Per AnnaStrophic's request. Here is the list that Jazz. put together (thank you):
It's Stranger(0), Newbie(25), Journeyman(50), Member(100), Enthusiast(200), Addict(400) As of this writing, we know that at 700 posts we get the title Old Hand.

Here are the last few posts from the original thread (may it
retire in faded glory):


xara
(newbie)
Sat Oct 21 10:43:35 2000
Re: graduation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

two

Hey look, it worked! Thanks for the tip Steve!






Father Steve
(newbie)
Sat Oct 21 20:23:48 2000
Re: graduation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are many such secrets to be revealed in the Kingdom of Anu.






xara
(newbie)
Sun Oct 22 09:50:58 2000
Re: graduation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congratulations on your own recently acquired newbie status!






belMarduk
(journeyman)
Sun Oct 22 14:41:11 2000
Re: graduation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congrats xara & Father Steve. Isn't it nice to be out of the <stranger> limbo. Believe it or not, you will be amazed at how the points (posts) rack up in the beginning. There are so many interesting threads to participate in.

Write on.






AnnaStrophic
(enthusiast)
Sun Oct 22 19:56:13 2000
Diesel-powered Mac

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Could someone with a 20th-century computer please start a Graduation2 thread starting with maybe the last half-dozen posts here (or whatever number the volunteer deems appropriate)? Took me five minutes to get here... and it'd take another five to do what I've just requested.

Thanks... *tossing pellets to the mice in the modem wheel

Vote of thanks to Anna and Jackie for this. Now if only I could get to 100 sharp-ish. Perhaps posts like this might help?

Now if only I could get to 100 sharp-ish

Just keep posting those beautiful thoughts of yours, Dear!
I've noticed a couple of times, you've made one post that
included different responses. You could separate them out,
if you want. I'm 'cheer'ing for you!

Now there's a thought: each post a different thought. Style rules for wordies (awadeers?) scorn Fowler and others. We do it our way!

Oy, but doesn't making one post for each thought make the thread quite weighty and long. In my system, the post size remains the same two-inch deep space even if you only have one word. For people with smaller screens this involves a lot of scrolling for very little commentary and some people simply lose interest.

Fear not bel...

It was not meant to be taken too seriously!

For what it's worth, I think if you change your viewer profile or whatever it's called, you can reconfigure the way the posts appear, scroll through all the titles, and identify the ones you haven't seen yet...

cheer

the sunshine warrior

It was not meant to be taken too seriously!

Hear! hear! Thank goodness there are very few signs of seriousness on this board - just about enough weight to stop us all floating off into the stratosphere.

Long may it remain so.

By the way, does anybody else feel the way I do - that 'member' sounds too exalted/settled a word to be used for such a small achievement? I'd have felt more comfortable if the order had gone: stranger, newbie, journeyman, enthusiast, addict, member, old hand... yes? no? maybe?

'member' sounds too exalted/settled

Not to me, shanks. You sort of graduate from being a professional (newbie, journeyman, member) to being an amateur (enthusiast,addict), which feels right in this instance.

Oh, and you graduate from there to being part of the furniture (old hand)!

Here are the last few posts from the original thread (may it retire in faded glory):

Jackie, if we're just going to kill the Graduation thread like that you're going to have to compile a list of the all the most memorable posts of the thread. Posterity can't go on without knowing the legacy of 'Graduation'.

compile a list

These things get incestuous. In a previous job, I ended up with a database to find my way around the other databases - a sort of metabase, I guess. Metathread?

Posterity can't go on without knowing the legacy of 'Graduation'.

They'll be there, dear. If there are any that you particularly like, you may feel free to compile your own list for the edification of us all.

there was some consternation back when it was revealed that 700 was the 6th level of AWADtalkitiveness (counting stranger as 0th and newbie as 1st), thereby breaking up the *obvious arithmetic progression.

well, as A-6th level-WADdy, I'd like to make a prediction. if my newly discovered progression holds true the next level will be, not at 1000, but 1100 posts. but, of course, I'm probably wrong.

> 1100 posts

Good prediction - we'll get Shona to check it out - I'm sure he'll be there by Christmas!

tsuwm,

Since I know you're a stickler for using the right word, I consider it my duty to jump in here and point out that a series that goes 25,50,100,200,400 is in fact a geometric series (each number a constant ratio of the last). 700 certainly wrecked that one. An arithmetic progression is one that is formed by adding/subtracting a constant number to/from the last, eg 3,6,9,12. Your new theory, if I've understood it correctly, and an interesting one on the data so far, suggests that the algorithm is based on the number of posts required at each level: (so far 25, 50, 100, 200, 300), which you're assuming has now settled into an arithmetic series, although it started as geometric. I don't know if there's a word for hybrid series like that.

good point, marty, on the geometric vs. arithmetic.

