Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Taxonomy FAIl

This CAT FOUND ad may be a joke, but the address written as SUNSET BlVD is not.

TYPOGRAPHY FAIl

Monday, December 19, 2011

KIM JONG Il, PART II

Update: KIM JONG IL DIES ... NOT KIM JONG Il

KIM JONG Il DIES

If it's Kim Jong Il with an uppercase i and a lowercase L, then it should read KIM JONG IL DIES in an ALL CAPS headline, no?  Alert CNN iReport! Or is that CNN lREPORT? WE MAY NEVER KNOW.

UPDATE: KIM JONG IL DIES, NOT KIM JONG Il

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Driveway ClOSED

Katie explains,

Saw this outside a movie theater a few blocks from my house (Regal Cinemas in Simi Valley, CA), where the parking lot lines were being repainted. I'm not sure why they needed to ciose the driveway, but it sure seemed important. 
As an added bonus, this sign isn't even in front of a driveway, and the 'i' in "Driveway" is missing its dot. TRIPlE FAIl.

Sunday, December 04, 2011

MAZEl TOV, ElANA AND DAVID

Neighbors and friends, ElANA and David, tied the knot today!

In a rare opportunity for lowercase L insight, ElANA explained that she had begun to write her initials in the sand, but when she saw that her fellow sand writers were spelling their full names, she turned what would have been a capital H into a lowercase L, followed by the rest of the letters in her first name, to save room before running into the rising tide.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A Perfect lowercase L Storm


"Are you still doing this?"

That was the Subject of Berger's e-mail, no message, just the attached photo.  This lowercase L event is so perfect, even if I wasn't "doing this" anymore, I'd be compelled to bring the blog out of retirement just so I could post the photo.  Spotted in a jeweler's window around 88th Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan, Berger noted that he was surprised by the flood of improperly used lowercase L's considering the ritzy address.  "FACIAl ONlY, JEWElRY MAKING, HAIR EXTENSIONS, WAlK-INS WElCOME".

And if you look closely, the uppercase i's on the sign behind the glass are unnecessarily dotted.

Friday, November 18, 2011

COlDPlAY


This is a screenshot of the video for Coldplay's latest single, "Paradise".
When she was just a girl
She expected the WORlD
But got worried when she saw the WORlD spelled
with a lowercase L.
Those are the actual lyrics.

Here's the video below.  If you don't like Coldplay, you can just sing "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People in its place, it lines up pretty nicely.


Thursday, November 17, 2011

ASK NICElY


Michael sets up the video:
This classic lowercase l is featured in episode 4 of Yacht Rock, the hilarious series of clips about late '70s/early '80s soft rock. Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro is explaining to the rest of the band how they're going to get Michael McDonald to sing on their song "Rosanna." They didn't succeed. Possibly because of this lowercase l.
ASK NICElY, and you can watch the video and see for yourself:

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Occupy lA


Marcus Freed may have only recently moved from across the pond to LA, but he was quick to adopt our revolutionary spirit and take to the streets to Occupy LA.  It wasn't long before Marcus was exposed to another national pastime: the improper use of lowercase L's in words that are otherwise all uppercase letters.  This particular picket sign informs us that "Rothchilds ARE the Federal Reserve (which is NOT even federal, it's a GlOBAL BANK meant to keep us in debt).  Compare this GlOBAL to this previous submission from a Jewish innovation conference in Israel:


Notice the same lowercase L in the middle of the word, and the same uppercase L at the end?  Coincidence? Or, as Marcus suspects, CONSPIRACY of the Elders of ZION????

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

CASUAlTiES of ll-ll-ll


Schlake found this disturbing letter sent to the Socorro City police department in an appropriately titled article in the El Defensor Chieftain, "Disturbing letter sent to police department". The author warns "the CORRUPt DEVilS" that, on Friday, November 11, 2011, he will direct his wrath upon the people of Socorro, and that "PlENTY OF PARASiTES Will JOin" him.  Of course, the CASUAltiES are scheduled for 11-11-11, or as we call it here in lowercase L, ll-ll-ll.  Perhaps just as disturbing as the threat itself is the author's dysgraphic writing style, mixing upper and lowercase letters, though props for at least making the lowercase L's slightly taller than the other uppercase letters, and using lowercase i's to help distinguish the lowercase L's.  I hope the authorities find the person who would commit such atrocities and put him behind bars.  Also to prevent him from hurting anyone.

