|
2003-06-20 18:42
My copy has been despatched by a team of amazons, hurrah, but over at
le
nouvel obs there's a link to an extract in French.
Maybe this is via the New York Trashbladet leakage, it doesn't say,
but it reads plausibly enough. It doesn't give anything away, really,
and in any case you certainly didn't hear it from me, right?
(Even so, getting even this little sneakage is like sneaking out for a jolly old midnight feast, oh what fun.)
[Permalink]
2003-06-20 14:06 (UTC+1)
This young and inexperienced England cricket team is shaping up to be
a whole lot better than most of its predecessors. Those of you which
suffer from Forrinness will not have decades worth of emotional scars
caused by the selectors sticking with tried-and-found-wanting players
for years and years while promising young players are expected to
master the nuances of mediocrity in county second elevens.
Ever since a foreign Supremo has been appointed, and an
Australian-style Academy established to groom young talent, it's been
starting to look as though England may actually be in danger of
becoming competitive:
WICKET! Mohammad Sami b Anderson 0 (185 all out) He's done it!
Anderson has taken the first one-day hat-trick by an England bowler!
Sensational. His third wicket comes with a yorker that borders on a
full-toss but is far too good for Sami. Anderson has 4 for 27 and
England will need 186 to win.
Of course, the Pakistani team is young and inexperienced too, and this
is just knockabout one-day stuff, and England will surely now give a
textbook demonstration of the Art of the Middle-Order Batting
Collapse, but just now the sun is shining, young Mr Anderson's
offences against hair styling are forgiven and all is well with the
world (apart from the things that aren't). Hoorah!
[Permalink]
2003-06-20 10:34 (UTC+1)
Last year, in the interests of ethnography, Special
Agent Birgitte infiltrated
, at not inconsiderable risk to her own safety, a Swedish
midsummer ceremony. (Linkage has been sabotaged by the
pan-Scandewegian enthusiasm for the use of frames to pessimise the
browsing experience. Click on the "midsummer party" links, including
the pictures if you dare...) Here's an extract from her report,
dealing with the infamous Frog Dance ritual:
Efter middagen skulle vi s� danse rundt om majstangen. Nu kom
�velserne tidligere p� dagen os til gode, vi var jo n�rmest
professionelle! Glade afsang vi "Sm� grodorna, sm� grodorna, �r
lustige at se. Ej �ron, ej �ron, ej svanser hava de..." alt imens vi
gjorde de tilh�rende bev�gelser. Denne dans er nok det mest
ejendommelige ved den svenske midsommerfejring. Alle danser rundt om
den korsformede majstang, mens de hopper som fr�er. Det er vanskeligt
at forestille sig, hvad der kan v�re oprindelsen til denne skik, omend
den tydeligvis er forbundet med danske juletraditioner (dansen om
tr�et). Hvordan tr�et er blevet forvansket til et kors, og sangen og
dansen til en fr�-sangleg er det sv�rt at gisne om. Det forekommer dog
rimeligt at antage, at de store m�ngder 'snaps' der indtages inden
udf�relsen af ritualet har haft en vis indflydelse p� udformningen af
ritualet...
[After dinner we were obliged to danse around the maypole. Now the
practice earlier in the day stood us in good stead - we were almost
professional. We cheerfully sang "Sm� grodorna, sm� grodorna, �r
lustige [sic] at [sic] se. Ej �ron, ej �ron, ej svanser hava de..." while
doing the corresponding actions. This dance is probably the most
peculiar part of the the Swedish midsummer celebrations. Everyone
dances around the cross-shaped may pole, while hopping like frogs. It
is difficult to conceive what the origin of this custom might be,
although it christma evidently analogous to the Danish Twinkletree
traditions of dancing on the table. Why the tree has been replaced by
a cross, and the song and dance to a single kernel fragment is hard to
imagine. It seems reasonable to assume, however, that the ritual has
been substantially influenced by the large quantities of 'snaps'
consumed while performing it.]
Because of course the Danish julfrokost by contrast is
celebrated for the sober dignity with which it is always conducted, ho
ho.
