Thursday, December 21, 2006
Akari
Last night the Dunces paid a visit to a new Japanese restaurant in north London, Akari (196 Essex Road). It's located in a former pub (see this amusing comment on Fancyapint), and in its previous incarnation was French restaurant Le Montmartre. Although Akari is quite new, I did find a couple of reviews (Viewlondon, Japanese guide to Essex Road). It still looks very much like a pub, full of wood tables surrounding the bar area which has been converted to an open kitchen. The menu is fairly short (even including a page of specials) but quite varied; on the other hand the drink menu is quite substantial (we stuck to Yebisu beer, a favorite from our trip to Japan which we haven't seen in London before; they also had Orion beer, in addition to more standard Japanese beers). Mrs. Dunce described it as a more accessible version of an izakaya (sort of like Camden's Asakusa in having an interesting range of very Japanese dishes, but differing by aiming to also accommodate people who are not so familiar with Japanese food); a gastro-izakaya if you like. Definitely izakaya-ish, though; other customers were working their way around the shochu/sake menu, also ordering small dishes one or two at a time.

We ordered a few dishes (all to share) which was just the right amount of food: a nice hot miso soup to start with (temperatures dropped to near freezing this week. As individuals of midwestern heritage it's rather embarrassing to admit that we were both uncomfortably cold. When it wasn't even below freezing!). Shrimp & vegetable tempura, then an excellent dish of mussels in a sake-based soup. An order of hand-rolled sushi with salmon, avocado & tempura shrimp. And the highlight of the evening: kaki fry. Fried oysters, one of Mrs. Dunce's favorite dishes. With a splash of sauce (quite reminiscent of okonomiyaki sauce) and a home-made tartar sauce on the side. These were fantastic. And we finished up with hot tea before venturing back out into the cold. The bill came to (exactly) £40 including two beers each.

We'll definitely be heading back there in the new year.

consume
Thursday, December 21, 2006 1:38:01 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [1]  | 
The original Dunce
A recent post on the Language Log discussing the relationship between grammar and ethics/morality included a digression on the etymology of the term "dunce". As I was unfamiliar with this story, and because I've adopted the name myself, but especially because "dunce" has such an interested trajectory, I thought it was definitely worth covering here (quotes shamelessly c&p'd from the Oxford English Dictionary).

The term "dunce" (n.) is broadly described like this: "[a]n application of the name of John Duns Scotus, the celebrated scholastic eologian, called ‘Doctor Subtilis’ the Subtle Doctor, who died in 1308. His works on theology, philosophy, and logic, were textbooks in the Universities, in which (as at Oxford) his followers, called Scotists, were a predominating Scholastic sect, until the 16th c., when the system was attacked with ridicule, first by the humanists, and then by the reformers, as a farrago of needless entities, and useless distinctions. The Dunsmen or Dunses, on their side, railed against the 'new learning', and the name Duns or Dunce, already synonymous with 'cavilling sophist' or 'hair-splitter', soon passed into the sense of 'dull obstinate person impervious to the new learning', and of 'blockhead incapable of learning or scholarship'."

1. The first sense of "dunce" (listed as Obsolete and appearing in examples between 1527 and 1641) is strictly linked to the individual: "The personal name Duns used attrib. 'Duns man', a disciple or follower of Duns Scotus, a Scotist, a schoolman; hence, a subtle, sophistical reasoner."

2. The second sense (also Obsolete) was used during the same period, and reference moved beyond the man himself to encompass his writings: "A copy of the works of Duns Scotus; a textbook of scholastic theology or logic embodying his teaching; a comment or gloss by or after the manner of Scotus.".

3. Next the term extended another step further to the third sense (also Obsolete, examples from 1577 and 1611), referring to followers of Duns (and also carrying the connotation of overly petty quibbling): "A disciple or adherent of Duns Scotus, a Duns man, a Scotist; a hair-splitting reasoner; a cavilling sophist."

4. And then it turns even uglier, the fourth sense listed (also Obsolete, appearing in examples from 1579-1742) has lost any positive connotations previous uses might have had: "One whose study of books has left him dull and stupid, or imparted no liberal education; a dull pedant." Such as the quote from Devil's Banquet (T.Adams, 1614), "When a man courts to be a Doctor in all Arts, hee lightly proues a dunce in many".

5. Which brings us to the modern usage which has been stripped of its bookishness (from the late 1500s onward": "One who shows no capacity for learning; a dull-witted, stupid person; a dullard, blockhead.".

