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A Little History Of Discovery

Discussion in 'Book Lovers' started by Ouroboros, Sep 24, 2018.

  1. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    Never mind.
    Years ago, there was a movie called "Dosa Hunt", a bunch of boys (USA born Indian Children) going around the boroughs of New York looking for the best Dosa in Town.

    Years and years ago, Woody Allen bought the rights to a Asian spy movie, erased all the sound track and added his own, with a plot of some fellows hunting for the recipe of the world's best egg salad sandwich. The movie was called "What's Up, Tiger Lily?". <==link to the movie... first couple of minutes is the original movie... and then a brief interview with Allen, followed by the movie "What's Up Tiger Lily?"

    When a foreign comic book goes abroad with some vernacular script laid within those talk bubbles, is it a same story, or something else concocted by the writers in the new language ?
     
  2. Ouroboros

    Ouroboros Silver IL'ite

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    I do mind when the contention is on dosa.

    Do you know the latest gustatory fad of Indian diet in my city? Used to be dosa but now toppled by appam. Very colonial-sounding plush restaurants have introduced 'appam' as their signatory delicacy. Poor dosa has fallen in rating!

    Two plaits, you inquire deep and dolby! I will think about your inquiry after I have decided whether to watch foreign cartoons in original language with English captions or watch in English language with regional captions, on Netflix. Am I losing out on regional puns? I am inflicted with that 'missing out' syndrome. Why? Recently I watched the entire Tintin cartoon adaptation available on Netflix. Remember those Thomson and Thompson detectives?

    When King Ottokar's Sceptre was serialised in Eagle for British readers in 1951, the characters were referred to as "Thomson and Thompson"; In the original French, Dupond and Dupont are stereotypically prevalent surnames (akin to "Smith") and pronounced identically. The different letters indicate their different moustache styles: D for droite ("straight"), T for troussée ("turned up"). Translators of the series have tried to find in each language names for the pair that are common, and similar or identical in pronunciation.

    This moustached nuance is washed out in English with no equivalent translation. Is it better for me watch in regional language with English captions?
     
  3. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    Raise my Rent!
    That phrase (comes up in the clip around 2:10) had got into my long term memory archives from an old movie: Blazing Saddles...
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2018
  4. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    [​IMG]

    Here is a story that the desi Diaspora should read.
    Nobody has a clear notion of why, what, how, etc.. with respect to a scheme for life. We choose some path for survival, and see how it goes, until the next choice of a path comes up on our road.

    from wiki':
    In Greek, 'lithos' is stone and 'tomos' is cut, and lithotomy refers to the surgical method of removal of kidney or bladder stones. Hippocrates noted it as 'lethal' work that should be left to surgeons. In the Hippocratic Oath, there used to be a line there that said, 'I will not cut for stone.'​
     
  5. Ouroboros

    Ouroboros Silver IL'ite

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    Interlude: Pricksongs and Descants

    "I told you that your 'discovery' won't last even for ten posts." Adi wagged his finger.

    "Adi, you don't understand the short-circuit devilry some minds endure with distractions and excitement and pricksongs and descants. They are too rattled with too many discoveries. They don't know how to even contain such maniacal excitement of having discovered the overwhelming .."

    "In short, you are undisciplined. You can gibber as much glory to your sincere attempt but in the end you have been undisciplined. Hell, what's that short-circuit metaphor?", he tipped his head.

    "I thought it will throw you off and then you would also be distracted like that TS Elliot's distracted from distraction by distraction. Don't know why it never works on you. It works on me like a charm. "

    "That's coz you are reckless, wayward undisciplined, and ..." , he halted groping for a hard-hitting reprimand.

    "OK, I get it".

    "No, you don't"

    "I said, I get it."

    "But you don't mean it"

    "I am saying that I mean it with a gotten voice."

    "No, your voice is not gotten but turncoat."

    "What is that sartorial metaphor, my short-circuit was fetching to your self-fashioned off-the-cuff metaphor. I mean it when I got to say."

    "Don't rearrange your verbal stock like lego bricks. You never get it. You ever fancy hopping passions. Stay put and complete your discovery folio. Read this Pricksongs book."

    "Adi, do you ever wonder that I may be hot-housed by you as naturally I have no flair to grasp such eclectic reading."

    "Hot-housed or short-circuited, go figure, but read the book and show up."

    "Can I read the children's novel "The Phantom Tollbooth" instead? she lowers her gaze.

    "Where did this Phantom Tollbooth pop up from.. oh Poorni ... you are so errant ..when will you read grown-up books if you pretend to talk to Moomin and play with Gruffalo."

    "Actually I talk to Gruffalo and play with Moomin. You should get your speculative facts right even to admonish."

    "Poorni, the next report is on Phantom Tollbooth. No more dispensation and lock both your Moomin and Gruffalo."


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    Last edited: Oct 26, 2018
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  6. Ouroboros

    Ouroboros Silver IL'ite

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    Interlude: Thousand Paper Cranes

    "Poorni, don't you think your interludes are louder than your discovery posts? Are you not supposed to write a book report on Phantom TollBooth? Is that report also phantom and never to be materialized?" Adi shook his head.

    "Adi, you are ignorant. What did Francis Bacon say?"

    "He lived in the time with no Netflix so must have complained and said a lot of things about life."

    "He said ...

    Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

    ... I write only book reports of the third kind -- digested."

    "Well, most of your book indulgences seem to be merely 'tasted' in recent times with your sluggish metabolism," he knitted his brows. "I started reading 'An Incomplete Education' by Judy Jones and William Wilson last night," she delighted.

    "The prospects of you writing a book report on it are also incomplete then. Why cannot you be inspired by Sadako Sasaki to write a thousand book reports? She created a thousand paper cranes with passion and enthusiasm fighting her way through her illness."

