Changes

As you can see, I've chosen a template that's more girly--I had the previous one for about a year. I've spent several hours going through Wordpress because I was thinking of switching to it. Even though I'm more familiar with it now, I've decided to stick with Blogger for the time being, because it's more of a no-brainer, and they've added convenient features that they didn't have last year.

Unfortunately, during the conversion, I lost comments that were made in Haloscan, but weirdly, I recouped the ones that were posted in Blogger a long time ago, which were lost when I activated Haloscan. So I'd like to apologize to the people who left comments with helpful info in Haloscan. I read all the comments, but alas, a latecomer to this blog will not be able to read them.

I think that Haloscan isn't as necessary as it once was--Blogger allows anyone to make comments, and I have the power of deletion, should any obnoxious person come through (which hasn't happened yet).

I've also done away with Blogrolling--it's not difficult to add links to other blogs in this template. I need to add some more to the list, since I have a lot of blogs bookmarked, but it's way past my bedtime to think too deeply about it.

So enjoy the revised, dolled-up style and see you later, when I'll have a relatively more intelligent post.

Gone

Last week, I complained that Stargate SG-1 was over because the quality of the program had taken a nosedive. Well, now I won't have to endure another episode because they've replaced the Sci-Fi Channel with the Golf Channel.

A totally unfair switch, don't you think?

Before I moved downtown, I never had cable because I didn't want to spend the money. Someone even accused me of being weird for not buying it, but it's important to prioritize when money doesn't grow on your trees. But when I moved downtown, cable was included in the assessment fees, so I've been enjoying it ever since.

Oh well. I guess I just have to finish those three books I'm simultaneously reading. And I have to recoup some brain cells. And get some sleep. At least I'm not in danger of missing any decent upcoming Stargate episodes, because I'm not sure there will be any. In a way, this is good timing. But it's still a cheap move.

Hypocrites

Green Day is coming to Chicago and everyone is so excited about it, I thought I'd put in my two cents.

That group always disparages the establishment, whether it's political, societal, or informational. Not a unique thing--how long have groups sung about their grievances? But what bugs me is that they have become super rich from their albums and tours singing these types of lyrics:

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alienation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.

Don't wanna be an American idiot.
One nation controlled by the media.

Aw, let's pity them. Or not.

If you walked down Michigan Avenue when their latest album was released, you would've seen a VERY LARGE sign that screamed that the album was at Virgin Records--it filled the entire window. Okay, we got the message. We will obey, walk into the store, and buy it.

If you've turned on the radio, you've heard them every few minutes. If you've looked at magazines, they've been on the covers. If you've turned on your television--that's right, the same television that they are whining about--they are there. They are everywhere. Doesn't this demonstrate their intense desire for others to follow them, to fork out big bucks so that they can become part of the elite that they consistently criticize?

The media that they are complaining about that wants to control everyone is the media that has catapulted them to fame and fortune. If they are so disgusted, why aren't they handing back all the money that they've made through their saturated media presence?

If they really wanted to practice what they preach and be true to the messages that they are bombarding the populice with (the very people who've given them their wealth and fame), then they should not pursue any marketing or PR because they are poisoning themselves with the evil that they are complaining about.

At least U2 is honest about what they're pursuing and how.

Post-Totalitarian Stress Disorder

I said yesterday that I would mention a phrase that Chrenkoff created: it's Post-Totalitarian Stress Disorder. Here's only a part of what he said about it (if you think this excerpt is long, it's not an atypical length for his posts):

But there is another aspect to the "culture matters" argument, one that does not get nearly enough attention. It has nothing to do with religion, ethnicity, or national character; it is the social and moral legacy of life under a dictatorship. Iraq, quite simply, like many other recently liberated societies around the world continues to suffer from a Post-Totalitarian Stress Disorder.

For the Westerners, the PTSD is a difficult condition to understand. We take so many things for granted - from comedians being able to joke about the President, to the assumption that the next government employee we encounter will not be expecting a bribe from us - that we are quite ill equipped to fully comprehend what life under a totalitarian system must really be like, much less what mental and spiritual legacy its victims have to labor under long after the statues of the Leader are pulled down.

We all "know" about the secret police knocking on the door at night, adulatory TV programs exalting the president-for-life, the pervasive corruption, queues and shortages, or the silly propaganda. Nothing, however, in our generally safe and comfortable existence would helps us understand just how pervasively difficult, destructive and dispiriting the experience of life under a totalitarian regime is. For most of us, life in Saddam's Iraq would have been no more real than the Middle Earth of the colonial New England. And failing to understand the condition itself, by extension we find it equally difficult to understand how the mental attitudes and habits of the past cannot be shaken off overnight but instead linger on, making the reconstruction and transition to normalcy such a difficult and painful process.

I speak from some experience here. While the late communist Poland and the Baathist Iraq were in many ways very different societies, shaped and constrained by different set of geographic, historical and cultural factors, there is a common denominator between all totalitarian societies the world over. Here are some bad habits that people consciously or otherwise pick up to help them fit in better and survive under a dictatorship, but which prove quite troublesome and counter-productive once the shackles finally fall off:

Distrust of the state and the authorities - the state is the enemy and the oppressor; you collaborate to the extent it is necessary to survive, no more. You don't owe it any loyalty and are quite happy to try to sabotage it in every little way you can - by breaking minor laws, petty embezzlement, cheating, dishonesty, lies, passivity or indifference.

A prison mentality - you might hate the state, but you still have an expectation that the hand you cannot bite will provide for you; feed you, clothe you, give you shelter and a job. Since the state has crowded out most, if not all, of the private sphere, logically only the state is able to provide for one's needs - you're quite literally at the mercy of a monopoly.

Lack of initiative and abdication of personal responsibility - as the state is seemingly omnipresent and omnipotent and the area of your personal sovereignty heavily circumscribed, this state of affairs breeds resignation, fatalism and passivity. Why would you bother to try to do anything if you can't achieve much? How can you really take responsibility for your condition if you're just a powerless puppet at the mercy of the Leviathan? And so you wait for things happen to you, as they always do, instead of trying to make your own fate. The system simply doesn't provide any incentives to think and act otherwise - initiative is not rewarded and can even land you in trouble, working hard brings in no more benefits than working little; effort and imagination more often than not hit the wall of limited practical possibilities.

Distrust of others - it's not just the state; you don't trust your fellow citizens too - at worst they might be spying on you for the authorities, at best they are competing with you for scarce resources. Either way, they're out to screw you over. So you only look after your own.

Circumstances change; and when they do, they usually change much faster than our habits. Closed economy may become a free market, dictatorship a democracy, theocracy a liberal society, but our mental adjustment to new realities lags behind.

Not only is this essay very interesting and insightful, but it's been written by someone who emigrated to Australia when he was a teenager. Even native English speakers can't write this well!

Still bummed

I thought I'd get over it, but I'm still bummed that Chrenkoff won't be blogging anymore. Here's part of what he said about it:

...in the end, the decision - difficult as it was - came down to a simple choice: should I continue to stay indefinitely in the same job (which I enjoyed, but where I was standing still professionally) just because it allowed me flexibility to write outside of it, or should I try to move up professionally, even if it means having to give up my passion. Sadly, the passion didn't look like translating itself into a decently paying full time career, and so the majority view among the friends whom I asked for advice was that I should choose the "sensible" rather than the "romantic" course of action.

