Literally the dumbest thing I've seen all day.

My favorite misused word in the English language is literally misused again. I don't think people literally know what the word "literally" actually means. I'm not one to be a language snob but this one particuarly annoys me because I see it all the time.

According to "Alchemists - International" they specialize in "Literally Turning Lead Into Gold®". Um... no they can't do that. They really mean that they can figuratively turn lead into gold by helping you improve your business performance. So they're not actual alchemists either.

Maybe they should go to dictionary.com for a definition.

Literally -

1. in the literal or strict sense: What does the word mean literally?
2. in a literal manner; word for word: to translate literally.
3. actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy: The city was literally destroyed.
4. in effect; in substance; very nearly; virtually.

I'm sorry, but "literally" doesn't mean "figuratively" in a really strong way.

According to this person ... The film "Arjuna" will "literally grab you by the throat and won't let you go".

I don't think when I go to see a movie I want to be literally grabbed by the throat especially if the film wrapped around my throat won't let go.

And even supposedly professional reviewers do the same thing.

A review for the movie Fallen with Denzel Washington
“It will literally grab you.”
- Jim Ferguson, PREVUE CHANNEL

and if you want to be literally grabbed by the throat again.

Try listening to the Country album Milly's Cafe I think the album however is willing to let go.

The Confusion of the Press

So I was listening to a freind's podcast today about bad news reporting. Like he, I agree that news reporters get things wrong all the time. In fact, I can't think of a news story that I or anyone I know has been in that hasn't included something that was wrong. An example follows...

When I was performing in the band Tortuga, we wrote and performed the music for a modern dance performance. This performance was reviewed by both the Village Voice and Backstage magazine. According to the Village Voice's dance reviewer Deborah Jowitt the music was ...

written and played live by the band Tortuga (the songs have lines like "I want to dissect your face")

Um... well in actuality the music was all instrumental (i.e. no "lines" at all). Did she even show up to the performance?

Link to the actual Village Voice Article

Commerate the memory of 911 in your very own living room.

With your very own World Trade Center commorative home theater system. Only a terrorist wouldn't buy this. Coincidence? Hmm.....

Found on the cover of the Best Buy catalog.

Target Brand Confetti

Hey, how do you dump hundreds of pounds of advertisements on times square for free and have it blow around on the streets for weeks without getting in trouble with the law?...... Ah branded New Years confetti!

Drawing of the week (Man of the Sea)

I started scribbling with no particular direction and it eventually became this. Kind of looks like a turn of the centrury sailor.

Drawing Lessons

I found the "Structure of Man" blog off of I think metafilter and started taking the online drawing lessons. It is a set of videos and it's pretty easy to follow along. These are figures that I drew after getting to lesson 6. I still have alot more lessons to go but the proportions of these are getting there.

Tom Tom Jones .... A Test Video for You Tube.

I've been playing around with video and audio recording for the past week or so. Here is a quick one I did with my lousy singing. This is more of a test of youtube than anything else.

One thing you learn by looking for pictures of Tom Jones on the internet is that alot of people make a living by impersonating him.