more fan-hitting

Tue Oct 14 14:26:46 UTC 2008

The science fiction writer Spider Robinson, at the 1977 Boskone, told the following story:

When Ben Bova accepted his first story for publication in _Analog_, Robinson asked Bova whether he could use the name "Spider Robinson".  Bova replied, "I don't care if you call yourself Sam Shit".  Robinson thought about this for a while and decided not to.  His fans would be "shitheads", etc. and then one day he would publish a real stinker of a story.  Just imagine the scene when the fans hit the Shit.

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Headline currently on Netscape News: North Korea to resume nuclear dismantlement

"dismantlement"?  Hardly WOTY material.

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in a campaign ad on TV last night, a candidate promised to "cap CEO pay and accountability".
Capping CEO pay is one thing, but I would have been more impressed had he said he would *extend* CEO accountability.

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A piece of current-financial-whatsis terminology that we will NOT have to worry about:

Wachovia was supposed to have been bought out by Citicorp.  The problem is that Philadelphia has an indoor sports arena, used for basketball, hockey, and arena football, known as the "Wachovia Center".  Since Citicorp would acquire the naming rights to the arena, it would obviously rename the place "Citi Center".

Unfortunately downtown Philadelphia, thirty blocks away, is known as "Center City".

Luckily, in a scene out of an old-fashioned Western, Wells-Fargo rode to the rescue.

     James A. Landau
     Test Engineer
     Northrop-Grumman Information Technology
     8025 Black Horse Pike, Suite 300
     West Atlantic City  NJ  08232  USA

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