Are you fascinated by words and language? If so, you might want to check out the Economist's Johnson blog (named for the dictionary-maker Samuel Johnson), where you can find everything from the Harry Potter stars trying to speak with American accents (Rupert Grint overdoes the R's, and to my ears Emma Watson is the most convincing of the lot) to annoying airline lingo to the many, many ways you can talk about a lion in Arabic.
One thing I discovered via the blog that I'm embarrassed to admit I never realized on my own is that Eeyore got his name because that's how a donkey's bray is rendered in a non-rhotic (i.e. R-dropping) English accent. As in, Hee-haw. This despite the fact I did figure out long ago that Marmee in Little Women is just Mommy, because Louisa May Alcott was from the part of the world that pahks its cahs in Hahvahd Yahd. I think I got Marmee but missed Eeyore because the Bostonian accent sounds so much more aggressive in its non-rhoticity, somehow, or maybe I notice R-dropping more in an American accent because it doesn't fit the general pattern.
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Literary Meme
This came from Shannon Stacey's blog. You should do it, too, even though I won’t tag anybody.
1) What author do you own the most books by?
Bernard Cornwell. I like his books, AND he's written a lot of them.
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I don't have more than two of any book--but I have two of quite a few of the classics, since I'm adding free and cheap editions to my Kindle in addition to print books.
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Not in the least.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Lord Peter Wimsey. Marcus Didius Falco. Joscelin Verreuil.
5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)? Pride and Prejudice
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? The Chronicles of Narnia
7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
If I'm not enjoying a book, I don't keep reading, so none of the books I read all the way through are bad enough to deserve to be called worst.
9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
You mean other than The Sergeant's Lady? Probably Persuasion, my current favorite Austen.
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature? No idea.
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
I hope Peter Jackson follows through with the film rights for His Majesty's Dragon one of these days, because Novik's books positively beg for a place on the big screen, IMHO.
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Jacqueline Carey's Terre d'Ange books, because I just don't trust Hollywood to handle d'Angeline sexuality with any kind of finesse.
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Don't know if it's weird, since we were all wholly in character, but I dreamed I was at a ball with Richard Sharpe and someone was trying to kill one of us or maybe they were trying to kill Wellington and Sharpe and I were protecting him. I don't think I was a time traveler. I was myself, but a version of me that happened to be born 200 years earlier.
14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
Whoever originally wrote this quiz would probably consider ALL the fiction I enjoy lowbrow. Next question...
15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Angela's Ashes. Harrowing yet impossible to put down.
16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
I've never seen any of the obscure ones. Only ones I've seen live are Macbeth and Merchant of Venice.
17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I've read pathetically little of either's literature, but in general, the French! I love their food, and the way their language sounds, and all my research on the Napoleonic Era has made me despise Napoleon himself, but admire the French for being just as awesomesauce and badass as the British. Which is not to say that the Russians aren't also pretty badass, and I wouldn't turn down an all-expense-paid trip to either country, but still. France for me.
18) Roth or Updike? no opinion
19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? no opinion
20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? Shakespeare.
21) Austen or Eliot? Austen
22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Someone as into all things Napoleonic Era as I am really should've read War and Peace by now. (And who knows, maybe it'll change my answer to the "French or Russians" question!) Maybe I'll get to it now that I have a Kindle and wouldn't have to drag a heavy tome wherever I go.
23) What is your favorite novel?
Pick one favorite? You must be joking. I can't even pick a single favorite romance, or mystery, or fantasy novel.
24) Play?
Much Ado About Nothing
25) Poem?
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. Or maybe Sea Fever.
26) Essay?
Doubt this is what the original quiz creator had in mind, but Jenny Crusie's Rats With Islands RWA column is an ongoing source of encouragement.
27) Short story?
Meh. Don't have one. I like long books and love long series of books.
28) Work of nonfiction?
Again, pick ONE?! Unpossible.
29) Who is your favorite writer?
I can pick TWO. Jane Austen and CS Lewis. OK, three, because I need my Dorothy Sayers, too.
30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
I think I draw all kinds of writerly bad karma if I answer the "overrated" and "worst book" type of questions in these memes, so ain't going there...
31) What is your desert island book?
Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers. Though I'd try to sneak in Have His Carcase and Busman's Honeymoon to round out my Peter/Harriet fix.
32) And … what are you reading right now?
Globish, by Robert McCrum (nonfiction, on the history and future of English)
1) What author do you own the most books by?
Bernard Cornwell. I like his books, AND he's written a lot of them.
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I don't have more than two of any book--but I have two of quite a few of the classics, since I'm adding free and cheap editions to my Kindle in addition to print books.
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Not in the least.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Lord Peter Wimsey. Marcus Didius Falco. Joscelin Verreuil.
5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)? Pride and Prejudice
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? The Chronicles of Narnia
7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
If I'm not enjoying a book, I don't keep reading, so none of the books I read all the way through are bad enough to deserve to be called worst.
9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
You mean other than The Sergeant's Lady? Probably Persuasion, my current favorite Austen.
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature? No idea.
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
I hope Peter Jackson follows through with the film rights for His Majesty's Dragon one of these days, because Novik's books positively beg for a place on the big screen, IMHO.
