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He Said, She Said

CNN, Fox network and their war of words

Wednesday, 31 December 2008 03:58
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CNN and Fox in the USA are by far the worst at killing off our 'mother tongue'.  This one really gives me the creeps and it seems to have been accepted by all who are given a seat at the host desk as their god-given right.

 

Hearken unto this chaps and get it RIGHT for heaven's sake!

 

OVERSIGHT:   This is something that was ignored or omitted.  Such as 'Due to an oversight in the proof-reading process, the apostophe was left out.' 

Get it?  It DOESN'T mean 'overseeing'.  I mean, Banjo Paterson would not have written about a 'half-paid oversighter' in his poem 'On Kiley's Run' nor in 'Saltbush Bill on the Patriarchs' would he now?

 

OVERVIEW:  A view from above, not really into the detail. The broad-brush picture.

 

OVERSEER:  The person who  is responsible for making sure that there are no darn oversights in the execution of the business.  Used in the Aussie outback it is the boss of a muster or farm.

 

OVERLOOK:  This is a verb and is used to  denote an omission.  If there has been an oversight , it means that something has been overlooked.

 

So, folks, does that make it clear?  Now will you  STOP using 'OVERSIGHT' to mean'supervision'?????

 

 Naah, probably not.  Like your crappy use of 'momentarily' it will seep into English throughout the world.  And as you are an 'authority' (albeit a spurious one)children will take your word as gospel.

 

Sad, eh?

 

But 'Happy New Year' anyway!

WR

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 31 December 2008 05:55 )
 

Oscars doco contenders 2009

Tuesday, 18 November 2008 04:57
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The 15 films in contention are listed below in alphabetical order:

  1. At the Death House Door
  2. The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
  3. Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
  4. Encounters at the End of the World
  5. Fuel
  6. The Garden
  7. Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
  8. 8. I.O.U.S.A.
  9. In a Dream
  10. Made in America
  11. Man on Wire
    • Won the Audience Award and was named best documentary at Sundance 2008.
    • July 25: Won BritDoc's top prize. 
    • Rated 100% at rottentomatoes.com 
    • August 7: Roger Ebert gives it 4/4 saying it is "Constructed like a first-rate thriller."
  12. Pray the Devil Back to Hell
  13. Standard Operating Procedure
    • Director Errol Morris won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2004 with  Fog of War 
  14. They Killed Sister Dorothy
  15. Trouble the Water
    • Kim Voynar called it the "most powerful documentary seen at Sundance".
    • Sasha Stone at AwardsDaily calls it "one of the better documentaries [she's] seen this year." 
The Documentary Branch Screening Committee viewed all the eligible documentaries for the preliminary round of voting. Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.
 

The cliché there you have it!

Sunday, 16 November 2008 21:23
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It doesn't get much more annoying than watching television and quickly becoming aware of the clichés saving the bacon of journos and hosts.  Elsewhere I have noted the overuse of:

 

'Big Fella' (Schoolboy Karl  on 9 'Today')

'It doesn't get much better than this' - any lifestyle show particularly travel.

'There you have it' any lifestyle show particularly makeover or cooking.

'1 in 5 are' - news all the time. On 'Today' Schoolboy Karl will SAY that when the supporting graphic reads ''1 in 5 ARE'.  Can this boy be trained?  Or has the star ego now meant that no producer dares offer any criticism, even of the constructive kind? It seems that producers just aren't game enough to speak, or perhaps they don't have the linguistic skills to make sure they avoid this trashy language.

The constant greetings and thankyous on television.  Not required.  Also not needed are those self-introductions.  A waste of TV seconds.

 

Years ago, I worked with a female executive producer  who would hammer out news scripts at a great rate of knots.  The problem was that they were so cliché-ridden that they perpetuated exactly the rubbish that she avowed to be rid of by lifting a BBC show and bringing it here. It was aimed at young people.  But the young journos in the hot-seats hated the way they were supposed to write.  SHe gave poor leadership and had she been smarter (and nicer) that show would perhaps have still been on air today.  Young viewers liked the flashiness of the show but couldn't bear listening to the pomposity of those cliché-mouthing contemporaries.  It was sad.  It was uncomfortable. I left at the end of my first contract, and anyway, she didn't want me there as I constantly brought up the 'what ifs' with stories and was more in touch with young people and their taste than she was at the time.  

 More on the cliché over the coming weeks.  Send us the ones you love to hate!

 

Busted for bad language in public

Saturday, 15 November 2008 23:03
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EBAY LISTING Number: 260314818016

1000 litre water tank

'THIS TANK WOULD BE GREAT FOR GREY WATER STORAGE OR ANY THINK YOU LIKE.'

(Hey!  Everybody knows the 'k' is silent hehe hehe)

 

SUSHI DAS

The AGE

14/11/08

 

Then one day in October, after about eight months of sleeping rough, a Salvation Army van pulled up near the pedestrian bridge and offered him coffee. It was the first chink of light.

 

INTERESTING THAT A SALVATION ARMY VAN SLEPT ROUGH FOR 8 MONTHS.


This should be

Then one day in October, after about eight months of sleeping rough, he noticed a Salvation Army van pulling up near the pedestrian bridge and offering him coffee. It was the first chink of light.

 

Make sure your modifier  clauses are in the  right place!!!!!!!

Last Updated ( Friday, 21 November 2008 21:56 )
 

'Your eye burr-ee sir-ee' sucks badly

Saturday, 15 November 2008 22:57
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Watching and listening to the news on my 'eye burr-ee sir-ee' (ABC radio & TV), I am struck by how few of their reporters can actually speak, let alone write.

 

We have many of their reporters with substantial speech impediments and while I support equal opportunities etc. etc., it is bothersome when I spend so much time trying to get ABC Classic FM on the station to reduce the sibilance only to find that it is Leckthie Metherall lithping through another thtory.  Very hard on the ears.

 

But what really boths me is the placement of their modifier clauses and their inability to line up their subjects and verbs correctly.

 

I will list some of these examples below as fresh ones occur.

 
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