It's always interesting when journalists ask scientists for their collective 'Top Ten' lists. These lists cover such diverse topics as Favourite STDs, Ice Cream Flavours, Common Garden Fungi, TV Robots (my personal fav is Twiggy from Buck Rogers), et al. But there is always one list that rolls around every couple of years: Favourite Ways for Snuffing out the Earth.
Some cynics mutter under their breaths that this style of list is scaremongering. Some may even suggest it was a slow news day, so the editor slapped it on the broadsheet with some PVA glue and rolled with it. However, I (self-appointed strider of the neutral zone between cynicism and optimism) believe that this list is quite informative, interesting and one to bring up during sophisticated dinner parties. So if ya want to get a handle of the ten best ways for Earth to get its beans, read this little link.
Linky Poo
Personally, my money is on Viral Pandemic. I'm not too fussed over the robots taking over; if their creators have programmed in Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, we should be on easy street ... I was a little disappointed that having the Earth destroyed to make way for a galactic superhighway didn't make the Top Ten. Ah, well.
*
Well, I'll be in radio silence mode for the weekend and into next week. I'm off to Key West to get married, so that should be fun. The next entry will be from me as a married man. Heh heh, alright.
So keep cool, homies.
Thursday, 28 April 2005
Thursday, 21 April 2005
Accent on Accents
I'm a frequent reader of Orson Scott Card's website, http://www.hatrack.com. Card is a writer, and those of you who are familiar with him might know he wrote the Ender's Game (among many other works) series, which is excellent. I noticed that Card spent some time in New Zealand recently, and wrote about his time there and included a paragraph or two on the NZ accent:
New Zealanders have an accent that at first sounds British until you realize that you don't actually understand many of the words they're saying. Soon, though, you begin to recognize that the words you don't understand are in fact English: They palatalize the short e and a when they're in a stressed syllable.
The result is that a sounds like short e, while e is like a short i with a hint of a y in front. When you aren't listening closely, it can sound as if the word effect were effEEct, or never were nEEver.
Don't try to do this accent yourself, however ... American mouths are not prepared to make these sounds accurately. I'm usually pretty good at picking up accents, but after several days of trying, I'm only occasionally getting it sort of right.
Which is probably one of the better, short discriptions of the accent I've read. I read one discription in the front section of my Collins English Dictionary once, but it lost me when it started discussing tongue positions when compared to Australian tongues ...
For a more in-depth breakdown of NZ English, spirit thyself to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_English
I've noticed people here in Florida, when I speak to them, sometimes politely ask me to repeat certain things. In those instances I just repeat what I said slowly and hope not to sound patronising, which I never would be, but it makes one conscious that some pronounciations aren't getting through.
It can lead to humourous instances, though, especially when unfamiliar slang is used. Some of you will recall my story of using the very NZ 'sweet as', here. Sweet as is used to signify that something is cool, or no worries, fine, etc. However, to American ears, it comes out sounding like 'sweet ass'. The girl in the confectionary store in Boca Raton didn't know whether to smile or slap me, I think. Needless to say I have shelved sweet as.
I've often wondered why New Zealanders, when coming back from the US after an extended time there, have lost their accent and sport a generic American one. It could be that, in order to not feel self-conscious, they have begun to sound words much the same way an American does. However, it's not just an American phenomenon as I've known people who have come back from the UK sporting a generic English accent. But that could be the My Fair Lady effect, as hundreds of Professor Henry Higginses chase after Kiwis in an attempt to get them to stop saying, 'The rine in spine sties minely in the pline.' Or maybe not.
New Zealanders have an accent that at first sounds British until you realize that you don't actually understand many of the words they're saying. Soon, though, you begin to recognize that the words you don't understand are in fact English: They palatalize the short e and a when they're in a stressed syllable.
The result is that a sounds like short e, while e is like a short i with a hint of a y in front. When you aren't listening closely, it can sound as if the word effect were effEEct, or never were nEEver.
Don't try to do this accent yourself, however ... American mouths are not prepared to make these sounds accurately. I'm usually pretty good at picking up accents, but after several days of trying, I'm only occasionally getting it sort of right.
Which is probably one of the better, short discriptions of the accent I've read. I read one discription in the front section of my Collins English Dictionary once, but it lost me when it started discussing tongue positions when compared to Australian tongues ...
For a more in-depth breakdown of NZ English, spirit thyself to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_English
I've noticed people here in Florida, when I speak to them, sometimes politely ask me to repeat certain things. In those instances I just repeat what I said slowly and hope not to sound patronising, which I never would be, but it makes one conscious that some pronounciations aren't getting through.
