Althouse: "... Grimes, the Canadian singer, and Elon Musk, the co-founder of Tesla, announced that they were calling their baby boy X Æ A-12..."

May 6, 2020

"... Grimes, the Canadian singer, and Elon Musk, the co-founder of Tesla, announced that they were calling their baby boy X Æ A-12..."

"... saying the name is inspired by the fantasy Elvish language, artificial intelligence and a CIA spy plane. Grimes, 32, whose real name is Clair Boucher, explained their inspiration last night, telling followers on social media that: 'X [represents] the unknown variable. Æ is the Elven spelling of Ai (love &/or artificial intelligence). A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent,' and added that the A additionally stood for Archangel, 'her favorite song.'... Grimes told followers before the birth that she would allow her child to choose its own gender. She described 'being knocked up' as a 'very feral and war-like state of being'... She and Mr Musk have been a couple for more than two years after bonding online over an esoteric joke about artificial intelligence."

The London Times tells us.

There's artificial intelligence... and there's goofball intelligence.

Anyway, nothing wrong with gender privacy. And if Clair Boucher can rename herself Grimes, then this gender-private offspring can stop being X Æ A-12 any time said entity chooses.

What is the song "Archangel"? Is it this? ("So contorted and twisted/Condemned and submissive....")

91 comments:

Anonymous said...: This is child abuse. If these parents are going to be such examples of self-centered-ness, this kid is screwed.; 5/6/20, 9:17 AM
Sebastian said...: "A"

Shoulda made it AA, for their favorite blogger.; 5/6/20, 9:17 AM
rehajm said...: The name of his favorite strain of weed must have just missed the cut.; 5/6/20, 9:19 AM
Sebastian said...: "Elven spelling of Ai"

So is the kid gonna be called "Ai," as in, "Ai, Ai, I'm talking' to you, Ai!" or "Ai, no, Ai!" or "Why, Ai, why?"?; 5/6/20, 9:20 AM
Kay said...: I find them both obnoxious.; 5/6/20, 9:20 AM
robother said...: Hope this kid tracks down Musk some day and gives him the beatdown he deserves for naming him (pardon me, xim) "X AE A-12."; 5/6/20, 9:21 AM
Kay said...: Unfortunately, Elon Musk will be president of the United States someday.; 5/6/20, 9:21 AM
Original Mike said...: "announced that they were calling their baby boy X Æ A-12"

They'll need advances in AI just so computers can deal with that name. I have enough problems with a last name with a space in it.; 5/6/20, 9:22 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: then this gender-private offspring can stop being X Æ A-12 any time said entity chooses.

I dunno. I think if your birth certificate has a joke name on it, you are stuck with it until you are 18. That is to say: through the years you are most sensitive to social embarassment.; 5/6/20, 9:22 AM
WisRich said...: You can call me Al.; 5/6/20, 9:23 AM
Nonapod said...: There's artificial intelligence... and there's goofball intelligence.

They certainly seem to be trying very hard to be iconoclastic. But giving your child a wacky name only rises to the level of around 13 milli-Kanyes on the weird-o-meter.; 5/6/20, 9:23 AM
pacwest said...: any time said entity chooses.

LOL; 5/6/20, 9:23 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk
It seems I had to fight my whole life through
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head
I tell ya, life ain't easy for an entity named X Æ A-12; 5/6/20, 9:25 AM
Kay said...: Kay said...
Unfortunately, Elon Musk will be president of the United States someday.
5/6/20, 9:21 AM

Just found out he wasn’t born here! Thank god.; 5/6/20, 9:25 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: SR-71? Haven't heard of an SR-17.; 5/6/20, 9:25 AM
Rob said...: She’s such a big fan of the aircraft she doesn’t know it’s the SR-71, not 17.; 5/6/20, 9:26 AM
gilbar said...: No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent
Great in battle?
"You keep using that word, i do not think that word means what you think it does"

Brave Brave Sir Robin?; 5/6/20, 9:26 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: I think they're joking.; 5/6/20, 9:26 AM
Dave Begley said...: Completely nuts but par for Elon's course.; 5/6/20, 9:28 AM
Quaestor said...: Unfortunately, Elon Musk will be president of the United States someday.

