Filk: Religious
Robert B. Cooke
filk, and to a fairly well-known tune by Bill Sutton.
Our minister was preaching on Isaiah 10:33 to 11:9 just before
Christmas, and the words came to me during the sermon. I ended up
singing it during communion.
The chord sequence I worked out (today) follows. I make no guarantee
as to how well it matches what Bill uses.
I appreciate your patience.
----------------------------------------------------------
Jesse's Shoot Robert Cooke Š 1998
TTTO: Caretakers Bill Sutton
In the time of occupation
In a time of hate and greed
The folk cry out to their sovereign God
From their lives of pain and need.
And God strides forth in anger;
Strikes with terrifying power,
And the withered tree shall fall at last,
God's justice have its hour.
Singing
I am the strength of the heart and the root
I am my people's God. (or I am the God of the tree)
In the time of God's own choosing
In the dark of city streets
God stares down at the rotten stump
And God's head shakes with grief.
Then God kneels and calls the seedling,
And there grows a quiet sound.
It's the sound of joy and the hope of spring
The new life in the ground.
Singing
I am the strength of the heart and the root
I am my people's God. (or I am the God of the tree)
Isaiah 10:33 to 11:9
Composed 12/6/98 at morning service at Church of the Reconciler. Sang
a capella during communion.
Chords:
Verse
Am G Am
C Em Am
C G Em Am
Am G Am
last line, second verse
F G
Chorus
C Em (base run) Am
Am G Am
second line, last time
F G Am
Mark A Mandel
: This is somewhat off group topic, and I apologize. It is, however, a
: filk, and to a fairly well-known tune by Bill Sutton.
Apology REJECTED! ;-)\ Any post of an original filk is, by definition, on
topic in this group.
(Disclaimer: I am not a moderator. I don't even play one on TV. I just
hang around here a lot.)
I don't know the original tune well enough, but I recognize it from the
chorus, and I like this one.
-- Mark A. Mandel
FIJAGH! Now, *filking*, on the other hand...
http://world.std.com/~mam/filk.html
--
If you're reading this in a newsgroup: to reply by mail,
remove the obvious spam-blocker from my edress.
J. Bethancourt
>This is somewhat off group topic, and I apologize. It is, however, a
>filk, and to a fairly well-known tune by Bill Sutton.
>
>Our minister was preaching on Isaiah 10:33 to 11:9 just before
>Christmas, and the words came to me during the sermon. I ended up
>singing it during communion.
Doggone that's NICE!
Joe Bethancourt
- whit...@BLOCKmayo-ireland.ie
http://www.locksley.com/
Kay Shapero
RB>This is somewhat off group topic, and I apologize. It is,
RB>however, a filk, and to a fairly well-known tune by Bill Sutton.
It's a filk, it's on topic. QED. :->
Good one, too - thanks for sharing it!
yaakov_h...@my-dejanews.com
There is nothing wrong with religious filk (or anti-religious filk, for that
matter). There's a lot of good stuff floating around, in fact (although I've
seen mostly pagan, relatively little Christian, and some Jewish).
My own modest contribution is less about a particular faith than the need
to belive in something.
Title: Believing
Tune: Acts of Creation by Cat Faber (which, IMO, is just enough off from
"Drink up the River" to qualify as a separate derivative tune).
Chorus: You can see it in the mother looking in her chuild's eyes
You can see the same in SETI reaching out into the skies
You can see it in the Rabbi as he prays to God above
Every act of beliveing is an act of love
In a world where nothing's certain, save that nothing ever lasts
Where all works of man must perish, and all flesh is surely grass
Where resources drain and dwindle, and we see no end of strife
Every act of beliveing is an act of life
Ch.
We're surrounded by a darkness, a tide that's rising still
Cynics say we cannot change and we surely never will
But I prefer to rage against the dieing of the light
Every act of believing can hold back the night
Ch.
So believe in God in Heaven, or belive in hearth and home
That the children are our future, or that we are not alone
Just beleive that something matters, and believe with heart and soul
For the act of beliveing is what keeps us whole.
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
Robert B. Cooke
>There is nothing wrong with religious filk (or anti-religious filk, for that
>matter). There's a lot of good stuff floating around, in fact (although I've
>seen mostly pagan, relatively little Christian, and some Jewish).
>My own modest contribution is less about a particular faith than the need
>to belive in something.
>Title: Believing
>Tune: Acts of Creation by Cat Faber (which, IMO, is just enough off from
>"Drink up the River" to qualify as a separate derivative tune).
>snip neat song<
I like that! Now, all I have to do is learn the tune to "Acts of
Creation" (or fake it, to "Drink up the River")
Thanks
Robert
--
Robert B. Cooke
Birmingham, Alabama
robert_...@mindspring.com
Robert B. Cooke
>In article <78000v$4qg$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,
>yaakov_h...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>>There is nothing wrong with religious filk (or anti-religious filk, for that
>>matter). There's a lot of good stuff floating around, in fact (although I've
>>seen mostly pagan, relatively little Christian, and some Jewish).
>>
>>My own modest contribution is less about a particular faith than the need
>>to belive in something.
>>
>>Title: Believing
>>Tune: Acts of Creation by Cat Faber (which, IMO, is just enough off from
>>"Drink up the River" to qualify as a separate derivative tune).
>And then there's my (partial) rebuttal to Harold's song:
>True Believers
>By Gary McGath, Copyright 1997
>several song verses snipped. final verse:
>For the credulous and nihilist, there is a single cure:
>First be certain of your premise, then stand up for what is sure.
>Not to question, not to champion, each show just half a soul.
>Careful thought and believing must make up a whole!
I agree with you that there have been terrible things done in the name
of true belief, and I like the song as a (partial) rebuttal. I think
I'll have to let it steep in my head for a while; I'm still enjoying
Harold's song on the "oh, wow, warm and fuzzy!" level, which makes it
harder to fully appreciate the response.
Thanks!
xwinger
>yaakov_h...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
>>There is nothing wrong with religious filk (or anti-religious filk, for
that
>>matter). There's a lot of good stuff floating around, in fact (although
I've
>>seen mostly pagan, relatively little Christian, and some Jewish).
>
(this from a New York Jew yet!)
Michael (who wishes Leslie would find a different muse for me - she sent me
Paranomasia)
Keith A. Glass
> yaakov_h...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
> >There is nothing wrong with religious filk (or anti-religious filk, for that
> >matter). There's a lot of good stuff floating around, in fact (although I've
> >seen mostly pagan, relatively little Christian, and some Jewish).
>
> >My own modest contribution is less about a particular faith than the need
> >to belive in something.
>
> >Title: Believing
> >Tune: Acts of Creation by Cat Faber (which, IMO, is just enough off from
> >"Drink up the River" to qualify as a separate derivative tune).
>
> >snip neat song<
>
> I like that! Now, all I have to do is learn the tune to "Acts of
> Creation" (or fake it, to "Drink up the River")
BTW, you appear to be new here. Nice entrance, and may I buy you the beverage
of your choice for both a great filk AND an excellent discussion. . .
