Pet Peeves Thread

The Mughal Emperor Shahjahan ordered it built in memory of his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1629A.D.
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The construction of the Taj commenced in 1631 and was completed in 1653.Workers were gathered from all over the country (India) and central Asia.The main architect was Isa Khan. Shahjahan cut off the hands of the workers after the completion of the Taj Mahal so that no one would ever be able to build such a marvelous monument again.

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2020hindsight said:

Sprinter , I forgot to mention that a couple of those kids in that crowd watching Rage Against the Machine in Sydney were mine.

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cuttlefish said:

tigerboi - after your comments I've been watching trucks and speed limits closely and after a recent drive up the pacific highway at night there is simply no doubt in my mind that many trucks are still consistently driving at speeds of at least the 110->120km/h range in 100km/h zones.

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prawn_86 said:

People who criticise others musical tastes without even trying to understand why it is good/liked ...

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Prospector said:

(except that mine were in Adelaide!

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derty said:

I love most types of music, you can find me at an orchestra or in the front row of a Slayer concert. I listen to classical, blues, jazz, folk, pop, dance, trance, techno, (some) rap, rock, punk, indie, all sorts of metal.

There are times when you need some laid back blues and times when you need crank something loud and fast.

I find it hard to understand why people choose to limit themselves so tightly to such a narrow spectrum of what is available and declare all else to be utter rubbish. Though my abhorrence to the blight that comprises most of the Country Music scene does give me a little insight into this point of view :

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Rage Against the Machine
Before long, Rage Against the Machine was on the main stage at Lollapalooza, in 1993, and was one of the most politically charged bands ever to receive extensive airplay from radio and MTV. Rage will also be appearing at Lollapalooza in August, 2008. De la Rocha became one of the most visible champions of left-wing political causes around the world, advocating in favor of Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal, and supporting the Zapatista movement in Mexico. He even spoke on the floor of the UN, testifying against the United States and its treatment of Abu-Jamal. The music and the message were so intertwined for him that he did not consider any of Rage's albums a success unless they provoked tangible political change.

Rage's second and third albums peaked at number one in the United States, but did not result in the political action de la Rocha had hoped for. He became increasingly restless and undertook collaborations with artists like KRS-One, Chuck D, and Public Enemy.

On September 13, 2000, Rage Against the Machine performed their last show before breaking up, during which de la Rocha gave a notable speech before playing Killing in the Name:

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“ So who went out and joined us for the Democratic National Convention? I've never seen so many ****ing cops in my life. It's like everybody knows that everybody went out there; the only thing we were out there to do is express how much we hate both the Democrats and Republicans because they sold this ****ing country out. And by expressing our rights to resist, what do they do? They open fire on the crowd. I don't care what ****ing television station said the violence was caused by the people at the concert; those mother****ers unloaded on this crowd. And I think it's ridiculous considering, you know, none of us had rubber bullets; none of us had M16s; none of us had billy clubs; none of us had face shields. All we had was our fists, our voices, our microphones, our guitars, our drums, our timbales and whatnot. And anytime we get beaten in the streets for protesting, we take it to the court system, but the court system don't wanna hear it. Look what happened to Amadou Diallo in New York. They shot that brother 41 times and let all four officers go. It's time for a new type of action in this country.

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A new collaboration between de la Rocha and DJ Shadow, the song "March of Death" was released for free online in 2003 in protest against the imminent invasion of Iraq. De la Rocha released a statement along with his song:

“ Without just cause or reason, without legal or moral justification, and without a thread of proof that Iraq directly threatens the security of the United States, the Bush administration has headed to war. As I am writing this, bombs are raining upon the defenseless civilians of Baghdad in a continuation of a policy that has already claimed the lives of over 1 million innocent Iraqi people. People just like us who want democracy but find themselves cornered by a dictator on one side, naked U.S. aggression on another, and the oil beneath their country; for which it appears they are to be massacred.

Lies, sanctions, and cruise missiles have never created a free and just society. Only everyday people can do that, which is why I'm joining the millions world wide who have stood up to oppose the Bush administration's attempt to expand the U.S. empire at the expense of human rights at home and abroad. In this spirit I'm releasing this song for anyone who is willing to listen. I hope it not only makes us think, but also inspires us to act and raise our voices.[6]

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Julia said:

This has been raised before on the "Grammar" thread.

If only I 'had of' done that.

Please, people. Drop the 'of'. Just say "If only I had done that".
Ditto "should of". Damn it, it's "should have".
These two mistakes are made over and over again.

OK again: "Everything would of been different if only we'd of done that".
WRONG:
"Eveything would have been different if only we'd done that".

Please, people, please!

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If only I 'had of' done that.

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bassmanpete said:

I thought this was fairly recent usage but not too long ago I read a Raymond Chandler novel written in the '40s and found a couple of examples of 'should of'.

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1. Pygmalion (mythology), in ancient Greek mythology, a sculptor who fell in love with his statue

In psychology:
2. The pygmalion effect, a concept in psychology describing the behavior of individuals as people expect them to behave

3. Pygmalionism or agalmatophilia, an erotic attraction to statues or immobility

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