Further evidence of the uncanny hold that the Frog Song has on the
Swedish imagination comes from this
article whereby a Franco-Swedish dual-citizen in France was
obliged to demonstrate Commitment To Swedish Identity by singing it.
(No extract, sorry - all that Danish has worn out my translation
muscles.) For reference, Aftonbladet helpfully includes the full text
of the Eldritch Incantation:
Sm� grodorna, sm� grodorna �r lustiga att se.
Sm� grodorna, sm� grodorna �r lustiga att se.
Ej �ron, ej �ron, ej svansar hava de.
Ej �ron, ej �ron, ej svansar hava de.
Kou-ack-ack-ack, kou-ack-ack-ack,
kou-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack.
Kou-ack-ack-ack, kou-ack-ack-ack,
kou-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack
[Small frogs, small frogs, are funny to see.
Small frogs, small frogs, are funny to see.
No ears, no ears, no tails have they.
No ears, no ears, no tails have they.
Kou-ack-ack-ack, kou-ack-ack-ack,
kou-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack.
Kou-ack-ack-ack, kou-ack-ack-ack,
kou-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack]
This mp3 will allow
you to experience the full horror of the song, if you dare. (Snaps
not included, but strongly recommended for anaesthetic purposes.
A��eee! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Grodorna R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.)
[Editors note: The manuscript trails off here. Herr von Bladet was
found wandering the streets in a state of mental disturbance which has
not since abated. We provide this, his last coherent writing, in the
hope that it will dissuade others from following his footsteps.]
[Permalink]
2003-06-19 14:35 (UTC+1)
But gets
discussed nonetheless, hos BBC.
Monsieur [Jean-Francois] Menard is France's Harry Potter
supremo. Translator of the first four volumes of the series, he is the
man responsible for such coinages as "Poudlard" - for Hogwarts -
"Moldus" - for Muggles - and "Nick-Quasi-Sans-Tete" - for Nearly
Headless Nick.
Working at the rate of 10 pages a day, he will complete the French
version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in about 90
working days.
Assuming he has the odd weekend off, that will take him through to
mid-October, which allows just six weeks for proof-reading,
publication and distribution before French launch day on 3 December.
Oh, l� l�! At ten pages a day it's perhaps no wonder the French
versions get slightly streamlined compared to the Swedish ones (which won't be translated till
February, remember).
[Permalink]
2003-06-19 11:47
[tipoff via Maus, tack!]
Exhibiting behaviour vastly more becoming in a prinsess, the Dutch
kronprinsess Maxima has announced that she is pregnant. The child
will of course be second in line to the throne after Her Royal Husband
Wossname.
Since online Dutch newspapers are pathologically hostile, I'll settle
for just the front page of the
Telegraaf.
[Permalink]
2003-06-19 10:12 (UTC+1)
There's been a bit of a shortage of them lately, but this prinsess
story is
right up our alley:
Prinsessan Madeleine missade sju skyltar som talade om att gatan hon
k�rde p� var en g�gata. Hon k�rde n�ra 300 meter innan hon parkerade
utanf�r en aff�r. D�rinne stannade prinsessan i ungef�r tio
minuter. Straffet f�r brottet �r normalt 600 kronor i b�ter.
[Prinsessan Madeleine missed seven signs which said that she was
driving the wrong way down a one-way street. She drove about 300
metres before parking outside a shop. She went in for about 10
minutes. The penalty for this offence is normally 600 kronor (about
60 euros).]
Agonised debate about Moral Responsibilities ensue, but there is also
a photo.
[Permalink]
2003-06-18 10:38 (UTC+1)
The French Bacc�laureate is the Big Deal end-of-school qualification,
needed for University entrance there. It comes in flavours, of
course, but this is of course France so all flavours will involve an
encounter with the dreaded
philosophy
paper (of course!):
Les L (litt�raire) ont eu � choisir entre �Le bonheur est affaire
priv�e?�, �L'id�e d'une libert� totale a-t-elle un sens� ou
d'expliquer un texte de Thomas Hobbes tir� du Leviathan.
