May -- mai
|
2003.05.31 -- 31 mai 2003 America Day by Day - What makes daily life so agreeable in America is the cordial good humor of the Americans. Of course, these qualities have their ugly side. I loathe those imperious invitations "to look at the best side of life," repeated in phrases and pictures as long as the day itself. [...] You sense a hoax, but it does not prevent the fact that, owing to this personal consideration, the American does not have to be stuck-up to feel his dignity; business-like perhaps, but the friendliness of salesmen, employees, waiters and porters is, though not disinterested, nonetheless never servile; they are neither sour nor stiff, and their pleasantness is real. We held the German soldiers responsible for the way in which they carried out cruel orders. Indeed, man is never passive; in his obedience he sets limits to his liberty, and in submitting to evil accepts it; as a rule, this acceptance is carried out through invention and initiative which reveal the responsibility of the individual. And, in the same way, Americans do not, submit passively to the propaganda of smiles; in an atmosphere in which optimism is obligatory they gladly become cordial, trusting and generous; a man's pleasant manner becomes less suspect the less interested he personally is in the success of the system; he is more hoaxed and hoaxer. [Factoid: Borrowed 14 times since 1974 from Hamilton Library, University of Hawai'i].
L'Amérique au jour le jour - Ce qui rend si agréable la vie quotidienne en Amérique, c'est la bonne humeur et la cordialité des Américains. Assurément cette qualité a des envers. Je m'agace de ces impérieuses invitations à « prendre la vie du bon côté » qui se répètent en mots et en images à longueur de journées. [...] On flaire la mystification. Mais il n'empêche que, grâce à ces égards qu'on lui témoigne, l'Américain n'a pas besoin de se guinder pour avoir le sentiment de sa dignité d'homme ; commerciale peut-être, la cordialité des vendeurs, des employés, des garçons de restaurant, des portiers, n'est jamais servile ; ils sont sans aigreur, sans raideur ; et pour être encouragée dans des buts intéressés, leur gentillesse n'en est pas moins réelle. Nous avons tenu les soldats allemands pour responsables de la manière dont ils appliquaient des consignes de cruauté : et en effet, l'homme n'est jamais passif ; dans l'obéissance, il engage sa liberté et ses soumettre au mal c'est le reprendre à son compte ; la plupart du temps cette reprise s'accomplit à travers des inventions et des initiatives qui rendent la responsabilité manifeste. De même, le citoyen américain ne subit pas passivement la propagande du sourire : sur un fond d'optimisme de commande, c'est bien lui qui se fait librement cordial, confiant, généreux ; sa gentillesse est d'autant moins douteuse qu'il est moins intéressé à la réussite du système, plus mystifié que mystificateur. Quoi que je pense des idéologies américaines, j'aurai toujours une chaude sympathie pour les chauffeurs de taxi, les vendeurs de journaux, les cireurs de souliers, tous ces gens qui suggèrent dans leurs gestes quotidiens que les hommes pourraient être les uns pour les autres des alliés. Ils créent autour d'eux un climat de confiance, de gaieté, d'amitié.
Salted Anchovies - Just found a brand of excellent anchovies from Spain (Anxoves el Xillu l'Escala), available at Fujioka's Wine Merchants at Market City (Honolulu). They are delicious, preserved in massive amounts of salt in a 12 oz glass jar (packing 134 gr. of anchovies). Filets must be deboned and soaked in water for about ten minutes. The flavor and texture are great in salads. The other type of salted anchovies in olive oil (in a jar as opposed to cans) are also good but less meaty and flavorful and in fact saltier since you would normally not soak them. The advantage of this presentation is that the jar can be easily stored in the refrigerator since the cover closes tightly and the quantity is small enough to be used it up quickly anyway. The larger metal cans of salted anchovies offered by some brands are harder to handle (open and store). Link to an importer of Agostino Recca salted anchovies (I haven't yet tried these, but the description is informative). Anchois
salés - Je viens de trouver après de longues recherches une excellente marque d'anchois salés (Anxoves el Xillu l'Escala) espagnoles, on les trouve chez Fujioka, caviste à Honolulu. Ils sont délicieux, conservés dans une grande quantité de sel en bocaux de verre de 375 g. (contenant 134 g. d'anchois). Les arêtes doivent être enlevées et les filets trempés dans l'eau environ 10 minutes, l'anchois est particulièrement recommandé dans les salades pour ses propriétés gustatives et sa consistance. Les anchois salés conservés dans l'huile d'olive (en bocaux et non en boîte) sont également excellents mais moins charnus et goûteux, en effet ils sont plus salés car on les utilise directement sans détrempage. La présentation en bocaux de verre permet une conservation plus pratique directement dans le réfrigérateur, le couvercle se refermant hermétiquement et la quantité étant en outre assez petite pour être rapidement consommée. Les présentations en boîtes de conserve proposées par certaines marques sont plus difficiles à ouvrir et conserver. Lien : importateur d'anchois salés : Vanelli à Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Je n'ai pas encore goûté cette marque.
