Assorted Linguabits

Goodbye, Blogger!

2009-04-10T17:15:00.001-04:00

Assorted Linguabits has moved to Wordpress. Come join me!

Memories of Music

2009-03-26T16:11:00.002-04:00

I'm consistently astounded at how much music can bring about memories and emotions from years past, even if you don't really remember the music well. I couldn't sing the music from the Electric Light Parade at Disneyland, but as soon as I heard a recording of it, tears came to my eyes. The last time I saw that parade was when I was very young, and in addition, I can clearly see the videotape made of the parade, labeled in my grandfather's handwriting, sitting above my TV at home, as it has for years. Likewise, revisiting songs by Peter, Paul & Mary bring me back to my childhood, and I can hear my dad imitating the ridiculous Irish accent from "The Eddystone Light" just as clearly as if it were yesterday. What's remarkable is that I haven't given any of this music any thought in many, many years, and yet it still evokes these feelings in me.

I'm almost scared to see what happens if I find the Wee Sing recording of "Polly Wolly Doodle."

Book Review: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

2009-03-20T17:16:00.005-04:00

We're all familiar with those poor excuses for literature that, for one reason or another, just go from bad to worse as we read them. Neil Gaiman's celebrated novel American Gods does not quite fit into this category. Instead, it lolls in the middle, going from mediocre to more mediocre, but without ever bottoming out enough to really be called "bad."

The highly inventive premise is what drew me to it and is most likely responsible for its bestseller status. Shadow, a convict recently released from prison to find his wife dead, is recruited by Mr. Wednesday for an unconventional line of work. As Shadow soon finds out, Wednesday is actually the Norse god Odin, and he has hired Shadow to help in the upcoming war between the gods of the old world, brought to America by their worshipers hundreds of years before, and the new American gods of commerce, the Internet, television, and other modern contrivances.

That's about the most interesting part of the whole book: the synopsis. From there, Gaiman loses direction. On the one hand, he sticks to some of the clever fantasy he's known for, inventing new roles and pseudonyms for old gods living in modern America. On the other, the British-born Gaiman seems to want to write a travel novel elogizing his adopted homeland, but where he tries for local spice and color, what results is more of a monochrome. Juggling these two different novels, Gaiman loses sight of some very important aspects of storytelling, such as emotion and suspense. Scenes such as Shadow's discovery of his wife's death while giving his friend a blowjob in the car, are glossed over with no insight into the characters' feelings.

I also found myself nowhere near the edge of my seat when it came to the impending "storm" that was the war between the old gods and the new. One reason for this may have been the only occasional reminders of the threat of these new gods every few hundred pages when Gaiman remembers. The other, main reason, though, was the fact that I didn't care about the gods. So many of his comrades whom Wednesday tries to convince to join his cause are apathetic towards it themselves, having resigned themselves to being forgotten. Add that to the fact that they all seem to be assholes to some degree, and you get absolutely no empathy. Plus, modern Americans do in fact have more stake in things like the Internet and highways, so why should we root for gods of human sacrifice?

Through some slightly unexpected twists and turns at the end, American Gods comes close to redeeming itself, but really it just makes the last hundred pages feel like Gaiman was in a hurry to get it all over with. I won't pretend that I wasn't looking forward to finishing this book so I could move on to my next Rushdie (The Satanic Verses), but even that aside, the end of the book seemed hurried and it ended rather abruptly. While Gaiman clearly has a clever imagination, this book hasn't made me anxious to pick up one of his other novels any time soon, although I won't rule out the possibility of revisiting his writing some time in the future.

Linguistic "Duh" Moment #4

2009-03-09T11:35:00.004-04:00

The true mark of fluency, according to anyone who has no more than a smattering of personal experience in the area, is when you can think in the language you're speaking. This, according to any language instructor, only comes after countless repetitions to train your brain to associate familiar concepts with new words. Students who have been diligently studying a language for three or four years may be feeling very dejected at their still disjointed speech, as a result of having to translate many words in their head. Still, thinking in a foreign language is not something that happens overnight. It is very gradual, actually, and its development can be observed. Consider: today in my German class, one person responded to a question with "hai" and another with "sí." Words for yes and no are the first to become automatic, I've found, which makes it easier to confuse them. Pronouns are usually the next thing that don't take much thought to produce. Based on my own progression in Spanish, present tense verb conjugations follow that, and other tenses come more or less in order of frequency of use. I can say that I generally think in Spanish when I'm talking, but not entirely. Infrequently used words or tenses still force me to translate in my head first. This clearly isn't a ground-breaking observation here. It's simply more evidence to show how much of a process language learning is and how important repetition is to achieving fluency.

Book Review: Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie

2009-02-04T22:49:00.003-05:00

Normally I wouldn't attempt a post when I'm as physically and mentally exhausted as I am, but this one is simple. When I should have been doing other work (or taking a nap) the other day, I sat down and finished the last two chapters of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, the second book in my process of reading every Rushdie novel to date. The reason this review is simple is that I have absolutely no criticism of this book whatsoever. This is quite possibly one of the best and most ingeniously crafted pieces of literature I have ever had the incredible pleasure of reading. The intricacies of the expansive plot are mind-blowing, and the foreshadowing and self-reference that permeates the narrative lend it the verissimilitude to make Saleem Sinai, the protagonist and narrator, seem to be a real, live person that lived his life inseparably bonded to the fate of India as a result of his birth at midnight on August 15, 1947— the exact moment India became independent. If I needed any reaffirming of my goal to read every Rushdie novel after finishing Shalimar the Clown, this is it. I'm almost tempted to say that if someone were to read only one English-language 20th century novel, this would be it, but I don't think I've read enough to say that definitively. The novel's accolades, however, including the Booker Prize and twice the Best of the Booker, back me up in confirming Midnight's Children's place on the shortlist for that distinction. There's so much to experience in this book— so many flavors, so many spices— that it just may become the first novel I ever read a second time from cover to cover. There just aren't enough words to say how much I truly enjoyed this book and how I am humbled by Rushdie's ability as an author. How blessed we are to have a mind like his in our world.

Thought Nugget #5: Nerd Clarification

2009-01-30T15:47:00.003-05:00

To: The Internet at large
Cc: Users of said Internet
From: Connor
Subject: The film Anastasia

Despite how YouTubers may tag their foreign dubs of songs from the film Anastasia, it remains a movie owned and released by 20th Century Fox and is not in any way a product of Walt Disney Pictures. Just because it's a traditionally animated movie, doesn't mean something was made by Disney.

Thanks, I just wanted to clarify that.