Les S (scientifique) ont pu plancher sur �La v�rit� depend-telle de
nous?�, �Prendre conscience de soi est-ce devenir �tranger � soi?� ou
l'explication d'un texte de Kant tir� de �M�taphysique des moeurs�.
Les s�ries �conomiques et sociales (ES) pouvaient choisir de disserter
sur �Le dialogue est-il le chemin de la v�rit�?�, ou �Pourquoi
sommes-nous sensibles � la beaut�?� ou expliquer un texte de
Schopenhauer tir� du �monde comme volont� et comme repr�sentation�.
[The literary stream had to choose between "Is happiness a private
matter?", "Is the idea of total liberty meaningful?" or explaining a
text of Thomas Hobbes from Leviathan
The scientific stream could pick from "Does truth depend on us?",
"Does self-consciousness imply a separation from self?" or explaining
an extract from Kant's Metaphysics of Morals.
The economics and social sciences stream could discuss "Is dialogue
the way to truth?" or "Why are we sensitive to beauty?" or explication
of an extract from Schopenhauer's "The World as Will and as
Represenation."]
The answers, provided as a service to our faithful 'bladeteers, are:
"No", "Maybe", "Yes", "Yes and no", "Yes" and "Because". (Extracts
weren't provided, or I'd've explained those, too.)
For bonus points, would you rather sit the French exam or Bluejoh's
paper? Why?
[Permalink]
2003-06-18 09:36 (UTC+1)
Or more likely not. But either way, I am now the owner of Mssrs
Courant and Hilbert's classic Methoden der Mathematischen
Physik. All I have to do now is learn German and read it, and
then I'll know a whole bunch of stuff. (I don't have to learn very
much German, I shouldn't think - "Lineare Transformationen
mit linearem Parameter" isn't exactly impenetrable.)
Slightly annoyingly, or perhaps endearingly characterfully, the two
volumes of my set are completely different in appearance - the
titles on the spine goes upward on one volume and down on the other.
[Looks closer.] Ah. The second volume came out 1937, and the
author's preface (by Courant - Hilbert had nothing to do with the
published text) closes "New Rochelle, New York, 24. Oktober 1937,"
while the first volume says "G�ttingen, am 11. Februar 1924". More in
Germany changed between those dates than fashions in book production,
I would imagine.
[Permalink]
2003-06-17 14:33 (UTC)
Apparently a pay-rise I had forgotten about (in the UK public sector
pay reviews are performance related in the sense that persons who are
neither dead nor dismissed are automatically worthy of them, modest
though they most certainly are) did not get processed, so now I am
getting a back-dated pay-rise, hoorah!
[Permalink]
2003-06-17 09:45 (UTC+1)
Scientific American has a special edition out now on
paleoanthropology. It's actually pretty annoying, because it consists
of a collection of mutually opposed polemics, in the inimitably
kludged up prose of scientists pretending to engage with a popular
audience. (None of them actually are.) The interludes by pure
journalists are if anything even more annoying, since they are obliged
to avoid taking a position on any of the contentious issues, which is
all of the issues. Even so, if you're at all interested in the
subject you'll have to hold your nose, grit your teeth and plod
through the bloody thing.
Vastly more rewarding is this baboon
article, via Matt,
whose ass we are not worthy to slash:
When baboons hunt together they'd love to get as much meat as
possible, but they're not very good at it. The baboon is a much more
successful hunter when he hunts by himself than when he hunts in a
group because they screw up every time they're in a group. Say three
of them are running as fast as possible after a gazelle, and they're
gaining on it, and they're deadly. But something goes on in one of
their minds - I'm anthropomorphizing here - and he says to himself,
"What am I doing here? I have no idea whatsoever, but I'm running as
fast as possible, and this guy is running as fast as possible right
behind me, and we had one hell of a fight about three months ago. I
don't quite know why we're running so fast right now, but I'd better
just stop and slash him in the face before he gets me." The baboon
suddenly stops and turns around, and they go rolling over each other
like Keystone cops and the gazelle is long gone because the baboons
just became disinhibited. They get crazed around each other at every
juncture.
Also, the primatology of primatologists (Chomsky vs. Skinner, ook
ook!), how chimpanzees invented genocide, and some guileless
reflections on the role of the frontal cortex in implementing morality
for game-theoretical advantages in the Great Zero-Sum Game of Life.
