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in reply to My foremost goal in 2009 is to:

Finally pass the Turing test...

(It's the sports questions that always trip me up. 'How do you feel about the Giants?'. I don't know. How should I feel? Betrayed? Embarassed? )

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Re: My foremost goal in 2009 is to:
by jonadab (Parson) on Jan 14, 2009 at 15:36 UTC

    Oh, man, I'd *never* pass a Turing test if the examiner started asking sports questions.

    On an unrelated note, 'How do you feel about the Giants?' isn't a sports question at all (which may explain why you were confused); it's actually literature. You see, some giants are more or less decent, like the one Gandalf got to close up the Goblin hole, but others, like the ones in The Silver Chair, are just plain mean. There are also friendly giants, but these are less common. HTH.HAND.

    -- 
    We're working on a six-year set of freely redistributable Vacation Bible School materials.
      Well, the half-Giants in the _Harry Potter_ books seemed fairly friendly... 8-)

      BTW, thanks... I'll be stealing your line the next time the question arises...

      ... it's actually literature
      ...and mythology. I think Odin, Thor, Frey, et al, would place them firmly in the minus column. Polyphemus is also generally not the sort to meet in a dark alley. Numerous giants are mentioned in the Old Testament, all of bad disposition. Finally, in a blend of literature and mythology, there is Cthulhu and his lot, who make all the rest look like angels in comparison.

      On the plus side (again from literature), there is Henry_Pym, aka 'Giant Man'. Definitely a good guy, but a 9.9 on the superhero 'Lame Scale'...

        Also, in Roald Dahl's book, The BFG, there's exactly one friendly giant and about a dozen really unfriendly ones.

Re^2: My foremost goal in 2009 is to:
by Mak3r (Novice) on Jan 20, 2009 at 15:38 UTC
    Who are the Giants?
      In the U.S., the name is associated with two sports teams -- one baseball and one football. The baseball team used to be in New York City; they're somewhere in Californai now. The football name plays in New Jersey but is named the New York Giants.

      And, as has been pointed out by by jonadab and illuminatus, they're also well-known in the writings of Tolkien, the Norse, and J.K. Rawlings... 8-)