    "But why a thousand paper cranes?"

    "Because ...

    Thousand Origami Cranes is a group of one thousand origami paper cranes held together by strings. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. Some stories believe you are granted happiness and eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise) and is said to live for a thousand years: That is why 1000 cranes are made, one for each year. In some stories it is believed that the 1000 cranes must be completed within one year and they must all be made by the person who is to make the wish at the end.

    "Adi, did anyone ever emulate that level of dedication?"

    "Poorni, such undertaking is used to assess the emotional competency of candidates applying for JAXA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. Mary Roach cites that in her book Packing for Mars.

    'For the next hour and a half, the men and women who vie to become Japan’s next astronauts, heroes to their countrymen, will be making paper cranes.‘One thousand cranes.’ Jaxa’s chief medical officer, Shoichi Tachibana, introduces himself. The applicants have until Sunday to finish the cranes. As they complete them, candidates string them on a single long thread. At the end of the isolation, the cranes will be taken away and analysed. It’s forensic origami: as the deadline nears and the pressure increases, do the candidate’s creases become sloppy? How do the first 10 cranes compare to the last? Deterioration of accuracy shows impatience under stress’

    "You expect me to write a thousand book reports," she pouts.

    "I only expect you to discontinue this 'interlude' and get your feet back to book reports."

    "But Adi, I love scratching interludes because I get to capture you in them."

    "Idiot, don't capture me, don't taste books, don't fold origami paper, but listen to me. Write meaningful book reports rather than these interlocutory intermisisoned interludes."



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  7. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    No wonder bacon is digested. Never mind that the semitic people consider it unkosher. In the new world, viz., amreeka, everything is bacon flavored.
    And btw, a 1000 cranes is called a Senbazuru (or Sembazuru). Sen is a Thousand.

    Some really odd bacon flavored products:
    • Bacon toothpaste. This might be the only toothpaste that would be OK to use before drinking orange juice. ...
    • Bacon salt. ...
    • Bacon wrapped hot dog. ...
    • Bacon cupcakes. ...
    • Maple-bacon lollipops. ...
    • Bacon beer. ...
     
  8. Ouroboros

    Ouroboros Silver IL'ite

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    8: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up

    In the earlier Francis Bacon's quote, a category is missing.

    Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. -- Francis Bacon, Essays (1625), "Of Studies"​

    The missing category is books to be counselled. In the recent months, I have been referring to a book incessantly to guide me. It is a reference book:

    upload_2018-10-29_15-5-37.png

    I was not raised with broadened learning as a child, just read the books prescribed in the curriculum and available in the library. As I flip through the pages of this 1001, I am enamored of the handiwork and voices and creativity and lands (Scandinavia, New Zealand, Africa, Europe, Mediterranean, Asia Minor, America, Caribbean, India), unlike any netted world that I had experienced as a child.

    The more I am plunging into this obsession to discover the splashy, flicky, controversial, cheerful, and unique books, the more I realize of the necessity for a child to have a guiding hand (parent, guardian, teacher, or as our amulet reckons auntie) to expose a child to a multitude of inventive retellings and sketchful narratives since early childhood.

    Today, in that auntie role, to nurture good-reading I should gift to at least one bright-eyed child,

    1. Ipad Pro with downloaded kindle app.
    2. $500 gift coupon from Amazon to download ebooks.
    3. The foremost 1001 as the guide book.
    ...in the family.

    I am shaken-up by the realization on how much early reading could orient a child into discerning wits. Most of the books and stories compiled in this 1001 are artistic and worth-knowing. I realize the challenges in parenting for parents to dig up such pointers themselves thereafter guide and enable the infant to immerse in wholesome reading for the next generation to grow up accomplished and gritty-minded.

    If you are thinking of baby shower gift/package in the family/friends then (1) and (2) and (3) are long-term endowment to the child rather than instant benefaction.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2018
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  9. Ouroboros

    Ouroboros Silver IL'ite

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    2018 borders on a miracle, considering that 2017 was magical. Is that me reading these random books?
    How did I get from there (a guttersnipe shunning books) to here (a pigtail brooding on books).

    Hazelpup's "If you knew" thread sparked up a memory ride to dredge up the shift in my life. Thus, I adopted the Fukuyama approach of historical outline.

    What was I doing back in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2015 and 2018 that led me to this treasured box of reads today.

    If I had known ...such gaily existence could be harvested from merely tasting or digesting random books, would I have plunged into sustained reading since a kid? Intriguing answer to every pesky problem of life is locked up in some character or plot or research. Would I have been a different person if I had latched onto this passion earlier, but they say, things happen when they are meant to happen. How gormless would I have been back in the day not knowing a Pratchett or a Pynchon.

    I don't have universal tricks to publish, inspirational anecdotes to perpetuate, but only a 'small miracle' to host that has incredibly straightened my life. When life happens to you, it happens like no other comparable phenomenon. It transfigures you. So, don't rut and let the bard's day in and let life also in.


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    Last edited: Oct 31, 2018
  10. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    I have discovered that I cannot remember a thing. Unless someone pokes me with a mnemonic, I have no independent recalls of anything.

    Geetakasyap posts a fictional essay "soliloquy" with a fictional mummy in Mumbai reminiscing about this and that, about a daughter who had gone wild in phoren (London, GK says!) etc. etc. Apparently the ficitonal daughter's cohabitante is a Japanese scholar, and the daughter is trying to make him a dish of bhelpuri. Yes... I am not making this up at all.

    That poked me to remember Kumar Sivasubramanian's translation of a Japanese Manga book....called "Stupid guy goes to India". Check out the reviews.
    Stupid Guy Goes To India by Yukichi Yamamatsu
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2018

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