[OT] Cost of Living Index
Marian
Does the infinte wisdom of this group know of anyplace where
one can find the cost of living index for less well known
international cities?
It looks like (99% certain) I've got a job teaching English in
China. As a "visiting scholar" I will get all sorts of benefits
(including housing) but a stipend instead of a salary. And the
stipend is not exactly large by any USAmerican stretch of the
imagination.
The official website of the province I'll be going to is down.
And I am getting frustrated at google in trying to find out
even if such a beast exists to tell me how far my stipend will
go in buying things.
I have succeeded in finding how Beijing compares to New York.
And how New York compares to Baltimore. And the cost of living
difference between 1998 and 1997 in Hebei province. But, I
haven't been able to find something that tells me how far a US
dollar's worth of yuan will go.
I know I'll be a fairly skewed sample since I'm perfectly
willing to go a year without McDonald's and a lack of USAmerican
products fazes me little. I already do a great deal of my
shopping at pan-asian grocery stores. Other than cheese I can't
think of any comfort foods which won't be reasonably available
over there. (datapoint - Durian is one of my comfort foods.)
But, irregardless of whether or not I am skewed, I would like
to have at least a ballpark figure to figure things out. And it
must be out there. Even if I can't find it yet on google.
Someone else might be able to think of a better way to look.
And besides, isn't a plea for help a creative way to bouncily
announce that :
I'VE GOT A JOB LINED UP
IN CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-M
Anders Hultman
> Does the infinte wisdom of this group know of anyplace where
> one can find the cost of living index for less well known
> international cities?
A ballpark figure that's often possible to use is the cost of a Big Mac.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=big+mac+index
http://www.oanda.com/products/bigmac/bigmac.shtml
Seems like China is at half the US price.
anders
-------------------------
http://anders.hultman.nu/
Louise
<Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> wrote:
>Hey all,
>
> Does the infinte wisdom of this group know of anyplace where
>one can find the cost of living index for less well known
>international cities?
>
> It looks like (99% certain) I've got a job teaching English in
>China. As a "visiting scholar" I will get all sorts of benefits
>(including housing) but a stipend instead of a salary. And the
>stipend is not exactly large by any USAmerican stretch of the
>imagination.
[...]
> But, irregardless of whether or not I am skewed, I would like
>to have at least a ballpark figure to figure things out. And it
>must be out there. Even if I can't find it yet on google.
>Someone else might be able to think of a better way to look.
>And besides, isn't a plea for help a creative way to bouncily
>announce that :
>
>I'VE GOT A JOB LINED UP
>
>IN CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations! If I were contemplating a project like that, the
kind of information I'd want probably wouldn't be a one-variable
question. It would be more general information from other North
Americans or Europeans who have done similar jobs in similar places.
Around here lots of young people spend time in Japan or Korea as
English-language teachers or monitors, and some of them have written
books about their experiences. Has your agency put you in touch with
people who have completed postings with them? Have you tried
newsgroups in the soc.culture or rec.travel hierarchy?
Louise
umar
>I'VE GOT A JOB LINED UP
>IN CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, that's wonderful! Congratulations!
umar
Okboyo
umar <um...@www.hippogryph.com> wrote in message
news:abjc30$inalm$1...@ID-138960.news.dfncis.de...
Vicki Rosenzweig
>westerners still thinks that sinology is FASHION?
Huh? She's got a job teaching in China. What does this have
to do with either Sinology or fashion?
And could you please put your comments after what you're responding
to. It makes it easier for most of us to follow what you're saying.
>
>
>umar <um...@www.hippogryph.com> wrote in message
>news:abjc30$inalm$1...@ID-138960.news.dfncis.de...
>> Marian <Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> writes:
>>
>> >I'VE GOT A JOB LINED UP
>>
>> >IN CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>
>> Oh, that's wonderful! Congratulations!
>>
>>
>> umar
>>
>
--
Vicki Rosenzweig v...@redbird.org http://www.redbird.org/
"We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time
is always ripe to do right." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Okboyo
i forgot to inform that it is a OT by-the-way question.....
well im a china study history student
and im curious about westerners attitude towards China....
such a case triggered me to enquiry more
and i would like to fix my question a little bit.
is china increasingly intersting to all of you?
Vicki Rosenzweig <v...@redbird.org> wrote in message
news:cd1tdu49ru8q10c1d...@news.panix.com...
umar
>is china increasingly intersting to all of you?
China and India will be the next superpowers; as our empire fades theirs
will take its place.
The next people on the moon will likely be Chinese.
umar
Okboyo
i will happen probably when individualism is well developed in china
u know china is now under one child policy(only strictly enforced in
cities)?
umar <um...@www.hippogryph.com> wrote in message
news:abm7gd$jcesj$1...@ID-138960.news.dfncis.de...
Pig Legionnaire
>well im a china study history student
>and im curious about westerners attitude towards China....
>such a case triggered me to enquiry more
>and i would like to fix my question a little bit.
>is china increasingly intersting to all of you?
Increasingly? Nope. It's always been a fascinating & complicated
place. We (my fellow students & I) didn't spend nearly enough time
there in our history & culture classes.
What History I Learned When:
1st grade: South America, Mexico, early southern Atlantic explorers
3rd-5th grades: colonial, state & local history
8th grade: British isles ('pre-history'-1600CE? 1800? I forget how far)
9th grade: Ancient & Medieval ('pre-history'-1650CE, Mediterranean &
European)
10th grade: Modern European (1600-ish-1900-ish)
12th grade: American / World (1650-ish-1970's)
Asia and Africa and Australia and Oceania sadly neglected herein; only
covered as in reference to Western Civilization (which would be a good
idea).
History of the Roman Empire, spread out over 4 years of Latin.
History of Greek civilization, over 2 years of Greek school (mostly
modern language lessons).
An entire year of Scottish history at Glasgow.
So here's a question back at you --- got any recommendations for a
good survey history of China? Something that isn't using Western
Civilization (A Good Idea[tm]) as its lens? I'd like to get more than
snapshots.
(Hey, umar, I've been meaning to ask you a similar question with
respect to Asia Minor & the Middle East. I get the interfaces, kinda
mostly, but only enough of the inbetween to get some of the context
for the interfaces. Nowhere near the whole movie.)
Has anyone played with EarthBrowser? It's a simulated earth, viewed
from space, which you set spinning and can rotate to view from various
angles. Depending on the options you select, it shows seismic & other
geological activity (volcanic eruptions), major storms, current
climate & cloud cover, ...
Imagine the same earth, spinning through time instead of space,
modelling changes in political boundaries, tectonic activity,
climatological trends (e.g., the little ice age of the middle ages),
crop failures....
--
Piglet, pig...@piglet.org
Mail is being forged from me. Check headers!!
476 days down Ann B. for President!
984 to go. Burlingham/Burlingham in 2004!
B.C. Holmes
Legionnaire) wrote:
[about China]
>We (my fellow students & I) didn't spend nearly enough time
>there in our history & culture classes.
>
>What History I Learned When:
>
>1st grade: South America, Mexico, early southern Atlantic explorers
>3rd-5th grades: colonial, state & local history
I remember that when I was in early grades, my Kindegarten-to-
grade-8 school had a school-wide "world education" period. Each class
would spend a few weeks learning about a specific country in the
world, and then there'd be a one-day "travel around the world" where
we'd all get to visit each of the other classes and get a really fast
overview of all the other countries that were being studied.
When I was in grade two, we studied China; I remember that we
learned history, and a bit about culture, and even a handful of
pictograms (I still remember the teacher showing us how the pictogram
for "rain" looked like someone walking in the rain).
