 | funny looking kidit's a funny-looking world |
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| funny looking kidit's a funny-looking world |
I've been reading leo@fergusrules.com by Arne Tangherlini. Tried to find
information about the book and the author online, but there wasn't a whole
lot. There was a site, fergusrules.com, but that has been taken down.
Apparently the author died three weeks before the book was accepted
for publication. Further digging online turned up a rumor that Mr. Tangherlini
killed himself. Truly a sad story.
I did some more research and discovered that he had been a teacher at
the International School in Manila, where some people I know attended high school.
I haven't contacted them to ask if they ever knew him, but it seems possible.
A look at the wayback machine turned up some pages from the site that had
been taken down. My favorite had to do with learning Tagalog. I'll put
the excerpt here since it's no longer generally available online.
>>> BEGIN TEXT:
LEARNING TAGALOG
In the end, Arne's interest in the Philippines was a matter of love, of romance.
It was his wife's country, thus also his daughter's. He was both infatuated and
bewildered by Manila--bewitched and bemused. And again, very clearly, the book
Leo is an homage for his daughter. for having a daughter to tell stories to
and love. Knowledge of the Philippines, he felt, should be central for his
very mixed Filipino-Italian-Danish-American daughter.
Being Arne, he took this interest to heart. He insisted on studying, then
teaching, Philippine history, though not a single foreign-hired teacher
at the International School Manila bothered even to learn Tagalog. Arne learned
Tagalog and taught Philippine history, which was anomalous for a
foreigner.
The way he learned Tagalog was very typical of Arne. Learning Tagalog was
very difficult because, as he said, it has always been a Filipino weapon
against foreigners. Filipinos don't like to teach Tagalog, because it is the
only way they can make fun of other people in secret. That was Arne's theory.
Filipinos in Manila--especially the educated, the middle class--speak English
very well. No one has to learn Tagalog in Manila if you speak English. Instead of
teaching him, Filipinos laughed at him. He had to learn on his own. First he
bought an audio tape. Then he bought big dictionaries. He tried to speak
the arcane Tagalog from the stilted, formal audio tape, and people laughed
at him even more. But Arne finally discovered people who would speak Tagalog
with him, people who would not easily switch to English when talking
to foreigners. He discovered taxi drivers. He loved talking to taxi drivers.
He would ask them about politics, history, Filipino basketball players,
and they always, almost invariably, happily responded. One of them
asked him his name, so he could write it down and take note of it, he was
so proud and excited about his conversation with Arne. So now it is
interesting to imagine that there's this taxi driver going around in Manila
with Arne's name on his windshield--that very odd mix of Northern European
names. Arne started riding taxis just to practice his Tagalog. He became
very fluent in driver street talk, calling everyone "Pare," which is a kind of
"Hey dude" in Manila. Finally, he paid his students to teach him.
Bea Rodriguez and Mark Chan were two of his students who came to
the house to speak Tagalog with Arne. He also learned Tagalog from
comic books--one about a pig community, called Pugad Baboy; and he learned
from watching this soap opera, Young Love Sweet Love. He drove the maids
crazy, they giggled with distraction, because he watched it with them.
Of course, he studied Philippine literature. Apart from watching TV with
the maids and going around with taxi drivers, he was also drinking San Miguel Beer
with some of the best writers in the country, arguing and chitchatting with them
about points in Philippine history.
<<< END TEXT.
flk.
Another hot day. Although the local weather forecasters have been making
a really big deal about how this is the first time in a long while that the
temperature hasn't gone above 100 degrees -- and we're halfway through
August! I really want to go over there and point out that there really isn't a
whole lot of difference, qualitatively speaking, between 99 degrees and 101.
100 is just a number. (Who says resistance/support levels only exist in the stock market?)
flk.
lyrics for the day. long live the king.
Walking In Memphis
(Cohn)
Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
WC Handy, won't you look down over me?
Yeah, I got a first class ticket
But I'm as blue as a boy can be
Then I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?
Saw the ghost of Elvis
Down on Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered 'round his tomb
But there's a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King
Down in the Jungle Room
Yes I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?
They've got catfish on the table
They've got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer
But boy you've got a prayer in Memphis
Now Muriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see her
And they asked me if I would --
Do a little number
And I sang with all my might
And she said --
"Tell me are you a Christian child?"
And I said "Ma'am I am tonight"
Then I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?
Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
~ o ~
flk.
lyrics for the day
Hold An Old Friend's Hand
(Weiss)
Another year and I'm still here
The grass just will not grow on this old hill
Still I just can't let it go
I don't believe it's cause I'm cold
Or partial to the crazy life I'm caught in
Sometimes I feel the hand of time
moving like its body was broke
and it's then I miss your sighs
and the tender words you spoke
Hey, that's okay - come on around and get yourself together
Won't you come on around and hold an old friend's hand
Babe, I promise not to throw you
You don't have to stay, I just want to hold you
Won't you come on around
and hold an old friend's hand
Another year is dead and gone
The sun don't want to shine on this old hill
or anything that's mine
I don't believe it hurts to grow
even when the crop you sow is a failure
Sometimes I wish I had no pride
I'd go off and sell my soul
But how do you say goodbye
To the only truth you've known
Hey, that's okay - come on around and get yourself together
Won't you come on around and hold an old friend's hand
Babe, baby I promise not to throw you
You don't have to stay, I just want to hold you
Won't you come on around
and hold an old friend's hand
Oh babe, honey everybody makes mistakes
We feel a lot of life that way
Don't you think by now I know that?
Look what's brought us both back
Now - while the leaves still dance on the wind
While the moon and the clouds come spinning
Will you whisper my name again?
Again and again and again
Hey, that's okay - come on around and get yourself together
Won't you come on around and hold an old friend's hand
Around and around with you I've been
Flat on the ground an up again
Nobody knows for sure just when everything changes
~ o ~
flk.
I finally got around to watching Giuseppe Tornatore's wonderful Cinema Paradiso
today. Gave it a 10 on IMDB.
flk.
Good article on how Digital Video Recorders work:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/dvr.htm
flk.
>Do you like Starbucks? Why or why not? So you prefer elegant
>coffeehouses (like the one i describe above) or funky Starbucks-like
>places?
I tolerate Starbucks. There's one relatively close by that really
is the best Starbucks I've been to. Lots of tables and comfy chairs,
like the one you described in your post. Are you familiar with the
concept of the "third place"? Not home, not the office, but someplace
else -- to meet, to hang out.
See:
http://user.gru.net/domz/third.htm
http://www.movingideas.org/commonwealth/mooney-c0008.html
Carrie Bradshaw has convinced me: it's like day care for grown-ups.
Austin being the high-tech town it is, I've noticed several "virtual companies" --
ones that have no fixed office -- whose people meet up at "my" Starbucks at least
every other day. (Talk about inexpensive rent: you can have a table near an
802.11b wireless access point for several hours, at what it costs for a couple of
lattes -- wireless access plan not included, of course.) There are also people that go there
to write, to critique each other's poems, to study, and to watch other people as
they meet, write, study and watch other people.
The other thing I've noticed is that there's been a shift at this Starbucks --
although they still mainly serve coffee-based drinks, non-coffee drinks are
making up a larger part of what is selling.
>What's your favourite coffeehouse like? How do you like your coffee
>(mocha, melange, capuccino, espresso, filter, ...)? What's your dream
>coffeehouse like?
These were my favorites in Berkeley:
Cafe Milano:
http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~ishriles/cafe.proj/cafes/milantitle.html
[architecture article] http://www.dbarchitect.com/www-8506/8506-1.html
Cafe Strada:
http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~ishriles/cafe.proj/cafes/stradatitle.html
Caffe Mediterraneum:
http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~ishriles/cafe.proj/cafes/medtitle.html
flk.
lyrics for the day
First Kiss - They Might be Giants
The morning
Alarm rings
I'm asleep but she's talking to me
She's walking 'round wearing all of my clothes
But we decided long ago
We'd build a time machine and go
How 'bout another, first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss
Other women were too sentimental
Always worrying about their hair
Got tired of wasting all my time
now I'm not worrying at all
How 'bout another, first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss
The clock [rings],
she's waiting,
I could tell you we belong together
I could tell you you belong with me
But we've run out of things to say
And we'll be happy anyway, so
How 'bout another first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss.
~ o ~
flk.
Is it Tuesday already?
 | Spent some time yesterday catching up on about two years' worth of User Friendly strips, hence the image link :-) We also went to see Signs. I think I'm in the minority but I |
flk.
I've made the switch. It's my intention to henceforth use Mozilla, unless the situation
absolutely requres the use of That Other Browser. Happy Monday!
In other news... I knew the answer to this one before I took the quiz. Cool, huh?
Which Tori Amos B-Side are you?
This quiz made while Angel was procrastinating her ass off.