>I don't know if there's a word for hybrid series like that.

me too, but the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, ...) is an example of a sequence described recursively by a pair of formulas:
FIBO(n) = FIBO(n-1) + FIBO(n-2) for n>2
FIBO(1) = FIBO(2) = 1

Thanks for bringing up Fibonacci, tsuwm. You sent me into a whole new world of fascinating revelations, eg http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fib.html about Fibonacci numbers, golden ratios, how rabbits breed, stems divide and spiral seashells are constructed. I marvel at the connection between the seemlingly purely academic analysis of a number series and the beauty of nature.

he'll be there by Christmas

Only if I make lots of short pointless

marty, good link - but doesn't he fudge the F. series by introducing a zero? this eliminates the need for the second formula, but doesn't even agree with his examples from nature!

I agree, tsuwm. I thought it might offend you too. Hard to see how 0 pairs of rabbits could produce any offspring, let alone a total population of 354224848179261915075 after 100 months. But you never can tell with those pesky rabbits!

Hard to see how 0 pairs of rabbits could produce any offspring, let alone a total population of 354224848179261915075 after 100 months.

How's this for a possible workaround: One rabbit, a pregnant female. That still means you have zero pairs of rabbits, but could produce as many future coneys as anybody could wish could for.

Full marks for original thinking, Max, but there's another complication we need to get around, even if we allow the original bunny's 0.5 pair to be rounded down in perpetuity. In order to produce the Fibonacci series, the original female cannot reproduce again after she gives birth to her first pair of kittens. Does she die during birth of her offspring, do we need to introduce a well-timed trauma to her reproductive organs, or are we talking some kind of one-off lapine Divine conception here? Not so far-fetched for a rabbit society where everyone has eternal life? But perhaps this line of thinking has gone far enough.....

She contracts Rabbit calicivirus the day after giving birth and is dead within weeks. BTW, can you have half a pair? Since a pair is two of anything, isn't it possible, at least semantically, to argue that it's an all-or-nothing deal? Either you have a pair or you don't, that 0.5 pair, is, by definition, not a pear?

If you're gonna get all eschatological about bunnies and the afterlife, do call me to the thread.

Good one, pastor. Where were you when I was struggling with that impossible Latin grace a couple of weeks ago??

Per cuniculum exanimum caliciosum nostrum. Amen.

>algorithm is based on the number of posts required at each level: (so far 25, 50, 100, 200, 300)

Actually isn't it 25,25,50,100,200,300 so far, like the 1,1, at the start of the Fibonacci sequence?

Phew - made it before Shona!

Congratulations. I am considering congratuitousness in posts just to catch up. And yes, I made up that word. (Maybe I can re-post this in Wordplay and Fun?)

Bother. Even with all this frippery, I'm 17 posts shy of Shona...

Pretty pathetic innit (!!), when all these alleged intellectuals finally succumb to plain and simple rat-racing?

all this frippery

shanks, me old son, I'd be well behind you if posts were marked on intellectual worth! And you're not far behind now.
I probably won't be doing much AWAD-wise this weekend due to other commitments (hah! famous last words), so go for it.

See you there.

Well done Jo! Now we have a 3-piece suite, don't we?
http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Board=miscellany&Number=6904

>Actually isn't it 25,25,50,100,200,300 so far, like the 1,1, at the start of the Fibonacci sequence?

exactly, which highlights that the sequence just shifted and is why I put the disclaimer on my prediction - we don't have enough evidence to reliably predict where it's going next -- or haven't been clever enough to see the real pattern (or there in no pattern and it is just a programmer's whim).

algorithm is based on the number of posts required at each level: (so far 25, 50, 100, 200, 300)
Actually isn't it 25,25,50,100,200,300 so far, like the 1,1, at the start of the Fibonacci sequence?
Contrary to popular belief (at the base of many intelligence tests etc), there is no uniquely defined, "correct" way of continuing any finite number sequence.

Good point! The philosophical problem of underdetermination. (Another friend of mine describes it as the 'theory-ladenness' of science and the empirical method.) Can be depressing if you think about it too much...

>'theory-ladenness' <
I suppose you allude to the now-fashionable pursuit of "science studies", which I also find a rather depressing kind of meta-science.

"science studies", which I also find a rather depressing kind of meta-science

Depressing, indeed. Meta-science - never. To be meta anything, I suggest, you must have some of the attributes of the original subject, and there is nothing scientific, logical, or rigorous about POMO relativism.

END_RANT

cheer

the sunshine(s because of hydrogen nuclei fusing under pressure into helium nuclei with the loss of mass - converted into energy - and NOT because dead white european males deemed it convenient to say so in order to maintain the suppression of women and ethnic minorities) warrior

the sunshine(s because of hydrogen nuclei fusing under pressure into helium nuclei with the loss of mass - converted into energy - and NOT because dead white european males deemed it convenient to say so in order to maintain the suppression of women and ethnic minorities) warrior

Goodness me, Dearest, are you having a bad day? I hope not.
But--please, what is "meta-science", and POMO?

are you having a bad day?

Not at all. Just wanted to play the intemperate (note - NOT incontinent) old man for a bit. Besides the topic is one of my bugbears.

But--please, what is "meta-science", and POMO?

Well, as you probably know, all modern philosophy is based upon a mistranslation. (Whaat? See Aristotle's books...)