This etymological trajectory is a fantastic example of a word's meaning going from one extreme to another. It also matches well with my own nature, although in my case perhaps it's more related to Thomas Dun than to John Duns Scotus (and that ain't no wikipedia link neither; a [sense #4] Dunce like me has to find a more complete and detailed entry). I have buried my nose so deeply in books, and become so consumed by ever-shrinking minutiae that it was inevitable that every last bit of intellect has been drained from me. Now I can barely follow the plot twists and turns of your average episode of America's Next Top Model (cycle 7) as I sit drooling on the couch.

language
Thursday, December 21, 2006 11:42:38 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [2]  | 
 Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Clothing collection scams
Over the past few months I've been obsessively collecting and categorizing every piece of advertising that finds its way through our letterbox (ie, not addressed to us or delivered by the postal service). One surprisingly common category is the dodgy clothing collection company. I've mentioned a couple of these in previous posts (Silverwall; Island of Hope) but now have a whole slew of them. A baker's dozen, as it happens, and oddly they are all exactly the same format, though purportedly coming from a number of different companies. They're all printed on a slightly glossy, lightweight stock (size A3), and they all feature the words CLOTHING COLLECTION in large, prominent type. They all mention that donated clothing will go to poor people (about half of them refer vaguely to third world countries, and half to Eastern European countries). And they all have small print which explains that they are not in fact charitable organizations. Since they have so much in common, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they are actually coming from exactly the same people. The company details listed on the advertising sheets appear below; if you find this post searching for more info on one of these companies I'd be quite interested in your comments.

Silverwall Ltd. (2 ads) I've mentioned this company before. Their advert includes an odd picture of two small shirtless boys (presumably in the throes of poverty, but who in fact look like they're playing on the beach). They're providing people in third world countries with clothes for their families they can afford [sic]. Information on the ad includes gives a company registration number (5433460) and a mobile telephone number 07769 811992. Looking up this number on the Webcheck service at Companies House (official register of UK businesses) show that this company was incorporated in April 2005 and has current status of "Active - Proposal to Strike off".

Orellana Ltd. (2 ads). No picture, just a stylized image of clothing as a background. They too are providing people in third world countries with clothes for their families they can afford [sic]. They list registration number 5496347 and a hotmail address (orellana_support@hotmail.com). This company actually appears as "dissolved" on the Companies House website (incorporated 1 July 2005, dissolved 27 June 2006). It's somewhat strange that a dissolved company would continue to solicit products.

Europe Suppliers Ltd. (2 ads). This one has a blurry picture of a dove as the background. Unlike the previous two, they provide people in need Eastern Europe countries with affordable clothes for them and their families it provides jobs in Eastern European countries for those sorting the clothes for distribution [sic]. Another company registration number (5401427) and another hotmail address (europesupplier@hotmail.co.uk). And hey, it's another company with a status of "Active - Proposal to Strike off" (incorporated April 2003).

Ambertop Ltd. (3 ads). Two of these have background images of small children; the third has a truly bizarre image of cats, possibly photoshopped to make it look like one has an arm around the other (I'll have to scan it in when I have a moment). They provide people in need in Eastern European companies with affordable clothes for them and their families [sic]. And yet another registration number (5333502) and hotmail address (ambertop_support@hotmail.com). Hey, wait a minute, Ambertop was dissolved on 11 April 2006 (incorporated 17 January 2005). See any patterns here yet?

But what about Cotrado Ltd.? (2 ads). An image of three miserable children (perhaps taken from Depression-era stock images). This company provide people in third world countries with clothes for their families they can afford [sic]. Registration number? Check (5545502). Anonymous contact info? Check (mobile number 07792 270755). This company is just barely cold, having only been dissolved a few weeks back (incorporated 24 August 2005, dissolved 28 November 2006).

But wait, there's more! General L&A Wardship Ltd.. Decorated with clip art reminiscent of Hands Across America, this one doesn't even bother with contact information, providing only a company registration number (5477636). This one also uses a slightly different spiel: Can you spare any of your old unwanted clothes whitch will send to the third world where the garments will be carefully sorted and worn again [sic]. And hey, for once this is an active company (incorporated 10 June 2005), with a relevant business type actually listed with Companies House (Nature of Business (SIC(03)): 5116 - Agents in textiles, footwear etc.; registered at 71 EMMOTT AVENUE, ILFORD). But it still looks very questionable to me.

And finally, one that doesn't even include a company name (background image, three nerdy children sitting in someone's back garden). They provide people in third world countries with clothes for their families they can afford [sic]. And provide a company number (5482825) and anonymous email address (pajuryss@yohoo.co.uk [sic]). This company (PAJURYS LTD of Leyton) is active, but proposed to be struck off (incorporated 16 June 2005).

