I never posted this.
(Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Chris Rosneau scoring Charlie Chaplin shorts.)
Showing posts with label Bon Iver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bon Iver. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2010
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Something about grammar that makes me mad.
I can be a grammar Nazi, I know that, and I'm ok with that. (Note: I am certainly not always this way, frequently a just ramble on this blog, but generally I am.) I subscribe to a notion that proper grammar should be noted, used and it should be a beautiful thing. In fact, that might be one of the best parts about grammar, it's beautiful, when used properly there is a beautiful aesthetic to it. But every now and then I come across some proper grammar that has a horrendous aesthetic to me, and that's a dichotomy that I don't think a whole lot of.
I came across this situation about a week ago, I had been rather sick for about a week and was struggling putting an article together that was long overdue (my accommodating editor gave me an extension). I was trying to say something to the effect of "the second band of the night, Ann Arbor, Michigan's Mason Proper,". (I know that's not quite correct punctuation there, but I wanted to be sure to include the comma I had after Mason Proper. Also that sentence isn't exactly what I wrote but there was the introductory phrase comma Ann Arbor comma Michigan's Mason Proper comma.) The comma use in that sentence is hideous. I hate it. Now I know I can simply change the structure of the sentence, but the comma use between city and state in a sentence is an ugly thing. I was further aggravated by simply trying to determine if it was even necessary to include Michigan. Were Mason Proper from Atlanta, New York or Seattle there wouldn't be much of a problem. Ann Arbor isn't really an obscure city, but it's also not Chicago or Minneapolis. It would definitely be necessary if I was saying Eau Claire, Wisconsin's Bon Iver. But I'm not. And I still think that looks wrong. But I've been told this is right. Maybe someone knows of something besides the Chicago Manual that would tell me I don't need the comma there. Because I don't want it there.
In the end this is all silly because I believe I just restructured the sentence to avoid the grammatical seizure I was having. Nonetheless, that's a horrible rule. The comma should evaporate in a sentence, maybe not, maybe it still makes sense, but I don't like how it looks, it's like stuttering over something that shouldn't be difficult.
I came across this situation about a week ago, I had been rather sick for about a week and was struggling putting an article together that was long overdue (my accommodating editor gave me an extension). I was trying to say something to the effect of "the second band of the night, Ann Arbor, Michigan's Mason Proper,". (I know that's not quite correct punctuation there, but I wanted to be sure to include the comma I had after Mason Proper. Also that sentence isn't exactly what I wrote but there was the introductory phrase comma Ann Arbor comma Michigan's Mason Proper comma.) The comma use in that sentence is hideous. I hate it. Now I know I can simply change the structure of the sentence, but the comma use between city and state in a sentence is an ugly thing. I was further aggravated by simply trying to determine if it was even necessary to include Michigan. Were Mason Proper from Atlanta, New York or Seattle there wouldn't be much of a problem. Ann Arbor isn't really an obscure city, but it's also not Chicago or Minneapolis. It would definitely be necessary if I was saying Eau Claire, Wisconsin's Bon Iver. But I'm not. And I still think that looks wrong. But I've been told this is right. Maybe someone knows of something besides the Chicago Manual that would tell me I don't need the comma there. Because I don't want it there.
In the end this is all silly because I believe I just restructured the sentence to avoid the grammatical seizure I was having. Nonetheless, that's a horrible rule. The comma should evaporate in a sentence, maybe not, maybe it still makes sense, but I don't like how it looks, it's like stuttering over something that shouldn't be difficult.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
inlur Slovenian street art bon iver
That shouldn't have made much sense.
Just linking a few articles I just finished up. Did something about the unmasking of Banksy, a review of a recent Bon Iver show, a piece on the new Slovenian cinema, and a piece for Intentionally Urban on films that will make you want to save the world (or go hmmm...I guess) (that one you have to dig into the PDF to find that one).
that's all more later
Just linking a few articles I just finished up. Did something about the unmasking of Banksy, a review of a recent Bon Iver show, a piece on the new Slovenian cinema, and a piece for Intentionally Urban on films that will make you want to save the world (or go hmmm...I guess) (that one you have to dig into the PDF to find that one).
that's all more later
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