Meta-science is, in a sense, the study of how people go about doing science - that is, science as a social activity. It is all tied in with what I call POMO - post-modernism/post-modernist relativism, where theorists (primarily from France - I dunno why - are those truffles hallucinogenic?) claim that science is effectively behaving fraudulently - because it is laying claim to 'absolute' knowledge whereas it is merely another social activity that (by claiming rationalism as its main tool) contributes to the oppression of women and ethnic minorities (amongst which groups the rationalist/empirical ideas invented by DWEMs [dead white european males] are not prevalent, since they are more in touch with the Earth Mother and their own feeling) - and all sorts of similar post-Freudian, mid-fraudian claptrap, mumbo-jumbo, gibberish and intellectual self-abuse.

Jean Bricmont and Alan Sokal have published a book, called Intellectual Impostures in the UK, and, I think Fashionable Nonsense (or some such) in the US, that exposes the complete lack of anything approaching logic, or science, in the meta-scientific world that the social scientists with physics-envy (analogous to - yes, you know what I'm talking about - envy) have constructed for themselves in order to cope with their green-eyed demons.

cheer

the sunshine (live and let live) warrior

...which all seems to smack of the same sort of blather to be found in literary deconstructionism.

And structuralism, and any other modern '-ism'. For instance, much though I feel for the position of African-Amercians and their desire for a heritage of their own, I do not feel they are going to get anything worthwhile with a fraudulent vision of Egyptology, as it is, I believe, now being taught in many universities Stateside...

laying claim to 'absolute' knowledge

shanks,

Without wishing to put the cat among the pigeons, I think there is some merit in establishing that scientific thought isn't the be-all and end-all.

I agree very strongly that such thinking shouldn't be used as a means of promoting any political agenda, let alone one that could be seen as favouring ignorance and laziness. But sometimes it's important to realise that theories are just theories, however well they have worked up to now, and that science doesn't have all the answers.

It seems to me this is about restoring an appropriate awe and the ability to marvel at what is around us. Included in what's around us, of course, are many human creations - including those that would never have been possible without scientific thinking (and engineering, in particular). The Web is a particularly pertinent example.

I don't see this as depressing.

And surely scientists are more worthy of respect as fellow (occasionally fallible and emotional) human beings rather than as pure rationalists. I suppose no scientist would actually claim to be a pure rationalist, but Science itself comes across as claiming pure rationality.

Or is that just 'Shona-talk'??

Without wishing to put the cat among the pigeons, I think there is some merit in establishing that scientific thought isn't the be-all and end-all.

I agree very strongly that such thinking shouldn't be used as a means of promoting any political agenda, let alone one that could be seen as favouring ignorance and laziness. But sometimes it's important to realise that theories are just theories, however well they have worked up to now, and that science doesn't have all the answers.

This seems to me be to be at the heart of the problem - extremism. One extreme is the deified scientist/technocrat (a laAsimov's Foundation series). The other is the ludicrous POMO who seems to suggest that there can be no such thing as objectivity, without considering the paradoxical nature of such a statement.
I admire the commitment to the pursuit of knowledge that most scientists display, but I would never assume that an inclination toward more structured, logical thinking processes somehow confers immunity from human foibles like bias, selfishness and susceptibility to external influences. Rather than treat scientists as almost infallible demi-gods, or dismiss them as proponents of some bizarre elitist conspiracy, why not simply applaud the contribution that science and its practitioners have made to our society and recognise that others have equally valid contributions to make? This seems especially true since the very objectivity that science values can cause problems. The ability to work on issues in a moral vacuum has seen scientists produce monstrous weapons of mass destruction, viewing them as simply exercises in applied science. A quote from the chaotician in Jurassic Park stuck with me in connection with the attitude apparently shared by many scientists: "You were so concerned with whether you could, you didn't think whether you should"

Thought I'd steer clear of this heavy meta-science argument and respond instead to wseiber's:
Contrary to popular belief (at the base of many intelligence tests etc), there is no uniquely defined, "correct" way of continuing any finite number sequence.

My 9yo daughter would certainly concur with you there, wseiber. Here's a recent homework question she was given.

[Q1 and Q2 have pictures of shapes - you'll have to use your imagination]

Complete the following patterns:

1) circle, triangle, square, circle, triangle,...
(Her answer of square, circle, triangle,... was marked correct)

2) tall block, medium block, short block, tall block,...
(Her answer - medium block, short block etc - again correct)

3) 11, 21, 31,...
(Her answer? She spotted the similarity to Q1 and Q2 and gave what was to me a perfectly plausible and natural answer, i.e. 11,21,31,11,21,31,11,... Teacher, of course, marked it incorrect, and probably still has no idea where it came from, or how the questions led her "astray". I got quite a chuckle out of it - I just hope my daughter hasn't been assessed as innumerate!)

Science:

When I went to school (girls only) we were all encouraged to be scientists. It was the way the world was going, where new challenges lay, we had the power to improve the world. I'm not sure my own children will see it the same way, although I already see in them an orientation towards science subjects.