Language Confusion - "The office that treats mental-health patients [in Multnomah County, Oregon] had included Klingon on a list of 55 languages that could be spoken by incoming patients"; I noticed the weird item in The Honolulu Adverstiser, May 11 and disclaimer May 13 (see quote in Language Hat). Maybe they didn't realize that Klingon isn't a real language, it's a Conlang, i.e., constructed language. Nearly everyone on this Planet knows Klingon was created for the Star Treck science fiction series, by a linguist no less. There is also the possibility that some "mental patients" may be suffering from "glossolalia: (glos-ah-LA-lee-ah) n. 1. fabricated and non-meaningful speech, especially such speech associated with a trance state or certain schizophrenic syndromes. 2. gift of tongues; speaking in tongues." Why do people spend time (though it's their perfect right) outside of purely linguistic research inventing and trying to speak languages that don't exists, sure there was the attempt at making a universal language like Esperanto among others, but why not try and work real human, living languages in dire need of speakers? Like Hawaiian, there is a Google interface in Klingon on Google but not for Hawaiian yet! Through Nobody's Doll I found this site, The Language Construction Kit: "intended for anyone who wants to create artificial languages -- for a fantasy or an alien world, as a hobby, as an interlanguage. It presents linguistically sound methods for creating naturalistic languages -- which can be reversed to create non-naturalistic languages."
La confusion des langues - "La clinique psychiatrique [du comté de Multnomah dans l'Oregon (Etats-Unis)] mentionne la langue klingon sur une liste de 55 langues susceptibles d'être parlées par les malades en consultation", j'ai lu cette brève étonnante sinon débile dans le Honolulu Advertiser, le 11 mai et le démenti du 13 mai, (voir la citation dans Language Hat).
New Apple Retail Store in Honolulu - I just got back from visiting the new Apple retail store in Honolulu that opened on May 17; it's located in Ala Moana shopping center, on the Mall Level, near Macy's and across from Shirokiya's. The store is large: 4,000 square feet and well stocked with hardware and a fair number of software titles, even third-party ones, that are not that easy to find in town, there are also several dozen software books. At the expert counter -- the genius bar -- you can ask for help, but a notice indicates they charge for time if the problem gets a little complicated, the "geek":-) there graciously offered to burn the X.2.6 combo update for me if I bring in a blank CD-R disk in. So, all in all I got a good impression, even though I'll probably remain faithfull for my major purchases to my regular suppliers, including Mac Made Easy. Nouveau magasin de vente au détail Apple à Honolulu - Je reviens du nouveau magasin de détail Apple qui a ouvert ses portes le 17 mai au centre commercial Ala Moana à Honolulu, près de Macy's et en face de Shirokiya's. Le magasin est grand, presque 400 m2, disposant d'un bon choix de matériels et de logiciels Apple et d'autres éditeurs pas toujours faciles à trouver ainsi que des livres informatiques. Un service de renseignements est proposé, tarifé selon la durée, mais gratuite pour de courts renseignements techniques, en outre l'employé m'a gentiment proposé de graver une mise à jour système (X.2.6) si je lui apportait un CD-R vierge. Donc, une bonne première impression, même si je risque de rester fidèle pour les gros achats à mes fournisseurs habituels, Mac Made Easy entre autres.
Poi Shortage - According to both local May 16, 2003 Honolulu dailies: the Honolulu Star Bulletin and Honolulu Adverstiser, there is a shortage of poi in local stores here. Poi is a fermented purplish-brown paste made from taro roots (corms). Best day old, it tastes a little tangier. It's eaten with local foods and at Hawaiian Luau's. It is a staple starch for Hawaiians. And it's said to be great as a hang-over alleviator, but it's an acquired taste. Pénurie de «poi» - Selon les deux quotidiens hawaïens : Honolulu Star Bulletin et Honolulu Adverstiser du 16 mai 2003, il y a une pénurie de poi dans les îles Hawaï.
