“Global Warming Needs Our Help”

Favorite line: “Fact: Global warming will cause the dead to reanimate and roam the Earth as zombies once again. But don’t be afraid. They’re going to be, like, fun zombies.” -A Very Convenient Truth, Sarah Silverman

When Bootlegs Go Bad

These screen captures are from a bootleg copy of Red Dragon, purchased while abroad by someone I know. Whoever did the English subtitles seemed to have only a passing familiarity with the language, getting something like one word out of every 10 correct. Oftentimes, the subtitles have no relation at all to the dialogue.

WHAT WAS SAID: The Harvey Keitel character is explaining to Edward Norton’s character about murders that took place in Birmingham and Atlanta.
SUBTITLE: Even we have to move from Bominghan to Atalanta

WHAT WAS SAID: Norton’s character talks about how he “doesn’t think about this stuff anymore.”
SUBTITLE: I have got used to clam life
Norton’s character doesn’t use the word “calm,” but the person doing the subtitles might have intended to use it to paraphrase what Norton said. If so, I like how the transposition of letters into “clam” life implies a similar sentiment, i.e., Norton’s character’s life being somewhat slow and of minor significance, like a clam’s.

WHAT WAS SAID: It’s Chromalux.
SUBTITLE: This is carmax

And you know how positive blurbs are always splashed across a movie’s posters? I typically ignore them, but I noticed that this was the blurb on the cover of the bootleg DVD: “It includes the initial capture” (no period, in big red letters). It’s attributed to “The New Youk BBC TV.”

True American Stories

A friend of mine was home for Christmas and went to see a high school friend of his, let’s say Chris just to make things easier. Chris had become a mortgage broker. He gave my friend his business card and showed him some of his business associates’ cards as well.

My friend noticed that Chris’s business associates had their photos on their cards. Chris’s business card, on the other hard, only showed a photo of a mansion.

Chris explained that, as a black man, it wasn’t a good idea for him to put his photo on his business card. He said in their photos, however, his white associates seemed to be saying, “Hey, come on over, you can trust me!”

That reminds me of a conversation I had recently with an acquaintance who’d become a district attorney. I asked him if his work was at all like it’s portrayed on Law and Order. He responded, “No, because white people actually get convicted on Law and Order.”

Reading Recommended

Updated 3/5/07.

Graphic Novels

Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea / Guy DeLisle

The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes / Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll’s House / Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Vol. 3: Dream Country / Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists / Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Vol. 5: A Game of You / Neil Gaiman

The Sandman Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections / Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Vol. 7: Brief Lives / Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Vol. 8: Worlds’ End / Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones / Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Vol. 10: The Wake / Neil Gaiman

V for Vendetta / Alan Moore and David Lloyd

Watchmen / Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
(TIME article about Watchmen, which made its list of All-TIME 100 Novels.)

Persepolis / Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return / Marjane Satrapi

Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile / Bill Willingham
Fables Vol. 2: Animal Farm / Bill Willingham
Fables Vol. 3: Storybook Love / Bill Willingham
Fables Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers / Bill Willingham
Fables Vol. 5: The Mean Seasons / Bill Willingham

Hooray for Pigeons!

Upholstered pigeon seats from designer Lorna B. Hughes, via Apartment Therapy. (Love the photo too.)

And a pigeon pillow by Salvor Fauna. The pigeon pillow is part of a larger collection of pillows with animal prints on them, including cats, bears, porcupines, and owls. They are pricey though. Some of the large pillows, up to 22″ high, will set you back $99.