--
* Keith A. Glass, Manassas , Virginia, USA, Filker/punster at large *
* Geek Code(v3.1.2) GS/GAT d+ s+:+++ a C++ U P L E- W++ N++ w+ O- M V*
* PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP+ t+/--- 5++++ X+ R tv b+++ DI++++ D+ G++ e++ h r y+*
* Home Page: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/7281 *
Robert B. Cooke
>"Robert B. Cooke" wrote:
>> yaakov_h...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>>
>> >There is nothing wrong with religious filk (or anti-religious filk, for that
>> >matter). There's a lot of good stuff floating around, in fact (although I've
>> >seen mostly pagan, relatively little Christian, and some Jewish).
>>
>> >My own modest contribution is less about a particular faith than the need
>> >to belive in something.
>>
>> >Title: Believing
>> >Tune: Acts of Creation by Cat Faber (which, IMO, is just enough off from
>> >"Drink up the River" to qualify as a separate derivative tune).
>>
>> >snip neat song<
>>
>> I like that! Now, all I have to do is learn the tune to "Acts of
>> Creation" (or fake it, to "Drink up the River")
>BTW, you appear to be new here. Nice entrance, and may I buy you the beverage
>of your choice for both a great filk AND an excellent discussion. . .
Why, yes, thank you. I'll have a tankard of whatever that large,
furry, semi-mythological beastie with the great, broad grin is having.
And put a cherry on top.
Beth and I have been basically completely out of fandom for about ten
years (and we slowed down considerably before that). Now that the kids
are 8 & 10, we are hoping to actually get to a few cons again.
BTW, does anyone know of one or more good babysitters who might be
available in mid-April in Chattanooga, TN? (g)
Mary Creasey
> Gary, you might want to post that one on rec.music.folk; someone there
is looking for atheist/humanist songs.
Mary
> In article <78000v$4qg$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,
> yaakov_h...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
> >There is nothing wrong with religious filk (or anti-religious filk, for that
> >matter). There's a lot of good stuff floating around, in fact (although I've
> >seen mostly pagan, relatively little Christian, and some Jewish).
> >
> >My own modest contribution is less about a particular faith than the need
> >to belive in something.
> >
> >Title: Believing
> >Tune: Acts of Creation by Cat Faber (which, IMO, is just enough off from
> >"Drink up the River" to qualify as a separate derivative tune).
>
> And then there's my (partial) rebuttal to Harold's song:
>
> True Believers
> By Gary McGath, Copyright 1997
>
> You can talk of strong faith-holders and their great courageous acts,
> But a "yes" can be quite deadly if you haven't checked the facts.
> We have seen the true believers with their banners all unfurled;
> Foolish acts of believing can destroy the world.
>
> In a life where nothing's certain but that you must use your mind,
> You must sift through truth and falsehood, though you don't know what
> you'll find.
> So remember, though you struggle and you see no end of strife,
> Foolish acts of believing can destroy your life.
>
> There's a rising tide of New Age thought, and some people learn too late
> That it's hell that they've walked into, when they think it's Heaven's Gate,
> But I prefer to rage against the lying in the night.
> Foolish acts of believing can blot out the light.
>
> For the credulous and nihilist, there is a single cure:
> First be certain of your premise, then stand up for what is sure.
> Not to question, not to champion, each show just half a soul.
> Careful thought and believing must make up a whole!
>
> --
> Gary McGath gmc...@ma.ultranet.com
> http://www.ultranet.com/~gmcgath
Ailsa Murphy
robert_...@mindspring.com wrote:
> yaakov_h...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
> >Title: Believing
> >Tune: Acts of Creation by Cat Faber (which, IMO, is just enough off from
> >"Drink up the River" to qualify as a separate derivative tune).
>
>
> I like that! Now, all I have to do is learn the tune to "Acts of
> Creation" (or fake it, to "Drink up the River")
>
To me, this tune sounds enough like the They Might Be Giants song that starts
with "There's just two songs in me/and I just wrote the third" that my brain
always queues that one up after singing any of the above's variants. If I
could translate tunes to written music, I'd have to write them both down to
see how close they actually are.
-Ailsa
--
But to explicitly advocate cultural relativism ailsa....@tfn.com
on the grounds that it promotes tolerance is to Ailsa N.T. Murphy
implicitly assume that tolerance is an absolute value. If there are any
absolute values, however, cultural relativism is false. -Theodore Schick
Chris Croughton
robert_...@mindspring.com "Robert B. Cooke" wrote:
>Why, yes, thank you. I'll have a tankard of whatever that large,
>furry, semi-mythological beastie with the great, broad grin is having.
>And put a cherry on top.
Zander, we appear to have someone who wants "a Photon Torpedo, and make it
a litre or more" <g>...
(I must try a PT with a cherry. Or possibly cherry brandy <g>...)
BTW, for those who don't know the recipe, a Photon Torpedo is one third
dark rum, one third Advocaat (egg-liquor) and one third lime juice.
Choose your strengths - I use Jamaican 54% ABV rum and 20% ABV Eierlikor
but others prefer it not quite so strong...
Chris C
Mary Creasey
Ouch...I can see how it got its name! One of THOSE and you'll
explode!
Mary
xwinger
>"Robert B. Cooke" wrote:
>> >My own modest contribution is less about a particular faith than the
need
>> >to belive in something.
>>
>> >Tune: Acts of Creation by Cat Faber (which, IMO, is just enough off from
>> >"Drink up the River" to qualify as a separate derivative tune).
>>
>> >snip neat song<
>BTW, you appear to be new here. Nice entrance, and may I buy you the
beverage
>of your choice for both a great filk AND an excellent discussion. . .
>--
Ah Keith, he's been around filk longer than you or me. AND, if you wanna
buy him a beverage of his choice, he's holding the October GaFiA meeting in
Montgomery, Alabama.
Michael (GaFiA)
Robert B. Cooke
>In article <780tao$ie3$2...@camel0.mindspring.com>
> robert_...@mindspring.com "Robert B. Cooke" wrote:
>>Why, yes, thank you. I'll have a tankard of whatever that large,
>>furry, semi-mythological beastie with the great, broad grin is having.
>>And put a cherry on top.
>Zander, we appear to have someone who wants "a Photon Torpedo, and make it
>a litre or more" <g>...
>(I must try a PT with a cherry. Or possibly cherry brandy <g>...)
>BTW, for those who don't know the recipe, a Photon Torpedo is one third
>dark rum, one third Advocaat (egg-liquor) and one third lime juice.
>Choose your strengths - I use Jamaican 54% ABV rum and 20% ABV Eierlikor
>but others prefer it not quite so strong...
>Chris C
A liter or more of Photon Torpedo... "It would be BAD."
"I'm not sure I've got a handle on this BAD thing. What do you mean,
BAD, exactly?"
"Imagine every molecule in your body accelerated instantaneously to
the speed of light."
"Ah, so *that's* BAD."
--Misquoted from "Ghostbusters"
Now, Beth says, "Hold the cherry, and add the cherry brandy." (She
used to be an Alabama zoo keeper, and they have a certain reputation
to uphold.)
Me, actually the PT doesn't sound too bad; as long as I don't have to
compose... or sing.... or, drive... or sit straight... or carry on
any voluntary functions whatsoever... or do anything at all other than
sit there with a silly grin on my face.......