All in all, a healthy stack of unwanted clothing collection scam advertisements. How much unwanted clothing do they think we have?

consume
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 5:24:43 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [11]  | 
 Thursday, December 14, 2006
Spammy, spammy, even more spammy
This blog has just been upgraded to a new version of dasBlog, which apparently provides some new ways to protect bloggists against spam (or "smap" if you prefer). I don't get a lot of visible spam here (comments are fairly well protected by CAPTCHA [except for one or two that seemed to have been added by hand, and were just as easily deleted by hand], trackbacks are disabled, and referrals are not made visible anywhere). But back behind the scenes, there are any number of referral spamming techniques cluttering my logs (spam blogs, dodgy links of various styles, spammy linky postings from open message boards, and so on and so on). But strangely enough, they've almost all been attracted to one particularly exciting post I made last September with the title Spammy, spammy, spammy (which just so happened to mention a few terms that often occur in spammy spams, like poker, diet pills, phentermine, cialis, jackpots, and virtual slots [uh oh, there are those terms again!]). The upgrade log revealed that this entry had received 7683 referrals (where most of my posts are in the low hundreds). So I wonder if a new entry of a similar nature might do the same, as a sort of honeypot attracting smappy interest away from the rest of my posts. If I wrote such an entry, my logs suggest that it probably shouldn't contain terms related to pharmaceuticals like viagra, prozac, zoloft, wellbutrin, thorazine if I want to keep the spam away. I sure wouldn't want spam related to insurance or banking, either, so I'd better avoid using terms like geico, aetna, insure, annuity, account. And when it comes to gambling, I really want to steer clear of slots, roulette, blackjack, poker (although I think I'm safe with three-card monte or baccarat). And I'm terribly afraid what would happen if I mentioned porn. Anyway most of those terms appear in my blacklist, so I'm sure this particular entry will remain pristine, untouched by spammy referrals, comments and so on.

meta
Thursday, December 14, 2006 5:04:52 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [1]  | 
 Tuesday, December 12, 2006
book suggestions and unsuggestions
It's time for another excellent time-wasting website, brought to my attention by a recent post on the Language Log (title: "If you loved The Chomsky Reader, you'll hate The Devil Wears Prada"). This one is the Library Thing, an online book cataloguing system that allows you to see your own collection in the context of other people's collections (N.B. you can only enter 200 books into your "collection" for free [no limit: $10/year or $25/life], but 200 is probably a pretty good start if you have time for it). To me the most interesting aspects of this site are the suggestion/anti-suggestion options. The suggestion option is similar to Amazon's recommendation system (Amazon recommendations are also presented in the Library Thing's suggestion page), "People with this book also have...", based on deviation of actual ownership of a title from the expected ownership based on popularity.

The suggestion system gives results that look like this for a few of my favorite books (I've only looked at the level of individual works; I'm a bit too busy to enter in my own library [or subset thereof]): people who own Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash tend to own other works by Stephenson, also William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and so on. Just like me. Owners of Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow seem to have plenty of other Pynchon, plus William Gaddis, David Foster Wallace, John Barth, and Richard Powers. Just like me. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace gives more Wallace (not of IJ quality, I should note), plenty of Pynchon, also Gaddis, Dom DeLillo, Dave Eggers, Jonathan Franzen (plus Michael Chabon who keeps coming up, I'll have to check him out). A Confederacy of Dunces, however, brings up some odd results (differing depending on "v1" vs "v2", a distinction I haven't quite figured out yet*). Top of the table is Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, followed closely by Gravity's Rainbow and a slew of Vonnegut titles, but also Faulkner, Joyce, Nabokov, Irving and Kerouac.

But there's also an anti-suggestion system the unsuggester (people who own X tend not to own Y): People who ownSnow Crash tend not to own Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Church, Henri Nouwen's The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society and Jan Karon's In This Mountain. Owners of Gravity's Rainbow are very short on Tim LaHaye (7 titles in the top 30 "unrecommended"), John Piper (4 titles), also missing out on The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes and Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews. Infinite Jest readers do not tend to own novels by James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Tamora Pierce and Dean Koontz (this is the only exception I've found: I must admit I do have something by Koontz hanging around the house that has not yet found a suitable home). Finally, A Confederacy of Dunces owners tend not to have Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship by Joshua Harris, and a mass of books by Sherrilyn Kenyon (seven of the ten unsuggested books).


*The distinction between v1 and v2 is explained in a comment on the LibraryThing blog: "Basically v2 has the "obscurity knob" turned up. It care more about the ratio of have/expected than the absolute number of have/expected. v1 is also massaged a bit to dampen high-popularity low-specificity books (eg., things you read in High School, like the Crucible)."

read
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 11:13:31 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Monday, December 11, 2006
Adventures of a very large head
During our recent trip to the USA, we spent a bit of time visiting bicycle shops in the Pensacola metro area, in search of a new helmet to replace my current one (extra large Giro Laguna) which is starting to show signs of age. Now it's been some time since I've shopped for a helmet (the current one came from my father, who no doubt found it at a super-low price in a clearance sale somewhere), and I've discovered a worrying new trend in cycle helmet fashion.

