Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Short and Long of It

339 Responses

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  • Sacha,

    So if someone called Opiki Chick pops up soon we should be suspicious?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    Russell - in your upgrade do you think you could give us a key or a link that could turn back time? Half an hour should be enough.

    Islander - thanks for your whakapapa stories last night

    Re scrabble. I think this is something you get better at as you get older. My mother at almost 90 was a member of a keen group of sharp veteran scrabblers (all women) and after she died we sent her scrabble books to her younger sister (late 80s) who reports that she is getting better at it with age too.
    Meanwhile I can hardly spell the word but am waiting for the scarble bug.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Naughty Sock Puppet,

    I so often forget that this is a public forum and
    blather on, then wish I could take stuff back.

    This is where not leaving yourself logged in all the time is handy. If I get a compulsion to say things that I might really have cause to regret, I use my naughty sock puppet account.

    Since Mar 2009 • 4 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    I think this is something you get better at as you get older.

    I'm dubious. I am all about words, and yet for some reason rearranging letters to form them is hugely discombobulating. I can never make anything longer than four letters. Crosswords yes (the letters are in a set place! It all makes sense!), but Scrabble no. My ideal is the Listener's Quizword: pointless trivia in crossword form.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Danielle - interesting.
    Both Mary (who has ruined my life by introducing them to me) and self are addicted to codewords/codecrackers...and I collect things like isograms & pangrams. (Almost proudest moment: I made up a pangram that has less letters in it than the classic "A quick brown etc.)
    I consider a day wasted when I dont think up a new permutation of a word.
    I dearly love seeing a creation of mine make an official dictionary. 4 have.
    Hmmm.
    I truly respect all good librarians.
    And I agree with Hilary.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    And I agree with Hilary

    Thanks - I'm going to cut that out and frame it. I don't come across that very often in my life.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Upgrade - Log on to blog on, not toboggan...
    The general cut and thrust of idea weaving makes threading problematic - but maybe as new ideas or topics come up within a particular blog post, a coloured bullet point could be added, and then the facility to view comments by colour (or similar identifier) - but my minimal understanding of the underlying architecture limits my grasp on what's possible...

    This site seems to have some interesting ideas on blog design if it helps - or diverts -
    has a bit on Comments sections not too far down ...

    The preview doesn't do it because I only see what I think I wrote

    The trick I learnt for proofreading (at NBR in the early 80s and at The Press later that decade) was always to read copy expecting it to be wrong so you consciously examine words (and context) for faults... the joy is in finding that it's right
    (or making it so!)

    an Aviary of knavery

    Phil, sorry just caught up with the earlier pages, and yes 'twas I in my ongoing hunt for free DVDs from APN... my full offering for a word or phrase for when "people say the same thing as you just said, but get all the praise for it" and the people who do it, was as follows:

    aaah yes ...
    the ongoing problem of
    purloined letters and words

    this trade in the blood diamonds
    of conversational gems

    this inappropriate appropriation
    has created a veritable aviary of knavery!
    these word rustlers
    with their Cuckoo Echoes are
    nothing less than Word Peckers
    Parrotters and Magpipers
    and more than a Mynah irritation...

    ...but Toucan play at that game
    and if these Craven Ravens - like Meatloaf - are Taking the words right out your mouth and Robin you blind - you can make them eat Crow by just being a Hummingbird and making them
    learn the words themselves!
    Give 'em Owl!

    for some of that I now own a DVD of Clint Eastwood's The Changeling

    and Dougal said
    Time for bed
    here's your night back...

    yrs
    Zeb Eddy
    Lattice Day Saint

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    THAT is so ravishingly gawdy good!

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    I've seriously considered changing from real name to an alias.

    I'm with you on this. Especially as it's likely to still be here in a decade. I think some of the restraint with using full names is good, but I also think I'm much more reluctant to say much personal.

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • Kerry Weston,

    Opiki Chick

    actually that's quite cool in a retro Wayne Mason kind of way....

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Kerry Weston,

    naughty sock puppet

    Gio or Sacha??

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Nope. Wish I'd thought of it.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    Once I used my last seven tiles to make triangle. My husband has not forgiven me, and I haven't played since.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Once I used my last seven tiles to make triangle. My husband has not forgiven me, and I haven't played since.

    Well, it is after all expressly designed to destroy relationships.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Kerry, if there is an Onion story about sockpuppetry then I think you have your answer.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Ah, that: no. I think briefly there was the Gravatar of a quite unmistakable cat attached to the sockpuppet identity. There's your guy.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Unmistakeable, you say?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    Sockpuppet!!!

    I forgot to mention that I put triangle on a triple word score.

    It was a marvellous moment in married life.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Unmistakeable, you say?

    No, unmistakable. Do you want to put down an extra "e"? That's just greedy.

    It wasn't Deborah's cat, however.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I know, I know - couldn't be arsed doing one of those spelling-correction comments or a plea for Edit when we know it is just over the horizon. Let's pretend I were thinking about vampires.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    the referendum question

    I must plead not guilty. I left Parliament in 2005 after a decade working there. Not for the Office of the Clerk but having frequent contact with them.

    82 years old

    Yes my Mum was born in 1927 too but sadly she has succumbed to dementia to the point where she is being cared for in a secure unit. The short story is that, when we realised what was happening and needed to ask for help, the systems processes services and care of public service and private providers were/are brilliant. The longer story can wait for the right thread.

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • danielpresling,

    RE: RSS feeds - I prefer the way it currently runs. I'm happy to support the service offered by PA by coming to the site and letting the advertising revenue flow through whenever i check up on the latest updates.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • JLM,

    Wonderful, Deborah, my sister got failings, but it wasn't the last move.

    And I would appreciate the change, Russell, when convenience allows.

    (from my niece's tonight)

    Judy Martin's southern sl… • Since Apr 2007 • 241 posts Report Reply

  • Isabel Hitchings,

    I am awful at scrabble and other spelling/anagram games and tend to play at the 3 letter word, primary school level. I much prefer cryptic crosswords and games that play with the sounds and meanings of words. Oddly though I rather like the "Take Five" in the Listener.

    Christchurch • Since Jul 2007 • 719 posts Report Reply

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