5 perlepigraphs - list of Perl release epigraphs
9 Many Perl release announcements included an I<epigraph>, a short excerpt
10 from a literary or other creative work, chosen by the pumpking or release
11 manager. This file assembles the known list of epigraph for posterity,
12 and also links to the release announcements in mailing list archives.
14 I<Note>: these have also been referred to as <epigrams>, but the
15 definition of I<epigraph> is closer to the way they have been used.
16 Consult your favorite dictionary for details.
20 =head2 v5.12.5 - William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
22 Announced on 2012-11-10 by Dominic Hargreaves
24 Music oft hath such a charm
25 To make bad good, and good provoke to harm.
27 =head2 v5.16.2 - Stanislaw Lem, The Cyberiad, Trurl's Machine
29 L<Announced on 2012-11-01 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2012-11/msg00017.html>
31 Once upon a time Trurl the constructor built an eight-story thinking
32 machine. When it was finished, he gave it a coat of white paint,
33 trimmed the edges in lavender, stepped back, squinted, then added a
34 little curlicue on the front and, where one might imagine the forehead
35 to be, a few pale orange polkadots. Extremely pleased with himself,
36 he whistled an air and, as is always done on such occasions, asked it
37 the ritual question of how much is two plus two.
39 The machine stirred. Its tubes began to glow, its coils warmed up,
40 current coursed through all its circuits like a waterfall,
41 transformers hummed and throbbed, there was a clanging, and a
42 chugging, and such an ungodly racket that Trurl began to think of
43 adding a special mentation muffler. Meanwhile the machine labored on,
44 as if it had been given the most difficult problem in the Universe to
45 solve; the ground shook, the sand slid underfoot from the vibration,
46 valves popped like champagne corks, the relays nearly gave way under
47 the strain. At last, when Trurl had grown extremely impatient, the
48 machine ground to a halt and said in a voice like thunder: SEVEN!
50 =head2 v5.17.5 - Charles Stross, "Singularity Sky"
52 L<Announced on 2012-10-20 by Florian Ragwitz|http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2012-10/msg01007.html>
54 Neither of them noticed the pair of polka-dotted knickers hiding
55 behind the ventilation duct overhead, listening patiently and
58 =head2 v5.17.4 - Roald Dahl, "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf"
60 L<Announced on 2012-09-20 by Florian Ragwitz|http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2012-09/msg01226.html>
62 The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.
63 She whips a pistol from her knickers.
64 She aims it at the creature's head,
65 And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead.
67 A few weeks later, in the wood,
68 I came across Miss Riding Hood.
69 But what a change! No cloak of red,
70 No silly hood upon her head.
71 She said, "Hello, and do please note
72 My lovely furry wolfskin coat."
74 =head2 v5.17.3 - Kris Ta-belle, "Smoked Perl Onion Soup"
76 L<Announced on 2012-08-20 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/08/msg190775.html>
80 Cut 16 Perl Onions into quarters and put them in a grill smoker rack
81 or a perforated pan over a BBQ using hickory wood chips or Special
82 Blend Smoker Bisquettes. Smoke them for an hour and remove once they
84 Let them cool and put them in the fridge (or freezer) until you are
85 ready to create the soup.
89 16 diced, pre-smoked, Perl Onions
92 2 small garlic cloves, finely minced
97 1/4 cup all purpose flour
98 6 cups of beef or vegetable stock
99 1 cup of thick cream (milk can be used as a substitute)
103 Melt the butter in a pan and then add olive oil.
104 Heat and add the onions to caramelize over a medium-high heat for up
106 Add the garlic, turn down the heat and cook for a further 5 minutes.
107 Add the salt, pepper and sugar.
108 Now add the red wine and reduce to a jam like consistency.
109 Add the flour, stir well and add the stock a cup at a time.
110 Simmer for 30 minutes, add the cream and heat to almost boiling.
114 =head2 v5.17.2 - Terry Pratchet, "The Colour of Magic"
116 L<Announced on 2012-07-21 by TonyC|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/07/msg189828.html>
118 ‘I knew it,’ said Rincewind. ‘We're in a strong magical field.’
120 Twoflower and Hrun looked around the little hollow where they had made
121 their noonday halt. Then they looked at each other.
123 The horses were quietly cropping the rich grass by the stream. Yellow
124 butterflies skittered among the bushes. There was a smell of thyme
125 and a buzzing of bees. The wild pigs on the spit sizzled gently.
127 Hrun shrugged and went back to oiling his biceps. They gleamed.
129 ‘Looks alright to me,’ he said.
131 ‘Try tossing a coin,’ said Rincewind.
135 ‘Go on. Toss a coin.’
137 ‘Hokay,’ said Hrun. 'If that gives you any pleasure.’ He reached into
138 his pouch and withdrew a handful of loose change plundered from a
139 dozen realms. With some care he selected a Zchloty leaden
140 quarter-iotum and balanced it on a purple thumbnail.
142 ‘You call,’ he said. ‘Heads or—’ he inspected the obverse with
143 an air of intense concentration, ‘some sort of a fish with legs.’
145 ‘When it's in the air,’ said Rincewind. Hrun grinned and flicked his thumb.
147 The iotum rose, spinning.
149 ‘Edge,’ said Rincewind, without looking at it.
151 =head2 v5.17.1 - Rand Miller, "Myst: The Book of Ti'ana"
153 L<Announced on 2012-06-20 by doy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/06/msg188354.html>
155 On their return from Ko'ah, Aitrus had shown her the Book, patiently
156 taking her through page after page, and showing her how such an Age was
157 "made." She had seen at once the differences between this archaic form
158 and the ordinary written speech of the D'ni, noting how it was not
159 merely more elaborate but more specific: a language of precise yet
160 subtle descriptive power. Yet seeing was one thing, believing another.
161 Given all the evidence, her rational mind still fought against accepting
164 =head2 v5.17.0 - Charles Stross, "Singularity Sky"
166 L<Announced on 2012-05-26 by Zefram|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/05/msg187214.html>
168 `Welcome, comrades!' Burya opened his arms toward the soldier.
169 `Yes it is true! With help from our allies of the Festival, the iron
170 hand of the reactionary junta is about to be overthrown for all time!
171 The new economy is being born; the marginal cost of production has
172 been abolished, and from now on, if any item is produced once, it can
173 be replicated infinitely. From each according to his imagination,
174 to each according to his needs! Join us or better still, bring your
175 fellow soldiers and workers to join us!'
177 There was a sharp bang from the roof of the Corn Exchange, right at the
178 climax of his impromptu speech; heads turned in alarm. Something had
179 broken inside the spork factory and a stream of rainbow-hued plastic
180 implements fountained toward the sky and clattered to the cobblestones
181 on every side, like a harbinger of the postindustrial society to come.
182 Workers and peasants alike stared in open-mouthed bewilderment at this
183 astounding display of productivity, then bent to scrabble in the muck
184 for the brightly colored sporks of revolution. A volley of shots rang
185 out and Burya Rubenstein raised his hands, grinning wildly, to accept
186 the salute of the soldiers from the Skull Hill garrison.
188 =head2 v5.16.1 - Emerald Rose - Never Split The Party
190 L<Announced on 2012-08-08 by Ricardo
191 Signes|http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2012-08/msg00307.html>
193 Don't you know? You never split the party
194 Clerics in the back to keep those fighters hale and hearty
195 The wizard in the middle, where he can shed some light
196 And you never let that damn thief out of sight…
198 -- Emerald Rose, Never Split The Party
200 =head2 v5.16.1 RC1 - Tom Moldvay - Dungeons & Dragons
202 L<Announced on 2012-08-03 by Ricardo
203 Signes|http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2012-08/msg00157.html>
205 I was busy rescuing the captured maiden when the dragon showed up.
206 Fifty feed of scaled terror glared down at us with smoldering red eyes.
207 Tendrils of smoke drifted out from between fangs larger than daggers.
208 The dragon blocked the only exit from the cave.
212 I unwrapped the sword which the mysterious cleric had given me. The
213 sword was golden-tinted steel. Its hilt was set with a rainbow
214 collection of precious gems. I shouted my battle cry and charged
216 My charge caught the dragon by surprise. Its titanic jaws snapped shut
217 inches from my face. I swung the golden sword with both arms. The
218 swordblade bit into the dragon's neck and continued through to the other
219 side. With an earth-shaking crash, the dragon dropped dead at my feet.
220 The magic sword had saved my life and ended the reign of the
221 dragon-tyrant. The countryside was freed and I could return as a hero.
223 -- Tom Moldvay, Foreward to the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rulebook
225 =head2 v5.16.0 - W.H. Auden - September 1, 1939
227 L<Announced on 2012-05-20 by Ricardo
228 Signes|http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2012-05/msg00728.html>
230 All I have is a voice
231 To undo the folded lie,
232 The romantic lie in the brain
233 Of the sensual man-in-the-street
234 And the lie of Authority
235 Whose buildings grope the sky:
236 There is no such thing as the State
237 And no one exists alone;
238 Hunger allows no choice
239 To the citizen or the police;
240 We must love one another or die.
242 -- W.H. Auden, September 1, 1939
244 =head2 v5.15.9 - Bob Dylan - Blowin' In The Wind
246 L<Announced on 2012-03-20 by
247 Abigail|http://nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/184824>
249 How many roads must a man walk down
250 Before you call him a man?
251 Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
252 Before she sleeps in the sand?
253 Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannonballs fly
254 Before they're forever banned?
255 The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
256 The answer is blowin' in the wind
258 How many years can a mountain exist
259 Before it's washed to the sea?
260 Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
261 Before they're allowed to be free?
262 Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head
263 Pretending he just doesn't see?
264 The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
265 The answer is blowin' in the wind
267 How many times must a man look up
268 Before he can see the sky?
269 Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
270 Before he can hear people cry?
271 Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
272 That too many people have died?
273 The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
274 The answer is blowin' in the wind
276 -- Bob Dylan, Spring 1962
278 =head2 v5.15.8 - The KLF - The Manual-How To Have A Number One The Easy Way
280 L<Announced on 2012-02-20 by Max
281 Maischein|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/02/msg183919.html>
283 "Doctor Who, hey Doctor Who
284 Doctor Who, in the Tardis
285 Doctor Who, hey Doctor Who
286 Doctor Who, Doc, Doctor Who
287 Doctor Who, Doc, Doctor Who"
289 Gibberish of course, but every lad in the country under a certain
290 age related instinctively to what it was about. The ones slightly
291 older needed a couple of pints inside them to clear away the mind
292 debris left by the passing years before it made sense. As for
293 girls and our chorus, we think they must have seen it as pure crap.