Relaxed Pronunciation: Wanna vs. Wanna

2009-01-21T20:37:00.002-05:00

I was prompted by a friend's away message on AIM, "I wanna pickle," to do some research on the spelling of relaxed pronunciations. In this case, I read the message as a semi-phonetic spelling of "I want to pickle"— perfectly grammatical, but not, I assume, what my friend intended, which was probably "I want a pickle." There's no doubt that relaxed pronunciations of "want to" and "want a" would be the same, however I am more inclined to say that the written form "wanna" more often refers to "want to." In a totally unscientific survey, I Googled "wanna" and found that in the first 2 pages of results, there was only one instance of "wanna" being used for "want a," and the rest of the results (with the exception of proper names of companies and places) used "wanna" for "want to." I suppose this confirms my inclination to read "wanna" as "want to," which appears to be more common, although according to both Wikipedia and Google, it can also be used for "want a." Who'da thought?

Coming To Terms With My Music

2009-01-09T04:16:00.002-05:00

I've gone through what I see as four distinct phases in my life as a music listener. Not counting children's songs, and tape-destroying repeated listenings of "Polly Wolly Doodle," I began listening to no music. I was perfectly content to just hear what was around me, whether what my parents were playing or mall muzak. I then progressed into the stage in which I listened to "what was cool." I asked for and received CDs by Blink-182 and Eminem, having absolutely no clue whether I liked their music or not. I listened to these believing that this was what someone my age was expected to listen to.

As I discovered jazz and began to think of myself as a musician, my tastes broadened and I listened to what I wanted— for the most part. At this point (and I only realize this in retrospect), I suffered from the opposite problem of the previous period. I eschewed all forms of popular music and never had any clue who an of the Grammy performers were. I remember that I once succumbed and purchased Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl," but later purposefully deleted the song for which I had paid my own hard-earned $0.99 from my iTunes library, for fear of being caught with something so "mainstream."

I have recently entered into my fourth and (I hope) final period: the period in which I don't care at all what people think of my library. Although the vast majority of my music remains the same things I listened to during the third period, some of my recent purchases have included "So What" by P!nk, "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry, and "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé. I could make up some sort of ridiculous story about how they're actually musicologically interesting and I'm analyzing them (hey, Michael McLaughlin claims "Toxic" is very deep, musically), but that would be total bullshit. I bought them because I like listening to them just as much as any of my other music, and (this is the really great part) I don't give a rat's ass what anyone thinks about me because of it.

The New Year Post 2009

2009-01-01T03:55:00.002-05:00

Well, it's a new year. The debacle that was 2008 has ended and now we are entering into a brand new future. Let's give 'em something to blog about.

In this coming year, a number of things will be happening. First and foremost, Barack Obama will be taking the oath of office to become the first black president of the United States, a fact that I'm obviously quite happy about. I'll also be turning 19 this year, fast approaching a remarkable two decades on this planet, which, I ashamedly admit, sounds like a long time to me. I'm also starting a personal journey which will last longer than 2009— a challenge to complete 101 goals in a period of 1001 days, which I'll be cataloging in a separate blog, which will be much more personal than this one.

There are a number of challenges that we as humanity face this year. Principal among those in the United States, I believe, will be the resolution of the economic crisis and the ongoing battle for gay rights. There's a lot of progress that needs to be made in this world, but I think that in general people are changing. Negativity is having increasing difficulty finding a home in our world, and many people— myself included— are really taking the idea of making some drastic changes in the world to heart. No matter what's been going on recently, I feel very optimistic for 2009.

Now that I've renewed my love affair with blogging, I plan to continue to update as frequently as possible. I've implemented a new theme for the new year, and I'm toying with the idea of porting over to Wordpress for some additional features and design elements, but overall I plan to keep blogging just as I have. Happy New Year to anyone who's reading, and may 2009 be filled with happiness, joy, and prosperity.

~Connor Ferguson

Thought Nugget #4

2008-12-30T14:47:00.005-05:00

Why is it that the only way to indicate that someone is foreign seems to be to have them address other people using titles in their native language? In countless films and books, the mark of a German is his references to Herr So-and-so, while every Frenchman addresses his associate as Monsieur Whats-his-name, and the surefire way to identify any Spanish speaker is their insistence on calling everyone "señor," often without a surname. It seems to me that if the character is able to speak English well enough to interact with the English-speakers in the scene, they should know the difference between foreign titles and native English ones. It would seem incredibly unnatural for me to address someone as "Mr. Gonzalez" if the rest of the conversation were in Spanish, and I don't think I've ever heard this sort of thing done in real life by anyone else either.

Book Review: South of the Border, West of the Sun, by Haruki Murakami

2008-12-22T18:25:00.004-05:00

With the exception of the last three Harry Potter books, which I tore through in a day each in order to avoid the possibility of accidental spoilers the longer I dragged it out, this was the fastest I'd ever finished a book. It's only 213 pages, but still, it's a relatively easy read: much more straightforward than Murakami's celebrated The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

When it comes to plot, this book pretty much has none, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Murakami's books (like, in my opinion, Nicola Barker's Darkmans) have a tendency to sound like exposition up until the last page. South of the Border, West of the Sun tells the story of the life of Hajime, the middle-aged proprieter of two successful jazz clubs, and his childhood love, a mysterious woman called Shimamoto who suddenly shows up in his life after 25 years. Shimamoto is a true enigma, with a strange past and an even stranger health problem she doesn't wish to speak about. While there is not much in terms of external conflict, SotB, WotS is notable for Murakami's poetic depiction of internal conflict and Hajime's reconciliation of his feelings for the three women central to his life: Izumi, his first steady girlfriend in high school who never forgave him for hurting her; Yukiko, his wife with whom he has two young daughters; and Shimamoto.

Like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, this novel seems to end rather abruptly, leaving just about everything unusual that has happened unexplained. While the descriptions and characters and interesting, it leaves the reader wanting more, which is, I suppose, why I revisited Murakami after reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Murakami's unnecessarily graphic descriptions of sex sometimes make me think that he would do well to rub one off before sitting down to write, but I suppose it can be argued that it is in keeping with his other realist descriptions. Overall, it was a fine read, but it feels like the kind of thing Haruki Murakami was only able to get away with because he is Haruki Murakami.

Movie Review: Milk

2008-12-19T01:46:00.004-05:00

Whether the Christian Right likes it or not, the battle for gay rights has come to the forefront, and is being represented either directly or allegorically in many forms. Although I'm not suggesting that it's merely part of this current "trend," so to speak, Gus Van Sant's new film Milk, about the life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to political office, has come at a time when the topic is on everyone's minds, and it is all the more relevant as a result.

I will start by saying that this is a spectacular film. Biopics, in my opinion, often tend to drag on in some places and assume everyone already knows the story in others, but even with its two-hour-and-twenty-minute runtime, Milk did neither. Van Sant understood the limitations posed upon the representation of a man's life on film and rightfully chose to focus only on the more relevant part of Milk's life: his political career. Beginning in 1970— just 8 years before his tragic assassination— the film chronicles Harvey Milk's rise to political prominence in San Francisco and eventual election to the position of City Supervisor.

