Friday, February 19, 2010
Tiger Woods: Mea culpa
话说这层出不穷的丑闻不仅娱乐大众，也有助于我们学习。今天又学一词：mea culpa，a Latin phrase means my own fault。今天WP一篇文章的标题是Tiger's mea culpa。同事J正在为一篇老虎伍兹的新闻想题目，这个刚好，“贱男伍兹：都是我的错”。
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
我们怎么办？
一封转自东东枪博客的读者来信，极具画面感，这位小严同学很适合写剧本呀：
东东枪同学，你好！
我遇到的事，估计很多人都会遇到。可这事频率一高了，我也开始没辙。
有一天，有个姑娘问我：“我们怎么办？”说这句话的时候她开始穿内衣，我没有回答她。我心里沉甸甸的,因为我知道，日子总是这样，我们谈情说爱，最后彼此无聊，反复的问着对方：“我们怎么办？”对眼下的问题我感到一筹莫展。她又问我：“我们到底怎么办？”这时她已经把裤子穿了上去。我对她说：“走一步说一步吧。”等她把T恤套在头上的时候，我对着她平坦的小肚子说：“我们分手吧。”然后她扎起辫子，把桌上的化妆品收拾进包，地上的避孕套扔进垃圾桶，带着包和垃圾袋把门狠狠的带上，然后咯哒咯哒的声音越来越小。随后声音又越来越近，开门，她站在门口把钥匙拽在我的脸上：“你这个混蛋。”
你说这事怎么办？
小严
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Fish Tank
星期二我冒着DC有史以来最大的暴风雪去看电影Fish Tank，本以为观众不会超过五个，结果大大超出预期，大概八个，或者九个。
这部英国电影讲的是15岁的少女Mia跟她的妹妹和大概是未婚先孕生下她们的单亲妈妈一起住在一个贫民区的公寓里。梳着马尾辫、画着烟熏妆、身穿黑白跨栏背心外套灰色运动服的MIA整天无所事事在破烂的街区到处瞎逛，无论跟谁说话满嘴都是F-word，B-、C-、D-word的出现频率也非常高，表面上像是愤怒无处发泄的问题少年，实际上却是试图用愤怒和冷酷武装一颗脆弱敏感的少女之心。
她喜欢在一个废弃的空屋子里跟着Hip-hop音乐练习街舞，好像只有在跳舞时她才感到是自由的。她的舞姿并不是特别出众，有种稚嫩的羞涩的又装做无所谓的劲头，让人不能完全放松去欣赏，心老揪着担心不定什么时候她的“愤青”苗头就又会窜出来。
她妈妈的新男朋友Connor是第一个赞扬她舞姿的人。他也是第一个用一种看似随意的温柔态度来对待她的人。他们第一次碰面是在她家厨房，他光着上身只穿一条低腰牛仔裤，一边跟她随意地闲聊一边泡了三杯茶，一杯是给她的。在她装睡时他把她抱到床上并轻手轻脚地为她脱了鞋子，然后...裤子，然后...给她盖上了被子。他带给她的是一种混杂了父爱关怀和情爱诱惑的新鲜体验。但当她对他敞开心扉讲述她的梦想--应征舞蹈演员，并向他展示她准备的舞蹈时，他却大发兽心占有了她。
影片的结局和最近看的另一部讲述青少年成长问题的英国电影The Education有着惊人的相似，两个电影中的男主角都是结了婚有小孩住在富裕社区的WSN。但这个结果比The Education里的结局更让人心碎，因为Mia生活的环境比那部电影里的伦敦中产家庭更让人同情，破败的社区，脏乱的公寓，堆满杯盘的洗碗池，没有出路的生活，让人觉得窒息，Mia就像是困在鱼缸里的一条小鱼，无处可去。The Education里的Jenny最后上了大学，开始了幸福独立的新生活。Mia最后也离家去上了寄宿学校，这给了人一点希望，但还是禁不住担心这个内心如此渴望被爱被关怀的小女孩将来面临什么样的生活。
我的同事J在她的小小手机屏幕上看到这个电影海报后，再联想电影名字，她以为这是关于游泳运动员菲尔普斯的电影。然后在我给她比手划脚说了后面忘了前面地讲了这个电影之后，她以为这是一喜剧片。
Friday, February 5, 2010
Dalliance/调戏/盗嫂门/有一腿
最近体育界名人紧跟政界要人劈腿之势，接爆丑闻。继老虎住院戒色之后，英国足球队长又被免职。WSJ的文章说：
English soccer star John Terry's alleged dalliance with a teammate's former girlfriend has cost him one of his country's most coveted jobs: captain of England's national team.
