RayAdverb in Cyberspace
Talking Shakespeare
Is there a personal connection to RayAdverb and Dave Barry in the last two
chapters of his latest book, "...In Cyberspace"?
I finished the book last night and felt that is was a strange ending.
Thank you!
Jeffrey Hyer
Site Administrator
Talking Shakespeare
http://www.cybercape.com/talkshak/
edi...@cybercape.com
That Nut
On Thu, 26 Dec 1996, Dan wrote:
> >I finished the book last night and felt that is was a strange ending.
> Yeah, me too, I was laughing so hard, and then I got to the last two
> chapters, (well, last chapter and 3rd to last chapter)and, I just
> stopped laughing. :-) Oh well. The rest of it was awesome!
I thought it was a solid ending, and perhaps a daring foray by DB into new
territory. If he ever gets tired of writing humor articles, methinks he
could do a "serious" (that is, not all-joking) novel quite well.
Yes, it was a break from the humor. But he's done that before. What it
seemed to me was that the ending was a coda and warning about new
territory.
For all its hype and despite the Web, Cspace is pretty dull,
somewhat-forbidding and overall quite alien to those not used to it. Most
of what you see on it is noise.
So it seems to me that part of a book on the subject might want to include
a little human aside.
Or maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe the conclusion was a catharsis.
Really, only Dave knows -- but I stand by my original response to the
book: It's very good, very funny, and -- like many of the things he's
written of late -- it contains some very human moments, and I'm all the
more confirmed as a fan for it. (Though, by my collection, you'd not know
anything changed -- I have all his books, and that's surely nothing new. I
buy them as soon as they're available, for the most part.)
In fact I only started posting to this group -- even though I've been
subbed to it a while -- *after* I read his latest.
I don't know if that means anything, but there it is.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Warren, That Nut, maca...@seds.org, http://www.seds.org/~macadamia
Dan
>I finished the book last night and felt that is was a strange ending.
Yeah, me too, I was laughing so hard, and then I got to the last two
chapters, (well, last chapter and 3rd to last chapter)and, I just
stopped laughing. :-) Oh well. The rest of it was awesome!
-dan
__________________________________________
From the desktop of Dan...
E-Mail address- dw...@mdc.net
Homepage= http://www.mdc.net/~dwho
A .45 Beats a Royal Flush, EVERY TIME!
Dewey Burbank
"Talking Shakespeare" <sa-ta...@cybercape.com> wrote:
>Is there a personal connection to RayAdverb and Dave Barry in the last two
>chapters of his latest book, "...In Cyberspace"?
>
>I finished the book last night and felt that is was a strange ending.
>
>Thank you!
>
>Jeffrey Hyer
>Site Administrator
>Talking Shakespeare
>http://www.cybercape.com/talkshak/
>edi...@cybercape.com
Hey, I wonder if anyone noticed that "Ray Adverb" is an anagram
for "Bare Darvy?"
Dewey (wondering where his darvey is, and whether it is bare or
not) Burbank
Mike Yetto
The world according to Dewey Burbank:
:Hey, I wonder if anyone noticed that "Ray Adverb" is an anagram
:for "Bare Darvy?"
:
:Dewey (wondering where his darvey is, and whether it is bare or
:not) Burbank
While your darvey will be happier if kept bare, the important thing
to know is if it is a rare Albino Bare Darvey.
CICADFL
--
mye...@mindspring.com Real Name: Mike Yetto
"A deranged human being and my personal internet god" - Dave Barry
Ms. Nomer
"Talking Shakespeare" (Jeffrey Hyer) sayeth:
> Is there a personal connection to RayAdverb and Dave Barry in the last two
> chapters of his latest book, "...In Cyberspace"?
> I finished the book last night and felt that is was a strange ending.
> Thank you!
You're obviously not the only person puzzled by these chapters, Jeffrey.
I'm awfully puzzled by DB's motivation for including them, since they're
such a departure from the style of the bulk of the book and from his
writing, in general. Maybe this *is* a sample of more to come. I suppose
we'll see, eventually.
