Friday, July 25, 2008

Underground Grammarian

While cleaning out some ancient files, I came across my subscription copies of the Underground Grammarian. Having spent literally years working to recover from my lousy grade school education, especially as it pertained to my grammar, I loved Richard Mitchell's passion for this subject expressed via the Underground Grammarian.

Naturally, this being the 21st century rich with internet resources, I decided to see if Mr. Mitchell was remembered anywhere. Happily, he is. More, this site has copies of his work! What a treat!

Here's a quote from John Simon at this site about Mr. Mitchell:
There exists in every age, in every society, a small, still choir of reason emanating from a few scattered thinkers ignored by the mainstream. Their collective voices, when duly discovered a century or so too late, reveal what was wrong with that society and age, and how it could have been corrected if only people had listened and acted accordingly. Richard Mitchell's is such a voice. It could help make a better life for you or, if it is too late for that, at least for your children. Ignore it at your and their peril.
Another site paying homage to Mr. Mitchell exists here.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

MIT Pranks

Barry's comment in my previous post warrants this separate post. To my delight, I checked out the link he mentioned and laughed out loud early and often.

Among my favorites is the MIT fire truck on the Great Dome. Obviously, it echoes the 50 year old prank mentioned earlier.

The "In Case of Zombie Attack, Break Glass" bit is priceless.

The programmer geek in me loves this one.

While I had heard of rickrolling, this MIT example was the most inspired application I've seen of it so far. Kudos!

Got a favorite of your own? Lemme know!