While it may seem a bit redundant to say this about a film based on true events, the characters were remarkably real, given that these are still actors on film. I knew the basics of the political career of Harvey Milk prior to seeing the film, but I didn't know any of the other people portrayed, and yet they were all so convincingly played that I truly cared about them as characters and people. James Franco stood out as Milk's lover Scott Smith, appearing especially genuine in his tender moments with Sean Penn's Milk. It's not often you see two men kissing on film, even these days, and when you do, it's often treated as something special or extraordinary. These interactions were remarkably natural and believable, even between two straight actors. Emile Hirsch is also worth noting for his portrayal of gay student Cleve Jones who worked as an intern in Milk's office.

The standout performance of the film, however, is of course Sean Penn as the eponymous politician. He played the role with so much passion and energy that I couldn't see him as anyone else but Harvey Milk. I've freely admitted that I think Heath Ledger should receive an Oscar for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight, but I think now that Penn has surpassed him in his thorough and convincing performance as Milk. There's something to be said for the character created by Ledger, but at the same time Penn has done a fantastic job playing a real person without feeling like an impersonator on a variety show. If nothing else, this film is not to be missed for Sean Penn's performance, but that is far from the only redeeming quality of it.

BBC News: Many lie over books "to impress"

2008-12-11T13:31:00.001-05:00

BBC article about how many people will lie about what they've read in order to impress a potential partner or friend.

Thought Nugget #3

2008-12-09T19:45:00.003-05:00

I wonder what it means that the forecast on The Weather Channel website tends to be a little more optimistic and positive in their language (90% chance of Rain/Wind on Wednesday, 70% chance of Rain/Snow on Thursday) than the National Weather Service (100% chance of Heavy Rain on Wednesday, 80% Rain/Sleet on Thursday). Could it have something to do with the fact that weather.com is a commercial site? Does making the site a bit more user-friendly translate to more favorable predictions and less harsh language?

Thought Nugget #2

2008-12-05T16:07:00.002-05:00

Buying books is a frustrating balance. On one hand, I want to order a new book such that it will arrive before I finish my current book so I don't ever have a time with nothing to read. On the other hand, having a new book sitting on my shelf, even if I'm enjoying the one I'm still reading, is maddeningly tantalizing: I don't want to start reading it out of fear of not finishing the current book, so I have to content myself with staring at it and reading the old book as much as possible so I can get to the new one.

In case you're curious, the "old book" is On the Road by Jack Kerouac and the "new book" is South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami.

Thought Nugget #1

2008-12-03T23:45:00.003-05:00

I'm starting to like the idea of roots in Arabic, e.g. أدرُس (study) and أُدرِّس (teach) both come from the same root, but with different vowels. We had already learned a number of word from the root كَتَبَ like كِتاب (book) and أكتُب (write), but I hadn't thought about the connection between those words and مَكتَبة (library) until we learned the word مَدرَسة (school). Basically, كَتَبَ is to مَكتَبة as دَرَسَ is to مَدرَسة. They exhibit the same vowel pattern and addition of the ة at the end, leading me to believe this morph is basically some sort of locative form of the root. I'm not sure how open to neologisms Arabic is and whether this vowel pattern could be applied to roots for which a derived word does not already exist, in order to form a "place where" word.

Language Acquisition, My Way

2008-11-21T16:46:00.007-05:00

This blog has been getting rather political lately, so I figured a return to its roots via a language acquisition-related post was in order.

It's been quite a while since I've been a complete beginner at a language (I started German the summer before last), and being at that helpless stage in which I can't even circuitously describe something I don't know the word for in Arabic, I once again have started examining how I learn languages and I've determined that a classroom situation is generally not the best for me.

I've found that I learn best by observing. Practice is obviously essential to learning any language, but I internalize languages most through observation— listening and reading. This has been problematic in my Arabic class since there is very little chance for observation. Most of the time in class we spend doing activities in groups or partners, which doesn't help me because my partner is usually not pronouncing things correctly or formulating entirely grammatical sentences. The rest of the learning is supposed to take place in the form of individual study, but this can also be a problem for me. I learn words best by seeing them in context, rather than memorizing them off a list of vocabulary.

So it is quite frustrating the amount of "real" Arabic I get exposed to in my class. Classtime frequently consists of doing written exercises "طالب مع طالب" (student with student) and then NOT going over them as a class afterward. My teacher's justification for this is that we should correct each other, but whether or not my partner knows the correct way to say something, I'm still not being exposed to "real" Arabic (that is, natural Arabic spoken by a native speaker). The fact that I need to learn most of the things in that class through individual rote memorization is frustrating. I wish that there were classes offered for experience language learners: classes that offered much more freedom in the style of learning so that students who have already experimented learning other languages and determined what method works best for them can do just that.

In Defense of My Opinions On Proposition 8

2008-11-17T15:26:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, my friend Kristina and I went downtown to City Hall to join in the Boston chapter of the national protest of California Proposition 8, which amended the California constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman when it was passed on November 4. Being a Californian in a state that had previously legalized gay marriage (MA, 2004), I feel somewhat obligated to voice my opinion and support the cause. The protest was entirely peaceful, and there were no counter-protests, unlike back home in Los Angeles. Still, it felt good to be part of the movement of energy towards tolerance. One of the protesters held a sign that read, "Would this ring any bells if there were fire hoses and police dogs?" As I discussed in my earlier post, it really does seem, now that blacks have overcome the vast majority of racism and discrimination once present in this country, that that marginalization has been placed on the gay population.

Before leaving for the protest, however, I got into a discussion (read: argument) with one of my floormates. He argued that I shouldn't be protesting Prop 8 because the people of California had spoken and this was democracy at work. Now, I wouldn't call him a homophobe, but I wouldn't stay he is a staunch supporter of gay rights, either, so I wasn't so much arguing over whether gay people should have the right to marry, but more about whether I should be protesting the proposition. I told him, however, that I'm not protesting the outcome of the vote; had John McCain won the election, I wouldn't have been out in the streets demanding a recount. That would have been democracy at work. In this case, however, I am protesting the very existence of the vote. I don't feel that this issue should have even been on the ballot. It should not be for the majority to decide the rights of the minority. As another sign at the protest said (held by another Tufts student), "When do we get to vote on your marriage?"

An interesting view held by one of my often frustratingly libertarian friends is that marriage— whether heterosexual or homosexual— should not be regulated by the government at all, and I am starting to agree with this. He, and others like him, proposes that the government grant only civil unions to both straight and gay couples, and that it should be left to religious institutions to marry couples. Then it would be up to the individual churches, temples, or what have you, to determine whether a certain couple should be allowed to get married.