It can lead to humourous instances, though, especially when unfamiliar slang is used. Some of you will recall my story of using the very NZ 'sweet as', here. Sweet as is used to signify that something is cool, or no worries, fine, etc. However, to American ears, it comes out sounding like 'sweet ass'. The girl in the confectionary store in Boca Raton didn't know whether to smile or slap me, I think. Needless to say I have shelved sweet as.
I've often wondered why New Zealanders, when coming back from the US after an extended time there, have lost their accent and sport a generic American one. It could be that, in order to not feel self-conscious, they have begun to sound words much the same way an American does. However, it's not just an American phenomenon as I've known people who have come back from the UK sporting a generic English accent. But that could be the My Fair Lady effect, as hundreds of Professor Henry Higginses chase after Kiwis in an attempt to get them to stop saying, 'The rine in spine sties minely in the pline.' Or maybe not.
Wednesday, 20 April 2005
What you talking 'bout, Willis?
They say TV shows never really die. Instead shows live on in perpetual syndication, a cycle of consistent repeats day after day after day. So for quality shows like The Simpsons, Futurama and Seinfeld, this is a good thing. Then there are the others. Lesser quality shows. Bad shows. I don't need to mention some of them, as chances are you have encountered them in their original runs and shivered with fright before changing the channel or playing Pictionary.
Syndication is a groovy thing for a show, as wherever you are there is a high probability of one local station running an episode of a favourite show. Also, if you happen to be associated with the show from a creative or acting angle, I believe you can make some bling through royalties or something like that.
*
I have some links that might be of interest. The first one is to this search engine thingie called Preople. You enter your name into the fields and it comes up with some figure to let you know how popular you are in cyberspace ... George Bush is number 1, followed by Harry Potter. I was 1,300'ish, which is just crushing; I thought I'd crack the top 50 ...
Anywho, I haven't read the FAQs or anything like that at the time of writing, but I have copied the link if youse feel inclined to go play around on it:
http://www.preople.com
Another link is to a fan-parody trailer of the upcoming Star Wars movie. It's a well-made little movie, and parts of it are funny, especially the constant whining of Anakin -- which I feel is less parody and more a mirror image. Plus Jar Jar gets (over)killed by a hail of poison darts, which is hilarious. Poor Jar Jar.
http://www.sequentialpictures.com
Just click on the banner "A Lost Hope" to download a QuickTime/media player file of the movie.
Syndication is a groovy thing for a show, as wherever you are there is a high probability of one local station running an episode of a favourite show. Also, if you happen to be associated with the show from a creative or acting angle, I believe you can make some bling through royalties or something like that.
*
I have some links that might be of interest. The first one is to this search engine thingie called Preople. You enter your name into the fields and it comes up with some figure to let you know how popular you are in cyberspace ... George Bush is number 1, followed by Harry Potter. I was 1,300'ish, which is just crushing; I thought I'd crack the top 50 ...
Anywho, I haven't read the FAQs or anything like that at the time of writing, but I have copied the link if youse feel inclined to go play around on it:
http://www.preople.com
Another link is to a fan-parody trailer of the upcoming Star Wars movie. It's a well-made little movie, and parts of it are funny, especially the constant whining of Anakin -- which I feel is less parody and more a mirror image. Plus Jar Jar gets (over)killed by a hail of poison darts, which is hilarious. Poor Jar Jar.
http://www.sequentialpictures.com
Just click on the banner "A Lost Hope" to download a QuickTime/media player file of the movie.
Friday, 15 April 2005
It's new to me so it might be new to you (unless it's old).
Flying from New Zealand to Florida on several different aeroplanes through several different zones we like to call 'time zones' left me in a somewhat haggard state. Generally, some people like to break up a journey of that length with a spell or two somewhere relaxing, like Rancho Relaxo. Last time I headed out this ways I stayed in Tahiti. Tahiti was ... a tourist trap. They use this quaint little currency called the South Pacific Franc, or something like that. I thought it odd at the time, figuring logic would have dictated a switch to the more prolific Euro when its colonial master, France, did. Nope. They have their own currency, which is cute (like Monopoly money) but oh so expensive after a pensive consultation with the abacus in your brain when converting it back to the NZ dollar. Gosh!
So I skipped the sun-kissed atomic bomb test site this time around, and continued thataways towards my final destination.
And here I am! Most of this week has been a recovery session for me, as jet lag has ensnared me with its dastardly tentacles. So what is a good cure for this laggardness? Watching a shit-load of DVDs? Sure! Why not, so without further driving off on tangents, I will briefly relay information about some films I have recently watched. The title of this entry is self-explanatory, so bear with me as I explain it. Some of you might have already seen these films, that's why it might be old to you. I haven't seen these films, that is why it is new to me.