294 A fact that must have limited to zero our chances of staying at The
295 Top for more than one week.
297 Stock, Aitkin and Waterman, however, are kings of writing chorus
298 lyrics that go straight to the emotional heart of the 7" single
299 buying girls in this country. Their most successful records will kick
300 into the chorus with a line which encapsulates the entire emotional
301 meaning of the song. This will obviously be used as the title. As
302 soon as Rick Astley hit the first line of the chorus on his debut
303 single it was all over - the Number One position was guaranteed:
305 "I'm never going to give you up"
307 =head2 v5.15.7 - Penelope Lively, The Voyage of QV66
309 L<Announced on 2012-01-20 by Chris 'BinGOs' Williams
310 |http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/01/msg182230.html>
312 "Laboratories," announced Henry. "Kindly don't touch anything."
314 He led us into a long low brick shed. Outside there was a
315 notice on a piece of board, crudely printed in red paint,
316 which said GRATE SIENCE DISCOVERYS DONE HERE SSSH! BRING YOUR
317 OWN BUKKIT NO PINCHING ANYWUN ELSE'S EXPERRYMENTS CANTEEN OPEN
320 There were a lot of large black monkeys inside, all intently
321 busy on what they were doing. Some of them were pouring stuff
322 out of bottles into buckets and carefully stirring the ensuing
323 mixture; others were at work with glass tubes and jars, blowing
324 and measuring and mixing; others were crouched over long benches
325 with tools and heaps of bits and pieces of metal, cutting and
326 bending and constructing. There was a great deal of noise and
327 chatter. Every now and then one of them would give a whoop of
328 excitement and all the others would gather round and jump up and
329 down cheering and applauding.
331 "Chimps," said Henry. "They're awfully clever."
333 =head2 v5.15.6 - Ursula K. Leguin, A Wizard of Earthsea
335 L<Announced on 2011-12-20 by Dave
336 Rolsky|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/12/msg180962.html>
338 Ged had thought that as the prentice of a great mage he would enter at once
339 into the mystery and mastery of power. He would understand the language of the
340 beasts and the speech of the leaves of the forest, he thought, and sway the
341 winds with his word, and learn to change himself into any shape he
342 wished. Maybe he and his master would run together as stags, or fly to Re Albi
343 over the mountain on the wings of eagles.
345 But it was not so at all. They wandered, first down into the Vale and then
346 gradually south and westward around the mountain, given lodging in little
347 villages or spending the night out in the wilderness, like poor
348 journeyman-sorcerers, or tinkers, or beggars. They entered no mysterious
349 domain. Nothing happened. The mage's oaken staff that Ged had watched at first
350 with eager dread was nothing but a stout staff to walk with. Three days went
351 by and four days went by and still Ogion had not spoken a single charm in
352 Ged's hearing, and had not taught him a single name or rune or spell.
354 =head2 v5.15.5 - Nikolai Gogol, The Diary of a Madman
356 L<Announced on 2011-11-20 by Steve
357 Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/11/msg179588.html>
359 This day - is a day of the greatest solemnity! Spain has a king. He has
360 been found. I am that king. Only this very day did I learn of it. I
361 confess, it came to me suddenly in a flash of lightning. I don't understand
362 how I could have thought and imagined that I was a titular councillor. How
363 could such a wild notion enter my head? It's a good thing no one thought of
364 putting me in an insane asylum. Now everything is laid open before me. Now
365 I see everything as on the palm of my hand. And before, I don't understand,
366 before everything around me was in some sort of fog. And all this happens, I
367 think, because people imagine that the human brain is in the head. Not at
368 all: it is brought by a wind from the direction of the Caspian Sea. First
369 off, I announced to Mavra who I am. When she heard that the king of Spain
370 was standing before her, she clasped her hands and nearly died of fright.
371 The stupid woman had never seen a king of Spain before. However, I
372 endeavoured to calm her down and assured her in gracious words of my
373 benevolence and that I was not at all angry that she sometimes polished my
374 boots poorly. They're benighted folk. It's impossible to tell them about
375 lofty matters. She got frightened because she's convinced that all kings of
376 Spain are like Philip II. But I explained to her that there was no
377 resemblance between me and Philip II, and that I didn't have a single
378 Capuchin . . . I didn't go to the office . . . To hell with it! No friends,
379 you won't lure me there now; I'm not going to copy your vile papers!
381 -- Nikolai Gogol, The Diary of a Madman,
382 trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
384 =head2 v5.15.4 - Steve Jobs
386 L<Announced on 2011-10-20 by Florian
387 Ragwitz|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/10/msg178412.html>
389 A lot of people in our industry haven't had very diverse experiences. So they
390 don't have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions
391 without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one's understanding of
392 the human experience, the better design we will have.
394 =head2 v5.14.3 - William Shakespeare, As You Like It
396 L<Announced on 2012-10-12 by Dominic Hargreaves|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2012/10/msg194057.html>
398 The poor world is almost six thousand years old, and in all
399 this time there was not any man died in his own person,
400 videlicit, in a love-cause. Troilus had his brains dashed
401 out with a Grecian club; yet he did what he could to die
402 before, and he is one of the patterns of love. Leander, he
403 would have lived many a fair year, though Hero had turned
404 nun, if it had not been for a hot midsummer night; for, good
405 youth, he went but forth to wash him in the Hellespont and
406 being taken with the cramp was drowned and the foolish
407 coroners of that age found it was 'Hero of Sestos.' But these
408 are all lies: men have died from time to time and worms have
409 eaten them, but not for love.
411 -- As You Like It, William Shakespeare
413 =head2 v5.14.2 - L<< Larry Wall, January 12, 1988 <992@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> |http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sources.d/msg/5d17fa68c250b9b2 >>
415 L<Announced on 2011-09-26 by Florian
416 Ragwitz|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/09/msg177618.html>
419 It's not so much that people don't value the programs after they have them--they
420 do value them. But they're not the sort of thing that would ever catch on if
421 they had to overcome the marketing barrier. (I don't yet know if perl will
422 catch on at all--I'm worried enough about it that I specifically included an
423 awk-to-perl translator just to help it catch on.) Maybe it's all just an
424 inferiority complex. Or maybe I don't like to be mercenary.
426 So I guess I'd say that the reason some software comes free is that the
427 mechanism for selling it is missing, either from the work environment, or from
428 the heart of the programmer.
431 =head2 v5.15.3 - Oscar Wilde, All Art is Quite Useless
433 L<Announced on 2011-09-20 by Stevan
434 Little|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/09/msg177427.html>
436 All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath
437 the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol
438 do so at their peril.
440 It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.
441 Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the
442 work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the
443 artist is in accord with himself.
445 We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as
446 he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless
447 thing is that one admires it intensely.
449 All art is quite useless.
451 -- Oscar Wilde, From the preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray
454 =head2 v5.15.2 - Rainer Maria Rilke, The Third Duina Elegy
456 L<Announced on 2011-08-20 by Ricardo
457 Signes|http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2011-08/msg00694.html>
459 True, it is strange to live no more on earth,
460 no longer follow the folkways scarecely learned;
461 not to give roses and other especially auspicious
462 things the significance of a human future;
463 to be no more what one was in infinitely anxious hands,
464 and to put aside even one's name, like a broken plaything.
465 Strange, to wish wishes no longer. Strange, to see
466 all that was related fluttering so loosely in space.
467 And being dead is hard, full of catching-up,
468 so that finally one feels a little eternity.–
469 But the living all make the mistake of too sharp discrimination.
470 Often angels (it's said) don't know if they move
471 among the quick or the dead. The eternal current
472 hurtles all ages along with it forever
473 through both realms and drowns their voices in both.
475 -- Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino, The First Elegy
476 trans., C. F. MacIntyre
478 =head2 v5.15.1 - Greg Egan, "Permutation City"
480 L<Announced on 2011-07-20 by Zefram|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/07/msg175014.html>
482 Carter held out a hand towards the middle of the room. `See that
483 fountain?' A ten-metre-wide marble wedding cake, topped with a
484 winged cherub wrestling a serpent, duly appeared. Water cascaded
485 down from a gushing wound in the cherub's neck. Carter said, `It's
486 being computed by redundancies in the sketch of the city. I can
487 extract the results, because I know exactly where to look for them --
488 but nobody else would have a hope in hell of picking them out.'
490 Peer walked up to the fountain. Even as he approached, he noticed
491 that the spray was intangible; when he dipped his hand in the water
492 around the base he felt nothing, and the motion he made with his
493 fingers left the foaming surface unchanged. They were spying on
494 the calculations, not interacting with them; the fountain was a
497 Carter said, `In your case, of course, nobody will need to know
498 the results. Except you -- and you'll know them because you'll
501 =head2 v5.15.0 - Neil Gaiman, "The Graveyard Book"
503 L<Announced on 2011-06-20 by David Golden|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/06/msg173748.html>
505 If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all
506 you will have gained.
508 =head2 v5.12.4 - William Schwenck Gilbert, "Trial By Jury"
510 L<Announced on 2011-06-20 by Leon Brocard|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/06/msg173725.html>
512 You cannot eat breakfast all day,
513 Nor is it the act of a sinner,
514 When breakfast is taken away,
515 To turn his attention to dinner;
516 And it's not in the range of belief,
517 To look upon him as a glutton,
518 Who, when he is tired of beef,
519 Determines to tackle the mutton.
520 Ah! But this I am willing to say,
521 If it will appease her sorrow,
522 I'll marry this lady today,
523 And I'll marry the other tomorrow!
525 =head2 v5.14.1 - L<< Larry Wall, January 12, 1988 <992@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> |http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sources.d/msg/5d17fa68c250b9b2 >>
527 L<Announced on 2011-06-16 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/06/msg173650.html>
529 At this point I'm no longer working for a company that makes me sign
530 my life away, but by now I'm in the habit. Besides, I still harbor
531 the deep-down suspicion that nobody would pay money for what I write,
532 since most of it just helps you do something better that you could
533 already do some other way. How much money would you personally pay
534 to upgrade from readnews to rn? How much money would you pay for
535 the patch program? As for warp, it's a mere game. And anything you
536 can do with perl you can eventually do with an amazing and totally
537 unreadable conglomeration of awk, sed, sh and C.