Academic scientists (in this country, at least) are paid apallingly badly. A friend was worried when her husband (a father of three) decided to change direction and pursue an academic career three years ago. Even with her contribition to the household they would probably have to move out of their modest home in the over-priced South East of England - at least to get him through the early years of an academic career (starting pay £14,000 at the time).
http://www.ex.ac.uk/EAD/personnel/academic_scales_2000.htm

It's hard to find good science teachers, relatively easy to get places at university with lower grades because most intelligent children understand the nature of the world today. They all want to be ..... lawyers!

Without wishing to put the cat among the pigeons
Sorry, it was me who put it there in the first place. And remember, cats like eating fish, too.
Of course, bugbears also need to be deconstructed. To me, it is not devious to study and describe the place of science in society (which is the declared agenda of those people), on the contrary. What makes it depressing is the inept way they go about the business, and the prejudices they take as guidelines.

Lol!

Actually I agree quite a lot with what Shona and you have to say.

What disappoints me about public attitudes towards science in the UK is that we equate science with scientists in a simplistic (soap opera influenced?) way, in which every anecdote, for good or ill, is then deemed to be evidence that science is 'this' or 'that'. Of course scientists are human. And guess what, they studied science, not ethics. Why should we expect greater moral perspicacity of them than we do of, say, tabloid editors? Ah well...

I'm surprised nobody picked me up on the Aristotle-philosophy mix-up that I hinted at. Particularly since that was probably the only part of my post to deal with language. Any ideas?

cheer

the sunshine warrior

<bugbears also need to be deconstructed>

… or debugged, perhaps?

Oy, we're back to newts again. Particularly good at debugging .

In reply to:

---

I'm surprised nobody picked me up on the Aristotle-philosophy mix-up that I hinted at. Particularly since that was probably the only part of my post to deal with language. Any ideas?

---

Do you mean about Aristotle's Metaphysics just being the book that came after the one on physics rather than describing a subject that was beyond physics (the Greek word meta could mean after or beyond)?

Bingley

nobody picked me up on the Aristotle-philosophy mix-up

No, but what I would have picked up on, had I been looking at the time, was your reference to dead white european males.
What I cannot decide is which punctuation mark you omitted between "dead" and "white" - should it be a hyphen or a comma?

In the new POMO universe, commas are outdated symbols of an imperialistic, oppressive past.

we're back to newts again. Particularly good at debugging

Only as long as they're very fresh.
Who wants yesterday's newts?

cats like eating fish, too
'Tis true - though a big enough fish could eat a cat, right enough

What makes it depressing is the inept way they go about the business
Yes, I think we're all agreed on this one. Such an appalling lack of imagination!

You-all, this is my 1000th post. I had to put it here!

WOW! Congratulations, Jackie - what happens if you reach the next graduation point before Anu has a chance to give it a designation? I'll wager he never expected anybody to get to 1000 posts so soon.

max, haven't you been paying attention? the next milestone is 1100!

max, haven't you been paying attention? the next milestone is 1100!

tsuwm, haven't you been paying attention? I didn't ask about when the next graduation point was, but what it was called. I was of course, joking, but suggested that Anu may not have thought up a designation for the hext graduation point - not expecting anyone to average more than 3 posts a day, seven days a week, since joining the board shortly after its inception. I just thought it was mildly amusing to speculate about the possibility that Jackie's enthusiasm could outpace Anu's hierarchy.

the hext graduation point...

You callin' ma niece a witch?!? You better watch out or you'll be all washed up DOWN there

Thank you, sweet Aunt mav!

In reply to:

---

the hext graduation point...

You callin' ma niece a witch?!? You better watch out or you'll be all washed up DOWN there

---

Honi soit qui mal y pense! I was merely suggesting that Jackie is magick!

Merci, sweet Max. {Wafting magick dust): may you and yours
stay healthy and happy.
My, this board sure has given me a variety of identities!
Though my family has no trouble recognizing the bad witch.

Do you mean about Aristotle's Metaphysics just being the book that came after the one on physics rather than describing a subject that was beyond physics (the Greek word meta could mean after or beyond)?

Whoops! Didn't spot this earlier. Yes indeed. I love the notion that this fanciful subject - 'metaphysics' - has a name that arose out of a misunderstanding.

Max is an addict, Max is an addict!
Cheers all 'round!

Also--to bring the topic over from, I think, info. and announcements: I'm inclined to think that 20 posts would make one no longer a stranger, but I also seriously doubt that Anu is going to change his requirements. Confess my curiosity would like to be satisfied by learning the scheme/rhyme/reason for the title changes!

Commiserations Max.

I think that this may be the only place on earth where people are congratulated on becoming addicts. I'll send a prescription shortly. In the meantime, I recommend plenty of sunscreen so you can get out more in that lovely summer sunshine. I also hear the Betty Ford clinic is very good, they have paper and pens to save you going cold turkey. Tsuwm is not allowed anywhere near as he has access to some very dangerous Internet sites. Shanks is wanted by Interpol and is expected to serve a very long sentence. After a while you will reach a half way house where you will be allowed to use only sign language (lessons by Brandon) so you'll never need to main line another OED (curiously spell-checked as Oedipal).