Not without a constitutional amendment.; 5/6/20, 9:28 AM
madAsHell said...: Was the name Gene Attell already taken?; 5/6/20, 9:31 AM
Dave Begley said...: Musk runs Tesla. It has a multibillion market cap but it is a complete fraud.; 5/6/20, 9:31 AM
MadisonMan said...: What will they call the kid when they're in the privacy of their home? That's probably different.; 5/6/20, 9:31 AM
gilbar said...: and, of course; BETWEEN the A-12 and the SR-71, was the YF-12...
which was going to be armed with FOUR THERMONUCLEAR air to air missiles...
No weapons (except NUKES!), no defenses (except Electronic), just speed (and the Nukes); 5/6/20, 9:32 AM
Rick.T. said...: Heard Musk on the JRE. The only person I've ever heard whose laugh actually is "Haha."; 5/6/20, 9:33 AM
Fernandinande said...: Grimes explains -
"I am recovering from surgery and barely alive so may my typos b forgiven but, damnit. That was meant to be profound"

I have a feeling they're pulling legs.; 5/6/20, 9:35 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Fucked from birth.; 5/6/20, 9:39 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I hope Freeman is correct, but in this day and age, parody is tough to spot.; 5/6/20, 9:41 AM
Ken B said...: They can afford luxury beliefs. They will end up calling the kid something simple, like Al anyway.; 5/6/20, 9:44 AM
Koot Katmandu said...: Looks like they are trying to get publicity for the birth. Attentions hounds they are. Poor. Kid.; 5/6/20, 9:54 AM
DarkHelmet said...: Kids, this is what happens when you do drugs.; 5/6/20, 9:54 AM
Lurker21 said...: Ever the daring iconoclast, Musk actually married - or at least coupled with - a woman. If he can get away with that nowadays he can name his kid whatever he wants.

Æ was always a cool symbol, right? Okay, maybe I just spent too many lonely hours with my parents' Encyclopædia Britannica.

I was going to say that X Æ A-12 would be a nice playmate for Audio Science Sossamon, but that kid is already in high school now, and maybe even dating Apple Paltrow.; 5/6/20, 9:55 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Good for Musky and Grimy! A strange name won’t cause the child any harm if his parents love and protect him, and if they have the means and ways to do so, which Elon has in the billion$.

Anyway, I like the name. Maybe they’ll call him Archie. Or Angel.; 5/6/20, 9:56 AM
buwaya said...: Musk is very eccentric.
He has an extreme case of a dominating personality, with enough brains to make good, or at least effective, use of it.
He also has a knack of attracting eccentrics.

And apparently a thirst for risk. Go with him and you are assured of a wild ride, no red line, no seatbelt. He has won big so far but can at any time crash spectacularly.

A Napoleon of business indeed, also with a Napoleonic taste for wild women.

And he comes by it naturally as his own father is also rather extreme case of a dominating personality.; 5/6/20, 10:00 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Archangel rhymes with “break your skull”, sort of.; 5/6/20, 10:03 AM
Temujin said...: The article announces that it's their baby boy they are talking about. What's gender private? It's a boy. He'll furthermore be known as "Bob".; 5/6/20, 10:06 AM
CJinPA said...: Musk & Grimey have "been in a relationship" for two years. I look forward to watching them grow slightly older together.

I feel sad over this. I know the child will have plenty of money. But he or she almost certainly will grow up without a dad, and with a woman who might not be emotionally or intellectually suited for the job, and with tons of money to support flights of fancy.; 5/6/20, 10:07 AM
Daniel Jackson said...: "There's artificial intelligence... and there's goofball intelligence."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL; 5/6/20, 10:07 AM
PM said...: "Grimes told followers before the birth that she would allow her child to choose its own gender." Science!; 5/6/20, 10:09 AM
J. Farmer said...: Boy, conformity gets a bad rap. Parents used to give kids common first names to help them fit in. Now, in our endless effort to promote uniqueness, we saddle a kid with a name that will require a lifetime of correcting others' spelling and pronunciation.

When did the myth of the flummoxed Ellis Island inspector callously changing ethnic names to sound more American get started? Name changes were almost entirely voluntary and reflected a desire to fit in with the surrounding culture. Once assimilating became a bad thing, people retconned their ancestors' desire to fit in as an assault on their ethnic identity. Fitting in was over and standing out was in. You're not just American. You're special.; 5/6/20, 10:14 AM
Bill Peschel said...: Not original. Irish writer George William Russell wrote as Æ Russell.; 5/6/20, 10:15 AM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: All the cool kids will have ligatures now!; 5/6/20, 10:19 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Lurker21:

Æ was always a cool symbol, right? Okay, maybe I just spent too many lonely hours with my parents' Encyclopædia Britannica.