It's sad that in spite of being an excellent writer, he has to give it up--he can't follow his passion. Actually, he could, if he kept plugging away and networked and made important contacts who would help him get paid for doing it. I have no idea what kinds of efforts he made to be a professional writer, other than posting a plea at his site. But it seems "unfair" that he has to call it quits. The world would be perfect if we all got a chance to do what we're passionate about, or the opportunity and time to discover our passions.

At least Chrenkoff isn't yanking his fiction from the Metrofiction site. Hopefully he'll be able to get that published some day, too.

Subsequently, I'm going to post a phrase that Chrenkoff created, which includes his typical coherent explanation.

Viagra triangle

I can't seem to find the origin of this phrase "Viagra Triangle," but according to Richard Roeper: "The Viagra Triangle is a slice of the city bounded by Chicago Avenue, Rush, Maple and State. Take a look at a map and you'll see the area forms a little triangle, inside which you'll find a heavy concentration of bars and restaurants often populated by men of a certain age and income and women of a certain age and ambition. Sure, this is a generalization, but on any given night, you will see men in heavy jewelry getting into $100,000 sports cars with women who look like they've spent the entire day getting ready. And some of those men just might need to take the occasional little blue pill to help them keep up with some of those women."

As I walked through that area tonight, I thought about what he said as I saw those types of people, in addition to the 20-something dolled-up, under-fed women and their same-age group male counterparts. I think it's a magnet for bored suburbanites as well as the urban well-to-do.

Saw some people

The day started out hot and muggy, and I didn't get as much writing done as I wanted, but I ended up seeing a few folks.

First of all, when I was walking to the Art Institute of Chicago, I saw Chicago photoblogger Rachelle Bowden, who's also the editor of Chicagoist, which the media likes to describe as a blog.

It's a great site, but I would say it's more of an interactive online publication rather than a blog, because it's part of what I call the "Ist Franchise," started by New York-based Gothamist. They have articles at each of the city sites, written by a staff, and readers can make comments. But I wouldn't consider them blogs because I see blogs as independent entities created by one person or a team to provide a creative outlet and an opportunity to write for the world, free of the constraints and limitations (ie, lack of opportunities) of traditional media. I think that the initial reason for a blog is individual, free expression--"Writing Without Borders" or "WWB," as I call it.

Anyway, I saw Rachelle taking a picture of the Chicago River from the Michigan Avenue Bridge, near where the Trump Tower is being built, and I asked her, "Are you Rachelle, the blogger?" She said yes, and then we walked down Michigan Avenue, talking about New York and the thousands of hits she gets at Chicagoist. I was surprised that she wasn't weirded out that I talked to her, because I don't think it's common that readers approach her, or even recognize her. She's a nice person and I hope to see her again sometime.

Then this afternoon, I saw John Kass in front of the Tribune building (where he works), chatting with another media guy who I didn't recognize. Kass is the only media guy who is not afraid to criticize Mayor Daley, and has even written about his affiliation with the Mafia. You can read his columns at the Chicago Tribune site.

Kass is totally cool--he's on page two of the paper and is successful, but he is totally down-to-earth and humble. I would love to hang out with him sometime, but that's quite impossible, so I'll just continue to say hello. Actually, I have had a few five-minute conversations with him when he's taken cigarette breaks in front of the Tribune building, and he's always been nice enough to tolerate me. So if you've been wondering what he's like, he is cooler than you think.

Finally, when I went out to eat at Big Bowl on Ohio Street with the best teacher on the planet and the other students from the Japanese class I go to every week, I saw Steve Dahl. He's a Chicago radio guy who became even more famous for Disco Demolition 25 years ago, where he blew up thousands of disco records in Comiskey Park (where the White Sox play, now called Cellular Field).

I was surprised he was there, but when I got home, I read in his blog that he and his show staff were going to be there. They have "team dinners" at a Chicago restaurant once in a while, and the one I was at happened to be the place for their meeting tonight. Exciting. Well, not really, because I continued to speak "Japlish" (a Japanese-English mix) with the folks from the class, and Steve and the gang were on the other side. But who cares. The Mai Tai was tasty.

So what started out as a humdrum sweaty day ended up being not so bad.

Tips updated

Now that I have more time, I've finally created another American Culture Tip at the Metrolingua site.

If you're American, it will seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how people from other countries don't understand our seemingly low-context culture.

East coast terms

I love New England and New York City, and even though I don't live there, I appreciate the words they create.

One that I recently saw was "Kremlin on the Charles," which I first saw in a Mad Minerva post.

The term refers to Harvard University, as described by Richard Nixon (I discovered the term's origin here).

Another cool phrase that I just found out about was via a Michelle Malkin post (with a picture): Muffin Top: "that unsightly roll of flesh that spills over the waist of a pair of too-tight pants, like a muffin bursting out of the pan. "

I need to put my own creations out there. I have posted one of them at some other blogs, but I have to make sure that I was the first person to use it.

Whining terrorists

Check out this video of a terrorist complaining about subtitles. It's very funny, especially if you've ever wondered why they use subtitles when certain people speak English.

Update: If you don't see the video, you will not know that it is a joke--it's from a British comedy show.

LH is 3

Language Hat (or LanguageHat--don't know if it should be separated or not) is now three years old. A lot of bloggers don't even make it to one year, and if they do, they eventually give up because their readership isn't high.

I think LanguageHat has thousands of readers, which is incredibly impressive, considering it's not a simple-minded blog, nor does it cover a wide subject area. He always writes about language, and since he has so many readers, he receives a lot of interesting links and information--no need to scour the Internet every day.

I'm very impressed because he's making a noble cultural contribution without sacrificing quality or standards. And he gets all those readers, too, which says a lot about his visitors--there is a remnant of decent people out there.

If you want to get an idea of what kind of blog it is, check out one of his recent entries:

Now, isonomy is an English word (meaning 'equality of laws, or of people before the law'), as is attunement, but not so "apmonia"; where did Beckett get it? I googled, and on the first page of results found a Greek book page that included the title EPΩTIKH APMONIA [erotikí armonía]. The upper-case form of the Greek word αρμονία 'harmony' happens to look exactly like Latin-alphabet "apmonia"; Beckett had presumably noticed this at some point and made a note of it for future use.

Not simple, is it.

Well, congratulations and keep blogging! We need to be reminded of what can be achieved.

It's over

I just saw the latest episode of Stargate SG-1, and it's clear that this show is on its last legs.

First of all, they dumped a party slut character into the show, though she seems slightly more interesting than the airheaded collagen-injected twit on Enterprise, which was never a good show because it depended on the cheapest tripe around for so-called "stories." People watch sci-fi to be stimulated, not to have trash heaped upon them.

Stargate isn't garbage, but it's not what it was. First of all, Amanda Tapping has an "expected absence or lessened involvement in the new season's first several episodes, following the birth of her child -- though this has not been confirmed" (source) and Richard Dean Anderson doesn't want to stick around either because he has a "daughter who lives in L.A. and I need to be there. I need to be part of her life" (source). The team isn't together anymore, and the stargates aren't important since they've been getting into metaphysical fantasy-type stuff, so what's the point?

I went to the trusty Jump the Shark site and some people agreed that it's ending:

Looks like it's gonna be a textbook shark jump with Season 9. In the past season or two, we've lost Don Davis as the General Hammond character, Richard Dean Anderson's O'Neill becoming the general, only to leave a season later, Tea'lc growing hair, replacement characters, and--the bane of the "Star Trek" franchise--a hottie in inexplicably tight clothing...

