tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post4037926886364933003..comments2024-03-28T06:47:03.013-07:00Comments on More Red Ink: Writing 101: Thog's Masterclass at BayConMarty Halpernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01180395701141986711noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-33517730532075157662011-07-08T10:18:12.580-07:002011-07-08T10:18:12.580-07:00There you have it, straight from "Thog,"...There you have it, straight from "Thog," as it were....<br /><br />It's always good to hear from you, David, and thanks for the clarification re: <i>White Dwarf</i>. And thanks, too, for the mention in the latest <i>Ansible</i>!<br /><br />Cheers,<br />- martyMarty Halpernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01180395701141986711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-10986072573164181812011-07-08T01:39:27.320-07:002011-07-08T01:39:27.320-07:00For Allen Varney: Thog never appeared in my White ...For Allen Varney: Thog never appeared in my White Dwarf book review column, nor its continuations on other UK RPG magazines. You may be thinking of Thrud, a supernaturally dim and overmuscled barbarian hero (though without literary interests) who had his own White Dwarf cartoon strip for a while. Nothing to do with me, though.David Langfordhttp://ansible.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-52357296773649422792011-07-06T08:16:33.726-07:002011-07-06T08:16:33.726-07:00I don't want to belabor the "eyes" q...I don't want to belabor the "eyes" quibble in itself (though the Merriam-Webster definition 1d for "eye" gives "look, glance" - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eye ). Rather, my point is that after dozens and dozens of "eyes" entries in Thog's Masterclass across two or three decades, David Langford has never retreated -- never pondered, "Hmmm, these 60 or 70 authors all think 'eyes' can mean 'gaze'; I wonder if that could be a correct usage of which I was unaware?" He has the convictions of a born editor, and I expect he's quite good at it.Allen Varneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10751693785863649469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-9331927480734555112011-07-05T12:16:31.980-07:002011-07-05T12:16:31.980-07:00Thanks, Rick, for posting the link here; it's ...Thanks, Rick, for posting the link here; it's much appreciated.<br /><br />And for other readers of this blog, this Iron Editors panel to which Rick refers is <i>not</i> the Baycon event referred to in the above blog, but rather the one that was just held this past weekend (July 3) during Westercon 64.<br /><br />- martyMarty Halpernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01180395701141986711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-86496496284777819672011-07-05T12:06:26.660-07:002011-07-05T12:06:26.660-07:00Marty, as I mentioned during your Iron Editors pan...Marty, as I mentioned during your Iron Editors panel, to truly appreciate the glory that is Thog the Mighty, readers should look up his epic presence at the 1993 Eastercon, as <a href="http://jophan.org/mimosa/m14/langford.htm" rel="nofollow">chronicled</a> by Langford (with obligatory nod to Agatha Christie), having been resurrected from obscurity by the aforementioned John Grant / Paul Barnett for the Eastercon newsletter.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Rick Moen<br />rick@linuxmafia.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-21738693240893030192011-07-04T16:41:35.683-07:002011-07-04T16:41:35.683-07:00Hi, Allen,
I wasn't aware of (or at least I d...Hi, Allen,<br /><br />I wasn't aware of (or at least I don't recall) Thog appearing in <i>White Dwarf</i> though I am familiar with the magazine. In fact, I may even have some very old issues packed away somewhere in this madhouse. Thanks for this.<br /><br />Yes, the "eyes" have it, or so it appears in my examples and those regularly posted on Thog's. I checked out the dictionary link you provided, but how I interpret the usage seems to be somewhat different from yours. As a noun, an "eye" is still an "eye" and I don't see how this dictionary meaning allows for an "eye" to, essentially, wander outside of the body. The verb form is "to eye" something, as in he "eyed" the road ahead, which I will certainly accept as being replaceable with "he spied the road ahead" or "he gazed upon the road ahead" -- though their individual meanings are not identical.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />- martyMarty Halpernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01180395701141986711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-16312193587811734082011-07-01T23:25:31.273-07:002011-07-01T23:25:31.273-07:00I've enjoyed Dave Langford's "Thog...I've enjoyed Dave Langford's "Thog's Masterclass" entries for decades. I first saw it in early issues of Games Workshop's "White Dwarf" magazine. I think the "Thog" name predates the Barnett character, and may derive from a White Dwarf comic character.<br /><br />The only thing that irritates me about the Thog quotations is the frequent, persistent taunting of "eyes" used as a synonym for "gaze." At least one Thog entry per column retells that particular joke; you tell it here too. And yet, whaddya know, "eyes" used as a synonym for "gaze" is a perfectly acceptable dictionary usage. See, for instance, the Random House Dictionary, sense 7: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eyesAllen Varneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10751693785863649469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-3973645266209564352011-07-01T15:14:26.096-07:002011-07-01T15:14:26.096-07:00Thanks, Lisa, for the clarification.
Cheers,
- mar...Thanks, Lisa, for the clarification.<br />Cheers,<br />- martyMarty Halpernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01180395701141986711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-69162406420568287232011-07-01T15:06:03.276-07:002011-07-01T15:06:03.276-07:00Friend of the horses: Ayla has invented everything...Friend of the horses: Ayla has invented everything, including riding horses. While a long presentation of herself, it reminds of how royalty or an ambassador might be presented.Lise Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05423701512077904077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-35884853610430585872011-07-01T11:09:07.725-07:002011-07-01T11:09:07.725-07:00Hi, Michael,
Thanks for your comment, and as I am...Hi, Michael,<br /><br />Thanks for your comment, and as I am not familiar with Auel's work either, you may indeed be correct that this long-winded introduction is culturally motivated/required. But you gotta admit that it does go on and on and on. And whoever the recipient of this introduction is, s/he has surely lost track of most of the names and relationships by the end.<br /><br />Cheers,<br />- martyMarty Halpernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01180395701141986711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4615571722773062719.post-61625071711471142052011-07-01T10:55:12.073-07:002011-07-01T10:55:12.073-07:00I've never read any Auel, either, though I'...I've never read any Auel, either, though I've had a signed first of the first in the series since it came out. The paragraph you cite may have been well-intended as a demonstration of contextual identity in a culture with, theoretically, solely an oral tradition; but it could have been much better. And briefer. (Friend to horses?) You do have to admit that it beats a whole re-cap chapter of "previously in CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR & C: . . ."Michael E. Stammnoreply@blogger.com