Let us compare mythologies and movies

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

That's looking more like a unicycle built for two, and there we are back again at Ms Zesty's kisses.

Note that, by definition, a unicycle has one wheel, a bicycle two, and two riders ride one tandem, unless we are speaking of the circus, then anything goes in the three rings, which brings us back 'round again.

Now if I had used the degree symbol, people would have thought I was going for bellylaughs, with such a belly button sign, and then everyone would have been asking Fordim for a poll to see how many Downers have innies and how many have outies.

How tall are you?!? If you see a superscript as being in the mid range, then the rest of us, or at least me, are hobbit-heighted in comparison. It's not like I subscripted the superscripted O, but placed it in its lofty perch at the top of the line, and yet you still look down upon it.

Come to think of it, do you suppose the first elves had bellybuttons?

Yes. What else could Elu Thingol and Melian have been doing, standing there for a year, other than be happily navel-gazing?

[Holbytlass]

Originally Posted by Finduilas

OH! Before I leave, Bethberry, they are not "innies or outies" they are bellybuttons, or bellyditches.

Bellyditches?! Eeww. That just sounds so wrong! My apologies to those who are accustomed to that term but it conjurs up a mental picture of abnormalacies that go way beyond even "outies" . Even Dictionary.com agrees with me in that ditches are "long, narrow excavations..." unless there is something going on, on the other side of the world, that even Discovery Health won't touch!

[Finduilas]

Originally Posted by Holbytlass

Bellyditches?! Eeww. That just sounds so wrong! My apologies to those who are accustomed to that term but it conjurs up a mental picture of abnormalacies that go way beyond even "outies" . Even Dictionary.com agrees with me in that ditches are "long, narrow excavations..." unless there is something going on, on the other side of the world, that even Discovery Health won't touch!

Lol. I thought it sounded better than bellyholes or bellypits

[Thenamir]

Since I weigh something close to the equivalent of two smallish adults (three, if they're petite women), mine might be more accurately described as a bellycavern. Most bellybuttons have lint -- mine has sheep.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I have allowed this thread some leniency, but the current subject is so far off-topic that I must draw a line!

[Thenamir]

Originally Posted by Esty

I must draw a line!

Perfectly understandable, Esty. Perhaps _____? or maybe a dashed -----? Or you could be even more emphatic and do a double, ======?

Feel free to draw whatever line you choose -- several, if you've the notion.

[Lhunardawen]

But Esty can always go for more...princessy lines, such as this: ~~~~~

[the guy who be short]

I have to attack the prevailing prejudice against verticals, without which such important things as cartography and mechanics could not exist.

¦ |
¦ |
¦ |
¦ |
¦ |

Would be just as good. But let us not forget diagonals, with which Esty could demonstrate the potential trajectory of anybody to be expelled from this thread.

........./.........\
......./.............\
...../.................\
.../.....................\
./.........................\

And who said a line has to be straight anyway?

./..........................___
|........................./......\
.\.......^...............\__
...\__/....\__^............\
....................\....____/
......................\/


Is not only just as good, but expresses an unpredictability that, coupled with a threat, would be sure to strike fear into the hearts of those who dare chat.

[Aiwendil]

And who said a line has to be straight anyway?

Euclid.

[Thenamir]

Originally Posted by The Ghosted Princess

the current subject is so far off-topic...

Hmmm...I guess to bring the thread back on topic, I'd have to respond as follows:

??

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by tgwbs

And who said a line has to be straight anyway?

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Euclid.

Memory's a bit dim of my math days, but didn't he merely define a line rather than prove its nature?

Originally Posted by Thenamir

Hmmm...I guess to bring the thread back on topic, I'd have to respond as follows:

??

I suspect that the attempted Tolkien subtopic of bellybuttons was getting too close to the delicate condition of our Moddess's most famous Tolkien RPG character, MeriSue, who is, as some Downers may not know, in a certain condition. Perhaps we may combine both the original topic and my attempted Tolkien related topic (which is a very serious question, as it has concerned generations of historians of Western Art in their deliberations over the depictions of Adam and Eve).

I bet in her current condition MeriSue's bellybutton would look so:

(*)

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Thenamir

Hmmm...I guess to bring the thread back on topic, I'd have to respond as follows:

??

Don't you mean ?????, as, technically, there were five Istari - men with staves, or crooks.

But, as an update, maybe we should have ?¿¬¬¬ , as only Gandalf stayed true, Saruman's dead, and no one knows what happened to the two true blue or the brownie.

With that said, what would ! be?

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

~

[The Saucepan Man]

To take this thread off at a slight tangent, but on a point nevertheless referable to the original post, if one points one's mouse at the title of this thread on the Active Topics page (assuming the standard mouse pointer scheme), one can give one's link select pointer a nice cuff with a cufflink. Make it dressed up for dinner as 'twere.