Puzzlement notwithstanding, I'd like to comment that I really liked
these two chapters. I may be a bit prejudiced, because the situation
presented in the MsPtato chapters is similar to the way I met my
husband. Of course, that was back in the dark ages of the 1980s when we
ordinary souls were limited to local BBSs, and "chat" was an unknown
quantity. It was slower, since we could only read each others' message
base posts and exchange e-mail, but the result was the same. Of course,
we were both single at the time (but we were each dating someone
steadily), so it wasn't as complicated a scenario. However, I found this
part of the book to be *extremely* romantic.
--Ms. Nomer/Mrs. Nephelim
(still sighing over our first kiss)
Edward Rice
In article <32C433...@cowboy.net>,
"Ms. Nomer" <k...@cowboy.net> wrote:
> You're obviously not the only person puzzled by these chapters, Jeffrey.
> I'm awfully puzzled by DB's motivation for including them, since they're
> such a departure from the style of the bulk of the book and from his
> writing, in general. Maybe this *is* a sample of more to come. I suppose
> we'll see, eventually.
I'll repeat myself, at the risk of repeating myself. Dave is thinking
about changing his writing style, and for some time has been testing the
waters with chapters that could only be construed as "experimental" within
the context of his everyday writing.
I can't tell you much more at this time, but does the idea of a "Dave Barry
Almanac" light your fire? Or a "Dave's Encyclopedia"? If so, send
snail-mail to him and let him know the preferred title and format.
Joel F. Klein
My sister told me about a recent article regarding Dave's appearance
on Oprah Winfrey where he refers to his fiancee, as if Beth were
history or something. That combined with the strange RayAdverb story
in his Cyberspace book makes me wonder. IF this has already been
discussed, let me know.
--
Joel F. Klein, CS/EE '94 | "The only reason for having a C
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | compiler is to implement SML."
Terre Haute IN |
Joel....@RoseVC.Rose-Hulman.EDU | --Frederick J. Sullivan
Ben Cantrick (alias Macky Stingray)
In article <5a4j1r$3...@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
Shikaripura Harihareswara <HOY...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>Okay. I finished Cyberspace about half an hour ago, exhausted. And the
>exhaustion came from the book. Amazing, literarily. No wonder the
>Pulitzer, eh? But that's what we've been saying all along.
Actually, Dave's not as far from serious writing as people may think. In
"Dave Barry Does Japan" there was a great chapter about the yearly atom bomb
remeberance ceremony held in Hiroshima. It was solemn and very, very well
written. The very end of the chapter was just excellent.
I think it actually takes more talent to write humor than it does to
write serious stuff. Dave has done both well. Pulitzer? Heck yeah!
-Ben
--
"BGC: Because some of us believe women over 14 are still sexy."
=--------- http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~cantrick/home.html -------------=
*Ben Cantrick, diehard BGC otaku and Priss fan. ---> THE BGC DUBS SUCK! <---*
*Mac? Ha. "When I want to spend 50% of my time fighting an OS, I'll use VMS."*
Shikaripura Harihareswara
Okay. I finished Cyberspace about half an hour ago, exhausted. And the
exhaustion came from the book. Amazing, literarily. No wonder the
Pulitzer, eh? But that's what we've been saying all along.
"Ms. Nomer" <k...@cowboy.net> wrote:
<snip of reference to MsPtato & RayAdverb chapters>
>You're obviously not the only person puzzled by these chapters, Jeffrey.
>I'm awfully puzzled by DB's motivation for including them, since they're
>such a departure from the style of the bulk of the book and from his
>writing, in general. Maybe this *is* a sample of more to come. I suppose
>we'll see, eventually.
It is weird. And I couldn't concentrate as well on the second-to-last
chapter because I was really concentrating on the love story. Amazingly
well-written, again. Still, there's been a lot of innuendo and
circumstantial evidence that the story is that of Dave and Michelle. And
it could be that the chapters are Dave's own sort of elegy to her. Or
just a foray into a different style. Or an implicit warning about the
dark side of the net. Only time will tell.