My school stopped doing that around grade three or grade four.
BCing you
--
B.C. Holmes \u2625 http://www.bcholmes.org/
"We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are."
- Anais Nin
J. Jasper
I'm not so sure. I think there are too many cultural and political
boundaries for India and China to develop anything near the US's
economy. Sure, they're growing faster now, but that's only because they
started from such a slowed down, small state. To make that growth
sustainable, they'll have to become more like the US. I don't see that
happening without a radical change in government and social policy.
As for the next moon landing, I think it will be Americans again.
Bearpaw
>
>I'm not so sure. I think there are too many cultural and political
>boundaries for India and China to develop anything near the US's
>economy. Sure, they're growing faster now, but that's only because they
>started from such a slowed down, small state. To make that growth
>sustainable, they'll have to become more like the US. I don't see that
>happening without a radical change in government and social policy.
>
>As for the next moon landing, I think it will be Americans again.
[cough] Maybe I'm just cynical, but I think an international
coalition of Radical Fairies would be more likely to land on the
moon next than a group of Americans. (Especially if you're using
the common "Americans" = "citizens of the USA".)
Bearpaw,
who can just imagine the voyage of the ICRF Fabulous
--
~~~~~~~~~~~ bea...@shore.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil
deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us
and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the
heart of every human being." - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Ryk
<3CDCAF8B...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net>
Marian <Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> wrote:
>Hey all,
>
> Does the infinte wisdom of this group know of anyplace where
>one can find the cost of living index for less well known
>international cities?
>
> It looks like (99% certain) I've got a job teaching English in
>China. As a "visiting scholar" I will get all sorts of benefits
>(including housing) but a stipend instead of a salary. And the
>stipend is not exactly large by any USAmerican stretch of the
>imagination.
Have you considered asking the people who hooked you up with the job?
Or maybe your future clients?
Ryk
nicole
i can't help you with your search, but...
> I'VE GOT A JOB LINED UP
>
> IN CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THAT IS SO COOL!!!!
CONGRATS!
nicole
--
...landscape is the link between our outer and inner selves.
-- Bill Viola, _Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House_
Ryk
<Pine.SOL.4.10.10205111308590.18734-100000@kairos>
Anders Hultman <and...@algonet.se> wrote:
>On Sat, 11 May 2002, Marian wrote:
>
>> Does the infinte wisdom of this group know of anyplace where
>> one can find the cost of living index for less well known
>> international cities?
>
>A ballpark figure that's often possible to use is the cost of a Big Mac.
It's lousy one, that is not tied to real local residence costs and
represents a mix between what North American tourists will pay for
something familiar and what the locals will pay to sample the
(billions and billions) epitome of NA gastronomy.
If the cost of living in the late eighties had been pegged to the Big
Mac we would have been starving on a decent wage in Bavaria.
Fortunately, we were adaptable.
Ryk
Ryk
<abm2m9$35...@imsp212.netvigator.com>
"Okboyo" <ming...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>oh sorry,
>i forgot to inform that it is a OT by-the-way question.....
>well im a china study history student
>and im curious about westerners attitude towards China....
>such a case triggered me to enquiry more
>and i would like to fix my question a little bit.
>is china increasingly intersting to all of you?
Actually, China is an increasing pain in the ass. It generates an
enormous number of inappropriate cold call emails and paper
applications for grad studies accompanied by questionable TOEFL
scores. I wonder at the chances for really good Chinese students
showing up through the noise.
Ryk
Ryk
<3CDEDB23...@attbi.com>
"J. Jasper" <jsja...@attbi.com> wrote:
>As for the next moon landing, I think it will be Americans again.
Just going up to change the faded flag?
Ryk, thinking it will be the US, and for exactly that sort of
reason...
Volta
>As for the next moon landing, I think it will be Americans again.
Even with NASA currently reduced to buying used parts from eBay? Or were
you thinking of the private sector?
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never
incinerated by bolts of lightning." Calvin
Anders Hultman
> >A ballpark figure that's often possible to use is the cost of a Big Mac.
>
> It's lousy one, that is not tied to real local residence costs and
> represents a mix between what North American tourists will pay for
> something familiar and what the locals will pay to sample the
> (billions and billions) epitome of NA gastronomy.
Yes, it's a lousy figure, but curiosly enough it's on the same lousyness
level as far more complex ways of calculating that kinsd of index. It is
after all a price for a standardized product that's produced locally.
anders
-------------------------
http://anders.hultman.nu/
Lilith C
wrote:
I lived in China for three years and now have a lovely Chinese
daughter-in-law. I was there with my husband but taught English as a
second language to keep my mind occupied.. I hope you will enjoy it
as much as I did .. I learned far more than I imparted...
If I can answer any questions I will gladly try and help out.
Lilith
umar
>(Hey, umar, I've been meaning to ask you a similar question with
>respect to Asia Minor & the Middle East.
_The Arabs: A Short History_, by Philip K. Hitti and Philip Khoury.
_Muhammad's People_, by Eric Schroeder. Unfortunately, it's out of
print, but it is an excellent compilation of excerpts from contemporary
sources describing the principal events from Muhammad's time until
about the year 1000 C.E.
I'm still looking for a good history of the Ottoman Empire, which
dominated the Middle East from about 1500 until the end of World War I.
umar
Vicki Rosenzweig
China is currently number five in the world for total PhDs being
awarded in its own universities, and expected to be #3 within a
few years. It may not matter much longer whether good Chinese
students can be seen through the noise.
Marian
Okboyo wrote:
>
> oh sorry,
> i forgot to inform that it is a OT by-the-way question.....
> well im a china study history student
> and im curious about westerners attitude towards China....
> such a case triggered me to enquiry more
> and i would like to fix my question a little bit.
> is china increasingly intersting to all of you?
Please don't top post.
I am very bouncy about having a job in China for a number of
reasons, including getting to go new places, meet new people and
do new things. Oh yeah, and the having a job part since I
currently don't.
As I grow older, and put down roots, moving to another continent
for a year is going to become less and less a possibility.
-M
Erik Wessing
> Quoth Ryk <r...@wellingtonhouse.org> on Mon, 13 May 2002 11:41:13 -0400:
>
>>On Sun, 12 May 2002 23:47:30 +0800, in message
>><abm2m9$35...@imsp212.netvigator.com>
>> "Okboyo" <ming...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>oh sorry,
>>>i forgot to inform that it is a OT by-the-way question.....
>>>well im a china study history student
>>>and im curious about westerners attitude towards China....
>>>such a case triggered me to enquiry more
>>>and i would like to fix my question a little bit.
>>>is china increasingly intersting to all of you?
>>
>>Actually, China is an increasing pain in the ass. It generates an
>>enormous number of inappropriate cold call emails and paper
>>applications for grad studies accompanied by questionable TOEFL
>>scores. I wonder at the chances for really good Chinese students
>>showing up through the noise.
>>
>
> China is currently number five in the world for total PhDs being
> awarded in its own universities, and expected to be #3 within a
> few years. It may not matter much longer whether good Chinese
> students can be seen through the noise.
Not judging the quality of Chinese universities or the grads thereof, but
is the scholarship of the same level as other places like the US or the
UK?
--
Erik P. Wessing - in real life, my email address is my initials.
I'm looking for work! My resume is available at
http://www.lensman.org/~epw/resume.doc
Also .pdf, and .txt
Marian
Yep, jobs are good things to have.
-M
Marian
Yes I have. I got the answer that things are "very cheap" over
there. I will be pushing for more information but at the time,
since I was nagging about exactly what was defined as "standard
furnishings" I didn't want to press too much.
