12/28   Hey old people, what was in the building Wall Berlin
         used to be in?
         \_ I think it is still empty
         \_ yes it's empty . what was there BEFORE?
            wall berlin has been there about oh 7 years probably.
            what was in the building pre wall berlin ?
                \_ I'm pretty sure 9-10 years. -aspo
                  \_  damn.  thats about right.  sightimeflies.  and
                      while we are at it, has that space that used to
                      be the jean store that burned down been built up
                      yet, or is it still an empty, fenced off lot?
                      i find it so weird that the owner of that lot
                      never developed it.  he must be some rich fuck
                      to just let it sit like that.  -hahnak
                      \_ If you're referring to the lot on Telegraph
                         across the street from Amoeba then, yes, it's
                         still an empty fenced off lot.  I've heard rumors
                         that folks wanted to build housing there at one
                         point or another, but decided not to after running
                         up against fascist Berkeley city council policies.
                         Of course, that's purely rumor and hearsay -dans
                        \_ my sources say shirley dean blocked
                           the last development proposal - danh
                         \_ It's not rumor and hearsay to those of us around
                            at the time.  The details are pretty stupid but
                            put the following words into a sentence and you've
                            got it: affordable housing, berkeley city council,
                            empty lot, dilapidated & later burned down hotel,
                            telegraph avenue, homeless activists.  Voila!  A
                            permanently empty lot on prime location!  Welcome
                            to Berkeley.
                            \_ After the fire and before they tore the place
                               down, the men's store on the bottom floor had
                               a fire sale going. It lasted about three years.
                \_ fine, so what was there?

12/29   I got a gift certificate for xmas.  What is everyone's favorite book?
        \_ Profiles in Courage, something the shrub should read (if possible).
        \_ APUE, by WRS
        \_ http://csua.org/u/746
        \_ the necronomicon
        \_ As I Lay Dying
        \_ Mein Kampf
        \_ "Thank You For Smoking" - danh
           \_ a danh xmas: link:csua.org/u/747
        \_ O'Reilly's advanced perl book.
           \_ fucking nerd.
              \_ *laugh*
           \_ Perl sucks!
              \_ yeah dude i use .bat files for everything! rewlz!
        \_ The Holy Bible, KJ version.
        \_ Ten Things You Can't Say in America
        \_ Ian Banks' Culture books.  Anything by Terry Pratchett.  Anything
           by Tolkien.  If you want 'serious lit,' try Master and Margarita
           by Bulgakov (recommended by every russian alive!).
          \_  "Envy" by Olesha                  -brain
           \- hello. how do you recommend somthing for someone too dumb
              to specify a genre or otherwise narrow the question a little.
              danhimal: is the C. BUCKLEY books a cheap thrill or is it
              actually good? i dont like PJOROURKE-typestuff. Can you read
              "The War on|against cliche" and report back if it holds up?
                    is just awful in english [likw r. tagore is awful in
              'DYING is certainly a fine book, but I suspect OP will throw
              an E_TOOSHORT on it. To RUSSIAN PARTY, if I had to read one
              PUSHKIN, which work would you recommend. Ok tnx.
                \_ I read every genre except "russian literature"  and
                   estrogen-specific books (romance novels, new age tripe,
                   etc. none of which i would expect to be recommended -
                   in earnest - on the motd) and if some soda geek told me
                   that some romance novel REALLY was their "favorite" book
                   (and I believed them)  I might very well go buy/read it.
                   As a general rule I will read any book which any male
                   says is their "favorite" regardless of genre.  This
                   scheme rarely misfires and has led to my reading many
                   good books that i might otherwise have missed. (The
                   few times it has misfired were cases of books i was
                   going to have to read anyway like _Fountainhead_, or
                   recommendations by not overly bright females, which
                   lead to the modification of the rule incorporated above.
                   \_ would you rather read something recommended by a stupid
                      male or a smart female?
                   \_ Stupid troll.  Russian lit isn't a genre.
              \_ Thank You For Smoking is good.  Maybe you read
                  his not so funny book on washington politics.
                  its nothing like that. - danh
              \_ Reading Pushkin in English is kind of like reading Shakespeare
                 in russian -- doesn't work too well.  Onegin is his famous
                 work.
                 \- well i feel i got something out of reading dante/homer/
                    goethe/vergil in english ... although in some cases i
                    could tell you were missign a lot. however i wasnt that
                    blown away by moliere in english. are you saying it
                    is just awful in english [like r. tagore is awful in
                    english] or just non-optimal? i thought karamazov
                    was stunning in english. but that may be more idea-
                    heavy than language heavy. i didnt think much of the
                    E. Onegin opera however. ok tnx.
                    \_ For Moliere in English, there are very few decent
                       translations.  Every once in a while you get lucky.
                       \- "get lucky"? this seems a dumb comment.
                       Try Mamet and Stoppard for russian translations (I
                       know they both did some Checkov.  I don't know about
                       verse)
                    \_ Ugh.  Reading Dostoyevsky is like eating bricks.
                       In any language.  Ugh.  Heavy, heavy guy.  Shakespeare
                       doesn't flow right in russian.  Russian is a 'suffix'
                                     \- your post doesnt "flow right" [sic]
                                        in english :-)
                       language, English is a 'root' language, so stuff
                       really doesn't translate right.  But shrug, give
                       Onegin a try.
                        \_  with dostoyevsky it all depends on the trans-
                            lation.  Stay away from Constance Garnett in
                            my opinion, and it will be a lot better.  One
                            of the best books I read this year was If On
                            a Winters Night a Traveller by Calvino. -sax
                        \_  you might want to try just skipping over all
                            the spiritual and philosophical discussions.
                            sure you will miss out a lot, but reading the
                            soap opera bits of brothers karamazov wasnt
                            sooo heavy.  entertaining, even.
                                 \- uh so you are saying "just see the
                                    movie".
                            \_ His density has nothing to do with subject
                               matter, imho.  He is just gray and depressing
                               like a lead isotope.
              \_ russian jews -> soap and lampshades is a better idea
        \_ Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon.
        \_ nice troll. subtle.  succict.  Most troll/char ratio.
           \- well strictly speaking much of it turned into
              a reasonable discussion not senseless bickering.
              LEMON -> LEMONADE and all that. --psb

12/29   Why is the Pac 10 so weak this year (bball)?
        \_ Who cares?  This has nothing to do with linux.  Get off the motd.
           \_ http://pac-10.org is running apache on unix. close enuf!
              \_ Linux even...
                 http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/?host=www.pac-10.org
                 \_ That would explain the weakness this year.