Friday, November 04, 2011

BIllIONS Wasted


Triumph the Insult Dog discovered this tragedy at the Occupy Wall Street movement in Zuccotti Park.  I'm not talking about the "BIllIons WAStED-ON WARS, MEDICAD FRAUD, ECT".  I'm talking about this poorly constructed sign, especially the cascading lowercase L in BIllIons.

 

Monday, October 31, 2011

PlEASE POST


Okay, okay, Doug in the Lakehurst, NJ post office, we'll post!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

TACO BEll


Our cop friends at Grammar Police realize that there's more to policing a world of signs than focusing just on grammatical errors.  Sometimes you have to call out penmanship and, in this case, readerboard lettermanship.  This sign for Taco Bell in COlDWATER, MI, advertises tempting 99¢ FlATBREAD CHICKEN SANDWICH, which is, apparently, a plump chicken sandwich after it has been run over by a Fiat.

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Occupy WAll Street


GAl chose to participate in the Occupation of Wall Street from the safety and comfort of her own home, staying connected with online commentary like this YouTube clip of a Keith Olbermann report, in which a young demonstrator asks, "THE WHOLE WORLD IS GOING BANKRUPT TOWHO? DEBT = SlAVERY".  Little did GAl know that she had exposed herself to just as much risk online as she would have faced on the crowded streets of New York City if had joined her fellow protestors outside.  I'm talking about the risk of exposure to inappropriate lowercase L's in otherwise all uppercase signage.

At the 1:54 mark:

Monday, October 03, 2011

WAlMART


Jamie never felt compelled to patronize the local mom-and-pop shops in Gilroy, California ... until THIS happened!  She has since cut up her WAlMART CREDIT CARD, just like WAlMART cut the uppercase from the L.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Little MUSSElS


Brooklyn neighbor, Skooter, believes there may be a very meta lowercase L Conspiracy conspiracy, deeper than I ever would have imagined:

I saw this today at Double Windsor on Prospect Park West in Brooklyn. A few thoughts: didn't they notice the problem with "garlic," when there was the lowercase "l" next to the capital "I"? How come "SPECIALS" is capitalized correctly? Considering this is a literate bar with a nerdy/yuppie clientele in Brownstone Brooklyn, is it at all possible that they did this intentionally in order to bait "lowercase l"?
Skooter makes a good point. Most lowercase L offenders would get SPECIAlS wrong, but that is not the case here.  Instead we are treated to more subtle lowercase L errors as we read on, including MUSSElS, GARlIC (bonus for the lowercase L followed by the uppercase i!), Spicy HEIRlOOM Tomato, Beet SAlAD w/ ARUGUlA, OMElETTE ... a literal buffet of lowercase L's to chose from!  And, impressively, other than the lowercase L's, everything seems to be spelled correctly, even the more exotic words that could easily have been misspelled by even the most highly qualified waitstaff: ARUGUlA, pistachios, Parmesan, and Nueske bacon.

This may be the best example of lowercase L abuse yet.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

BEST GRAMMAR BlOG?

Grammar.net have announced the Grammer.net Contest for the Best Grammar BlOG of 2011, and have nominated lowercase L as a contestant.

You can help raise lowercase L awareness by voting for lowercaseL.com as your favorite grammar blog. If we receives 5 votes, we have a chance at winning a prize.  All proceeds will go toward lowercase L research, with the hopes of one day understanding this disturbing phenomenon, and, eventually, finding a cure.

Thank you for your support,

WIllIAM lEVIN
Founder, lowercase L

CASTlEVANIA 2


Jump to the 6:31 mark

James Rolfe, a.k.a. The Angry Video Game Nerd, reviews poorly designed video games.  In his relatable review of the classic NES game sequel, CASTlEVANIA II: Simon's Quest, not only does AVGN describe this game as being one of the worst designed ever, he brings up a legitimate point about the confusing use of lowercase letters—especially the lowercase L—in passwords. At the 6:31 mark:

In general I hate games that have passwords like this, because sometimes they have uppercase and lowercase letters.  Like the L's, you know, look like i's, the zeroes look like O's, the 8's look like 5's, so, you know, why does there have to be so many digits?  You know, like, why can't it just be numbers or something? Like, you know, just numbers and not letters?  I mean, it takes me like 5 minutes to enter this code when it should only take like 5 seconds.  It's friggin' stupid.
Game over, dude! I couldn't have said it better myself, AVGN.