It is a cool symbol, but I did spend the first half of the 90's watching Æon Flux on MTV. Peter Chung is a huge talent.; 5/6/20, 10:23 AM
Quaestor said...: I'm old enough to recall when Prince Rogers Nelson, dropped his birth name (I used to volubly despise Prince as a name suitable only for sheepdogs before I noticed many of my favorite 50s sci-fi's featured an actor unashamedly called King Donovan.) which he replaced with a moronic doodle of his own devising that combined alchemical symbols with the shape of a horn befitting an exceptionally obnoxious oompah band. That glaringly obvious publicity stunt evaporated like morning mist when its lack of phonetic content proved irksome. (How many times can the phrase the artist formerly known as Prince be used before the derisive laughter becomes intolerably loud?) At about the same time as the "name change" hit the airwaves a Myst-like piece of software, allegedly a game of sorts, appeared on store shelves. Wow. Did that ever suck donkeys. (Another mid-90's trope oft-heard on the lips of people who, having spent parental money to acquire that princely priced perversion, discovered its utter banality after they installed it on their 100Mhz Packard Bells.)

What Musk and his asswipe of a GFE are doing is immoral. "Grimes" changed her own name. She wouldn't submit to anyone changing it for her. (Oh, for the opportunity to do unto them as they do unto children. There are so many possible names and "genders" for Grimes — as many as there are slang words for excrement.) Yet she happily conspires to damage the early life of an innocent boy. As for Musk, I hope the SpaceX board does an involuntary career change on his ass.; 5/6/20, 10:24 AM
Leland said...: Gildar pointed this out, but the A-12 was actually the initial armed variant of the aircraft. It preceded the SR-71, but it was designed to carry weapons. What they found was that it wasn't necessary for a near hypersonic aircraft to carry weapons for delivery when you can have a fully hypersonic missile do the same without potential harm to a flight crew. The Air Force scrapped the idea, but the CIA picked up the designs and turned it into a spy aircraft. It began flying for the CIA as the A-12 (although never as a weapon delivery platform), then the USAF wanted it back and brought it back into the military as a RS-71 until Johnson flubbed the announcement of it by saying SR-71.; 5/6/20, 10:25 AM
Jupiter said...: "There's artificial intelligence... and there's goofball intelligence."

Actually, there is no artificial intelligence. But there is a great deal of artificial stupidity.; 5/6/20, 10:28 AM
Quaestor said...: ...but I did spend the first half of the 90's watching Æon Flux on MTV.

Me too.

Unfortunately, I tried to make sense of it.

Poor Œ, the Rodney Dangerfield of ligatures. It don't get no respect.; 5/6/20, 10:31 AM
PM said...: Quaestor: Prince's name change to a symbol was meant to f with Warner Bros.; 5/6/20, 10:32 AM
Xmas said...: The named the kid after a Hypersonic Spy Plane, but what if the child identifies as an Attack Helicopter?; 5/6/20, 10:34 AM
n.n said...: So, her baby is a boy, but she will let him choose his sexual orientation? Perhaps progress a further 4.5 yards and modify his physical gender.; 5/6/20, 10:38 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: Elon Musk is a good example of big broad sweeping visions, excellent engineering training, excellent business acumen, but very little common sense or moral compass. He's gotta few screws loose.

Similar, but much less dashing, than the great Howard Hughes (who also went crazy).; 5/6/20, 10:43 AM
Ficta said...: It's spelled Raymond Luxury-Yacht, but it's pronounced Throatwobbler Mangrove.; 5/6/20, 10:52 AM
Quaestor said...: Prince's name change to a symbol was meant to f with Warner Bros.

This is what is known as an ex post failure to generate expected revenue lame explanation.; 5/6/20, 10:54 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Quaestor:

a moronic doodle of his own devising that combined alchemical symbols with the shape of a horn befitting an exceptionally obnoxious oompah band.

I love this description, but I have to make an exception for Prince. For one, I think he was in on the joke. And two, he is alchemical. He's the transmutation of Joni Mitchell, Carlos Santana, George Clinton, Sly Stone, and Rufus into a 5'3" colossus. Can you imagine what it must've been like to be Prince in 1984? How can someone recover after that amount of fame?; 5/6/20, 10:58 AM
Howard said...: Grimes must have one that snaps.; 5/6/20, 10:59 AM
Tom T. said...: Remember too that Elon Musk is actually short for Elongated Muskrat.; 5/6/20, 10:59 AM
YoungHegelian said...: Æ is the Elven spelling of Ai (love &/or artificial intelligence). A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent,' and added that the A additionally stood for Archangel, 'her favorite song.'..

