Over at Green Boogers Laura writes about the linguistic challenges of living in a foreign country. I have to admit I was a little jealous. Look: – Hi, can I have a donut, please. – Med sukker eller med chokolat? – Er, with sugar, please. Can you put it for a hundred kr?a? – Blah blah blah blah blah. – I’m sorry? – Blah blah blah blah blah. – I’m sorry, I don’t understand you. – [sighs, speaks perfect English] I can only put it for hundred over. – OK, that’s fine, thanks. – [hands over the money without a …
Author: gordsellar
My Level In Korean
On the way home tonight after hanging out with Lime, I took a taxi. It was far enough to warrant this, but the second I got into the cab I was a little scared. It was something about the driver’s body language that signalled to me immediately that there was something not quite right about him. Preparing to make a U-turn at the first available chance (I was getting into the cab going in the wrong direction), he asked me in all seriousness (I realized he was serious the second time he asked me) whether the flashing light to our …
Britney And the Mysteries of Physics (and Other Mysteries)
This is old news for many of my friends, but I was showing it to someone at work, which sparked off a funny stream of Britney things (see below) but I thought that the Britney Spears guide to Semiconductor Physics: semiconductor physics, Edge Emitting Lasers and VCSELs warranted a post. It is a little known fact, that Ms Spears is an expert in semiconductor physics. Not content with just singing and acting, in the following pages, she will guide you in the fundamentals of the vital laser components that have made it possible to hear her super music in a …
Jimmy Carter Discussing The Christian Right
John Wendel is great for sending me useful and interesting articles on American news, culture, and politics. The last thing he sent me was an article called Carter’s Crusade, from American Prospect, in which Jimmy Carter takes to task the Christian Right in America for… well, for something that makes a lot of sense: for not actually being very Christian at all. For trying to undo the separation of Church and state. For letting piss-poor interpretations of scripture drive policy. For screwing up, basically, which I think it’s fair and objective to say they have done and are still doing. …
a book exercise
From Caterina, via Dana at Apophenia: 1. Grab the nearest book. 2. Open the book to page 23. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions. A group of turn-of-the-twentieth-century German psychologists known as the Würzburg school explored some of these introspective issues in great detail, and their conclusions must have been very depressing to anyone who valued the primacy of consciousness. From this book.
Chopstick Adjustments And The Wonder That Is The Human Brain
Right now I’m reading a great book on consciousness that was sent to me by my Texan friends, I think it was specifically Julia though I can’t be sure, the list of who sent what is buried deep in my bookcase. The book is not exactly recent, but good: Merlin Donald‘s A Mind So Rare (see a review here, and another here, and one last, slightly more critical, one here). In it Donald sets out to debunk some of the kinds of consciousnessn theorizing that’ve been advanced by people like Dennet (see a recent interview with old Dennet here) and …
Moments…
Some moments from the last few weeks: A roomful of giggly young female students respond to my question, “What am I doing?” with the response, in perfect unison, “You is pucking us!” Yeah, they all mean “fucking”, and they are saying that because I’m holding up my splinted finger, which happens to be the middle finger on my right hand. I correct them: “You’re being rude, Gord!” and they chime it back at me. From yesterday afternoon. A pack of freshmen students pass me as I limp distractedly down toward the bus stop. I hold my umbrella aloft, lost in …
The Ajumma At Costco Rant
This is funny. I personally don’t get this annoyed when I go shopping, but over on Incestuous Amplification, Kevin asks a few questions (incestuousamplification.blog-city.com) of the ajumma (the older married woman) who peeks into his shopping cart. It’s such a familiar scene I can’t help but laugh. Dear Ajumma in Costco, What the fuck did you expect to see??Did you think my shopping cart would be filled with the heads of Iraqi children??Maybe a bakers dozen of double-ended dildos? I realize that whitey with a shopping cart is a novel concept, but seriously…what the fuck is so interesting about what …
Hot Abercrombie Chick Misses A Major Point In Her Discussion of Natural Evil
A certain self-named Hot Abercrombie Chick has been constructing arguments about the existence of God. While she may be hot and may be a philosophy major, her essay has generated far too many comments relative to the content. Not to be nasty… it’s a nice attempt but even a theist ought to be embarrassed at such a simplistic conception of “it all”. One note from the world of physics that might help clear up things: the anthropic cosmological principle forwarded by, among others, Frank J. Tipler (before he went crazy—here’s a review of that insanity) claims that the structure of …
On Competent Citizenry, According to David Brin
Apologies for typos. My broken finger keeps getting in the way… I don’t know why I looked at his web page, really. Maybe it was just the link on Marvin’s age that drove me to it. It’s been a year or two, so maybe it was just curiosity. I’ve always disagreed with the man on certain points, of course—and my rather well-supported reading of some of his novels based on his own nonfiction writings was enough to drive him into a fit on at least one occasion—but now I simply must say something about one of his political articles. I …