...The plot is stupid, and the acting is bad for the first time in seven years. Daniel Jackson looks like a hippy, Amanda Tapping was not on the show, Judge has a minor part and the new General in the form of Beau Bridges is a wimp. We might also ask why the Sg-1 team drags around this Claudia Black person who is not even military. This has become stupid. The show is about a United States Air Force operation and is so non Military this season.

With so much bad culture to consume, we just might have to start doing something productive. ;)

Flashcards

I'm sure every person who's studied a language has used flashcards--either pre-made or homemade. They're especially handy if you're studying Chinese characters or Japanese characters--I probably have created over a hundred Japanese ones.

Someone sent me a link to a cute program for creating flashcards on your computer called Flash Card Viewer. The guy who created is funny:

I'm supposed to be learning Czech, see. I live in Prague, and it's only polite to speak the lingo. So I'm taking lessons and making progress, but there's so dang many words! To help myself review the vocab I wrote this little program and spent far more time than I should have tweaking the algorithm that prioritizes which words to show more often.
Flash Card Viewer's features include:

Adaptive prioritization focuses on words you are having difficulty with based on performance for the current session and over all sessions.

Words are grouped into levels, which can correspond to textbook chapters.

External library files allow easy sharing.

Easy to add and modify words.

I'm not learning Czech, and have no plans to unless through some weird circumstances I end up there. But I'm not even headed in that direction. So what I did was paste in some dang difficult Japanese words that I must learn before I die--at least until the Japanese Proficiency Test (yeah, I'm still studying for that, though I wonder if I'll pass).

Check it out--it's cool and free. And just ignore the Czech label.

What is wrong with Detroit?

A lot of people in Chicago, it seems, come from Michigan. Usually, if you ask someone where they're from, they'll say, "Detroit. Well, actually the suburbs." I've met one person who grew up in the actual city of Detroit, and it was a bad neighborhood. I guess anyone who cares about raising their kids in a decent area would never live in the city, so the suburbs have expanded.

Are there any normal neighborhoods in the city of Detroit? I'm sure there are a few--even in the 1970's, after the normal people left Chicago by the late 1960's, there were still a few neighborhoods that were decent, but anyone who cared about their kids would do anything to avoid raising them there. Now there are several quite decent neighborhoods, though the city of Chicago still has problems (of course).

I found an article via Black Informant about some of the wonderful people in Detroit:

The most vocal self-styled spokespersons have all but turned a blind eye to reality. Detroiters are increasingly poor, undereducated, unproductive and dependent under their watch. The unemployment rate in the city, unchanged even in good economic times, is more than twice the national average. Economic vitality is an alien concept. The city that I dearly love lags far behind other cities in the region in business opportunity and prosperity. Which leads me to the painful conclusion that the so-called strategy of demagogues who disparage and vilify job creators is fatally flawed and destructive...

...Cash-strapped Detroiters are forced to live with development inertia as common sense and common interests take a back seat to personal agendas.

Any challenges to the conventional wisdom are met with a stern rebuke. One recent example is when business and corporate leaders were accused of trying to dictate educational policy by advocating a continuation of school reforms. Community leaders launched a vicious assault against their intervention. Comparing them to the Klan was the least of the insults and admonitions.

I’m still dumbfounded over the treatment of Robert Thompson, the white philanthropist from Plymouth who wanted to contribute $200 million to new school construction. Thompson was rudely told by protectors of the status quo to essentially “go to hell.”

...Hostility and intolerance toward private-sector voices deprives Detroiters of the opportunity to explore and expand business formation, which is perhaps the single most critically important element needed for the creation of a truly revitalized city. This mindless, ill-informed approach — which is somehow being confused with the concept of black pride — is not in our collective interest and will ultimately be our undoing unless we wake up and smell the stench of the reality that surrounds us.

If I had to live in Detroit, I would live in the city--I love cities, (thus the word "Metro" in front of "lingua"), but I can't imagine a bunch of hysterical people not wanting improvement or work.

Working at home

I'm starting to hate working at home. I don't work at home all the time, but I'm not linked to a company either--I've been freelancing for a while, and even though I love my neighborhood, I dread waking up and walking to the dining room table to do work.

Today I had to teach outside the home and do research for an article, so that wasn't bad, but in the early morning I had to work on something else--at home. Sometimes I work in companies, but overall, I'm an orbiting individual in the universe.

There are people who long to work at home, but I never thought that way: there were so many opportunities and alternatives to what I was doing before, so I just followed them. But now it's getting old.

Back

I just got back from my trip, but I didn't see what Ambra did:

"...while sitting in the Montego Bay Airport, my sister and I watched in horror as a girl ate two consecutive boogers without so much as an ounce of shame. Ah to be young and not care who's watching. What is it about kids that makes them want to eat hardened phlegm? No one teaches them to do this. They certainly aren't emulating the behavior of their parents (most of the time). Is there some special sense common to 6-year-olds that automatically activates the booger appetite?"

POSTED--FINALLY!

Finally, the day has arrived: that massive 6000-word translation I did of the history of Kraftwerk has been posted where it should be: kraftwerk.technopop.com.br/data_history.php.

I finished it nine months ago--and it's just been born. It even includes hyperlinks to images. Check it out--it is the most extensive and comprehensive history of Kraftwerk on the Internet.

I think waiting for it to be posted was harder than doing it.

See ya

I'm going to Toronto for the weekend--there's the route we'll be driving. I have yet to put the Canadian sticker on my car, but it will be on there by launching time. I'm excited to go, though I'll be missing a swell block party in Wicker Park, which is going to be centered around a gallery. But Toronto should be fun--it's a great city.

Poor Brits

I feel bad for the Brits--not only do they have to deal with Islamofascists who want to destroy their lives and their free, civilized culture, but they still have to deal with the ever-growing group of Chavs.

I went to the Chav site that I've mentioned here before, and saw this t-shirt, which seems to sum it up:



You can buy the t-shirt at the site.

(I'm sorry to post swearing--I don't swear, and don't write it, either--but I thought the shirt is a good representation of the contempt that decent Brits have for these losers.)

About comments

Just a quick note before I go and try to slay the writing dragon: If you've made a comment here and it hasn't shown up, it's not because I've deleted it. Sometimes there's something wrong with the comments mechanism--even my comments haven't appeared when I've pressed the "post" button.

So feel free to comment here--and there's no need to write in correct English, either (in case the non-native English speaking readers want to post something).

I'll do a proper post later--right now I've got non-blog stuff to do.

Take vs. Do

A while ago, I emailed Nev (the Metrolingua British English Consultant) to let him know that I was taking German, since he lives in Germany and speaks German a lot better than me (ie, he's fluent, I can barely survive).

I thought what I'd written was clear, but Nev asked me this question: "When you say 'taking German' you mean you're learning it or do you mean you're teaching it?"

Was he serious? He's a native English speaker, from the country where English began, so he should know what "I am taking German" means. But then again, British English has differences, as I've pointed out before. Still, it seemed odd that such a simple sentence would be misunderstood.

So, because of his surprising ignorance of the English language (at least the American version), I asked him what they say in England when they take classes. He told me that they say, "I'm *doing* biology, history, French, etc...plus we'd usually say such and such a teacher is 'taking' that subject."

How can a teacher "take" a subject, unless they're taking a refresher course? But if I were to tell a Brit that a teacher was "taking" a computer course, they'd think I meant that the teacher is teaching computers. That sounds weird: "Professor Smith is taking biology." Sounds like Professor Smith needs some basic tutoring.

