On the plus side, I won't have to learn very much Japanese before I can make millions translating things that would otherwise be incomprehensible to the western world.

On the minus side, I am beginning to worry about whether I will understand anything when I am there.

Also, why did I not visit in April when it's magnificent to aim at a mark from ( Read more... )

I know I really can't cast the first stone, since I only speak five words in Japanese ('thank you very much', which is two words, 'beer', 'toilet' and 'mount fuji') - but HOORAY for appallingly translated websites. I really hope we can go on the old mountain trail where history was minced.

OH MY GOD I GOT AN AHRC GRANT!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you all for your marvellous suggestions! The next question is, can anyone lend me a belted trenchcoat (preferably beige, but I don't hold out much hope) and/or an appropriate sort of hat that I could pick up before Saturday?

After seeing Pirates last night and again tonight, it has become apparent to me that what I REALLY need in my life is a pair of pirate boots. In fact it has become so apparent that last night I dreamed about needing and subsequently purchasing pirate boots ( Read more... )

The most startling bit of this for me is not the main article, but a paragraph at the end referring to a recent similar case.
A children's book about Cuba was removed from Miami-Dade County school libraries because it painted too rosy a picture of life on the island. There were objections to pages reading: "People in Cuba eat, work, and go to ( Read more... )

The Hounds of the Morrigan - Pat O'Shea
Piratica II - Tanith Lee
Stormbreaker - Anthony Horowitz

Recent books that I have read a significant portion of and not finished include Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, which was a great disappointment. It seemed to suffer from a severe case of translation-ese, and it wasn't just an attempt to preserve the ( Read more... )

Today I fulfilled a lifetime ambition (or at least an ambition since I was 18) - I went up the tower in the UL! I already knew that it's not actually full of porn, which is disappointing, but it was still ever so exciting. It was very, very hot and full of the kind of books I inherited from my mum (some of which she inherited from her mum), with ( Read more... )

This article keeps appearing in my inbox and on my friends list. While I can understand the desire to raise awareness 'before it's too late', the alarmist tone of these articles (which appear quite regularly in the Guardian, saying the same thing every time) really annoys me. They always say, "Libraries are going to be CLOSED blah blah blah, this ( Read more... )

So let that be a lesson to you!