Cultural Misunderstandings - Emmanuelle in a 5/11 post mentioned these parallel lists comparing the experiences of living in a foreign culture: Pierre Carion in the U.S. and Damelon Kimbrough in France. Raymonde Carroll's book, Cultural Misunderstandings was my first introduction to the concept, others followed, including Pascal Baudry's book available online (in French only) Français & Américans, l'autre rive, which includes a thorough bibliography. Having lived in both countries all my life, I learned that it takes some adjustment to work with the cultural differences that are sometimes subtle, sometimes not, for example when I get back to Hawaii I have to remember to bite my tongue and not always say what I think or at least not to phrase it in such sarcastic tones as would be acceptable in French, it's also not polite to interrupt people even when they're getting long-winded. Evidences invisibles - Dans un billet daté du 11 mai Emmanuelle mentionne deux listes comparant l'expérience quotidienne de vivre dans une culture étrangère : Pierre Carion aux Etats-Unis et Damelon Kimbrough en France.
That to Study Philosophy is to Learn to Die - Having learned that a dear friend in France in her late 90s had just passed away I was comforted by this passage in Montaigne (1533 - 1592) in The Essays, Book I, Ch XIX or XX depending on the editions. (Downloaded from Project Gutenberg [search for "Montaigne"] includes the translations of the Latin phrases), or read online at eText Library, Adelaide: "But nature compels us to it. "Go out of this world," says she, "as you entered into it; the same pass you made from death to life, without passion or fear, the same, after the same manner, repeat from life to death. Your death is a part of the order of the universe, 'tis a part of the life of the world. Que philosopher, c'est apprendre à mourir - Ayant appris la nouvelle du décès en France d'une amie de 98 ans j'ai retrouvé en réconfort dans Les Essais de Montaigne le passage suivant :«Mais nature nous y force. Sortez, dit-elle, de ce monde, comme vous y estes entrez. Le mesme passage que vous fistes de la mort à la vie, sans passion et sans frayeur, refaites le de la vie à la mort. Vostre mort est une des pieces de l'ordre de l'univers, c'est une piece de la vie du monde.
The Matrix - I watched the film "The Matrix" on the local Fox TV station (KHON) on Friday, I was reminded of a short passage in one of P.K. Dick's non-fiction essays: "What I still do not grasp, however, is how one reality out of the many becomes actualized in contradistinction to the others. Perhaps none does. Or perhaps again it hangs on an agreement in viewpoint by a sufficiency of people. More likely the matrix world, the one with the true core of being, is determined by the Programmer. He or it articulates -- prints out, so to speak &endash; the matrix choice and fuses it with actual substance. The core or essence of reality -- that which receives or attains it and to what degree -- that is within the purview of the Programmer; this selection and reselection are part of general creativity, of world-building, which seems to be its or his task". From: If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others (1977), page 240 &endash; 241 in a collection of Philip K. Dick's essays "The shifting realities of Philip K. Dick: selected literary and philosophical writings/edited and with an introduction by Laurence Sutin, Vintage, 1999. The site for the Warners Brothers sequel "The Matrix Reloaded" has some interesting documents on the original Matrix, as well as a great free screen saver (it only works in 0S9x, there is a Windows version too). I also like their Low/High bandwidth option.
Matrix, le film - L'autre soir j'ai vu à la télé la rediffusion du premier film de la série, même les pubs s'intégraient bien dans la campagne de promotion du nouveau film Matrix Reloaded qui sort mi-mai aux Etats-Unis. Ça m'a fait penser à un passage dans un texte de P.K. Dick «Si vous trouvez ce monde mauvais, vous devriez en voir quelques autres», tiré d'un petit recueil de ses textes paru aux Editions de l'Eclat en 1998 (ISBN 2-84162-032-8) qui est dans ma bibliothèque à Paris, cf., référence bibliographique.
The Book of Changes - The I-Ching or Book of Changes has its roots in ancient Chinese culture, over 3,000 years ago. The sixty-four hexagrams of six continuous (Yang) or broken (Yin) lines, nearly all symbolize events occurring in nature and can be reduced to four simple injunctions: move ahead with confidence, proceed with caution, make no move, or retreat. The best-known English version is Cary F. Baynes' translation from the German version published by Richard Wilhelm, Princeton University Press, 1967. Another very readable and less dated translation is by John Blofeld, Penguin/Arkana, 1965. Consulting the I-Ching always gives enlightening answers. One of the novels that gives the best feeling for what it's like to live with the Book of Changes on a day-to-day basis is Philip K. Dick's, "The Man in High Castle". In my opinion the I Ching does not predict the future, it throws light on a question with at least 64 possible answers without taking into account a moving line that may generate another hexagram. Link:www.mcelhearn.com/ & link to I-Ching page. Le
livre des transformations - Le Yi-Jing ou Livre des transformations puise ses sources dans la Chine ancienne, il y a plus de 3000 ans.