Just got to dash to another Internet Cafe, I like to keep on the move.

OJ

Shanks is wanted by Interpol and is expected to serve a very long sentence.

A hit
A very palpable hit!

In reply to:

---

In the meantime, I recommend plenty of sunscreen so you can get out more in that lovely summer sunshine.

---

Hah! As I write this, Hawke's Bay, the sunshine province of NZ, is being whipped by frigid southerly winds, whose icy fingers are gleefully flicking gelid drops in our faces. Still, when summer does come, it will be nice to know that 8 minutes outside unprotected should almost guarantee skin trouble, perhaps enabling one to join the club of NZers (one a day) who die from melanoma.

If anyone is good at sums. They might like to look at the time zones included in the posts made over the last few minutes. There was another from Tsuwm in the red-brick thread.

Interesting to get the UK, New Zealand and the USA all on line at the same time. Tsuwm is still in Saturday evening, Shanks and I are in the early hours of Sunday morning and Max is thinking about his Sunday lunch! It wasn't all that long ago when it wasn't possible to speak to someone in another continent without a long gap between words - amazing!

Is it Sunday morning already? I must remember to keep looking at my watch. (Yes, you're right - it's about 0045 GMT.)

For anybody running Win9.x (maybe ME, no guarantees)- sorry Anna, you could go here:
http://www.driveway.com/share?sid=9f78513f.96073&name=useful+stuff and download a freeware app. called clockrack.exe It sits at the top of your screen, hidden until clicked on, and will display the time in up to ten different timezones at once. I currently have mine set to LA, London, NY, Tokyo, Auckland, and Melbourne. It takes all the guess work out of determining who's up past their bedtime!

Thanks, Max! However, I've got a dozen analog clocks up on my wall, just like my good old days in the newsroom ... lends atmosphere, donchaknow!

Err.... Mr Mac (my pet name for the diesel-powered one who connects me to y'all) and I still haven't figured out those half- and quarter-hour time zones, though

Just thought I'd mark the start of yet another addiction.

So let's see now - women , alcohol, nictoine, caffeine, shopping, chocolate, cannabis(), words - any I've left out?

any I've left out?

Computers! A certain beef fry. Learning--anything.
Philosophy/philosophizing.
You mentioned wine (sort of) and women---no song?

You mentioned wine (sort of) and women---no song?

Ah karaoke! Of course. (Actually, too bad a singer to ever attempt anything like that without lots of women and even more wine!)

cheer

the sunshine ("I will survive") warrior

the sunshine ("I will survive") warrior

I think Rhub will join you in his high heels for that one, shanks! - have you not seen Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ?

Congratulations on becoming a totally lost cause mon chou. You left me trailing in the dust!

Since "I will survive" appears to be a drunk female (Lambrini anyone? Yuk those ads...)/gay favourite, I thought it would show off my liberal/softer side...

Christmas dos coming up - must be at least approachable by the opposite sex!

>So let's see now - women , alcohol, nictoine, caffeine, shopping, chocolate, cannabis(), words - any I've left out?

When I was in Ireland, I learned quite quickly that a free beer was forthcoming from the bartender when I told him that Irish coffee had all four essential food groups in it -- fat, caffeine, sugar, and alcohol.

Xara is about to be graduated. Stand by, all hands, to cheer and generally misbehave.

Dearest Father I believe you keep closer tabs on me than I keep on myself. If you hadn't said anything I might have missed it. Just for you I'll place my 100th post here.

.o0(remember way back when you shared with everyone that I was "two posts away from emerging from [my] chrysalis" and becoming a newbie. why, father, i do believe you're watching over me)

Hey look, it worked! Drinks all around! I've got liquor and tea. I'll even mix them if ya like!

somehow i have decided that for me the numbering system must be all mixed up and my graudation comes 2 posts later than normal. thus, when i graduate on time it amazes me!

Congratulations, xara - member is a more gender-neutral, and hence apt, appellation for you than journeyman. There should be another promotion to celebrate soon too - Jazzoctopus will be an enthusiast in about ten more posts.

I do believe TEd Remington was just promoted from member to enthusiast. Let Te Deum laudamus be sung in chapter and chapel.

Congrats TEddy. Member sounds so dignified and staunch. Doesn't enthusiast sound so much more excitingly fun. (she says while silently whispering in your ear…it’s all a ploy to help move you quietly and painlessly on your way to addict, run away, run away)

There was an old poster called Marty
(also "wordie", "ayleur", "Gargler", "YARTie")
Once a stranger (September),
Newbie, journeyman, member,
But now as enthusiast I'll PARTY !

Happy 200th post to me!

(I think that's called burgling your own bugle!)

In reply to:

---

But now as enthusiast I'll PARTY !

Happy 200th post to me!