539 =head2 v5.12.4-RC2 - James Russell Lowell, "Eleanor makes macaroons"
541 L<Announced on 2011-06-15 by Leon Brocard|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/06/msg173609.html>
543 Now for sugar, -- nay, our plan
544 Tolerates no work of man.
545 Hurry, then, ye golden bees;
546 Fetch your clearest honey, please,
547 Garnered on a Yorkshire moor,
548 While the last larks sing and soar,
549 From the heather-blossoms sweet
550 Where sea-breeze and sunshine meet,
551 And the Augusts mask as Junes, --
552 Eleanor makes macaroons!
554 =head2 v5.12.4-RC1 - Ogden Nash, "The Clean Plater"
556 L<Announced on 2011-06-08 by Leon Brocard|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/06/msg173352.html>
558 Pheasant is pleasant, of course,
559 And terrapin, too, is tasty,
560 Lobster I freely endorse,
561 In pate or patty or pasty.
562 But there's nothing the matter with butter,
563 And nothing the matter with jam,
564 And the warmest greetings I utter
565 To the ham and the yam and the clam.
568 And I think very fondly of food.
569 Through I'm broody at times
570 When bothered by rhymes,
574 =head2 v5.14.0 - L<< Larry Wall, January 12, 1988 <992@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> |http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sources.d/msg/5d17fa68c250b9b2 >>
576 L<Announced on 2011-05-14 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/05/msg172326.html>
578 At the start of any project, I'm programming primarily to please
579 myself. (The two chief virtues in a programmer are laziness and
580 impatience.) After a while somebody looks over my shoulder and says,
581 "That's neat. It'd be neater if it did such-and-so." So the thing
582 gets neater. Pretty soon (a year or two) I have an rn, a warp, a patch,
583 or a perl. One of these years I'll have a metaconfig.
585 I then say to myself, "I don't want my life's work to die when this
586 computer is scrapped, so I should let some other people use this. If I
587 ask my company to sell this, it'll never see the light of day, and nobody
588 would pay much for it anyway. If I sell it myself, I'll be in trouble with
589 my company, to whom I signed my life away when I was hired. If I give it
590 away, I can pretend it was worthless in the first place, so my company
591 won't care. In any event, it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission."
593 So a freely distributable program is born.
595 =head2 v5.14.0-RC3 - American Airlines Gate Agent, last call
597 L<Announced on 2011-05-11 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/05/msg172282.html>
599 This is the last call for flight 1697 with service to Chicago and
600 continuing service to San Francisco. All passengers should already be
601 aboard. If you aren't aboard at this time, you will be denied boarding
602 and your bags will be offloaded.
604 =head2 v5.14.0-RC2 - Greg Grandin, Fordlandia, "the Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City"
606 L<Announced on 2011-05-04 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/05/msg171879.html>
608 Over the course of nearly two decades, Ford would spend tens of millions
609 of dollars founding not one but, after the plantation was defastated
610 by leaf blight, two American towns, complete with central squares,
611 sidewalks, indoor plumbing, hospitals, manicured lawns, movie theaters,
612 swimming pools, golf courses, and, of course, Model Ts and As rolling
613 down their paved streets.
615 Back in America, newspapers kept up their drumbeat celebration, only
616 obliquely referencing reports that things were not progressing as the
617 company had hoped. But there was one note of skepticism. In late 1928,
618 the Washington Post ran an editorial that read in its entirety: "Ford will
619 govern a rubber plantation in Brazil larger than North Carolina. This is
620 the first time he has applied quantity production methods to trouble"
622 =head2 v5.14.0-RC1 - Bill Bryson, "In a Sunburned Country"
624 L<Announced on 2011-04-20 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/04/msg171253.html>
626 But then Australia is such a difficult country to keep track of. On
627 my first visit, some years ago, I passed the time on the long flight
628 reading a history of Australian politics in the twentieth century,
629 wherein I encountered the startling fact that in 1967 the prime minister,
630 Harold Holt, was strolling along a beach in Victoria when he plunged into
631 the surf and vanished. No trace of the poor man was ever seen again.
632 This seemed doubly astounding to meE<0x2014>first that Australia could
633 just I<lose> a prime minister (I mean, come on) and second that news of
634 this had never reached me.
636 =head2 v5.13.11 - Walt Whitman, L<Leaves of Grass|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass>
638 L<Announced on 2011-02-20 by Florian Ragwitz|http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2011-03/msg00560.html>
640 When the full-grown poet came,
641 Out spake pleased Nature (the round impassive globe, with all its
642 shows of day and night,) saying, He is mine;
643 But out spake too the Soul of man, proud, jealous and unreconciled,
644 Nay he is mine alone;
645 --Then the full-grown poet stood between the two, and took each
647 And to-day and ever so stands, as blender, uniter, tightly holding hands,
648 Which he will never release until he reconciles the two,
649 And wholly and joyously blends them.
651 =head2 v5.13.10 - Egill Skalla-Grímsson, L<Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar|http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Egils_saga_Skalla-Gr%C3%ADmssonar>
653 L<Announced on 2011-02-20 by Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/02/msg169340.html>
655 Skalat maðr rúnar rísta,
657 Þat verðr mörgum manni,
658 es of myrkvan staf villisk.
660 tíu launstafi ristna.
662 langs ofrtrega fengit.
664 =head2 v5.13.9 - John F Kennedy, L<Inaugural Address January 20, 1961|http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy%27s_Inaugural_Address>
666 L<Announced on 2011-01-20 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/01/msg168335.html>
668 In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been
669 granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I
670 do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe
671 that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other
672 generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this
673 endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from
674 that fire can truly light the world.
676 And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you;
677 ask what you can do for your country.
679 My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you,
680 but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
682 Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world,
683 ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which
684 we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history
685 the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love,
686 asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's
687 work must truly be our own.
689 =head2 v5.13.8 - Roger Williams, L<"The Fifth Gift"|http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/8/19/21304/8493>
691 L<Announced on 2010-12-19 by Zefram|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/12/msg167271.html>
693 The aliens called the box a "matter generator," but we'd be more inclined
694 to call it a matter duplicator. By connecting switches and potentiometers
695 between the copper posts it was possible to make the box mark off two
696 cubic rectangular areas of volume. Make a certain contact, and these
697 areas would be isolated within perfectly reflective fields. They could
698 be expanded or contracted by altering resistances between other posts.
699 As I worked out the user interface I built a little control panel for
700 the device. It was actually a clever way for the aliens to do things;
701 instead of trying to build controls we could use, they built us an
702 interface we could attach to controls that made sense to us. It could
705 Once you had made the contact that established the shielded volumes,
706 if you made another certain contact the contents of the first volume
707 were copied to the second. The machine copied metal, plastic, steel,
708 and diamond with equal ease. Copies of copies of copies of copies were
709 indistinguishable from the originals at any magnification, even using
710 techniques like X-ray crystallography.
712 =head2 v5.13.7 - Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski, 'The Matrix'
714 L<Announced on 2010-11-20 by Chris 'BinGOs' Williams|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/11/msg166162.html>
716 [Neo sees a black cat walk by them, and then a similar black cat walk by them just like the first one]
720 [Everyone freezes right in their tracks]
722 Trinity: What did you just say?
723 Neo: Nothing. Just had a little deja vu.
724 Trinity: What did you see?
725 Cypher: What happened?
726 Neo: A black cat went past us, and then another that looked just like it.
727 Trinity: How much like it? Was it the same cat?
728 Neo: It might have been. I'm not sure.
729 Morpheus: Switch! Apoc!
731 Trinity: A deja vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.
733 =head2 v5.13.6 - Haruki Murakami, "Kafka on the Shore"
735 L<Announced on 2010-10-20 by Tatsuhiko Miyagawa|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/10/msg165183.html>
737 The boy called Crow softly rests a hand on my shoulder, and with that
740 "From now on -- no matter what -- you've got to be the world's toughest
741 fifteen-year-old. That's the only way you're going to survive. And in order
742 to do that, you've got to figure out what it means to be tough. You following
745 I keep my eyes closed and don't reply. I just want to sink off into sleep
746 like this, his hand on my shoulder. I hear the faint flutter of wings.
748 "You're going to be the world's toughest fifteen-year-old," Crow whispers
749 as I try to fall asleep. Like he was carving the words in a deep blue tattoo
752 (Translated from Japanese by Philip Gabriel)
754 =head2 v5.13.5 - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, "The Room in the Dragon Volant"
756 L<Announced on 2010-09-19 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/09/msg164238.html>
758 Candle in hand I stepped in. I do not know whether the quality of
759 air, long undisturbed, is peculiar; to me it has always seemed so, and
760 the damp smell of the old masonry hung in this atmosphere. My candle
761 faintly lighted the bare stone wall that enclosed the stair, the foot
762 of which I could not see. Down I went, and a few turns brought me to
763 the stone floor. Here was another door, of the simple, old, oak kind,
764 deep sunk in the thickness of the wall. The large end of the key
765 fitted this. The lock was stiff; I set the candle down upon the
766 stair, and applied both hands; it turned with difficulty, and as it
767 revolved, uttered a shriek that alarmed me for my secret.
769 For some minutes I did not move. In a little time, however, I took
770 courage, and opened the door. The night-air floating in puffed out
771 the candle. There was a thicket of holly and underwood, as dense as a
772 jungle, close about the door. I should have been in pitch-darkness,
773 were it not that through the topmost leaves there twinkled, here and
774 there, a glimmer of moonshine.
