December update

Not too much time for writing - hectic translation orders are dropping one by one, had to prepare and deliver a lecture on cinema (went pear shaped and flew over the heads of the listeners with all that semiotix and art theories), still have to prepare and deliver a lecture on interpreting (having wised up I guess I gotta make it simple and anecdotal) - and last week we had a sort of a competition at our university where I was one of the judges. It was a sort of a language 'KBH' (excuse my Russian) or some language juggling where teams had to dub movies and play with words and some such. One task impressed me because they had to (as per the description) in turn produce sentences made of words 'whose initial letter follows the order of the alphabet'. Pretty nifty, thought my colleague Ken and I, and right before the beginning of the show concocted a sentence where all the words started with the letters of the alphabet in order. Happened to be not so easy but fun.

A boy caught dogs eating fried (germs) goat however in joking killed lots more new or prosperous quintessential rodents sitting together under very warm xenophobic yawning zebras.

At the end it turned out that the teams had to make sentences with the FIRST word of the consecutive sentence starting with the next letter of the alphabet. But it was fun having a go at it. I guess some pastime.
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What surprised me with its seemingly shallow purpose was the task of watching a part of a movie and then dubbing it with EXACTLY the same words. No kinky perversions or changes of meaning. But later it dawned upon me that it is actually a very cool way to practice and learn a language, repeating all those intonation patterns and all. Kinda boring on the audience but pretty exciting for the teams. And what is the university life if not loads of unreigned fuuun?!))
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Another nice thing here is that by Christmas time waitresses in restaurants and shop assistants wear those (fake) fur-padded red vests and red a-la S.Claus hats with these little white pompons at the top. Looks cheerful. With all the palms and sunshine.
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But I am freezing my @$$ off in the unheated apartment. Doh! Subtropics my ... that thing. The cracks in the doors and balcony are so huge the draft is coming over to visit all the time with the howling sound that used to scare me at the beginning but now is just a background noise (to make an acoustic comparison, pretty much like the toilet flushing upstairs or downstairs here - a fact of life, not a reason for bitching, eh?)) A comfort is that my flushing is as loud for them as theirs for me. Or for that reason, if you will, the cheerful chirping of birds is better audible too. Going back to the little eddy breezes that dance around my apartment - on a positive note they are bringing some fresh air into my otherwise stuffy world. Constantly. Some healthy circulation.

A CORRECT POLITICAL DECISION

The Register writes:

China has decided to ban foreign cartoons from primetime TV slots in an attempt to protect its indigenous animation industry, the BBC reports.

From 1 September, imports such as The Simpsons and Mickey Mouse will not be aired between 5pm and 8pm, a proscription which carries the added benefit of reducing local kids' exposure to the "effects of foreign culture".

The powers that be have already decided to clamp down on programmes using a mixture of animation and live action, which could hit the Teletubbies hard, the BBC notes.

The latest decision forms part of an ongoing battle to compete with extra-Chinese cartoons, notably those from Japan. In 2000, the Japanese invasion prompted an edict ordering broadcasters to "limit the use of foreign cartoons". Two years ago, the authorities further demanded that 60 per cent of animations shown at peak time had to be home-grown.

The problem for China's own cartoon industry is, as the Beeb explains, that it has yet to create noteworthy characters such as the infernal Disney mouse or Homer Simpson. Instead, it focuses on traditional product such as Journey to the West, following the adventures of the Monkey King.

Some Chinese commentators are, furthermore, sceptical that a ban will do anything to improve matters. The Southern Metropolis News offered: "This is a worrying, shortsighted policy and will not solve the fundamental problems in China's cartoon industry. The viewing masses, whether adults or children, will have no choice but to passively support Chinese products."

The Chinese authorities should also note that moving the Teletubbies to a post-watershed slot may do little to reduce the "effects of foreign culture". Younger readers may recall that UK clubbers - crazed on Ecstasy, and Vodka and Red Bull - developed a penchant for late-night Laa-Laa worship sessions which at one point, according to The Daily Mail, threatened the very fabric of UK society. ®

PS This might be a short-sighted policy for China's cartoon industry, but not the general one. Something to brood over for politicians in any country. And on another note, The Simpsons' sarcasm is not quite the kids' product... I feel more and more that we've got to include analysis of such artefacts in the textbooks on cultural studies rather than to have the unprepared tabula rasa'ed (esp. foreign) kids exposed to its caustic a-maze-ing twists))

2nd podcast

Here is another video podcast of my students
Amazing that right after watching this podcast about our canteens one girl felt sick, and somebody said that was because she ate something at the canteen. Talk about coincicences.



Actually in reality it is not bad at all, I like eating in those canteens, some things are actually very tasty. And as the creators said themselves, it was more of a challenge to creativity rather then a precise reflection of the real state of affairs.