A New Age of Intolerance

2008-11-06T11:14:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, says Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times, the American Civil War finally ended, 147 years after the battle of Bull Run, when Barack Obama became the first black man to be elected president of the United States by its population's white majority. If Tuesday marked the true end of mainstream racism, though, it also marked the beginning of a new age of intolerance. Just as Barack Obama will, on January 20, 2009, take up the position held by George W. Bush, the position of greatly marginalized minority— formerly held by blacks— has been assumed by another group: gays.

Along with electing the first black president, the country also decided on Tuesday that in three states, marriage should be defined as a union only between a man and a woman. One of those states, ironically enough, was my own home state of California, whose 55 electoral votes also pushed Obama to victory. I can deal with people who support other political candidates and accept their differing opinions from mine, but I cannot keep quiet about this kind of bigotry.

If you agree with Mr. Friedman's assertion, then it truly is staggering to see how fast gays have become the new African-Americans, if you'll forgive me making a bit of a crude comparison. As a country, we seem to have a need to marginalize some group and when it becomes politically incorrect to do so, we find another. Any politician who vehemently railed against blacks and ran on a platform based on denying them fundamental rights because of the color of their skin would be defeated in a heartbeat, but many, including the former potential Vice President, are quite public about their anti-gay sentiments, which is actually a plus for many voters. Could the only difference simply be that the Bible doesn't call black people an abomination?

The decision in California has set a precedent which will make the battle for gay rights even harder across the nation. Other countries have long protected the right to marry for gays, and when we should be taking steps forward, it seems like we may be inching backwards. I only hope that the process will not be as long and arduous as the Civil Rights movement was for African-Americans. You don't have to be gay to feel what a slap in the face this decision is, just like you didn't have to be black to feel the sting of Birmingham fire hoses, or a woman to feel the embarrassment of being turned away from polls, or Jewish to feel the fear of the fires of the Inquisition.

Obama Nation, Delivered

2008-11-05T15:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday is a day our children and our children's children will be studying in their history classes. Yesterday is a day I know I will never forget.

I've never been one to be apathetic towards politics, but I can't exactly say I'm the most involved, knowledgeable citizen out there. At 6 years old, I simplified the things my dad explained to me as "Republicans bad, Democrats good." By the time the 2000 election came around, I had become a little more subtle in my distinction between parties and candidates, but basically only because I knew the names of both candidates and that my parents supported Al Gore. Their decision seemed to make sense to me, so I didn't question it. I probably felt my first sense of political disappointment after the long and arduous process that was the 2000 recount. In 2004, things were different. I was a freshman in high school and so a little more awake to what had been going on the world. I actually had memories of things two and three years back, from watching the planes hit the World Trade Center to seeing news feeds of the first bombs falling on Baghdad. When John Kerry was chosen as the Democratic nominee (I honestly couldn't tell you now who the other candidates were), I stood behind him with my parents and didn't like it when people made fun of him or belittled him, even though now I do believe that he was only the lesser of two evils in that election and not by any means my ideal candidate. I was again disappointed at the outcome of that election, probably more so that in 2000.

Something else happened in 2004, though. Watching the DNC, I was first introduced to the man who in a few months will become the 44th President of the United States. Barack Obama was a young senator who no one had heard of, and when he spoke at the convention, my parents commented on his eloquence and the freshness of his ideas and what he was saying. They predicted we'd be seeing more of him in the future, and so I always had this idea of him as a new, different face of politics.

When it started to look like a real possibility that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee for president, I supported him wholeheartedly and, for the first time in my life, disagreed with my parents politically. My dad supported Hillary Clinton, because although he thought Obama's ideas were good, he didn't think he had enough experience to be president. I want to make clear that I do not dislike Hillary Clinton and I think she would have made an excellent president, but I felt at the time that she was too polarizing. I knew of many Democrats who said they would vote for McCain if Hillary became the nominee. If the goal was to get a Democrat in the White House to undo what Bush did, then, I felt, Clinton was not the way to go.

My parents came around, of course, and supported Obama completely towards the end of his bid for the nomination. My dad realized that despite his lack of experience compared to Clinton, Obama was a unifying force and could truly enact the change needed in Washington. Our brief disagreement was over, but I had discovered something about myself in the process. I had agreed with my parents politically up until that point, and to have my own opinion different from theirs affirmed the knowledge that I was my own person. That felt good.

The most significant part of this election for me, though, was that it was the first election in which I could vote. As a result, I took it very seriously and instead of simply putting a banner on some online profile, I volunteered for the campaign to make a difference with more than just my ballot. When I arrived at Tufts in September, I joined Tufts Students for Barack Obama and took a trip to New Hampshire, where I saw Obama speak at a rally in Manchester and went door-to-door talking to voters in Derry, as I described in my earlier post. I gave some of my own money (and God knows I don't have very much of it) to the campaign. In the final week, I also picked up the phone and called Obama supporters in Ohio and Florida reminding them to vote. What I am most proud of is that all three states in which I volunteered— New Hampshire, Ohio, and Florida— were carried by Sen. Obama. I know that the doors I knocked on, the people I called, and the energy I moved all made a difference in electing Barack Obama our next president.

This has been an incredibly emotional couple of months and I'm very glad that it's over and we've been successful. I can definitively say that this has been the most important election of my lifetime so far and I'm so proud to have been a part of it. The celebrations in major cities across the country and of course on the Tufts campus last night continue to astound me. I'm looking forward anxiously to Barack Obama's presidency to see if he delivers what has been promised.

Obama Nation

2008-09-13T15:53:00.000-04:00

Today I had an experience I will not soon forget. I feel so incredibly blessed to have truly been a part of history today.

Yesterday afternoon, I received a last minute email from Tufts Students for Barack Obama that Sen. Obama himself would be speaking at a rally Saturday morning in Manchester, New Hampshire and that they were organizing a bunch of cars to go see him. I immediately jumped at the opportunity. So this morning, I got up earlier than I ever thought I would now that I'm in college and piled awkwardly into a mini-van to drive to NH. When we arrived, the line snaked all the way around the block practically back to where it started. It moved relatively quickly, though, and soon enough we were in the Veteran's Park. The energy was electric. Everyone was completely fired up. By 10:30, a few unknowns had spoken, but the man of the hour was no where to be seen. Eventually, though, a cheer rang through the crowd as the Obama campaign bus pulled up behind the stage.

Barack gave an excellent speech, touching on a lot of the points and anecdotes from his convention speech. It honestly felt less like a campaign rally and more like a rock concert. It was so exciting to be surrounded by so many people cheering for the exact same things I was cheering for. He is just as charismatic, just as personable, just as inspiring in person as on TV— perhaps even more so. After the speech, I tried to get as close as I could, but wasn't able to actually shake his hand. I did snap a few close pictures, though.

After that, we desperately tried to regroup. It took awhile, but eventually we hit the road and made it a bit farther south to Derry, NH. There we checked in with the unified Democratic campaign office, which also handles the local elections of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Gov. John Lynch. We grabbed a quick bite at an incredibly charming local sandwich shop run by a mother and daughter just around the corner. The simplest, and yet one of the best ham sandwiches I've ever had. After our quick refueling, we set to work.

