From cbmvax!uunet!CUVMB.BITNET!LOJBAN Thu Jul 2 13:36:46 1992 Return-Path: Received: by snark.thyrsus.com (/\==/\ Smail3.1.21.1 #21.19) id ; Thu, 2 Jul 92 13:36 EDT Received: by cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com (5.57/UUCP-Project/Commodore 2/8/91) id AA07013; Thu, 2 Jul 92 13:19:19 EDT Received: from pucc.Princeton.EDU by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA17396; Thu, 2 Jul 92 12:10:58 -0400 Message-Id: <9207021610.AA17396@relay1.UU.NET> Received: from PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU by pucc.Princeton.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 4403; Thu, 02 Jul 92 12:10:32 EDT Received: by PUCC (Mailer R2.08 ptf033) id 2890; Thu, 02 Jul 92 12:10:18 EDT Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1992 11:13:56 -0400 Reply-To: Logical Language Group Sender: Lojban list From: Logical Language Group Subject: Chris Handley's suggested parlour game X-To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu To: John Cowan , Eric Raymond , Eric Tiedemann Status: RO I think the continued story idea is a good one, but you need really cooperative people to have it work. We did try it once with Lojban, but a certain person (who shall remain nameless) made a point of striving for truly strange twists in the story at every opportunity - strange enough that there was no possibility that the result could be interesting (as opposed to the process - which can be interesting in spite of strangeness, or because of it). My main reason for suggesting the Canterbury Tales approach is that we are currently being flooded with translations of a variety of materials from other languages, but almost no one (except Michael Helsem) has attempted significant original writing in Lojban. Since translation always involves some amount of interlingual compromise (as we've seen in the phone game), only original writing in the language will lead to the development of true Lojban stylistics - something near and dear to Nick's heart, if not others'. By making the length be at the writers' options, we can get people like Nick, who could probably write a good, longer story, but also maybe encourage Chris, who has never posted longer than words and sentences, to contribute something. The advantage of having a common context for the stories, is that it is possible in such a context to tell a little anecdote in as little as a paragraph or two that can form part of the compendium as well as a longer story. lojbab