Monday, September 12, 2011

FACElESS NEIL


From the award winning animated short movie website, "FACElESS NEIL is a dark comedy for children about friendship and gentle monsters." Rated inappropriate for young children because of the flagrant use of confusing lowercase L's that look like slashes.

Sunday, September 04, 2011

lOTT of lowercase L's


Rimpy Returns with FlOWER BOUQUETS for the long holiday weekend, discovered on lOTT RD.  And that's a lOTT of lowercase L's where there should be uppercase.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Sunday, August 28, 2011

AMBUlETTE


As we hunker down in Brooklyn in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, emergency teams are gearing up, preparing for the worst.  LOOK OUT! The wind is so strong tonight that it blew the uppercase right off the L in AMBUlETTE.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Try ANGlE


I'm so not handy, I had to look up what an ANGlE GRINDER is.  Apparently it is a tool that is used to grind off the angles of uppercase letters, like an L, to make it into a lowercase L, which has no sharp angles, and looks remarkably like an uppercase i.  Either that or this toolbox belongs to Angie Grinder, and she left it behind on the sidewalk here in Park Slope..

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Walking on BROKEN GlASS


Friend and journalist Paul Berger cracked a new case ... as in a box of BROKEN GlASS.

He also just wrote this article about Leon and Brian Dewan of Dewanatron and their new musical invention, the Hymnotron.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Everything in its write PlATES


I agree with Laura B, this PlATES notification found at the Fountain of Juice in Macon, GA is confusing. It could be in reference to Pilates, or a pirate, minus the AARRRRGH.  And now it's impossible to make any corrections to the message, because, in a moment of overconfidence, it has been laminated.  PlATES ARE NOT trash, but this sign is.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

PlEASE BUY


On the lowercase L beat in Hartland, MI, George Fox discovered "some sort of vegetable stand. They made a valiant effort in trying to fit in SYSTEM". I'm betting this poor farmer went out of business, because, PlEASE, there is no honor, only shame, in using a lowercase L in that way.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

And They Were All YEllOW


stephanni sewell, who spells her name entirely in lowercase letters because she lOVES lower case (and not just the L's!), discovered these 40 NEW YEllOW BOX FLIP FLOPS in, appropriately, the YEllOW ROSE state.  The author of this sign apparently flip flops on the use of proper case with L's, as is evident with the perfect alignment of the first lowercase L in YEllOW above the uppercase i in FLIP.  It hurts my i's to look at it.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

APPlE Dips


Happening upon this sign at a Walmart in Georgia, Laura B. commented, "Ah, fall. The season when I think of eating APPlES. And what's an appie without APPlE DIPS?"

Interestingly, the text "APPlE Dips" itself dips, from left to right.

Obviously the Dips does not refer to the price of APPlE COMPUTER stock, which recently reached an all time high of $400 a share, far from dipping.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

COlD Case


Found in a secondhand store in Phoenix, Arizona, Leif Swanson proclaimed, "I would gladly forgive this store owner for the lower-case L in exchange for a COlD drink. It was 118 degrees that day in Phoenix."

Monday, July 25, 2011

COOl Down


Hot enough for ya'?

Here in NYC we've been having record-breaking summer scorchers exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Our brothers in the City of Brotherly Love are no better off.  Cameron reports from the streets:
"The heat must've sapped the scribe's desire to write out the full letter. It's a hot day, but I'm not sure if to COOl DOWN with COlD H2O is what I'm after."
As an added bit of irony, besides the lowercase L in COOl looking like an i, even the O's are eyes!

Friday, July 22, 2011

BlACK WINE


And the national readerboard letter shortage continues!

Jeremy D. invites you to come hear the BlACK WINE BAND perform LIVE at The Muse Lounge in his hometown of Eugene, Oregon, maybe even stay at the HIlTON if you're up late into the night, unable to drive, intoxicated from drinking in all that fine BlACK WINE.

