Tue 18 Apr 2006
After a delay due to illness, the show is resurrected in a calendrically relevant way. We pat everyone on the back for their good superhero input, and consider some listener-submitted segment ideas. Then Jana carries a convalescing Zan with two segments of her own: a new Cooking with Jana and Things that are Dumb.
Superheroes next week!
April 18th, 2006 at 3:56 am
BOLLOCKS..get drunk for the next show!
April 18th, 2006 at 4:10 am
Well i’m from canada but i live fairly close to massachusetts, and it’s probly from somewhere in england because it was solidly founded by the english..that doesnt help you at all im sure but i like to comment on the shows! I’m too young to have watched degrassi junior high originally, but i watched all of the re-runs several times. Sorry about the lack-luster finish:P
April 19th, 2006 at 1:39 am
Sorry, try as I might, I simply cannot resist this!
When the first settlers arrived in the area in 1620, the original inhabitants of what is now called Massachusetts included the Wampanoag tribes (including the Nauset, Pennacook, Pocasset, and Pocumtuc), the Mohegan tribe (including the Nipmuc and Pequot), and the Mohican tribe.
The first settlers took the name Massachusetts for the area from the local Wampanoag word “Massachusett”, which means “by the range of hills”.
But where did the Wampanoag tribes get the word from? The Wampanoag language is one of a sub-family of Native American languages referred to as Algonquian. Speakers of Algonquian languages stretch from the east coast of North America all the way to the Rocky Mountains.
The proto-language from which all of the languages of that family descend, Proto-Algonquian, was spoken at least 3,000 years ago.
There is evidence (see Clovis Point) that at least some of the native American tribes originally arrived from what is now France in prehistoric times. They apparently crossed the northern Atlantic during an ice age round the edge of the ice pack in open boats.
So, in a roundabout way, the word “Massachusett” could possibly derive from a proto-European language. But “from somewhere in England”, it ain’t. Virtually all of England was under at least a kilometre of ice at during the ice ages.
April 19th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
My favourite indigenous appropriation is ‘kangaroo’, which comes from an Aboriginal expression meaning ‘I can’t understand what you’re saying’. Obviously that’s what an Aborigine would say if some English bloke came up to him, pointed at a kangaroo and said ‘What’s that called?’ in English (your superpower notwithstanding, Zebulon).
April 20th, 2006 at 4:27 am
that’s awesome Zan!
April 20th, 2006 at 7:38 am
Oh and the word Easter is based on the pagan word Oster–or so i’ve heard. I’m no academic like Zebulon.
April 20th, 2006 at 7:48 am
I don’t know, guys. This show was perhaps the last one for me. Shopping “trolley” cart contents: spaghetti, two toothpastes, roll-on deodorant, three (3! count ‘em, 3!!!) diet-coke bottles. Hmmm, the only thing amazing about that is what I might imagine you see as ridiculous in these mundane items…
Is trying two toothpaste brands a sign of psychosis in Australia? Geez. I don’t know if 3 bottles was too much or too little. Perhaps coke-zero is the sane thing to drink down’unda’, nowadays.
PS: Zana, your voice and body are so sexy–probably the smartest thing for this podcast is keeping your face a mystery. Two out of three ain’t bad.
April 20th, 2006 at 8:02 am
My favourite is the word ‘Moomba’. In melbourne, we have this festival every year on Labour Day and the organisers of it asked an Aboriginal person from the Melbourne-area tribe the Wurundjeri for a word that meant “Let’s get together and have fun”. The word offered was ‘moomba’which was enthusiastically adopted and is used to this day.
Moomba’s real meaning? Bum.
April 20th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Bum is a funny word.
April 20th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
My lazy wife has finalled written down her recipes from this show. They’re on the recipes page if for anyone who’s interested.
April 20th, 2006 at 11:45 pm
Hey, yes, we all still wear the black hats with the buckles on them in the states. We’re really sensitive about that, you know. They’re going to come back in style any century now… and then we’ll be real fashion pioneers.