Yeah, and Grace Slick & Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane named their kid God.

How'd that work out?; 5/6/20, 11:15 AM
David Duffy said...: I named my oldest son Luke because I liked the Gospel according to Luke.

After he was born, a coworker asked, "So what did you name your son?" I said, "Luke." He said, "Cool, after Luke Skywalker?" I said, "No, after the doctor." He asked, "General Hospital?" I said, "No, Luke from the Bible." He said, "I don't know much about the Bible." I said, "You grew up Catholic like I did."; 5/6/20, 11:18 AM
Kirk Parker said...: Quaestor,

"Not without a constitutional amendment."

What a quaint comment!; 5/6/20, 11:24 AM
GingerBeer said...: Was "Seven" already taken?

https://youtu.be/NRUdaWZ4FN0; 5/6/20, 11:35 AM
Ralph L said...: the USAF wanted it back

But they didn't want it to become their supersonic bomber, so they destroyed the tooling.; 5/6/20, 11:40 AM
n.n said...: Not without a constitutional amendment.

The Twilight Amendment is not limited to reproductive rites, cannibalized-child, diversity, political congruence, etc.; 5/6/20, 11:49 AM
Lurker21 said...: Æ is the Elven spelling of Ai (love &/or artificial intelligence).

In The Thick of It (the British precursor to Veep) the geekier British politicians and their advisors are always making references to Lord of the Rings.

I guess there are people like that in the real world too. I wonder if Musk goes to the conventions and does cosplay.; 5/6/20, 11:59 AM
Ralph L said...: Daily Mail: Musk and Grimes will not be able to register his name there due to Californian law.

Under the state law, names must only include the 26 letters of the English alphabet, meaning X Æ A-12 would not be legally permissible.; 5/6/20, 12:13 PM
Not Sure said...: Æ is the Elven spelling of Ai

Shocked that Grimes would practice such blatant cultural appropriation.; 5/6/20, 12:14 PM
policraticus said...: "Frank Grimes, or Grimy, as he liked to be called..."; 5/6/20, 12:35 PM
madAsHell said...: discovered its utter banality after they installed it on their 100Mhz Packard Bells.

My Mexican born father-in-law has been in this country for over 60 years, but he remains proud of his accent. Yes becomes jez. Beyond is pronounced bejond. Packard Bell was also lost in translation.

We once had a conversation:

FIL: Should I buy a Pecker Bell?
ME: Hell, I wouldn't put a bell on a cat......let alone my pecker. Everyone will hear you coming.; 5/6/20, 1:18 PM
RMc said...: Life ain't easy for a boy named X Æ A-12.; 5/6/20, 1:19 PM
gilbar said...: sorry, i'll try to do you All a favor, and NOT start ranting about how freaking awesome the XB-70 Valkyrie was, and how DEVASTATINGLY powerful the RS-70 Would have been.

Sure, they would have been the most expensive planes ever built; but MAN they would have been Totally worth it. but, i'll stop now...; 5/6/20, 1:49 PM
Maillard Reactionary said...: Is that name better or worse than the "Moon Unit" and "Dweezil" that Frank Zappa visited on his kids?

Discuss.; 5/6/20, 1:54 PM
Steven said...: I see people blaming Musk for this. But does he have any legal say in what his girlfriend's son is named? I suspect the primary responsibility for this name is properly attributed to the lunatic who named herself "Grimes".; 5/6/20, 2:12 PM
bagoh20 said...: When your child was born, you had one job, just one simple job, and you couldn't stop thinking of your own bullshit long enough to get it done.; 5/6/20, 2:35 PM
Lurker21 said...: She is about 30 and looks about 13. He is around 50 and doesn't look any younger. It's just as well they didn't get married because it's hard to see how it could last. Musk is a lucky guy, though: promise women Mars and some will follow you anywhere.; 5/6/20, 2:55 PM
Birkel said...: Children do not get to choose their parts.
Some ideas are so stupid that only people with advanced degrees could believe them.; 5/6/20, 3:00 PM
n.n said...: Children do not get to choose their parts.