Remember, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Meme Meets Meme


Danni R. from Los Angeles may be the first to discover a lowercase meme within a meme. In this stick figure cartoon, a happy faced fellow laments the loss of his Magic Markers, noting that "HAlF OF THE COLORS ARE FUCKING GONE." Unable to contain his anger, stick figure man erupts and transforms into Rage Guy, and unleashes an epic FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! I would, too, if the guy drawing me used lowercase L's so haphazardly.

Friday, July 15, 2011

AlEX is Stoned


Mark St. John discovered this roadside spelling of AlEX in Christchurch, New Zealand. I almost would have forgiven the lowercase L as a result of a possible pebble shortage, until I noticed the pile in the background.

I wonder if the guy who built this lowercase Stonehenge has ever visited New York?

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Fair thee CHIGWEll


Naomi said this about this lowercase L sign above, found Down Under (I know, confusing, but you must look up to see it):
I spotted this sign on the side of the Brooker Highway in Hobart, Australia. About a month after I snapped this pic someone crashed into the sign and it was removed forever. I have no idea what FCM stands for but Chigwell is the name of a suburb.
A quick Google Search turned up a Facebook Fan Page for FCM CHIGWEll, which stands for Fresh Central Markets and Fresh Country Markets.  Just look at that unnecessarily serifed uppercase i, those extra lines at the top and bottom of the i could have been used to make both L's uppercase!  Apparently the use of the double lowercase L hasn't helped business much — according to their website, FCM are currently in voluntary liquidation.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

CEllUlAR Decomposition


Spotted in Pasadena, Sean B. marvels at the ubiquitous use of typography as design in Hispanic businesses. The double-L sequence in CEllUlAR is enhanced by the following uppercase U—which itself looks like two lowercase L's—and another adjacent lowercase L.  Probably not a Smartphone.

Friday, July 01, 2011

PROUD SlUT


Megan M. of Cleveland, Ohio, was proud to discover this PROUD "SlUT" in the BBC News article, Why is the word 'SlUT' so powerful? I was almost going to take this female empowering movement seriously, until they screwed up with the lowercase L.

"There’s a girl who’s not afraid to be herself. Siuts unite! No need to hide it! Just embrace it. The haters are just jealous." — Megan M.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Whole Belly ClAMS


Jeff adds to the ClAM COllECTIVE with these OPEN WHOLE BELLY ClAMS, discovered on Boston Post Road in Westbrook, CT. Ironically, Jeff was just there for the Prime RLB.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Found by Father-in-lAW


When I met my now wife Malya, part of my responsibility as a suitor was trying to impress her father.  Now that Malya and I are married, and my father-in-law knows that I am the infamous blogger behind lowercase L-gate, the tables are turned!  After nearly a year of searching, Arthur Kurzweil, achieving one of the greatest highlights of his modest career, finally discovered a Class A lowercase L, and it was closer to home than he could have imagined.  Residents of Great Neck, NY might get lost on their way to Century Inc. at 33 ARRANDAlE AVE.  Perhaps for the better.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

GlOBAL Traveller


In the spirit of Cory Arcangel's "Sorry I Haven't Posted" blog, cataloguing lazy bloggers' posts in which they apologize for not blogging ... SORRY I HAVEN'T POSTED!  My only excuse is that I've been busy trying to make a living as an artist, travelling, and being sued over my cartoons in New Mexico ... long story, I'll save it for another time.

Anyway, I have a backlog of your lowercase L's that need to be shared with the world, if we are ever going to blow the lid off this worldwide capital conspiracy.

So to restart, here's one of my own. I noticed this late-edition lowercase L on the Open Space Technology bulletin board at the ROI Summit 2011 for Jewish innovation in Jerusalem this summer.  Fellow conference attendee Shelby snapped this photo for me, "IS THERE A NEED FOR GlOBAL JEWISH UNIT?"  (I'm assuming that was meant to be UNITY, based on the punny topic header which I can just make out as JEWNITY ... and the fact that a Global Jewish Unit is HIGHLY unnecessary). This GlOBAL disaster may be a result of post-haste afterthought, but there's still no excuse.

Except INSANITY.