776 Softly, lest any one should have opened his window at the sound of the
777 rusty bolt, I struggled through this till I gained a view of the open
778 grounds. Here I found that the brushwood spread a good way up the
779 park, uniting with the wood that approached the little temple I have
782 =head2 v5.13.4 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
784 L<Announced on 2010-08-20 by Florian Ragwitz|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/08/msg163150.html>
786 `How the creatures order one about, and make one repeat lessons!' thought Alice;
787 `I might as well be at school at once.' However, she got up, and began to repeat
788 it, but her head was so full of the Lobster Quadrille, that she hardly knew what
789 she was saying, and the words came very queer indeed:--
791 "'Tis the voice of the Lobster; I heard him declare,
792 "You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair."
793 As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose
794 Trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes.'
797 `That's different from what I used to say when I was a child,' said the Gryphon.
799 `Well, I never heard it before,' said the Mock Turtle; `but it sounds uncommon
802 Alice said nothing; she had sat down with her face in her hands, wondering if
803 anything would ever happen in a natural way again.
805 `I should like to have it explained,' said the Mock Turtle.
807 `She can't explain it,' said the Gryphon hastily. `Go on with the next verse.'
809 `But about his toes?' the Mock Turtle persisted. `How could he turn them out
810 with his nose, you know?'
812 `It's the first position in dancing.' Alice said; but was dreadfully puzzled by
813 the whole thing, and longed to change the subject.
815 =head2 v5.13.3 - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, "Good Omens"
817 L<Announced on 2010-07-20 by David Golden|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/07/msg162230.html>
819 Look at Crowley, doing 110 mph on the M40 heading towards
820 Oxfordshire. Even the most resolutely casual observer would
821 notice a number of strange things about him. The clenched teeth,
822 for example, or the dull red glow coming from behind his
823 sunglasses. And the car. The car was a definite hint.
825 Crowley had started the journey in his Bentley, and he was
826 dammned if he wasn't going to finish it in the Bentley as well.
827 Not that even the kind of car buff who owns his own pair of
828 motoring goggles would have been able to tell it was a vintage
829 Bentley. Not any more. They wouldn't have been able to tell
830 that it was a Bentley. They would only offer fifty-fifty that it
831 had ever even been a car.
833 There was no paint left on it, for a start. It might still have
834 been black, where it wasn't a rusty, smudged reddish-brown, but
835 this was a dull charcoal black. It traveled in its own ball of
836 flame, like a space capsule making a particularly difficult
839 There was a thin skin of crusted, melted rubber left around the
840 metal wheel rims, but seeing that the wheel rims were still
841 somhow riding an inch above the road surface this didn't seem to
842 make an awful lot of difference to the suspension.
844 It should have fallen apart miles back.
846 =head2 v5.13.2 - Iain M Banks, "Use of Weapons"
848 L<Announced on 2010-06-22 by Matt S Trout|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/06/msg161112.html>
850 We deal in the moral equivalent of black holes, where the normal laws -
851 the rules of right and wrong that people imagine apply everywhere else
852 in the universe - break down; beyond those metaphysical event-horizons,
853 there exist ... special circumstances.
855 =head2 v5.13.1 - Miguel de Unamuno, "The Sepulchre of Don Quixote"
857 L<Announced on 2010-05-20 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/05/msg160275.html>
859 And if anyone shall come to you and say that he knows how to construct
860 bridges and that perhaps a time will come when you will wish to avail
861 yourself of his science in order to cross over a river, out with him! Out
862 with the engineer! Rivers will be crossed by wading or swimming them, even
863 if half the crusaders drown themselves. Let the engineer go off and build
864 bridges somewhere else, where they are badly wanted. For those who go in
865 quest of the sepulchre, faith is bridge enough.
867 =head2 v5.13.0 - Jules Verne, "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth"
869 L<Announced on 2010-04-20 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg159275.html>
871 The heat still remained at quite a supportable degree. With an
872 involuntary shudder, I reflected on what the heat must have been
873 when the volcano of Sneffels was pouring its smoke, flames, and
874 streams of boiling lava -- all of which must have come up by the
875 road we were now following. I could imagine the torrents of hot
876 seething stone darting on, bubbling up with accompaniments of
877 smoke, steam, and sulphurous stench!
879 "Only to think of the consequences," I mused, "if the old
880 volcano were once more to set to work."
882 =head2 v5.12.3 - Howard W. Campbell, Jr., "Reflections on Not Participating in Current Events"
884 L<Announced on 2011-01-21 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2011/01/msg168368.html>
886 I saw a huge steam roller,
887 It blotted out the sun.
888 The people all lay down, lay down;
889 They did not try to run.
890 My love and I, we looked amazed
891 Upon the gory mystery.
892 'Lie down, lie down!' the people cried.
893 'The great machine is history!'
894 My love and I, we ran away,
895 The engine did not find us.
896 We ran up to a mountain top,
897 Left history far behind us.
898 Perhaps we should have stayed and died,
899 But somehow we don't think so.
900 We went to see where history'd been,
901 And my, the dead did stink so.
903 =head2 v5.12.2 - William Gibson, "Pattern Recognition"
905 L<Announced on 2010-09-06 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/09/msg163852.html>
907 CPUs. Cayce Pollard Units. That's what Damien calls the clothing
908 she wears. CPUs are either black, white, or gray, and ideally
909 seem to have come into this world without human intervention.
911 What people take for relentless minimalism is a side effect
912 of too much exposure to the reactor-cores of fashion. This
913 has resulted in a remorseless paring-down of what she can and
914 will wear. She is, literally, allergic to fashion. She can
915 only tolerate things that could have been worn, to a general
916 lack of comment, during any year between 1945 and 2000. She's a
917 design-free zone, a one-woman school of and whose very austerity
918 periodically threatens to spawn its own cult.
920 =head2 v5.12.2-RC1 - William Gibson, "Pattern Recognition"
922 L<Announced on 2010-08-31 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/08/msg163670.html>
924 The front page opens, familiar as a friend's living room. A frame-grab
925 from #48 serves as backdrop, dim and almost monochrome, no characters in
926 view. This is one of the sequences that generate comparisons with
927 Tarkovsky. She only knows Tarkovsky from stills, really, though she did
928 once fall asleep during a screening of The Stalker, going under on an
929 endless pan, the camera aimed straight down, in close-up, at a puddle on
930 a ruined mosaic floor. But she is not one of those who think that much
931 will be gained by analysis of the maker's imagined influences. The cult
932 of the footage is rife with subcults, claiming every possible influence.
933 Truffaut, Peckinpah -- The Peckinpah people, among the least likely, are
934 still waiting for the guns to be drawn.
936 =head2 v5.12.1 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
938 L<Announced on 2010-05-16 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/05/msg160109.html>
940 "Now suppose," chortled Dr. Breed, enjoying himself, "that there were
941 many possible ways in which water could crystallize, could freeze.
942 Suppose that the sort of ice we skate upon and put into highballs --
943 what we might call ice-one -- is only one of several types of ice.
944 Suppose water always froze as ice-one on Earth because it had never
945 had a seed to teach it how to form ice-two, ice-three, ice-four
946 ...? And suppose," he rapped on his desk with his old hand again,
947 "that there were one form, which we will call ice-nine -- a crystal as
948 hard as this desk -- with a melting point of, let us say, one-hundred
949 degrees Fahrenheit, or, better still, a melting point of one-hundred-
952 =head2 v5.12.1-RC2 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
954 L<Announced on 2010-05-13 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/05/msg160066.html>
956 San Lorenzo was fifty miles long and twenty miles wide, I learned from
957 the supplement to the New York Sunday Times. Its population was four
958 hundred, fifty thousand souls, "...all fiercely dedicated to the ideals
961 Its highest point, Mount McCabe, was eleven thousand feet above sea
962 level. Its capital was Bolivar, "...a strikingly modern city built on a
963 harbor capable of sheltering the entire United States Navy." The principal
964 exports were sugar, coffee, bananas, indigo, and handcrafted novelties.
966 =head2 v5.12.1-RC1 - Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
968 L<Announced on 2010-05-09 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/05/msg159971.html>
970 Which brings me to the Bokononist concept of a wampeter. A wampeter is
971 the pivot of a karass. No karass is without a wampeter, Bokonon tells us,
972 just as no wheel is without a hub. Anything can be a wampeter: a tree,
973 a rock, an animal, an idea, a book, a melody, the Holy Grail. Whatever
974 it is, the members of its karass revolve about it in the majestic chaos
975 of a spiral nebula. The orbits of the members of a karass about their
976 common wampeter are spiritual orbits, naturally. It is souls and not
977 bodies that revolve. As Bokonon invites us to sing:
979 Around and around and around we spin,
980 With feet of lead and wings of tin . . .
982 =head2 v5.12.0 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
984 L<Announced on 2010-04-12 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg158820.html>
986 'Please would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, for she was
987 not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, 'why
988 your cat grins like that?'
990 'It's a Cheshire cat,' said the Duchess, 'and that's why. Pig!'
992 She said the last word with such sudden violence that Alice quite
993 jumped; but she saw in another moment that it was addressed to the baby,
994 and not to her, so she took courage, and went on again:--
996 'I didn't know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didn't know
997 that cats COULD grin.'
999 'They all can,' said the Duchess; 'and most of 'em do.'
1001 =head2 v5.12.0-RC5 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
1003 L<Announced on 2010-04-09 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg158720.html>
1005 'Not QUITE right, I'm afraid,' said Alice, timidly; 'some of the words
1008 'It is wrong from beginning to end,' said the Caterpillar decidedly, and
1009 there was silence for some minutes.
1011 =head2 v5.12.0-RC4 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
1013 L<Announced on 2010-04-06 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg158567.html>
1015 'It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, 'when one wasn't
1016 always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and
1017 rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole--and yet--and
1018 yet--it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what
1019 can have happened to me! When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that
1020 kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one!
1022 =head2 v5.12.0-RC3 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
1024 L<Announced on 2010-04-02 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/04/msg158346.html>
1026 At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them,
1027 called out, 'Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'LL soon make you
1028 dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse
1029 in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt
1030 sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon.
