BBC NEWS => Cricket: The latest American craze?
Is there a chance that I might finally be able to purchase a Cricket bat in the US? I couldn’t fit one in my luggage when were were in the UK.
According the BBC article, Cricket is making a comeback in the US after a nearly 150-year slump.
That’s about the length of one test match, isn’t it?
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In the 80’s, due to the strength of the Japanese economy, there were an upswing in interest in the Japanese language. Consequently, high schools and colleges began offering language classes. Just to try to keep my brain fresh, I attended some of those classes near the end of that era, the early 90’s. It was always interesting to see the composition of the classes:
Why was I there? None of the above. 🙂
Anyway, ultimately, through my association with the students in these Japanese classes I met my wife who is Taiwanese and basically has nothing to do with Japan whatsoever. (Unless, of course, you consider that her maternal grandparents and ancestors would have been citizens of the Japanese empire prior to 1944.)
Now, from the earliest time of our dating and marriage (8+ years ago) I have abandoned Japanese study in favor of Mandarin Chinese. Learning Chinese is Arizona is no easy task. At the time only 2 avenues were available: University courses and “Chinese schools.â€
University courses were out because they are 4 or 5 days a week, 1.5 hours per day, right in the middle of the day. Not an option for someone who works for a living.
Chinese schools are a different beast altogether. These are schools, often held in churches, that are for immigrant parents to send their American-born children to learn Chinese culture and language. I attended a couple of these and, of course, most students are ages 5-16 or so, but, if there’s enough interest, they’ll hold a class for adults in conversation. Almost invariably these would be spouses of Taiwanese or Chinese wives. The largest of those classes I ever attended had 5 students, and one of those was a ringer I’d convinced to join just to bring the class enrollment up.
Fast Forward 5 – 8 years and now that everyone is blindly trying to hitch their wagon to China’s star, Chinese language courses are in demand. High Schools are offering them, people with too much money are hiring Chinese au pairs to raise their children, and that last bastion of cheap education, the community college, has even gotten into the act.
Since there’s one just a mile from my home and they offer an evening Chinese conversation class, I decided to enroll. I won’t pretend like I don’t have an advantage over most of the rest of the students.
I’ve attended three of the weekly classes so far, and I’m amazed at the size of the class. We started with 20 people and, although class was down to 16 today, that’s still huge all things considered.
So far, I have not been able to classify most of the class. My impression is that about 3 students are actually “students†at the college, the rest are adults.
One student is clearly an MBA student elsewhere that is trying to learn Chinese for that competitive edge. Another has a Chinese-speaking parent. But the rest are, as yet, a mystery.
We’ve spent most of all three classes working entirely on pronunciation. The necessary precision of the pronunciation is so critical but fiendishly difficult. It’s a tough slog and the students are rapidly getting discouraged. It even seems to me like an almost impossible task.
I’m not proud to say this, but… the following factoid which I recently read in “Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader – Extraordinary Book of Facts and Bizarre Information†conjured up such a vivid cartoon-like image in my mind, I had to laugh our loud. (Or “LOL†as the kids say these days.)
Beavers sometimes get crushed by the trees they gnaw down.
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AZCentral.com => Pet psychic will give free readings at Petco opening
Today at the grand opening of Petco in Chandler, Joseph Bortniak will look deep inside the minds of pets and attempt to decipher their feelings.
Bortniak is a self-described “psychic enlightenment consultant.†He has practiced this brand of holistic treatment for a decade on both people and pets.
“I want to make sure people have great relationships with their animals,†Bortniak said. “I hope to enrich their lives through my service.â€
He’s a regular at Petco grand openings and other store promotions in the Valley, offering his services for free. He’ll be at the Chandler opening from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
A notable episode Bortniak remembers is the time he says he strengthened the relationship between a pet owner and her dog. In that instance, the dog hated its name, and Bortniak shared that with the owner. A few weeks later, Bortniak said, the woman called, saying she had changed the name and the dog was much happier.
“Hold, on, hold on… I’m getting something. I’m seeing… yes, I’m seeing a dog turd. It’s in a house. It’s on a carpet… or it might be a wood floor, or perhaps tile of some kind. I’m seeing you being upset.â€
“Yes, That’s it! Has there been a time when your companion, Rover accidentally may have messed on the floor of your home? I can see by the look on your face that you have. Well your companion animal here is feeling a lot of guilt about that. He feels like a second class citizen. It’s up to you to bring the ying and yang bank into balance. What you need to do, in front of Rover here, is crap on your carpet. That way he’ll see that it could happen to anyone, and it will help wash away his feelings of inferiority.â€
“Go home and give that a try tonight. This is a completely free service which I do entirely to help humans and their companions understand each other better. Donations are greatly accepted, though.â€
fiLi’s world => Is the Chinese government against Lonely Planet on the Taiwan issue?