Blues states in the US are generally left leaning states, primarily Democrats, Liberals, Independents… while Red States are the more right wing states full of conservative, republicans, bible-thumpers etc. The designation of reds vs. blues became used by both politicians and media types when George W. Bush was running against Al Gore back in 2000 in that awfully close election that the Florida Supreme Court handed to W. despite Gore having an edge in the popular vote. (Our presidents win by having more delegates in our electoral college casting their votes for them when the delegates’ corresponding state is won by a candidate through voting.) So, blue states are the more open minded, progressive states and the red states are more god fearin’, homophobic, xenophobic states. I’m in a blue state: New York.
Oh yeah, Catholics are rather notorious for stealing pagan and Zoroastrian holidays as a way of stealing members of those faiths over to their side. Call it co-opting. It’s as you described. There obviously are no eggs and bunnies in the Bible. It’s just another stolen ritual, this one about fertility, rebirth, planting, spring. (I am an athetist-agnostic… was Catholic until I grew out of that childishness in my teens.) So many Bible stories are copycatting of Greek mythology, Assyrian, Babylonian mythology and more.
Enjoying the show. Heard about it from sexy Saskia and also from PK and sexy J. Listener from the first show! Yay me.
P.S. More cleavage shots of Jana please. Thanks!
April 21st, 2006 at 1:30 am
dr_t has a point (although I don’t understand why he’s giving up on the show). I also was kind of baffled by the comments about the shopping cart. It seemed pretty normal to me. The two brands of toothpaste can easily be explained by buying for a family with more than one bathroom. The parents use one kind of toothpaste and their kids (in a separate bathroom) prefer a different brand. Soft drinks keep for years, so it makes sense to stock up when they’re on sale. (My local supermarket is currently offering 4 for $5.) Unlike dr_t though, I just thought your reaction was humorous. Also, who is he talking to when he addresses “Zana”? Is that some kind of hermaphroditic composite of the two of you?
Did you get my e-mail contribution to the superhero episode?
April 21st, 2006 at 6:06 am
i’ve had a few people tell us here and there “this is my last show because this and this and this”.
thanks fuckhead… guess I didn’t figure out in 18 episodes how to keep you perfectly entertained. If you need me I’ll be in the kitchen with my head in the oven.
April 21st, 2006 at 6:08 am
you guys should change your server time to US time. American Hegemony Now!
April 21st, 2006 at 9:53 am
tvindy, we did get your superhero contribution, and it was brilliant. Get ready for some Bob’s Yer Uncle! radio theatre.
April 22nd, 2006 at 4:54 am
Hello Zan and Jana. This is Ryan from Albany, New York. I just listened to your show for the first time today after finding it in the iTunes directory and subscribing based on your title alone. I’m new to podcasting and I was looking to add some international points of view on.. on… well, whatever. I was looking to add cool accents to my iPod. So far I have not been disappointed.
Massachusetts probably wouldn’t be thought of as “hoity-toity” in the U.S. But that’s probably an apt description of Connecticut, just south of Massachusetts, so your mistake can be forgiven.
Also, looking forward to trying those avocado recipes!
April 22nd, 2006 at 10:17 am
As Ryan hints at, I am finding myself particularly drawn to accent-laden podcasts. I already have a podcast in my head entitled “Saskia Loves Kevbo.” She’s equally as sexy in photographs as her voice is to my ears. But, I drool, I mean, digress… Accents over my speakers/headphones are always a treat.
Yeah, the hoity toity stuff is really in limited spots in Massachusetts… some suburbs of but definitely not all of Boston and in sections in and around Martha’s Vineyard. Long Island, New York holds some well-to-do spots also but Connecticut, land of Martha Stewart I think, holds more of the classic BMW/Mercedes-driving, pastel sweater over the shoulder, yacht-club-belonging, Chardonnay guzzling snobs we all know and dislike. Eat the rich.
Not a fan of the avocado really though if it’s out as a dip I might try it.
I particularly enjoy what you two do and don’t know about the U.S. It’s delightful and hilarious. It’s a laughing with you kind of thing…
Of course all Americans have encyclopedic knowledge of all things down under. Your combies are fueled by Fosters and you subsist solely on Vegemite and dingos eat your babies regularly. The End.
April 22nd, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Zan and Jana,
Wow. I feel like an ass for not congratulating you earlier. Congrats!
You two might be interested in this article:
http://wired.com/news/columns/0,70708-0.html?tw=wn_index_4
Andy V.