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Jacqueline Carey's Terre d'Ange books, because I just don't trust Hollywood to handle d'Angeline sexuality with any kind of finesse.
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Don't know if it's weird, since we were all wholly in character, but I dreamed I was at a ball with Richard Sharpe and someone was trying to kill one of us or maybe they were trying to kill Wellington and Sharpe and I were protecting him. I don't think I was a time traveler. I was myself, but a version of me that happened to be born 200 years earlier.
14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
Whoever originally wrote this quiz would probably consider ALL the fiction I enjoy lowbrow. Next question...
15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Angela's Ashes. Harrowing yet impossible to put down.
16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
I've never seen any of the obscure ones. Only ones I've seen live are Macbeth and Merchant of Venice.
17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I've read pathetically little of either's literature, but in general, the French! I love their food, and the way their language sounds, and all my research on the Napoleonic Era has made me despise Napoleon himself, but admire the French for being just as awesomesauce and badass as the British. Which is not to say that the Russians aren't also pretty badass, and I wouldn't turn down an all-expense-paid trip to either country, but still. France for me.
18) Roth or Updike? no opinion
19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? no opinion
20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? Shakespeare.
21) Austen or Eliot? Austen
22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Someone as into all things Napoleonic Era as I am really should've read War and Peace by now. (And who knows, maybe it'll change my answer to the "French or Russians" question!) Maybe I'll get to it now that I have a Kindle and wouldn't have to drag a heavy tome wherever I go.
23) What is your favorite novel?
Pick one favorite? You must be joking. I can't even pick a single favorite romance, or mystery, or fantasy novel.
24) Play?
Much Ado About Nothing
25) Poem?
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. Or maybe Sea Fever.
26) Essay?
Doubt this is what the original quiz creator had in mind, but Jenny Crusie's Rats With Islands RWA column is an ongoing source of encouragement.
27) Short story?
Meh. Don't have one. I like long books and love long series of books.
28) Work of nonfiction?
Again, pick ONE?! Unpossible.
29) Who is your favorite writer?
I can pick TWO. Jane Austen and CS Lewis. OK, three, because I need my Dorothy Sayers, too.
30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
I think I draw all kinds of writerly bad karma if I answer the "overrated" and "worst book" type of questions in these memes, so ain't going there...
31) What is your desert island book?
Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers. Though I'd try to sneak in Have His Carcase and Busman's Honeymoon to round out my Peter/Harriet fix.
32) And … what are you reading right now?
Globish, by Robert McCrum (nonfiction, on the history and future of English)
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Desert Isle Movies
I am a busy, busy writer, home owner, wife, mother, and worker bee these days. But I don't want this blog to grow cobwebs, so I'm blogging about my Desert Isle Movie choices. I almost wish I was stuck on that proverbial island, with the leisure to spend two or three hours doing nothing but watching a movie.
For today, I'm just listing the movies and a favorite quote from each. They're more or less in reverse order, with my favorite last, though tomorrow I might rank them differently.
If you want, you can guess what my choices say about me as a storyteller, and at some future point I'll blog about why each one is a favorite.
Dave
"I don't want to tell some eight-year-old kid he's gotta sleep in the street because we want people to feel better about their *car*. Do *you* want to tell them that?"
Master and Commander
"Name a shrub after me. Something prickly and hard to eradicate."
Lord of the Rings (Yes, the whole trilogy. It's one story.)
Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil.
Glory
"Give 'em hell, 54th!"
Bull Durham
"Baseball may be a religion full of magic, cosmic truth, and the fundamental ontological riddles of our time, but it's also a job."
The Shawshank Redemption
"I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope."
It must be said that it's nigh-impossible to pick just ONE favorite quote from Bull Durham or The Shawshank Redemption. And the line from LOTR I actually quote most frequently is, "They have a cave troll." Just something about Sean Bean's delivery that made it stick in my mind for the only thing to say when a bad situation finds a way to get worse.
What about you? Are any of my favorites yours? Which movies would you take?
For today, I'm just listing the movies and a favorite quote from each. They're more or less in reverse order, with my favorite last, though tomorrow I might rank them differently.
If you want, you can guess what my choices say about me as a storyteller, and at some future point I'll blog about why each one is a favorite.
Dave
"I don't want to tell some eight-year-old kid he's gotta sleep in the street because we want people to feel better about their *car*. Do *you* want to tell them that?"
Master and Commander
"Name a shrub after me. Something prickly and hard to eradicate."
Lord of the Rings (Yes, the whole trilogy. It's one story.)
Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil.
Glory
"Give 'em hell, 54th!"
Bull Durham
"Baseball may be a religion full of magic, cosmic truth, and the fundamental ontological riddles of our time, but it's also a job."
The Shawshank Redemption
"I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope."
It must be said that it's nigh-impossible to pick just ONE favorite quote from Bull Durham or The Shawshank Redemption. And the line from LOTR I actually quote most frequently is, "They have a cave troll." Just something about Sean Bean's delivery that made it stick in my mind for the only thing to say when a bad situation finds a way to get worse.
What about you? Are any of my favorites yours? Which movies would you take?
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