2003.05.05 -- 05/05/2003
Word of the Day :: Serendipity :: - (1754) The faculty of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for (source: Merriam-Webster, 10th Collegiate Dictionary). Serendipitous, adj. (1943), from "Serendip" the former name of Ceylon (Sri-Lanka), coined by Horace Walpole from the title of the fairy-tale "The Three Princes of Serendip". The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, reproduced micrographically, Oxford, 1971 gives an excellent definition: "The faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident".
Le mot du jour :: Hasard heureux ::
Languages in the World - At a Workshop organized by the Hawai'i State Judiciary (Office on Equality and Access to the Courts) on Ethics for Interpreters working in the State courts, First District, (Island of Oahu), I noticed how many different languages were represented in the room, besides Spanish and French, there were: Mandarin, Cantonese and several other Chinese dialects, Vietnamese, Philippino dialects (Tagalog and Ilocano), Japanese, and other Asian languages, and Samoan. There are around 5,000 existing languages spoken in the world today, and every time a language dies an entire worldview is lost forever. The Hawaiian language has been making a comeback here in Hawaii, repressed by English speakers in the Islands during the early 20th century, in the past 25 years, immersion programs have helped increase the number of young native speakers and the ongoing Hawaiian cultural renaissance, with hula and music, has fostered interest in the language. On Apple's Macintosh System X.2 (Jaguar) operating system you can now choose the Hawaiian Keyboard layout (in order to facilitate the typing diacritical marks, thanks to the use of Unicode character encoding.
Les langues dans le monde - Lors d'un atelier organisé par les services administratifs du ministère de la justice de l'Etat d'Hawaï, sur la déontologie pour les interprètes auprès des tribunaux du 1er district (île d'Oahu), j'ai remarqué que dans la salle il y avait, outre l'espagnol et le français, des locuteurs de mandarin, de cantonais et de plusieurs autres dialectes chinois, le vietnamien, les langues des Philippines (Tagalog et Ilocano), le japonais et d'autres langues asiatiques ainsi que le samoan. Il y aurait environ 5 000 langues parlées actuellement dans le monde aujourd'hui et il en meurt chaque jour, ce qui veut dire que pour chaque langue disparue toute une vision du monde est à jamais perdue.
amended @ 12:30pm HST Is Hyperlinking Legal? - One of my friends asked in an email if it was legal to put all the links on my blog without permission from the linked sites. I'd like to reply, and this does not constitute legal advice, that hypertext or hyperlinks are one of the fundamental characteristics of the Web, if links were not easy to create and freely allowed it would make navigating and cross-referencing much harder. It would be like banning footnotes in books. To be specific, one legal basis could be the fair use doctrine incorporated in the U.S. Copyright Act. This principle has been confirmed by U.S. Court Decisions see: Ticket Master Corp. v. Tickets.com, Inc. (2000 WL 1887522 (D.D. Ca. August 10, 2000) stating that "There is no copyright problems associated with hyperlinking" and in a prior decision in the same case that "[hyperlinking] is analogous to using a library's card index to get reference to particular items". See: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/hyperlinking.html Some
gray areas do exist: in line linking and framing that
"appropriates" foreign material blurring the distinction
between different "sites" and when linking is abused or if
there is a danger of referring to infringing or illegal
materials, and with deep linking: linking beyond the
homepage of a site In the blogosphere, links to other blogs or to sources are encouraged, as blogs (web logs) originated as commentaries on the Web and hyperlinks, and links increase traffic. modification @ 12h30 HST De la légalité des liens hypertextes ? - Un de mes amis Français m'a récemment écrit par mél me demandant si les liens hypertextes que j'ai mis sur mon site étaient légaux. Le principe est que l'établissement d'un lien est libre, voir le Forum des droits sur l'internet, notamment leur dossier consacré aux liens hypertextes, en particulier la recommandation du 3/03/03 (Fichier html ou pdf que nous vous conseillons vivement de télécharger).
|
This is a work licensed under a Creative Commons License.
|