Taiwan-ignorant

I wanted to find out about Taiwanese democracy, so I went to The Taiwan Yearbook, which is from the Government Information Office. I first read about the Democratic Electoral System:

Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, Taiwan has moved rapidly toward full democracy. Elections for important posts in the government are held regularly, political parties have matured, and people actively participate in elections. The people of Taiwan now have greater control over affairs of state than ever before. The 2004 presidential election and the Peace Referendum represent the latest steps in more than a decade of Taiwan's democratic development.

Martial law? Obviously, I hardly know anything about that country because I didn't know that democracy is relatively new there. So now I've bookmarked the Taiwan history page and will read up on it.

I've been to several Asian countries, but I've never been to Taiwan. Still, it seems promising, and not just because they're free: They use "older" Chinese characters (with more strokes, not the simplified version), so it should be easier for me to get around since some of it resembles Japanese. Plus, I've been told that the older people can speak Japanese since it used to be a colony, so I could ask directions if my practically non-existent Mandarin fails.

But since I don't have a lot of time or money, I have to be more selective, and France is towards the top of my list--I've never been there. Taiwan may have to wait.

Brainlash

Yesterday my husband was driving, and I was in the passenger seat. He hit the brakes when an ambulance was coming in the opposite direction (since that's the law), and then an SUV plowed into the back of our car. The impact made my head go forward, and though it didn't hit anything, my entire head hurt. It was a total rush of pain.

The intense pain subsided, but the pain that remained was in the top of my head and behind my eyes. I went to the doctor in case it was the beginning of something more serious, and she told me that my brain was jarred and must've hit my skull. I didn't know a brain could move around like that--I thought it was more secure in there.

The doctor likened it to whiplash, except that it's in the head. Which made me think: I could call it "brainlash." So I went around yesterday telling people and myself that I had a version of brainlash, thinking that I was so clever and funny in the midst of a challenging situation.

Today I did a search to see if anyone else has used this word, and I found a Brainlash site, so the word is quite official:

BRAINLASH: (brain-lash) n., (coined word, 1993, from the brain and whiplash), a condition which may result from whiplash type actions to the brain in which tissue may be bruised or torn by the forces of the brain being whipped around inside the skull, i.e. injuries which result from a sudden stop or blow. This force throws the neck and brain into hyperflexion (forward thrusting) and then hyperextension (pulling or rebounding) and/or lateral rotation. The consequential action translates powerful forces to the brain, skull and skeletal system resulting in unnatural, potentially destructive contact between these structures and the surrounding connective soft tissue. In approximately two thirds of those affected, physical, emotional and thinking skills will return to baseline within an average of two weeks to three months. Many of the other third will take an average of a year to achieve the majority of improvements. However, a smaller proportion will sustain residual deficits which will be permanent. As mild brain injury and many of its symptoms are not readily observable to the lay person, Brainlash has been dubbed "The Unseen Injury."

So not only have I learned a new word, but see even more clearly that SUV's in the city is an insane concept.

What the...?

Last year, I said that I translated a history of Kraftwerk from Portuguese into English. I waited a while for it to be posted at the fan site in Brazil, and mentioned it again earlier this year. I was told that it would be posted soon, so I was excited--finally people would be able to read that history in English.

But then I discovered that part of my translation has already been posted at a German site, and I think they messed with the English. For instance, I'm American, so I know that it's called "the United States," not "United States" (sans "the"). And I believe the site has deleted some words, so the grammar seems screwy in some places.

Also, not only did they mistakenly say that I'm from "New York USA" (I'm from Chicago), but I didn't get a chance to proofread it again before it was posted online. Not a good situation for a language fan! So if you read that excerpt and see weird English, it's either the Germans' fault or it's mine because I didn't give it a final read-through.

Which is a lesson: do not send anything to anyone until you're sure it's absolutely perfect, because you never know who will get it (and post and/or publish it) before it's been properly finalized.

By the way, it's called "Kraftwerk--An Electronic Epic."

Jews rock

I saw a link to Jewsrock.org, which is "a non-profit group devoted to illuminating the intersection of rock and roll and Jewish culture. We've heard a lot about what the Jews have contributed to science, literature, the fine arts--all the high brow stuff. Well, we're going low. Today, we’re a website, filled with original essays, photographs, trivia, lyrics, Q & As, and, if you haven’t noticed it already, a Jewish rock quiz."

The site is entertaining and well-designed, and it even has a Challah Fame. But an interesting aspect of the site is the list of stage names that Jewish performers have adopted:

Perry Bernstein: Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction/Porno for Pyros)

Harold Belsky: Hal Blaine (session drummer for the Beach Boys)

David Blatt: Jay Black (Jay and the Americans)

Richard Blum: Handsome Dick Manitoba (Dictators)

Michael Bolotin: Michael Bolton

Leonard Borisoff: Len Barry

Marty Buchwald: Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane/Starship)

Ellen Cohen: Mama Cass Elliot

Lee Drucker: Lee Rocker (Stray Cats)

Stanley Eisen: Paul Stanley (KISS)

Don Fagenson: Don Was (Was/Not Was)

Marc Feld: Marc Bolan (T-Rex)

John French-Segall: Jay Jay French (Twisted Sister)

Ross Friedman: Ross the Boss (Dictators)

Harvey Goldstein: Harvey Brooks (session musician, played on Bitches Brew)

Kenny Gorelick: Kenny G

Susan Gottleib: Susan Phranc

Peter Greenbaum: Peter Baum (Fleetwood Mac)

Chris Gross: Chris Barron (Spin Doctors)

Love Michelle Harrison: Courtney Love

Belo Horizonte: Igor Cavalera (Sepultra)

Jeffrey Hyman: Joey Ramone (Ramones)

Herbert Khaury: Tiny Tim

Concetta Kirshner: Princess Superstar

Carole Klein: Carole King

Annette Kleinbard: Carol Connors (the Teddy Bears)

Phoebe Laub: Phoebe Snow

Lee Oskar Levitin: Lee Oskar (War)

Steven Barry Lipkin: Steve Barri (songwriter)

Michael Lookofsky: Michael Brown (the Left Banke)

Manfred Lubowitz: Manfred Mann

Lester Meyers: Richard Hell (Richard Hell and the Voidoids)

Steve Mizrahi: Sylvain Sylvain

Alecia Moore: Pink

Michael Pasternak: Emperor Rosko

Barry Pincus: Barry Manilow

Lou Rabinowitz: Lou Reed

David Bryan Rashbaum: David Bryan (Bon Jovi)

Robert Rifkin: Bobby Z (Prince)

Scott Rosenfeld: Scott Ian (Anthrax)

Richard Salkowitz: Magic Dick (J. Geils Band)

Neil Seduka: Neil Sedaka

Buddy Blue Seigal: Buddy Blue Seigal (Beat Farmers)

Elliott Steinberg: Elliott Easton (the Cars)

Kevin Wasserman: Noodles (Offspring)

Gary Lee Weinrib: Geddy Lee (Rush)

Chaim Witz: Gene Simmons (KISS)

Randy Wolfe: Randy California (Spirit)

Leslie Wonderman: Taylor Dayne

Robert Zimmerman: Bob Dylan

The site would be a good resource for trivia games. I just hope wackos don't use it for anti-semitic propaganda.

