What's in a Name?

My cousin in India recently had a baby boy... based on his raashi he needed a name beginning with 'bh' or 'dh'. Everyone was at a loss, so I thought I would help by searching the web for a nice, meaningful, euphonious name. But instead, I found yet another name that all Indian parents should blacklist: Bhooshit ("decorated"). Seriously people? I chalk this up there with Hardik ("heartfelt" or "full of love"... hehehe), and saakar-teti (pronounced 'sucker-te-tee') - the guju word for canteloupe.

This all reminds me of the last chapter in Freakonomics... Here are some historically recorded given names that have proven to do nothing for the carrier:

• Winner
• Loser
  
• Temptress (after TemPEST Bledsoe)
• OrangeJello (pronounced a-RON-zhello)
• LemonJello (pronounced le-MON-zhello)
• Shithead (pronounced shuh-TEED)

In retrospect, 'Seema' may not have been the wisest choice... unfortunately my parents weren't thinking like 13 year-old suburban runts when they named me.

An Inconvenient Irony

My manager told me about a friend of his who saw An Inconvenient Truth over the weekend in the East Bay. Apparently they missed the last 10 minutes of the movie - the power went out due to the current heatwave. Talk about dramatic endings. :-)

The movie, by the way, should be seen by every man, woman, and child the world over - charts upon graphs of interesting (and scary) scientific & historical data, poignant footage & photos of the effect thermopollution is having across the world (including how such environmental changes influence political unrest and the economy), and computer simulations of what may come... All elegantly weaved together by a not-so-stoic Al Gore, Davis Guggenheim, Jeff Skoll, and others.

(I digress for a few lines to pay homage to Jeff Skoll: first President at eBay (my current gig); generous founder of the Skoll Foundation which has contributed to a number of organizations I support; most recently the founder/Chairman/CEO of Participant Productions which boasts an impressive repertoire of films focused on longterm benefit to society. If I had to select a single living person to idolize, it would be you Mr. Skoll. I tip my hat a thousand times...)

In any case, here's Mr. Gore on the Daily Show with my #1...

First Half:


Second Half:

My passion for wordplay...

This entry will begin a series of posts (I hope) that highlight innovations in wordplay. I don't know why it so rocks me to my core to hear sub-parts of various words/phrases in conjunction with each other... my inner dork just eats it up (as does the outer, I suppose).

Here's an old post from my Friendster blog. I no longer blog there, so don't bother checking... in case you were craving more of my fetching entries. :-)
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After about 7 or some odd years, Nick continues to take credit for my play on words. So, I resign myself to Friendster blog - the only non-invasive channel through which I can set the record straight en masse (with a particular focus on our shared network of friends). For the record, I invented the following play on words, and the like...

• ‘MW’ hand sign* (for 'MID-Wessss'): So... maybe I didn't single-handedly invent it, but I did perfect it - see foot note
• Fasten your Dorritos: synonymous with 'fasten your seatbelt,' but more appropriate when the speaker is craving dorritos
• Guitarded: what you call someone who, after much study, continues to suck at guitar
• Flabdomen: another term for my mid-section
• “Vendetta” as a girl’s name: a pretty name for a girl with a grudge
• Volupturaptor: the name of the Velociraptor-esque head-nod I do
• The Velociraptor-esque head-nod I do: not so much a play on words, but rather a unique melding of paleontologic motion and dirty innuendo
• You down with OOP, yeah you know me: for this play on words, I replaced the TLA** from a popular hip-hop chant with a TLA known widely amongst the geek community (circa 1998). Thuppies*** love it.

*MW hand sign: To recreate this gangsta symbol, hold up your three middle fingers on both hands, curling your thumb and pinky into your palm. Now, with a big thug-like motion, bring your hands together (don't let them touch) to about chest level such that your right three fingers are pointed to the floor, and your left three fingers are pointed to the ceiling. Make sure the motion is big and thug-like. If your hips and shoulders are vertically aligned, you're doing it all wrong. As your hands come together, sneer and holla 'MIIID-WESSSS!' with that milk-bred, flat-lander brio the mid-west is known for.
**TLA: Three-letter acronym
***Thuppie: A yuppie by socio-economic echelon, but at thug through and through. Credit for this one goes to Nick.