Punctuation

The :nv:s:ble Play is a diacritically witty title: Whenever Colin, one of the heroes in Alex Dremann's play, dispatches an e-mail, the "sender" field appears merely as the punctuation mark ":" (colon) - which has a slightly different pronunciation. It's amusing in a couple of ways: Director Bill Felty's Philadelphia Theatre Workshop production is about book editors, so punctuation is second nature to them. And, existentially speaking, Colin is becoming invisible. Dremann's publishing house specializes in existential books - existential yoga, existential romance novels.

So its logical isnt it to start a column about the joys and necessity of punctuation without any at all driving home the point that the dots commas and dashes we find so cumbersome actually make communication quicker and more accurate than the sloppy jumble of words that too often passes for english on this side of the atlantic and judging from lynne truss new book on the other side as well It says something about the British that one of the...

My savvy Great-Aunt Mary recently recommended that I read Eats, Shoots & Leaves, a book about the failing state of punctuation in Britain (though the United States isn't doing much better). It's (note the well-placed apostrophe) entirely possible that my aunt noticed a punctuation mistake in something I wrote, but more likely that she aimed to plant the seed of a stickler (author Lynne Truss' term for the grammatically correct) in a writer from my generation. While I share Truss' disappointment with the state of punctuation and grammar - particularly in informal media such as text messages and blogs - I was particularly struck by a sentiment in her preface: "The disappearance of punctuation ... indicates an enormous shift in our attitude to the written word, and nobody knows where it will end. " Widespread neglect of apostrophes and commas isn't likely to scare any college student (or blogger)

If the sentence sounds right, most people scribble it down. What difference will a missing comma or two make? Others will know what they mean - right? Wrong. Gene Robertson cringes at such thoughts. In his class, you had better know your apostrophes and your commas, your semicolons and your hyphens. And you better know your rules of punctuation. Robertson teaches a secretarial class. His course, which lasts for three months, is held six hours a day, every week day, at the A.P. Orleans Center, 1330 Rhawn St. Students receive lessons in typing, filing, operating computers and other office machines, record-keeping, accounting, resume-writing and interviewing for jobs.

Once again we are pleased to present Mister Language Person, the internationally recognized expert and author of the authoritative "Oxford Cambridge Big Book o' Grammar. " Q. What is the difference between "criteria" and "criterion"? A. These often-confused words belong to a family that grammarians call "metronomes," meaning "words that have the same beginning but lay eggs underwater. " The simplest way to tell them apart is to remember that "criteria" is used in the following type of sentence: "When choosing a candidate for the United States Congress, the main criteria is, hair.

The American premiere of "Nodiho," an African dance opera. Directed by Dokolo Nzabididi Ya Bilengo, choreography by Tampise Sura Beyung and Wazungu Bilengo, lighting design by Whitney Quesenbery. Presented by the American Music Theater Festival in cooperation with Mwenzo-Africa at the Annenberg School Theatre, 3680 Walnut St., through Sunday. In this, its fourth season, the American Music Theater Festival has for the first time veered away from the stated purpose of its founders to "build the future of a distinctive American art form.

Saul Steinberg, whose pen-and-ink epigrams graced the pages of the New Yorker and the walls of the Metropolitan Museum, died Wednesday at his Manhattan home. He was 84. Throughout his career, the Romanian-born, Italian-educated American emigre hopped between cultures, erasing the border between fine and commercial art. Most critics dodged the issue of whether to describe Mr. Steinberg as an artist or a graphic artist by likening his line to the fractured Cubist geometry of Picasso, his whimsy to the playful flourish of Klee and his metaphysics to the surrealism of Magritte.

As the yellow school bus starts coming around again this fall, it's time for parents and students to start thinking earnestly of school. For a lot of young people, especially teens, the first few days of school are exciting, a time to compare summer adventures, scope out the new fashions, and reconnect with peers. I wonder how many of them will share summer experiences that had something - anything - to do with writing. Not many, I bet. Students are too busy being weaned on high-stakes tests and fill-in-the-blank pedagogy that permeate many of our schools.

For the first time since the Stanley Cup playoffs began in mid-April, Brian Leetch was standing still on the ice. He had the puck settling on the blade of his stick, his head up, admiring the beauty of an open net in Game 7 of the finals. It was as if Leetch was posing, telling photographers, Get a good angle, guys. I'm never going to forget this goal. Then Leetch calmly lifted the shot into the net with 8 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the first period. And the Rangers, who up to that point appeared to be tentative about ending this 1940 thing once and for all, were on their way to a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It is said that an NFL quarterback is viewed differently by people after he wins a Super Bowl, and it must be true. There is no other way to explain how the Giants' Eli Manning, 19th in the NFL in completion percentage and 17th in passing yards and 10th in touchdowns, is going to the Pro Bowl this year. But how does the quarterback view himself? You wonder how that image changes after the shower of shiny confetti rains down. There are mirrors everywhere in life and you wonder what Manning sees when he catches a peek of his profile.