I think my recording of the "Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster Blues" bit
the dust a couple of years ago.
Robert B. Cooke
>Michael (GaFiA)
Now, Michael, here I was trying to quietly and unobtrusively make my
way into the group, hardly rippling the water, and you go and blow my
cover. This is very traumatic for such a shy, quiet, retiring type
personality as my own.
(Beth... BEth! Hush, Stop that laughing! Well, at least stop rolling
on the floor! [mumble, grumble, murphle, grump, grump, grump])
Some people have no respect for the sensitivity of us artistic
types... (g)
Please join us in *Birmingham* in October. We aren't quite sure where
the filk will be yet; there is a report that the motel complex we used
is being sold and subdivided. More news as it breaks.
Keith A. Glass
> Keith A. Glass wrote in message <36A3D649...@erols.com>...
> >"Robert B. Cooke" wrote:
> >> >My own modest contribution is less about a particular faith than the
> need
> >> >to belive in something.
> >>
> >> >Title: Believing
> >> >Tune: Acts of Creation by Cat Faber (which, IMO, is just enough off from
> >> >"Drink up the River" to qualify as a separate derivative tune).
> >>
> >> >snip neat song<
>
> >BTW, you appear to be new here. Nice entrance, and may I buy you the
> beverage
> >of your choice for both a great filk AND an excellent discussion. . .
> >--
>
> Ah Keith, he's been around filk longer than you or me.
I did say "appear", didn't I ??? <g>
> AND, if you wanna buy him a beverage of his choice, he's holding the
> October GaFiA meeting in Montgomery, Alabama.
A wee bit far from Ol Virginny. . .
Chris Croughton
cre...@worldnet.att.net "Mary Creasey" wrote:
>Ouch...I can see how it got its name! One of THOSE and you'll
>explode!
Wimp <g>. Actually, one doesn't generally drink it by the litre,
something like a whiskey glass (about 5-6 fluid ounces total) is more
normal. Although the one I had the other night was close to half a pint
(in fact a little more than half an American pint, 250ml).
By the way, when making it it helps if the Advocaat is chilled, and
definitely mix the Advocaat and rum before adding the lime juice (adding
the lime to egg-stuff is almost certain to curdle it).
For those who didn't know the reference, it's to the first verse of "Sam's
Song" by Zander and Soren Nyrond, collected in the British filk book "On
Filkley Moor" (which may be back in print), recorded on Zander's tape "The
Filk of Human Kindness" (are any available, Zander?) and on Pat Brown's
(now Pat Silver) tape "Windsinger" which I believe is still available from
some American dealers.
Chris C
Jonathan Waite
ch...@keris.demon.co.uk (Chris Croughton) wrote:
> recorded on Zander's tape "The
> Filk of Human Kindness" (are any available, Zander?)
Correction, please. Humble and unworthy compositional effort appear on
collaborative project with gracious and many-talented Talis Kimberley, which this
person continues to demean with the portmanteau entitlement of "SkyToad". Also
to be found on "Vibrations" convention tape.
"Filk Of Human Kindness" may be available in America through the good offices
of Bob Laurent, to whom I sent a copy to use as a master. Over here, the masters
(if they still exist) and the rights to duplication still remain with Gytha as far as I am
aware. Talis has the masters to "SkyToad": whether any still remain to be sold or
whether another run is planned I don't know.
Love,
Zander
xwinger
>Now, Michael, here I was trying to quietly and unobtrusively make my
>way into the group, hardly rippling the water, and you go and blow my
>cover. This is very traumatic for such a shy, quiet, retiring type
>personality as my own.
>
You, shy? Retiring?? WHO THE HECK ARE YA KIDDIN'???
>(Beth... BEth! Hush, Stop that laughing! Well, at least stop rolling
>on the floor! [mumble, grumble, murphle, grump, grump, grump])
>
Not only your Beth, but I wouldn't be surprised if both your children joined
her in asthmatic spasms after laughing on the floor after THAT remark!!!
>Some people have no respect for the sensitivity of us artistic
>types... (g)
>
Yes we do. And we know you better.
>Please join us in *Birmingham* in October. We aren't quite sure where
>the filk will be yet; there is a report that the motel complex we used
>is being sold and subdivided. More news as it breaks.
>
Well, you could always ask Gov. Siegelman(sp?) to let us sing in the State
House. That might be interesting.
Michael
xwinger
Mark A Mandel
: Please join us in *Birmingham* in October. We aren't quite sure where
: the filk will be yet; there is a report that the motel complex we used
: is being sold and subdivided. More news as it breaks.
So you'll tell us how many pieces the complex breaks into?
Hey, let's REARRANGE them! (Segue into "The Hyper Hilton" -- thanks,
Gary!)
-- Mark A. Mandel
Chris Croughton
zan...@cix.co.uk "Jonathan Waite" wrote:
>Correction, please. Humble and unworthy compositional effort appear on
>collaborative project with gracious and many-talented Talis Kimberley,
>which this person continues to demean with the portmanteau entitlement of
>"SkyToad". Also to be found on "Vibrations" convention tape.
Apologies, I mixed up the tape names and really should have remembered to
add the "VIbrations" one. Too many Photon Torpedoes <g>...
"SkyToad" is at least better than my contraction of the name into "Ancient
Toad" (note for others, one side is "Ancient Sky" and the other is "The
Toad", and both are actually very good)...
Chris C
Joe Kesselman, yclept Keshlam
>: motel complex we used is being sold and subdivided. More news as it breaks.
>So you'll tell us how many pieces the complex breaks into?
>
>Hey, let's REARRANGE them! (Segue into "The Hyper Hilton" -- thanks,
>Gary!)
I've been waiting for "Fourth above and sixth below, the chords
just seem to come and go" to be joined by words about
the circle of fifths, but... I don't think it's gonna happen.
------------------------------------------------------
Joe Kesselman, http://www.lovesong.com/people/keshlam/
February 13th at Walkabout Clearwater: TOM PAXTON.
http://www.lovesong.com/walkabout/coffeehouse.html
Mark A Mandel
: I've been waiting for "Fourth above and sixth below, the chords
: just seem to come and go" to be joined by words about
: the circle of fifths, but... I don't think it's gonna happen.
I've turned it into "Sevens", but that's because we've had guinea pigs for
years. They have the peculiar property -- well, maybe not uncommon in the
animal kingdom, but weird when you first notice it -- of having different
numbers of toes on the front and back feet:
"Four in front and three behind
and nothing much to call a mind..."
(If interested, see http://world.std.com/~mam/filks/Sevens.html .)
-- Mark A. Mandel
FIJAGH! Now, *filking*, on the other hand...
Digression? What digression? How can you tell, in this group?
Daniel R. Reitman
(Mark A Mandel) wrote:
>Robert B. Cooke (robert_...@mindspring.com) wrote:
>: Please join us in *Birmingham* in October. We aren't quite sure where
>: the filk will be yet; there is a report that the motel complex we used
>: is being sold and subdivided. More news as it breaks.
>So you'll tell us how many pieces the complex breaks into?
>Hey, let's REARRANGE them! (Segue into "The Hyper Hilton" -- thanks,
>Gary!)
