new Pompeii book

If you want to know more about Pompeii, or if you want to see how other historians have been wrong about it, then check out Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. It was released in the UK yesterday, and will be released in the US later in the fall.

I haven't read it yet, but I'm mentioning it here because I saw Mary Beard's 10 things you need to know about Pompeii, which is myth-busting and interesting.

She's also a very smart, interesting, nice person, so her book deserves a mention here. She's achieved more than most people, including publishing many books, getting published and interviewed for top publications and other media, being an editor for the Times Literary Supplement, and teaching at Cambridge. I'd say that's the cream of the crop in the intellectual world.

Considering everything she's accomplished, she is not snobby at all, appreciates online writing by non-media folks and academic types, and is friendly--she sent me an email complimenting my blog, and told me about hers (which has thousands of readers). She even met with me when she came to Chicago to lecture at a university.

Believe me, I've met some folks who haven't accomplished as much as her, but because they perceived me as a peon, they barely wanted to talk to me. So when she took the time out of her busy schedule to hang out with me, it meant a lot.

She's also a good writer, so I'm sure her book is good.

What's up with Cadfael?

The mystery series Cadfael has been on several times, and I have never watched it because it doesn't seem that interesting. But tonight I'm making myself watch it in its entirety because I have to see why it would exist on modern television.

I'm still perplexed why Brits would want to watch it, and why the producers thought that it would be worth the money: there's nothing fancy about it, and there's a constant grayish-brownishness about it. Usually the British mystery shows transport us to rich people's homes and fancy parties filled with intrigue, but Cadfael is like porridge.

I seriously doubt that such a show would be produced in the US--people wouldn't have the patience for the drab aesthetics or bland personalities. I can imagine a Hollywood mogul screaming, "A middle ages mystery? Are you crazy?"

But such a show makes us focus on the words and the mystery instead of being distracted by pretty hairstyles and temperamental personalities. The show is still in progress, and it seems pretty good, and it's actually refreshing to not have a bunch of flash and egos thrown at me.

Get your [blank] on

It seems like a lot of people are using the phrase "Get your [insert word] on," and I'd like to know what the origin of that phrase is.

There seems to be much use of the phrase "Get your game on," but is that the original phrase? If not, what is? How did this whole thing start? I'm guessing it started in a more obscure subculture and has spread uncontrollably to the mainstream, to the point where even advertising is saying "Get your chocolate on" or whatever.

So if anyone out there knows the answer, please let me know so I can post it here.

Great ESL book

I'm going to a meeting on Friday where we're going to find out what the city-wide ESL books are going to be. Whoever the winning publisher is, they're going to be very happy because thousands of their books will be used throughout Chicago.

So far, I've been using the third level of English in Action, which is perfect for the weekly class I've been teaching. It has different kinds of activities, a practical workbook, and helpful information that's not overwhelming.

I'm just mentioning it here because starting in January, we'll no longer use English in Action, and I want people to know that it's a great book that has made teaching a lot easier and more enjoyable. Even though I've used the same book for over a year, it seems like I'm teaching a different class each term.

So thank you English in Action, and Heinle, its publisher!

We would be fired

I watched a few episodes of House during a Saturday TV marathon, and now I think I'm going to watch more often. I think I only watched bits of the show before, where I was impressed with Hugh Laurie's American accent.

I know it's fiction, but I can't believe what Doctor House gets away with: he's often a jerk and breaks the rules, and he's not really suspended and certainly not fired. And if he's dragged to court, the hospital will pay his legal fees (his boss said they budgeted like 50k per year to defend him). He's only a doctor, not management, yet they're often willing to take care of him no matter what.

I think the real departure from reality was when a rich administrator wanted to give the hospital over 100 million dollars, but he wanted the House out of there as a condition, and he expected the Board to vote for his dismissal. But they eventually decided to keep the House instead of the 110 million dollars!

Seriously--what business or organization would give up over 100 million dollars for ONE person, especially a jerk who often gets in trouble, and is a legal risk?

Maybe that's why the show is popular--in real life, we'd be fired, and seeing him get rewarded for his intelligence and talent is escapism for us. Though of course, there are plenty of jerky people in workplaces everywhere who get special treatment because they know how to play the game or know how to bring in the bucks. But Doctor House gets rewarded for just being himself.