---

Well done, Marty! I have noticed several graduations recently - Bel, Jazz, troy. I didn't wish to post separate contrafibularities to avoid any accusation of self-serving altruism. To all who have recently fallen deeper under AWAD's spell - keep feeding that monkey until your back can't take the strain!

thank you max! i'm glad someone noticed! jackie's been away with server problems, i was feeling neglected!
(wish there was markup for mail so i could make thank you bold and red!

h

did any one else notice --wordsmith (the great Anu! praise his name!--) is a chief! are we going to end up all chiefs? how many posts? years? or is there to be only one chief?

My dear Helen,

Belated congrats to you and all. Also belated welcome to those who joined up while I was "down".

Helen, when you want to put colors and a slew of other things into your posts, go up to the top of your typing
screen and click on markup in your posts.
These will also work in private messages, but I try to be
extra-vigilant there, because you can't Preview your private message. I do advise you to Preview a post where you've used the markup stuff--it's very easy to make { instead of [, or to omit the /, etc. This stuff won't work unless you get everything exactly right.

(I know I saw this advice on another thread today, but I
don't think it can hurt to keep repeating it, esp. as long as new folks keep signing on.)

Also, somewhere today I saw a partial post (not a parcel post!), can't recall by whom--if you want to delete any post, click on the "left-most" one of the two gold boxes at the right of the top bar of that post. This is how you edit, also.

I feel sure there can only be one Chief. The rest of us will have to be Indians (native American, that is), acc'g to the old saying.

In reply to:

---

It's Stranger(0), Newbie(25), Journeyman(50), Member(100), Enthusiast(200), Addict(400) As of this writing, we know that at 700 posts we get the title Old Hand.

---

Seems like after 1000 or 1500 or so we should get to be Geezers.

These will also work in private messages, but I try to be
extra-vigilant there, because you can't Preview your private message.

Au contraire, ma cherie! Previewing private posts is very easy - just a little time-consuming. I have done it often. All one has to do is post the message to one's self first, then check how the markup came out.

Also, somewhere today I saw a partial post (not a parcel post!), can't recall by whom--if you want to delete any post, click on the "left-most" one of the two gold boxes at the right of the top bar of that post. This is how you edit, also.

Dear Jackie.
It was mea culpa. I hit control -- or something strange --and off it went. When it vanished I thought I'd cleared the form by accident. It wasn't until I saw it on the board that I realized I'd partial posted. Do the buttons work when it's already gone into the Great Beyond?
wow

several graduations recently

Perhaps this is just my presumptuous self speaking, but I smell an unprecedented graduation coming. Logic tells me that Jackie will be advancing in another 20 posts when she reaches 1100.

Of course, I was wrong at 700 . . .

Dear Jackie.
It was mea culpa. I hit control -- or something strange --and off it went. When it vanished I thought I'd cleared the form by accident. It wasn't until I saw it on the board that I realized I'd partial posted. Do the buttons work when it's already gone into the Great Beyond?
wow

Dammit, Wow, and there was me thinking that I'd made you simply lost for words - a kind of finger-bound asphasia!

... and I'd given you credit for a lovely post-modernist joke about the role of careful editing!

... and I'd given you credit for a lovely post-modernist joke about the role of careful editing!

Me too, me too, he cried excitedly! I had automatically assumed the post was deliberate, and chuckled at it, then waited in shamed silence when appraised of my error. I have a malformed public duty gland, and a deficiency in moral fibre, and am therefore excused from being first ot admit to gaffes.
(apologies, and thanks, to D.A.)

All right tsuwm...put 'er here. You know you want to.

Anticlimax of the year, bel and all. tsuwm just hit 1100 and guess what? Yep, still an old hand. So who's next to propose an algorithmic theory?

Michael Fischer
Title old hand
Total Posts 1100

Whoa, now I can post again! I'll probably be on 1199 this time tomorrow!

In reply to:

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Michael Fischer
Title old hand
Total Posts 1100

Whoa, now I can post again! I'll probably be on 1199 this time tomorrow!

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Might be Anu's little trap for you, Jackie. Perhaps you'll trip the wire at 1101.

Nice to have you back, though. Your tongue must be sore from biting it for so long.

Helen asks: "Is there to be only one chief?"

As they say on the television program Highlander: "There can be only one."

Might be Anu's little trap for you, Jackie. Perhaps you'll trip the wire at 1101.

You know, it did occur to me that maybe there aren't any more new titles. I refuse to consider these as levels of achievement, except the kind I prefer not to have pointed out (too much mouth).

Just before I sign off until 2001, I reckon I'll acquire yet another habit that I can resolve not to give up for the New Year.

They made me do it, officer!

Congrats, shona--official recognition is yours.

All right, I've been waiting all night for a thread to pop up so that I can finally post my 400th and I am darn well NOT going to waste it on a Céline Dion post, dag nabbit!

It's waaaay past my bedtime (12:21 in the a.m.) so I am taking matters into my own hands. So voila, ta-dah, bells and whistles, three cheers pour moi, going to paint the town red, bit of hot nooky, et al, et al, et al.

Thanks folks for making the first 400 fabulous!

Jackie's already acknowledged my advancement elsewhere. She's not sure congratulations are in order. I didn't even notice it until I went back to the 401st post and saw that I had a new attribute ... hot damn!

