Happy Monday, April 11. On this day in 1727, Bach’s “The Passion of St. Matthew” premiered in Leipzig. On this day in 1945, Allied forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp, and, in 1961, the trial of Adolf Eichmann began (remember “the banality of evil”?). On this day in 1976, the Apple 1, the first Apple product, was created. Six working examples remain. Notables born on this day include Kasturba Gandhi (1869) and Ethel Kennedy (1928; still with us). Those who died on April 11 include Primo Levi (1987) and Kurt Vonnegut (2007). So it goes.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Cyrus (who learned to like cats only reluctantly) is protesting that Hili is treating him like her private property:
Cyrus: I told you that I dislike cats.
A: What are you on about?
Cyrus: Look what she is doing now.
Cyrus: Mówiłem, że nie lubię kotów.
Ja: O co ci chodzi?
Cyrus: Patrz co ona teraz wyprawia.
Leon: I just had time to rest my head on the pillow when it was the end of the weekend.
Out in Winnipeg, Gus’s IKEA box has almost been converted to a cardboard mat. The lad continues to gnaw, and will need a new box soon. At least he’s getting his fiber!
Courtesy of reader Stan, here’s a photo of Dan Barker and I discussing FvF on Saturday:
Finally, readers Linda Calhoun and Diane G. both sent me this Non Sequitur cartoon by Wiley Miller. I’m sure many believers are conflicted about whether it’s offensive or not (it is):
I see, wearing the official atheist foot wear…
Which reminds me… did I miss a post about those custom made boots?
I was wondering the same thing.
They’re Tex Robin’s own boots that he made for himself and then sold on eBay (he’s a very famous bootmaker now working out of Abilene, Texas). Fortunately, I’m the same size as he is: a 9. They’re really lovely box-toe elephant (remember, all American elephant skins are taken from animals that are legally culled).
Nice boots!
This is a brave Lady.
Wow!
Hopefully this will be taken to heart by the infrastructure that supports jihad while mumbling quiet denunciations.
One point I found a little weak in her talk was when she said – imams have “drawn them away from the Koran and closer to it’s interpreters.”
Here she seems to be forgiving the Koran it’s own role in violence and placing all the blame on false interpreters. She, too, is guilty of shifting blame.
Have to love the line from Leon – cats don’t have to work. It’s more like they are born retired. Sleeping 18 to 20 hours a day does take some energy.
Non-sequitur? I see it as a cogent but unexpected revelation.
Grammar question about “…photo of Dan Barker and I discussing FvF on Saturday.”
Should it be “Dan Barker and me”? That is the object of the preposition “of”. It is not the subject of the participial phrase “discussing FvF on Saturday.” That phrase is the adjective describing the object of the preposition.
Please Mr. or Ms. Grammar Person – can we have a ruling?
it should be “me”, which is the direct object form. I’ll leave it as it is if others want to argue the point.
Didn’t a similar issue come up in this space a little while back regarding a Pinker selfie?
In this case, I believe you’re correct regarding the need for an objective-case pronoun — “of” being a preposition and Dan Barker and the pronoun being its object (though I’ll gladly defer to an expert in the field).
Sorry, I wrote this before refreshing my page and seeing that Jerry already answered your question.
The shortcut I was taught is to test for the pronoun by dropping the name and rerunning the phrase in your head. Trying “photo of I discussing FvF” leaves no doubt that it should be “photo of me…”.
I think your shortcut provides a valuable heuristic for spotting an error, Johnnie, and I try to do something similar before making any final decision on what’s right in matters of grammar or usage. (Your heuristic also provides a valuable tool for ensuring compliance with the prohibition in Orwell’s Rule (vi) against ever writing a barbarism.)
What the heuristic doesn’t do is give us any insight into what the accepted conventions of formal written English are, or why they are what they are — but then most of us don’t need to know the whys, or anything else concerning linguistics, to be able to write solid, literate English sentences.
Thanks.
Hannah Arendt and Slaughterhouse Five — have Mondays been declared “twofer” literary allusion day?
That staging looks like an accident waiting to happen – one moment’s inattention, and someone gets a faceplant.
(If anyone has contact with the venue, please bring this to their attention.)
Shhh! You’ll ruin the lawsuits!