Monthly Archives: May 2005

items from elsewhere

Ron Paul’s remarks on the war, to the House useful spam-handling plugin for WordPress 1.5 a gag about clashing jargons Sheldon Richman on the “Minuteman Project”: . . . this “citizens’ neighborhood watch along our border” looks for foreigners who, … Continue reading

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il n’y a pas d’heure pour les braves!

First day on a new assignment. I set my cheap Chinese alarm clock for 7:00 a.m. Awakened by daylight, I see that the clock says 8:08, and briefly panic; then turn on my telephone, which says 6:29. Evidently the clock … Continue reading

Posted in me!me!me! | 2 Comments

number nerdery

The expansion of the universe manifests in odd ways. From The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979): . . . two to the power of two hundred and seventy-six thousand, seven hundred and nine [276709 = 17·41·397] to one against. By a … Continue reading

Posted in general | 2 Comments

unAmerican

Movielens invites you to rate movies you’ve seen and offers recommendations according to your ratings. To my amusement, most of the top fifteen titles suggested to me are foreign: six Japanese (all by Miyazaki), four Chinese and one German.

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gravitas

I called a locksmith today and he said he recognized my voice’s “heavy tone” from a previous job. I wonder whether that’s a translation of a Chinese idiom. Perhaps my voice was gravelly, as it sometimes is in the early … Continue reading

Posted in language, me!me!me!, music+verse | 1 Comment

“I am damn unsatisfied . . .”

Novel digital effects (interesting though somewhat crude by current standards) and slapstick mitigate the pointlessness of Kung Fu Hustle but detract from the fight scenes. Would I like it better if I understood the language?

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stupid puns come to mind

Come Monday, I’ll be working in Menlo Park. How should I spend the early evening before braving the bridge?

Posted in California, me!me!me! | Leave a comment