We divided into teams based on cars. My team went to nearby Londonderry where we set out in groups of two, canvassing the area. New Hampshire could make or break this election and we were there on the ground trying to make it happen. There were a number of people who blew us off immediately, staunch McCain supporters. A few said they were definitely voting for Obama. But I did get the chance to spend almost 30 minutes talking with a mother and daughter who were truly undecided. The mother had supported Hillary, but persuaded by her husband had began to consider McCain after Obama's nomination. I had a great discussion with her, informing her about Obama's politics and positions on all the major issues. She tended to feel the same way as him, which I pointed out to her. I actually feel that I may have turned someone today. It is quite possible that this woman would've voted for John McCain had I not knocked on her door this afternoon. Personally, that to me is worth all the walking, the standing, the driving, the hunger, and even having my water bottle confiscated at the rally.

This was a remarkable day for me. I will never forget the experience I had today and, if New Hampshire swings in our favor come Nov. 4, I can rest easy knowing that I made a difference in the outcome of the election and who our next president will be.

Movie Review: Wall-E

2008-08-20T15:27:00.000-04:00

Seeing a movie you enjoyed once for the second time can really be an eye-opening experience. Already knowing what's going to happen, you can focus on the film making that gets you there. Such was the case when I saw Wall-E for the second time now that my girlfriend is back in town.

Pixar truly are the kings of imbuing inanimate objects with life (their logo is a desk lamp!) and the animation of the title character and all his robot friends is a tour-de-force of animation. Wall-E is mute with the exception of a few life-like vocalizations and has only the angle of his binocular-style eyes for expression points, and yet he is totally charming. Even watching the film a second time, I cannot exactly put my finger on what it is that allows you to infer Wall-E's every thought.

Another thing Pixar is known for is not producing visually stunning films at the expense of an engaging storyline and likeable characters, and Wall-E is no exception. At it's core, Wall-E is a love story, and an incredibly touching one at that. Now, there is a "greener" message behind the film, but it doesn't even approach the proselytizing the film has been accused of by some of the right-wing reviewers. Even if you don't happen to subscribe to global warming and Al Goreism, the film's charm can still be appreciated along with its other lessons in valuing things such as interpersonal communication, personal mobility, and free markets. But don't let any of this apparent moral discussion distract from my point. Wall-E is a wonderful film. Beyond being incredibly cute, it's just darn good cinema and storytelling. Pixar scores with another one.

Music Review: Instant Heat (Roger Neumann)

2008-08-04T01:38:00.000-04:00

It's always interesting experiencing the creative output of personal friends. Especially when it comes to music, you sometimes have to remind yourself that the sounds you're hearing were made by someone you know. Roger Neumann is both a friend and mentor to me, but I've heard him play surprisingly little with the amount I see him.

I had the pleasure a while ago of hearing his Rather Large Band at Charlie-O's here in Los Angeles. While the atmosphere was not exactly conducive to a big band (Charlie-O's has an incredibly small stage), it was clear this was an incredibly talented group of players. Knowing that his albums were nowhere to be found in the modern music world of iTunes, I jumped at the opportunity to buy this funny silver circle that when inserted into my computer magically made Roger Neumann's second album, Instant Heat, appear.

The eponymous first track is aptly named, beginning with a classic "drink spiller" as Roger himself calls it. As the first song goes on, you quickly begin to realize what tremendous players were assembled for this recording in 1993. There are quite a number of solos on this first track— a sort of "who's who" of the band—all of which are meticulously credited in the liner notes. While I don't know all of them personally, nearly every name jumps out at me from my forays into the L.A. jazz scene: current Big Phat Band members Bob Summers, Wayne Bergeron (trumpet), Sal Lozano, Brian Scanlon (woodwinds), and Andy Martin (trombone), as well as trumpeter Ron Stout and Hal Espinoza, current president of the Musician's Union Local 47.

The album continues enjoyably from there. With a few exceptions, most of the tunes are similar in feel, and nearly all original compositions by Roger himself. By far the most inventive is his arrangement of "Stompin' at the Savoy" in 5/4, which one reviewer mistakenly described as being taken "a bit slower than most" (which is true, I suppose, but only on certain notes). Wayne Bergeron gets a chance to flex his high note chops that he's so well-known for now on the end of this one. While "Sweden in the Rain" begins inauspiciously with a rainstick solo, it eventually redeems itself and proves to be a pleasant, moody medium swing. But even really talented composers (of which Roger certainly is one) have a couple of duds. The last cut, an arrangement of one of Chick Corea's "Children's Songs," is not exactly as "interesting, harmonically" as Roger claims in the liner notes and doesn't seem to go anywhere. As a whole, however, the album stands as a truly excellent jazz recording.

Commands in the Workplace

2008-07-30T23:12:00.000-04:00

I've noticed a curious trend in the speech patterns of my various bosses at my retail job: they never give direct commands. Now, linguistically speaking (and we're always speaking linguistically), they do use imperatives, but it's always prefaced with some sort of meaningless phrase that carries with it some notion of taking charge or gives the worker-boss relationship a more familial feel.

Go ahead and recover this table for me.

Do me a favor and run these go-backs.

And my personal favorite,

After you come back from break, help me recover this table.

But of course, I'm the only one recovering the table.

"Go ahead" seems to be the phrase of choice. Given that all the managers use it, it must be part of their training to use language that suggests employees are taking initiative, rather than taking orders from the boss. It does make it seem less like they're barking orders at me all day, but no one's being fooled into thinking I'm any less of an underling than I really am.

Bad Latin; or, the Perils of Online Translators

2008-07-20T00:26:00.000-04:00

In case the picture appears too small, the text on the bumper sticker reads: "MEUS PARVULUS QUOD MEUS VIATICUS PETO ROME UNIVERSITATUS" (sic). Wow.

A quick Google search turned up this online Latin machine translator, which gives "Meus kid quod meus viaticus peto Rome Universitas" for Dan Piraro's (mediocre) punch line. Since most translation software is essentially based on the same skeleton of code, this seems to validate my immediate suspicion on reading this in today's paper that ol' Danny used a computer to produce his Latin. I suppose this isn't quite as bad as emblazoning a machine translation in everlasting ink on your chest, but "Bizarro" gets some pretty wide distribution, I believe. At least latinists had an extra laugh over their morning bran cereal today.

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

2008-07-19T21:36:00.000-04:00

I always seemed to relate more to the villains of the movies I watched as a child: they were just so brilliantly theatrical and really fun to watch, and probably the only hero I enjoy watching as much is Jack Sparrow (though he's got some pretty questionable morals himself). So naturally, as I wore out the tape of Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, I drooled over Jack Nicholson's Joker, the ultimate villain to watch. He was funny in a sort of "I'm laughing because I'm creeped out" kind of way, and there's not much that needs to be said about that perfectly formed grin and expertly colored face.