And now, we close of course with the celebrated William S Burroughs
Baboon Quote Ceremony:
Dilapidated Disease in 1920 clothes like she sleep in them ever since
undulates across dreary neonlighted Chicago street... dead weight of
the Dear Dead Days hanging in the air like an earth-bound
ghost. Disease: (canned heat tenor). "Find the weakest baboon."
Frontier saloon: Fag Baboon dressed in little girl blue dress sings in
resigned voice to tune of Alice Blue Gown: "I'm the weakest baboon of
them all."
Word falling - image falling, isn't it?
[Permalink]
2003-06-16 14:35
If you're down with the Frenchy-French, don't miss this one.
Lib�ration does the ferries of Greater Scando-Baltiwegia:
The crossings between Sweden and Finland are really quite chic -
people dress up once on board - while the less-expensive
Helsinki-Tallinn crossings draw a more down-to-earth clientele. Among
themselves Finnish sailors call the latter "tuulipukukansaa":
track-suit tourists. They claim that the rustling of track-suit
trousers is a sure sign of the Finnish arrivals. Antti, a young Finn
encountered on the way to Tallinn, acknowledges that "In the summer, the
journeysa to Tallinn are even quicker. You can spend more time on
shore where the alcohol is even cheaper."
It takes a certain dedication to start drinking first thing in the
morning, but the Finns are up to the task; they're not the sort to
make a fuss over such minor irritations. On board, four old Finnish
guys have already finished their Lapin Kulta ("Lappland Gold"), the
Finnish national beer. "Our wives are in Turku," they announce with
sparkling eyes, "What are we up to till Saturday? Drinking and
fucking!" On Sunday mornings in Tallinn you can sometimes see freshly
disembarked, but heavily drunk, groups of Finns wandering in search of
an open restaurant. Only to discover that at that time in the morning
everything is shut. So they grumble a bit, but soon console
themselves with the rations wisely purchased on board. The Estonians
call them "vodka tourists" or, more mischievously, "our four-legged
friends."
There's more to it than that, of course, and the net result has been
to reawaken my enthusiasm for actually going to Baltiwegia:
I really am very fond of boats. A Stockholm to Helsinki to Tallinn
trip would be triffic, if I could just lay my hands on a substantial
wodge of cash.
While I'm in public-service mode, spreading joy and fraternal
conviviality among the hardy mountain folk of the North, I had
occasion to purchase this week's Economist for its Nordic survey.
(The rest of the mag persuaded me that there will be no need to buy it
again in the near future - they continue to believe in the
infallibility of Mr Bush.) For your convenience, I shall quote the
entertaining bit:
One reason why Norwegians may want to consider EU membership anew is
the price of food, which thanks to huge tariffs on some imported
foodstuffs is one third higher than Sweden. Meat in Norway is so
expensive that before Christmas families traditionally drive to Sweden
to buy festive supplies of pork ribs and steaks. Because of limits on
the amounts of meat each person can import, children (known as
fleskunger, or bacon kids) are crammed into the back of cars to
make the trip worthwhile.
Funny chaps, foreigners, isn't it?
[Permalink]
2003-06-16 12:06 (UTC+1)
Swedish Harry Potter translator speaks:
Lena Fries-Gedin has translated all four Harry Potter books and is now
waiting for the fifth.
There'll be no holidays for Lena Fries-Gedin. When the book comes
out in English she'll take home the manuscript. She's expecting to be
busy with the Swedish translation up to February or March next year.
Are you curious about the new book?
- Isn't everyone?
Aren't you tired of translating Harry Potter?
- It's a major undertaking, of course, but they're good books. It's
a fun job.
- But I do sometimes ask myself if she has to write such thick
books, says Lena Fries-Gedin and laughs.
(From now on I'm not always going to quote the original text of linked
articles in Forrin.) Why can't they learn English, like everyone
else? Or at least get their parents to read them the English version
in SimulTrans mode. Hours of fun for all the family! (Except the
kids, and the parents.)
[Permalink]
previous,
next, latest
|
|
|