Nev on bombing

I asked Nev (the Metrolingua British English Consultant) to offer his comments about what happened in his native land (he's a Brit living in Germany), and here's what he had to say:

It's barbarism of the first order to kill people who are just people travelling on public transport, and these terrorists compound the heinousness of their deeds by claiming they do them in the name of religion. No religion worthy of the name could condone these actions, and ultimately it is not one faith or another at fault but a misguided individual who pulls the trigger each time. I pity them. The suicide bombers think they are honouring their families and their caste and their religion, "martyrs" who destroy the lives of their fellow humans through murder and bereavement. I can still pity them for their stupidity and gullibilty, still human traits. But those I cannot pity are those who cynically plan these events and wait for the news to break in the media, and then write on the internet that their followers should rejoice. They are not human, these planners. Seemingly their wish is to bring us all into a new darker age where there is no culture but discipliine, nothing holy but control, and no joy, only cruelty.

Note the British English he uses: public transport (not transportation), honouring (not honoring). Word usage and accents and style are things I can't help but notice, even when awful things happen.

With the Brits

Not nice

Today my husband, who is the nicest guy and quite possibly the nicest human ever, was, ironically, looking up the word "nice" in an Online Etymology Dictionary.

Opposite to what we think, "nice" actually had a negative meaning: "Middle English, foolish, from Old French, from Latin nescius, ignorant, from nescre, to be ignorant."

Here's the etymology of that schizophrenic word:

c.1290, "foolish, stupid, senseless," from O.Fr. nice "silly, foolish," from L. nescius "ignorant," lit. "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (see un-) + stem of scire "to know." "The sense development has been extraordinary, even for an adj." [Weekley] -- from "timid" (pre-1300); to "fussy, fastidious" (c.1380); to "dainty, delicate" (c.1405); to "precise, careful" (1500s, preserved in such terms as a nice distinction and nice and early); to "agreeable, delightful" (1769); to "kind, thoughtful" (1830). In 16c.-17c. it is often difficult to determine exactly what is meant when a writer uses this word. By 1926, it was pronounced "too great a favorite with the ladies, who have charmed out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere diffuser of vague and mild agreeableness." [Fowler]

"I am sure," cried Catherine, "I did not mean to say anything wrong; but it is a nice book, and why should I not call it so?" "Very true," said Henry, "and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk; and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! It does for everything." [Jane Austen, "Northanger Abbey"]

So the next time you say that someone or something is nice, be careful.

NYC aristocracy

Okay, I'm finally following up on my impressions of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young. I read this book and did a quick post about it back in winter, when my world seemed dim. There's something about Chicago winters, an uneventful work life, and bland social life that create a dismal mix. So I somehow could relate to his book, even though it was about his life in New York while he was at Vanity Fair.

I followed up in spring with a post that included an excerpt from the book, and said that I would post another excerpt. But then I got really busy with work and distracted by other postworthy stuff. So now that the summer is here, I might as well post another excerpt. Even though I'm in a different frame of mind and it's been a while since I've read that book, I still highly recommend it. So if you haven't read it, you should.

Toby Young found himself in the thick of the snobby New York City scene, to the point of yearning for the class system in England. This is what he said about how New Yorkers judged him when he failed:

The various setbacks I suffered at the end of 1997 brought home to me the extent to which New Yorkers judge you according to how well or badly you're doing. When I'd first arrived and people had asked me what I did at parties, a noticeable change would come over them when I said I worked at Vanity Fair. They'd stop looking over my shoulder for a second and give me the once over. Occasionally, they'd even talk to me. Evidently, I was someone worth knowing. However, after I was taken off the masthead I vanished from the radar screen. Neither rich, successful, good looking, nor well connected, I wasn't worth bothering with. No sooner had the words "I'm just a freelance hack" come out of my mouth than the person I was talking to was hastily backing away, wondering how they could politely ask for their business card back. It was a sobering experience. I'd assumed that people liked me for who I was, not what I did, but in Manhattan you are what you do.

And this is how New Yorkers judge each other (according to him):

Why do New Yorkers attach such importance to the state of your career? To a certain extent, they define each other according to the usual demographic categories--gender, ethnic origin, religious background, etc.--but these things pale into insignificance beside the jobs they do. It's as if there are no alternative sources of identity. In particular, they don't define people according to what class they belong to.

Basically, he says, they don't go beyond what you do, and if you can't help them and aren't well-connected or important, "you might as well not exist."

Sounds like a wonderful way to live (not). I wonder how many snobs like that get their come-uppance.

Why we celebrate

A while ago, when I was in the midst of an awful teaching experience, I was talking about Independence Day, and the students had no idea why we celebrate it. Those ignorant students (who were about to enter college) weren't immigrants, but were born in the U.S., and their ancestors had come over at least one hundred years before. I guess the students had been brainwashed in the schools for so many years that they had avoided the history they should know. So, to prevent further ignorance, I'm posting the text of the Declaration of Independence--the reason why Independence Day is celebrated every year on the Fourth of July.

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

56 signatures appear on the bottom of the document.

Recently, I was talking to a European, who was surprised that Americans don't think of themselves in terms of a "people" or ethnic group. How could we? There are different ethnicities in this country. What matters is that Americans want to be and remain free, and of course, there are different opinions about what freedom means. The great thing is that we have the freedom in this country to discuss it, protest over it, complain about it, vote over it. Many countries in the world do not have that luxury.

The United States is the first country to be founded on a creed, not an ethnicity. This is what our President said:

Unlike any other country, America came into the world with a message for mankind -- that all are created equal, and all are meant to be free. There is no America race; there's only an American creed: We believe in the dignity and rights of every person. We believe in equal justice, limited government, and in the rule of law. We believe in personal responsibility, and tolerance toward others.

Of course, reality doesn't always measure up to the ideals, but at least they exist, and this nation is a work in progress.

Happy Canada Day

Jordan announced that today is Canada Day:

It celebrates the creation of the Dominion of Canada through the British North America Act 1867, which came into effect on July 1, 1867, uniting three British territories — the Province of Canada (southern Ontario and southern Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick — into a federation.

The holiday itself was formally established in 1879 and was originally called Dominion Day, making reference to the Canadian-originated term 'dominion' to describe the political union, at a time when the Fathers of Confederation were hesitant to use a name such as the Kingdom of Canada. The name was changed to Canada Day on October 27, 1982.

I didn't know about this holiday until today. And since I'm going to Toronto in a few weeks, I guess July is going to be Canada month for me. Maybe I'll put that Canadian sticker on my car, to show solidarity with our great neighbor to the north.

Translating like neurosurgery?

I found some interesting information at a site that answered some questions about translating.

They say that "Turning out a good translation is an extremely labor-intensive task..." That is definitely true, especially when translating Japanese (or other Asian languages, I'm sure) because the sentence structure, vocabulary, and way of thinking is very different than the European languages, so there's more effort required to put it into smooth English.

However, I'm not too sure if the following is also true:

...there are too many wannabe translators who have taken a few language courses and are misled to believe that they can just start translating and boom!, like magic, they're a translator and can translate, say, legal contracts. That's like someone trying to practice neurosurgery on a brain tumor patient after he/she has attended a couple of premed courses and read a few textbooks, but has no license to practice, has not passed the board examinations, and worse, has not acquired the experience and specialization needed to truly help the patient and do a sufficient job. He/she could go ahead and perform the surgery, but not without harming or killing the patient due to a lack of specialization and experience, not to mention getting sued for practicing without a license or credentials. It's the same way with professional translation - or at least it ought to be.

So, basically, if people submit bad translations, it might kill the client. Wow. I didn't know it could have that effect. Maybe translators should buy malpractice insurance.