It will be included in my big list of questions, with detailed
stuff ranging from medical coverage, what kind of clothing I
should bring[1], and if I get a cat will it be able to come back
to the US with me.
-M
[1] Even when skinny, I'm not built on an Asian frame and it is
unlikely I'll be able to find much that fits me over there. So
I'll have to bring most of a wardrobe and it would be nice to
find out now whether or not purple and green granny skirts with
tinkle bells are inappropriate and should be left at home.
J. Jasper
Volta wrote:
>
> On Sun, 12 May 2002 21:13:13 GMT, J. Jasper <jsja...@attbi.com> wrote:
> >As for the next moon landing, I think it will be Americans again.
>
> Even with NASA currently reduced to buying used parts from eBay? Or were
> you thinking of the private sector?
>
Nope. And the reason they're getting parts from E-Bay is that no one
makes the damn things anymore.
They sent a tracked robot to mars, and actually gave it directions. I
say they're doing a good job. As for a moon landing, well, lifting a
selection of parts to the international space station, building the
lander in space, and then launching it from there is (IMHO, if they have
any sense) the sensible next step.
I love living near NASA Ames. I get to hear all sorts of cool stuff.
Not as much as Bill Gawne, prob'ly, but cool stuff all the same.
J. Jasper
Graydon wrote:
>
> In <Xns920DDCE6FAF...@130.133.1.4>, Erik Wessing
> <dev...@lensman.org> onsendan:
> > The clouds parted, and Vicki Rosenzweig <v...@redbird.org> spake thusly:
> >> China is currently number five in the world for total PhDs being
> >> awarded in its own universities, and expected to be #3 within a few
> >> years. It may not matter much longer whether good Chinese students
> >> can be seen through the noise.
> >
> > Not judging the quality of Chinese universities or the grads thereof,
> > but is the scholarship of the same level as other places like the US
> > or the UK?
>
> Often enough better.
>
> There are a billion of them; the lower relative numbers result in higher
> average student quality, and a great deal of selection for drive. The
> only real tangles are the over-respectful academic tradition and poor
> funding, but they seem to be getting a handle on the former and the
> later will change as their economy improves.
>
If it can get past the brick walls of Communism and corruption looming
on the horizon.
Jim Roberts
umar wrote:
> Marian <Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> writes:
>
> >I'VE GOT A JOB LINED UP
>
> >IN CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Oh, that's wonderful! Congratulations!
>
> umar
Our loss is their gain! Don't drink the water. You'll be surprised at
the number of unintelligible English teachers. Trust no one. Talk only
about common cultural values, not politics.
jimbat
Jim Roberts
umar wrote:
Beep! Wrong. Fifteen years ago, Japan was supposed to be by now skimming
over the Pacific with the anti-gravity 5th generation computers to take us
over. Yet look at them now.
No government without glasnost' and a fully balanced democratic government,
with all mad passions and corruption under control, will ever be able to
approach us. No matter how good thay may look for a time, otherwise they
will fail.
jimbat
Jim Roberts
umar wrote:
Perhaps superior is "A History of the Arab Peoples" (1991) by Albert
Hourani, which ncludes the Ottomans, and don't forget Ibn Khaldun.
jimbat
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
Nonsense, as long as you prove your metal.
jimbat
Bearpaw
>
>Graydon wrote:
>> There are a billion of them; the lower relative numbers result in higher
>> average student quality, and a great deal of selection for drive. The
>> only real tangles are the over-respectful academic tradition and poor
>> funding, but they seem to be getting a handle on the former and the
>> later will change as their economy improves.
>
>If it can get past the brick walls of Communism and corruption looming
>on the horizon.
Given that we've slammed into the brick walls of Corporatism and
corruption, they have a chance of catching up. Whatever "catching up"
means in this context.
Bearpaw
Bearpaw
I think the point was that Big Macs are *not* produced locally, unless
one uses a limited definition of "produced" to mean "assembled". Kinda
like how many supposedly "Made in the USA" products are actually mostly
made elsewhere, with only the final assembly steps done in the US.
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> Does the infinte wisdom of this group know of anyplace where
> one can find the cost of living index for less well known
> international cities?
>
> It looks like (99% certain) I've got a job teaching English in
> China. As a "visiting scholar" I will get all sorts of benefits
> (including housing) but a stipend instead of a salary. And the
> stipend is not exactly large by any USAmerican stretch of the
> imagination.
>
> The official website of the province I'll be going to is down.
>
> And I am getting frustrated at google in trying to find out
> even if such a beast exists to tell me how far my stipend will
> go in buying things.
>
> I have succeeded in finding how Beijing compares to New York.
> And how New York compares to Baltimore. And the cost of living
> difference between 1998 and 1997 in Hebei province. But, I
> haven't been able to find something that tells me how far a US
> dollar's worth of yuan will go.
>
> I know I'll be a fairly skewed sample since I'm perfectly
> willing to go a year without McDonald's and a lack of USAmerican
> products fazes me little. I already do a great deal of my
> shopping at pan-asian grocery stores. Other than cheese I can't
> think of any comfort foods which won't be reasonably available
> over there. (datapoint - Durian is one of my comfort foods.)
>
> But, irregardless of whether or not I am skewed, I would like
> to have at least a ballpark figure to figure things out. And it
> must be out there. Even if I can't find it yet on google.
> Someone else might be able to think of a better way to look.
> And besides, isn't a plea for help a creative way to bouncily
> announce that :
>
> I'VE GOT A JOB LINED UP
>
> IN CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> -M
If you are going to teach English, make sure it is really English.
'Irregardless' is not a word in any language I know. Also your use of
'skewed' is incorrect. Don't give them a pig in a poke. (Do you know
the meaning of the preceding phrase? It helps to know what a poke is.)
Before going over, buy Wilson Follett's "Modern American Usage" and read
it cover to cover. In grad school, 35 years ago, I read it three times,
in lieu of sex.
I recommend also "Barron's Handbook of Commonly Used American Idioms" by
Makkai, Boatner, and Gates.
Good luck,
jimbat
Pig Legionnaire
>Volta wrote:
>> On Sun, 12 May 2002 21:13:13 GMT, J. Jasper <jsja...@attbi.com> wrote:
>> >As for the next moon landing, I think it will be Americans again.
>> Even with NASA currently reduced to buying used parts from eBay? Or were
>> you thinking of the private sector?
>Nope. And the reason they're getting parts from E-Bay is that no one
>makes the damn things anymore.
I'm damn proud that we've got 20 year old hardware still running up
there. I want to see the shuttles kicking around in a hundred years,
maybe as garbage scows or whatever.
Go NASA.
--
Piglet, pig...@piglet.org
Mail is being forged from me. Check headers!!
478 days down Ann B. for President!
982 to go. Burlingham/Burlingham in 2004!
Anders Hultman
> >Yes, it's a lousy figure, but curiosly enough it's on the same lousyness
> >level as far more complex ways of calculating that kind of index. It is
> >after all a price for a standardized product that's produced locally.
>
> I think the point was that Big Macs are *not* produced locally, unless
> one uses a limited definition of "produced" to mean "assembled".
Well, here in Sweden Big Macs really are produced locally. All ingredients
are grown in Sweden, it's Swedish meat etc (except for some odd ingredient
that's not possible to grow in this climate). I assumed that was the case
in other countries as well. Where do they import from?
anders
-------------------------
http://anders.hultman.nu/
Bearpaw
In my understanding it varies depending on what's the cheapest source
and what relevant local/regional/national regulations allow.
