Albatross the name Was: [albatross-users] Accessing the list of names in the context?

[Tim Churches]

Dave Kuhlman wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Nov 12, 2002 at 10:22:58AM +1100, Gregory Bond wrote:
> > > Instead of doing this, try using
> > >     <al-for iter="ctxiter" expr="locals().keys()">
> >
> > Ripper. Thanks!
> >
> > This albatross thing is sooooo cool.  Pity about the seabird bloody flavour
> > tho.
> 
> I agree about the software but disagree about the bird.
> 
> The albatross is a magnificent creature.  Nothing flies farther and
> stays up longer than an Albatross.  It's a very appropriate name.
> 
> Also, an albatross stays aloft with very little effort and almost
> no wing flapping.  Efficiency and effortlessness are also apt
> connotations for Albatross the Web app server.
> 
> Also, some species, at least, mate for life or long periods.  Stick
> with Albatross.  It won't let you down.
> 
> By the way, in case you are worrying about the "albatross around
> the neck" thing, I looked up the "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
> (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Rime_Ancient_Mariner.html)
> The reason that the albatross was chosen as a symbol in that poem
> is because, for a sailor, sighting an albatross was/is a *good*
> omen.  Needless to say, there are (some of us) bird watchers who
> would be thrilled at the sight of an albatross.

Um, didn't the Ancient Mariner then proceed to inhospitably shoot the
Albatross with his Crossbow... and that's when his troubles really
started... there's a moral there.

However, having met Dave (Cole), Ben (Golding) and Andrew (McNamara), I
suspect that Michael Neel is correct in his surmise that the allusion is
to Monty Python, not Coleridge. That's not to say the Object Craft guys
aren't well-read men of letters - they do quote Chaucer on their home
page, after all.

Tim C