London Symposium Boink

Welcome to the "alt.usage.english"

London Symposium Boink Homepage!!

Prelude

"alt.usage.english". What does that mean to you?

A newsgroup on Usenet? Sometimes...

A place to read interesting things about the English language? Sometimes...

A place to help others learn about the subtle nuances and pitfalls in English grammar and syntax? Sometimes...

A place to nitpick and flame others? Yeah, sometimes...

But on Sunday the 13^th of September, 1998, "alt.usage.english" meant fellowship...

That's right. Companionship. Camaraderie. The comfort of meeting a group of strangers who you already know. Who already accept you. Who, in many ways (shapes and forms), are similar to you.

That's what "alt.usage.english" is about sometimes. And this page records that.

Exculpatory clause

On the whole, aue staff and management are not the most photogenic group in the world. Furthermore, I am not exactly Ansel Adams in the photography department. So don't expect to see any Pulitzer Prize material here.

Credits

The staff and management of aue express heartfelt gratitude and admiration to the spouses (POSSLQs, etc) who braved seemingly endless digressions into etymology and other trivial whatnot. Top marks to the spouses (POSSLQs, etc)!!!

Here's a picture of me in front of a London pub somewhere in the Royal Borough of Westminster. Were I a Brit, I would say "This is my local". Note that I am wearing a totally official aue polo shirt.

This is John Davies. John conversation is knowledgeable, composed, and eloquent. He sat next to me for most of the time and purchased a round for the boink. Thanks and a tip of the hat, John!

Here is Brian Goggin, who jumped over from the Emerald Isle to join in. Brian is sporting traditional British country attire, a Barbour hat and coat. Although you can't see it, Brian claimed the blue ribbon in the longest beard competition.

This is "respected regular" Albert Marshall. In addition to preparing the aue mini-faq, Albert provides sparkling, often brilliant conversation. However, be very alert when he starts talking about the Cockneys.

Here is Ian Johnson. Ian is a relative newcomer to aue, and was thus assigned to prepare the agenda for this boink. He performed this role with distinction, and the staff and management of aue are grateful for Ian's help.

This is Peter Buchwald at the Italian restaurant. The picture is crap, but Peter's sincerity, thorough research, and unswerving accuracy make him a valuable aue resource. Note that Peter is wearing a totally official aue tee shirt.

This is Graeme Thomas (also wearing a totally official aue tee shirt). In addition to his ranking in the top 50 Scrabble players in the world, Graeme is a walking encyclopedia and can easily blend hard fact with a razor sharp wit.

This is Jim Nugent, who opted to wear a proper business suit to the boink. Jim's conversation is very much on-line, well-informed, articulate, and glitters with wit.

The future

Given a fair wind, we expect to reconvene the London aue Symposium Boink in April, 1999. Same place, same time. Reserve early for the best seats.

On the other hand, there was some fumbling, rumbling, mumbling about a "Christmas-do". Stay tuned.

Of course, if treasured colleagues from the States are planning to visit, we can also mobilize the troops for an emergency session.

The logo

The Executive committee has designated a working group to update and modernize the totally official aue logo if necessary. An itty-bitty-witty one is shown here...

Don't look for any links, I still have real work to do...