My previous helmets have all been variations of a general theme: the helmet is secured by a chin-strap which divides just under the ears, plus (lately) a sort of plastic cradle at the back of the head, held in place by the straps. Fine fitting adjustments can be made by shortening or lengthening various parts of the straps, and foam pads of variable thickness (in my case, the thinnest ones available) are placed to ensure that the helmet fits securely against the head. Most new helmets I saw in cycle shops still have the chin straps, but these are used only to ensure that the helmet stays on in a crash. Instead, these helmets are secured by an adjustment system somewhat similar to an adjustable baseball cap. Various companies have their own terms for this sort of system ("ring fit systems", such as Bell's ErgoDial, Giro's Acu-Dial and so on), based on a sound idea: ensuring that helmets are properly fitted so that they will actually protect the head as much as possible in an impact (most helmets are not worn correctly, most commonly leaving the forehead unprotected; see this site for info on "How to fit a bicycle helmet"). Unfortunately, none of these systems seem to accommodate a head that is significantly larger than average (much less a large head wearing a hat for winter warmth). My own head happens to be at least an American size 8, a circumference that goes beyond the range of your readily available ErgoDial etc. products. So I returned to London without a new helmet after all.

Since then I've looked around a bit more. There's a nice page on helmets.org specifically listing the helmets that are available for large-sized heads. At the top of the list are the Bell Kinghead and the Vigor Duo, both of which are advertised as fitting 26-inch heads. So now it's just (I hope "just") a matter of finding someone who carries one of them; my initial google searches show nothing (0 hits for "vigor duo" site:uk; only two for "bell kinghead" site:uk, and both of those are junk/link farm sites). At least there's hope I'll be able to get a helmet that does not require someone making a custom mold of my head.
bike
Monday, December 11, 2006 1:53:07 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [2]  | 
 Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Devastating news
Below is the text of a letter recently received at the Dunce home. It may explain why we don't seem ourselves lately; it's terribly hard to get through the day after receiving this kind of bad news.
---------------------------------------------------

Dear Darts Fan,

THE LAKESIDE WORLD PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIPS 6th-14th JANUARY 2007

We thank you for applying for tickets for the above event.

However due to another record breaking influx of ticket applications it has not been possible to allocate you tickets.

If your application was accompanied by a cheque, it is returned herewith.

If you applied by credit/debit card then all your details have been destroyed in accordance with the data protection act.

We are sorry for any disappointment caused and hope that you will enjoy the BBC TV coverage of this event.

Once again, our thanks,

Sincerely
[signed: digitized scrawl]

The Box Office
Lakeside Country Club.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006 12:44:52 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  | 
 Monday, December 04, 2006
Returning from holiday
I've spent the past couple of weeks with Mrs. Dunce on our annual holiday to the U!!S!!A!!, following our new tradition of Thanksgiving with family and then a quiet Christmas at home. I figured I'd be writing about our annoyance at having a flight cancelled and baggage delayed. Or maybe the joys of shopping in the US with a very favorable exchange rate. Or perhaps going on and on about the great restaurants in the Pensacola area and that it's very good for my waistline that I live so far away from them. But no... instead I'll be talking about our triumphant return to London.

It seems that while we were away, someone apparently tried to break into the house next door. I'm not sure when it happened; at some point this weekend we noticed a pane of glass which was suspiciously broken around the window latch. We're especially sensitive to this sort of thing as our own place was burgled on a previous trip out of the country. So we called the police to report the possible break-in (after knocking on the door to make sure no one was home). After a couple of hours a couple of officers arrived (I'm not criticizing their response time, after all this was only a possible break-in which had occurred at an unknown time). They thought there wasn't much that could be done, perhaps slipping a note through the door in case the resident was out of town or something. But the answers we provided to their questions about our neighbor (an older man, not known to us and quite unsociable in general [a couple of early "hello" + waves from me were answered only with a scowl]), plus a few observations by Mrs. Dunce about the lack of noticeable activity for some time before our holiday, led them to break down the door instead (at which time we quickly closed the cat flap, not wanting our inquisitive cat to assist in the investigation). Not long after that, the officers returned to our door with the news that our neighbor was dead, and had been possibly for quite some time. That was all they told us, so we spent much of the rest of the evening twitching our curtains to see what else was going on. Not much, as it turned out: whatever sort of investigation is done on the scene, then lots of police-waiting until a private ambulance arrived. Now the door and window are boarded up, and we'll just have to wait and see what comes of it. There will probably be a small story in the local paper, we may be asked a few questions at some point.

But it's really quite a disturbing turn of events, especially considering that we were the first ones to notice that anything might be amiss. It seems like he must have had no friends, family members, social workers who might have gotten worried and checked in -- the police obviously hadn't been there before. And the only way we noticed anything was because of the apparent burglary (although I hate to imagine how we might have found out otherwise). Very sad to think about.
Monday, December 04, 2006 2:15:18 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [4]  |