Just thought that I'd mention it, in case anyone found it relevant to the topic ...

[Aiwendil]

Originally Posted by Bethberry

Memory's a bit dim of my math days, but didn't he merely define a line rather than prove its nature?

Exactly.

[Thenamir]

Vote now! "∞", "?", "." ---- Defend your position! This poll is public, and you will be called on to support your choice!

[Rumil]

Im surprised that only one other person has voted on this poll so far

I went for ... which to me symbolises to be continued repesenting hope for the future and therefore optimism perhaps we could mount a campaign to change ... to estel but an environmental impact assessment would undoubtedly find that excessive use of ink is associated with estel in comparison with ... so I have abjured any alternative use of punctuation in favour of ... for this missive

[Folwren]

The question mark is best. If people were to ask more questions, perhaps more people would have answers. Certainly more people would get answers. As it is, no one asks. And when no one asks, no one can answer.

-- Folwren

[the phantom]

#

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Folwren

The question mark is best. If people were to ask more questions, perhaps more people would have answers. Certainly more people would get answers. As it is, no one asks. And when no one asks, no one can answer.

Much agreed, but I'm still sticking with ¿, as who wants to get the standard set of questions which have been answered many times already anyway...

"To crooked eyes truth may wear a wry face," ergo to uncrooked eyes truth may face rye.

[Bêthberry]

I think we missed one, Thena.

@

[Folwren]

"This is where it's at" is incorrect grammar - you are aware of that, aren't you?

[Thenamir]

It should be "This is the place at which it is."

[Bêthberry]

In the immortal words of Winston Churchill, "That is a comment up with which I will not put."

[The Sixth Wizard]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

In the immortal words of Winston Churchill, "That is a comment up with which I will not put."

That reference to Winston reminded me of something my father told me... Something along the lines of "the first person to mention Hitler automatically loses the argument".



Oh and I went for "?!" because the mixture of alarm and confusion always triggers something in me.

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Mythologies = ∞
Movie = *$ & !*

I'd opt for ∞ as I'm in a more laid back frame of mind just now, despite the perpetual motion inherent in it.

****<*)))><

More fun with character mapping. Aiwendel, many thanks for introducing a new host of names to go with some familiar and some not so familiar characters. Solidus (/) and his brother Virgule (\) I imagine would feel right at home among the Noldor, slashing away beneath the Thangordrim....

And as far as lines go, I doubt that Euclid had to stand in one at an amusement park, (were they are seldom completely straight), or traveled along the railroad line, or had to hold the line. But that isn't his fault, now is it? Does ignorance of these things make for purer mathematics?

[Rikae]

~ I have to second Fordim's vote for "~"
It is graceful and balanced, having a delicate radial symmetry and the continuously but gently shifting directions that Burke used to define the beautiful (as opposed to the sublime, which is better represented by %$$^$%).
It diplomatically offers the possibility that there may be more to be said, but does not interrogate like "?", or tease the reader like the evasive "...", and it sets off the text in a decorative and artistic fashion ~

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Thenamir

While '.' carries the ultimate simplicity of a full-stop, the elegance of a single point in space, it is nevertheless the cold finality of the finishing of a thought expressed, allowing no extension and brooking no opposition. '?' leaves open the possibility of a '.' to be had in the future, perhaps at the end of all things, but to assert '.' from our limited perspective at present is mere presumption.

Is that your final statement?

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Rikae

~ I have to second Fordim's vote for "~"
It is graceful and balanced, having a delicate radial symmetry and the continuously but gently shifting directions that Burke used to define the beautiful (as opposed to the sublime, which is better represented by %$$^$%).
It diplomatically offers the possibility that there may be more to be said, but does not interrogate like "?", or tease the reader like the evasive "...", and it sets off the text in a decorative and artistic fashion ~

Are you serious?!?! Have you considered the far-reaching implications of such a choice? Sure, it looks pretty, but it oscillates up and down, and as soon as it breaks free from the delicate bounds of that radial symmetry, then what? What will that wildly vibrating tilda do when it grows up and looks to walk beyond the asymptotic fences that keep us all safe? And the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics practically guarantees that this will happen.

Wild speculation? I typed ~ into Google and nothing happened. Nothing! I almost typed ~~, but thankfully did not - we all may not be here if I did.

I hope that you reconsider your choice.

[Thenamir]

Is that your final statement?

Maybe?

I am glad to see that the "?" is leading the poll.

[Firefoot]

?!

^My reaction to this thread...

It's much more interesting than a plain ? - it implies more emotion, whether excitement, shock, outrage, a new breakthrough...

Although personally, I think it is aesthetically more pleasing written as "!?".

[Folwren]

You surprise me, Firefoot. Being such a great writer as you are, surely you know that "?!" is not legal, so far as grammar and its laws are concerned?

I guess it's a little better than "!!", though not by much.