Well, an infinite number of guests just pulled up. :-)
Dan, ad nauseam
Dave Weingart
>the circle of fifths, but... I don't think it's gonna happen.
OTOH, if my son makes me watch The Lion King (again!) I may be able
to unplug my ears long enough to learn "Circle of Life" well enough
to filk...of course, it being Disney and Elton John, that's not
necessarily likely...
--
73 de Dave Weingart KA2ESK There is no "never." Just long
mailto:phyd...@liii.com periods of "not yet."
http://www.liii.com/~phydeaux -- The Journey of Allen Strange
Mark A Mandel
: Well, an infinite number of guests just pulled up. :-)
When we pulled up in Birmingham in need of R and R....
-- Mark A. Mandel
FIJAGH! Now, *filking*, on the other hand...
http://world.std.com/~mam/filk.html
Brenda Daverin
Kesselman, yclept Keshlam) wrote:
> In <F5wtz...@world.std.com>, mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com (Mark A
Mandel) writes:
> >: motel complex we used is being sold and subdivided. More news as it breaks.
> >So you'll tell us how many pieces the complex breaks into?
> >
> >Hey, let's REARRANGE them! (Segue into "The Hyper Hilton" -- thanks,
> >Gary!)
>
> I've been waiting for "Fourth above and sixth below, the chords
> just seem to come and go" to be joined by words about
> the circle of fifths, but... I don't think it's gonna happen.
Nah, a filk to "Circle of Life" might be more appropriate for that...
It's the circle of fifths...
It's the wheel of chord change...
--
Brenda Daverin bdav...@best.com
The Unravelled Ferret - http://members.aol.com/lysana/
"Usenet is just email with witnesses." -- Rob Hansen
d...@america.net
> Daniel R. Reitman (drei...@teleport.com) wrote:
> : Well, an infinite number of guests just pulled up. :-)
> When we pulled up in Birmingham in need of R and R....
Actually, Bill Sutton and I came up with:
O Suzanna, I ran clean out of luck
When Iwent to Alabama with these filkers in my truck
But I doubt either of us pursued it further. :)
--
Rob Wynne / The Autographed Cat / d...@america.net
The best original science-fiction and fantasy on the web:
Aphelion Webzine: http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/
Aphelion is looking for SF poetry and filk music. Please send
submissions or inquiries to poe...@aphelion-webzine.com.
Kevin Wald
Mark A Mandel <mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com> wrote:
>Daniel R. Reitman (drei...@teleport.com) wrote:
>: Well, an infinite number of guests just pulled up. :-)
>
> When we pulled up in Birmingham in need of R and R....
Inspired by (though not relating directly to) the above exchange,
I offer the following set piece:
-------------------------------------------------------------
As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
They noticed there was one of us for every point in R;
Their room-list had the wrong transfinite cardinality,
Alas -- for it was Aleph Null and our bunch was C.
So we're banned from Aleph, almost all,
Banned from Aleph -- their hotel's just a little small.
We may be only aleph-one (or -twelve or -fifty-four)
But Aleph has no room for any more.
The desk clerk tried to fit us in, but each prospective list
He gave us, we diagonalized to show him who he'd missed.
He grew a bit irate, for we were starting to be pests --
We each were chatting up a different subset of his guests.
And we're . . .
He said we could omega-tuple up (this plan assumes
That aleph-zero sleep in each of aleph-zero rooms).
The manager came over, though, and said in somber voice
That such a scheme would violate the Axiom of Choice.
And we're . . .
We phoned another Aleph Inn, it didn't help a bit;
The clerk at Aleph One could prove he couldn't prove we'd fit.
At last, I called the local shul when services were done;
The cantor let us spend the night in Temple Beth-Sub-One.
'Cause we're banned from Aleph, almost all,
Banned from Aleph -- their hotel's just a little small.
We may be only aleph-one (or -twelve or -fifty-four)
But Aleph has no room for any more.
------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Wald, wa...@math.uchicago.edu | "When we climbed onto Xena's horse
http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~wald | and took her for a spin . . ."
the Carrot-Topped
> Inspired by (though not relating directly to) the above exchange,
> I offer the following set piece:
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
ROFL!
Martin Gardner needs to see this (in his Asimov's math columns, the
Aleph-Null Inn was one of his favorite settings...).
-Rachel
--
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
http://world.std.com/~gingi
xwinger
Michael
Kevin Wald wrote in message ...
>In article <F5yzE...@world.std.com>,
>Mark A Mandel <mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com> wrote:
>>Daniel R. Reitman (drei...@teleport.com) wrote:
>>: Well, an infinite number of guests just pulled up. :-)
>>
>> When we pulled up in Birmingham in need of R and R....
>
>Inspired by (though not relating directly to) the above exchange,
>I offer the following set piece:
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------
>
>As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
Lee Gold
> In article <F5yzE...@world.std.com>,
> Mark A Mandel <mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com> wrote:
> >Daniel R. Reitman (drei...@teleport.com) wrote:
> >: Well, an infinite number of guests just pulled up. :-)
> >
> > When we pulled up in Birmingham in need of R and R....
>
> Inspired by (though not relating directly to) the above exchange,
> I offer the following set piece:
>
Wonderful. Any songs (including that one) you'd like to
submit for publication in Xeno?
--Lee Gold
Chris Croughton
wa...@ford.uchicago.edu "Kevin Wald" wrote:
>In article <F5yzE...@world.std.com>,
>Mark A Mandel <mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com> wrote:
>>Daniel R. Reitman (drei...@teleport.com) wrote:
>>: Well, an infinite number of guests just pulled up. :-)
>>
>> When we pulled up in Birmingham in need of R and R....
>
>Inspired by (though not relating directly to) the above exchange,
Yes! That one I'm printing out to take to XIlophone in two weeks, that
has to be performed. Wonderful...
(Is there a mathematician in the house?)
Chris C
Kevin Wald
Lee Gold <lee...@mediaone.net> wrote:
>Kevin Wald wrote:
>> Inspired by (though not relating directly to) the above exchange,
>> I offer the following set piece:
>Wonderful.
Thanks!
> Any songs (including that one) you'd like to
> submit for publication in Xeno?
I'd certainly be both pleased and honored to submit that one, if
you're interested. As for other songs: I've got a fair percentage
of my filk up on my web page, in the "Literary Endeavors" section.
I don't know how much of it would be suitable, but if you see
anything there you're interested in, just let me know -- I'd be
happy to see it appear in Xeno. (Or if you prefer, I could just
pick out a few things and send them along.)
Kevin Wald, wa...@math.uchicago.edu | "Catalog of ships -- I'll remember that."
http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~wald | -- Homer, _The Huntress and the Sphinx_
Kevin Wald
>In article <F5zLs...@midway.uchicago.edu>,
>Kevin Wald <wa...@ford.uchicago.edu> wrote:
>>
>>Kevin Wald, wa...@math.uchicago.edu | "When we climbed onto Xena's horse
>>http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~wald | and took her for a spin . . ."
>
Alas, no. But given the coincidence of names, it seems inevitable
that *someone* eventually will -- if, indeed, they haven't already.
(Anyone know of an existing Xenequestrian "Banned from Argo"?)
