LASIK: Highly recommended here. But don't go cheap. The surgeon's skill does matter, not just what generation of what machine s/he uses.
After having LASIK, I wear glasses part of the time, especially when at a computer. (I expected to.) My eyes don't tire as fast with glasses.
No more:
"Those lenses are special order. Two weeks."
Extra charge for extra-thick lenses.
Industrial-looking frame style because the frame has to support the weight of the lenses.
Prescription sunglasses.
Glasses required while driving.
Hello to:
Wraparound sunglasses!
Ah, an open thread! Just the place to share my consternation at the mind-bogglingly bad Spanish translation of the first H.P. Book, H. P. and the Philosopher's Stone.
Background: Having read all the books at least twice in English, I got curious about the flavor of the story in Spanish. I wondered how the culture that brought us the Inquisition would deal with magic.
I still don't know, because the translation is so breathtakingly bad. Entire sentences shrivel into words. When the translator didn't know something, she guessed. In places she misunderstood the English and wrote Spanish that didn't happen. (I'm familiar with the warning “A beautiful one is likely to be unfaithful, and a faithful one is likely to be ugly.†This one is both ugly and unfaithful.)
Granted, H. P. was not a celebrity when the first book was published. However, the publisher seems to have tried for quality: the translator, Alicia Dellepiane Rawson, has several other translated books to her credit and has been publishing poetry in Spanish for a long time. I was gratified to see that the next three books were translated by a team of two people, not including Ms. Dellepiane Rawson, and the last three by another team of two.
Or, maybe I have my answer: the level of sloppiness indicates the regard in which the subject of magic is held in Spain. Some examples:
Near the end of Chapter 1, when Dumbledore was about to leave the darkened Privet Drive:
English: “twelve balls of light sped back to their street lampsâ€
Spanish: “the street lamps lit up.â€
Near the beginning of Chapter 2, when the Dursleys contemplate taking Harry to the zoo with them:
English: “as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.â€
Spanish: “as if they thought he was too stupid to understand them, like a worm.â€
Throughout:
English: “You-Know-Whoâ€
Spanish: “the Unnameable Oneâ€
In Chapter 6, when Malfoy, Goyle, and Crabbe try to steal Harry's candy on the train and Scabbers bites Goyle's finger:
English: “Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once.â€
Spanish: “Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle shook the rat, which was howling, until finally Scabbers flew off and crashed into the window, and the three boys disappeared.â€
Twice the translator lost the feeling and twice she lost the meaning of the English. Egad. I wish translators could be sued for malpractice.
Mostly I wish JKR would use some of her money to pay for a new translation.
Thoughts?
Craig @49: But the real MBA-quality business decision was by the spokecritter for the familiy-run mangement company
A mangement company might be expected to have apartments with mold.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Patrick, will you and Teresa be awake for the kickoff?
F***ing French horns. (I can say it; I played one.)
All@ #120-125: Do the cool kids not read their text after they hit "Preview"? Moderate snark here: RTFP.
169(?) fatalities in Mexico City vs. few elsewhere--I started to wonder why. Then I thought of Mexico City's dreadful air pollution. It could stress people's lungs long-term and make them more vulnerable to the virus.
Serge @22:
Is a conversation less alive for relying on writing? Are friendship and love less real for being without physical proximity?
Dunno. We're all here.
A question for the assembly...
Does anyone here recognize the following quotation? The complete passage was several sentences long. I remember the essence but not the speaker, the actual words, or anything rare enough to create a useful search. Also, the original language may not be English. Here goes.
A famous French(?) woman (Coco Chanel? Simone de Beauvoir? ??), when very old, said, "Oh, to be 57 again! ... One still had hope."
At age 57, I'd like to flaunt that quotation in defiance of fate.
Memory jogged, anyone?
Good luck with the grand jury duty, Patrick. WE NEED YOU. We the people of the United States.
Sorry about the work/email mess.
Serge @ 101: True. You got your foot in the door. But you shoely had a lot of help later.
All kidding aside, I was disturbed by the fact that the journalist was able to throw the second shoe. There was a noticeable time lag between the two throws--time enough for a Secret Service agent to tackle the thrower or at least pull the President out of the line of fire.
