More Emoticons, and some reviews

Firstly, I’d just like to follow-up my last post with one more random thing about emoticons (otherwise known as smileys): Dave Barry’s Emoticons. It’s an extract from one of his books. Some of them are incredibly random, and very funny. I quite like this one: :-D* Which apparently means, “Person laughing so hard that he or she does not notice that a 5-legged spider is hanging from his or her lip”.

In other news, I have a couple of reviews for you! Firstly, ‘Company’ by Max Barry. I don’t believe I mentioned this before, so I’ll mention it now. I’ve been reading Max Barry’s Blog for a couple of years (I started in my third year at university, when I was introduced to NationStates (I believe I mentioned it here the first time). I’ve long since stopped playing the game, but I’ve kept reading the blog… I really like Max’s style. It’s a bit like Scott Adams in that he’s humorous and quite random at times, but the difference is he seems to be a genuinely nice guy (Scott Adams’ blog recently hasn’t exactly enamoured him to me. But that’s another story).

The book is currently not in a UK edition, but you can buy the US edition which has been imported (mine arrived pretty quickly). Anyway. I finished reading it on Friday night… I actually stayed up late just to read it to the end. It’s a very good read, it kept me engrossed for a few hours, and it’s definitely entertaining! It’s basically a corporate satire, but goes into some interesting ethical questions. You can find more information on Max Barry’s website.

The other review I have is, I went to see the University of Essex choir sing Mozart’s Requiem at Charter Hall in Colchester (handily, about ten minutes walk away from where I live). It was really good! The Requiem is a beautiful piece of music, and the choir sang really well. The soloists all sang well, and the London Handel Orchestra played well. So all in all a good performance! I enjoyed it immensely, as I do whenever I go and see the UoE choir – they come highly recommended by me!

One thing I noticed at the end was – the female soloists were both given flowers. The male soloists weren’t given anything. I contend this is inherently sexist and unfair, and I propose that the male soloists get given a token gift upon the completion of a performance. Maybe flowers, maybe something else… let’s throw it open! What should male soloists be given at the end of a performance? Answers on a postcard (or you could e-mail me or leave a comment…)


Comments

2 responses to “More Emoticons, and some reviews”

  1. A bottle of wine is a traditional male alternative. Of course, it really rather depends on the situation. If, for instance, it was a rock concert, a free tattoo might be more in order. If on the other hand it was a performance on an ancient viking instrument made from pine wood and with strings made by tying pine needles together, maybe a more fitting gift might be a 2 metre length of tinsel and a mince pie. And of course if the concert happened to be in aid of the Society for the Appreciation of Minis (SAM) (which probably doesn’t exist (yet)), you could give the performer a free ride in a Mini and red steering wheel…

  2. Chocolate, obviously!

    And perhaps an ornamental moose head …

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