GTKAS - NabakovNabakov

[Andycyca]

Hi! You may write a short "about me" before starting.

Where are you from?
What is your best skill?
What's your best accomplishment on MafiaScum?
What is your hobby?
What's the most important thing in a friend?
What's the most important thing in a co-worker?
Do you have any long-term project? Which one?
What other internet sites do you recommend us?
Best thing about being a Mafia player?
Could you please tell us a joke?
You have $20k and a big house. Would you host a Meet? If yes, who would you invite first?
How would your funeral be like?
Where would you travel first with $10k USD?
What is your biggest fear?
Can you speak anything in spanish?
What language(s) do you speak?

What is your favorite word?
What is your least favorite word?
What turns you on?
What turns you off?
What sound do you love?
What sound do you hate?
What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
What profession would you not like to participate in?
What's your favorite curse word?
If heaven exists what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Favorite...
...alcoholic drink?
...non-alcoholic drink?
...food?
...ice cream flavor?
...holiday?
...pet?
...musician (yes, includes composers and performers)?
...movie?
...actor?
...actress?
...mafia role?
...mafia alignment?
...card game?
...online activity?
...game (pen-and-paper, electronic or whatever)?
...quote?

[Kublai Khan]

Favorite Pole?

[shaft.ed]

Favorite pole?

[Adel]

Did you ever visit Legnickie Pole?
What is your opinion of Ian Hacking's writing?
What is your favorite science fiction novel?
Who is your favorite living philosopher?
Who is your favorite dead philosopher?
Who is your favorite jazz musician (or group) for a live show?

What is the title of one (or more) books you think I should read?

[Hoopla]

Do you like sheep?

[RayFrost]

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

[NabakovNabakov]

Hey guys, this has caught me at a very busy time, but I'll do the best I can.

-Where are you from?
The (sub)(ex)urbs of Philadelphia

-What is your best skill?
I'm pretty funny, both situationally and when I'm really trying to be, and I've found that to be pretty powerful. Aside from that, I know how to unclog a toilet/use a power drill (sorta)/cook pasta that tastes good/properly dead-lift a heavy object

-What's your best accomplishment on MafiaScum?
I think there was a stretch of about two months this summer where not a single player in my faction in any of my games was lynched (ie, in games where I was town, we only lynched scum and vice-versa). I think that's pretty impressive.

-What is your hobby?
Well, if not Mafia, probably playing the Trombone

-What's the most important thing in a friend?
If I ask them to leave me alone, they will understand and not get upset in any way (as opposed to just pretending as such)

-What's the most important thing in a co-worker?
If I ask them to do something, they will get upset unless I have a good reason

-Do you have any long-term project? Which one?
Umm... college? But no real master-plan anywhere.

-What other internet sites do you recommend us?
mylifeisaverage.com
achewood.com
oneword.com

-Best thing about being a Mafia player?
A steadily improving ability to read the motivations behind/truth of statements made by people in RL. Failing that, a pleasant, if misguided, sense of confidence.

-Could you please tell us a joke?
What's so special about boomerangs? You throw them; they come back to you. Anything's a boomerang if you throw it

up

, or if there is a nearby dog.

-You have $20k and a big house. Would you host a Meet? If yes, who would you invite first?
I love you guys, but probably not. I would host an orgy, but you're welcome to keep that "probably" in mind.

-How would your funeral be like?
http://achewood.com/index.php?date=11052004

-Where would you travel first with $10k USD?
Zurich.

-What is your biggest fear?
Intellectual inadequacy

-Can you speak anything in spanish?
Hola! Como estas? No megusta.

-What language(s) do you speak?
English (obviously), and high-school German

-What is your favorite word?

Augenblicklich

the German word condensing the English phrase "In the blink of an eye"

-What is your least favorite word?
Limpid. This is actually one of the many points on which I and my namesake disagree. He insists on using it several times in nearly every book, but I feel the word is ugly and in no way evocative of its meaning.

-What turns you on?
Sexually? If I was being perfectly honest I would have to say a certain degree of submissiveness. However, I'm dead-set on equality in romantic relationships. If I were making excuses for myself, I would probably say that it's this contradiction which kept me out of the battle ground of Love (that, and relationships are expensive)

-What turns you off?
Coercion

-What sound do you love?
An orchestra at

fff

-What sound do you hate?
The sound of anything breaking.