Plus, "grown in Sweden" might be equivalent to saying that it's grown
locally for Sweden, but even *if* all of the McFood sold in the US
was produced in the US -- something I find doubtful -- that definitely
does *not* mean it was grown "locally", for any meaningful use of the
word.
Pixie
>
> If you are going to teach English, make sure it is really English.
> 'Irregardless' is not a word in any language I know. Also your use of
> 'skewed' is incorrect. Don't give them a pig in a poke. (Do you know
> the meaning of the preceding phrase? It helps to know what a poke is.)
Umm... people use both those words, so they are words in a common dialect of
english. Would you mean the dialect refered to as 'proper english' then?
Perhaps i am just cranky, but the words are perfectly meaningful in the
context provided.
pixie
J. Jasper
Bearpaw wrote:
>
> "J. Jasper" <jsja...@attbi.com> writes:
> >
> >Graydon wrote:
> >> There are a billion of them; the lower relative numbers result in higher
> >> average student quality, and a great deal of selection for drive. The
> >> only real tangles are the over-respectful academic tradition and poor
> >> funding, but they seem to be getting a handle on the former and the
> >> later will change as their economy improves.
> >
> >If it can get past the brick walls of Communism and corruption looming
> >on the horizon.
>
> Given that we've slammed into the brick walls of Corporatism and
> corruption, they have a chance of catching up. Whatever "catching up"
> means in this context.
>
Those were only speed bumps compared to the corruption in China. And
then there's the possibility of a war over Taiwan. If that happens, any
progress in the Chinese economy is sunk.
Marian
Jim Roberts wrote:
>
> Marian wrote:
> > But, irregardless of whether or not I am skewed, I would like
This should read "But, irregardless of whether or not it is
skewed, I would like"
> If you are going to teach English, make sure it is really English.
> 'Irregardless' is not a word in any language I know.
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=irregardless
"chiefly used in nonstandard speech or casual writing"
d: "in spite of everything"
> Also your use of 'skewed' is incorrect.
You are correct here. I made a typo.
> Don't give them a pig in a poke. (Do you know
> the meaning of the preceding phrase? It helps to know what a poke is.)
A poke is a small sack. Giving someone a pig in a poke means
giving them something that is obscured. (In this case, a pig
obscured by a small bag.) I believe the phrase refers to
deceiving people about goods they are receiving.
> Before going over, buy Wilson Follett's "Modern American Usage" and read
> it cover to cover. In grad school, 35 years ago, I read it three times,
> in lieu of sex.
> I recommend also "Barron's Handbook of Commonly Used American Idioms" by
> Makkai, Boatner, and Gates.
I may very well bring those along, thank you for the suggestion.
-M
Erik Wessing
Irregardless is a nonsense word. Especially as it is used. Deconstruct
it:
regard: A useful word, here meaning presumably "with thought toward" or
similar.
ir-: a prefix of negation. See: rational/irrational,
resposible/irresonsible, respective/irrespective, etc.
-less: a suffix of negation. See: meaning/meaningless, use/useless, etc.
So: ir-regard-less. Without lack of regard? Huh?
Ryk
<e_cE8.68$856....@news.shore.net>
bea...@nautilus.shore.net (Bearpaw) wrote:
>Anders Hultman <and...@algonet.se> writes:
>>
>>On Tue, 14 May 2002, Bearpaw wrote:
>>> >Yes, it's a lousy figure, but curiosly enough it's on the same lousyness
>>> >level as far more complex ways of calculating that kind of index. It is
>>> >after all a price for a standardized product that's produced locally.
>>>
>>> I think the point was that Big Macs are *not* produced locally, unless
>>> one uses a limited definition of "produced" to mean "assembled".
>>
>>Well, here in Sweden Big Macs really are produced locally. All ingredients
>>are grown in Sweden, it's Swedish meat etc (except for some odd ingredient
>>that's not possible to grow in this climate). I assumed that was the case
>>in other countries as well. Where do they import from?
>
>In my understanding it varies depending on what's the cheapest source
>and what relevant local/regional/national regulations allow.
>
>Plus, "grown in Sweden" might be equivalent to saying that it's grown
>locally for Sweden, but even *if* all of the McFood sold in the US
>was produced in the US -- something I find doubtful -- that definitely
>does *not* mean it was grown "locally", for any meaningful use of the
>word.
I thought a lot of the beef was grown on raped former rain forest land
in Central or South America, but I could have been misinformed.
In any case a big part of that product is the branding, which was not
produced in Sweden. It doesn't show so much in the US or Canada where
labour laws allow for McJobs and thus really cheap fast food. I was
amazed to find that a McMeal was more expensive than schnitzel and a
beer with table service and real plates and utensils when I lived in
Germany.
Ryk
Ryk
<abrr8r$7rj$1...@morgoth.sfu.ca>
"Pixie" <dbru...@sfu.ca> wrote:
For once, Jimbat does have a valid point. The standard set for
teachers of a language should be a little higher than common usage. I
would be some pissed off if, like, my kid's english teacher used
double negatives and referred to the students as "youse guys" without
noticing and communicating that those were colloquial usages.
Djeet yet? and gehmma? mean the same thing, but neither should be
taught as anything other than translation of a dialect.
Salt Lake City may have brought "to medal" into common verbal (and
printed ;-) ) usage. I still don't think it belongs on the lips of a
language teacher, especially while teaching.
Ryk
Anders Hultman
> In my understanding it varies depending on what's the cheapest source
> and what relevant local/regional/national regulations allow.
Ok.
> Plus, "grown in Sweden" might be equivalent to saying that it's grown
> locally for Sweden, but even *if* all of the McFood sold in the US
> was produced in the US -- something I find doubtful -- that definitely
> does *not* mean it was grown "locally", for any meaningful use of the
> word.
Yes, the US is so big that "somewhere in the US" hardly can be regarded
as equivalent to "locally". It's easier for Sweden, that is roughly the
size of California+Nevada+Oregon+Washington, and with the arable land
lumped together in the southern third.
I have checked the Swedish McDonald's web site now where they specify the
origins of the ingredients. Seems like half or 2/3 comes from Sweden, and
the rest from Denmark or other Northern European countries.
anders
-------------------------
http://anders.hultman.nu/
Pixie
news:Xns920ECB9CD20...@130.133.1.4...
> > dialect of english. Would you mean the dialect refered to as 'proper
> > english' then? Perhaps i am just cranky, but the words are perfectly
> > meaningful in the context provided.
> >
>
> it:
> regard: A useful word, here meaning presumably "with thought toward" or
> similar.
> ir-: a prefix of negation. See: rational/irrational,
> resposible/irresonsible, respective/irrespective, etc.
> -less: a suffix of negation. See: meaning/meaningless, use/useless, etc.
> So: ir-regard-less. Without lack of regard? Huh?
>
so what about flammable and inflammable? can't exceptions exist?
pixie
Pixie
*sighs* silly me.
pixie
Bearpaw
>
>Bearpaw wrote:
>>
>> "J. Jasper" <jsja...@attbi.com> writes:
>> >
>> >If it can get past the brick walls of Communism and corruption looming
>> >on the horizon.
>>
>> Given that we've slammed into the brick walls of Corporatism and
>> corruption, they have a chance of catching up. Whatever "catching up"
>> means in this context.
>
>Those were only speed bumps compared to the corruption in China.
"Are", not "were". And even if they're "only speed bumps" so far,
they've ripped out the undercarriage, trashed the suspension, and
thrown the alignment way out of whack. But most people -- if they
look at the readings at all between cellphone calls -- evidently
mistake the tachometer for the speedometer. Not that the speedometer
is all that helpful, given that it only measures speed, not velocity.
