my new T-shirt

Front text:
Language is a tool!

Back text:
"No form of language is
cognitively or linguistically
superior to any other in any
absolute sense outside of
particular contexts"
(J. Cummins, 2000; p. 77).

Front:


Back

The Flavor Bible

If you feel inclined to purchase something for me, I think that I could really make good use of The Flavor Bible. (Hmm...A guy I know named Kelsey would probably really appreciate it too.)

It's a book that tells you which seasonings and ingredients go well together, so you can more consistently be successful when engaged in experimental cooking.

Books

I've decided to just note the three most recent books I've read.

1) A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

This is a very amusing book. It took a bit to get into, but was incredibly satisfying by the end. I also really enjoyed the political commentary interjected about the Vietnam War and the Reagan administration. Despite having been first published in 1989, the commentary on foreign affairs is eerily similar to what many are saying about the escapades of the Bush administration today.




2) War Journal: My Five Years in Iraq by Richard Engel.

This is a chronicle of an NBC reporter's experiences throughout the Iraq conflict. He is uniquely situated, since he lived in Cairo and learned Arabic and the culture of the Middle East before the war began. He arrived in Iraq before hostilities began and has been there more than anywhere else ever since. He is able to share both personal experience and make larger observations on the political / social situation of the country. His observations seem to be in line with what my Iraqi friend has told me over the last few years. I highly recommend this book as a primer into the war(s) in Iraq.



3) War for the Oaks by Emma Bull.

This is a whimsical fantasy novel set in Minneapolis. Looking back in my blog, I see that I read it back in December of 2006, so this is probably my 3rd reading of it. Although it starts out slow, the characters draw the reader in by the end of the novel, making the reader grieve for their losses and rejoice in their victories.

I'm definitely tired...

I decided to put on the classic White Christmas to run in the background and keep down the monotony of counting prepositions.

I must be tired! I started getting all teary-eyed at the scene where all the old soldiers have come together to honor the old general. I'm usually not so sentimental!

I highly recommend this movie for those looking for a simple musical comedy, without any sex or violence (except for when the guy's are smacking each other with the feather fans).

On a side note, I'm in just such a mood as to feel sad that the folks all young, alive and well in that film are all either old or dead now. They live on in the film, but are never to be known in person again. Such is life.

OK...back to working on my paper...which movie shall I put in now?

Another book down

I just finished reading another book, Dragon and Phoenix by Joanne Bertin. This book is interesting, because it sat on my shelf for so long without getting read. It was a a birthday or Christmas present from the boyfriend that I had in 1999. I had just assumed that I had read it before, but decided to read it again anyway. The first chapter was familiar, but I guess that's only because it had been printed at the end of the previous book, The Last Dragon Lord, as a teaser and I had read it there. The further I got into it, the more I noticed that I had no idea what was going to happen. It was a pleasant surprise, since I usually remember the ending of a book that I decide to re-read about half way through.

Happiness is lounging around and reading fantasy fiction...not that that is all I did all day. I also did legitimate work, uploading worksheets and such a a lesson-share site for other teachers to work with.

On Pirates of the Caribbean 3

Yesterday, my family and I went to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. I really liked the first in the trilogy. I was greatly disappointed by the second one. The third one had some potential, but blew some things, I think. You can stop reading now if you haven't seen the film yet.

Probably the biggest annoyance with the whole movie is all the buildup that comes to naught. For example, take the whole Calypso subplot. She's a ticked off goddess, who is going to make everyone pay. Well, in the end, she does nothing. Not even a scorned lover's hand coming out of the ocean to pull the ship of her choice down with her. She could have either really harmed or really helped one of the causes in the tangle of intrigue, but instead harmlessly dissolves into a pile of crabs after growing to a giant on the ship and saying something incomprehensible (to me, anyway). Sure...there's the maelstrom, but really, what does that do??? The ships aren't particularly harmed by it. It just makes for some briefly interesting graphics.

There is a lot of unfulfilled lead in. Was anyone else disappointed by how easy it was to just waltz into the land of the dead and come back out? How about the ease at which Elizabeth's father Governor Swann and Norrington are killed. And then there's the Captain Sao Feng; he was there, he was a bad-ass, and then he's gone. What's up with that? I think that random deaths of lead characters is more acceptable in a more serious drama, but in a fantasy epic, it is out of place, I think, and should be a bigger deal.

OK, so now that I've harped on what I didn't like about the movie, what did I like?