A Little Earthquakes B-Side, you are strong-willed, and refuse to conform to anyone's wishes except your own. In the past, you've often tried to please everyone around you, only to compromise your own integrity in the process. Finally, you are being strong, and holding to your own convictions.
"Here I stand with this Sword in my Hand"
~ o ~
flk.
Monday Mission 2.31 (yes, a week late, but what are you going to do about it?)
1. Ever considered just deleting your Blog and not doing it anymore?
What prompted that and what stopped you?
No, but then I haven't been doing this very long. Still having fun doing it.
2. How about a quick review of the last movie you saw?
"Road To Perdition" was pretty good. Quite intense, and we saw the last show
Monday evening, so it was well into Tuesday morning before I was asleep. I
thought the graphic novel was better, or maybe I just found Tom Hanks' mustache
too distracting.
3. What's your favorite gadget? Are you lusting for any new ones? Will you ever be satisified???
Probably my TiVo. I really want a Powerbook -- want to hack code on it as well as run
commercial apps. Beyond that, I have to admit that the whole lack of income thing
has put a crimp in my knowledge of gadgetry, as it's frustrating to see things that
one can't buy. I'm sure you understand...
4. What "table game" do you enjoy playing most with other people? Have you played it lately?
Chez Geek! :-) Unfortunately, haven't had enough people gathered around
a table to play it in... oh a little over a year now.
5. Have you ever been obsessed with something so much that it was close to causing you physical or mental harm? If not, have you known anyone else who has?
No, and no. Thank goodness.
flk.
Someone (thanks for writing!) wrote and asked about the crown. Well, as I mentioned
a few weeks ago, I cracked my tooth eating garlic fish (there was a pebble or
something). Thanks to one of my fellow job-seekers at the Re-Employment center,
I managed to find a good dentist (actually got to talk with him over the phone at
9:30 at night; he told me to take two aspirin and come in to the clinic in the morning)
After much tooth build work they put a temporary crown in. Plastic, wow. It took
a bit of getting used to how it felt, but it worked pretty well. Dr. Craven warned
me not to eat things that might stick to the crown and pull it off, although if it did
come off it wouldn't be that difficult to put back in.
So Thursday morning I go in, and they tell me to get in the chair, lean back and
open wide. I do so, and am about to ask them, "So how do you take the temporary
out?" when the dentist just reaches in my mouth and pops it out. That was easy. :-)
Getting the permanent crown installed was a bit more involved, but it didn't take
as long as I thought it would.
flk.
lyrics for the day
'Release' - Aztec Camera
(Frame)
Silver shone the rooftops, I heard the words 'You will',
And realized that in your eyes, the force of love could kill.
So go and get your wages, get what you deserve,
When hope held out of its hands today, you laughed and turned and fled.
Release, 'cos I wanted the world, and all I could get to
Was a gun or a girl.
Release, now I've thrown them away
I'm here and I'm hungry and I hope I can stay.
The loch is overflowing, the sun has shed its light
And all that's left to warm your breast's the wine we stole tonight.
Bottle merchants both of us, overdosed on Keats, we smashed them all
And watched them fall like magic in the streets.
Release, 'cos I wanted the world, and all I could get to
Was a gun or a girl.
Release, now I've thrown them away
I'm here and I'm hungry and I hope I can stay.
Standing in our new boots, we've lost the urge to hide,
We left it with the souvenirs that forced us to decide.
How we'd storm the palace, meet me at the gates,
There's plenty bread and water here for anyone who waits.
Release, 'cos I wanted the world, and all I could get to
Was a gun or a girl.
Release, now I've thrown them away
I'm here and I'm hungry and I hope I can stay.
But you can't remember where you squandered your hope
A fistful of dollars and a fistful of dope,
With your hands in your hair and your hair in your face,
You'd better summon your soul because we're leaving this place,
With a red, red flag for a souvenir.
~ o ~
flk.
Yesterday I had lunch with C., Richard and Ulrike at Portabla. Good sandwiches.
After lunch we went to the Texas State History Museum downtown.
They have Austin's only IMAX theater. We saw Space Station 3-D, narrated by (ooo...)
Tom Cruise. Those 3-D goggles are a trip! Everything really looked three-dimensional, and
the kids sitting in the row in front of us kept reaching up and trying to touch things
on the space station. There were some breathtaking 3-D views of the earth, too,
as seen from the space shuttle and the space station itself.
And the quizzes for the day:
--
~ o ~ flk.
Your magical style is Magus.
What type of Magic do you work?. Take the Magical Style Quiz by Paradox