> And
>then there's the possibility of a war over Taiwan. If that happens, any
>progress in the Chinese economy is sunk.
And the US trying to finish one war, supporting two more, and gearing
up for another.
Vicki Rosenzweig
When I went to Hong Kong a few years ago, I took the Lonely Planet
guide, which noted--among many other things--that McD's was not the
cheapest place to eat, by a long shot, but if you'd been on the road
for weeks and were tired of noodles, it was there. (The books are aimed
at backpackers on long trips, especially Australians--and while I don't
get tired of noodles easily, if at all, I can see where some people
might.)
--
Vicki Rosenzweig v...@redbird.org http://www.redbird.org/
"We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time
is always ripe to do right." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Vicki Rosenzweig
Don't let the bat bother you--he's got a bee in his bonnet about spelling
and usage, and defines the latter more loosely than most people.
Erik Wessing
> Don't let the bat bother you--he's got a bee in his bonnet about
> spelling and usage, and defines the latter more loosely than most
> people.
(whereas I just have a few pet peeves, of which irregardless is one.)
Ken Wright
>
> Jim Roberts wrote:
> >
> > Don't give them a pig in a poke. (Do you know the meaning
> > of the preceding phrase? It helps to know what a poke is.)
>
> A poke is a small sack. Giving someone a pig in a poke means
> giving them something that is obscured. (In this case, a pig
> obscured by a small bag.) I believe the phrase refers to
> deceiving people about goods they are receiving.
Frequently the contents of the poke were feline in nature, which
also led to the phrase "let the cat out of the bag."
By the way, WOO-HOO on the job!
Ken, who'll miss seeing Marian at Pennsic
--
The average human being has one boob and one ball.
-Stef Maruch
B.C. Holmes
>There are a billion of them; the lower relative numbers result in higher
>average student quality, and a great deal of selection for drive.
I'm gonna put in a commercial, here, for the book _Coming Home
Crazy_ by Bill Holm and, in particular, his essay "Lawrence in China"
in that book. Holm has fascinating things to say about teaching in
China.
BCing you
--
B.C. Holmes \u2625 http://www.bcholmes.org/
"Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length."
- Robert Frost
Marian
Erik Wessing wrote:
>
> The clouds parted, and Vicki Rosenzweig <v...@redbird.org> spake thusly:
>
> > Don't let the bat bother you--he's got a bee in his bonnet about
> > spelling and usage, and defines the latter more loosely than most
> > people.
>
> (whereas I just have a few pet peeves, of which irregardless is one.)
If it is not a word, why is it in the dictionary?
-M
Marian
Ken Wright wrote:
>
> Marian wrote:
> By the way, WOO-HOO on the job!
>
> Ken, who'll miss seeing Marian at Pennsic
No you won't. I'm leaving August 24.
-M
Miche
<sunshi...@shaw.ca> wrote:
> "Erik Wessing" <dev...@lensman.org> wrote in message
> news:Xns920ECB9CD20...@130.133.1.4...
> > Irregardless is a nonsense word. Especially as it is used.
> > Deconstruct
> > it:
> > regard: A useful word, here meaning presumably "with thought toward" or
> > similar.
> > ir-: a prefix of negation. See: rational/irrational,
> > resposible/irresonsible, respective/irrespective, etc.
> > -less: a suffix of negation. See: meaning/meaningless, use/useless,
> > etc.
> > So: ir-regard-less. Without lack of regard? Huh?
> >
>
> so what about flammable and inflammable? can't exceptions exist?
Cleave.
Miche
--
And you may say to yourself "Well -- how did I get here?"
-- Talking Heads, _Once in a Lifetime_
Ken Wright
*happydance*
Ken
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
> Jim Roberts wrote:
> >
> > Marian wrote:
>
> > > But, irregardless of whether or not I am skewed, I would like
>
> This should read "But, irregardless of whether or not it is
> skewed, I would like"
Irregardless is uneducated slang: the proper word is regardless. Irregarless
is in effect a double negative. Skew applies to a statistical distribution,
not your example.
>
>
> > If you are going to teach English, make sure it is really English.
> > 'Irregardless' is not a word in any language I know.
>
> http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=irregardless
>
> "chiefly used in nonstandard speech or casual writing"
>
> d: "in spite of everything"
>
Modern permissive dictionaries include it, like ain't. You won't find it in
the 2nd Edition of Webster's Unabridged. I refer you to Wilson Follett's
"Modern American Usage", where it is listed as a Barbarism.
>
> > Also your use of 'skewed' is incorrect.
>
> You are correct here. I made a typo.
>
> > Don't give them a pig in a poke. (Do you know
> > the meaning of the preceding phrase? It helps to know what a poke is.)
>
> A poke is a small sack. Giving someone a pig in a poke means
> giving them something that is obscured. (In this case, a pig
> obscured by a small bag.) I believe the phrase refers to
> deceiving people about goods they are receiving.
>
Very good!
>
> > Before going over, buy Wilson Follett's "Modern American Usage" and read
> > it cover to cover. In grad school, 35 years ago, I read it three times,
> > in lieu of sex.
>
> > I recommend also "Barron's Handbook of Commonly Used American Idioms" by
> > Makkai, Boatner, and Gates.
>
> I may very well bring those along, thank you for the suggestion.
>
> -M
Do ride around my house naked and painted up on your scooter before you go! I
need excitement: on Tuesday a guy tried to beat me up and threatened my life
twice, very specifically. I don't beat up so easily. No injuries to clothes
or person.
love
jimbatty
Jim Roberts
Ryk wrote:
In a great burst of unusual intellect, Ryk has recognized a bit of truth in my
posts. I know they are sophisticated and often allusive - I just write what I
know I would understand were it written by another. umar understands most of my
posts: take your lead from him, as he is the nearest brain to the jimbat in this
newsgroup. I can hear him screaming, "No, no, no, you asshole!"
jimbat
Jim Roberts
Pixie wrote:
But 'in-' is not a negative. The two words have been synonyms for many years.
The 'in' is apparently added for unnecessary emphasis, as they both mean easily
ignited.
'Inflammable' is not considered a barbarism, though perhaps it should be.
jimbat
Jim Roberts
Pixie wrote:
It's OK. It's amazing what an empty mind can produce. I'm guilty, too.
jimbat
Jim Roberts
Ken Wright wrote:
> Marian wrote:
> >
> > Jim Roberts wrote:
> > >
> > > Don't give them a pig in a poke. (Do you know the meaning
> > > of the preceding phrase? It helps to know what a poke is.)
> >
> > A poke is a small sack. Giving someone a pig in a poke means
> > giving them something that is obscured. (In this case, a pig
> > obscured by a small bag.) I believe the phrase refers to
> > deceiving people about goods they are receiving.
>
> Frequently the contents of the poke were feline in nature, which
> also led to the phrase "let the cat out of the bag."
>
> By the way, WOO-HOO on the job!
>
> Ken, who'll miss seeing Marian at Pennsic
>
I'll miss Marian, too, though she may wish that I fall into a bog.
jimbat
Lilith C
It is a double negative.
I'm sure it isn't in the OED!!
Lilith
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
Look for it in he Webster's Unabridged 2nd Ed. As I have explained to you,
it is considered a barbarism.
jimbat
Piglet Little
>On Thu, 16 May 2002 01:18:32 -0400, Marian
><Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> wrote:
>>Erik Wessing wrote:
>>> (whereas I just have a few pet peeves, of which irregardless is one.)
>>If it is not a word, why is it in the dictionary?
>It is a double negative.
> I'm sure it isn't in the OED!!
Guess again.
