Sun 21 Jan 2007
This week, come for the light-hearted discussion of mass death, then stay for talk of:* Babel.* Australia, the movie.* Jana’s hatred of Hugh Jackman.* Fucked-up male actors.* Japanese noodles and Japanese beards.* Myth-translations.* A Baby update.We’ll be back on Wednesday with a new Smut Report.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I thought Jackman was okay in the X-men flicks. In other movies I thought he was rather interchangable with any other leading man they could have cast.
Haven’t heard any buzz about the next Baz L. film. I’ve never even heard of it actually. I thought people would be chattering about it across the net because of Moulin Rouge and Nicole Kidman.
Enjoyed the baby update.
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:40 am
I didn’t catch that, the director of Australia: The Movie is Baz Luhrman? Let me be the first to say I feel very sorry for you two, and the rest of your country, for how you are about to be portrayed. Even if everyone in the world apologized 1,000 times for the excesses of Baz Luhrman, it would not be enough.
On the numbers of deaths of foreigners not having any impact, I was reminded of one of my favorite charts from The Onion a long time ago. It tried to show how many deaths it takes to report a catastrophe in American newspapers. It went something like this…
1 American life equals..
10 British lives equals..
20 Mexicans equals..
100 Chinese equals..
1,000 Indians equals..
10,000 Somalians.
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:32 am
I can henceforth be known as kevinfromseattle which I also decree is a single word. I also enjoy hearing of the weather, I predict as things progress weather will become the prime topic of conversation for future generations. As far as Seattle goes, it has been cooold. We have also had several uncharacteristic snowfalls. I enjoyed the baby update as well, especially since you are in the home stretch.
kevinfromseattle
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:39 am
Oops, I forgot to mention that when I was studying German I noticed that they routinely create new words by concatenating words. For instance Computerspielen means ‘playing computer’. Handily reusing the verb spiele. The wikipedia lists this: The longest German word verified to be actually in (albeit very limited) use is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz.
Which means of course: Cattle marking and beef labelling supervision duties delegation law.
kevinfromseattle
January 25th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Why do you hiccough / hiccup? It seems there is a phylogenetic origin. When our ancestors were first emerging from the sea onto dry land they needed to spasmodically gulp in air and expel carbon dioxide. We have not lost this neural pathway, and although it is redundant it kicks in now and again. Excess carbon dioxide quells it, as does doing something that radically alters your posture, like standing on your head.
See
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/102526391/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
February 11th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Hiya kids,
Life’s been getting in the way of my leisure time lately, so I’m just now catching up on your podcasts.
I’m shocked, SHOCKED I say, that you don’t know who the Romulans are! (I think Remans are a joke by Tvindy, but I’m too lazy to go look it up.) (OK, I looked it up. Long story short, there were Remans on planet Remus; they were conquered by the Romulans from planet Romulus. End of story, no distinction is made after that point in time. The two planets are considered the twin homeworlds of the Romulans. No wolves or prostitutes were harmed in the writing of this paragraph.)
Just in case it hasn’t been beaten to death in later shows, Vulcans and Romulans descended from a common race, though this was not revealed in early Star Trek. There was a schism between those who believed the common race’s violent nature needed taming with discipline and logic, and those who preferred the untamed violence, emotion, and impulsivity. Romulans appear fairly frequently in the original series and the Next Generation, rarely in Enterprise, DS9, and Voyager. They are empire builders: very aggressive, intelligent, violent, sneaky, insular, proud, and best left alone.
Although I said something doubtless quite sage and insightful about Vulcans in the earlier discussion, which Zan capriciously pooh-poohed (I’m trying to sound silly here), I think Tvindy’s point is this: If you knock Vulcans for their essential Vulcanness, you’re left with Romulans.
Thanks for the baby update! I think of the baby each time I listen, and wonder how Jana and your couplehood are adjusting to all the changes so far. Jana, it sounds like you’ve been taking excellent care of yourself for some now, which is heartening. You’re right, it isn’t difficult to find “alternative” birthing facilities and/or midwives here in the US, at least here in the northeast. Many of my friends have chosen that path, some of them even giving birth at home in their own beds. I haven’t heard Jana’s “medicalization of birthing” rant yet, but it’s fair to say most mothers here opt for the hospital for their deliveries, though the majority of that group initially want “natural” childbirth, meaning no drugs. More hospitals are offering special birthing rooms, which are very homey, private, and family-oriented. The advantage is a couple can use a midwife, and still have a doctor and all the technology in reserve if needed.
Best to you both!
-V