Kevin Wald
the Carrot-Topped <gi...@world.std.com> wrote:
>Kevin Wald wrote:
>>
>> As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
>
>ROFL!
Thanks!
>Martin Gardner needs to see this (in his Asimov's math columns, the
>Aleph-Null Inn was one of his favorite settings...).
That was, indeed, much of the inspiration for the Aleph Inn in the
song -- along with the fact that once I'd come up with an uncountable
infinity of characters (by transforming "every joint and bar" into
"every point in R"), I needed some place not to put them :-) .
Mark A Mandel
barrels of punch...) It's been too long since I read math: one barrel (the
cantor) hung fire for me for almost a day.
Of course, double-barreled looks like this:
oo
Or perhaps this:
oo
2
-- or is that, perhaps, only for the second verse?
Speaking of the details, what is the Axiom of Choice? I think I used to
know, but know no more.
Kevin Wald
Thanks!
[Amusing ASCII graphics deleted.]
>Speaking of the details, what is the Axiom of Choice? I think I used to
>know, but know no more.
There are various formulations of it, but one is:
For any set A of disjoint, nonempty sets, there exists a set B
consisting of exactly one element from each set in A.
The reason it pops up in the third verse is that while R (the set of
real numbers) can be proven uncountable without using AC, AC (or some
similar axiom) *is* needed to prove that R is not a union of countably
many countable sets (that is, that the guests can't be accomodated in
aleph-zero rooms, aleph-zero to a room).
Kevin Wald, wa...@math.uchicago.edu | "Oh, a heavy dragoon is a light-hearted
http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~wald | loon..." (G&S, _Yeomen of the Patience_)
Stephen R. Savitzky
> In article <F65Es...@world.std.com>,
> Mark A Mandel <mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com> wrote:
> >Speaking of the details, what is the Axiom of Choice? I think I used to
> >know, but know no more.
>
> There are various formulations of it, but one is:
>
> For any set A of disjoint, nonempty sets, there exists a set B
> consisting of exactly one element from each set in A.
The Axiom of Choice is particularly interesting because it has recently
been proved to indeed be completely independent of the other axioms of
set theory and the Peano axioms of arithmetic. In other words, you can
take it or leave it and still have a mathematical system that's no more
or less consistent. (Goedel's Theorem proves that any system that
includes the Peano axioms is either inconsistent or incomplete. They go
well together.)
The Axiom of Choice is provably true for any finite set of finite sets;
it's only when you get into infinite sets that it becomes interesting.
The AC seems reasonable enough on its face, but a well-known series of
lemmas, including Zorn's Lemma, leads from the AC to the Well-Ordering
Theorem, which states that any set can be well-ordered. Since most
people have trouble visualizing a well-ordering (grammatically this
should be "good ordering", but ancient tradition cannot be denied...)
for the real numbers (for example), it becomes easier to see why the AC
is amusingly controversial.
This leads to one of my favorite mathematical riddles: "What's yellow
and equivalent to the Axiom of Choice?" (Answer: Zorn's Lemon). I once
had a yellow Dodge A100 van with the obvious name. For extra credit:
"What's purple and commutes?" I'm still looking for more in that vein.
ObFilk:
Almost everyone knows the filksong "Aleph-null bottles of beer on the
wall". What seems to be less well-known is the fact that you don't need
to invoke transfinite numbers in order to get a non-terminating version
of the song. Any computer scientist will tell you that you can get the
same effect by starting with minus one. (They will also tell you that
Goedel's Theorem is equivalent to Turing's proof that the Halting
Problem cannot be solved by a computing device, thus nicely bringing us
full circle.)
--
/ Steve Savitzky \ 1997 Pegasus Award winner: best science song--+ \
/ <st...@starport.com> \ http://www.starport.com/people/steve/ V \
\ hacker/songwriter: \ http://www.starport.com/people/steve/Doc/Songs/
\_ Kids' page: MOVED ---> http://www.starport.com/places/forKids/ ______/
Dave Weingart
>What do you get when you cross a grape with a mountain climber?
> You can't do that, a mountain climber is a scalar.
This is on the order of, when people ask me what's up, I usually say
"The cross product of north and west."
d...@america.net
> One day in Teletubbyland, pci...@otherworld.std.com said:
> >What do you get when you cross a grape with a mountain climber?
> > You can't do that, a mountain climber is a scalar.
> This is on the order of, when people ask me what's up, I usually say
> "The cross product of north and west."
Friend: "Hey, Rob! What's new?"
Me: "e/h"
(stolen shamelessly from Issac Asimov. So far, only one person has
every actually caught the joke, and the grimace of pain was worth
all the blank stares....)
Chris Croughton
st...@central.starport.com "Stephen R. Savitzky" wrote:
>This leads to one of my favorite mathematical riddles: "What's yellow
>and equivalent to the Axiom of Choice?" (Answer: Zorn's Lemon). I once
>had a yellow Dodge A100 van with the obvious name. For extra credit:
>"What's purple and commutes?" I'm still looking for more in that vein.
Any British filker can tell you that - Lissa!
(For a sufficiently perturbed value of 'commute', that is...)
>Almost everyone knows the filksong "Aleph-null bottles of beer on the
>wall".
Yes, but I've never heard it all the way through...
>What seems to be less well-known is the fact that you don't need
>to invoke transfinite numbers in order to get a non-terminating version
>of the song. Any computer scientist will tell you that you can get the
>same effect by starting with minus one.
Or any floating-point number, on some machines.
Chris C
Dave Weingart
>Friend: "Hey, Rob! What's new?"
>Me: "e/h"
>
>(stolen shamelessly from Issac Asimov. So far, only one person has
>every actually caught the joke, and the grimace of pain was worth
>all the blank stares....)
<groan>
Of course, I usually say c/(lambda)
Filksinger
d...@america.net wrote in message ...
>
>Friend: "Hey, Rob! What's new?"
>Me: "e/h"
>
I've used it once or twice, but can't recall the reaction. It is pretty
esoteric. It reminds me of the time that data asked the holodeck computer
for the funniest comic of all time, but wisely rejected a man whose humor
was all about quantum dynamics.
Filksinger
Mark Horning
Dave Weingart <phyd...@liii.com> wrote:
>One day in Teletubbyland, pci...@otherworld.std.com said:
>>What do you get when you cross a grape with a mountain climber?
>> You can't do that, a mountain climber is a scalar.
>
>This is on the order of, when people ask me what's up, I usually say
Yesterday one of the Engineers made the mistake of asking me "whats new?"
I imediatly replied "c" over lamda.
Mark E. Horning "You can not enslave a free man. The most
Physicist you can do is kill him."
Phoenix AZ --Robert A. Heinlein-- (Free Men)
Joe Kesselman, yclept Keshlam
>What do you get when you cross a grape with an Elephant?
Grape Elephant sin(theta) _UNIT_VECTOR_
(Yeah, I know, I always forget it too.)
Mark A Mandel
: Almost everyone knows the filksong "Aleph-null bottles of beer on the
: wall".
I use the verse
Take aleph-null bottles down aleph-null times,
Aleph-null bottles...
Mark A Mandel
: In article <F65Es...@world.std.com>,
: There are various formulations of it, but one is:
: For any set A of disjoint, nonempty sets, there exists a set B
: consisting of exactly one element from each set in A.