"irregardless, a. and adv. Chiefly N. Amer. In non-standard or
humorous use: regardless. ..."
Use citations ranging from 1912 to 1971.
--
Piglet, pig...@piglet.org
Mail is being forged from me. Check headers!!
480 days down Ann B. for President!
980 to go. Burlingham/Burlingham in 2004!
John Palmer
>The clouds parted, and Vicki Rosenzweig <v...@redbird.org> spake thusly:
>
>> Don't let the bat bother you--he's got a bee in his bonnet about
>> spelling and usage, and defines the latter more loosely than most
>> people.
>
>(whereas I just have a few pet peeves, of which irregardless is one.)
You may not want to read this, but I felt it was too good to
share. A friend of mine was complaining about another person... and I
could honestly sympathize. This friend pointed out that
"irregardless" was used when "regardless" was proper, but *THIS*
person... *THIS PERSON* said "ILregardless" and it just drove my
friend crazy to hear them screw up when already speaking incorrectly.
--
Everything I needed to know in life I learned in Kindergarten. Like:
If it's from Acme, and the words "rocket powered" or "explosive" are on
the package, walk, don't run, away quickly, and don't bother the nice
birdie on your way out.
Jim Roberts
John Palmer wrote:
> On 15 May 2002 16:00:31 GMT, Erik Wessing <dev...@lensman.org> wrote:
>
> >The clouds parted, and Vicki Rosenzweig <v...@redbird.org> spake thusly:
> >
> >> Don't let the bat bother you--he's got a bee in his bonnet about
> >> spelling and usage, and defines the latter more loosely than most
> >> people.
> >
> >(whereas I just have a few pet peeves, of which irregardless is one.)
>
> You may not want to read this, but I felt it was too good to
> share. A friend of mine was complaining about another person... and I
> could honestly sympathize. This friend pointed out that
> "irregardless" was used when "regardless" was proper, but *THIS*
> person... *THIS PERSON* said "ILregardless" and it just drove my
> friend crazy to hear them screw up when already speaking incorrectly.
[...]
Yes, people lost, and it isn't even the right maze. Reminds me of a story
about Einstein told by Cornelius Lanczos (lanchosh). He endured an
exhausting Atlantic crossing and train ride to study with Einstein at
Princeton. His bedraggled self reported immediately, and Einstein gave him
an equation to solve. Lanczos, despite being exhausted, stayed up all
night and solved it. When he brought it to Einstein the next morning,
Einstein tossed it aside without looking at it. "But Professor Einstein
aren't you even going to examine my solution?" "(heavy Bavarian accent)
No, the whole point was for you to recognize that it was the wrong
equation." Lanczos said that for the rest of his life he never solved
another wrong equation. Einstein didn't like teaching, but in this case he
was effective.
jimbat
Erik Wessing
thusly:
Because the dictionary is descriptive rather than prescriptive.
It's in the dictionary so that people who don't understand it and are
having trouble deconstructing it (because it makes no sense) can figure
out what the heck you're trying to say. So it is in there, but marked as
non-standard, humorous, etc. so that the hypothetical person looking it
up doesn't think it is a right and proper word.
Marian
Erik Wessing wrote:
>
> The clouds parted, and Marian <Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> spake
> thusly:
> > Erik Wessing wrote:
> >> (whereas I just have a few pet peeves, of which irregardless is one.)
> >
> > If it is not a word, why is it in the dictionary?
>
> Because the dictionary is descriptive rather than prescriptive.
> It's in the dictionary so that people who don't understand it and are
> having trouble deconstructing it (because it makes no sense) can figure
> out what the heck you're trying to say. So it is in there, but marked as
> non-standard, humorous, etc. so that the hypothetical person looking it
> up doesn't think it is a right and proper word.
Any word that has been used in print since 1912 and that is in
multiple dictionaries is a word as far as I am concerned.
Whether or not it is a formally "correct" word is the complaint
of grammarians. The fact of the matter is that it is a word.
The English language evolves with time, there are lots of words
that are not formally correct that are acceptable both in
writing and everyday usage.
Like "ain't," "irregardless" is a controversial word not a
non-standard word.
And if it comes up, I will tell my students that the word
"ain't" has been argued about for nigh on 300 years but is not
considered a formally correct word and that the usage of it
should be out of a deliberate knowledge of the English
language.
-M
Marian
Jim Roberts wrote:
> I'll miss Marian, too, though she may wish that I fall into a bog.
Dearest Jim Batty, I don't know you well enough to hate you :)
-M
Marian
Jim Roberts wrote:
>
> Marian wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > > If you are going to teach English, make sure it is really English.
> > > 'Irregardless' is not a word in any language I know.
> >
> > http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=irregardless
> >
> > "chiefly used in nonstandard speech or casual writing"
> >
> > d: "in spite of everything"
> >
>
> Modern permissive dictionaries include it, like ain't. You won't find it in
> the 2nd Edition of Webster's Unabridged. I refer you to Wilson Follett's
> "Modern American Usage", where it is listed as a Barbarism.
I don't have a copy of the 2nd Edition of Webster's Unabridged,
but it is included in Merriam Webster online www.m-w.com
> Do ride around my house naked and painted up on your scooter before you go!
The scooter was in an accident and isn't rideable right now.
> I
> need excitement: on Tuesday a guy tried to beat me up and threatened my life
> twice, very specifically. I don't beat up so easily. No injuries to clothes
> or person.
I hope you are okay.
-M
J. Jasper
On the other hand, if you're teaching people conversational english,
"Ain't" ought to be included.
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
>
> -M
Migods, Marian, learn, don't resist. First English, then corruption. Make no
excuses for bad English. Read what I recommend. What the Chinese need most of
all is meaning, pronunciation, and the cadence of the language. The Chinese
English teachers have no feeling for these things. Often, they are
unintelligible to a Western listener. The same can be said for Westerners
trying to speak Chinese.
You seem deliberately not to be reading my posts on this thread.
'Irregardless' is a barbarism. If you want to teach American barbarisms in
China, in lieu of English, you should let them know in advance, as they are not
stupid. Oh, and they can follow this thread as well as anyone.
jimbat
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
Yes, you do. But I'd welcome a meeting before you vanish into the
aether. We can compare scars. My Liars' Club are onto my story that my
leg scars came from my old heart's falling down into my leg and had to
be put back.
My wife will be running the Chestertown 10 mi on the 25th. I'll be the
old guy with the white beard wearing the FDNY cap, unless it's too damn
hot - I hate East Coast hot, unless I can get into the water with bags
of oyster shells.
I used to drive a Lambretta at 14, never a Vespa.
jimbatty
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
> Jim Roberts wrote:
> >
> > Marian wrote:
>
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > > If you are going to teach English, make sure it is really English.
> > > > 'Irregardless' is not a word in any language I know.
> > >
> > > http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=irregardless
> > >
> > > "chiefly used in nonstandard speech or casual writing"
> > >
> > > d: "in spite of everything"
> > >
> >
> > Modern permissive dictionaries include it, like ain't. You won't find it in
> > the 2nd Edition of Webster's Unabridged. I refer you to Wilson Follett's
> > "Modern American Usage", where it is listed as a Barbarism.
>
> I don't have a copy of the 2nd Edition of Webster's Unabridged,
> but it is included in Merriam Webster online www.m-w.com
I know. My 2nd Ed is dated 1966, which was the last gasp of prescriptive English.
I was raised and nourished by it and can never give it up. It's a better English
than what is accepted now.
>
>
> > Do ride around my house naked and painted up on your scooter before you go!
>
> The scooter was in an accident and isn't rideable right now.
>
I can borrow one from our Daily Grind coffee shop, though it is only a Vespa.