1032 'Ahem!' said the Mouse with an important air, 'are you all ready? This
1033 is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! "William
1034 the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted
1035 to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much
1036 accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of
1037 Mercia and Northumbria --"'
1039 =head2 v5.12.0-RC2 - no announcement
1041 Available on CPAN since 2010-04-01.
1043 =head2 v5.12.0-RC1 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
1045 L<Announced on 2010-03-29 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/03/msg158060.html>
1047 So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the
1048 hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of
1049 making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and
1050 picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran
1053 There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so
1054 VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, 'Oh dear! Oh
1055 dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it
1056 occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time
1057 it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH
1058 OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on,
1059 Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had
1060 never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to
1061 take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field
1062 after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large
1063 rabbit-hole under the hedge.
1065 In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how
1066 in the world she was to get out again.
1068 =head2 v5.12.0-RC0 - no epigraph
1070 L<Announced on 2020-03-21 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/03/msg157761.html>
1072 =head2 v5.11.5 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Christabel"
1074 L<Announced on 2010-02-21 by Steve Hay|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/02/msg156957.html>
1076 A little child, a limber elf,
1077 Singing, dancing to itself,
1078 A fairy thing with red round cheeks,
1079 That always finds, and never seeks,
1080 Makes such a vision to the sight
1081 As fills a father's eyes with light;
1082 And pleasures flow in so thick and fast
1083 Upon his heart, that he at last
1084 Must needs express his love's excess
1085 With words of unmeant bitterness.
1086 Perhaps 'tis pretty to force together
1087 Thoughts so all unlike each other;
1088 To mutter and mock a broken charm,
1089 To dally with wrong that does no harm.
1090 Perhaps 'tis tender too and pretty
1091 At each wild word to feel within
1092 A sweet recoil of love and pity.
1093 And what, if in a world of sin
1094 (O sorrow and shame should this be true!)
1095 Such giddiness of heart and brain
1096 Comes seldom save from rage and pain,
1097 So talks as it's most used to do.
1099 =head2 v5.11.4 - Fyodor Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment"
1101 L<Announced on 2010-01-20 by Ricardo Signes|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2010/01/msg155848.html>
1103 And you don't suppose that I went into it headlong like a fool? I went
1104 into it like a wise man, and that was just my destruction. And you
1105 mustn't suppose that I didn't know, for instance, that if I began to
1106 question myself whether I had the right to gain power -- I certainly
1107 hadn't the right -- or that if I asked myself whether a human being is a
1108 louse it proved that it wasn't so for me, though it might be for a man
1109 who would go straight to his goal without asking questions.... If I
1110 worried myself all those days, wondering whether Napoleon would have
1111 done it or not, I felt clearly of course that I wasn't Napoleon.
1113 =head2 v5.11.3 - Mark Twain, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
1115 L<Announced on 2009-12-20 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/12/msg154838.html>
1117 "Say -- I'm going in a swimming, I am. Don't you wish you could? But of
1118 course you'd druther work -- wouldn't you? Course you would!"
1120 Tom contemplated the boy a bit, and said: "What do you call work?"
1122 "Why ain't that work?"
1124 Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly: "Well, maybe it
1125 is, and maybe it aint. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer."
1127 "Oh come, now, you don't mean to let on that you like it?"
1129 The brush continued to move. "Like it? Well I don't see why I oughtn't
1130 to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"
1132 That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom
1133 swept his brush daintily back and forth -- stepped back to note the effect
1134 -- added a touch here and there-criticised the effect again -- Ben
1135 watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more
1136 absorbed. Presently he said: "Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little."
1138 =head2 v5.11.2 - Michael Marshall Smith, "Only Forward"
1140 L<Announced on 2009-11-20 by Léon Brocard|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/11/msg153646.html>
1142 The streets were pretty quiet, which was nice. They're always quiet here
1143 at that time: you have to be wearing a black jacket to be out on the
1144 streets between seven and nine in the evening, and not many people in
1145 the area have black jackets. It's just one of those things. I currently
1146 live in Colour Neighbourhood, which is for people who are heavily into
1147 colour. All the streets and buildings are set for instant colourmatch:
1148 as you walk down the road they change hue to offset whatever you're
1149 wearing. When the streets are busy it's kind of intense, and anyone
1150 prone to epileptic seizures isn't allowed to live in the Neighbourhood,
1151 however much they're into colour.
1153 =head2 v5.11.1 - Joseph Heller, "Catch-22"
1155 L<Announced on 2009-10-20 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/10/msg152360.html>
1157 Milo had been caught red-handed in the act of plundering his countrymen,
1158 and, as a result, his stock had never been higher. He proved good as his
1159 word when a rawboned major from Minnesota curled his lip in rebellious
1160 disavowal and demanded his share of the syndicate Milo kept saying
1161 everybody owned. Milo met the challenge by writing the words "A Share"
1162 on the nearest scrap of paper and handing it away with a virtuous disdain
1163 that won the envy and admiration of almost everyone who knew him. His
1164 glory was at a peak, and Colonel Cathcart, who knew and admired his
1165 war record, was astonished by the deferential humility with which Mil
1166 presented himself at Group Headquarters and made his fantastic appeal
1167 for more hazardous assignment.
1169 =head2 v5.11.0 - Mikhail Bulgakov, "The Master and Margarita"
1171 L<Announced on 2009-10-02 by Jesse Vincent|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/10/msg151376.html>
1173 Whispers of an "evil power" were heard in lines at dairy shops, in
1174 streetcars, stores, arguments, kitchens, suburban and long-distance
1175 trains, at stations large and small, in dachas and on beaches. Needless
1176 to say, truly mature and cultured people did not tell these stories
1177 about an evil power's visit to the capital. In fact, they even made fun
1178 of them and tried to talk sense into those who told them. Nevertheless,
1179 facts are facts, as they say, and cannot simply be dismissed without
1180 explanation: somebody had visited the capital. The charred cinders of
1181 Griboyedov alone, and many other things besides, confirmed it. Cultured
1182 people shared the point of view of the investigating team: it was the
1183 work of a gang of hypnotists and ventriloquists magnificently skilled in
1186 =head2 v5.10.1 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
1188 L<Announced on 2009-09-23 by Dave Mitchell|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/08/msg150172.html>
1190 'Briefly, sir, I am the Permanent Under-Secretary of State, known as
1191 the Permanent Secretary. Woolley here is your Principal Private
1192 Secretary. I, too, have a Principal Private Secretary, and he is the
1193 Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. Directly
1194 responsible to me are ten Deputy Secretaries, eighty-seven Under
1195 Secretaries and two hundred and nineteen Assistant Secretaries.
1196 Directly responsible to the Principal Private Secretaries are plain
1197 Private Secretaries. The Prime Minister will be appointing two
1198 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries and you will be appointing your own
1199 Parliamentary Private Secretary.'
1201 'Can they all type?' I joked.
1203 'None of us can type, Minister,' replied Sir Humphrey smoothly. 'Mrs
1204 McKay types - she is your Secretary.'
1206 I couldn't tell whether or not he was joking. 'What a pity,' I said.
1207 'We could have opened an agency.'
1209 Sir Humphrey and Bernard laughed. 'Very droll, sir,' said Sir
1210 Humphrey. 'Most amusing, sir,' said Bernard. Were they genuinely
1211 amused at my wit, or just being rather patronising? 'I suppose they
1212 all say that, do they?' I ventured.
1214 Sir Humphrey reassured me on that. 'Certainly not, Minister,' he
1215 replied. 'Not quite all.'
1217 =head2 v5.10.1-RC2 - no epigraph
1219 L<Announced on 2009-08-18 by Dave Mitchell|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/08/msg150015.html>
1221 =head2 v5.10.1-RC1 - no epigraph
1223 L<Announced on 2009-08-06 by Dave Mitchell|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/08/msg149498.html>
1225 =head2 v5.10.0 - Laurence Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
1227 L<Announced on 2007-12-18 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2007/12/msg131636.html>
1229 He would often declare, in speaking his thoughts upon the subject, that
1230 he did not conceive how the greatest family in England could stand it
1231 out against an uninterrupted succession of six or seven short
1232 noses.--And for the contrary reason, he would generally add, That it
1233 must be one of the greatest problems in civil life, where the same
1234 number of long and jolly noses, following one another in a direct line,
1235 did not raise and hoist it up into the best vacancies in the kingdom.
1237 =head2 v5.10.0-RC2 - no epigraph
1239 L<Announced on 2007-11-25 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2007/11/msg130978.html>
1241 =head2 v5.10.0-RC1 - no epigraph
1243 L<Announced on 2007-11-17 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2007/11/msg130653.html>
1245 =head2 v5.9.5 - no announcement
1247 L<Pre-announced on 2007-07-07 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2007/07/msg126358.html>,
1248 available on CPAN with same date, but never actually announced.
1250 =head2 v5.9.4 - no epigraph
1252 L<Announced on 2006-08-15 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2006/08/msg115782.html>
1254 =head2 v5.9.3 - no epigraph
1256 L<Announced on 2006-01-28 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2006/01/msg109086.html>
1258 =head2 v5.9.2 - Thomas Pynchon, "V"
1260 L<Announced on 2005-04-01 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=20050401150702.2b4a70d5@grubert.mandrakesoft.com>
1262 This word flip was weird. Every recording date of McClintic's he'd
1263 gotten into the habit of talking electricity with the audio men and
1264 technicians of the studio. McClintic once couldn't have cared less
1265 about electricity, but now it seemed if that was helping him reach a
1266 bigger audience, some digging, some who would never dig, but all
1267 paying and those royalties keeping the Triumph in gas and McClintic
1268 in J. Press suits, then McClintic ought to be grateful to
1269 electricity, ought maybe to learn a little more about it. So he'd
1270 picked up some here and there, and one day last summer he got around
1271 to talking stochastic music and digital computers with one
1272 technician. Out of the conversation had come Set/Reset, which was
1273 getting to be a signature for the group. He had found out from this
1274 sound man about a two-triode circuit called a flip-flop, which when
1275 it turned on could be one of two ways, depending on which tube was
1276 conducting and which was cut off: set or reset, flip or flop.