Hmm...the only moments sticking out for me right now are the scene where Will and Elizabeth are married by Barbossa in the middle of a battle. (Does a marriage performed by a pirate captain carry legal weight? Today, do couples getting married at sea have to apply for a marriage license?)

The scene with the rocks/crabs was pretty cool.

Oh, and then the kiss scene between Will and Elizabeth towards the end was pretty well filmed.

Nothing else is really doing it for me. I guess there just weren't that many memorable moments. I'm not even a great fan of Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly, so it is surprising that they are the ones in the scenes that I most remember.

So, from there, did anyone stay to the end of the credits? It's a scene 10 years later, in which Elizabeth is waiting for Will (now captain of the Flying Dutchman) to return for their day together. She has a boy of approximately 10 years (probably more like 9 years and 3 months) with her. Will appears and we can only assume that he gets to meet his son before the boy gets sent away so that Will and Elizabeth can make wild passionate love.

So, now for the meta thoughts. Was anyone else struck by the fact that the heroes of the story were pirates (closely akin to terrorist with the distinction that pirates not only kill lots of innocents but also rob them in the process), and that many of the people killed by our heroes were men in uniform? I'm all for questioning authority, but that just seems a little too much. Oh wait...must suspend disbelief.

Later, my brother (age 22) and I (age 25) discussed whether we would wait for someone for 10 years as per the Will/Elizabeth arrangement. My position was no, because I need more in a relationship than 10 years of yearning with a day together each decade. He insisted that if it were true love, then one would wait. I pointed out that even Jacob in the Bible, who worked for 7 years to marry Rachel and ended up having to marry everyone else in the family first wasn't just pining away for Rachel the whole time. He had a number of wives and concubines by the time it was all over! I think that my brother is still tied into the romantic ideals from books that he reads and from movies. The fact that he is currently in a long-distance relationship with a dubious outcome probably is part of it too. I can't help but wonder if the only thing that my brother thinks is missing from the Will/Elizabeth relationship is 10 years of sex. I can't imagine that he is aware of the value of the daily interaction and support that one has in a "normal" relationship that would be missing from the Will/Elizabeth thing and still be so willing to dismiss their necessity for a long-term relationship. Also, if Elizabeth has a kid to raise, then she'd not only be worried about someone to warm her bed at night, but to help provide for the child. I think that practical considerations, both in the case of emotional/spiritual fulfillment and more economic concerns would make the 10 year wait near impossible for a normal person without a martyr complex.

On the portrayal of others

This is an extension of a comment that I posted at AnomalousData.com, where my friends James and Teresa have been having a debate about the Rosie question. You can read more about it at AnomalousData. Basically, Rosie imitated an Asian person, by using stereotypically Asian sounding gibberish, and apparently with a stupid face. Out of context, this can appear quite bigoted. In context, however, it could be completely appropriate. Rosie did apologize for any offense that may have been given, but she also maintains that there was a no bigotry intended.

So, below is my extended comment, with further comments about the use of "fake" languages in the media at the end; in particular my take on a segment in Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest.

I spoke a bit more with James about this particular incident. He is a religious (in the sense of regular) watcher of "The View". He saw the episode in question. As an otherwise very P.C. sensitive black gay man, he did not see the incident as bigoted, and said that in the context, it was appropriate. Apparently Rosie was doing a loose quote of someone else, which was clear in context. He’s certain that no one who had seen the entire segment and the context would have considered it offensive. I don't know. I didn't see it. I think that James was upset for these reasons:

1) A judgment was made based on a clip out of context and amplified in a public forum.

2) He's particularly sensitive to the word "bigot" and can’t forgive its use in such a way.

3) He considers Rosie a good person and doesn't want to see her attacked, especially since she wasn’t trying to hurt anyone.

I also think that James was not reading the same reasonableness in Teresa's posting as I was. I suspect that those of us who know Teresa personally are better able to understand her point of view. The way I read it, Teresa acknowledged that she might not have complete information and that she wasn't trying to make a character attack, but was commenting on the little that she knew. I think that James was hoping for a total retraction and apology. I don’t think that James will ever be able to see Teresa’s post as legitimate because of the way that it is phrased. Interestingly enough, he feels that Teresa has the responsibility to have found out more about the situation before publishing a potentially character damaging blog post. He thinks that it was wrong for her to base her information solely on the version put forth by the Colbert Report, which is known to take the most embarrassing/accidental moments and twist them to be even more embarrassing or insulting for the sake of comedy.