Platt

I was "chatting" with Nev (the Metrolingua British English Consultant), and he mentioned that in Friesland, where he lives, they speak Platt, which is Low German:

Low German (also called Netherlandic or Plattdeutsch) gets its name from the geographic fact that the land is low (nether, nieder; flat, platt). It extends from the Dutch border eastward to the former German territories of Eastern Pommerania and East Prussia. It is divided into many variations including: Northern Lower Saxon, Westphalian, Eastphalian, Brandenburgian, East Pommeranian, Mecklenburgian, etc. This dialect often more closely resembles English (to which it is related) than standard German.

He said it's a mixture of Dutch, German, and English, which means we should have a much easier time trying to decipher what the people are saying. Which means that maybe German isn't so scary after all.

Incredible

I said last week that I was going to go to an art installation by Luftwerk. Since I've met the artists before, I figured it would be pretty good because they're decent people. But I had no idea how elegant, beautiful, and refined the installation would be.

I was so affected by the work when I saw it on Friday, I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I went back yesterday. Todd Carter added some sounds to complement the piece, and I was still as entranced as when I first saw it, especially since the experience was enhanced with the sounds.

Usually, I'm not so affected by contemporary art, but Luftwerk really achieved the sublime, even though the technology was modern and, at first glance, cold.

It had the same effect on me as an exhibition I saw about the Medici family at the Art Institute of Chicago a couple of years ago. I went back to that exhibit three times because I was so struck by the excellence and beauty of what the artists had created.

I think that when art transcends the grit of daily life, and artists care to be conscientious about maintaining integrity in what they produce, it can be very inspiring and edifying.

American-British English dictionaries

I was doing a search for a British term, and came upon a simple yet informative American-British dictionary. Those Brits certainly can make simple things complicated, like "Band Aid," which is "Elastoplast" in their land. They make it sound like some futuristic device.

They also know how to be quaint: we commoner Americans say "garbage truck," but they get all cutsy on us and say "dustmen's lorry." Fancy, too: our "zucchini" is their "courgettes." And I thought they weren't too keen on the French.

Another more extensive Brit-American dictionary can be found at a Scottish dude's site. It's hard to figure out what his profession is, though he's got a lot of pics and other stuff over there.

But the important thing is that he created the massive dictionary. He says:

As a Scot who has spent some time in the USA on holiday lately, I have discovered a bewildering array of words which are in common use on our side of the pond and invariably mean nothing at all or something exceedingly rude on the other side. I once noted down about fifteen of them and that afternoon formulated them into this dictionary. Since then the dictionary has thrived (well, lived) on contributions from readers and is steadily growing into a decent reference.

Over 800 people have helped him out with the dictionary.

Breaking news: I sent Nev (the Metrolingua British English Consultant) the link to the first dictionary I mentioned, and he said:

The only issue I know with dictionaries ever is that they've all got far too many words in them, and it's never possible using them to know what people actually say.

I've never heard anyone, for example, in Britain, ever describe a plaster as an elastoplast. Sure, there's a brandname, but it isn't a household name like "Band Aid" is. I think lists of equivalent words are interesting, but my language theory is that learning any new language is 20% listening and 80% using hands and feet to describe what you mean. I can't imagine a situation where it would ever really be necessary to know both the American and British equivalents just to get by in English.

Good to know that he could send a swift reply in spite of the time difference. Now if only he'd come to the U.S., to see how we really talk.

Thai-Japanese dictionary

This is very exciting, even though I don't know any Thai (in spite of going to Thailand at least a few times): a Thai-Japanese/Japanese-Thai online dictionary called Saikam, which is "the first online Thai-Japanese/Japanese-Thai dictionary development project initiated by The Association of Thai Professionals in Japan (ATPIJ) and became a research project at the National Institute of Informatics (NII) in 1999. Saikam has a unique feature which allows both users and developers to access the database across the Internet. Dictionary data can be accessed and updated at the same time."

But wait, there's something there for us non-Thai speakers: a kanji dictionary. And get this--you don’t have to type in hiragana to get the kanji; you can type in the romaji reading for a character, the stroke count, and frequency, and it will give you a selection of corresponding kanji! And it will also give you compounds. This is really helpful if you need to look up something but don’t have the ability to type out hiragana (as seems to be the case on PC's).

They also have a full kanji list. Just click on any kanji to get the reading.

It seems like they're hoping to have both English and Thai translations of the compounds, so if you want to provide English translations and have time to kill, you can contact the admins of the site.

I'm going

This is a heads-up for anyone in the Chicago area. I got an invite to a multimedia installation, and I'm planning to go. More info about the artists can be found at the Luftwerk site.

Name: Convergence
When: June 24, 25, 26 7-10 pm
Where: Open-End, 2000 W. Fulton #310

Update: I just viewed this post on a PC, and it's screwed up the formatting of the entire blog, so I removed the invite (which had a picture and interesting fonts). That's why I've just typed out the info about the exhibit above.

Great day

I met some friendly writers today. Someone told me about J.A. Konrath's book release party, and I decided to drive all the way up to Schaumburg to check it out. This is part of what the invite says (which can be found at his website):

"Plenty of books will be available...there will be beer and appetizers on my dime, and afterwards everyone is invited back to my place for some serious partying."

Note that he said "on my dime." It was all-you-could-drink beer and food that was plentiful. How many authors would throw a party for their readers? And we really were invited to his place, so I went there, to further explore northwest suburban life.

I had a great time, and I also got to meet some authors who were nice and fun to talk to:
Thomas J. Keevers, Robert W. Walker, Raymond Benson, and Tim Broderick, who's done a graphic novel and has some work at Modern Tales.

The funny thing is, I'm not really into mysteries, thrillers, or gore, but I was surrounded by those types of writers. But I'll take a non-snobby writer who writes in a different genre to a snobby one any day.

Propaganda

I just found out that my article about propaganda has been posted at Wisegeek. Here's the beginning of what I wrote:

"Propaganda is the manipulation of ideas, images, and symbols to persuade a large group of people to think a certain way. The goal of propaganda is to prevent people from questioning the message or from thinking critically outside the perameters of the message so that the message is considered an unchallangeable truth."

You can read the rest of the article there, in addition to a couple other articles I wrote about corporate gift baskets and custom orthodics.

Okay, they aren't the most exciting topics in the world, but another article I did that's more interesting was actually a part of helping someone else out, so I can't post it.

Stay away

Klingon

Klingons are the only alien group on Startrek that has their own language, and I found an online Klingon Dictionary. It's real--just type in the English word you want translated, and voila--you're on your way to speaking fluent Klingon.

You can also read about the Klingon Discrepancy Theories. Which means that if you learn enough Klingon, you'll be able to discuss this important matter with the Klingons in their own language. It's not just cross-cultural, it's cross-galaxial.

Similar?

I was at the Printers Row Book Fair today and saw Studs Terkel speak. He was praising various people, including Garrison Keeler, who hosts Prairie Home Companion. Which made me want to post this, since it hasn't occurred to anyone else, it seems: I think Prairie Home Companion seems like a rip off of the play Our Town, which basically features a vaunter (ie, blowhard) talking about insignificant things in a small town. When I've mentioned this comparison to other people, they either didn't see what I was talking about, or it had never occurred to them before. So we'll see if this idea takes off.

Free

I was just thinking about marketing and public relations, since I sometimes work on those types of projects and hear different kinds of conversations about it going on around me, especially when I'm in a cafe.

There aren't many books that every type of person will buy, unless it's fiction that appeals to a wide variety of people and has characters that represent different backgrounds and genders. If it's non-fiction, perhaps a celebrity will cast a large net over potential readers, but in other cases, there aren't many non-fiction books that can be huge sellers in a large market.