[etc.]
OK, thanks. I'll ponder that for a while.
Meanwhile, though, isn't the second v. wrong? Not as a song! Never let the
facts get in the way. But if "we each were chatting up a different subset
of his guests" ... well, shouldn't the set of all possible subsets of a
set of cardinality aleph-0 have cardinality 2^(aleph-0)? And surely that's
less than C? Or where am I wrong?
Kevin Wald
Mark A Mandel <mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com> wrote:
> Meanwhile, though, isn't the second v. wrong?
Nope.
> Not as a song!
Not even as a mathematical statement.
> Never let the
> facts get in the way. But if "we each were chatting up a different subset
> of his guests" ... well, shouldn't the set of all possible subsets of a
> set of cardinality aleph-0 have cardinality 2^(aleph-0)?
Yes, it should and it does. (Taking ^ to be the exponentiation function
for cardinals, that is.)
> And surely that's less than C? Or where am I wrong?
In fact, 2^(aleph-0) equals C. The most intuitive way to see this is
to note that you can match up the subsets of the positive integers
almost 1-1 with the reals in [0, 1] by the rule {x1, x2, x3, ...}
--> 2^-x1 + 2^-x2 + 2^-x3 + ... (so, for example, the set of all prime
numbers, {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, ...}, maps to 2^-2 + 2^-3 + 2^-5 + 2^-7 + ...
= .011010100010... in binary). Then every real in [0, 1] is hit at
least once and at most twice (you get doubling-up in a countable set
of cases -- for example .010000000... = .001111111... -- which can be
eliminated by making the rule slightly more complicated), and so these
two infinite cardinalities must be equal.
xwinger
>Of course, I usually say c/(lambda)
I would think it would be c/lambada - dare I stand the strain?
Mark A Mandel
: In fact, 2^(aleph-0) equals C. The most intuitive way to see this is
[... snipped]
Oh... kay... yes, I think I see it, but I'm gonna print it out and ponder
for a while. Thanks.
-- Mark A. Mandel
the thrice and future (?... but definitely only finitely) Arisia filkczar
Bruce Adelsohn
> Friend: "Hey, Rob! What's new?"
> Me: "e/h"
>
> (stolen shamelessly from Issac Asimov. So far, only one person has
> every actually caught the joke, and the grimace of pain was worth
> all the blank stares....)
Similarly:
Coworker [and isn't a cow a silly thing to ork? ;-]: "What's up?"
Me: "Minus-g."
Easy to tell who the liberal arts majors were (they're the ones who *get*
it :-)
--
- mka Bruce Adelsohn - | "Tempus fuggit."
ska Stefan Davidson, called Fingersinger|
http://www2.cybernex.net/~brucea/ | -- Nanny Ogg, in LORDS AND
bru...@cybernex.net | -- LADIES, by Terry Pratchett
cadr...@killspam.earthlink.net
<bru...@cybernex.net> wrote:
>Coworker [and isn't a cow a silly thing to ork? ;-]: "What's up?"
>Me: "Minus-g."
>
>Easy to tell who the liberal arts majors were (they're the ones who *get*
>it :-)
Sadly, you're probably right. When I was in college my mother the
chemist gave me a T-shirt with a humorous cartoon relevant to the
chemical supply house it was advertising. I wore it to my engineering
classes, and got "What's that?" or a lot of overanalyzing what it
might be about. My roommate (a vocal/piano/elementry ed major) took
one look & laughed. Then she got offended when I incredulously asked,
"Do you mean you GET it?"
--
Speak roughly to your CPU/Reboot it when it freezes.
Robin E. Baylor
Mark A Mandel
: In article <F5yzE...@world.std.com>,
: >: Well, an infinite number of guests just pulled up. :-)
: >
: > When we pulled up in Birmingham in need of R and R....
: Inspired by (though not relating directly to) the above exchange,
: I offer the following set piece:
: As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
Evidently infected////////inspired by the above-referenced song and all
the subsequent exchanges, plus the experience of having just reshelved a
collection of Clarke shorts, my mind spewed out the following complete
piece of nonsense as I stepped out of the shower 'tother night:
9e9 names of God on the page,
9e9 names of God.
Paste them down, the books are all bound
-- Mark A. Mandel
FIJAGH! Now, *filking*, on the other hand...
http://world.std.com/~mam/filk.html
Chris Croughton
mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com "Mark A Mandel" wrote:
> 9e9 names of God on the page,
> 9e9 names of God.
> Paste them down, the books are all bound
Being picky, was it ever stated in the story that it was 9 American
billion? I certainly always thought that it was 9e12 <g>...
Chris C
Lee Gold
Given that Clarke was originally British, you're probably right.
Lee Gold
>
>
> Yes, the office in which the story opens with the lama ordering the
> computer, is in Manhattan, and it's one of the company's engineers who
> says "they reckon that there are about nine billion of them".
That "reckon" also sounds more like UK-English that NorthAmericanEnglish.
--Lee Gold
Mark A Mandel
: In article <36B3782D...@mediaone.net>,
: Lee Gold <lee...@mediaone.net> wrote:
: >Chris Croughton wrote:
: >> Being picky, was it ever stated in the story that it was 9 American
: >> billion? I certainly always thought that it was 9e12 <g>...
: >
: >Given that Clarke was originally British, you're probably right.
: The technician who says "about 9 billion" is American, IIRC.
Nice save, Paul; thanks.
Yes, the office in which the story opens with the lama ordering the
computer, is in Manhattan, and it's one of the company's engineers who
says "they reckon that there are about nine billion of them". The story
"was written, for want of anything better to do, during a rainy weekend at
the Roosevelt Hotel" [Clarke's headnote to the story, in the eponymous
collection], in New York, May 1952 [endnote].
Chris & Lee, BBBBPPPPTTTTHHHHHHTTT!!!!!
-- Mark A. Mandel
ConCertino '99 Programmed Chair
July 9-11, 1999, Westborough, Mass.
d...@america.net
> Mark A Mandel wrote:
> >
> >
> > Yes, the office in which the story opens with the lama ordering the
> > computer, is in Manhattan, and it's one of the company's engineers who
> > says "they reckon that there are about nine billion of them".
> That "reckon" also sounds more like UK-English that NorthAmericanEnglish.
Oh, I dunno. I reckon that there engineer might just have been a
gawjah tech graduate. :)
Rob
Chris Croughton
lee...@mediaone.net "Lee Gold" wrote:
>Mark A Mandel wrote:
>
>> Yes, the office in which the story opens with the lama ordering the
>> computer, is in Manhattan, and it's one of the company's engineers who
>> says "they reckon that there are about nine billion of them".
OK, I'd accept that as evidence of US billion.
>That "reckon" also sounds more like UK-English that NorthAmericanEnglish.
Strange, I'd take that as additional evidence of US billion, I don't know
many Brits who use 'reckon' in that way, but I do know Americans who use
it. It may be local to some areas, of course...
Chris C
Mary Creasey
>
> STRONGLY suggest you send this on to Leslie Fish via the Creaseys!
>
> Michael
I've already saved it for that purpose--although neither she
nor I will make that much sense of it...neither of us are
mathematicians. (Some of it was sorta understandable...)