>
> > I
> > need excitement: on Tuesday a guy tried to beat me up and threatened my life
> > twice, very specifically. I don't beat up so easily. No injuries to clothes
> > or person.
>
> I hope you are okay.
>
> -M
Thanks. Hope that *he's* OK. He's crossed the line, when I was trying to keep it
down. He has no respect. "So you're a big tough Harvard man, huh?" He refused to
answer the door when the Baltimore cops rang it, which made him into a perp in
their eyes.
Somehow this paranoid SOB got the idea that I wanted to split him from his gf, who
just had a baby 6 weeks ago. Since I knew her from years ago, I asked if there
would be a time when I could see the baby. His response was that their
pediatrician said that no one should see the baby until it was 6 weeks old. I told
him that I had reared two babies with my first wife, a pediatric nurse, and that 6
weeks was the worst time to see a baby, as it was losing the mother's immune system
and just beginning to develop its own, and that I couldn't imagine a real
pediatrician giving that advice.
He then realized that I knew that he was lying. He's a controlling, volatile, and
violent person, a future wife beater. From the first time that I met him, I knew
he was very tightly wound from the control in his voice. It is such a fruitless
exercise to try to control anyone.
It is sad but true that I have a violent streak buried in me from my early
childhood. And sad but true that I am old and out of shape, so don't really know
what I can do anymore. But I lost only one fight in my whole life - two Black
Panthers and a German Shepherd 30 years ago in a racial attack - and I'm not about
to lose another.
The jimbat smiles at the Universe.
jimbat
Marian
"B.C. Holmes" wrote:
>
> On Mon, 13 May 2002 23:31:23 -0500, Graydon <gra...@dsl.ca> wrote:
>
> >There are a billion of them; the lower relative numbers result in higher
> >average student quality, and a great deal of selection for drive.
>
> I'm gonna put in a commercial, here, for the book _Coming Home
> Crazy_ by Bill Holm and, in particular, his essay "Lawrence in China"
> in that book. Holm has fascinating things to say about teaching in
> China.
>
added to reading list
nicole
> On the other hand, if you're teaching people conversational english,
> "Ain't" ought to be included.
tain't what you do, it's the way hat chou do it.
nicole
thinking that marian shouldn't play any jazz for her students as it will
just confuse them ;)
--
...landscape is the link between our outer and inner selves.
-- Bill Viola, _Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House_
Marian
nicole wrote:
>
> > From: "J. Jasper" <jsja...@attbi.com>
>
> > On the other hand, if you're teaching people conversational english,
> > "Ain't" ought to be included.
>
> tain't what you do, it's the way hat chou do it.
:)
> nicole
> thinking that marian shouldn't play any jazz for her students as it will
> just confuse them ;)
I was a teen before I realized that the song was "secret agent
man" not "secret asian man" now to make things worse, Da Vinci's
notebook has a song "secret asian man."
-M
Jim Roberts
nicole wrote:
> > From: "J. Jasper" <jsja...@attbi.com>
>
> > On the other hand, if you're teaching people conversational english,
> > "Ain't" ought to be included.
>
> tain't what you do, it's the way hat chou do it.
>
> nicole
> thinking that marian shouldn't play any jazz for her students as it will
> just confuse them ;)
How about getting naked to the blues like Josephine Baker?
jimbat
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
You knew too much. When I was a teen I knew little besides that (1) people
were unintelligible (my bad hearing), and (2) adults were almost always wrong.
Where is my secret asian woman? I could help her find her 7th Chakra. There
are ways available to any patient man.
It was so funny to see the "LA Law" movie last weekend, in which Tucker and
Eikenberry were reaching for their 7th Chakra in communion with their phoney
guru. That is *not* how it's done. My great love, at least, got to her 7th
Chakra with her two-hour orgasms. She took no drugs, but said that she had
done what Jim Morrison recommended, broke on through to the other side. Half
of the time in her orgasms she was having visions. She gave up this to
maintain mental stability, which she finally has.
jimbat
J. Jasper
Robin Powell and I came up with another intentional Mondegreen.
Cigarette Asian Man!
B.C. Holmes
<Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> wrote:
[about Bill Holm's _Coming Home Crazy_]:
>
>added to reading list
I rather enjoyed this part:
"Like Pangloss, who searched all over the kingdom for answers to his
query, 'Should I get married?' I asked everyone I could find, 'What
should I take to China? What am I likely to need? What is not
there?'
"After a frenzy of letters to strangers, phone calls, connections
leading to connections, and small trips, I accumulated, like a good
research scientist, a body of raw information -- of data. This lump
of response fell into three main assertions:
"1) Everything is not there.
"2) You are likely to need most things and not find them.
"3) DO not neglect to take as comprehensive a Swiss Army Knife as you
can afford. Do not take the hardware store special brand or, should
there be such a thing, the Belgian Army Knife. Take only the real
thing. It is dependable; it is necessary. Do not lose it!"
BCing you
--
B.C. Holmes \u2625 http://www.bcholmes.org/
"We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are."
- Anais Nin
Jim Roberts
"B.C. Holmes" wrote:
> On Fri, 17 May 2002 15:39:30 -0400, Marian
> <Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> wrote:
>
> [about Bill Holm's _Coming Home Crazy_]:
> >
> >added to reading list
>
> I rather enjoyed this part:
>
> "Like Pangloss, who searched all over the kingdom for answers to his
> query, 'Should I get married?' I asked everyone I could find, 'What
> should I take to China? What am I likely to need? What is not
> there?'
>
> "After a frenzy of letters to strangers, phone calls, connections
> leading to connections, and small trips, I accumulated, like a good
> research scientist, a body of raw information -- of data. This lump
> of response fell into three main assertions:
>
> "1) Everything is not there.
> "2) You are likely to need most things and not find them.
> "3) DO not neglect to take as comprehensive a Swiss Army Knife as you
> can afford. Do not take the hardware store special brand or, should
> there be such a thing, the Belgian Army Knife. Take only the real
> thing. It is dependable; it is necessary. Do not lose it!"
>
> BCing you
And ask your doctor for every pill she can think of. Flu shot, pneumonia
shot, and any other shots she has. Take a copy of Landau & Lifshitz's
"Electrodynamics of Continuous Media" to keep the police folks and
yourself puzzled for the entire trip.
jimbat
Marian
"B.C. Holmes" wrote:
>
> On Fri, 17 May 2002 15:39:30 -0400, Marian
> <Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> wrote:
>
> [about Bill Holm's _Coming Home Crazy_]:
> >
> >added to reading list
>
> I rather enjoyed this part:
>
> "Like Pangloss, who searched all over the kingdom for answers to his
> query, 'Should I get married?' I asked everyone I could find, 'What
> should I take to China? What am I likely to need? What is not
> there?'
I googled it, though nothing deeper than the first ten
responses. Who is Pangloss?
> "After a frenzy of letters to strangers, phone calls, connections
> leading to connections, and small trips, I accumulated, like a good
> research scientist, a body of raw information -- of data. This lump
> of response fell into three main assertions:
>
> "1) Everything is not there.
yes
> "2) You are likely to need most things and not find them.
yes
> "3) DO not neglect to take as comprehensive a Swiss Army Knife as you
> can afford. Do not take the hardware store special brand or, should
> there be such a thing, the Belgian Army Knife. Take only the real
> thing. It is dependable; it is necessary. Do not lose it!"
yes
I'm also getting a fair amount of "everything will easily be
available there, you should bring a minimum of things and expect
to buy most things there."
-M
Marian
Jim Roberts wrote:
> And ask your doctor for every pill she can think of. Flu shot, pneumonia
> shot, and any other shots she has.
