{    Cnytr   }

{Tuesday, September 27, 2005  }

.:{It's scarily true}:.


HASH(0x858fd80)
You speak eloquently and have seemingly read every
book ever published. You are a fountain of
endless (sometimes useless) knowledge, and
never fail to impress at a party.
What people love: You can answer almost any
question people ask, and have thus been
nicknamed Jeeves.
What people hate: You constantly correct their
grammar and insult their paperbacks.


What Kind of Elitist Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


Emphasis on the "useless" knowledge. That is, indeed, at the very core of this blog in its present incarnation.

In other news, Pope Pius XII exploded in his coffin. He was improperly embalmed by his dentist-physician; he turned blue whilst lying in state, and exploded in his coffin during the funeral.

Useless knowledge fact #340239854309583: it was under the terms of John Pym's Solemn League and Covenant that the Scots turned Charles I over to Oliver Cromwell, under whose dictatorship he was beheaded.

What? What are you all looking a-- I mean, at what are you all looking?

("Ending a preposition is simply something up with which I shall not put!")
posted by Lauren, 10:03 PM

7 Comments:

Christopher Derrick once wrote about how frequently one hears people say, "Why should I study Latin? It has no use."

He proposed that the best answer to that question was, "You have the mentality of a slave." Free people have always cultivated things that are valuable for their own sakes, that delight and inform, not just to achieve some useful, intermediate end. Things and also learning.

And so...In World War Two, England, not the UK, declared War on Germany. So did Wales and Monmouthshire (grouped together in the Prinicipality.) England made peace and so did Wales. But Monmouthshire is still, technically, at war with Germany.
commented by Blogger Jeff, 12:32 AM  
(singing) "Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, Puritan..."

--Matthew of the Holy Whapping
commented by Anonymous Anonymous, 1:50 AM  
Pio Dodicesimo ? Really ? Such things do happen and such tales are told about other persons, too. I seem to recall reading (but can't recall where) about the entrails of Madame (Sister to Louis XIV) exploding. Until quite recently, the procedure of embalming entailed removal of the inner organs. Thus, members of the Habsburg dynasty (das allerhöchste Erzhaus) have for centuries been buried threefold: Bodies in the Kapuzinergruft (Vault at the Capuchin Friars), hearts in the Herzgruft at St. Augustine's (Heart Burial at the Austin Friars)and the entrails in the Stephansdom (Cathedral) at Vienna.

Hermann Hayn
commented by Anonymous Anonymous, 4:14 AM  
Ewwwww. Sorry, I'm all hung up on the "exploding pope" story. Yes, I'm hopelessly modern and narrow minded. It's still gross.
commented by Anonymous Julie, 10:05 AM  
("Ending a preposition is simply something up with which I shall not put!")

What?

Ending a sentence with a preposition, you mean?

(Or ending an independent clause with a preposition...)
commented by Blogger Dev Thakur, 10:32 AM  
"Ending a preposition is simply something up with which I shall not put!"

Isn't "something" actually "a pedantry" in this Churchill quotation?

I'm an uber-pedant wannabe.
commented by Blogger Kevin Jones, 8:22 PM  
As far as the useless knowledge, my conducting teacher told us today that a young composer who was a fan of Beethoven ripped out some of Beethoven's hair after Beethoven died (taking a bit of his scalp with it), and kept it (from this come the many individual strands in collections in various places).

It took me a minute to realize that my teacher and all of my classmates thought this was bizarre and rather disgusting. I think I was the only one who thought that--historically,at least--this was a normal sort of thing for people to do when someone famous died.
commented by Blogger Jane, 11:44 PM  

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