Nevertheless, I was truly excited when I saw the first images of the late Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins. In fact, I think I prefer a complete reimagining of the character (as this portrayal is), rather than a poor imitation of Nicholson's performance.

Ledger's Joker definitely fits into the category of villains you can't look away from, but I wouldn't call him fun to watch. Let alone the unsettling pair of scars that forms his characteristic grin in this rendition, this Joker is a frightening psychopath with no redeeming, human qualities. He is a merciless killer, an aspect of Nicholson's character that, while still present, was definitely downplayed. He's the kind of villain that when he's on screen, you never want him to leave, but when he's off, you're dreading what may happen when he returns. Ledger's death earlier this year of a drug overdose never really meant much to me, as I don't think I had seen any of his films prior to that. But now I can truly mourn for him, knowing that we will never see the Joker portrayed just like this again.

While it's no question that Ledger steals the show, the other cast members are a very good support system for him. Aaron Eckhart, debuting in the Batman reboot franchise as Gotham Dist. Attorney Harvey Dent and later the psycho-killer Two-Face, is very believable as a crusading public servant, the so-called "White Knight" to Batman's dark variety. Maggie Gyllenhaal is also good, what little there is of her, and a definite step up from Batman Begins' Katie Holmes. Christian Bale is somewhat wooden for my taste, but Bruce Wayne plays a slightly dimished role in this film compared to the first, meaning that what we see of Bale is mostly behind a mask, where he's sufficiently dark and mysterious. Rounding off the main cast are Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, Michael Caine as Bruce Wayne's loyal butler Alfred, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises and the brains behind all of Batman's gadgets. All three give the type of strong performances that are to be expected from veterans of their stature.

The film is considerably darker than the first, mostly due to the trail of bodies the Joker leaves behind wherever he goes, but it's in keeping with the notion at the end of the previous film that things in Gotham will get worse before they get better. Nolan uses this dark backdrop to tell a story that questions morality and the difference between good and evil, the kind of conflict not often found in superhero movies. But then, The Dark Knight really isn't a superhero movie, because Batman, as shown in this film, is not exactly a superhero. He doesn't fight for truth, justice, or the American way and he's certainly got a lot more psychological issues under that mask than can fit in the average comic panel. That, however, makes for a much more interesting story.

Theater Review: A Chorus Line

2008-06-08T16:48:00.000-04:00

I recently had the pleasure of seeing “A Chorus Line” performed at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. I enjoyed it, but I was not completely blown away. Now, I should say that although I had heard some of the songs before in other contexts, this was essentially my first exposure to "A Chorus Line." I knew the basic premise of the show, and I'm certainly a big fan of untraditional formats when it comes to musicals. My opinion, though, was although the concept of the show was good, most of the music was not interesting enough to really grab me. I think much more of the appeal of "A Chorus Line" has been it's very human element to the story and characters and I definitely understood that, but for me, the music is probably the most important part of a show, and there were a number of places in the songs that seemed somewhat listless in terms of melody and lyrics. I didn't feel this way about the entire score, though, and there were a number of sections that I enjoyed.

With regards to this specific production, the cast seemed to reaffirm the idea that there is no such thing as a triple threat. They were excellent dancers and one of the things that did really stun me was how visually impressive a show with no set and simplistic costumes could be, owing to the incredibly well-executed choreography. When it came to singing as well, they were all very talented. But as actors, they fell flat. The show lost all its momentum in between songs and some of the actors were almost laughable in their mock sincerity.

For what it's worth, that's my opinion of the show. In reading what I've written, I realize that I've been incredibly harsh on what is somewhat of a time-honored classic on Broadway, but that's my initial opinion. Given its enormous success over the years and the number of people who love the show, I think I will explore it further and maybe spend some time listening to the score apart from the production, but this was my first reaction.

The Age of the eBook: Amazon Kindle

2008-02-15T18:18:00.001-05:00

Stick a high front vowel in front of any popular product these days and watch the sales shoot through the roof. Just browsing for curiosity's sake on Amazon.com, I noticed that their new (I guess it's new— sickness has put me relatively out of the loop of late) eBook-type thing, Kindle, is already sold out. And, really, why shouldn't it be? It's sleek and stylish, has a unique, non-backlit screen that makes reading in bright sunlight a breeze, can download new books, magazines and newspapers anywhere, allows you to dog-ear pages, highlight passages, look up unfamiliar words, search everything on its hard drive, and more. But at the risk of sounding like a commercial for this thing (don't worry— I haven't sold out yet), despite the undeniable awesome-factor of its features, I could never see myself getting a Kindle. I love books. I love the feel of paper, resting the spine on the edge of my desk as I flip through the pages, and I don't think I would enjoy reading nearly as much as I do if all that was done with buttons. But I suppose I'm akin to the audiophiles who still cling desperately to their vinyl, only my technology of choice is a little less outdated. Kindle, and other products like it, promises to do for reading what iTunes and iPod have done for music. As a writer, I wouldn't mind whether someone reads my books in a physical copy or on a screen, so long as they read them and I get paid for it. So if the ease and convenience of Kindle gets more people into reading for fun, then I'm all for it. Just be sure to leave me my space-hogging, environmentally unfriendly collection of good old paperbacks.

Linguistic "Duh" Moment #3

2007-11-19T20:15:00.000-05:00

Talking in Latin today about the fact that the future perfect and perfect subjunctive are nearly indistinguishable in form, I commented that you could say, that they are the same tense/mood really and just have multiple meanings. Now, I realize that I was blanking on the fact that the future perfect ends in -ero and the perfect subjunctive in -erim, so they are indeed separate. But, as my teacher said, it is certainly not surprising that the future and the subjunctive share forms, considering they both indicate a level of possibility (this pattern is also observed in the first-person singular future and present subjunctive forms of 3rd conjugation verbs). This led me to think of an interesting contradiction: grammatically the future indicative is completely factual, i.e. there is no possibility involved, but logically we of course know the future has an element of possibility and is never sure, given that it hasn't happened yet. That is, of course, if you accept the notion of a linear time line.

Musings on Language Acquisition

2007-11-18T15:44:00.001-05:00

Not wanting to remain merely bilingual after having lost much of the German I learned over the summer and fearing a total lack of communication when I travel to France in the spring, I have begun to learn French. At first, this was to be an excellent arrangement between one of the French teachers at my school, M. Mantelli, but due to personal issues he had to leave the school abruptly. Friday afternoon we had a very long conversation (in Spanish) about what lies ahead. He of course invited me to come stay with him and his wife at their home in Cuernavaca, but we also talked about language in general. He said that he sees himself in me, although I'm much further along than he was at my age. He also mentioned how many thousands of languages there are in the world, which makes it all the more absurd that people are impressed by someone who knows three or four. I suppose all I can get out of our conversation were a number of very true quips about language: when you learn a foreign language, you discover your own language, etc.

