Viva la Gamer

I'm taking a Contemporary Grammar writing course this semester. I know, sounds riveting, right? We've been ever so slowly getting into the real business of it, but today's lecture left me intrigued, and fighting to suppress laughter.

We were talking about lexical rules and how as native English speakers we often know when a sentence is wrong but can't always articulate why (hence learning grammar). For example, some verbs are stative, meaning they don't describe a process but simply a state (like to be). These verbs cannot be used in the structure be + present participle (like is walking). Of course, an example was provided.

Here is the incorrect sentence:

Sue is owning a BMW.

The "correct" sentence is: 

Sue owns a BMW.

Which leads me to today's lesson:

Gamer's are taking English to the next level because there is a context in which that sentence is grammatically correct.

In the event of a woman vs. car confrontation, it would be correct to say that "Sue is owning a BMW" if she's beating the shit out of a Beemer. The car doesn't need to belong to her. It could belong to anyone. All that matters is that she is owning that noob of a car.

Don't Drink the Kool-Aid

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Jonestown, Guyana cult suicide of over 900 Peoples Temple followers.

 

RUNNING TALLY FOR THE MONTH

11/04   

Obama elected first African-American President of the United States

Matthew Good's Live at Massey Hall released

11/11 

Bob Dylan concert

11/18 

Jonestown Massacre

11/22 

40th Anniversary of The Beatles The White Album (Visit the London Music Club Saturday night for The White Album Tribute Show!)

 

Who knew November 2008 would be so epic? And it's not over yet...

SAD, 123, baby you and me

Coronary heart disease and high blood pressure increase the further you are from the equator because the equator is at the perfect latitude to receive year-round intense sunlight. This means year-round production of vitamin D from all those UV rays. But up here in Canada, and anywhere with a latitude above 35 degrees north, the oblique angle at which the sunlight hits the earth means the rays aren’t strong enough for our bodies to naturally produce vitamin D between October and March (give or take a month depending on location). The Canadian Cancer Society says you should consume 1,000 IU of vitamin D every day, especially in the winter. So eat your salmon and eggs and drink your fortified milk! Your bones won't disintegrate and it could prevent you from becoming s-a-d SAD in the coming months.