学了一新词：Dalliance
在NCIKU查字典，解释是嬉戏，调戏，an archaic word for flirtation，我就纳闷呢，怎么算调戏呢?幸亏网站还配了一个图，就是一男一女在桌子底下蹭腿。这就奇了怪了，就这就免职了，至于嘛?
结果放狗一搜，好嘛，这档子事原来叫“盗嫂门”，这位队长还把人家的女朋友的肚子搞大了，还出钱安排人流手术。这跟调戏也差太远了吧。
于是向活字典Mike同学求证，要是你听到Dalliance这词，你觉得倆人就是flirt一下呢，还是上过床了呢？答案是It does indicate they have an affair。结论就是，Dalliance这词应该翻译成“有一腿”，也比较符合这张图。
English soccer star John Terry's alleged dalliance with a teammate's former girlfriend has cost him one of his country's most coveted jobs: captain of England's national team.
学了一新词：Dalliance
在NCIKU查字典，解释是嬉戏，调戏，an archaic word for flirtation，我就纳闷呢，怎么算调戏呢?幸亏网站还配了一个图，就是一男一女在桌子底下蹭腿。这就奇了怪了，就这就免职了，至于嘛?
结果放狗一搜，好嘛，这档子事原来叫“盗嫂门”，这位队长还把人家的女朋友的肚子搞大了，还出钱安排人流手术。这跟调戏也差太远了吧。
于是向活字典Mike同学求证，要是你听到Dalliance这词，你觉得倆人就是flirt一下呢，还是上过床了呢？答案是It does indicate they have an affair。结论就是，Dalliance这词应该翻译成“有一腿”，也比较符合这张图。
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Don't ask, Don't tell
我承认我有个很不好的习惯，就是喜欢看同一个新闻WP和NYT的报道有什么不同，这个毛病很不好，尤其是在这个信息极度丰富的时代，耽误多少功夫呀，少看多少八卦呀。
今天我比较的是一则有关美军是否应该废除对同性恋“不问不说”政策的新闻。以下是NYT的前三段：
The nation's top two defense officials called Tuesday for an end to the 16-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" law, a major step toward allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the United States military for the first time.
"No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens," Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
As a murmur swept through a hearing room packed with gay rights leaders, Admiral Mullen said it was his personal belief that "allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do."
下面是WP的前三段：
The Pentagon's top leaders declared Tuesday for the first time that -- after decades of opposition and equivocation from the armed forces -- they support an end to the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military.
"Speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. His words were echoed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who said the Pentagon is preparing for a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law.
That law has stood for 17 years, but the debate over allowing gays to serve openly stretches back much further. For the tradition-bound military, the issue has proved to be intractable, with some officers arguing that the integration of openly serving gays would demoralize fellow troops, even as critics of "don't ask, don't tell" insisted that military service should be a civil right.