This board makes me think outside my own enlarged square and face, head-on, how other people think. I agree with Bingley - it's great.

Congrats to us all.

The apteryx near the apiary did proclaim Congrats to us all.

Indeed! To you and to Celine's not so loyal compatriot, a hearty well done. Ain't it grand to start the new millennium as junkies, he asked provocatively.

Wowee, congratulations and adulations, all 'round!
Way to go, belM! I had wanted to post C.K.'s congrats here, but when I saw that everyone would have to go to page 6 to read it, I remembered someone's (tsuwm's?) plea to be kind and not make people go through that, but... I'm so very glad you-all did!

Can't wait to read your-all's next 400!

The apteryx near the apiary did proclaim Congrats to us all.

Indeed! To you and to Celine's not so loyal compatriot, a hearty well done. Ain't it grand to start the new millennium as junkies, he asked provocatively
Ooh, Max/apteryx--if you'll reside in my aviary, I'll provide all the bees you can eat. Or is it the honey you're after? I know--I'll put an apiary in my aviary!

Ooh, Max/apteryx--if you'll reside in my aviary, I'll provide all the bees you can eat. Or is it the honey you're after? I know--I'll put an apiary in my aviary!

Now, now Jackie, let's not mix the birds and the bees. This is a forum about words. Haven't you called someone to bring you a ladder to get out of that chasmal gutter?

the birds and the bees.

I never thought of that! Oh, no, my reputation is
ruined! Positively ruined! What a world, what a world!

Max said, being alliterative: The apteryx near the apiary did proclaim Congrats to us all.

Jackie and Jazz offered bees ... but the apteryx eats roots, shoots and leaves.

Sorry folks, understandable error. Max's alliteration referred to the apiary not an apiary.

Perhaps y'all can turn your undoubted research talents loose on what he meant ... You have 24 hours to resolve the issue!

Queen Elizabeth Park -- One of New Zealand's most picturesque cricket grounds surrounded by huge redwoods. Within the park is a cemetery with the graves of early Wairarapa settlers. Attractions include a bird aviary, playground, aquarium, gardens, skating rink, deer park and mini golf. A miniature railway and boating pond operate on weekends and public holidays. The park is also used by sports clubs for croquet, bowls and tennis.... A short drive from Masterton is The Apiary.
there you have it; aviary, apiary and cricket, all at once.

joe (thie shellan) friday

Hrmph--I refuse to admit to missing a clue that should ought to have been Capital (Kiwi)-ized, and Wasn't!

And, the apteryx eats roots, shoots and leaves.
No wonder they're extinct. No paternal instincts at all.

[Jackie harrumphed I refuse to admit to missing a clue that should ought to have been Capital (Kiwi)-ized, and Wasn't

Never fear, Jackie, joe friday did not hit the bullseye with that one! You are right, though, the answer should be capitalised. Keep loooking, and to tsuwm, thanks, I had never heard of The Apiary near Masterton.

Max was right - I was at Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton in October last year, and that ain't it. Nice, though, in a rural provincial sort of way. Keep looking!

Jackie, Kiwis are not extinct, and neither are kiwis. Three varieties exist.

What went extinct was the moa. They were eaten out of house and home by about 1750, although the date is in dispute. Slaughterhouses didn't have to be registered and keep proper records for the EU in them days!

CapKiwi reminded us that Jackie, Kiwis are not extinct, and neither are kiwi. Three varieties exist.


Sadly, that may not be the case for much longer. I'm sure I read somewhere that 6 out of every 10 Nth Island browns hatched are killed by predators, or was it 4 out of 6?

Max, I wonder if this could bee The Apiary you were
referring to? (Bzzz--thanks for the hint, little birdie!)

"One of the most striking examples of modern architecture in New Zealand is the so-called Beehive Building on the Parliament Grounds in Wellington. The Beehive Building gets its name because its round stories decrease in circumference as they increase in elevation, and because the shape of its windows resembles the honeycomb construction of a beehive."

Jaclkie inquired disingenuously Could this bee it? One of the most striking examples of modern architecture in New Zealand is the so-called Beehive Building on the Parliament Grounds in Wellington.

Spot on! Did you have to pull that from the Web with a devilshly complicated pair of pliers?

Hi guys,

I've moved the Graduation thread into the info and announcement section. It moves a little slower and it will be an easy place for the newbies to find it.

Salut

As Max has said, yup, it's the Beehive. It's an odd place, but it has all the ingredients - a Queen Bee of doubtful lineage and ethics, and hundreds of drones. This particular Queen Bee manages to produce all the offspring she sees fit without the need for a pesky male of the species ...

I walk through Parliament Grounds on my way to work every morning. I hardly notice it now unless something draws my attention to it.