Cute song, though!
Mary
>
> Kevin Wald wrote in message ...
> >In article <F5yzE...@world.std.com>,
> >Mark A Mandel <mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com> wrote:
> >>Daniel R. Reitman (drei...@teleport.com) wrote:
> >>: Well, an infinite number of guests just pulled up. :-)
> >>
> >> When we pulled up in Birmingham in need of R and R....
> >
> >Inspired by (though not relating directly to) the above exchange,
> >I offer the following set piece:
> >
> >-------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
> >They noticed there was one of us for every point in R;
> >Their room-list had the wrong transfinite cardinality,
> >Alas -- for it was Aleph Null and our bunch was C.
> >
> > So we're banned from Aleph, almost all,
> > Banned from Aleph -- their hotel's just a little small.
> > We may be only aleph-one (or -twelve or -fifty-four)
> > But Aleph has no room for any more.
> >
> >The desk clerk tried to fit us in, but each prospective list
> >He gave us, we diagonalized to show him who he'd missed.
> >He grew a bit irate, for we were starting to be pests --
> >We each were chatting up a different subset of his guests.
> >
> > And we're . . .
> >
> >He said we could omega-tuple up (this plan assumes
> >That aleph-zero sleep in each of aleph-zero rooms).
> >The manager came over, though, and said in somber voice
> >That such a scheme would violate the Axiom of Choice.
> >
> > And we're . . .
> >
> >We phoned another Aleph Inn, it didn't help a bit;
> >The clerk at Aleph One could prove he couldn't prove we'd fit.
> >At last, I called the local shul when services were done;
> >The cantor let us spend the night in Temple Beth-Sub-One.
> >
> > 'Cause we're banned from Aleph, almost all,
> > Banned from Aleph -- their hotel's just a little small.
> > We may be only aleph-one (or -twelve or -fifty-four)
> > But Aleph has no room for any more.
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Kevin Wald, wa...@math.uchicago.edu | "When we climbed onto Xena's horse
> >http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~wald | and took her for a spin . . ."
Kevin Wald
>: In article <36B3782D...@mediaone.net>,
>: Lee Gold <lee...@mediaone.net> wrote:
>: >Chris Croughton wrote:
>: >> Being picky, was it ever stated in the story that it was 9 American
>: >> billion? I certainly always thought that it was 9e12 <g>...
>: >
>: >Given that Clarke was originally British, you're probably right.
>
>: The technician who says "about 9 billion" is American, IIRC.
>
>computer, is in Manhattan, and it's one of the company's engineers who
>says "they reckon that there are about nine billion of them".
Moreover, he says it to the other technician, so we know he's not
translating for the benefit of a non-American.
Also, it seems to me that 9e9 fits the figures given in the story
slightly better than 9e12. The entire project runs 100 days -- a little
under nine million seconds. Thus, if it's 9e12, the computer must be
generating over a million names of God per second, and should therefore
be generating millions of name candidates per second (since not every
string will be a real name), and is thus performing (at least) millions
of operations per second. However, the computer is described as
performing "thousands" of operations per second, not millions -- what
you'd expect if the task is a thousand times smaller.
Kevin Wald, wa...@math.uchicago.edu | "Catalog of ships -- I'll remember that."
http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~wald | -- Homer, _The Huntress and the Sphinx_
Chris Croughton
wa...@ford.uchicago.edu "Kevin Wald" wrote:
>Also, it seems to me that 9e9 fits the figures given in the story
>slightly better than 9e12. The entire project runs 100 days -- a little
>under nine million seconds. Thus, if it's 9e12, the computer must be
>generating over a million names of God per second, and should therefore
>be generating millions of name candidates per second (since not every
>string will be a real name), and is thus performing (at least) millions
>of operations per second. However, the computer is described as
>performing "thousands" of operations per second, not millions -- what
>you'd expect if the task is a thousand times smaller.
Of course, now you could do it on a home computer in a matter of hours.
It's a pity he didn't describe the alphabet and rules, we could do it and
see if we really did cause the End of the World <g>...
Chris C
Harold Groot
>> Yes, the office in which the story opens with the lama ordering the
>> computer, is in Manhattan, and it's one of the company's engineers who
>> says "they reckon that there are about nine billion of them".
>
>
I can't really speak for LA and the West Coast in general, but
"reckon" is a very commonly used word in the Eastern US, especially in
the South.
It may be equally common in the UK for all I know - but I find it hard
to imagine it being so much =more= common as to place it in only that
dialect. At worst it is common to both.
Kay Shapero
>That "reckon" also sounds more like UK-English that NorthAmericanEnglish.
>
>--Lee Gold
HG>I can't really speak for LA and the West Coast in general, but
HG>"reckon" is a very commonly used word in the Eastern US,
HG>especially in the South.
I use it myself... and in this particular case I'm pretty sure I picked it
up in Kentucky. (While I was born in California, my folks were from
Kentucky and we went back there to visit a number of times when I was
small.)
Chris Croughton
wa...@ford.uchicago.edu "Kevin Wald" wrote:
>As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
>They noticed there was one of us for every point in R;
>Their room-list had the wrong transfinite cardinality,
>Alas -- for it was Aleph Null and our bunch was C.
As promised, I sang it at XIlophone (the British filk con, last weekend),
and it went down very well. We seem to have a lot of mathematicians there
(and some of them claim to know about transfinite numbers, where I can
just get the jokes but couldn't contribute to the discussions).
Just one point - I had trouble singing the last line of the first verse
(above), it seems to have the wrong number of syllables, 23 rather than 24
as in the other verses. As a Discordian, I have nothing against the
number 23 <g>, but I'm wondering where you put the other one? Possibly
two syllables for 'our' ('ow-er'), which I think is how I sang it?
(Actually it's Aleph0 - 23 syllables short, but the concert was running
late as it was <g>...)
Chris C
Lee Gold
> In article <F5zLs...@midway.uchicago.edu>
> wa...@ford.uchicago.edu "Kevin Wald" wrote:
>
> >As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
> >They noticed there was one of us for every point in R;
> >Their room-list had the wrong transfinite cardinality,
> >Alas -- for it was Aleph Null and our bunch was C.
>
> Just one point - I had trouble singing the last line of the first verse
> (above), it seems to have the wrong number of syllables, 23 rather than 24
> as in the other verses. As a Discordian, I have nothing against the
> number 23 <g>, but I'm wondering where you put the other one? Possibly
> two syllables for 'our' ('ow-er'), which I think is how I sang it?
You could change it to "our tour group was C." Kevin, any objection
to its appearing like tha in Xeno nextish?
Rereading the first verse, I find myself in awe over the ONE car the
group arrived at the hotel in.
(to the tune of "The Wabash Cannonball")
Look at all the seating that you get in this car
You can stuff in countless passengers and drive them near and far
There are doors at at every point along its sleek periphery
You'll waste no time unboarding with Infinity Class C.
--Lee Gold
Mat Butler
Hash: SHA1
Chris Croughton wrote in message ...
>In article <F5zLs...@midway.uchicago.edu>
> wa...@ford.uchicago.edu "Kevin Wald" wrote:
>
>>As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
>>They noticed there was one of us for every point in R;
>>Their room-list had the wrong transfinite cardinality,
>>Alas -- for it was Aleph Null and our bunch was C.
