There was also a Devo Party striving for reverse evolution. And yes, I know evolution doesn't work like that. And besides, the wench is dead.

In past years, I'd argue that the ideal situation was where languages changed, while individual speakers had the ability to code-shift between demotic or 'vulgar' popular dialects, while also being able to speak 'up' as required.

<Domitian> <And besides, the wench is dead>

Isn't that "The wench is dead. And besides, it was another country"?

Marlowe? If I'm accidentally right, it's not from having actually read the play in question. I overheard Nick Auf der Mar telling a 16 year old girl these bons mottes in one of the seediest bars in Montreal.

At that time, every bar in Montreal was seedy, a major drawing card for radical chic McGill and Concordia students.

In one of the choicer venues, I asked one of the older patrons where the washroom was.

"Isn't this it?" he replied.

This bar wasn't even pretending. The "floor" was concrete, optimistically painted red but that was all but chipped away. At the end of the night (3am) they brought out fire hoses to "clean up."

<Tim> I think the same. All these superhero comics were dumb to begin with, except for Tarzan KREEGAH! BUNDOLO!

The movies are much worse, pandering to the lowest common denominator- and finding it.

I'd rather be born without a face than watch one of these movies. I did watch one though, the brilliant Christian Bale wasted in a batman movie.

I'M BATMAN!

Bale was awesome in Brad Anderson's indie horror movie "The Machinist", based (very) loosely on Dostoyevsky's <Crime and Punishment>.

IMDB members rate it 7.7/10 but I gave it 8/10

<Tim, Dom, Steamed colleagues> Here is a brief highlight reel of Christian Bale performances I put on youtube:

<Jess>, haven't been around this place maybe 2 years(?), but did log in again because of the Caru-Carl match, unfortunately also running in to the shocking news that Daniel had passed, he is about my age I thought, and was seriously briefly shocked upon reading it. Do you perhaps know what the cause/illness/accident was?

But it's good to see you here again, and I wondered if you are still in Korea, or back in Canada, and how you, and <Dom>, are doing. Plus, I have been delving deeply in Maths, Geometry ("trig") and numerology and calculus too by now, which is why I wanted to drop by <Dom>'s House. (One of those real "I can't Help It!!" things; it just has to come out, as I hit the big Five-O recently.)

Will do so if that is alright with <Dom>, in a separate post.

I'll offer a couple of unsolicited opinions -

<Susan F> is indeed a bit of the alright, and we see much of what Daniel had in him, came from what she has in her.

<Sargon> is doing his best, and deserves a lot (and I do mean a lot) of the credit for keeping the site running (remember - it never did go down despite Daniel's sudden death). But let's admit he's challenged by the multi-dimensional demands of the job.

I'm rooting for both of them, but I have to say that <CG> is just not as much fun with Daniel/Sneaky not being around. Some of the more fun dimensions, challenging though they may be, Daniel took with him on the next leg of his journey.

Just a silly question maybe, but have you, or did you hear, usage/coining of the word <auto-didactism>?

In dutch we would add an 'e' there at the end, I'd never heard of it and reluctantly assumed I made op a new word at least in Dutch, but it is not in the dictionary, in French it is btw, and of course in English it pops up with some regularity...

But two years ago I fell very ill due to a rare hormonal dysbalance, hypothalamus and pituitary glandular issues, felt like I was 95 years old, but from that process of recovery and inquiry, suddenly thought , hey Niels, remember how you were intrigged by "goniometry" in school, as we say here, bought A3 millimeter paper, ruler, compass, crayons etc., and went from there, inspired by a geometric form that intrigued me actually from the chessboard: pieces a knight's jump from eachother forming an ellipse of sorts, and it was as if a whole journey of exploration and discovery was begging to be pursued.

It really was fueled by the Sun, I would say, because in May we had fine warm temperatures which allowed me to sit on my balcony at 6am, and do my think, very few ambitions, nothing goal oriented, but purely explorative and just see what was there to be discovered... It turned out what I reckon to be one of the best experiences of my life sofar, just me and the shapes, forms and numbers. Independence.

Mainly, at first, it gave me a lot of pleasure, to rid me of the fear of numbers, like squares, square roots, cube roots, but after a while I discovered that it showed and offered me a road to more freedom, less inhibitions, relaxation and moderation, pacing. Discovered so many things, patterns, that fascinated me, and stiil, almost daily, does so.

To tie this post up, no doubt you are familiar with concepts like AI, Machine ("self") Learning is the term I prefer, which is what the new super program Deep Mind AlphaZero has done with Chess, to an astonishing level, taking control of space and time, blockades etc., sacrificing material for permanent control, like I only remember it from many Tal games and Fischer... There have only been released 10 games to the "public", but hundreds of games were played in London late 2017, vs Stockfish 8. The type of chess is what I wanted to play, when I was in my 20s but could never manage, except on rare occasion. It sounds weird, but to see AlphaZero do its thing immediately struck a chord with me, a beautiful one, unlike any of the "Type A" programs we had so far, with Shreddy, Rybs, Houdini usw. -- Quite "liberating" I would say, as it always frustrated me the sanctity that was given to "engine evals", a real vomit word that had become for me.

Deep Mind also mastered Go, and it draws mainly from biological structures, like the brain, and after being taught the rules and what the pieces can do, it just played millions of games against itself, Learning itself, Auto-"didacting". The Narrative we've been given, rather.

Hope your heath is improving, <Dom>, and maybe I can share one or two discoveries with you here.

<Domdaniel: "May you be with the Force" = You will be placed in custody by the police>

As I well know, lol :)

<Domdaniel: I'm in deep shock about Daniel. I hadn't heard until now. I've looked back over some very nasty stuff both on Daniel's player page and the SG support forum.>

I agree! Some very twisted people saying very twisted things.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autod...

I still have bad days and good days, but on average I'm not getting worse.

Wasn't it Shakespeare's King Lear who went out on a 'blasted heath'? And then there was Sailor Ted, aka Ted Heath, former British PM, who was ousted by Thatcher and who never forgave her.

The full quote runs:

"Thou hast committed—
Fornication: but that was in another country;
And besides, the wench is dead. "

Marlowe had a way with words, didn't he? Actually, my favourite is Doctor Faustus, and particularly the scene where Mephistopheles is asked how come he's out of hell. His reply is magnificent: