North Korean labor camps a ghastly prospect for U.S. journalists = Rats, jail for both reporters - shock, unpopular amongst any class!
(by Pinchas Aronas)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
North Korean labor camps a ghastly prospect for U.S. journalists
(Los Angeles Times)
North Korean labor camps a ghastly prospect for U.S. journalists = Rats, jail for both reporters - shock, unpopular amongst any class!
North Korean labor camps a ghastly prospect for U.S. journalists = Rats, jail for both reporters - shock, unpopular amongst any class!
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Anagram Times Interview: Jeffrey Barnes
Anagramming is an art as well as a science. From time to time we'll interview master anagrammers who combine the two to produce anagrams that are filled with ingenuity and display their passion and devotion to anagramming. Our first interview is with Jeffrey Barnes, a Grammy Award winning musician from Texas.Q How did you get into anagrams?
A Circa 1980 I began writing palindroems, little "poems" whose lines are spelled the same backward as forward. Trying to make some kind of crazy sense within a very constrictive framework was fun!
Books by authors like Willard Espy showed me other ways of "making the alphabet dance", including word squares (the apotheosis of palindrome), charade ("poems" where couplet lines are spelled the same, but with the word breaks in different places), and anagrams.
Q Do you remember the first anagram you made?
A I don't remember my first, but Thursday night as I was going to sleep, my brain jumbled the word "Batman" into "Bantam". I had a short dream about a guy fighting crime in a chicken suit and woke up laughing. My wife woke up too, but not laughing.
Here's an early "poem" where every line is an anagram of the title:
Existentialism
X is a silent item.
Examine its list:
It's man's exile. It
is Time's tax line.
Next it is a smile
-- snail-exits Time!
Next, a missile. It
lies in state. Mix
six mentalities...
Mine is late. It's X.
Q Do you have a favorite anagram?
A Surely "Twelve + one = Eleven + two" is hard to beat!
Q What do you do in your non-anagram life?
A I'm a musician. My wife Gina teaches dyslexic children to read. We're both interested in language.
I've played in a band called Brave Combo for 26 years. I perform on saxophones, clarinets, flutes, harmonicas and other noisemakers. We play many different musical styles, but won the Grammy for Best Polka Recording in 1999 and 2004. (Sadly, that Grammy category was discontinued several days ago.)
My band appeared on an episode of The Simpsons, called "Co-Dependence Day", for which I arranged the closing theme.
Q Describe the moment when you are working on anagramming a phrase and the last few letters just fall into place and you realize that you have an outstanding anagram on your hands.
A After choosing the source, separating and alphabetizing the vowels and consonants, putting carats on every five letters so the count is correct, finding a starting word that's rife with promise, separating the other letters and trying to use the odd ones (j,k,q,v,x,z et al,) repeating the process over and over using Anu's amazing Internet Anagram Server or little wooden letter squares or just a cocktail napkin, sometimes reaching blind alleys and disassembling words for their parts, one winds up with a small handful of letters and...*click* everything comes together! Not a word (or letter) is wasted. The result is a cogent, pithy, pertinent comment on its source -- often hilarious, but sometimes serious, or even heartbreaking. The anagrammatist has manipulated the primary elements of language with great skill. All the elements of artistic performance are there, except...the anagrammatist is not really responsible for the result. He or she is like a pythoness at the Delphic oracle -- only the conduit for a message from beyond, one of many that existed within the source before the anagrammatist even began.
Q Approximately how long do you spend on an anagram?
A Sometimes it clicks in at 15 or 20 minutes. Sometimes I'll run into all manner of blind alleys, get obsessed, work for hours, and finally (1) get a satisfactory result or (2) give up in disgust.
There is a 28-letter source, which uses only 1/2 the letters of the alphabet plus one, that I've worked on for a couple of years without exhausting. It's generated thousands of viable anagrams, which I'll put into a book eventually.
Long boring trips with the band make this sort of thing possible -- maybe inevitable.
Q Anything else you'd like to add?
A Oh, yes! Something about the ethics of anagramming:
There's a passage in Book XII of The Odyssey, where Odysseus must sail through a narrow pass between two rocks, one of which houses Scylla, a monster whose six heads devour sailors, and the other which has Charybdis, another monster whose giant mouth creates a whirlpool that can suck down a whole ship. (A less classical allusion would be "between a rock and a hard place" or "between the Devil and the deep, blue sea".)
This reminds me of our ethical plight. Remember that an anagrammatist, our "hero" surviving by virtue of his wits, is not completely in charge of what he expresses. He often risks saying something abjectly evil -- and you decide whether he's "channeling" some evil spirit or expressing a dark aspect of his own psyche -- to avoid the bottomless pit of nonsense which always threatens to engulf him.
Of course, "a little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men". On the other hand, we may be tempted to say something morally reprehensible because it's often richly comical to assume the persona of a villain, but it's probably a good idea to edit yourself -- or let somebody responsible do it for you -- than to have righteous people feel offended, or wicked people feel justified.
Some of Jeffrey Barnes's recent anagrams:
- Sotomayor hits Hill again as GOP's race rhetoric cools
- Will denying Kim cognac have any effect on N. Korea?
- Al-Qaeda deputy denounces Obama
What anagrammers would you like to see interviewed here? What questions would you like to ask them? Post your questions and comments about anagrams, this interview, or The Anagram Times below.
