EDIT: fixed embarassing typo

Edit^2: Except I hit the Quote button instead of the Edit button.

It's a law of online posting that any message pointing out or correcting a spelling or gramamtical mistake will contain at least one spelling or grammatical mistake. The Irony Gods are very active.

Oh yeah, the Irony Gods must be satiated every once in awhile. Although I'm sure that they're still enjoying the feedback from the hit song Ironic, plus all the blogging wars that exist on whether or not there's actually any irony in Ironic. (For the record, according to my personal definition, yes there is)

The ironic thing about ironic is that it's a song called ironic written by a woman who doesn't know what irony is.

Actually, I don't think anyone really knows what irony is. The definition I was taught in high school is that irony is "The last thing you expect to happen." The last thing I expect to happen is for the protagonist to turn into a pink screaming penguin, but that isn't ironic, that's just bloody stupid.

According to that paragon of accuracy Wikipedia, "Irony, from the Greek εiρων (eiron), is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is generally understood (either at the time, or in the later context of history). Irony may also arise from a discordance between acts and results, especially if it is striking, and known to a later audience. A certain kind of irony may result from the act of pursuing a desired outcome, resulting in the opposite effect, but again, only if this is known to a third party. In this case the aesthetic arises from the realization that an effort is sharply at odds with an outcome, and that in fact the very effort has been its own undoing.

More generally, irony is understood as an aesthetic valuation by an audience, which relies on a sharp discordance between the real and the ideal, and which is variously applied to texts, speech, events, acts, and even fashion. All the different senses of irony revolve around the perceived notion of an incongruity, or a gap, between an understanding of reality, or expectation of a reality, and what actually happens."

Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Stop having a brain, dammit!

Oh, that's not the ironic thing. The ironic thing is that the song has outlasted all of us English experts, and will still be getting airplay when our complaints are long forgotten. (They're already pretty stale.)

Let's face it -- lyrics don't matter. If they did, there would be about five popular songs a year.

Okay, if you guys want to debate the irony (or lack thereof) of Ironic (and I'm totally into beating that bush), that's a job for another topic.

Oh, and I hope you intend that thing about Wikipedia being a "paragon of accuracy" thing as a joke.

Indeed. So, Random fiver... avoiding all possible references to dice games or whatever, who/how/what/when might stuff happen?

I do think it's a good idea, despite difficulties. Could someone else possibly organise it?

Well, I suppose the easiest answer is "soon."

I already said that! Of course, it's possible the dice-discussion-monster ate that post...

Soon Indeed. I wonder if it would be possible to set something up in another website that could link to a random fiver. There are things on webrings where you can be directed to a random page in said webring. How do they work? Could they be used for this?

Never said "soon" was unique or clever, just said it was "the easiest answer." No other claim was made. Calm down.

No idea about the webring thing. Or even the webthing ring. :)

For the record, me sounding annoyed is really me being amused. I don't get offended or annoyed by anyone but my Mum, and my friend Penny.

If there is some way of making a random-fiver webring (ie with a button that takes you to the next random fiver) we should name it 'WebThing Ring'.

Yes! Then when it breaks down I can make more Zeke/Poindexter jokes :D

If I didn't subconsciously steal that Webthing Ring idea from someone else (and I wouldn't at all put it past my subconscious), then I want credit in the newspost. :)

'Infinite Improbability is responsible for the name 'Webthing Ring'. Please direct all copyright-related lawsuits at him.'

Sound fair to me.

Or, someone could just pick the random fiver, thereby just eliminating the whole mess.

Cut and print. ;D

Oooh. That'd be simple. Create a Random Fiver of the Day thread. Maybe I'd cut and paste a fiver into the thread on Monday, Maverick would cut and paste one in on Tuesday, Arzosah would do it on Wednesday, and so on. Emphasis on "Random Fiver." No picking of favorites. Maybe have additional rotating theme days. TNG, DS9, VOY, TOS/ENT, Misc. (that should be about equal-sized fiver pools, right?)

Dammit, it's Thursday! Well, here... is it still Wednesday where anyone else is?

Wednesday here, and it will continue to be Wednesday for about another seven hours. Only Alaska, Hawaii and some bits of coral get more Wednesday than I do.

Ok then, todays Random Fiver is...

*drumroll*

http://www.fiveminute.net/voyager/fi...ssageinabottle

I used the newspage, picked a random month (June 2005) and chose semi-randomly a fiver. That work?