I personally tend to fall on the side that if someone just saw that short segment of Rosie’s imitation, then that particular action of stereotyping could be considered inappropriate, but when viewed in context, it is OK. Similarly one could say for example, that the action of a man hitting a woman (or the other way around, for that matter) is an inappropriate action. However, if one is able to see that it is in the context of a Kung Fu match and not domestic abuse, then it is context appropriate, and no one should feel offended on the "victim's" behalf.

Incidentally, I have observed a lot of ‘imitation German’, particularly from comedians – none of which makes any sense, and is usually delivered in a stereotypically authoritarian/military manner - and no one seems to get all that offended. (For those who are wondering; there is no semantic relation between the Volkswagen phrase “Fahrvergnügen” and the pop culture adaptation “Farfrompüken”.) Perhaps they should get offended, though. The use of such stereotypical imitation insists on associating all Germans with the Nazis and such caricatures as the guards and soldiers in the various WWII movies.

Actually, movies are a forum where “fake” language was used for 'foreigners' a lot until recently. One more often sees real language used in more recent movies set in other countries, rather than gibberish. Prime examples are The Bourne Identity and Chasing Liberty, just to name a couple. Even today, though, people do pretty tasteless stuff in the name of comedy. Did anyone else think that the cannibal savage scene in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie was off-color? I thought that the use of idiot talk for the Islander language was distasteful. (The only part of this movie that was brilliant was the use of eye-makeup for Johnny Depp in this scene.)

I wanna codeswitch!

I've got a problem that most American's can't identify with.

I love talking to English/Spanish or English/German bilinguals, because we are able to code-switch (i.e. use both languages in conversation as a linguistic tool or literary device). Sometimes, another language just has a better word to express a certain concept more elegantly. Somtimes, there is a breakdown in understanding when talking about philosophy or religion, and it is nice to be able to try it again in the other language. Code-switching has been linked to identity issues as well. Speaking to someone in their own language can also be more intimate.

I feel extremely limited when I talk to bilingual people, who speak a language that I don't know. I often want to be able to express myself in their language or let them explain something in their language. Recently, a friend of mine was trying to explain his views on creation and God in English, which is his second language. He wasn't able to express himself as clearly as he wanted to. Had I even an elementary understanding of his native language, then he would have been able to tell me in the way that he was best able to conceptualize.

Time to start another language.

Fahrenheit 451

Yep, another book read, cover to cover, including afterward and coda.

It's uncanny how much of what Ray Bradbury wrote in Fahrenheit 451 in the 1950s still applies today! When he talks about the seashell radios in everyone's ears, constantly feeding a stead flow of sound, I think of everyone plugged into their iPods. When I read about the wall sized television sets and the mother talking about just setting her kids in front of them, I think about how kids (and even adults) I know can become 'plugged-in', unable to interact with anything else when the TV/computer/game console is on.

I found the three 'necessary things' for making use of books to be rather insightful.

...Number one, as I said: quality of information. Number two: leisure to digest it. And number three: the right to carry about actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first two...

In the book, he talks about people rushing around so quickly that they never have time to stop and think. Compared to today, the 1950s must have been idyllic, but yet he still had these fears. I've found that a problem with today's society is that we don't slow down. Granted, I'm not willing to give up my radio, computer, cell phone and TV, however, I do think that all things should be used in moderation. Aside from being poor, one reason why I don't have more minutes on my cell phone contract is because I would be likely to try to use them, spending all the time on the phone. Ever notice that it's almost impossible to strike up a conversation at the bus stop, because everyone is already having a cell phone conversation?

In this past year or so, I've noticed that I've had difficulty just sitting and being quiet. I've come home and felt the need to turn on the television, even though I hadn't watched much TV in the preceding 6 years or so.

Anyway, the world is still going to hell in a handbasket now, just as much as it was then. I won't be so arrogant as to think that things are worse now than they ever have been before. If the people preaching the fall of society had been right, then human society would have ceased to exist long ago. On the other hand, this is no excuse for ignoring the need for social change. The poor still need to be fed. Intellectual freedom still needs to be respected, etc.

Another book down

Well, I finished another book this morning. I had to find a new one after finishing The Da Vinci Code, so I went through a closet at my parents' house until I found one. This time, it was Tony Hillerman's The Fly on the Wall. It's a story about a capitol reporter, who ends up uncovering a story that's already gotten 2 reporters killed and threatens him next. It was a pretty quick read. I liked it. It was much more entertaining than what I was reading this afternoon.