Original Japanese Speed Racer opening with English subtitles

The show was called "Mach Go Go Go" in Japan, but was called Speed Racer in the US. I didn't check the translation, so let's hope it's correct :D

Below is the introduction and close of the American Speed Racer show that I used to watch (the Japanese close is the same, except with no titles and they sing "Mach Go" instead of "Speed Racer").

I just eavesdropped on a Japanese conversation

I hear different languages every day, but I don't hear Japanese that much, even though I live near the Japanese Consulate and work near a Japanese company. Tonight I walked to the store, and heard a couple of women talking. I didn't zone in on what they were saying because sometimes I initially think people are speaking Japanese when they're really speaking Korean (I can tell the difference between the two languages btw, but I need to get accustomed to them when I hear them in a sea of English).

The two women were talking about areas of Chicago, and I was psyched! There weren't many people around, so I could try to figure out what they were saying. The problem was that I looked like a creep because I slowed my usual fast pace to hover within close proximity to their voices. At times I couldn't hear them, so I slowed down even more to the point where someone might think we were part of the same group. I wonder if they noticed that I was eavesdropping. Eventually they drifted away, and I couldn't hear everything they were saying due to wind and traffic. But at least I heard something.

What I could figure out was that the younger woman was either born in the US or had spent quite a bit of time here, because she would occasionally throw in teeny English phrases, but very briefly, as if it was natural for her to switch between the two languages. Plus, even though her accent was good, it wasn't as "native" as the older woman. Bottom line: that younger woman is lucky to be fluent in both (which I'm assuming she is).

Now I have to get in the habit of eavesdropping on my ESL students because they often speak Spanish and my Spanish at this point is quite lame, and I have plenty of chances to at least get my ear used to it and even practice once in a while.

It's hard to translate Japanese when I have other work too

I used to do mostly language stuff, so I'd divide my work by doing translating on certain days, interspersed with other work on the non-translating days. But lately I've been busy with radio (which is one of the reasons why it's hard to take language classes), and it's really hard to translate after reporting to work before dawn. Even though today is Labor Day, I had to be at work at 4, then had non-work obligations after that, took a nap, then started tackling Japanese. But the mind power that's required to translate Japanese is far more than what's needed for French or Spanish or Portuguese, so I'm still not done, and I have to go to bed soon. And my mind is definitely active from so much Japanese processing, but it feels maxed-out, and I think I'll have to swim or go for a walk before sleeping, otherwise I'll have kanji and complex syntax dreams.

Thus concludes my Labor Day Japanese Translating Report.

We all want a golden ticket

I've seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory many times (the original 1971 version, not the remake, which I've never seen), and even saw a special DVD with commentary and interviews with the stars, which I highly recommend. Well tonight I saw the movie for the umpteenth time, and realized that it's very popular because both kids and adults want a golden ticket--something really great that's given to them that leads to a better life. I think that's why we identify with Charlie: all of us may not be living in poverty, but we often want something to come along that that will improve our lives in a surprising way, especially for being a nice person, because it seems that sometimes it's the jerks who get ahead and achieve success.

Guess the accent

Mad Minerva told me about a game where you guess the accent from videos of people reciting a couple of lines from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If". You have to guess which county they're from, and of course the more points you get, the better accent-guesser you are. Good luck!

How can a non-English speaker say that native speakers don't speak correct English?

Someone told me that their European relative who came to visit the US said that many people didn't speak "correct" English. Sorry to say this, but that's a stupid comment from someone who has never lived in the US, and doesn't speak English as a first language. What's unbelievable is that the person who made that comment doesn't even speak English well, so how would they know that people don't speak English "correctly" here?

I think it's because they assume that if Americans don't speak like a textbook, then they're not speaking English "correctly". If they'd bother to spend a decent amount of time here, they'd notice the varieties of English and not hold people to their high, unrealistic standard. Most people don't speak like textbooks, no matter what language they speak.

I'd like to see that person interact with a wide variety of Americans, and see how the Americans would react. I doubt the Americans would walk away thinking, "That person speaks correct English."