1278 "And that," the man said, "can be yes or no, or one or zero. And
1279 that is what you might call one of the basic units, or specialized
1280 `cells' in a big `electronic brain.' "
1282 "Crazy," said McClintic, having lost him back there someplace. But
1283 one thing that did occur to him was if a computer's brain could go
1284 flip or flop, why so could a musician's. As long as you were flop,
1285 everything was cool. But where did the trigger-pulse come from to
1288 =head2 v5.9.1 - Tom Stoppard, "Arcadia"
1290 L<Announced on 2004-03-16 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/8587d77c565f2d43>
1292 Aren't you supposed to have a pony?
1294 =head2 v5.9.0 - Doris Lessing, "Martha Quest"
1296 L<Announced on 2003-10-27 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/63a8c34385de82a1>
1298 What of October, that ambiguous month
1300 =head2 v5.8.9 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
1302 L<Announced on 2008-12-14 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2008/12/msg142571.html>
1304 Frank and I, unlike the civil servants, were still puzzled that such a
1305 proposal as the Europass could even be seriously under consideration by
1306 the FCO. We can both see clearly that it is wonderful ammunition for the
1307 anti-Europeans. I asked Humphrey if the Foreign Office doesn't realise
1308 how damaging this would be to the European ideal?
1310 'I'm sure they do, Minister, he said. That's why they support it.'
1312 This was even more puzzling, since I'd always been under the impression
1313 that the FO is pro-Europe. 'Is it or isn't it?' I asked Humphrey.
1315 'Yes and no,' he replied of course, 'if you'll pardon the
1316 expression. The Foreign Office is pro-Europe because it is really
1317 anti-Europe. In fact the Civil Service was united in its desire to make
1318 sure the Common Market didn't work. That's why we went into it.'
1320 This sounded like a riddle to me. I asked him to explain further. And
1321 basically his argument was as follows: Britain has had the same foreign
1322 policy objective for at least the last five hundred years - to create a
1323 disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against
1324 the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and
1325 Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Italians
1326 and Germans. [The Dutch rebellion against Phillip II of Spain, the
1327 Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War - Ed.]
1329 In other words, divide and rule. And the Foreign Office can see no
1330 reason to change when it has worked so well until now.
1332 I was aware of this, naturally, but I regarded it as ancient history.
1333 Humphrey thinks that it is, in fact, current policy. It was necessary
1334 for us to break up the EEC, he explained, so we had to get inside. We
1335 had previously tried to break it up from the outside, but that didn't
1336 work. [A reference to our futile and short-lived involvement in EFTA,
1337 the European Free Trade Association, founded in 1960 and which the UK
1338 left in 1972 - Ed.] Now that we're in, we are able to make a complete
1339 pig's breakfast out of it. We've now set the Germans against the French,
1340 the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch... and
1341 the Foreign office is terribly happy. It's just like old time.
1343 I was staggered by all of this. I thought that the all of us who are
1344 publicly pro-European believed in the European ideal. I said this to Sir
1345 Humphrey, and he simply chuckled.
1347 So I asked him: if we don't believe in the European Ideal, why are we
1348 pushing to increase the membership?
1350 'Same reason,' came the reply. 'It's just like the United Nations. The
1351 more members it has, the more arguments you can stir up, and the more
1352 futile and impotent it becomes.'
1354 This all strikes me as the most appalling cynicism, and I said so.
1356 Sir Humphrey agreed completely. 'Yes Minister. We call it
1357 diplomacy. It's what made Britain great, you know.'
1359 =head2 v5.8.9-RC2 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
1361 L<Announced on 2008-12-06 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2008/11/msg142422.html>
1363 There was silence in the office. I didn't know what we were going to do
1364 about the four hundred new people supervising our economy drive or the
1365 four hundred new people for the Bureaucratic Watchdog Office, or
1366 anything! I simply sat and waited and hoped that my head would stop
1367 thumping and that some idea would be suggested by someone sometime soon.
1369 Sir Humphrey obliged. 'Minister... if we were to end the economy drive
1370 and close the Bureaucratic Watchdog Office we could issue an immediate
1371 press announcement that you had axed eight hundred jobs.' He had
1372 obviously thought this out carefully in advance, for at this moment he
1373 produced a slim folder from under his arm. 'If you'd like to approve
1376 I couldn't believe the impertinence of the suggestion. Axed eight
1377 hundred jobs? 'But no one was ever doing these jobs,' I pointed out
1378 incredulously. 'No one's been appointed yet.'
1380 'Even greater economy,' he replied instantly. 'We've saved eight hundred
1381 redundancy payments as well.'
1383 'But...' I attempted to explain '... that's just phony. It's dishonest,
1384 it's juggling with figures, it's pulling the wool over people's eyes.'
1386 'A government press release, in fact.' said Humphrey.
1388 =head2 v5.8.9-RC1 - Right Hon. James Hacker MP, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister"
1390 L<Announced on 2008-11-10 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2008/11/msg141515.html>
1392 A jumbo jet touched down, with BURANDAN AIRWAYS written on the side. I
1393 was hugely impressed. British Airways are having to pawn their Concordes,
1394 and here is this little tiny African state with its own airline, jumbo
1397 I asked Bernard how many planes Burandan Airways had. 'None,' he said.
1399 I told him not to be silly and use his eyes. 'No Minister, it belongs to
1400 Freddie Laker,' he said. 'They chartered it last week and repainted it
1401 specially.' Apparently most of the Have-Nots (I mean, LDCs) do this - at
1402 the opening of the UN General Assembly the runways of Kennedy Airport are
1403 jam-packed with phoney flag-carriers. 'In fact,' said Bernard with a sly
1404 grin, 'there was one 747 that belonged to nine different African airlines
1405 in a month. They called it the mumbo-jumbo.'
1407 While we watched nothing much happening on the TV except the mumbo-jumbo
1408 taxiing around Prestwick and the Queen looking a bit chilly, Bernard gave
1409 me the next day's schedule and explained that I was booked on the night
1410 sleeper from King's Cross to Edinburgh because I had to vote in a
1411 three-line whip at the House tonight and would have to miss the last
1412 plane. Then the commentator, in that special hushed BBC voice used for any
1413 occasion with which Royalty is connected, announced reverentially that we
1414 were about to catch our first glimpse of President Selim.
1416 And out of the plane stepped Charlie. My old friend Charlie Umtali. We
1417 were at LSE together. Not Selim Mohammed at all, but Charlie.
1419 Bernard asked me if I were sure. Silly question. How could you forget a
1420 name like Charlie Umtali?
1422 I sent Bernard for Sir Humphrey, who was delighted to hear that we now
1423 know something about our official visitor.
1425 Bernard's official brief said nothing. Amazing! Amazing how little the FCO
1426 has been able to find out. Perhaps they were hoping it would all be on the
1427 car radio. All the brief says is that Colonel Selim Mohammed had converted
1428 to Islam some years ago, they didn't know his original name, and therefore
1429 knew little of his background.
1431 I was able to tell Humphrey and Bernard /all/ about his background.
1432 Charlie was a red-hot political economist, I informed them. Got the top
1433 first. Wiped the floor with everyone.
1435 Bernard seemed relieved. 'Well that's all right then.'
1439 'I think Bernard means,' said Sir Humphrey helpfully, 'that he'll know how
1440 to behave if he was at an English University. Even if it was the LSE.' I
1441 never know whether or not Humphrey is insulting me intentionally.
1443 Humphrey was concerned about Charlie's political colour. 'When you said
1444 that he was red-hot, were you speaking politically?'
1446 In a way I was. 'The thing about Charlie is that you never quite know
1447 where you are with him. He's the sort of chap who follows you into a
1448 revolving door and comes out in front.'
1450 'No deeply held convictions?' asked Sir Humphrey.
1452 'No. The only thing Charlie was committed too was Charlie.'
1454 'Ah, I see. A politician, Minister.'
1456 =head2 v5.8.8 - Joe Raposo, "Bein' Green"
1458 L<Announced on 2006-02-01 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/28caf52e41ebe723>
1460 It's not that easy bein' green
1461 Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
1462 When I think it could be nicer being red or yellow or gold
1463 Or something much more colorful like that
1465 It's not easy bein' green
1466 It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
1467 And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're
1468 Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water
1471 But green's the color of Spring
1472 And green can be cool and friendly-like
1473 And green can be big like an ocean
1474 Or important like a mountain
1477 When green is all there is to be
1478 It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?
1479 Wonder I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful
1480 And I think it's what I want to be
1482 =head2 v5.8.8-RC1 - Cosgrove Hall Productions, "Dangermouse"
1484 L<Announced on 2006-01-20 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/d231fc554af8cc51>
1486 Greenback: And the world is mine, all mine. Muhahahahaha. See to it!
1488 Stiletto: Si, Barone. Subito, Barone.
1490 =head2 v5.8.7 - Sergei Prokofiev, "Peter and the Wolf"
1492 L<Announced on 2005-05-31 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/9a545704a0062f16>
1494 And now, imagine the triumphant procession: Peter at the head; after him the
1495 hunters leading the wolf; and winding up the procession, grandfather and the
1498 Grandfather shook his head discontentedly: "Well, and if Peter hadn't caught
1499 the wolf? What then?"
1501 =head2 v5.8.7-RC1 - Sergei Prokofiev, "Peter and the Wolf"
1503 L<Announced on 2005-05-20 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2005/05/msg100711.html>
1505 And now this is how things stood: The cat was sitting on one branch. The
1506 bird on another, not too close to the cat. And the wolf walked round and
1507 round the tree, looking at them with greedy eyes.
1509 In the meantime, Peter, without the slightest fear, stood behind the
1510 gate, watching all that was going on. He ran home,got a strong rope and
1511 climbed up the high stone wall.
1513 One of the branches of the tree, around which the wolf was walking,
1514 stretched out over the wall.
1516 Grabbing hold of the branch, Peter lightly climbed over on to the tree.
1517 Peter said to the bird: "Fly down and circle round the wolf's head, only
1518 take care that he doesn't catch you!".
1520 The bird almost touched the wolf's head with its wings, while the wolf
1521 snapped angrily at him from this side and that.