M. Mantelli kindly passed the torch of my French instruction to M. Vandenbroucke, a Belgian teacher who seems very interested in me now. I told him all about my conlangs and he listened intently. We will start the formal instruction next Saturday, but, being me, I'm learning as much as I can in the meantime. There is a feeling of excitement that comes before learning a language that cannot be described. It's almost the same feeling I get before I'm about to read a classic book: I'm about to slowly begin to tap into this vast wealth of knowledge that so many people before me have shared. It's a marvelous feeling, and I wonder why more people don't experience it. Who needs drugs to get high? I've got languages.

Book Review: Cion by Zakes Mda

2007-11-12T19:33:00.001-05:00

I've been meaning to write a short review of this book since I finished it a few weeks ago and have finally gotten around to it.

The short review: A well-written, highly poetic book, that, though it makes for very enjoyable prose, seems to do very little with it's somewhat unique premise, though it's direction may have been clearer had I read the book to which this is a sequel.

The long review: I did, in fact, enjoy reading this book, as long as I didn't think too much about the overall storyline and focused mostly on the anecdotes and descriptions. It tells the story of Toloki, a professional mourner who, disillusioned with his life in South Africa, travels to the United States in search of mourning. He finds himself in a small town in Ohio, living for the better part of the book with the Quigley family: Ruth, the neoconservative matriarch of the family; Obed, her son, whom Toloki saves from sexual harassment charges at the start of the book; Mahlon, her silent husband who smiles as he sits over his garden in which nothing but gnomes and statues grow; and Orpah, her reclusive daughter who begins to haunt Toloki's dreams. The book mostly concerns itself with the day-to-day life of Toloki and the Quigleys, told in first-person, present tense. Their story is also interspersed with legends about the origins of the Quigleys, from escaped slaves in the Civil War to later Irish immigrants.

Only after finishing the novel and realizing that I don't feel much different having read it do I realize that it has a definite sense of being part of something greater, making me wish I had known it was a sequel to Mda's earlier Ways of Dying before I read it. The fact that it seems clear even on it's own that it covers new ground and retools ideas presented in the earlier book makes me think the two books must work very well together. On the whole, it was an enjoyable read, however, even if there were some things left unexplained that I assume I would have known had I read the previous book.

German Sluts Must Be Cooler

2007-09-16T02:22:00.000-04:00

Trying to avoid letting the updating of this blog turn into a monthly occurrence, I was groping for a topic to discuss while absent-mindedly thumbing through my friends' pictures on Facebook, when I saw a new album entitled "SCHLAMPALICIOUS!!" The current word that many of the girls at my school seem to have latched onto is "Schlampe," German for slut or bitch. I'm not exactly sure how widely known this term is among American adolescents, but I find it interesting that, if memory serves, this is not the only time students at my school have grown overly fond of a particularly naughty foreign word. Freshman year I seem to recall the many Spanish translations of "fuck" passing sneakily through the student body. It's not surprising that this is the subject that gets teenagers the most interested in foreign language: my Latin teacher has told us numerous times that the only way to get British schoolboys the least bit excited about Latin was to give them a little taste of Martial's bawdy verses. But it's intriguing how just a single word can take root and eventually permeate the whole school, and especially one that is not exactly easily applicable to everyday life: "Schlampe" is used in a somewhat positive light, as shown by the title of that album, so it's not like the unusually catty girls can pepper their gossip with it all too frequently. Now that I'm much more aware of this, I'm going to investigate further and see if I can document all the uses of "Schlampe" in a week and update on that. I feel so scientific. Somebody stop me.

Beauty is in the tongue of the beholder

2007-08-17T20:53:00.000-04:00

Having just awakened from sugar-induced nap, I'm now writing this overlooking a beautiful inlet at the tip of Puget Sound as a lone sailboat drifts past our cottage in which we are very comfortably being accommodated for six days by some dear friends. For no reason other than to pass the time away, I sought some inspiration from my surroundings for an entry, and began ruminating on the absurdity of the fact that we use some of the same words to describe a beautiful woman as a beautiful view. Now, from what I've found, such a phenomenon is universal and not limited to English— showing pictures of my canyon home to my Spanish host family last year elicited remarks of how "cute" (bonita) it was. Such a thing makes it incredibly difficult to define a concept such as beauty. Now, naturally there are various terms that are customarily only used to describe people and not views (e.g. "handsome"), but for the most part our adjectives swing both ways. I suppose what I'm looking for is some language somewhere in a dense jungle that makes very clear distinctions between the beauty of a landscape and an individual. Of course, once my brain recovers from that chocolate éclair I may realize something obvious I've forgotten, so forgive me. Hey, I'm on vacation.

Me gusta ser bien enseñado

2007-06-24T16:38:00.000-04:00

Jump Start 24/6/07

Today's Jump Start gives me an excuse to talk about an aspect of language instruction that really bugs me, and that is the teaching of whole phrases early on as complete lexical items; that is, the syntax of every word in the phrase is not taught, just the meaning of the overall sentence.

Now, I understand that most people would get discouraged if they've been taking a language for a month and all they can say is a list of miscellaneous vocabulary and a verb paradigm, but there has to be a limit placed on how simple phrases are taught separate from their grammar. These phrases become individual lexical units to many people, inseparable into their component words. Often, this lack of understanding of the grammatical principles governing a particular phrase leads to unnecessary errors that could be avoided with a little grammar explanation. The example I use is of Spanish me gusta(n), which is usually taught in the first month of Spanish 1 as "I like." However, I think that a considerable number of errors involving the subject pronouns and the use of gusta vs. gustan could be avoided simply by explaining to students that me gusta actually means "it pleases me," and then telling them that it can be translated as "I like." By translating gustar as "to please," students will (hopefully) be able to understand why plural nouns that are being liked take gustan and singular gusta, instead of being told "just because." This would also presumably avoid any "me = I" fallacies developing.

People are smarter than language teachers think, as long as things are explained well.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

2007-06-19T12:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I began my first day of German class. It's quite an interesting experience, since the last time I started a new modern language, I knew nothing about languages in general, and now I can fully appreciate the teacher's offhanded comment about how German Tschüs is related to Spanish Adiós. (Tschüs was originally a maritime farewell, Adjuss, from which the relationship to the Spanish can be seen much more clearly.)

It is also a new experience for me needing to switch my way of thinking about foreign languages. The first instance of this was in our exercise yesterday using the question "Wie alt sind Sie?" (how old are you?). I'm so used to not translating common expressions like that literally, so I kept wanting to begin my answer with "Ich habe..." rather than the simpler "Ich bin..."