-- Foley

[Bêthberry]

This being post # 72 on this thread, such evidence would, I think, put to rest Thenamir's objections to my original . .

Originally Posted by Thenamir

In my humble opinion, '?' is to be preferred, leaving as it does a sense of the mystery, of searching out the unknown, of the pursuit of further knowledge. By contrast '.' is almost an obscenity, declaring as it does that there is no more to be said, a prejudicial epithet to the yearning of the human psyche to discover, to explore.

While '.' carries the ultimate simplicity of a full-stop, the elegance of a single point in space, it is nevertheless the cold finality of the finishing of a thought expressed, allowing no extension and brooking no opposition. '?' leaves open the possibility of a '.' to be had in the future, perhaps at the end of all things, but to assert '.' from our limited perspective at present is mere presumption.

Just look at the plethora of positions, points of view, and punctuation pecadillos which that . prompted to explanation and elaboration and extenuation. Proof positive that there is no finality, no limit upon the ingenuity of Downers who never leave a thought finished.

Truly we Dead do belong to the endlessness of Infinity.

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Truly we Dead do belong to the endlessness of Infinity.

All that flowery language aside, you forgot to factor in the facility for a few of we Dead to flog hoary failed fallen fathers of foals.

And !? looks too much like a futuristic 'R' for my endorsement.

[Firefoot]

You surprise me, Firefoot. Being such a great writer as you are, surely you know that "?!" is not legal, so far as grammar and its laws are concerned?

Of course. But grammar has also always been frightfully dull to me... sometimes informal illegalities are needed to spice it up. See, look at this post - "of course" is a fragment, and the next sentence starts with a conjunction. "!?" fits nicely into that little club.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by alatar

Are you serious?!?! Have you considered the far-reaching implications of such a choice? Sure, it looks pretty, but it oscillates up and down, and as soon as it breaks free from the delicate bounds of that radial symmetry, then what? What will that wildly vibrating tilda do when it grows up and looks to walk beyond the asymptotic fences that keep us all safe? And the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics practically guarantees that this will happen.

Wild speculation? I typed ~ into Google and nothing happened. Nothing! I almost typed ~~, but thankfully did not - we all may not be here if I did.

I hope that you reconsider your choice.

You have only made me more convinced! "~" clearly represents the dynamic feminine archetype, a necessary counterbalance to the stagnation of the static masculine ".", the aggressive dynamic masculine "?", and the static feminine degree sign (which my keyboard lacks; making me feel like a motherless child...), and all the more necessary in the unfairly static, musty and patriarchical atmosphere that has been erroneously asssociated with "mythology". That "vibration" is a creative force, without which motion, time, space and life could not exist.
I wonder, Alatar, if your unease about my unpredictable "~" has anything to do with your earlier implication that I could be the destructive being which appeared in your dream...

By the way, Google is overrated!

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Rikae

and the static feminine degree sign (which my keyboard lacks; making me feel like a motherless child...),

° ° ° ° °
It's not on my keyboard either, but Google does provide the answer...

That "vibration" is a creative force, without which motion, time, space and life could not exist.

That 'vibration' would be quantum mechanics or a very bad hard drive in the computer on your desk; I wonder just how many times you need to type your beloved tilda before you reboot time, space and life as we know it.

I wonder, Alatar, if your unease about my unpredictable "~" has anything to do with your earlier implication that I could be the destructive being which appeared in your dream...

Please continue to implicate yourself...conscience getting the best of you perhaps? (typical behaviour for tildaphiles - commit the crime on the downswing then 'fess up when curving positively).

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by alatar

All that flowery language aside, you forgot to factor in the facility for a few of we Dead to flog hoary failed fallen fathers of foals.

And !? looks too much like a futuristic 'R' for my endorsement.

There is, of course, always a caveat to such flogging. When it is done creatively and imaginatively it will fulfil the prime edict of comedy, which is to provide the unexpected, the unanticipated, the unforeseen, a shock which wakes up the old failed fallen fathers of foals and gets them moving again. A veritable ؛ ؛


However, when it tends to ride that fallen father of foals as an aged hobby horse, ad finitum, well, then of course it does create the yawning gap of tedium whereby the one trick pony doubtless would be better off in a glue factory. Such a symbol would indeed be a black hole, aka, a bullet in the brain of delight •

[tar-ancalime]

Originally Posted by Folwren

You surprise me, Firefoot. Being such a great writer as you are, surely you know that "?!" is not legal, so far as grammar and its laws are concerned?

I guess it's a little better than "!!", though not by much.

-- Foley

It's a perfectly acceptable form of punctuation! It even has a name, which is my favorite thing about it:

It's called the INTERROBANG ?!

[Thenamir]

Now that the poll is closed, I am quite pleased to see that my initial favorite, the '?' did indeed win the overall poll, but with a mere plurality of 25%. All hail the Question Mark -- Herald of Answers-Yet-To-Be!