-What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
A writer of some form. It would be nice to have a trial period to dip my toes into that, because it's the sort of profession where a total commitment can often lead to disaster if things don't work out.

-What profession would you not like to participate in?
Nothing about the military appeals to me, with the possible exception of my answer to "what turns you on," but we're just going to lock that away in my psyche now and forget about it.

-What's your favorite curse word?
I find myself using this phrase most often: "Son-of-a-fucking-bitch" *shrug*

-If heaven exists what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
"I like a challenge."

Favorite...
...alcoholic drink?
Wouldn't know.

...non-alcoholic drink?
Strawberry milkshake

...food?
Fettuccine Carbonara

...ice cream flavor?
Mint-chocolate-chip

...holiday?
I have not yet passed the threshold where Christmas changes from basking in the generosity of your parents to allowing your children to bask in your own generosity. Either way, I would probably say it's my favorite.

...pet?
I feel that cats and I have an understanding.

...musician (yes, includes composers and performers)?
Charles Mingus

...movie?
Can I combine Leaving Las Vegas with Lost in Translation? Both are muted, non-conventional love stories that begin with L.

...actor?
Kevin Spacey, if only because

you can never trust Kevin Spacey.

...actress?
Scarlett Johannsen

...mafia role?
Goon, my favorite alignment without any crutches.

...mafia alignment?
See above

...card game?
Poker

...online activity?
A toss-up between Stumbling and Porn.

...game (pen-and-paper, electronic or whatever)?
If I could go back and retroactively apply all the time I've spent playing Guitar Hero to actually learning the Guitar, I wouldn't be half-bad.

...quote?
I've had a couple of favorites, but let's go with a recent one I just discovered.

We're all—especially those of us who are educated and have read a lot and
have watched TV critically—in a very self-conscious and sort of worldly
and sophisticated time, but also a time when we seem terribly afraid of
other people's reactions to us and very desperate to control how people interpret
us. Everyone is extremely conscious of manipulating how they
come off in the media; they want to structure what they say so that the
reader or audience will interpret it in the way that is most favorable to
them. What's interesting to me is that this isn't all that new. This was the
project of the Sophists in Athens, and this is what Socrates and Plato
thought was so completely evil. The Sophists had this idea: Forget this
idea of what's true or not—what you want to do is rhetoric; you want to be
able to persuade the audience and have the audience think you're smart
and cool. And Socrates and Plato, basically their whole idea is, "Bullshit.
There is such a thing as truth, and it's not all just how to say what you say
so that you get a good job or get laid, or whatever it is people think they
want."

[animorpherv1]

Best song of the decade?

[NabakovNabakov]

Favorite Pole?

That one guy who was basically Cathrine the Great's bitch? Idk. And don't get on my ass for not remembering the names of any Polish people. With all due respect to their cultural and linguistic heritage, that shit's crazy.

Favorite pole?

Stripper, obviously.

1) Did you ever visit Legnickie Pole?
2) What is your opinion of Ian Hacking's writing?
3) What is your favorite science fiction novel?
4) Who is your favorite living philosopher?
5) Who is your favorite dead philosopher?
6) Who is your favorite jazz musician (or group) for a live show?

7) What is the title of one (or more) books you think I should read?

1) No
2) I really wouldn't be able to tell you based on the Wikipedia article I just pulled up. Give me some nagging and some time, and I might get back to you on it.
3) Stranger in a Strange Land
4) Kanye West
5) DFW
6) Well, considering that living v. dead is even more of an issue for jazzmen at this point than it is for philosophers, I would probably say Dave Holland for realism but Bird for fantasy.
7) "History of Jazz" by Ted Gioia is worth a look. It's the best book I've seen for giving you a sense of the interconnectedness of jazz history. It's not a time-

line

so much as a tapestry.

Do you like sheep?

As one would say in Middle-school, I like them, but I don't like-like them.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

A silly question. Tootsie and Pop were joined together with the explicit purpose of being eaten as one, and that typically involves biting down as soon as your jaw-strength allows in order to enjoy the mix of textures and flavors. TootsiePop's ad campaign is mean to emphasize the

absurdity

of your question, and thus highlight the pleasurable synergy of Tootsie and Pop their product allows you to enjoy.

Best song of the decade?

You're asking the wrong guy. I think MMW released "End of the World Party (Just in Case)" this decade, so let's go with that.

