down in history!

We just played deathmatch in Ritual's original SiN on Valve's Steam!

With the likes of Hexagon, BaDmAn, Paradox, Maestro Belica, and myself,

 ...it was a night to remember,

...remember how much a truly suck at deathmatch!

Sorry, but all this death has me remembering Dad.  Strange picture, ...for me.  This is from the late 1970s and, in this picture, my Dad is the same age as me right now.  Why does he look so old, still, but I feel so much younger, now.

I was home on leave in this photo, on my way from Norfolk, Virginia's "A" school for Ocean Systems Technicians...

...to NAVFAC Adak.  I don't recognize the system we're playing, anyone?

Unrelated, but understood, ...I'm studying Russian, and one of the best sources to learn a language is the same place where the children of that language go to learn, ...childrens' books, ...and letter blocks.

Figure the odds, ...Russian Occupations book,  ...number 13, ...I really need to move to the Motherland!

NEW HAVEN GRAYS - Veteran's Association
OLDEST VETERAN'S ASSOCIATION IN THE UNITED STATES
NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY
290 GOFFE STREET
NEW HAVEN, CT 06511-3395

"It's twue, it's twue!" - Lillie Von Schtupp, 1857.

You can't make this shit up!  Well, I couldn't, ...not now ;) 

Figure the odds, ...born in New Haven, but it was a displaced birth.  My family is from everywhere BUT Connecticut.  Mom and Dad were there while Dad was getting his Master of Fine Arts at Yale University.

 "Once a Gray, always a Gray" ..in New Haven ;)

Why is it that humor, ...the best humor, ...is always at the expense of someone else?  ...preferably a friend's.  Well, I mean, the humor shouldn't cause real pain or embarrassment, but someone needs to be the target, and that someone needs to laugh too.

Maybe it's me, growing up with my hero Bugs Bunny, ...violence and humor, almost better than sex and food ;)

So my friend Toly, last week, was very happy to take an assignment in the States, where most of us have had an incredibly warm Winter.  His assignment was in New York...

...New York, where they just had the deepest and quickest drop of snow and temperature ever recorded.  He ended up stranded there because of this snow and foul weather.

This made me laugh ;)  More pictures here.

The Germans, who seem to know so many things, have that word, ...shadenfruede!

It seems General Winter and the Snow Maiden (god, I love her) follow you, my friend ;)

While we're here, ...how many of you see the humor in this picture?  It is very Russian humor.

Okay, I collect memorabilia from New Haven, and I gather new ties to the Motherland.  I have one other collectable, and I'm quite proud of it.

I'm proud because I recognized this infatuation back in 1965 when "I Dream of Jeannie" first aired.  I was only 7 years old at the time, but I was in love with Barbara Eden.  She was beautiful, ...so beautiful!  ...still is ;)

 ...and for reasons that weren't completely clear to me back then, but are now so very obvious...

...she said "Yes, Master!", she had a bottle, and she went back to her bottle (read: she had an on/off switch) at her Major's very command.

Look more closely, if you haven't already ;)

Qui Transtulit Sustinet - He Who Transplanted Still Sustains

This is the motto of New Haven.  This is the Seal of New Haven.  So many great things have come from New Haven, the Elm City.

These are the inventions, firsts, and births from my New Haven.

Many may be disputed, but, ...whatever ;)

Erector Sets and Flexible Flyer Sleds, A.C. Gilbert

Lollipop, George C. Smith

Frisbee, Yale students with pie tins

Silly Putty, James Wright

American Dictionary, Noah Webster

First Planned Urban Development in North America

First Public Library in the States

Cotton Gin, Eli Whitney

Standardized/Interchangeable Parts, Eli Whitney

Repeating Rifle, Oliver Winchester

Automatic Revolver, Samuel Colt

Computing Machine (add, subtract and print tabulations on paper), Fred M. Carroll

Vulcanized rubber, Charles Goodyear

Telephone Switchboard, George C. Coy

Corkscrew, Philios P. Blake (nephew of Eli Whitney)

Hamburger Sandwich, Louis Lassen

Pizza (apizza), Frank Pepe

Corsets, Isaac Strouse

American Football, Walter Camp

Football Shoes with Cleats, Otto Hints

Football Dummy, Amos Alonza Stagg

Tape Measure, Alvin Fellows

Mortised Locks, Blake Brothers

Collapsible Toothpaste Tube

Submarine, David Bushnell

Assembly Line, James Brewster's Carriage Factory

Automobile Self-Starter, John Petrie

Lattice Truss Bridge - Ithiel Town

Vitamin A, Thomas B. Osborne

American Two-Chamber Legislature (Congress and Senate), Roger Sherman

Sulphur Matches, Thomas Sanford, Edward Beecher

Fire Sprinkler System, Henry Parmelee

George W. Bush

Dr. Spock

…and, of course, The Levelord!

Forgot to post the most prized possession from my trip to AnimEX!  I brought a copy of Roger Dean's 'authorized' biography called "Views".

I was so embarrassed when Roger told me that it is, in fact, pirate material for which he receives nothing in return.

I bought it on Amazon, so it must be something more insidious than basic bootlegging.

He was gracious enough to sign it anyways.  Thanks, Roger!

I just got back from the AnimEX Festival at Teesside University...

Little piece of advice - if the airplane your sitting on for nine hours runs out of chicken and only has the vegetarian meal to offer, don't take it!  Eating a bowl of rice, beans, and lentils under these conditions is not a good idea.

I arrived early Sunday morning and after checking into the hotel, Gabby and her husband James took me to Durham to see the sights.

I'm always amazed by how small everything is in medieval places.  Narrow streets and short doorways, I always feel like a Gulliver.

"What knockers!" ... "Oh, sank you, Doctor!"

This is the Sanctuary Knocker at Durham's Cathedral.  The cathedral is an incredible piece of architecture and history.  The church itself is over a thousand years old and seeing dated plaques going back before the Conquest of 1066 was not unusual.

Gabby and James then took me to a local pub...

The beef came with Yorkshire pudding, ...REAL Yorkshire pudding, and it was seconded only by my Mom's homemade when I was a kid ;)

I stayed at the Hardwick Hotel in Sedgefield.  Great place, very English and very posh!  There is quite a bit of history going with the hotel.  The first night I went to the bar, ordered a vodka, and then walked around the place, both inside and out.

Out back there is an old (I mean old) carriage house falling in ruin.  Such great history to see and absorb.

When I returned to the bar, there were a few locals there.

These are Alan, Jon, and Sandra.  Sandra's brother was born in the place when it was a hospital and, it seems, everybody (including Jon and Sandra) were married here.

Oh ya!  ...the AnimEX Festival, ...almost forgot ;)

This was the best event to which I've been, and I've been to many.  I believe the title says it all, ...it wasn't the normal convention or conference, ...it was a festival!

Fellow developers, animators, and such, ...if you ever get invited, ...GO!  As an indication, I was well-impressed by the attendees and by the distances they had traveled to be there.

The workshop went extremely well, though, and credit goes to an audience made up of some very talented students.

Speaking of famous speakers, ...I did in fact get to meet Roger Dean.  Wednesday night we went to a pub in Middlesbrough.  I actually got to chat with the only artist who influenced my professional life.  It's always weird to meet someone of this caliber and station.  I've been a big fan of his work since I was thirteen years old (that's 35 years!), and here he is standing right in front of me as we talk about Jon Anderson and YES and stuff. 

Early in the conversation, Roger mentioned that the two groups he considered coupling with back in his salad days were Led Zeppelin and YES, ...my two favorite groups ;)

Ever since I did those first two levels for Alice, I've wanted to make childrens' games.

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