Politics, politics, politics. There’s fodder there for a hundred thousand blogs, but that’s just not my scene.
Anyway, once in a while you just have to stand up and be counted.
Some (not all, by any means) mainland Chinese and most certainly the government of mainland China have got their heads up their butts so far if you shined a light down their throats they could see their own stomach lining.
Taiwan is not part of the People’s Republic of China – never has been. From what I can tell, even when it was controlled by the government of China (that is, the governments prior to the PRC, and not including the times its been under the sovereignty of other countries entirely) it’s been a unwanted outpost occupied by headhunters, fortune seekers, pirates and scoundrels escaping the mainland.
I could write volumes on some of the antics of some of their brainwashed minions, even in an inconsequential place like Phoenix, as they’ve tried to erase the name Taiwan from everything from posters, cultural events and newspapers. They’re so fanatical, it’s like talking to a fundamentalist. The refrigerator door is open, the cold has already gotten out and the light is burnt out.
Anyway, what gets me on today’s rant:
Apparently, Chinese authorities are now confiscating Lonely Planet guidebooks at the border because they have a map which shows Taiwan in a different color than China – “implying†that Taiwan and China aren’t the same country. Just try getting into Taiwan with a Chinese visa and the reality will hit you like a brick.
From fiLi’s world:
Is the Chinese government against Lonely Planet on the Taiwan issue?
Oooo… there’s a weird story for you. Apparently, some Israeli tourists going to travel in China with the latest Lonely Planet book were asked to hand in their very expensive book at the border-crossing due to its ‘political nature’ showing maps of China which color Taiwan in a different color suggesting that Taiwan is not a part of China.
The article sites several examples and is worth a read.
They really are like a bunch of kids on a temper tantrum.
Incidentally, I found that article by way of The View From Taiwan Blog which I read regularly.
ABC News Online => Steve Irwin dead. 04/09/2006
Crikey!
The naturalist and television star Steve Irwin has died in a diving accident in far north Queensland. He was 44.
Police say he was stung through the heart by a stingray while diving off Port Douglas.
That’s just depressing.
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Doctor Who – Revelation of the Daleks
by Eric Saward
Story # 143, 1985
Colin Baker as The Doctor
Nicola Bryant as Peri
Eric Saward turns in his second mess of a Dalek story.
Plot
The Doctor and Peri arrive on the planet Necros to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the Doctor’s friend.
Meanwhile body snatchers are searching for (coincidentally, it appears) the body of the Doctor’s friend.
Davros is creating a new army of Daleks, loyal to him using the bodies in Necros. He’s also feeding the galaxy with the leftovers.
His business partners have hired and assassin to kill him.
For “comedy†there’s are plots with a lovelorn intern and the chief embalmer and another about a DJ who entertains the corpses.
Hell, there was no plot in this one. I’m not even going to bother.
Analysis
Having just watched Resurrection of the Daleks, Eric Saward’s previous Dalek attempt, last night my complaints from that story continue into this one. Too many subplots are floating around and the Doctor does mostly nothing. In fact, he’s hardly seen in the entire first episode. That’s worse than you might think because this is from the one hour episode era and this is only a two parter. The Doctor doesn’t even make it inside the building before the first episode ends.
I watched this episode with the subtitles turned on because Davros often becomes incoherent and I thought I might finally discover what he says. What became apparent was that the subtitlers couldn’t understand him either.
I really don’t mind a complex story, but this was about as neatly tied up as a two-year old’s shoelaces. Eric Saward really just didn’t know how to write a Doctor Who story. The Visitation, a minor effort in the Who cannon, was his best work. As with Resurrection, all of the subplots ended in dead ends – the characters involved are all killed off, completely unsuccessful in their goals.
The character of the comedy-relief DJ is played by Alexi Sayle, and one can only suppose the part was written in as part of the guest star of the week mentality that had taken hold during that era. For most of the episode he’s just an annoying commentator on the action, although he does get to (briefly) interact with Peri before his ultimate demise.
It’s hard to say Colin’s Doctor is on his top of form here, since he’s given so little to do. He’s given one of his obligatory indignant remarks, typically in a form like this:
Peri: Who was this guy, anyway?
Doctor: “Guyâ€?… “GUY?!?!!!!â€
He’s given one of his melancholy turns when he sees his own tombstone and gets all contemplative.
Although he is given one of those moments that makes him stand head over heals over the other John Nathan-Turner cast Doctors: Davros has been wounded, his one remaining hand blown off, and he is now a prisoner of the Dalek forces being lead out of the room. The Doctor offers to shake his hand, knowing full well Davros hasn’t got one. That’s it. Just that, but it shows Colin’s Doctor has more potential personality than Davison or McCoy combined.