(Usefulness of Bush as President is irrelevant.)
...until Obama gets into power...
Ugh. That rubs me the wrong way. Patrick, would you be willing to reword the phrase as until Obama is inaugurated? Power in the U.S. comes from the Constitution (to which I hope the new administration will pay much more attention than the current one does). To say "gets into power" de-emphasizes something precious.
Just sayin'.
Amid the gloom, I note incontrovertible evidence that Teresa is doing better. She feels like writing.
Janetl @ 207 and Mary Aileen @ 208: I'm 3/4 of the way through the new Vicky Bliss novel (The Laughter of Dead Kings) and happy about it. Mary Aileen, I agree--Jacqueline Kirby is my favorite of all her characters.
I have one quibble with this book--halfway through, or earlier, I figured out Who Dun It. If it's not who I think it is, she (Peters) has done a brilliant job.
Tom@15: I can't resist. As the trailer may be the best part of the movie, I excerpt the opening lines and a later page:
He didn't know whether he had been there days or hours or weeks. He couldn't remember a time whtn there hadn't been stabbing, searing pain of some kind . . . when there hadn't been flashing lights or screeching, roaring noises . . . when there hadn't been a voice, a grim, sharp, metallic, repetitive voice, raspong on and on and on at him. Keflers' voice saying: "Talk. Tell us. Talk. Tell us," until he had got to the point where he thought they were the only words in the language. [...]
Still, tough as he was, even he couldn't stand much more of Kefler's treatment. It would have killed nine men out of ten already [...] Darn Kefler, blast Kefler! Darn his glittering eyes and his smug laugh and the power that he had temporarily gained.
Pel Torro (Lionel Fanthorpe), Frozen Planet, 1967.
Nothing of Yiddish derivation? You darn putzes--er, yutzes.
I got eight copies in my work account on Friday. Since I never open anything that looks unfamiliar, I don't know what was in it.
Jim, thanks for posting this. The best hope for getting Mr. Martin's manuscript back is for *lots* of people to get on his case. Lots.
Meanwhile (the News and Observer is my daily paper), for a look at what's been going on in the state while Mr. Martin was writing his novels:
The mental health reform program implemented in 2004 has failed and has cost the state big bucks. The new state mental hospital is too unsafe to house patients (too many opportunities to commit suicide). The head of the mental hospital used money from the patients' vending-machine profits (supposed to go toward their recreation) to commission a large, very flattering portrait of herself to hang in the hospital. She's been fired and the portrait is in storage. A delegation including the governor and his wife went to Italy to recruit business and tourism for North Carolina, and they rented "a daily chauffeured luxury Mercedes-Benz sedan and a van" for the governor and his wife @ $52,000 a day. Speaking of the governor's wife, a college professor of something making $90,300 per year, was moved to a new post paying $170,000 per year.
The governor should have resigned after 7 years. This eighth year has been a beaut.
#380 Michael Roberts: Yes, just 3. It's no fun if you don't have to think.
#388 albatross: I never take the game this seriously. Feel free to substitute "is kidnapped by aliens" or "retires to a grotto to contemplate life" for the unfortunately realistic term "death." I'm trying to improve the world.
A further restriction I forgot to mention is that the three must be geographically separated. For a couple of years, I spent a lot of mental energy deciding whether to put the President or the Vice-President of a large Northern Hemisphere democracy on the list. But we're under 180 days and counting, so I reserve the spot for someone else.
#341 Xopher
OK, I have to admit there are some people whose deaths I really do desire. I really, truly think the world would be a better place if they dropped dead this very instant. That doesn't necessarily mean I think any method of getting rid of them is OK, or that they should be eliminated "at any cost." Here is my list:
This is my guilty secret: I have a mental game called Three Deaths. Three peaceful, pain-free, immediate deaths from natural causes that improve the world. Which would you pick?
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 10 |
| 2008 | 19 |
| 2007 | 19 |
| 2006 | 13 |
| 2005 | 14 |
| 2004 | 6 |
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