7/10    I forgot to mention it yesterday, but Rod Steiger is THE most
        connected actor in Hollywood history, in terms of the Kevin
        Bacon Game.  That is to say, if you play the Rod Steiger game
        instead, the average path length is shorter than for any other game,
        like the Groucho Marx game or the Adam Sandler game. - cody
        \_ is that like an erdos number?
        \_ "was", not "is".  He's dead, Jim.
           \_ Ted Williams is still the last person to hit .400, even though
              Ted Williams no longer "is."  -tom
                \_ Well, he also 'was' the last person to do so.  Om.  -John
              \_ Well, it all depends on what the meaning of "is" is.
                 \_ *laugh*  And we have a winner!
              \_ Ted Williams is at 77K.
              \_ But, but...you wouldn't say "g. washington IS the first pres",
                 you'd say "g. washington was the first US pres." right?
                \_ maybe.. the fact of this presidency being first does not
                        change with time so perhaps "is" is acceptable?
                   \_ no, we always refer to dead people in past tense even if
                      their accomplishments are current such as first pres. or
                      fastest runner or most records sold, whatever, etc. it is
                      the living/dead status of the person that is being
                      tensed, not their accomplishment.
                      \_ It depends on the sentence and the context.  -tom
                         \_ no, it doesn't.  you may have heard that english
                            grammar has a lack of rules.  this is false.
                            the rules are specified by a secret, anonymous
                            body of CSUA members who let the rules be known
                            by motd posts.  these rules may never be broken.
                            \_ We are the MOTD Grammarian Star Chamber Police.
                               We took English in HS and remember most of it,
                               so we aren't taking any crap about "it depends"
                               from those who don't remember and want to make
                               it all up.  --MGSCP
                               \_ well, MGSCP, surely you'll understand that
                                  the sentence "Ted Williams *was* the last
                                  player to hit .400" is ambiguous.  It
                                  implies that someone else has hit .400
                                  since then and is now the
                                  record-holder.  Babe Ruth *was* the
                                  single-season record-holder for home runs.
                                  Babe Ruth *is* the single-season
                                  record-holder for walks.   -tom
                                  \_ We'll drop by with black masks later to
                                     explain the difference to you.  --MGSCP
                                     \_ Three demerits!! Tom is the founding
                                        member of the MGSCP.
                                        \_ Speaking of demerits, anybody
                                           remember that old arcade game
                                           where you drive around and get
                                           penalized demerits? I can't
                                           remember anything else about it
                                           because it was like 15-20 years
                                           ago and I'm getting old and slow.