NOBODY REALLY cares who wins at the Golden Globes (except, of course, the people who win), but the show occasionally does provide some news. According to E! News, last night's Best Actor in a TV Drama winner Kelsey Grammer 's latest wife, Kayte Walsh , is pregnant. This will be his fourth child. Say cheese! Laura Kaeppeler , a 23-year-old beauty queen from Wisconsin, won the Miss America pageant Saturday in Las Vegas after singing opera and strutting in a white bikini and black beaded evening gown.

ARLINGTON, Texas - DeSean Jackson stopped, turned, extended his arms and fell backward into Eagles-Cowboys lore forever. Eleven months later, Jackson finally did "sting" the Cowboys' backsides. The wiry little wide receiver is a perplexing combination, as infuriating as he is exhilarating. That Twitter boast last year was just one example. If he wore a different uniform, Philadelphia fans would despise his brashness and his petulance. But all is forgiven when No. 10 gathers in a short pass, as he did in the fourth quarter of a tie game Sunday night, and turns the corner.

The :nv:s:ble Play is a diacritically witty title: Whenever Colin, one of the heroes in Alex Dremann's play, dispatches an e-mail, the "sender" field appears merely as the punctuation mark ":" (colon) - which has a slightly different pronunciation. It's amusing in a couple of ways: Director Bill Felty's Philadelphia Theatre Workshop production is about book editors, so punctuation is second nature to them. And, existentially speaking, Colin is becoming invisible. Dremann's publishing house specializes in existential books - existential yoga, existential romance novels.

My savvy Great-Aunt Mary recently recommended that I read Eats, Shoots & Leaves, a book about the failing state of punctuation in Britain (though the United States isn't doing much better). It's (note the well-placed apostrophe) entirely possible that my aunt noticed a punctuation mistake in something I wrote, but more likely that she aimed to plant the seed of a stickler (author Lynne Truss' term for the grammatically correct) in a writer from my generation. While I share Truss' disappointment with the state of punctuation and grammar - particularly in informal media such as text messages and blogs - I was particularly struck by a sentiment in her preface: "The disappearance of punctuation ... indicates an enormous shift in our attitude to the written word, and nobody knows where it will end. " Widespread neglect of apostrophes and commas isn't likely to scare any college student (or blogger)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It is said that an NFL quarterback is viewed differently by people after he wins a Super Bowl, and it must be true. There is no other way to explain how the Giants' Eli Manning, 19th in the NFL in completion percentage and 17th in passing yards and 10th in touchdowns, is going to the Pro Bowl this year. But how does the quarterback view himself? You wonder how that image changes after the shower of shiny confetti rains down. There are mirrors everywhere in life and you wonder what Manning sees when he catches a peek of his profile.

Did Christoph Eschenbach know what he was walking into in 2001 when he was appointed Philadelphia Orchestra music director? Did anybody? Could anybody? When discussing orchestra politics a few weeks back, he admitted he'd never encountered anything like it, but rejected my comparison to Viennese intrigue. "Viennese intrigue," he said, "is transparent. " There's nothing transparent about the Eschenbach era - a time of numerous crosscurrents, no one of which defines why it was one of the shortest and messiest in Philadelphia Orchestra history.

Maybe it was the long drive up from Northeast Philly. Or that this public hearing didn't involve any actual public input. But Hal Rosenthal had had just about enough. So when the lawyer and activist spotted the man in the dark suit from the National Rifle Association in a Capitol hallway, he pounced. "How is it unreasonable for you to be able to buy 12 guns a year?" Rosenthal asked by way of introduction. "Let me ask you this," retorted John Hohenwarter, the NRA's chief Pennsylvania lobbyist, "would you say it's reasonable for your right to public assembly to be restricted?"

As the yellow school bus starts coming around again this fall, it's time for parents and students to start thinking earnestly of school. For a lot of young people, especially teens, the first few days of school are exciting, a time to compare summer adventures, scope out the new fashions, and reconnect with peers. I wonder how many of them will share summer experiences that had something - anything - to do with writing. Not many, I bet. Students are too busy being weaned on high-stakes tests and fill-in-the-blank pedagogy that permeate many of our schools.

Last month, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court cleared the way for the financially ailing Barnes Foundation to change its rules and move its famed art gallery to Philadelphia. For one critical year, Lincoln University fought the proposed changes, and then relented. Through interviews with more than 30 people and reviews of court records and correspondence, The Inquirer has pieced together what went on behind the scenes that year as Philadelphia politics and power clashed with a proud, historically black university in Chester County.

Andre Iguodala took off full-speed down the court, chasing a lumbering Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was headed toward the basket on a breakaway, trying to help keep the Cleveland Cavaliers in their game against the 76ers. The 7-foot-3 Ilgauskas looked as if he had plenty of space, but here came Iguodala, the athletic 6-foot-6 rookie, flying toward him and getting a piece of what was supposed to be an easy layup. That majestic block was only a small part of what Iguodala did defensively last night in helping carry the Sixers to a vital 93-81 victory before a disappointed sellout crowd of 20,562 at Gund Arena.