John McEnroe freaking out with French subtitles

I found this when for some reason I wanted to know more about John McEnroe: a collection of his hissy fits with French subtitles and French explanations. I didn't know they cared about him so much :D

FOUR YEARS

I just realized that I've been posting stuff here for FOUR years. That's quite a long time for a baby blog such as mine. I'm just wondering why I haven't made the "blogs of note" list at Blogger if I've been around so long. And where's the book deal and interviews? Oh well, I'll continue toiling in obscurity....which is fine with me, because it seems like some quality people have visited this site!

So thanks for reading and there's more language fun to come! And nerdiness too!

It's over!

Here's some tragedy: I've just seen the LAST Inspector Lynley! I guess the Brits weren't into him anymore, so they didn't produce any more shows.

Yes, I'm bummed, even though I think I missed some along the way. But the bottom line is we won't see any more Inspector Lynley episodes! (Unless we want to watch reruns--but there will be nothing new!)

Got a blog book

I was in a bookstore looking at the front table with new releases, and saw a book that seemed to be an enjoyable read. As I was checking it out, I kept thinking that the writing style reminded me of well-written blogs, because it was breezy and friendly. So I got the book, and found out that it came from a blog by an anonymous waiter. So I was right: the writer was originally a blogger, and he'd attracted so many readers, the PIC (Publishing Industrial Complex) noticed. And he's probably making a very good living from something that started as a venting vehicle.

The uptight man

Someone just told me about a guy (I have to keep it vague lest they find out) who will over-analyze someone's speech. So for instance, if someone says, "Everyone took their books," the guy will get all wound up and point out that "everyone" doesn't match with "their."

Lighten up, dude. I can understand if someone writes comments about such grammar use, but to get uptight in a casual conversation? That's almost psychotic!

Interviews posted

One of the reasons I've sometimes lapsed in posting here (other than having an odd work schedule) is because I've been working on the anthology I'm putting together (which will be released later this month), and now there's been a new development: interviews with some of the authors! I've posted the audio at my site--check it out, and enjoy :D

Got rejected but got a book

This is different: I applied for a scholarship to a seminar (to attend the seminar for free instead of paying the big bucks), but I got rejected. I was sort of bummed, but I figured LIF (Life Isn't Fair) and moved on, even though I thought it was ironic that they wanted bloggers, and since I've had this blog for a while, they'd see I was legit. But I guess I'm not business-y enough for them.

Then yesterday, I received a book that was about the topic they were going to discuss, and basically they said thanks for applying, here's a book, feel free to review it on Amazon. So I started reading it and it's not bad, but I think I'm going to review it elsewhere online because it's easier to do that.

That was the first time that happened: getting rejected from something but getting a freebie for at least trying. So now I'm thinking that maybe life isn't so unfair after all :D

Didn't recognize Ethiopian

I screwed up today: I saw someone drinking a Coke with a non-English script on it (I think it's an Olympics-related series), and I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought it was Burmese, but the Coke's owner said it was Ethiopian. Which I should've recognized, because I did a post a while ago about how pretty Ethiopian was. I'm going to attribute that mind slippage to lack of sleep and a full plate of non-language things to do :D

Travel shows

Even though I love traveling (though I haven't been able to do it very much in recent years), I'm not a fan of travel shows. I'm interested in what they're talking about and want to discover new places, even if it's just via the TV, but what I find annoying is when the host does everything, to let us know, "Watch me--I'm having a great time!"

Yesterday I was watching something about Southeast Alaska, and I thought we were going to get different information and insight into the isolated life there. But we ended up getting images of the host introducing himself to the people, and in other scenes, he was struggling to drill holes and attempt difficult tasks. I'd much rather see information and images of the people in Alaska doing things, not the host bumbling through, giving us running commentary of his struggle.

Other shows will show the host swimming or taking crazy rides, exclaiming "I'm so scared!" or eating food, saying "This is delicious!" Well duh, it's supposed to be--I don't have to watch you eating it to understand that concept.

The "host having a good time in front of your eyes" structure must work, otherwise they wouldn't use such a gimmick in so many shows, on various stations. But it still doesn't make me want to watch.