Knowing Spanish does have its advantages in this process, however. The teacher gave us the expression "Wie bist du?" This took her close to a minute to explain in English that it means "what are you like, your qualities, etc." Instead of having to write all that down in my notes, I could simply write "¿Cómo eres?," the equivalent Spanish expression.

I think this promises to be a very rewarding process.

Wherefore art thou so misinformed?

2007-06-15T13:19:00.000-04:00

Today's Mutts comic (which, due to syndication issues, will not be available online for another two weeks) shows the cat performing a puppet show version of "Willy Shakespeare's" Romeo and Juliet. The dialogue appears thus:

Romeo! Romeo! Wherefore art thou? Romeo!

This has reminded me and given me excuse to write about one of the most terrible misunderstandings in English literature. As evidenced by the artist's choice of punctuation, he, like many others before him (including my grandfather), is assuming "wherefore" means "where." It doesn't. It means "why." The brilliance of the line is that Juliet is not simply pining for her lover, but musing on why he is "Romeo;" that is, why he must be a member of a supposedly enemy family when he himself is so nice. When you know that, it makes perfect sense with the rest of her speech. The artist is trivializing this unconventional approach to a lover's lament. And you know how I hate trivializing lover's laments.

Ooh, Hoity-Toity Hortatory Subjunctive!

2007-06-13T19:45:00.000-04:00

I think it's funny when politicians and others in positions of power try to look like they know a lot about grammar. Lurita Doan defended her statements to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today by testifying that she was using the "hortatory subjunctive" when discussing her employees who had cooperated in the investigation into her behavior. Doan's actual statement was

Until extensive rehabilitation of their performance occurs, they will not be getting promoted and will not be getting bonuses or special awards or anything of that nature.

which, as anyone can plainly see, has no trace of a "hortatory subjunctive." Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) called her on it, saying it was nothing more than a simple future tense. Yay for real grammar education.

Harvard Latin Address

2007-06-12T14:51:00.000-04:00

me tantum aliquod simile huic facere putabam.

Linguistic "Duh" Moment #2

2007-06-07T17:28:00.000-04:00

Of course we all know responde latine is nothing more than "respond in Latin," but I prefer the much more accurate translation "respond Latinly." Adverb love!

The State of the Danish Language

2007-06-01T18:21:00.000-04:00

From the Norwegian TV show Uti Vår Hage.

Linguistic "Duh" Moment #1

2007-05-30T20:53:00.000-04:00

In Spanish, se llama can be taken to mean, beyond the basic significance, either "he is called" or "he calls himself," demonstrating yet another example of the inherent connection between the passive and middle voices, which in Ancient Greek (and Latin poetry) are identical. Duh.

Genetics and Tonal Languages

2007-05-29T22:27:00.000-04:00

A new study conducted by the University of Edinburgh finds that there is a "highly significant correlation between possession of [gene variants ASPM-D and microcephalin-D] and speaking a nontonal language," meaning that certain groups of people who have these variants of the genes may have difficulty in pitch perception when it comes to tonal languages like those of Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. They have yet to test for other possible explanations for these results, but the initial impact of this is to say that we are genetically hard-wired to be more inclined to certain types of vocalizations, and therefore certain groups of languages. My own father has scoffed when I've demonstrated different Chinese tones to him, and wondered aloud how anyone could possibly distinguish them in conversation. Frankly, sometimes I can't distinguish tones in a non-academic setting either. I guess I can blame my ancestors for that shortcoming. I'll add that to the list of things that ought to be written out of the genetic code, along with pubic hair and wisdom teeth.

Full article from ScienceNOW: Is Your Tongue in Your Genes?

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog

2007-05-27T23:00:00.000-04:00

An entertaining recent discovery of mine (in my loads of free time after my exams, during which I have clearly updated this blog quite frequently) is the blog Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog. I'm afraid that I've been unable (or perhaps uninterested) to find out what exactly the supposed subject matter of the blog is, but for all I care it could be on knitting clothing for cats because of the simple fact that the entire blog is written in Middle English, a fascinating little tongue that at times feels like nothing more than our run-of-the-mill, garden variety Modern English with a few extra letters tacked on. But really, the language of Chaucer is quite intricate and involved. An especially interesting grammatical point is the declining case system, which is still apparent in this intermediate stage between Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and Modern English. Well, at least it's interesting to me.

Zippy's Alphabet of the English Language

2007-05-12T23:45:00.000-04:00

Quite an entertaining cartoon of the alphabet using some rather unconventional vocab items as mnemonic devices. I have to say this one sent me to dictionary.com a few too many times. I was initially elated to see the word "quinquevalent," for which in my mind I made up the definition "saying goodbye with open palm," perhaps from a combination of a picture of a hand in the cartoon and my spontaneous half-baked etymology of quinque + valere, which of course actually means "to be healthy," but in my defense vale is an idiom meaning "goodbye." "Quinquevalent" actually means "having five chemical valences." Go figure.

AP Examinations

2007-05-08T19:42:00.001-04:00

Today I took my first of four AP Exams this year. It of course got me thinking about how much I despise the AP program; it's all about breadth, not depth. You skim the surface of a billion topics but never really delve into or spend enough time on any one for it to really sink in. Now, my AP today, Spanish Language, is one of the few that I find to be useful. Unlike any of the other fact-based APs, the language exams are all about achieving fluency and then demonstrating that. You can never have any clue about what grammatical concepts will be on the test (I don't think I saw one instance of the imperfect subjunctive...), so you just have to be prepared to function in the language. For someone like me, a class whose sole purpose is not to teach you theoretical grammar concepts but help you become fluent is ideal. That said, the Latin: Vergil exam, which I'll be taking next Friday, is quite possibly one of the most insane of the AP exams. Over 1800 lines of Vergil? AP courses are, in theory, designed for high school students who are ready for the rigor of a college course, but no college program would cover this many lines in one semester. I don't feel like I've really been able to appreciate the beauty of Vergil's language and poetry by skimming the surface for the down-and-dirty basic meaning while whizzing by at 50 lines a day. Then, of course, there's the scoring system. The fact that someone who really busts their ass and gets a 90% on the exam gets the same ultimate grade as someone who gets a 63% is questionable. Now, as this gives me a better chance of getting a 5 on all my exams, I'm not complaining too much, mind you.

The problem I have with the system is that I have no choice but to take these courses and the exams. Well, of course I have a choice (sic volvere Parcas), but if I want to be competitive in College Race 2008™, I have to play the game. At least I get to "finish" school a month early.

What has this world come to?

2007-05-07T21:25:00.000-04:00

What kind of an age are we in when iTunes deems it necessary to write the title of a Christian chant "Magnificat C*m Alleluia?" I'm sure our children would be scarred for life if that weren't censored. It's downright preposterous to think that someone would have the gall to use such a vulgar word (dare I even call such an utterance a word?) in a wholesome, musical context. Harumph.