I love buying and reading foreign-language books (in addition to magazines). A popular publisher among people who are studying Japanese is ALC. The most recent book I bought was どんな時どう使う日本語表現文型500 [Donna toki dou tsukau nihongo hyogen bunkei] or 500 Essential Japanese Expressions (the English subtitle), which was published by them. And they seem to have a corner on the Japanese Language Proficiency Test market, since they used to publish the Nihongo Journal and have released even more books on learning Japanese since quitting the magazine. But what also helps their marketing is their site that has excellent dictionaries and other help, including audio files.

They don't have to do that--they can just publish their books and relax. But it's that extra service that they provide that makes people like me appreciate them, which helps when I'm deciding on a Japanese book to buy.

I think a cool concept is offering a free book or mini-book online. Seth Godin posted a free e-book online while it was also available in print. Incredibly, he sold tens of thousands of copies of that book, Unleashing the Idea Virus, as a result (now it's only being sold). Even though the free book isn't at his site anymore, you can get it at a music promotion site and get other free books there as well. His book wasn't about music, and neither are some of the others, but those look helpful for any kind of marketing.

Offering a book for free is a good idea, I think, especially if someone has a "following" and/or a big media presence.

On again

A lot has been happening lately--it could be the great weather we're having in Da Windy City or it could just be life proceeding on an upward trajectory.

First, I'd like to briefly talk about the Kraftwerk show I saw this past weekend. It was great, and I found a positive review in the Chicago Tribune, while the New York times panned it. I have a lot more to say about the Times' reaction, but basically, they just don't get it. New York is the cultural capital of the U.S., yet the Kraftwerk concept of Man-Machine and the band's visual and musical expression of that concept was perhaps too abstract for the reviewer to grasp, probably because he was expecting a group that glorifies itself through superstar maneuvers and extreme effects. Kraftwerk has revolutionized music and they are unapologetically themselves--quite German, quite restrained. Too bad an American reviewer is imposing the "bigger is better" stereotypical perception. I'll have more to say about it later.

The morning after the concert, I stopped by Rick Kogan's show again, where I've been before, and ended up expressing my opinions on the air about the creative writing scene in Chicago, and offered some "critiques" of poetry by Charlie Rossiter and Al DeGenova. It was fun, and those guys are cool. They're going to be performing at the Blues Fest this week.

French is waiting, but I'll have more to say later.

More about Chav

Chav is such an interesting concept (which I posted about before), that I let Language Hat know about the Chav site, and he pointed me to another site that further describes the word:

The Burgeoning Chav Nickname List

Chavvy(s) - alternative
Chavies - alternative spelling
Charver - London
Ned - Scotland
Spide - Ireland
Townie- alternative to Chav
Kevs - in the Midlands (thanks to wertperch)
Shaz - a female Chav (thanks to a scar faery)
Scallies or Scally- Liverpool (been around for a long time)
Ratboy - popularised in Viz comic
Kappa Slapper - Viz comic

(The rest are all nicked from chavscum.co.uk)

Steeks
Bazzas
Yarcos
Skangers
Scutters - erm... Red Dwarf?
Janners
Stigs
Hood Rats
Trevs - East Grinstead (thanks to Helen4Morrissey)
Scranners - Sheffield - (Helen4Morrissey again)

The origin of the word seems to have lots of possible sources. Now that British journalists have just recently discovered the word, all the papers seem to have an opinion as to its origin and are proudly announcing it as the word of the year. Hmm. One dumb hack wrote that it was a contraction of 'Chatham average', Chatham being a town in Kent, but this is certainly wrong. Another dubious source is an acronym derived from 'Council House Violent'. For decades, Chav was a traditional phrase used by Londoners 'she dropped a Chav' was used to mean 'gave birth'. In this context, 'Chavs' are simply 'kids' apparently deriving from 'Chavi' a Romany word meaning 'boy'. So we have an etymological contender that fits the bill...but used by caravan gippos.

Chav

I met a Brit recently, with whom I was discussing what is considered as "trashy" culture and behavior in the U.S. He then told me about the British version of that concept, which is "Chav."

There's a popular site in the UK called ChavScum, which is "A user’s guide to Britain’s new ruling class." It welcomes the visitor by saying: "Chavs, Neds, Townies, Kevs, Charvers, Steeks, Spides, Bazzas, Yarcos, Ratboys, Kappa Slappers, Skangers, Scutters, Janners, Stigs, Scallies, Hood Rats, whatever you know them as, this site is about them, Britain’s peasant underclass that are taking over our towns and cities!"

They teach you How to spot a Chav: "Now what makes the Chavs' attire so funny is that they think they are at the cutting edge of fashion and that by adorning their body with hunks of worthless 9ct gold crap they look rich! In reality what they do look like are a bunch of...pikeys!" I don't know what a "pikey" is, by the way, but I'd guess it means "idiot" or "dope."

They also list Celebrity Chavs: "Have you heard the phrase, 'you'll never go broke appealing to the lowest common denominator'? This is why a lot of celebrities try and appeal to the Chav population and to that they naturally act like rich Chavs would! There are a core of entertainers who were Chavs before they became famous and have stayed dirty filthy Chavs."

If you're British, then this is probably old news. But if you're not, you should check out the site--it's hilarious and informative, and would make a good addition to your ever-growing international English vocabulary.

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day in the U.S., which is why things seem slow in the online world, and why people are taking a day off from work and school. Here's some info about it:

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers...By the late 1800s, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day and, after World War I, observances also began to honor those who had died in all of America's wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. (Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor all veterans, living and dead, is celebrated each year on November 11.)...Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Also, it is customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Which reminds me: I'm still working on the American Culture tips I promised a while ago, so when they're finished, I'll alert the masses when the site is updated.

Busy with Spanish

It's a common thing to say in the U.S.: "I'm busy." You'll often hear it. Here's a typical conversation on the street:

"Hey Joe, I haven't seen you in a while. How are you doing?"
"Busy."

I was talking to a freelance illustrator tonight as we were walking out of an office building, and he was telling me about the storyboards he creates for commercials.

"Sounds interesting," I said.
"And I'm so busy," he said.

At least it's better than not having any work.

During my current busy-ness, I came upon some interesting sites. One was announced late last night on WGN: a tiny press called Caffeine Society. They like to talk about cafes in haikus.

I also stumbled upon a site by an American expat in Mexico, who's assembled his own dictionary of Mexican Spanish that covers car parts. He says: "This lexicon was put together with the help of my mechanic friends here in Lerdo, Durango; thus it reflects common usage in north-central Mexico." It seems handy, especially if you've been stumped by that region's vocabulary.

And if you need further help with Spanish, there's a British site that seems to focus more on the Spain variety, but it's still helpful.

Honored

I just got word from Nev, who said he feels "honoured" to be the Metrolingua British English Consultant. If only we could work on his spelling. In the meantime, we're going to read some more of his British-English comments, but right now, I have too much work to finish.

Brit revealed

Here at Metrolingua, I've featured the use of British English and have mentioned a German-speaking Brit. Well, I've been given permission to reveal his identity: John Nevin, or Nev, as I call him. I "met" him at a couple of Rush sites, and he's become an online "friend." Maybe one century I'll meet him, if I ever get back to Germany.

If you don't know who I'm talking about, perhaps you've read the posts that feature him, such as his opinion about Spinal Tap's accent, his thoughts on Denglish, and his British English-revealing posts, such as his comments about a Rush show, and his use of the word "busking," which became a Metrolingua quiz.

So, because of his ongoing contributions, I've decided to make him the Metrolingua British English consultant. Except he doesn't know yet. So I better email him.