>Puzzlement notwithstanding, I'd like to comment that I really liked
>these two chapters. I may be a bit prejudiced, because the situation
>presented in the MsPtato chapters is similar to the way I met my
>husband. Of course, that was back in the dark ages of the 1980s when we
>ordinary souls were limited to local BBSs, and "chat" was an unknown
>quantity. It was slower, since we could only read each others' message
>base posts and exchange e-mail, but the result was the same. Of course,
>we were both single at the time (but we were each dating someone
>steadily), so it wasn't as complicated a scenario. However, I found this
>part of the book to be *extremely* romantic.
>
>--Ms. Nomer/Mrs. Nephelim
> (still sighing over our first kiss)
This is unfair. I've had almost no experience with the whole romance
thing. So I'm not in any sort of steady relationship right now, so my own
RayAdverb on a white horse won't show up any time soon. But living
through MsPtato's eyes was curiously exciting, as I suppose assuming a
young female identity would be exciting for middle-aged guys. Of course,
the latter are psychos. But still.
(Reminder: email Josh.)
-Sumana H.
(still waiting for The One)
Mike Yetto
The world according to Shikaripura Harihareswara:
:(still waiting for The One)
:
Does this mean you've given up on Scott?
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Ms. Nomer
Shikaripura Harihareswara sigheth:
> This is unfair. I've had almost no experience with the whole romance
> thing. So I'm not in any sort of steady relationship right now, so my own
> RayAdverb on a white horse won't show up any time soon. But living
> through MsPtato's eyes was curiously exciting, as I suppose assuming a
> young female identity would be exciting for middle-aged guys. Of course,
> the latter are psychos. But still.
> (Reminder: email Josh.)
> -Sumana H.
> (still waiting for The One)
Ahem... the guy I was dating at the time I met my husband *was* a
middle-aged guy posing as a young female on the BBS where we met. It
could be that dating me indicated a deep-seated psychosis, but he still
seems OK to me (we're still friends). To be fair, at that time my
on-line moniker was Nimble Fingers ('cuz I type really fast) and
everybody on the BBS thought I was a guy. Um, maybe I shouldn't get too
far into this explanation. I may have already said too much.
Anyway, my point is to keep an open mind. My hubby came from a totally
unexpected direction -- he's 19 years younger than I am, so it hadn't
occurred to me that he might be a candidate for romance. Of course, I
have a feeling you're young enough that finding someone 19 -- or even
ten -- years your junior might qualify you for a jail sentence, so
don't take me too literally. What I mean is, while you're searching the
horizon for that knight on a white stallion, he'll probably come up
behind you and quietly tap you on the shoulder.
And, to stay on topic, my husband doesn't drink light beer -- never has,
never will. :-)
--Ms. Nomer
(wishing *I* could get away with writing a story in 2nd person,
present tense)
Jetts.RollTide@worldnett.att.net@postoffice.worldnet.att.net
There's well-written serious stuff in "Dave Barry Turns 40" about the
deaths of his parents. The column he wrote about Rob's bike accident a
few years ago was also very touching.
That Nut
On 30 Dec 1996, Shikaripura Harihareswara wrote:
> Apparently, if you comb through Dave's earlier work looking for it,
> serious - or "experimental" stuff jumps out of the woodwork - Hiroshima,
> suicide of mom, Rob & the bike accident, etc. Just goes to show that
> Dave, like Ben Franklin (aaah!) is multi-faceted as a man and as a
> writer.
Yes. I noticed the change immediately in DBDJ. Later I was treated to some
of his other "serious" work. (I put the word in quotes because I think
he's serious about everything he writes, not just the not-so-funny stuff.)
His writing is good and hilarious -- but sometimes he sneaks up on you and
makes you relly *feel* for a while, and that is Not A Bad Thing, IMNESHO.