1523 How that bird teased the wolf, how that wolf wanted to catch him! But
1524 the bird was clever and the wolf simply couldn't do anything about it.
1526 =head2 v5.8.6 - A. A. Milne, "The House at Pooh Corner"
1528 L<Announced on 2004-11-28 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=20041128000836.GA304@Bagpuss.unfortu.net>
1530 "Hallo, Pooh," said Piglet, giving a jump of surprise. "I knew it was
1533 "So did I,", said Pooh. "What are you doing?"
1535 "I'm planting a haycorn, Pooh, so that it can grow up into an oak-tree,
1536 and have lots of haycorns just outside the front door instead of having
1537 to walk miles and miles, do you see, Pooh?"
1539 "Supposing it doesn't?" said Pooh.
1541 "It will, because Christopher Robin says it will, so that's why I'm
1544 "Well," aid Pooh, "if I plant a honeycomb outside my house, then it will
1545 grow up into a beehive."
1547 Piglet wasn't quite sure about this.
1549 "Or a /piece/ of a honeycomb," said Pooh, "so as not to waste too much.
1550 Only then I might only get a piece of a beehive, and it might be the
1551 wrong piece, where the bees were buzzing and not hunnying. Bother"
1553 Piglet agreed that that would be rather bothering.
1555 "Besides, Pooh, it's a very difficult thing, planting unless you know
1556 how to do it," he said; and he put the acorn in the hole he had made,
1557 and covered it up with earth, and jumped on it.
1559 =head2 v5.8.6-RC1 - A. A. Milne, "Winnie the Pooh"
1561 L<Announced on 2004-11-11 by Nicholas Clark|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2004/11/msg95786.html>
1563 "Hallo!" said Piglet, "whare are /you/ doing?"
1565 "Hunting," said Pooh.
1569 "Tracking something," said Winnie-the-Pooh very mysteriously.
1571 "Tracking what?" said Piglet, coming closer.
1573 "That's just what I ask myself, I ask myself, What?"
1575 "What do you think you'll answer?"
1577 "I shall have to wait until I catch up with it," said Winnie-the-Pooh.
1578 "Now, look there." He pointed to the ground in front of him. "What do
1581 "Track," said Piglet. "Paw-marks." He gave a little squeak of
1582 excitement. "Oh, Pooh!" Do you think it's a--a--a Woozle?"
1584 =head2 v5.8.5 - wikipedia, "Yew"
1586 L<Announced on 2004-07-19 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/68340e2e4c39222c>
1588 Yews are relatively slow growing trees, widely used in landscaping and
1589 ornamental horticulture. They have flat, dark-green needles, reddish
1590 bark, and bear seeds with red arils, which are eaten by thrushes,
1591 waxwings and other birds, dispersing the hard seeds undamaged in their
1592 droppings. Yew wood is reddish brown (with white sapwood), and very
1593 hard. It was traditionally used to make bows, especially the English
1596 In England, the Common Yew (Taxus baccata, also known as English Yew) is
1597 often found in churchyards. It is sometimes suggested that these are
1598 placed there as a symbol of long life or trees of death, and some are
1599 likely to be over 3,000 years old. It is also suggested that yew trees
1600 may have a pre-Christian association with old pagan holy sites, and the
1601 Christian church found it expedient to use and take over existing sites.
1602 Another explanation is that the poisonous berries and foliage discourage
1603 farmers and drovers from letting their animals wander into the burial
1604 grounds. The yew tree is a frequent symbol in the Christian poetry of
1605 T.S. Eliot, especially his Four Quartets.
1607 =head2 v5.8.5-RC2 - wikipedia, "Beech"
1609 L<Announced on 2004-07-09 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/f92175725af7a5ad>
1611 Beeches are trees of the Genus Fagus, family Fagaceae, including about
1612 ten species in Europe, Asia, and North America. The leaves are entire or
1613 sparsely toothed. The fruit is a small, sharply-angled nut, borne in
1614 pairs in spiny husks. The beech most commonly grown as an ornamental or
1615 shade tree is the European beech (Fagus sylvatica).
1617 The southern beeches belong to a different but related genus,
1618 Nothofagus. They are found in Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New
1619 Caledonia and South America.
1621 =head2 v5.8.5-RC1 - wikipedia, "Pedunculate Oak" (abridged)
1623 L<Announced on 2004-07-07 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/ca6ce4a7ed9f219c?pli=1>
1625 The Pedunculate Oak is called the Common Oak in Britain, and is also
1626 often called the English Oak in other English speaking countries It is a
1627 large deciduous tree to 25-35m tall (exceptionally to 40m), with lobed
1628 and sessile (stalk-less) leaves. Flowering takes place in early to mid
1629 spring, and their fruit, called "acorns", ripen by autumn of the same
1630 year. The acorns are pedunculate (having a peduncle or acorn-stalk) and
1631 may occur singly, or several acorns may occur on a stalk.
1633 It forms a long-lived tree, with a large widespreading head of rugged
1634 branches. While it may naturally live to an age of a few centuries, many
1635 of the oldest trees are pollarded or coppiced, both pruning techniques
1636 that extend the tree's potential lifespan, if not its health.
1638 Within its native range it is valued for its importance to insects and
1639 other wildlife. Numerous insects live on the leaves, buds, and in the
1640 acorns. The acorns form a valuable food resource for several small
1641 mammals and some birds, notably Jays Garrulus glandarius.
1643 It is planted for forestry, and produces a long-lasting and durable
1644 heartwood, much in demand for interior and furniture work.
1646 =head2 v5.8.4 - T. S. Eliot, "The Old Gumbie Cat"
1648 L<Announced on 2004-04-22 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/c7333acf03ef4015>
1650 I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
1651 The curtain-cord she likes to wind, and tie it into sailor-knots.
1652 She sits upon the window-sill, or anything that's smooth and flat:
1653 She sits and sits and sits and sits -- and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!
1655 But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
1656 Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
1657 She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment
1658 To prevent them from idle and wanton destroyment.
1659 So she's formed, from that a lot of disorderly louts,
1660 A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts,
1661 With a purpose in life and a good deed to do--
1662 And she's even created a Beetles' Tattoo.
1664 So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers --
1665 On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears.
1668 =head2 v5.8.4-RC2 - T. S. Eliot, "Macavity: The Mystery Cat"
1670 L<Announced on 2004-04-16 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/84f6fdd73cc56a1b>
1672 Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw --
1673 For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
1674 He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
1675 For when they reach the scene of crime -- /Macavity's not there/!
1677 Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
1678 He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
1679 His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
1680 And when you reach the scene of crime -- /Macavity's not there/!
1681 You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air --
1682 But I tell you once and once again, /Macavity's not there/!
1684 =head2 v5.8.4-RC1 - T. S. Eliot, "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"
1686 L<Announced on 2004-04-05 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/e500353440769ebf>
1688 There's a whisper down the line at 11.39
1689 When the Night Mail's ready to depart,
1690 Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble has he gone to hunt the thimble?
1691 We must find him of the train can't start.'
1692 All the guards and all the porters and the stationmaster's daughters
1693 They are searching high and low,
1694 Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble for unless he's very nimble
1695 Then the Night Mail just can't go'
1696 At 11.42 then the signal's overdue
1697 And the passengers are frantic to a man--
1698 Then Skimble will appear and he'll saunter to the rear:
1699 He's been busy in the luggage van!
1700 He gives one flash of his glass-green eyes
1701 And the the signal goes 'All Clear!'
1702 And we're off at last of the northern part
1703 Of the Northern Hemisphere!
1705 =head2 v5.8.3 - Arthur William Edgar O'Shaugnessy, "Ode"
1707 L<Announced on 2004-01-14 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/968fb8d71e23af69>
1709 We are the music makers,
1710 And we are the dreamers of dreams,
1711 Wandering by lonely sea-breakers,
1712 And sitting by desolate streams; --
1713 World-losers and world-forsakers,
1714 On whom the pale moon gleams:
1715 Yet we are the movers and shakers
1716 Of the world for ever, it seems.
1718 =head2 v5.8.3-RC1 - Irving Berlin, "Let's Face the Music and Dance"
1720 L<Announced on 2004-01-07 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/5ced50bebcd11c96>
1722 There may be trouble ahead,
1723 But while there's music and moonlight,
1724 And love and romance,
1725 Let's face the music and dance.
1727 Before the fiddlers have fled,
1728 Before they ask us to pay the bill,
1729 And while we still have that chance,
1730 Let's face the music and dance.
1732 Soon, we'll be without the moon,
1733 Humming a different tune, and then,
1735 There may be teardrops to shed,
1736 So while there's music and moonlight,
1737 And love and romance,
1738 Let's face the music and dance.
1740 =head2 v5.8.2 - Walt Whitman, "Passage to India"
1742 L<Announced on 2003-11-06 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/4714574f93967673>
1744 Passage, immediate passage! the blood burns in my veins!
1745 Away O soul! hoist instantly the anchor!
1746 Cut the hawsers - hall out - shake out every sail!
1747 Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough?
1748 Have we not grovel'd here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes?
1749 Have we not darken'd and dazed ourselves with books long enough?
1751 Sail forth - steer for the deep waters only,
1752 Reckless O soul, exploring, I with the and thou with me,
1753 For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
1754 And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.
1757 O farther farther sail!
1758 O daring job, but safe! are they not all the seas of God?
1759 O farther, farther, farther sail!
1761 =head2 v5.8.2-RC2 - Eric Idle/John Du Prez, "Accountancy Shanty"
1763 L<Announced on 2003-11-03 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/7669de5804b792f6>
1765 It's fun to charter an accountant
1766 And sail the wide accountan-cy,
1767 To find, explore the funds offshore
1768 And skirt the shoals of bankruptcy.
1770 =head2 v5.8.2-RC1 - Edward Lear, "The Jumblies"
1772 L<Announced on 2003-10-28 by Nicholas Clark|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/83680ef3bbf7378d>
1774 They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
1775 In a Sieve they went to sea:
1776 In spite of all their friends could say,
1777 On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
1778 In a Sieve they went to sea!
1779 And when the Sieve turned round and round,
1780 And everyone cried, "You'll all be drowned!"
1781 They cried aloud, "Our Sieve ain't big,
1782 But we don't care a button, we don't care a fig!
1783 In a Sieve we'll go to sea!"
1785 Far and few, far and few,
1786 Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
1787 Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
1788 And they went to sea in a Sieve.
1790 =head2 v5.8.1 - epigraph same as v5.7.1
1792 L<Announced on 2003-09-25 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/09/msg82678.html>
1794 =head2 v5.8.1-RC5 - Terry Pratchett, "Lords and Ladies"
1796 L<Announced on 2003-09-22 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/09/msg82476.html>
1798 No matter what she did with her hair it took about
1799 three minutes for it to tangle itself up again,
1800 like a garden hosepipe in a shed [Footnote: Which,
1801 no matter how carefully coiled, will always uncoil
1802 overnight and tie the lawnmower to the bicycles].