True

Someone handed me the book, An End to Evil, and told me to read the following passage, probably because I often say that if people are treated like animals, they're going to behave like them, especially when they have nothing else to do:

Take a vast area of the earth’s surface, inhabited by people who remember a great history. Enrich them enough that they can afford satellite television and Internet connections, so that they can see what life is like across the Mediterranean or across the Atlantic. Then sentence them to live in choking, miserable, polluted cities ruled by corrupt, incompetent officials. Entangle them in regulations and controls so that nobody can ever make much of a living except by paying off some crooked official. Subordinate them to elites who have suddenly become incalculably wealthy from shady dealings involving petroleum resources that supposedly belong to all. Tax them for the benefit of governments that provide nothing in return except military establishments that lose every war they fight: not roads, not clinics, not clean water, not street lighting. Reduce their living standards year after year for two decades. Deny them any forum or institution—not a parliament, not even a city council—where they may freely discuss their grievances. Kill, jail, corrupt, or drive into exile every political figure, artist, or intellectual who could articulate a modern alternative to bureaucratic tyranny. Neglect, close, or simply fail to create an effective school system—so that the minds of the next generation are formed entirely by clerics whose own minds contain nothing but medieval theology and a smattering of third world nationalist self-pity. Combine all this, and what else would one expect to create but an enraged populace ready to transmute all the frustrations in its frustrating daily life into a fanatical hatred of everything "un-Islamic."

The italics are from the authors--David Frum and Richard Perle.

English quiz

Do you know what he's talking about?

"I can't imagine how America gets along without the word 'busking.' What a strange world it is. All I had to do to busk in New Zealand was go into the shop I busked in front of and ask them if busking would be all right. Fairly regular verb, useless if you don't know what I'm talking about though!"

The answer is forthcoming (after my Japanese and French studies). Just wanted to challenge all you readers with this mini-quiz.

Answer: street performing. In other words, playing an instrument or singing outside on the sidewalk.

No big deal

It's interesting to see people's reactions when I tell them that I can speak (and read some) Japanese. When I was working at Art Chicago, I met someone who speaks Russian, Lithuanian, and English, and is planning on learning French. I ran into her the other day, and when I gave her my card, she said incredulously, "You speak Japanese? I didn't know that." I don't tell people unless we're talking about language, or if they ask me what I do. Translating is only part of my life, but I've noticed that Japanese gets a lot of mileage.

For instance, French people are known for not being psyched about Americans, for various reasons. When I met a couple of French people at Art Chicago, they spoke some French to me, and when it was clear that my French wasn't even close to decent, I told them, "mais je parle japonais." Well, their faces lit up. We continued speaking in French, and while I showed an obvious linguistic struggle, one of them was so impressed with the Japanese thing, that it pretty much excused me from the butchering of their language. So I've learned my lesson: if I do get to France some day, I'll speak badly, and will tell them that I'm sorry, but I speak Japanese. That should pardon me from some American sins.

Japanese also seems to cancel out multilingual European-language speakers. Like the woman I mentioned earlier: she speaks three languages fluently, yet she's impressed by just my one. And I've seen that with other people, too: I know people who speak at least two foreign languages fluently, but when they hear about the Japanese, it's as if I've taken a ray gun and have melted them down--I've "won" without even trying (or caring about it).

I've worked on some pretty interesting projects, but when I go through the list of what I do for a living, people just stop on the Japanese part. At least the Westerners do, or the ones who are non-Asian language-speaking people; Asian people or Westerners who've been steeped in Asian stuff aren't too impressed.

So if you're making the rounds in the non-Japanese/non-Asian world, mention the fact that you speak Japanese, and others' eyes will widen. It's especially useful at snobby functions and slick dinner parties.

Bono really is short

Lately, I've been in the U2 world since the band, and some fans, have come to town. I literally got a few hours sleep last night, which means bedtime soon. But I did find out for myself that Bono is, indeed, short, as a fan told me last week.

I (and a few hundred other people) saw him exit his hotel, and a hardcore fan in front of me exclaimed, "He's short!" I wondered how she'd just discovered that fact after seeing the band a hundred times (according to her estimate). I would say that he is about 5'3", which is what the fan told me.

I managed to get a couple of lame pictures, due to severe fan-pushing from behind, and I've just posted one above (in 10/07): he's in the gray sweatsuit-type outfit, wearing his hat backwards.

So there you have it, it's been confirmed, that he really is short. One fan claims that Bono wears lifts inside his platform shoes to appear taller. Who knows--vanity comes in all sizes.

Neil ain't bad

Neil Diamond is on tour, so he's been making some media appearances. I was never interested in him, but maybe because I'm doing the writing thing, in between bouts of self-pity, I've been paying attention to his lyrics. They are good. Check this one out--you've gotta admit that he's quite talented:

I AM...I SAID
Written by Neil Diamond

L.A.'s fine, the sun shines most the time
And the feeling is 'lay back'
Palm trees grow, and rents are low
But you know I keep thinkin' about
Making my way back

Well I'm New York City born and raised
But nowadays, I'm lost between two shores
L.A.'s fine, but it ain't home
New York's home, but it ain't mine no more

"I am," I said
To no one there
An no one heard at all
Not even the chair
"I am," I cried
"I am," said I
And I am lost, and I can't even say why
Leavin' me lonely still

Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of bein' a king
And then became one
Well except for the names and a few other changes
I you talk about me, the story's the same one

But I got an emptiness deep inside
And I've tried, but it won't let me go
And I'm not a man who likes to swear
But I never cared for the sound of being alone

"I am," I said
To no one there
An no one heard at all
Not even the chair
"I am," I cried
"I am," said I
And I am lost, and I can't even say why
Leavin' me lonely still

1971 Prophet Music, Inc. (ASCAP)

I think that's the kind of song that people who who are alone, either physically or otherwise, can relate to. You can see all his lyrics at a fan site.

Bono is short

U2 is coming to town, so a fan is staying with me. He's managed to meet Bono at least a few times, and he swears that Bono is short. He's guessing that Bono is about 5'3" at the most. His pictures and other media appearances are deceiving. Hopefully I'll find out for myself ;)

This concludes the special U2 report from the field.

Update: I found out for myself.

Wish I was there

Someone sent me a link to a site about the Brazilian town Araçatuba. I'm assuming that the information was originally written in Portuguese, since the translations are quite, um, interesting:

The industrialization is enlarged in this decade, having as an example the coming of Nestlé and the foundation of T. Maia Meatplant, belonging to the cattle raiser Tião Maia, one of the most famous in Brazil. The time is also marked by the social developments in the city, like the construction of bridges and roads.

In the 60's, the industrial development grows more and more. The beginning of a new economical cycle - the plantation of sugar cain - gave breath to the progress in the city in the 70's.

If only they'd asked me to do it ;)

Seriously, it looks like a beautiful place--here are some pictures. Yet another reason to get over there, especially since my spoken Portuguese has severely lapsed.

Singers

I met some interesting people at Rick Kogan's show, both of whom are singers: Heather Moran and Denise Tomasello. I chatted with Heather during the breaks, and other than that, I was just observing the show from my corner chair. Going to the station is sort of like hanging out in someone's living room, except that I can only speak when the commercials are running.

I am incredibly tired because I've been working a lot of hours at Art Chicago, in addition to my other work. Even though today was my day off, I still had to wake up really early to get to the show in time. I haven't had decent sleep in a few days. Even the strongest coffee can't penetrate my exhaustion.