While the closing chapters of DBIC might be a little out of theme with his
overall purported intent, I found them to be well in keeping with his
overall "I'm not kidding, here" tones of late, and I applaud him for his
work in expressing *all* aspects of feeling.
Sarah Brown
I for one hope he does more serious stuff, even though I love his humor.
He could do "Dave Barry Gets Serious."
Part of the reason he is so funny is that he writes about stuff that's
so familiar (and then takes it to an extreme). His serious stuff is
just as in touch.
OK, enough analysis, back to booger jokes.
Mike Yetto
The world according to Shikaripura Harihareswara:
:>The world according to Shikaripura Harihareswara:
:>:(still waiting for The One)
:>:
:> Does this mean you've given up on Scott?
:
:Unfortunately for Scott, maybe. I am currently postponing my Scott
:research in lieu of . . . research of another name. You apparently missed
:my not-so-subtle hint near the end of the article, "(Reminder - email
:Josh.)"
:
:Sorry, Scott. You'll have to wait.
I didn't miss it, I just didn't want to believe. Poor Scott...
what's he to do now?
___ ___ ___ _ ___ ___ _
/ __|_ _/ __| /_\ | \| __| |
| (__ | | (__ / _ \| |) | _|| |__
\___|___\___/_/ \_\___/|_| |____|
Shikaripura Harihareswara
m...@no.spam.com (Mike Yetto) wrote:
>The world according to Shikaripura Harihareswara:
>:(still waiting for The One)
>:
> Does this mean you've given up on Scott?
Unfortunately for Scott, maybe. I am currently postponing my Scott
research in lieu of . . . research of another name. You apparently missed
my not-so-subtle hint near the end of the article, "(Reminder - email
Josh.)"
Sorry, Scott. You'll have to wait.
-Sumana H. ;)
Shikaripura Harihareswara
Apparently, if you comb through Dave's earlier work looking for it,
serious - or "experimental" stuff jumps out of the woodwork - Hiroshima,
suicide of mom, Rob & the bike accident, etc. Just goes to show that
Dave, like Ben Franklin (aaah!) is multi-faceted as a man and as a
writer.
Ms. Nomer
Jetts.R...@worldnett.att.net@postoffice.worldnet.att.net commenteth:
> There's well-written serious stuff in "Dave Barry Turns 40" about the
> deaths of his parents. The column he wrote about Rob's bike accident a
> few years ago was also very touching.
Yes, and was I ever ticked off! (Just kidding!) As I've mentioned, I
always read his books aloud to my son and husband and, when I read the
columns you mention, I burst into tears! My husband got all stressed,
and my son got embarassed, and I had to act ridiculously silly to get
past it. Plus, it was extremely difficult for my family to understand
what I was saying, inbetween the tears.
--Ms. Nomer
(looking forward to more)
Jay R. Ashworth
Talking Shakespeare (sa-ta...@cybercape.com) wrote:
: Is there a personal connection to RayAdverb and Dave Barry in the last two
: chapters of his latest book, "...In Cyberspace"?
Go read the FAQ,
Cheers,
-- jra
--
Jay R. Ashworth j...@scfn.thpl.lib.fl.us
Member of the Technical Staff Unsolicited Commercial Emailers Sued
The Suncoast Freenet Pedantry: It's not just a job, it's an adventure.
Tampa Bay, Florida http://members.aol.com/kyop/rhps.html +1 813 790 7592
That Nut
On 31 Dec 1996, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
> Talking Shakespeare (sa-ta...@cybercape.com) wrote:
> : Is there a personal connection to RayAdverb and Dave Barry in the last two
> : chapters of his latest book, "...In Cyberspace"?
> Go read the FAQ,
Okay. How often is it posted? I USEnet via CLI and frankly don't want to
crawl along DejaNews for one text file.
