Not news: A distinguished scientific institution issues its journal with a Chinese poem on the cover.
News: The institution fails to get a translation of the poem before publication.
Pillage Idiot: The "poem" turns out to be a sexually suggestive annoucement of a burlesque show.
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
December 08, 2008
Oops!
August 05, 2008
One from Column 404 Error
When you're trying to give an English name to your Chinese restaurant, you have to be careful in using online translation tools. (via Fark)
That reminds me of a photo I received from a former colleague who spent time in China.
June 18, 2008
Rearranging the dishes?
How about paper plates?
"Investors Seek Asian Options to Costly China"
Headline, New York Times, June 18, 2008, page A1
March 18, 2008
Tuesday linkfest
Once again, I'm here with the extra links I've been saving for no particular reason. Some of them are, in internet terms, pre-historic. But I'll let you make the judgment.
1. Before I begin, I want to mention doubleplusundead, the latest addition to my regular, non-Maryland blogroll. DPUD is a moron. (You'll understand what I mean by that if you read Ace, who's a self-described moron-blogger.) In fact, DPUD has a frequent feature of "links from around the moronosphere," covering the other morons. Since I'm an idiot -- but also an honorary moron -- I've been included a couple of times. Check DPUD frequently, because there are a lot of amusing posts over there.
2. While American forces are doing the hard work, the folks in Prescott, Arizona, are singing kumbaya and erecting a peace post at the fifth anniversary of our intervention in Iraq: "A new monument stands in Prescott - a simple wooden pole bearing the same phrase in four different languages: May Peace Prevail On Earth." (via SondraK, who has a mouseover making fun of this)
3. The Daily Show goes to Berkeley, home of anti-Marine radicalism. Hilarity ensues.
4. Enthusiastic about voting for John McCain? No, but you'll force yourself to do it, anyway? Here's your next stop: The Reluctant Voter (hat tip: fee simple)
5. Eliot Spitzer isn't the only rich dude who uses high-end escort services. "'With the wealthy,' Mr. Prince says, 'it's all about power and control and new experiences.'" (via Fark)
6. Going on a date in China? Looking for a restaurant? Here's my recommendation: "There are several varieties of steamed, roasted and boiled penis at Beijing's quirkiest diner." (via HotAir)
7. Ten great inventions for St. Patrick's Day. Sorry I missed posting this yesterday. Save it for next year. Or consider it on Purim, which falls on Thursday night.
8. "Neocon" transportation policy? (via Heh, indeed.)
9. Shelby Steele on Barack Obama on race bargaining: "And yet, in the end, Barack Obama's candidacy is not qualitatively different from Al Sharpton's or Jesse Jackson's. Like these more irascible of his forbearers, Mr. Obama's run at the presidency is based more on the manipulation of white guilt than on substance. Messrs. Sharpton and Jackson were 'challengers,' not bargainers. They intimidated whites and demanded, in the name of historical justice, that they be brought forward. Mr. Obama flatters whites, grants them racial innocence, and hopes to ascend on the back of their gratitude. Two sides of the same coin."
10. In my family, we have a running joke about enraged bees. There was a story some years back about a truckload of bees that overturned near the Tappan Zee Bridge, which runs over the Hudson River near where I grew up, and the article referred to "enraged bees." ("When the trailer overturned on the westbound exit ramp leading to the Thruway at 8:35 A.M., millions of the enraged bees emerged.") Today's story of an overturned truck carrying bees comes from California: "Millions of swarming honey bees were on the loose after a truck carrying crates of the insects flipped over on a California highway." This article doesn't mention enraged bees, but it refers to "bee wrangling": "Bradley said several beekeepers driving by the accident stopped to assist in the bee wrangling."
UPDATE (3/19): 11. Too good to pass up. Feminist Marianne Williamson (video): "Well, first of all, I'm not going to vote with my vagina."
12. Ten people to avoid at the ballpark. (via MetsBlog) Some of the comments are better than the post.
November 13, 2007
Wednesday mini-linkfest
[Ed.: Technically, it was a late Tuesday mini-linkfest, not Wednesday. Sue me.]
1. True headline of the day: "Author protests ban over phrase 'generous bazoongas'" (via Fark)
2. Our newest cause for which to raise massive sums of research dollars: "The cause of vulvodynia is unknown. This is partly because there has been a lack of research on the disorder in recent years." (via HotAir, where a commenter posts this video link. Subject-matter content warning, as if the initial link could be justified in the name of Science.)
3. Runner-up true headline of the day: "China recycling used condoms as cheap hair bands" (via Fark)
4. A classic example of the "Nanny State" -- at least where the nanny is dressed in a black leather halter with studs, spiked heels, and a riding crop: "Norway's largest erotic chain store was forced to change the labelling on products such as penis pasta, candy cuffs and chocolate bodypainting, to comply with Norwegian food regulations." (Need I say: also via Fark)
5. Finally, in the category of "Things We Wish We Had Said But If We Had Actually Said Them We'd Wish We Hadn't," Tim Page, the classical music reporter for the Post, responded thus to a blast email press release from an aide to Marion "Bitch Set Me Up" Barry: "Must we hear about it every time this crack addict attempts to rehabilitate himself with some new -- and typically half-witted -- political grandstanding? I'd be grateful if you would take me off your mailing list. I cannot think of anything the useless Marion Barry could do that would interest me in the slightest, up to and including overdose."
September 19, 2007
Just in time for the Olympics
Just in time for the Olympics, the first Hooters Restaurant is opening in Beijing. (via Fark) If you want to try to make this a serious story, here's what you do:
And now, with the opening of its 435th branch in Beijing, Hooters is now being touted as a barometer for globalization.But, of course, the story is as far from serious as possible. Hence this photo, which accompanies the article:
You remember how hard it is to translate names into Chinese? Consider this: "In Beijing, 'Hooters' simply means 'owl,' but that doesn't mean the point goes overlooked." (Especially in a country in which that portion of the body has been growing.)
Which, I suppose is really the point, after all: "When one Hooters patron was asked whether he preferred the food or the waitstaff, he answered, 'The girls better than the food.'"
August 05, 2007
Headline of the day
April 22, 2007
Transgendered poplars
In another major initiative by the Chinese government -- so far as we know, unrelated to the 2008 Olympics -- about 300,000 "female" poplar trees will be given hormonal treatment to deal with the changes brought about by arborial menopause.
Only kidding, I think. It's a little hard to tell what's serious and what's not when a news article says that "female" poplar trees will receive "sex changes operations." Apparently, the pollen produced by these trees in Beijing is causing health problems for people with asthma and allegeries. The trees will be injected with some unspecified substance, perhaps testosterone, to reduce the female pollen. I don't really know that it's testosterone, but if you suddenly begin to notice that the trees in Beijing are punching each other and making loud belching sounds, I think we'll know how that happened.
Next initiative: Circumcising the males of the species.
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