I have the feeling that he’s cutting a pumpkin with a pair of shoes, only sometimes it’s not a pumpkin at all.
—Gianluca
Joachim Fersengeld, a German, wrote his Pericalypse in Dutch (he hardly knows the language, which he himself admits in the Introduction) and published it in France, a country notorious for its dreadful proofreading. The writer of these words also does not, strictly speaking, know Dutch, but going by the title of the book, the English [...]
In my inbox this morning:
Office of the
Honourable Minister Of Information
Federal Republic Of Nigeria
Tel: 234 703 440 0879
REF/PAYMENTS CODE:06654
This is to inform you that we have verified your payment,
Nigerian 419 scam practiotioners where Arested,your name
has been shortlisted and approved for this payment as one
of the 419 scam victims,get back to me [...]
To lighten the mood a little, here’s a magnificent malapropism coined by Fabrice in the pub last night: to smoke like a chainsaw. It currently gets one Google hit, with a title Fabrice might not appreciate.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
It’s that time of year again! Latest discovery:
How to prepare a Kiwi. (Via xkcd, which comes recommended. Buggered if I know where it comes from originally — if you know, give me a shout.)
On the subject, there’s a fantastic animation on YouTube: Kiwi!.
Previous editions:
Animals Have Problems Too
White Ninja gets a Kiwi
kiwi en kiwi gaan nergens [...]
Friday, September 22, 2006
I just got my official one-year evaluation from my supervisor, which ensures that my contract will indeed be ratified and that I get paid for another year. Actually I got the damn thing back to proofread (I’m getting a name for it…). I was particularly tickled with the summary: “The supervisors are content with the [...]
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Today’s weather, as of yesterday’s forecast: “Unknown.”
(Funnily enough, they did know that tomorrow would have a “Chance of rain.” But then, I could have told them that this time last year. Bloody August in bloody Amsterdam.)
A double-bass player (Sven, the dude from cafe Alto Tuesdays) cycling somewhere with his bass on his handlebars.
Those with delicate stomachs might want to leave it at that. For the rest, I also saw…
Tui beer has a long-running advertising campaign (since before I left New Zealand), under the slogan “Yeah right.” (”I’ve been studying all summer.” — “Yeah right.”) A mate of mine just snapped a
wonderfully altered version of one of these storeside ads. Kudos to the originator, and hopefully Robin will keep us updated if any more [...]
From a talk I attended recently (slightly paraphrased, I was slow off the mark writing the quote down):
> Orson Welles,
> Brave New World, anybody read that
> book? They have a ministry redefining language so that people can’t talk about political
> concepts like going to war.
I was slow off the mark because I was having difficulty [...]