I was planning on getting the CDC's recommended battery of
vaccinations.
> Take a copy of Landau & Lifshitz's
> "Electrodynamics of Continuous Media" to keep the police folks and
> yourself puzzled for the entire trip.
NO.
In this nice happy free country I have been beaten up by the
police (when I wasn't doing anything wrong). I don't plan to go
out of my way to taunt authority in a country with less
restrictions on their police force.
-M
Marian
Lilith C wrote:
>
>
> I lived in China for three years and now have a lovely Chinese
> daughter-in-law. I was there with my husband but taught English as a
> second language to keep my mind occupied.. I hope you will enjoy it
> as much as I did .. I learned far more than I imparted...
> If I can answer any questions I will gladly try and help out.
I have been told that most Chinese university students can
already read and write English though the speaking of it is a
whole 'nother matter. Was this true in your experience?
Is the toilet paper as bad as "they" say?
-M
Vicki Rosenzweig
20:42:25 -0400:
>
>
>"B.C. Holmes" wrote:
>> "After a frenzy of letters to strangers, phone calls, connections
>> leading to connections, and small trips, I accumulated, like a good
>> research scientist, a body of raw information -- of data. This lump
>> of response fell into three main assertions:
>>
>> "1) Everything is not there.
>yes
>> "2) You are likely to need most things and not find them.
>yes
>> "3) DO not neglect to take as comprehensive a Swiss Army Knife as you
>> can afford. Do not take the hardware store special brand or, should
>> there be such a thing, the Belgian Army Knife. Take only the real
>> thing. It is dependable; it is necessary. Do not lose it!"
>yes
>
>I'm also getting a fair amount of "everything will easily be
>available there, you should bring a minimum of things and expect
>to buy most things there."
>
You've already noted clothing size issues; you sound prepared to
eat locally and not spend your time craving a particular brand of
tea or chocolate, which I think takes care of most of the rest.
But I've never done this--only visited Hong Kong for a week, which
is relevant only in that it was time enough to realize that large
American women shouldn't expect to find underpants that fit in a
five-and-ten with a mostly Chinese clientele.
--
Vicki Rosenzweig v...@redbird.org http://www.redbird.org/
"We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time
is always ripe to do right." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
songbird
this bit recently:
"We have met the enemy and they are ours," Commodore
Oliver Hazard Perry (Sept 21, 1813) (to General William
Henry Harrison) published as a broadside.
songbird *peeps*
Marian
Vicki Rosenzweig wrote:
>
> Quoth Marian <Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> on Sat, 18 May 2002
> 20:42:25 -0400:
> >I'm also getting a fair amount of "everything will easily be
> >available there, you should bring a minimum of things and expect
> >to buy most things there."
> >
>
> You've already noted clothing size issues; you sound prepared to
> eat locally and not spend your time craving a particular brand of
> tea or chocolate,
I am hoping that my favorite teas will be more available over
there than over here. They are Chinese teas after all. I'm
planning on being extremely self indulgent and bringing Jamaican
Blue Mountain coffee with me.
Even with the kind of luggage I have been known to take on past
trips, I cannot forsee filling my 200 pound limit with stuff I
actually need. I have a list of nooks and crannies items like
cornbread mix, oatmeal, maybe one or two boxes of shelf stable
ravioli.
> which I think takes care of most of the rest.
> But I've never done this--only visited Hong Kong for a week, which
> is relevant only in that it was time enough to realize that large
> American women shouldn't expect to find underpants that fit in a
> five-and-ten with a mostly Chinese clientele.
*snrch* :)
-M
Louise
<Mar...@TheRosenbergFamilies.Net> wrote:
>Even with the kind of luggage I have been known to take on past
>trips, I cannot forsee filling my 200 pound limit with stuff I
>actually need.
What about filling up your bags with widely assorted written material
in English, music recordings with English lyrics, and stories/photos
about the parts of American culture you like and will want to share
with new friends? I can't imagine many things more frustrating than
trying to teach English in a situation where I had no choice in the
curriculum, no materials to supplement it, and students full of
misconceptions about where I come from.
Louise
songbird
toilet paper from what i can tell is always a hot commodity in
many other far off countries. plus when you get your first few
bouts of dysentary you'll be happy you have something soft with
which to wipe your hurting butthole.
songbird (who knows someone who visited china in much the capacity
you are doing so...
*Philip*
Never EVER drink the water unboiled! You will die a horrible and messy
death. It's so bad not even the locals will drink the water before
boiling it. A part of the everyday morning ritual for every chinese
household is to boil water and fill the thermoses.
--
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to
stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.
-Samuel Clemens
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
Yes to all. Chinese teachers of English are incomprehensible to an
English-speaker, in large. The Chinese you see on TV speaking English are
educated in special schools. Soon, there will be more "english"-speakers in
China than in America. In Balto, I get wrong numbers all the time that are
incomprehensible. When I speak English into the phone, they know they have
the wrong number. Don't believe the experts about ebonics. I can
understand ebonics when it's spoken.
Chinese TP, when available, does not measure up to the Russian. There is an
old Russian joke. An new Russian fighter was plagued with the problem of
its wings falling off. The engineers went to the old engineer Mikoyan,
designer of the aerodynamically excellent MIG fighters. He thought about it
overnight. The next morning, he advised them to drill a series of holes on
each side where the wings were joined to the fuselage. "But Citizen
Mikoyan, this will surely weaken them!" "Nonsense, we all know that Russian
TP does not tear along the perfs!"
You will be better off than I was as a child, when I used to have to use
pages from Sears catalogs, and I had IBS. A neat poop is a blessing from
god.
jimbat
Jim Roberts
songbird wrote:
We have met the enemy and they are us.
- Pogo (I hope)
jimbat
Jim Roberts
Marian wrote:
Now we know... More of me, and more for you to love?
jimbat
Jim Roberts
Louise wrote:
No. She should take just the essentials about English and the rest get
there. You want her to be a tortoise, carrying her country on her back?
jimbat
Jim Roberts
songbird wrote:
Yup, and strange at it may seem, Noxzema can help. And Immodium.
jimbatty
Jim Roberts
*Philip* wrote:
This is what I said last week. You should arrange for your own bottled
water. If not, mere boiling may not be enough. Prions (e.g., mad cow
disease) are spreading in China, and they cannot be killed by boiling. Also
no fucking, as HIV is rampant, partly because the gov't denies its existence
in the countryside, and they do not have good rubbers.
My wife would not let me go to China without a will. Bad things happen to
good people.
Hebei contains Beijing, but the countryside is like all others.
jimbat
Romanadvoratrelundar
Marian <Mar...@therosenbergfamilies.net> wrote:
> "B.C. Holmes" wrote:
>>
>> I rather enjoyed this part:
>>
>> "Like Pangloss, who searched all over the kingdom for answers to his
>> query, 'Should I get married?' I asked everyone I could find, 'What
>> should I take to China? What am I likely to need? What is not
>> there?'
>
> I googled it, though nothing deeper than the first ten
> responses. Who is Pangloss?
Pangloss is a philosopher from Voltaire's _Candide_, best known for his
conviction that this is the best of all possible worlds.
If you're interested, the book is available at
http://www.literature.org/authors/voltaire/candide/ -- I haven't reread
the whole thing and don't recall the bit mentioned in what B.C. quoted, or
I'd point you more specifically.
--
Copyright 2002 Kylee Peterson. Still no hyperlinks allowed.
Tiny Sepuku does poly:
http://www.zordak.com/sepuku/2000web/TS%202-24-00.gif