For the Class of 2009

Congratulations and best wishes from the Lit Lounge!

BRING ON THE PENGUINS!

Good news! Detroit wins in OT on a Darren Helm goal! Bad news! The Red Wings have to play back-to-back games against Pittsburgh on Saturday and Sunday. Why? So Conan O'Brien can make his Tonight Show debut on schedule this Monday night. (Right: Dan Cleary and Chris Chelios celebrate Cleary's 3rd period goal)

Lowell's Superstar Seniors

Congrats to Ian Blodger, Sierra Moore, and Hailey Novak - our Red Arrow representatives in the GR Press list of 2009 Superstar Seniors. Well done!

TOLD YOU SO!

Attention Lit Loungers, beloved children of your humble blogger, and everyone else attached to his or her cell phone: TEXTING COULD BE HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH! I've already amended my syllabi to show concern for your well being. Read this before you text:

American teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Nielsen Company — almost 80 messages a day, more than double the average of a year earlier.

The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation.

Jay Bennett - RIP

Former Wilco multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett died this weekend at age 45. His arrangements on Being There and Summerteeth turned me into a Wilco fan.

Column of the Week - Supreme Court takes on F-Bombs

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court decided that Bono's use of a "fleeting explitive" did have the potential to "(invoke) a course sexual image." Those of you who endured "Do You Speak American?" in APE Language will remember Jesse Sheidlower, who called the FCC's argument "rubbish."

Adam Freeman mentions Sheidlower and others in this op-ed, which explains the crux of the argument:  

Ultimately, the Fox Television case raises a dichotomy well known to linguists: descriptivism versus prescriptivism — that is, whether to yield to the reality of how language is actually used (descriptivism) or fight to maintain objective standards (prescriptivism). Descriptivists happily accept “impact” as a verb and “my bad” as a form of apology; prescriptivists resist such innovations.