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As promised, I posted my copy of Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss to Joel over at biroco.com today. It’s a great book. I enjoyed reading it and finally learnt how to use a semi-colon properly. This may not sound like a big issue, but as Truss points out in the book, I fall into the age range that suffered when grammar fell off the national curriculum. I don’t remember having any structured lessons about possessive apostrophes, Oxford commas or any other such delights. Surprisingly, she even manages to make the subject amusing. For example, some graffiti she recounts, as read in New York, once said; “Nigger’s out”, to which some wag had added, “But he’ll be back soon.”

As I said to Joel in some recent e-mail correspondence; if good punctuation can help neutralise evil via the conduit of wit, it’s got to be worth learning about. I was reminded of some graffiti I once saw on a bridge in north Wales which said, “BRIT’S OUT!” – painfully incorrect, both geographically and grammatically.

As if to prove my point about the value of good punctuation, this afternoon I discovered this fantastic L.A.Times article via the trusty boingboing.net

2nd S.F. Judge Delays Ruling on Gay Marriages

Superior Court Judge James Warren told plaintiffs he would not issue a court order until they corrected a punctuation error in their legal filing.

By Daryl Strickland
Times Staff Writer

5:09 PM PST, February 17, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO – Conservative groups trying to stop the city from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples failed to win any immediate action today in two separate court hearings.

Superior Court Judge James Warren told plaintiffs late this afternoon that they would likely succeed on the merits of their case but said he would not issue a court order until they corrected a punctuation error in their legal filing.

“I am not trying to be petty here, but it is a big deal That semicolon is a big deal,” Warren told attorneys, according to an account by Associated Press.

In documents filed with the court, the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund had requested a court order that would force the city “cease and desist issuing marriage licenses to and/or solemnizing marriages of same-sex couples; to show cause before this court.”

“The way you’ve written this it has a semicolon where it should have the word ‘or’,” the judge said. “I don’t have the authority to issue it under these circumstances.”

In the first hearing earlier today, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Ronald Quidachay said he would not decide a lawsuit today that sought to block more than 2,500 marriage licenses issued to gay and lesbian couples since Mayor Gavin Newsom directed city officials to start the practice Thursday.

In the courtroom, located across the street from where same-sex couples were lined up to get the marriage licenses, Quidachay said the Campaign for California Families gave the city insufficient notice to get an emergency order.

“The court itself is not prepared to hear the matter,” Quidachay said.

The Alliance Defense Fund filed a complaint Friday seeking a court-ordered halt to the marriages and was ordered back to Superior Court this afternoon. Attorneys for the Arizona-based group filed briefs Monday, as instructed by Judge James L. Warren, contending that California law must be enforced – even if it is unconstitutional – until an appellate court states otherwise.

“The mayor is breaking the law,” Alliance spokesman Rich Jefferson said.

California law defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The newly elected mayor ordered marriage licenses amended to allow same-sex unions, stating that to do otherwise would violate the equal protection clause of the California Constitution.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal plan to file motions today to intervene in the cases on the city’s behalf.

Lee Romney and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

sources:

1. www.latimes.com

Disclaimer: confessing to having learnt about punctuation does not provide grounds upon which you may critique my writing; I shall no doubt forget it within a week…

A visit to Wolverhampton Art Gallery proved to be, as usual, quite fruitful. Coincidence took me there on the same day the local paper announced the news that the new pop art gallery will go to planning commitee next week.

To promote the proposal there is an exhibition in the contemporary gallery of the usual suspects, including quotes on the wall from Andy Warhol and Marshall MacLuhan. At the back of the room is a plan and cut-away aerial view, showing the proposed design by Niall Phillips Architects. I’m encouraged by what I saw and hope Development Control treat it favourably. Although if it’s dealt with by whoever approved the monstrosity next to the market; anything could happen.

Triangular in plan, the new building sits in an existing courtyard space with one side parallel to the existing buildinq – the other two travelling towards the street and colliding just past the building line of adjacent properties. The wedges of remaining space will provide an interesting tension between old and new. You might describe it as being one third respectful, two thirds cheeky. Which seems like a fitting recipe for a building to house pop-art.

Inside, the gallery is top lit and there appears to be some form of internal brise soleil to control the sunlight on the walls. Using natural light in a gallery is notoriously difficult; let’s hope Niall Phillips can pull it off. Viewing the work in a triangular space should be interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing the pieces chosen to face each other in the corners. Could be a happy marriage, could be Clash of the Titans. Either way, there is a danger that the form will negate the program. It wouldn’t be the first time this had happened with a gallery design, just ask Guggenheim. Often called the ‘mother of all arts’, Mother Architecture sometimes forgets that her children should be given the space to grow up on their own.

The main gallery is currently running an exhibition called ‘Forest’. A mixed bag really, but there are one or two items worth a look. Such as, Colorado Impression No. vi by Dan Hays and The Wax Room by Ken Parsons.

Hays’ work was inspired by Googling for his own name on the internet and finding another Dan Hays who’d published pictures of his home town, Colorado, on a web site. The resulting landscapes are painted pixel by pixel, as if produced by digital rather than analogue means. From across the room their form is quite clear, but as draw nearer you realise they’ve been heavily compressed; the jpeg algorithm forming new landscapes at the boundaries between objects. It’s equally captivating from any distance.

Stepping into Parsons’ Wax Room made me wish I’d worn my flares. Psychadelic and hippyesque¹, the walls and ceilings are covered in back-lit, kaleidascope like panels depicting different types of landscapes. Scatter cushions are provided for you to sit on whilst you listen to the voice over tell you about the imagery, in between the rise and fall of atmospheric music. If you have an Afghan coat; wear it. All that aside, the detailing of the panels is a delight and each is executed with care and rigour.

Later, in the cafe on the fourth floor, whilst I struggled with the metaphysics of popforestart², my nine month old daughter struggled with the physics of cucumber slices.

The beginning of this entry was accompanied by a cup of Gunpowder green tea and a Martin Joseph CD playing on the stereo³. It was a little bitter to begin with, but mellowed after I’d had something to eat. I’ll leave you to guess which one I’m talking about.

1. Yes, I made this word up.
2. Yes, I made this word up as well.
3. One of the first CDs I ever bought was by Martin Joseph, it was called Dolphins Make Me Cry. I was clearly a rather melancholy teenager. Strangely, he was on Radio 2 again the morning I posted this entry.