Gender: physical and mental attributes. Perhaps through environment, indoctrination, or corruption, his mother can influence her son's evolution.; 5/6/20, 3:36 PM
n.n said...: To her credit, she made the right choice once. Twice, when mom and dad acknowledged their baby boy. The label is a lesser burden for him, them, and society.; 5/6/20, 3:40 PM
Darrell said...: Her name is Claire.
Super-speller.; 5/6/20, 3:41 PM
JMR said...: And who picks "Grimes" as their new name, anyway? Clair is a nice, feminine name, but nope, don't call me that anymore, now I'm Grimes.; 5/6/20, 3:41 PM
David Duffy said...: gilbar, I enjoy your rants, so please give us more of your thoughts on aircraft from the 60's. The XB-70 I thought to be a waste of resources. It was best to end the program.

I spent most my time in C-130s which about the equivalent of a C-47, a wise investment.; 5/6/20, 4:26 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: Male version of Aurora, Aurelian, would have been more appropriate than A-12.

Aurora was the rumored replacement for the SR 71 Blackbird.; 5/6/20, 4:41 PM
JAORE said...: Is her middle name is pretentious.

Money won't likely shield her from merciless kidding from her school peers.; 5/6/20, 5:27 PM
n.n said...: Her name is Claire.

Liar. Lyre. You're right. The Times is wrong.

Clair is a nice, feminine name, but nope, don't call me that anymore, now I'm Grimes.

She's a rebel... who believes her boy's gender is negotiable for a religious cause. Pick a band, any band in the transgender spectrum.; 5/6/20, 5:51 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: we named our kid AR-15

...but now they wont let him in school; 5/6/20, 6:11 PM
daskol said...: Claire is a fat girl's name.; 5/6/20, 6:23 PM
gilbar said...: Limited Perspective said...
gilbar, I enjoy your rants, so please give us more of your thoughts on aircraft from the 60's. The XB-70 I thought to be a waste of resources. It was best to end the program.

you asked for it!
i was kidding about the RS-70... The plane we Should have built, was the B-70 itself.
first, what ended the cold war? the collapse of the USSR, and WHAT caused that?
I'll say, that it was that they spent themselves to destruction; trying to keep up with Reagan's Defense increases (SDI, the 600 ship navy, the MX, Trident Missile Subs, etc)

THE purpose of SAC, was NOT to be used; it was to
A) Keep the Soviets from striking US
B) Keep the Soviets broke, from trying to keep up

{if i can get you to agree with me so far, i can get you to WANT the B-70}
There is (i truly believe) No Way In HELL that the Soviets could have just ignored the B-70's
IF, we had built the 250 B-70's, and built them in The EARLY '60's; the Soviets (being like they were) would have been COMPELLED to counter it
MASSIVE SAM spending
MASSIVE Mig-25 spending
MASSIVE Mach3+ bomber spending of their own

Just like they bit on SDI, they would have bit on Valkyrie... and it would have BANKRUPTED them
So, If we'd Built 250, of the Most Expensive Planes on Earth; the Cold War would have been won 25 years sooner.
Instead, we said: WE Can't Afford THAT! and spent That money on Vietnam :(; 5/6/20, 7:18 PM
gilbar said...: oh, and my family had stock in North American Aviation; so, there's that too; 5/6/20, 7:20 PM
gilbar said...: And NO! i am NOT fond of the B-1b.... Now, The B-1A, There's a plane!!; 5/6/20, 7:22 PM
techsan said...: Johnny Cash...

"I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
Called him my Pa, and he called me his son
And I come away with a different point of view
And I think about him, now and then
Every time I try and every time I win
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but X Æ A-12! I still hate that name! Yeah"; 5/6/20, 9:51 PM
Lurker21 said...: "Grime" would be a great name for a punk rocker. Or for the villain in a Comet or Lysol commercial.

It's not so great as a personal name -- too many overtones of "crime" and "grime," and the dark shadow of Peter Grimes hangs over the name.

P.S. Tammy Grimes died a few years back, and Karolyn Grimes, who played little ZuZu in It's a Wonderful Life turns 80 this year.; 5/6/20, 10:35 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: The kid may forgive them his name...but not his looks.; 5/7/20, 7:35 AM
Nichevo said...: J. Farmer said...
@Lurker21:

It is a cool symbol, but I did spend the first half of the 90's watching Æon Flux on MTV. Peter Chung is a huge talent.

See, you're not ENTIRELY an asshoe.

What has Peter Chung done since? I doted on AF, wish it would have continued, but I found the movie sad, less faithful to the original than Verhoeven's Starship Troopers.; 5/7/20, 10:34 PM