[Adel]

5) DFW

David Foster Wallace?

is http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/D ... tense.html typical of his stuff?

Of the other stuff he has published, what do you highly recommend?

~~~
the last link on my link dump is http://www.hermetic.com/bey/

have you ever read anything off of that site?

7) "History of Jazz" by Ted Gioia is worth a look. It's the best book I've seen for giving you a sense of the interconnectedness of jazz history. It's not a time-

line

so much as a tapestry.

480 pages? Oxford University Press? $13.57 on amazon?

sold. I will have a copy on Tuesday.

Thanks for the suggestion!

any others?

[NabakovNabakov]

5) DFW

David Foster Wallace?

is http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/D ... tense.html typical of his stuff?

Of the other stuff he has published, what do you highly recommend?

Yup. I'm actually about half-way through the essay you linked to (be sure to read the footnotes!). An astounding amount of his work is free online thanks to Harper's generosity. This would be square one for finding all that work.

Of course, DFW's claim to fame is Infinite Jest, his sprawling, endnote-laden, post-modernistic magnum opus on drug abuse, tennis, French-Canadian separatism, artistic cinema, communication, and need. I also highly recommend "Shipping Out" (later renamed: "A Supposedly Fun Thing I Will Never Do Again.") Slightly less highly recommended, is "Host," his look at AM talk radio.

EDIT: Also, "This is Water," the commencement address he made to Kenyon college shortly before committing suicide. Though it obviously didn't serve him too well, it is a fantastically eloquent justification of the self-awareness which pervades post-modernism. The link from Infinite Summer directly will run dead because some publisher's trying to make a quick buck, but Howling Fantods has a live link on their page.

the last link on my link dump is http://www.hermetic.com/bey/

have you ever read anything off of that site?

I can't say that I have. How did you feel about the TD Hakeem Nicks scored against the Chiefs today?

7) "History of Jazz" by Ted Gioia is worth a look. It's the best book I've seen for giving you a sense of the interconnectedness of jazz history. It's not a time-

line

so much as a tapestry.

480 pages? Oxford University Press? $13.57 on amazon?

sold. I will have a copy on Tuesday.

Thanks for the suggestion!

any others?

If you can get past Bourdain's bluster and the fact that the book essentially made him into everything the book hates, check out "Kitchen Confidential" for info on upscale restaurant kitchens and the foul-mouthed Ecuadorians who work in them.

Also, "I Killed" is a breezy book of anecdotes from stand-up comedians who worked during the comedy boom of the 80's and 90's. As we've seen in various more recent bubbles, a sudden mismatch in supply and demand lead to some very weird occurrences, like a black, gay New-Yorker getting up to tell jokes to a bunch of rednecks in the middle of Tennessee.

[Simenon]

Favorite novelist?
Playwright?
Poet?

[NabakovNabakov]

Favorite novelist?

Still probably Nabokov. I recognize that he is often a cad and a snob (or at least seems intent on presenting himself and his characters in that manner), but his novels also contain the highest proportions of aching beauty I have yet to find.

Playwright?

This is a tough one, as I feel myself on shakier ground when discussing theater. Shakespeare is probably a cop out, but it's probably honest too. I suppose Sophocles is also in the running.

Poet?

e.e. cummings (though E.E. Cummings is also perfectly acceptable) by a longshot. His bohemian excitement nicely balances Nabokov's old-world stodginess, but both contain those linguistic puzzles, with their accompanying moments of rapturous solution, I enjoy so much.

[VP Baltar]

Favorite key?

[NabakovNabakov]

Favorite key?

G for blues
Bb for swing (specifically, the Rhythm Changes)
F for classical

I consider the trombone's range of comfortable keys to be between D and Ab on the circle of 5ths/4ths.

[Nikanor]

Favourite multi-national corporation?

[RayFrost]

Favorite mod?

Favorite board game?

[NabakovNabakov]

Favourite multi-national corporation?

Buy N' Large, mainly 'cause I <3 Fred Willard.

Favorite mod?

Favorite board game?

Even though I didn't take full advantage of the fascinating mechanics he included, I though mith put together a fantastic game with the second California Trilogy installment.

Contrary to my passion for mafia, I actually tend to enjoy board games where your fate is entirely out of your hands (technically, the winner of a game of CandyLand is decided as soon as the deck of cards is shuffled), I find it difficult to relax otherwise.

[VP Baltar]

Do you write short stories? If so, what is the plot of your own personal favorite?

[Nikanor]

Do you think the English alphabet could use more letters? If so, which ones? If not, would you remove any letters?

[NabakovNabakov]

Do you write short stories? If so, what is the plot of your own personal favorite?

I made a few abortive attempts a couple of years ago, but I typically find that I say what I want to say ("blow my load," as it were) far too quickly, so I figure my options are either to start thinking about sports statistics as I write (which strikes me as off-puttingly disingenuous), develop much more complex ideas, or just stick to writing essayish prose.

Of course, an even more far-flung option is to start writing poems instead, but I have a very weak feel for meter and such technical aspects of poetry, and despite the impression that "free verse" might give, those elements are absolutely unavoidable in poetical composition.

I do enjoy reading short-stories, however. I highly suggest those by Borges and Barth.

[Nikanor]

What motivated you to take German in high school?

[Adel]

I can't say that I have. How did you feel about the TD Hakeem Nicks scored against the Chiefs today?

nothing, just emptiness. Was that TD special for you in some way?

