08:17 – It’s Memorial Day here in the U.S., the day set aside to remember those who sacrificed themselves to protect our freedom. Although the official purpose of Memorial Day is to remember those who gave their lives in the service of our country, let’s also remember all of those brave men and women, living and dead, who through the years have put their lives on the line to protect all of us. As we have our cookouts and family get-togethers today, let’s all take a moment to think about our troops in the Middle East and elsewhere, who can’t be with their families. And let’s have a thought, not just today but every day of the year, for them and the sacrifices they are making and have made.
Barbara is doing some work around the house and yard this morning before she heads over to visit her dad. This afternoon, she’ll help me with kit stuff. We’ll assemble 30 of the regulated chemicals bags for biology kits, 30 of the non-regulated chemicals bags, and 60 small parts bags. If we have time, we’ll get started on final assembly of 30 biology kits. After that, we’ll start on 30 more forensics kits and then 60 more chemistry kits.
Barbara finally took pity on me last night. We’d watched one 90-minute episode of the British series Vera on Netflix streaming the other night, and were part way through the second episode last night when Barbara suggested we bag it. The problem was that I had no clue what was going on because I could understand only a small fraction of the dialog. Some of the characters might as well have been speaking Martian. We watch a lot of British TV, and normally neither of us has any problem understanding the accents, but this series badly needs subtitles for US viewers. And probably for some British viewers as well.
Eh? Didn’t you know that Martians speak English with a nondescript American accent? I think they got it from evesdropping on our broadcasts.
If you have any Hungarian friends perhaps they’d interpret for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martians_%28group%29
Where is the “Vera” series set in the UK?
Gorgeous day here finally; temps in the 60s and sunny with blue skies. Time to mow the lawn and try out a steak-burger recipe from Cook’s Illustrated.
Today used to be called Decoration Day and dates back to our War Between the States, when both Union and Confederate war dead were honored.
Vera is set in Northumberland, which ordinarily wouldn’t give Barbara and me any problem.
There are also a lot of fast-talking distraught women. As I said to Barbara the other night, I can’t usually understand a distraught, crying woman speaking unaccented American English, let alone one with a heavy north country accent.
Ah, that probably explains it. It’s near Newcastle, which has an accent almost as barbaric as Liverpool.
Ah, Northumberland, home of constant rebellion and strife, etc., etc. and hotbed of recidivist Roman Catholicism. Any of that show up in the series at all yet? For a swell history of the border marches up there check out the late, great George MacDonald Fraser’s “The Steel Bonnets.” Great stuff. Fraser is better known as the author of the Flashman series, also great fun, and served in a Highland regiment in Burma during the Good War.
Yes, some Newcastle area accents are pretty impenetrable for those of us who live near London. I visited a customer site north of Newcastle (south of the Scottish border) and their accents were not as thick.
I gather the UK accents gave the teams that set up IT helpdesks in India the biggest problem. Whereas for the US one big team in India can then cope with all US variations, they had to set up specific regional groups for the UK. I gather its not the change in pronunciation that’s the big issue, its the completely different words and use cases 🙂
Nah, it’s not Tyneside generally or Newcastle in particular. We befriended a young woman 25 years or so ago that had just arrived from Newcastle. She came here as a radiation therapist, and said she was paid more than three times here what she’d been making in the UK. (Of course, then she found out that she only got two weeks of vacation, versus six weeks in the UK.) She was frustrated because none of her co-workers could understand her, and vice versa. We quickly learned to understand her (and her family, who visited frequently) except when she got excited and started talking a blue streak. About ten years ago, she moved to Jackson, Mississippi. I’ve often wondered what she made of the locals’ speech and vice versa.
Incidentally, Alison’s brother-in-law was from Carlisle. He and the rest of her family were stunned that I not only knew he wasn’t from Newcastle by his accent but guessed Carlisle. There is a difference between Geordie and Carlisle, and not just in vocabulary.
Your friend, evolutionary biology.
Does http://www.tvsubtitles.net/tvshow-922-1.html and http://www.tvsubtitles.net/tvshow-922-2.html help in any way? I tend to watch a lot of my TV via the net using RaspBMC and do add on subtitles where possible.
I do not know much about the technicalities of streaming subtitles, but both the US and UK mandate closed captions for all network programs, so if you can get that series “Vera” on DVD, it will most likely have subtitles available.
“She was frustrated because none of her co-workers could understand her, and vice versa.”
I have British friends, she was born and raised in Dartford, southern England, he in Glasgow. I can understand them both perfectly well when they speak to me, but when they start talking to each other they’re very difficult to follow.
Hi Bob, you may like xkcd today:
http://xkcd.com/1217/
I must admit that I did not get it until I read the tooltip (mouseover text).
Let’s pass a law that all DVD’s should have subtitles in Swahili, English, Spanish, Gay and any other ‘misrepresented’ group you can think of.
Reminds me of the ballots I used to get in California.
Sheesh!
You don’t approve of the People’s Republic of California? Sheesh, ya right wing troglodyte!
Thanks for the suggestions, but we probably won’t bother for Vera. As Barbara said, it’s not like we don’t have literally a hundred other series in our Netflix queue.