我不得不说，这一轮，NYT获胜。
要是我是参加这个听证会的记者，Mike Mullen那段“No matter how...”绝对是记者最喜欢的Quote呀，就算第一段用不上，那绝对是前三段的材料呀。
NYT给订户发的每日头条中都有一个Quotation of the Day，今天入选的就是Mullen这句话。NYT的文章后面提到，参议院军事委员会主席Carl Levin夸Mullen的作证有“雄辩之才”，应该赞的就是他这句。
但看看WP，它在第二段也引用了Mullen的原话，但选的这句比起来No matter how要差的远，简直令人怀疑这个记者不是脑子进水了，就是本人是个同性恋权益反对者。WP的文章更是把这句最精彩的放在了第12段，在WP网页上是第一页的最后一段，要是再多插段广告，像我这种不爱翻页的可能就根本看不着了。
说实话，我本来对这个话题压根不感兴趣，要不是NYT把这句话入选Quotation of the Day，我可能都不会点开这条新闻，可见精彩的Quotation对一篇文章来说是多么宝贵。
WP和NYT的文章后都有数百条读者评论，这些评论读起来都比文章更有趣。有一位读者说，他是个越战退伍军人，他曾经跟一些性取向不同的战友共同沐浴，但他从来没有受到骚扰，也没人试图勾引他。我猜，也可能是他姿色不够?
今天我比较的是一则有关美军是否应该废除对同性恋“不问不说”政策的新闻。以下是NYT的前三段：
The nation's top two defense officials called Tuesday for an end to the 16-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" law, a major step toward allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the United States military for the first time.
"No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens," Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
As a murmur swept through a hearing room packed with gay rights leaders, Admiral Mullen said it was his personal belief that "allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do."
下面是WP的前三段：
The Pentagon's top leaders declared Tuesday for the first time that -- after decades of opposition and equivocation from the armed forces -- they support an end to the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military.
"Speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. His words were echoed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who said the Pentagon is preparing for a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law.
That law has stood for 17 years, but the debate over allowing gays to serve openly stretches back much further. For the tradition-bound military, the issue has proved to be intractable, with some officers arguing that the integration of openly serving gays would demoralize fellow troops, even as critics of "don't ask, don't tell" insisted that military service should be a civil right.
我不得不说，这一轮，NYT获胜。
要是我是参加这个听证会的记者，Mike Mullen那段“No matter how...”绝对是记者最喜欢的Quote呀，就算第一段用不上，那绝对是前三段的材料呀。
NYT给订户发的每日头条中都有一个Quotation of the Day，今天入选的就是Mullen这句话。NYT的文章后面提到，参议院军事委员会主席Carl Levin夸Mullen的作证有“雄辩之才”，应该赞的就是他这句。
但看看WP，它在第二段也引用了Mullen的原话，但选的这句比起来No matter how要差的远，简直令人怀疑这个记者不是脑子进水了，就是本人是个同性恋权益反对者。WP的文章更是把这句最精彩的放在了第12段，在WP网页上是第一页的最后一段，要是再多插段广告，像我这种不爱翻页的可能就根本看不着了。
说实话，我本来对这个话题压根不感兴趣，要不是NYT把这句话入选Quotation of the Day，我可能都不会点开这条新闻，可见精彩的Quotation对一篇文章来说是多么宝贵。
WP和NYT的文章后都有数百条读者评论，这些评论读起来都比文章更有趣。有一位读者说，他是个越战退伍军人，他曾经跟一些性取向不同的战友共同沐浴，但他从来没有受到骚扰，也没人试图勾引他。我猜，也可能是他姿色不够?
Hats off to WSJ Chinese
昨天WSJ上有一篇文章名为“Toyota Faces Fallout Over Recall”，讲的是丰田可能需要花费10亿美元挽回召回汽车造成的品牌损失。中文版的标题是“丰田一脚‘踏’空 损失十亿？”，这里真要向中文版的同志致敬，这个一脚“踏”空，可谓一语双关，实在是妙。对比之下，英文的标题实在太过平平。这篇文章荣登热门文章排行榜，相信标题功不可没。
文章链接：
http://cn.wsj.com/gb/20100202/bas095725.asp?source=mostpopular
文章链接：
http://cn.wsj.com/gb/20100202/bas095725.asp?source=mostpopular
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