... Read more
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The Most Interesting Pitchmen in the World
(Yahoo! TV)
The Most Interesting Man in the World. = In restatement: Hot winner - Goldsmith
The Most Interesting Man in the World. = In restatement: Hot winner - Goldsmith
(by Pinchas Aronas)
Friday, June 5, 2009
Reagan's Glory Days Recalled at Statue Installation
(The New York Times)
Reagan's Glory Days Recalled at Statue Installation = Old gray colleagues lie; translated, a tyrant's a saint!
Other anagrams:
Daily guests see cast Ronald at national art gallery
And analysts relate it's astrologically guaranteed.
Gallant sunny actor, yet got all satirised as a leader.
Reagan's Glory Days Recalled at Statue Installation = Old gray colleagues lie; translated, a tyrant's a saint!
Other anagrams:
Daily guests see cast Ronald at national art gallery
And analysts relate it's astrologically guaranteed.
Gallant sunny actor, yet got all satirised as a leader.
(by Dharam)
Obama calls for 'new beginning' between U.S. and Muslims
(Los Angeles Times)
Obama calls for 'new beginning' between U.S. and Muslims = Uncle Sam suggests no ban - firm, amiable, noble, new wind
Obama calls for 'new beginning' between U.S. and Muslims = Uncle Sam suggests no ban - firm, amiable, noble, new wind
(by Pinchas Aronas)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Barack Obama reaches out to Muslim world
(BBC News)
Barack Obama urges end to Islam discord = I came, do mark...US addressing to Arab bloc
Barack Obama urges end to Islam discord = I came, do mark...US addressing to Arab bloc
(by Pinchas Aronas)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sotomayor hits Hill again as GOP's race rhetoric cools
Sotomayor hits Hill again as GOP's race rhetoric cools
(CNN)
Sotomayor hits Hill again as GOP's race rhetoric cools = "Ooo -- Anita Hill?" says Thomas. "Great cross, pro-choice girl!"
(CNN)
Sotomayor hits Hill again as GOP's race rhetoric cools = "Ooo -- Anita Hill?" says Thomas. "Great cross, pro-choice girl!"
(by Jeffrey Barnes)
Will denying Kim cognac have any effect on N. Korea?
(AP)
Will denying Kim cognac have any effect on N. Korea? = Get fancy -- give 'em any new, fake, non-alcoholic drink
Will denying Kim cognac have any effect on N. Korea? = Get fancy -- give 'em any new, fake, non-alcoholic drink
(by Jeffrey Barnes)
Toy Gun Sparks Lockdown At Princeton
(CBS News)
Toy Gun Sparks Lockdown At Princeton = Pentagon runs down tacky cork pistol
Toy Gun Sparks Lockdown At Princeton = Pentagon runs down tacky cork pistol
(by Squidrock.com)
Jacqui Smith resigns as home secretary
(The Guardian)
Jacqui Smith resigns as Home Secretary. = Eager, rich scam-mistress has quit. Enjoy!
Jacqui Smith resigns as Home Secretary. = Eager, rich scam-mistress has quit. Enjoy!
(by Tony Crafter)
Al-Qaeda deputy denounces Obama
(BBC News)
Al-Qaeda deputy denounces Obama = A bane, a menace? Doodly-squat, dupe!
Al-Qaeda deputy denounces Obama = A bane, a menace? Doodly-squat, dupe!
(by Jeffrey Barnes)
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Man charged with murder in Kansas doctor's death
CNN: Man charged with murder in Kansas doctor's death (story)
Man charged with murder in Kansas doctor's death = Mean Christian human stretched a dark god's word
Man charged with murder in Kansas doctor's death = Mean Christian human stretched a dark god's word
(by Jeffrey Barnes)
Nancy Reagan back at the White House
USA Today: Nancy Reagan back at the White House (story)
Nancy Reagan back at the White House = "What the heck are you?" "Cannabis agent."
Nancy Reagan back at the White House = "What the heck are you?" "Cannabis agent."
(by Jeffrey Barnes)
Monday, June 1, 2009
Sotomayor's Opponents and Allies Prepare Strategies
The New York Times: Sotomayor's Opponents and Allies Prepare Strategies (story)
Also enjoy these anagrams of the above phrase:
1. All eyes trained on top magistrate's apropos response.
2. Senators see and stoop to misreporting early appeals.
3. GOP does temporarily stop nation's rants (see a relapse?).
4. Please stop /Ordinary slop; /Start to agree, Pass nominee!
5. Emotional peers, senators, a propagandist: "So, let's PREY!"
6. People, don't misinterpret a past season or year's goals!
Also enjoy these anagrams of the above phrase:
1. All eyes trained on top magistrate's apropos response.
2. Senators see and stoop to misreporting early appeals.
3. GOP does temporarily stop nation's rants (see a relapse?).
4. Please stop /Ordinary slop; /Start to agree, Pass nominee!
5. Emotional peers, senators, a propagandist: "So, let's PREY!"
6. People, don't misinterpret a past season or year's goals!
(by Dharam)
Diversity Beat Boyle To Win Britain's Got Talent
The Daily Mirror: Diversity Beat Boyle To Win Britain's Got Talent (story)
Street-dance group 'Diversity' have won 'Britain's Got Talent' = Susan Boyle didn't attract great phone-vote. Viewers tiring?
Street-dance group 'Diversity' have won 'Britain's Got Talent' = Susan Boyle didn't attract great phone-vote. Viewers tiring?
(by Tony Crafter)
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