~~~

Have you ever read any poetry by Osip Mandelstam? (I think you might dig his stuff, he is my favorite poet.)

Have you ever read any short stories by Raymond Carver, beyond was was included in a class assignment? (When ever I'm feeling good and wish to feel down, I just pick up one of my Raymond Carver anthologies and read a piece at random. Dependably beautiful.)

If Keith Obermann and Bill O'Reilly were to have a "no rules" steel cage match, who do you think would win?

[NabakovNabakov]

Do you think the English alphabet could use more letters? If so, which ones? If not, would you remove any letters?

I think the English alphabet is fine the way it is. For me, the most important aspect of English is the proliferation of

words

, specifically upholding the sense of the language being "open source" and open to anybody who is interested in making a contribution. With the current size of the English alphabet and the pure combinatorial scope of all its possible arrangements, there are still millions if not billions of potential combinations which have not yet been assigned a meaning. If, at some point in the future, this reserve is exhausted (though it can never be completely exhausted, as English words are completely unbound in their length, there is some conceivable point where this simply becomes impractical), then I would petition for an expansion of the alphabet, but given that most English words are simply alterations or derivatives of current words, I predict that the expansion of the language could continue full-tilt for many many years with entire sound-groups remaining completely untapped.

What motivated you to take German in high school?

To be perfectly honest, my original intention was to take French, but other aspects of my schedule wouldn't allow it. However, after I took some German, I found that I enjoyed it just fine. The one most noticeable impact taking German had was to massively improve my English grammar almost overnight. Being forced to consider basic concepts of usage in a foreign language finally shook me out of the infamous "go with what 'sounds right'" attitude so many take to their native grammars.

Because of this, I actually got the crazy plan in my head to take German and Latin simultaneously in order to gain an as-deep-as-possible understanding of English. I actually carried it out for about ten weeks, which was about the amount of time it took me to blow through my school's ridiculously simple Latin I class.* Apparently, I have some considerable facility with language acquisition, but I simply don't enjoy language classes as much as other classes, though I would like very much to take the next step towards German fluency, which almost has to be immersion.

*Seriously, what has gone wrong when slackers who need to earn their Language credit are directed to Latin class?

[Nikanor]

I think the English alphabet is fine the way it is. For me, the most important aspect of English is the proliferation of words, specifically upholding the sense of the language being "open source" and open to anybody who is interested in making a contribution. With the current size of the English alphabet and the pure combinatorial scope of all its possible arrangements, there are still millions if not billions of potential combinations which have not yet been assigned a meaning. If, at some point in the future, this reserve is exhausted (though it can never be completely exhausted, as English words are completely unbound in their length, there is some conceivable point where this simply becomes impractical), then I would petition for an expansion of the alphabet, but given that most English words are simply alterations or derivatives of current words, I predict that the expansion of the language could continue full-tilt for many many years with entire sound-groups remaining completely untapped.

Really? I was thinking we could use more e-type vowels.

I simply don't enjoy language classes as much as other classes

That's because it takes waaay longer to learn stuff in-class than it does when you have to learn the language to survive (i.e. when you're living in that country). I am the same way in that I have a proficiency for language, but I can't learn anything in a class because it's just too slow to enjoy.