It’s really sad to say that’s the highlight of this story. It may have been the highlight of the season.
My next review should either be Pertwee’s Inferno (yeah!) or McCoy’s Curse of Fenric (uggh. Well, at least it wasn’t written by Saward).
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It’s midnight and the rain has just about ended, but it has been raining continuously for over 6 hours. It’s amazing. I don’t think it’s rained for this long in one sitting since the 1990’s.
Too bad this isn’t enough to undo 8 years of draught.
(You know, it turns out it’s not so easy to get rain to show up in photographs. That explains how the film industry has been so successful in the UK, apparently.)
Doctor Who – Resurrection of the Daleks
by Eric Saward
Story # 134, 1984
Peter Davison as The Doctor
Janet Fielding as Tegan
Mark Strickson as Turlough
There are eras during the long run of the original Doctor Who that could seemingly do no wrong, and then there were others that could do no right. The John Nathan-Turner era fell into the later category. It should hardly come as a surprise that I don’t care much for this story.
This is the third story in the “Davros Saga†which began with the exceptional Genesis of the Daleks, devolved into the pathetic Destiny of the Daleks and now finds itself even more muddled and confused.
The “Plotâ€
It is now 90 years after the events of Destiny of the Daleks and the Daleks have lost the war with the Movellans. The Movellans developed a virus which proved fatal to Daleks, wiping out the Dalek armies and scattering the remains across the universe. Their forces depleted, the Daleks require armies of human(oid) soldiers who appear to be cloned and/or genetically engineered duplicates of humans they’ve collected on their raids.
For some inadequately explained reason, they’ve established a time corridor to 1984 Earth, the London Docklands, where they’ve stored several cannisters of the Movellan virus.
The TARDIS gets caught in the time corridor and narrowly escapes, but lands nearby.
Meanwhile, in the future, the Dalek ship attacks a prison space station, which is holding Davros, who was captured at the end of Destiny of the Daleks. Davros has been in a state of suspended animation on the station since then. Hopelessly outnumbered the stationis quickly overrun. The few survivors spend their time in repeated failed attempts to destroy Davros before the Daleks can get him.
The Daleks want Davros to find a cure to the virus, and they also want him to think they are serving him. Meanwhile Davros is plotting to gain control over the Daleks, or, failing that, destroying them and building a new race of Daleks, obedient only to him.
Meanwhile, with all these subplots bumbling along, the Doctor wanders rather aimlessly though the story. At one point, he does take it upon himself to finally go kill Davros, but, he fails.
Davros seemingly kills himself when he releases the virus and discovers that he’s also susceptible to the Movellan virus. (Imagine that, he is the last of the Kaleds, the race the Daleks were made from.) In the end, Tegan can’t stand the carnage and leaves the Doctor.
Analysis
So what’s wrong with this story? Well, if it isn’t obvious from that synopsis, the first and foremost problem is the poor story. Eric Saward’s script has far too many subplots, few of them make any sense, and after a while, it becomes ridiculous at how many people have the opportunity to blow Davros up and save the day, but fail to accomplish it.
This episode is near the end of Davison’s era, and at this point they have been setting the stage for his regeneration. Nyssa recently left, Turlough will leave soon and Tegan leaves at the end of this story. Despite that, she spends almost all of her time lying down on a cot doing nothing. It’s hardly a memorable departure for a companion. Turlough gets far more screen time and all he does is skulk around the sets.
Even if you like Daleks, this just isn’t a good story.
It’s frequently pointed out that Resurrection has a higher body count than The Terminator, and I don’t doubt that’s true. This story has a huge cast and all of them are killed, only the Doctor, his companions and three Dalek agents survive. While I suppose this was some attempt to make the Daleks seem menacing again, it actually just makes everyone appear incompetent.
I often lay blame on Doctor Who’s demise on John Nathan-Turner’s poor handling of the series, equal blame probably falls on Saward’s shoulders as he was the script editor during Davison and Colin Baker’s time on the show, and the scripts show a considerable and inexorable decline during that era.
Back in day there were lots of fans who defended JNT and his team and, at the time, I was willing to concede that outside pressures may have been a greater influence, but these DW DVDs, with all their extras, interviews and production documentaries really show how screwed up this production team really was. It’s a testament to the enduring love of Doctor Who that it survived 8 seasons under JNT’s helm.
I haven’t decided if I’ll break down and watch Recombobulation… er… retread… er… rerun… um… reflux… no, no, no, that’s not it… ah yes, Revelation of the Daleks (the fourth and hopefully final Davros story) tomorrow or I’ll wait and buy Inferno in a week and see a classic Doctor Who instead.
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