As you can see on the "markup in your posts" page, there is a link to http://www.wwwthreads.com, the company that markets lovely discussion boards like these. I went nosing around this site and decided to take a look at some of their samples and what they offer for the board services. Either this isn't the newest version of the board, or Anu just decided not to use most of the features, because there are a lot of other things that they offer, like being able to put a picture under your name in posts etc. One of the things I noted was that the board administrator (Anu, in our case) is able to customize the titles that are determined by ones number of posts. I took a look around the sample discussion board that they have on their website and lo and behold, it's the same titles as we have here. Unfortunately, no one below administration has gotten higher than Old Hand, so I didn't find any new info concerning new titles, but I've concluded that we've been spending a great deal of time talking about titles that aren't even our own.

Say it ain't so Joe

"It ain't so," said joe factitiously.

I have to confess, I haven't read every single post in this thread, but I followed them with pleasure for a while (before the guilt of not paying more attention to my work took over) and it occurred to me - shouldn't this thread be entitled Gradations rather than Graduation?

here's a gradation for you:

here in Minneapolis it was a Grade A gray day.

-ron (thank you very much) obvious

shouldn't this thread be entitled Gradations rather than Graduation?

Basically, no. The first Graduation thread began with a post inquiring about how one graduates to the next title.

[music note icon] Rhubarb's an addict, Rhubarb's
an addict! [music note icon]

Ring around Commando,
A pocket full of can-do,
Rhubarb, Rhubarb,
We all fall down!

[music note icon] Max is an old hand,
Max is an old hand! [music note icon]

(ohmigawd how'm I ever going to rhyme this one? I did RC's for the challenge, but this beats it!)

Okay; to the tune of the alphabet song:

Quor-dle-pleen is an Old Hand,
Bends so far, then takes a stand.
Quietly he makes his way;
Picks his time to have his say;
He will not get in a stew-ie,
Temper never goes ka-bloo-ey.

Um--I think I'll spare you all any further public
stupidities (the deliberate kind, that is).

Thank you Jackie, my dear. That's the first time anyone, anywhere has ever written a song about me. I am touched, deeply.

Aren't rhymes wonderful things. It has told me that Jackie - and presumably others over that side of the pond - pronounce the second syllable of my name as, "man" - whereas I always say, "mahn" in that context.
I guess Rhubarb is pronounced much the same everywhere - even the French is not essentially different, is it bel?

In reply to:

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It has told me that Jackie - and presumably others over that side of the pond - pronounce the second syllable of my name as, "man" - whereas I always say, "mahn" in that context.

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Jackie (as this avatar of Anu likes to be called) is indeed too sweet for words, however they rhyme. Your noticing the commando difference struck a chord with this Kiwi. That vowel sound is one of the most glaringly obvious distinctions between the accents of those from opposites sides of the Tasman. Australians pronounce dance to rhyme with Manse, while Kiwis "dahnce", and most Kiwis I know cringe (or, as our Aussie neighbours would say, creenge) when they hear the flat Australian a, eh?

This Kiwi noticed it as well but has long given up on commenting on such differences. Life's too short. I mean, I could be leeving the hoi loife in Seedknee, going to graduate skuil and drinking schoonas by the swimming puil, couldn't I?

In reply to:

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This Kiwi noticed it as well but has long given up on commenting on such differences. Life's too short

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As am I. Think of my post as a public service bulletin, educating the poor, bottom-dwelling Northerners, so as to help them avoid tarring all Antipodeans with the same Strine brush. After all, we've learned how to distinguish USians from Canuckians, haven't we?

In reply to:

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. After all, we've learned how to distinguish USians from Canuckians, haven't we?

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We have? Oh, er, yer ... [bemusement emoticon]

others over that side of the pond - pronounce the second syllable of my name as, "man" - whereas I always say, "mahn" in that context.

D'you mean to say that you pronounce commando as
"common-dough" (accent on the mon, presumably)?
Infantry, then?
========================================================

Hey! Max, I just looked up avatar--I am NOT Anu's avatar!!
On this board or anywhere.

But if I were Hindi, he might be mine:
"In the Hindu religion, an avatar is an incarnation of a deity; hence, an embodiment or manifestation of an idea or greater reality."

Now: you thought I couldn't rhyme Quordlepleen?? Hah! Belly up to the bar, boy, and lemme show you somethin'.

Talk of avatars and gods
Dragons, posters, and AWAD's;
Language lives forever; won't it?
But dirt gets in, depend upon it.
How the mighty Quordlepleen
Helps to keep th'immortal clean.

In reply to:

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D'you mean to say that you pronounce commando as
"common-dough" (accent on the mon, presumably)?
Infantry, then?

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Sorry, Jackie it's probably something too alien for US ears. It's "ma" as in Mars "coMAHNdo". Oh, and, BTW, I'd make a damn fine one - my singing is outlawed under the UN Charter on human rights - let me loose on your enemies, with a good dose of "O sole mio", or "Mull of Kintyre" and there won't a living soul within 100 miles!

and I was wrong about the commonality of the pronounciation of "Rhubarb", too! I have just shown the word to a colleague of mine who hails from Michigan and he pronounced it "Roo-bAIRb"

"Roo-bAIRb?" This born-and-raised Michiganian has never heard rhubarb so pronounced. Around here, I've only heard "roo-barb." Makes a great cobbler either way, though.