10 April 2003 14:32 [link]
absinthe
Some talk about absinthe today. The coolest thing about absinthe - possibly the only actually cool thing, now I think about it - is the "absinthe ritual" that precedes its consumption.
Pour a measure of absinthe into a glass. Soak a spoonful of sugar in absinthe. Light the sugar. When the sugar caramelises, mix it with the absinthe. Pour in a measure of water. Blow out the flames, if the water failed to douse them. Drink.
Maybe I'm just a firebug, but preparing absinthe is more fun than drinking it.
Stupid people may think you're on crack though.
* * *
10 April 2003 14:03 [link]
dot, space
Minor disagreement at work. The boss claims that we must put two spaces after a full stop (and a colon and semicolon to boot). I claim we shouldn't.
Bringhurst describes the practice as the result of the ideas of the nineteenth century - a "dark and inflationary age". The general consensus on the net is one although that's mainly because HTML only renders one anyway. Some people still disagree. My thinking, based on various bits of reading, is that one space is correct.
With a properly designed proportional font, the period has enough extra space in it to require only one word space after it. Any more breaks up the shape of the line and makes the sentences disjointed. It's also doing a disservice to the typeface's designer, who designed it to work properly without crude manual intervention.
Using two spaces in justified text, especially in narrow columns, leads to really weird spaces and "rivers" of white space running down the page.
You should use two spaces when using monospaced typefaces like Courier. Sentences need the separation with these faces because they have such regular shapes.
You should also use extra space when writing manuscripts which will be edited or typeset by hand. This allows the editor to pencil in comments, and helps the typesetter spot sentences more easily. The extra space shouldn't be carried over into the final copy.
If you're writing text that doesn't have initial capitals in sentences (such as ancient Latin or Greek) then you should add extra space to help to separate the sentences.
Of course, you don't have to add two spaces. You could add one and a half. Bringhurst suggests an en-space in place of the regular word space where extra is needed. Adding two spaces is just a hangover from the typewriter age, where everyone had to use a fixed width typeface and hitting the space bar twice was the only way to do it.
* * *
10 April 2003 12:05 [link]
darko
I rented Donnie Darko last night. I'm not sure it's a good film to watch just before bedtime. I don't remember dreaming of demonic rabbits, but I did have a bit of a disturbed night.
I didn't find it scary, particularly - I don't like scary movies, because my nightmares are too vivid - but it was... unsettling. I find the idea of schizophrenia disturbing: I like to trust my senses. Although you might not be seeing six foot high rabbits telling you that the world is going to end, the film still makes you question reality, at least for a little while.
I did fall in love with the soundtrack which just drifts along nicely under the visuals. The extra 80s music - Echo and the Bunnymen, Tears for Fears - accented the action beautifully. The cover version of "Mad World" that ends the film has been stuck in my head ever since.
Apparently the DVD explains a lot of it, but maybe I'll mull it over for a while before getting a copy.
Not having a DVD player's a bit of a hindrance too.
* * *