The first film.
Napoleon Dynamite
This is where the little quote under this journal's title comes from (about the chickens). This film is hilarious, completely odd and very watchable. I can't think of any other film that this might be compared to, so it probably sits snugly in its own pigeon hole for now. Basically the premise of the film is to follow the life of the titular character and his interaction with people from his school and his family, with wacky adventures ensuing. You should rent this, you won't be disappointed.
50 First Dates
Very neat Adam Sandler rom-com in similar vein to The Wedding Singer. I quite like Adam Sandler's films, but some can be a little on the bad side. This film isn't bad at all, in fact it's very cool and enjoyable from start to finish. Rob Schneider steals practically every scene he is in, and is best suited to doing so and not playing roles like The Stapler and The Carrot ...
Finding Neverland
Now my mate Paul and his missus didn't like this film, so I was wary when we put this on. However, it's actually very good! I like 99.9% of Johnny Depp's films, he's one of my favourite actors, and while this probably will not be my favourite of his films, it's definitely up there. A little overly-weepy at the end, it still captures the magic of imagination and story enough to keep this viewer watching. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but not many things are. Which is good. Gosh!
So I skipped the sun-kissed atomic bomb test site this time around, and continued thataways towards my final destination.
And here I am! Most of this week has been a recovery session for me, as jet lag has ensnared me with its dastardly tentacles. So what is a good cure for this laggardness? Watching a shit-load of DVDs? Sure! Why not, so without further driving off on tangents, I will briefly relay information about some films I have recently watched. The title of this entry is self-explanatory, so bear with me as I explain it. Some of you might have already seen these films, that's why it might be old to you. I haven't seen these films, that is why it is new to me.
The first film.
Napoleon Dynamite
This is where the little quote under this journal's title comes from (about the chickens). This film is hilarious, completely odd and very watchable. I can't think of any other film that this might be compared to, so it probably sits snugly in its own pigeon hole for now. Basically the premise of the film is to follow the life of the titular character and his interaction with people from his school and his family, with wacky adventures ensuing. You should rent this, you won't be disappointed.
50 First Dates
Very neat Adam Sandler rom-com in similar vein to The Wedding Singer. I quite like Adam Sandler's films, but some can be a little on the bad side. This film isn't bad at all, in fact it's very cool and enjoyable from start to finish. Rob Schneider steals practically every scene he is in, and is best suited to doing so and not playing roles like The Stapler and The Carrot ...
Finding Neverland
Now my mate Paul and his missus didn't like this film, so I was wary when we put this on. However, it's actually very good! I like 99.9% of Johnny Depp's films, he's one of my favourite actors, and while this probably will not be my favourite of his films, it's definitely up there. A little overly-weepy at the end, it still captures the magic of imagination and story enough to keep this viewer watching. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but not many things are. Which is good. Gosh!
Thursday, 14 April 2005
It's the little differences
Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in the US? Erm, a quarter pounder with cheese, actually. The US is one of the last bastions of the Imperial system of measurement, although you'd be surprised where our old friend from the colonies, the Metric system, shows up. For instance, those of you who received my most recent email (Where Cherry Coke Lives) would have known I have recently become re-acquainted with the aforementioned tasty beverage. Now, whilst scanning my eyeballs down its mildly condensating exterior, I noticed under "16 fl oz" a few characters to warm the cockles of any Metricphile: "591 ml". That's groovy. Not that converting between the two systems is terribly hard, but it is nice to see someone going those extra few yards, I mean feet, I mean metres ...
Light switches are upside down here. In NZ, one just has to sweep the hand in a downward motion and one's lights spring to life. In the US, it's an upward sweep of the hand. I'm not sure why the discrepancy between the hemispheres. It could simply be a difference in engineering, or that whole everything is topsy-turvey in the land downunder. Toilets and sinks naturally drain the opposite way; The Simpsons covered that natural phenomenon nicely, and much better than I could. I haven't raced toothpaste, yet ...
Light switches are upside down here. In NZ, one just has to sweep the hand in a downward motion and one's lights spring to life. In the US, it's an upward sweep of the hand. I'm not sure why the discrepancy between the hemispheres. It could simply be a difference in engineering, or that whole everything is topsy-turvey in the land downunder. Toilets and sinks naturally drain the opposite way; The Simpsons covered that natural phenomenon nicely, and much better than I could. I haven't raced toothpaste, yet ...
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