This afternoon's activities consisted of copying lines from Der Ritter von Staufenberg, an Early New High German story about a knight, who has an affair with a magic woman, who promises to come to him and let him have his way with her whenever he wants, as long as he never marries. Well, he marries and after the magic woman's foot appearing through the ceiling at the wedding feast, the knight dies three days later. (OK, the story is alright, it's the paper waiting to be written that's annoying.)

Then I went to the library and paged through about 30 books on the history of the German language and only found information on the development of the future construction in German in about 5 of them. Lovely. Apparently very few people cared to write about it. I'd imagine that this is because it is an analytic form (meaning that it takes two words to do it) and was not in Germanic. *sighs* I find between a paragraph and a few pages in the few history of German books that treat it at all, and I have to write 15 about it. Lovely. If I were really interested in the topic and had found something new and exciting, it would be great to be able to write what few before have written on. However, I haven't discovered anything earth-shattering, and can't really get excited about the topic. At least I can spend a few pages talking about how possible future forms are expressed in the knight story.

Finished another book

This is what it feels like to have time to read...oh yeah...now I remember.

I just finished reading The Da Vinci Code last night. It was a pretty suspenseful read (though the ending was rather anticlimactic). I figured that I should at least read it so that I could choose how to interpret all the hype about it. (I figure that anything that is so discussed by the majority of the American public is at least worth getting to know. Then you can either choose to love it, hate it, or not really care - at least it will be an informed decision.)

I'm not going to comment on any theological issues about it. When I mentioned to Dad that it seemed to be a pretty quick read, he immediately started in on debunking the theology of it. *shrugs* I really don't care about the theology. I read fantasy novels most of the time when I have something to read for pleasure. There's no need to try to change them into reality!

And actually, if you read the whole thing, you find that the book itself suggests that the Church, while perhaps served by keeping such things quiet, is exonerated of any wrong-doing, having been simply played by a misguided historian.

Let's just read this for fun and not take it any more seriously than the film The Body or the book Das Jesus Video (if you know German, read the book, but avoid the movie like the plague!). Consider it a "what if", just like you would with Stargate!

(Those interested in more discussion of The Da Vinci Code might be interested in this blog entry by Kathy Bledsoe (including the comments) that I stumbled across.

Dzur has appeared

Well, I was at the mall yesterday, very late in the day, after 7pm and wandered into the Barnes & Noble. There on the shelf sat 5 shiny hard cover copies of Steven Brust's new book DZUR. I almost bought it. I must admit, I just finished re-reading all of the Vlad Taltos series that has been decorating my bookshelf for so long. Then I looked at the price and decided that I could wait until either someone gets it for me for Christmas (*wink, wink, nudge, nudge*) or until it comes out in paperback. Well, at least I have something to look forward to!

Pirates hype

I've been watching ABC while doing my homework. In the last couple hours, I've seen many commercials for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. They keep saying that it's the most acclaimed film of the summer, better than the first, etc... Give me a break! I watched it! It's nowhere near that good! It certainly wasn't better than the first! It's pretty frustrating seeing these claims made about it. This movie was nothing but a series of cheap tricks.

I almost never saw previews on the non-cable channels before. Maybe they're getting desperate, afraid that word of mouth will get around and no one else will go to see it. Maybe they want to try to convince the undecided that it's worth seeing.

Here's a good review of it. And here.

Plans for tomorrow

Tomorrow should be full of fun and excitement. First, I'm going to be taking the Spanish kid who I am tutoring to the zoo. It's a free zoo near campus and I think he'll enjoy it.




Then, in the evening, I'm going to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. I hope that it will be good. I was quite the fan of the first movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, having seen it in multiple languages and owning both the American and German DVD releases - though now it is not as exciting as it used to be. The ratings don't seem to promise much, but then again, despite all the 2 and 3 stars, one guy gave it 5 stars. I think if I keep my expectations reasonably placed, then I should enjoy it. I'm going to wear my Pirates T-shirt and baggy red pirate-pants. It should be fun.

Nope...not meant to study literature

I've started reading Jochen Vogt's Einladung zur Literaturwissenschaft (Invitation to Literary Science), which was recommended to me by the prof, who I'll have for a lit class in the fall.

The entire first chapter goes on about how there are too many people studying literature as a default field. The author goes on to warn students about how much work goes into literature, especially writing.

Everything that I read re-confirmed for me what I already knew:

I'm not interested in studying literature.

Unfortunately, I have to take a certain number of courses in it between now and the Ph.D, even though I'm focusing on linguistics. I guess I'll just keep reading this intro to lit book and suck it up.