Half a good one! :)
Nancy Dooley
On Thu, 02 Jan 1997 09:53:25 -0500, Hil Newton
<s93...@umslvma.umsl.edu> wrote:
>I don't understand why so many people are so confused by the inclusion
>of these chapters. It is not unusual for humor authors to include a
>serious chapter or two in their books.. Erma Bombeck used to do it a
>lot.. and it gave us a glimpse that maybe Dave isn't always such a
>goofball..<g>
>--
Is that anything like a puffball? I saw some of those once in the
woods, when I was little.
Speaking of The Dave (tm), did anyone catch him on the Today show
yesterday morning? He was pretty funny...telling Katie Couric how she
needs a 10-year-old boy to show her how to be computer literate, in
addition to bragging about how much RAM he has. ;-)
N.
Craig E. Moore
Joel F. Klein wrote:
>
> My sister told me about a recent article regarding Dave's appearance
> on Oprah Winfrey where he refers to his fiancee, as if Beth were
> history or something. That combined with the strange RayAdverb story
> in his Cyberspace book makes me wonder. IF this has already been
> discussed, let me know.
Well RayAdverb is an anagram for Dave Barry...
--
"You can shake my tree, but you won't get me."
限Chris Difford/Glenn Tilbrook
"Don't knock my smock or I'll clean your clock."
限Hobbes
Craig's home page:
http://www.mnsinc.com/craigm/index.html
Hil Newton
I don't understand why so many people are so confused by the inclusion
of these chapters. It is not unusual for humor authors to include a
serious chapter or two in their books.. Erma Bombeck used to do it a
lot.. and it gave us a glimpse that maybe Dave isn't always such a
goofball..<g>
--
s93...@umslvma.umsl.edu
Rich Adams
Nancy Dooley (nancy-...@uiowa.edu) wrote:
: On Thu, 02 Jan 1997 09:53:25 -0500, Hil Newton
: <s93...@umslvma.umsl.edu> wrote:
:
: >I don't understand why so many people are so confused by the inclusion
: >of these chapters. It is not unusual for humor authors to include a
: >serious chapter or two in their books.. Erma Bombeck used to do it a
: >lot.. and it gave us a glimpse that maybe Dave isn't always such a
: >goofball..<g>
: >--
Oh, I hate missing the original post and finding myself in the middle of
a conversation, but it never has stopped me from butting in anyway..
I'll assume the 'serious chapters' were not mentioned from Dave Barry
Does Japan. (if I'm wrong, call Senator D'Amato and go after me so I can
never be president) Dave was downright serious in DBDJ on a few
occasions, seemingly with good reason. Those familiar with what my
fingers are talking about might consider taking those concerns and
contemplating how they might apply to other models in southeast Asia.
Dave's a good writer in that he knows when not to take life seriously,
and also when to sit up and take it seriously.
</buttinski>
: Is that anything like a puffball? I saw some of those once in the
: woods, when I was little.
:
: Speaking of The Dave (tm), did anyone catch him on the Today show
: yesterday morning? He was pretty funny...telling Katie Couric how she
: needs a 10-year-old boy to show her how to be computer literate, in
: addition to bragging about how much RAM he has. ;-)
Not I. However, he did come to the insignificant little blot on the map
which is my home town, a couple years back, and gave a short talk on
various stuff. I shook his hand and got two books autographed. (unusual
because I rarely collect such things as autographs, I probably just used
it as a ploy to tell him what a big fan I am) He has a very quick wit and
switches modes fluidly. I've never been able to watch Dave's World,
because Harry Anderson just doesn't seem a convincing Dave after meeting
the real McCoy.
: N.
--
~ Rich Adams [DNRC] Women move in strange and mysterious ways.
~ ri...@alpha.delta.edu I can never find any of my stuff after
~ they have moved it.
Jennifer Gregor
> I've never been able to watch Dave's World,
> because Harry Anderson just doesn't seem a convincing Dave after meeting
> the real McCoy.
That's strange, I've never been able to watch it because it's not funny.
Chris
ISHMAEL
-> lot.. and it gave us a glimpse that maybe Dave isn't always such a
-> goofball..<g>
Or maybe he needed a certain number of chapters.