>
>Just one point - I had trouble singing the last line of the first
verse
>(above), it seems to have the wrong number of syllables, 23 rather
than 24
>as in the other verses. As a Discordian, I have nothing against the
>number 23 <g>, but I'm wondering where you put the other one?
Possibly
>two syllables for 'our' ('ow-er'), which I think is how I sang it?
>
>(Actually it's Aleph0 - 23 syllables short, but the concert was
running
>late as it was <g>...)
>
>Chris C
Try singing 'Alas' as something other than a pick-up note. Or, just
sing it like it's written -- with the double-dash as eating up a
syllable by itself? :>
Sheesh. Can't figure out how to type that. Sorry. :/
- -der Winged Wolf
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Kevin Wald
> Chris Croughton wrote:
[In addition to a brief con/song report -- glad to hear things went well!]
>> In article <F5zLs...@midway.uchicago.edu>
>> wa...@ford.uchicago.edu "Kevin Wald" wrote:
>>
>>> As we approached the Aleph Inn and tried to park our car,
>>> They noticed there was one of us for every point in R;
>>> Their room-list had the wrong transfinite cardinality,
>>> Alas -- for it was Aleph Null and our bunch was C.
>
> Just one point - I had trouble singing the last line of the first verse
> (above), it seems to have the wrong number of syllables, 23 rather than 24
> as in the other verses. As a Discordian, I have nothing against the
> number 23 <g>, but I'm wondering where you put the other one? Possibly
> two syllables for 'our' ('ow-er'), which I think is how I sang it?
Exactly -- I intended the "our" in the last line to be pronounced
"ow-er". (Sorry about that; I personally pronounce "our" either
monosyllabically or disyllabically as the whim strikes me, and
I didn't take into account that this isn't universal.)
> You could change it to "our tour group was C." Kevin, any objection
> to its appearing like tha in Xeno nextish?
Well, I would accent "tour group" as "TOUR group", not "tour GROUP",
so that wouldn't quite scan for me. If the disyllabic "our" won't
fly, how about "our bunch numbered C" or "our bunch totaled C"?
> Rereading the first verse, I find myself in awe over the ONE car the
> group arrived at the hotel in.
Well, I was picturing something in between a clown car and the
pin with all those angels dancing on it.
> (to the tune of "The Wabash Cannonball")
> Look at all the seating that you get in this car
> You can stuff in countless passengers and drive them near and far
> There are doors at at every point along its sleek periphery
> You'll waste no time unboarding with Infinity Class C.
Hee-hee.
Kevin Wald, wa...@math.uchicago.edu | "Oh, a heavy dragoon is a light-heared
Chris Croughton
wa...@ford.uchicago.edu "Kevin Wald" wrote:
>Exactly -- I intended the "our" in the last line to be pronounced
>"ow-er". (Sorry about that; I personally pronounce "our" either
>monosyllabically or disyllabically as the whim strikes me, and
>I didn't take into account that this isn't universal.)
In British pronunciation it is also both mono- and di-syllabic, but my
general pronunciation is mono. Thanks.
(Incidentally, both the alternates suggested I disagree with the scansion
- making the dash a pause really messes up the stress on the following
words and as you point out "tour group" feels wrong wit hthe stress on
'group'. I'd just add a note about 'ow-er', I think that pronunciation is
familiar to enough people even if it's not their usual one, and we have to
do much worse things for some songs...)
>Well, I was picturing something in between a clown car and the
>pin with all those angels dancing on it.
Yes, or the magician with all the handkerchiefs coming out of the hat.
But I think it does rather want a song about the car...
>> (to the tune of "The Wabash Cannonball")
>
>> Look at all the seating that you get in this car
>> You can stuff in countless passengers and drive them near and far
>> There are doors at at every point along its sleek periphery
>> You'll waste no time unboarding with Infinity Class C.
Which also, of course, scans to BfA if you stretch the first line a little
and squeeze "you can" into the pickup note on the second line <g>. Or
mangling it into the first person to fit with your song:
Just look at all the seating that we fitted in this car,
We stuff in countless passengers, and drive them near and far.
With doors at every point along its sleek periphery
We waste no time unboarding with Infinity Class C.
And we drive our car at Aleph One (KPH),
Drive at Aleph, though the steering isn't fun.
The body's very long to fit in all those countless doors,
And it won't go round corners any more!
(Note that 'every' in the 3rd line of the verse is a mono-syllable...)
((And you have to add the spoken "KPH" - or "MPH" for Americans, Brits and
other people still using Imperial units - because Aleph1 is unit-less and
the pedants like me will complain.))
Next?
Chris C
Mark A Mandel
: Just look at all the seating that we fitted in this car,
: We stuff in countless passengers, and drive them near and far.
: With doors at every point along its sleek periphery
: We waste no time unboarding with Infinity Class C.
: (Note that 'every' in the 3rd line of the verse is a mono-syllable...)
I hope not! I can't imagine how*, and It works so well as a disyllable
(sometimes written "ev'ry"),
* (With i syllables, boss!)
(Thanks, Loiosh, that clears it all up.)
-- Dr. Whom, Consulting Linguist, Grammarian, Orthoepist, and
Philological Busybody
a.k.a. Mark A. Mandel
Eloise Beltz-Decker
> Chris Croughton (ch...@keris.demon.co.uk) wrote:
>
> : Just look at all the seating that we fitted in this car,
> : We stuff in countless passengers, and drive them near and far.
> : With doors at every point along its sleek periphery
> : We waste no time unboarding with Infinity Class C.
>
> : (Note that 'every' in the 3rd line of the verse is a mono-syllable...)
>
> I hope not! I can't imagine how*, and It works so well as a disyllable
> (sometimes written "ev'ry"),
Ditto - how in hell is 'every' a mono? It's either a 3 or a 2,
according at least to my choir leader in grade school ...
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elo...@ripco.com C+++(--) US+ L E---- W+@ N++@
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t+++@ 5++ X+ R[WoD/AD&D]++(*)
& * Blessed be * & b++++@ G+ e* h- r++ x*
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Chris Croughton
mam-DIE-S...@world.std.com "Mark A Mandel" wrote:
>: (Note that 'every' in the 3rd line of the verse is a mono-syllable...)
>
>I hope not! I can't imagine how*, and It works so well as a disyllable
>(sometimes written "ev'ry"),
Idiot! (Me, that is.) Yes, I meant "two instead of the 'correct' 3
syllables", i.e. not "ev-er-y"...
>* (With i syllables, boss!)
You mean 'j' syllables, I'm an engineer <g>...
Chris C
Dave Weingart
>You mean 'j' syllables, I'm an engineer <g>...
No wonder you're so complex!
--
73 de Dave Weingart KA2ESK Over the hills and far away
mailto:phyd...@liii.com Falwell says Tinky-Winky is gay
http://www.liii.com/~phydeaux
Chris Croughton
phyd...@liii.com "Dave Weingart" wrote:
>No wonder you're so complex!
I'm not, I'm completely imaginary <g>...
(Reality is a crutch for those unable to imagine anything better...)
Chris C