1804 =head2 v5.8.1-RC4 - Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times"
1806 L<Announced on 2003-08-01 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/08/msg79184.html>
1808 Grand Viziers were /always/ scheming megalomaniacs.
1809 It was probably in the job description: "Are you a
1810 devious, plotting, unreliable madman? Ah, good,
1811 then you can be my most trusted minister."
1813 =head2 v5.8.1-RC3 - Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times"
1815 L<Announced on 2003-07-30 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/07/msg79048.html>
1817 Lord Hong had a mind like a knife, although possibly
1818 a knife with a curved blade.
1820 =head2 v5.8.1-RC2 - Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times"
1822 L<Announced on 2003-07-11 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/07/msg78102.html>
1824 Many an ancient lord's last words had been, "You can't kill
1825 me because I've got magic aaargh."
1827 =head2 v5.8.1-RC1 - Terry Pratchett, "Interesting Times"
1829 L<Announced on 2003-07-10 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2003/07/msg78009.html>
1831 Cohen was familiar with city gates. He'd broken down a number
1832 in his time, by battering ram, siege gun, and on one occasion
1835 But the gates of Hunghung were pretty damn good gates. They
1836 weren't like the gates of Ankh-Morpork, which were usually wide
1837 open to attract the spending customer and whose concession to
1838 defense was the sign "Thank You For Not Attacking Our City.
1839 Bonum Diem." These things were big and made of metal and there
1840 was a guardhouse and a squad of unhelpful men in black armor.
1842 =head2 v5.8.0 - Terry Pratchett, "Reaper Man"
1844 L<Announced on 2002-07-18 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/07/msg63720.html>
1846 There was the faint sound of footsteps.
1847 "Chap with a whip got as far as the big sharp spikes last week,"
1848 said the low priest.
1849 There was a sound like the flushing of a very old dry lavatory.
1850 The footsteps stopped. The High Priest smiled to himself.
1851 "Right," he said. "See your two pebbles and raise you two pebbles."
1852 The low priest threw down his cards. "Double Onion," he said.
1853 The High Priest looked down suspiciously.
1854 The low priest consulted a scrap of paper. "That's three hundred
1855 thousand, nine hundred and sixty-four pebbles you owe me," he said.
1856 There was the sound of footsteps. The priests exchanged glances.
1857 "Haven't had one for poisoned-dart alley for quite some time,"
1858 said the High Priest.
1859 "Five says he makes it", said the low priest. "You're on."
1860 There was a faint clatter of metal points on stone.
1861 "It's a shame to take your pebbles."
1862 There were footsteps again.
1864 =head2 v5.8.0-RC3 - no epigraph
1866 L<Announced on 2002-07-13 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/07/msg63234.html>
1868 =head2 v5.8.0-RC2 - no epigraph
1870 L<Announced on 2002-06-21 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/06/msg62013.html>
1872 =head2 v5.8.0-RC1 - no epigraph
1874 L<Announced on 2002-06-01 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/06/msg60317.html>
1876 =head2 v5.7.3 - Terry Pratchett, "Reaper Man"
1878 L<Announced on 2002-03-04 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2002/03/msg53652.html>
1880 Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong.
1881 No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always
1882 got there first, and is waiting for it.
1884 =head2 v5.7.2 - Terry Pratchett, "Small Gods"
1886 L<Announced on 2001-07-13 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/07/msg40370.html>
1888 His philosophy was a mixture of three famous schools --
1889 the Cynics, the Stoics and the Epicureans -- and summed up
1890 all three of them in his famous phrase, "You can't trust any
1891 bugger further than you can throw him, and there's nothing
1892 you can do about it, so let's have a drink."
1894 =head2 v5.7.1 - Terry Pratchett, "The Colour of Magic"
1896 L<Announced on 2001-07-13 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/04/msg33851.html>
1898 "What happens next?" asked Twoflower.
1900 Hrun screwed a finger in his ear and inspected it absently.
1902 "Oh,", he said, "I expect in a minute the door will be
1903 flung back and I'll be dragged off to some sort of temple
1904 arena where I'll fight maybe a couple of giant spiders
1905 and an eight-foot slave from the jungles of Klatch and then
1906 I'll rescue some kind of a princess from the altar and then
1907 I'll kill off a few guards or whatever and then this girl
1908 will show me the secret passage out of the place and we'll
1909 liberate a couple of horses and escape with the treasure."
1910 Hrun leaned his head back on his hands and looked at the
1911 ceiling, whistling tunelessly.
1913 "All that?" said Twoflower.
1917 =head2 v5.7.0 - Terry Pratchett, "Moving Pictures"
1919 L<Announced on 2000-09-02 by Jarkko Hietaniemi|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2000/09/msg17730.html>
1921 The Librarian had seen many weird things in his time,
1922 but that had to be the 57th strangest.
1923 [footnote: he had a tidy mind]
1925 =head2 v5.6.2 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
1927 L<Announced on 2003-11-15 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/deb8cb9ad918716f>
1929 When great or unexpected events fall out upon the stage of this
1930 sublunary word--the mind of man, which is an inquisitive kind of
1931 a substance, naturally takes a flight, behind the scenes, to see
1932 what is the cause and first spring of them--The search was not
1933 long in this instance.
1935 =head2 v5.6.2-RC1 - Sterne, "Tristram Shandy"
1937 L<Announced on 2003-11-15 by Rafael Garcia-Suarez|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/e3d4acc7a8dd3ce5>
1939 "Pray, my dear", quoth my mother, "have you not forgot to wind up the clock?"
1941 =head2 v5.6.1 - J R R Tolkien, "The Hobbit", Riddles in the Dark
1943 L<Announced on 2001-04-08 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/04/msg33823.html>
1945 `What have I got in my pocket?' he said aloud. He was talking to
1946 himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle, and he was frightfully
1949 `Not fair! not fair!' he hissed. `It isn't fair, my precious, is it,
1950 to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?'
1952 Bilbo seeing what had happened and having nothing better to ask
1953 stuck to his question, `What have I got in my pocket?' he said
1956 `S-s-s-s-s,' hissed Gollum. `It must give us three guesseses,
1957 my precious, three guesseses.'
1959 =head2 v5.6.1-foolish - no epigraph
1961 L<Announced on 2001-08-04 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/04/msg33421.html>
1963 =head2 v5.6.1-TRIAL3 - I can't find the announcement
1965 No announcement available.
1967 =head2 v5.6.1-TRIAL2 - no epigraph
1969 L<Announced on 2001-01-31 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2001/01/msg29934.html>
1971 =head2 v5.6.1-TRIAL1 - no epigraph
1973 L<Announced on 2000-12-18 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2000/12/msg27738.html>
1975 =head2 v5.6.0 - J R R Tolkien, "The Hobbit", The Last Stage
1977 L<Announced on 2000-03-23 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2000/03/msg10341.html>
1979 The dragon is withered,
1980 His bones are now crumbled;
1981 His armour is shivered,
1982 His splendour is humbled!
1983 Though sword shall be rusted,
1984 And throne and crown perish
1985 With strength that men trusted
1986 And wealth that they cherish,
1987 Here grass is still growing,
1988 And leaves are a yet swinging,
1989 The white water flowing,
1990 And elves are yet singing
1991 Come! Tra-la-la-lally!
1992 Come back to the valley.
1994 =head2 v5.6.0-RC3 - no epigraph
1996 L<Announced on 2000-03-22 by Gurusamy Sarathy|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2000/03/msg10140.html>
1998 =head2 v5.005_05-RC1 - no epigraph
2000 L<Announced on 2009-02-16 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://www.nntp.perl.org/group/perl.perl5.porters/2009/02/msg144227.html>
2002 =head2 v5.005_04 - no epigraph
2004 L<Announced on 2004-03-01 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/6c240ad0b189cb47>
2006 =head2 v5.005_04-RC2 - Rudyard Kipling, "The Jungle Book"
2008 L<Announced on 2004-02-19 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/83e5421124a7b49d>
2010 The monkeys called the place their city, and pretended to despise
2011 the Jungle-People because they lived in the forest. And yet they
2012 never knew what the buildings were made for nor how to use
2013 them. They would sit in circles on the hall of the king's council
2014 chamber, and scratch for fleas and pretend to be men; or they would
2015 run in and out of the roofless houses and collect pieces of plaster
2016 and old bricks in a corner, and forget where they had hidden them,
2017 and fight and cry in scuffling crowds, and then break off to play up
2018 and down the terraces of the king's garden, where they would shake
2019 the rose trees and the oranges in sport to see the fruit and flowers
2022 =head2 v5.005_04-RC1 - Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
2024 L<Announced on 2004-02-05 by LE<0xe9>on Brocard|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/6aaeb6ec699bd116>
2026 Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had
2027 plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was
2028 going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what
2029 she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked
2030 at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with
2031 cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures
2032 hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she
2033 passed; it was labelled 'ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great
2034 disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear
2035 of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as
2038 =head2 v1.0_16 - Johan Vromans, extemporarily
2040 L<Announced on 2003-12-18 by Richard Clamp|http://groups.google.com/group/perl.perl5.porters/msg/9281dc6194d15940>
2042 =head1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
2044 This document was originally compiled based on a list of epigraphs
2045 on L<Perl Monks|http://perlmonks.org> titled
2046 L<Recent Perl Release Announcement|http://perlmonks.org/?node_id=372406>