Public Address | Cafe | Muse: Linky Love

Ben Austin

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 10:59:02 +1300

I picked up an ereader in the weekend mainly because it seemed the best way to keep buying books while not running out of space. I buy about one book a week so they tend to stack up (a standard paperback in the UK seems to be about 7-10 pounds,…

Steve Parks

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:55:53 +1300

[Rich Lock said:] My understanding is that Americans from the South and South-West use ‘Yank’ to refer to those from the North-Eastern states.

Mine too, but I also thought when used by non-Americans it was simply slang for Americans, but not nasty per se.

Interesting. I think of ‘Yank’ a…

Tom Beard

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:06:12 +1300

I've often been puzzled by anglicised/americanised editions that localise the spelling – as if one couldn't deal with the few differences.

I've been having a different but related problem: if one's writing is set in a deliberately unspecified country, how does one deal with spelling and vocabulary differences? And vernacular…

Andre Alessi

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:23:17 +1300

I have to disagree – sometimes it happens the other way around – Alf Garnett/Archie Bunker for example

True, but it's rare, and that approach stands out on American telly as unusual. I mean, it's hard to argue that the main characters in Friends were supposed to be pleasant and…

Rich Lock

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:33:08 +1300

soul-crushing claustrophobia and toe-curling management-beauracratise that was such a hallmark of the original version....the two “heroes” ,Tim and Dawn, can only fufil their dream if they manage to escape.

The use of the clunking photocopier as a sort of between-scenes punctuation to really ram that point home was quite inspired,…

Rich Lock

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:30:52 +1300

"yank” once got me accused of being racist or demeaning or somesuch, whereas I meant it no differently than “Kiwi”

An acquaintance from Texas once got very grumpy about being called a Yank. Which of course meant that absolutely everyone referred to him that way all the time, even when…

Paul Campbell

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:51:55 +1300

I have to disagree – sometimes it happens the other way around – Alf Garnett/Archie Bunker for example

My fave American "let's just use the first year's script of the UK show" was 3's Company in which many of the jokes were because the male character was named "Robin" and…

Craig Ranapia

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:50:53 +1300

Yep, that’s it. What struck me about the US version of the Office is that it didn’t really seem like that bad a place to work in.

True enoiugh. But after the non-troversy over Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes, here’s another question: How would the delicate petals handle an…

Andre Alessi

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:56:31 +1300

If we were searching for an overly trite comparison of UK vs US television, it might be that British shows take horrible characters and intentionally make them sympathetic, while American shows take sympathetic characters and unintentionally make them horrible. Curb Your Enthusiasm is surely the exception that proves the rule.

Matthew Littlewood

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:27:06 +1300

(ETA: Or do you mean ‘themes’ of success within the show itself? In which case: of course. American work culture is a whole different, weird-ass beast…)

Yep, that’s it. What struck me about the US version of the Office is that it didn’t really seem like that bad a place…

Craig Ranapia

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:15:16 +1300

And with the marketing and hype backing of Puff Daddy I thought it might get big, but I wonder if he doesn’t know what to do with actual bona fide talent.

To be fair, he could have forced her to ditch the tux and go for a more obviously "commercial"…

Danielle

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:14:42 +1300

That was highly entertaining.

Well, kinda. It was a bit like watching people on Jersey Shore/Macaroni Rascals choose their clubbing outfits: the WTFness burned my eyes.

Sacha

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:03:31 +1300

I'll accept whining from Chad about 'copyright' when his blog stops routinely flogging pictures from other publishers without attribution.

giovanni tiso

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:53:54 +1300

I hope that clears up a few things for the two people who care.

That was highly entertaining. The colour blue and the word muse? How very dare you!

Danielle

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:35:30 +1300

Larry Sanders Show

Our complete DVD set of this – I’ve only seen odd episodes previously – just arrived last week. Hooray!

(But also: I don’t get why it’s ‘hypocritical’ for The Office to want to be successful. It’s a TV show. Presumably it wants an audience? And I love…

Matthew Littlewood

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:11:02 +1300

Word. Best sitcom ever.

The recent Conan O'Brien/Jay Leno fiasco reminded me about how much that show got right about the backroom politics of the night-time talkshows. The way those two egos banged heads against each other- and the messy way it was resolved-pretty much played like an episode of…

Steve Parks

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:05:52 +1300

… localise the spelling – as if one couldn’t deal with the few differences.

On the American dialect thing, I have a few conversations on messageboards and such like with predominantly U.S. commentators, as I assume is true of plenty of others here. It is has been very, very rare…

Steve Parks

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:51:27 +1300

I still think the gold standard is Freaks and Geeks

Oh yeah, that show was so good.

And I just can’t stand how fundamentally self-serving and obsessed with winning Glee is…but that’s for another rant :)

I haven’t seen much of Glee, but from what I have seen, I’m quite…

philipmatthews

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:42:52 +1300

And besides, if you want the real US version of the Office, look no further than the scabrous, billious, Larry Sanders Show, which oozes awkward contempt from every pore.

Word. Best sitcom ever.

Matthew Littlewood

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:35:12 +1300

I guess my biggest problem with Skins is that I'm obviously more than two decades outside the target demographic (and at least twenty years older than most of the writers and cast). But if you really want to get right down to it, is there more filth and moral degeneracy…

Gareth Ward

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:05:05 +1300

+1000 on Janelle Monae – I presume you've seen "that" Letterman performance from a year or so ago but I really hoped that would kick her into something huge. She actually pulled off getting caped. And with the marketing and hype backing of Puff Daddy I thought it might get…

Craig Ranapia

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:58:40 +1300

I guess my biggest problem with Skins is that I'm obviously more than two decades outside the target demographic (and at least twenty years older than most of the writers and cast). But if you really want to get right down to it, is there more filth and moral degeneracy…

Matthew Littlewood

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:54:46 +1300

Re: The Office (US Version). I have too main problems with it. One: it's gone on way too long and seems not to know how to end. Two: it's as hypocritically obsessed with success as almost any other US sitcom. And besides, if you want the real US version of…

Matthew Littlewood

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:52:34 +1300

I think a lot of the success of the UK Skins was actually down to the parents in the show, rather than the kids. Whoever was in charge of casting them knew exactly what they were doing: it was almost a cruel joke to see former leading lights of British…

Craig Ranapia

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:47:17 +1300

Just for the record:

1) When I chose the name of this blog,if I was “ripping off” anything, it was a well-thumbed copy of Robert Graves’ The Greek Myths and an entirely misbegotten university career as a classics major, not Public Address’ last culture blogger. (My taste for rather lame…

Islander

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:40:17 +1300

Both. And an Australian.

giovanni tiso

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:36:38 +1300

No I meant were they American or British reviewers? Or both?

Islander

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:13:36 +1300

I mean all English versions (there were 7 at one time – there are still 4.)
Because of the contract terms, it is the original ANZ version (heavily spell-checked after the initial Spiral editions!) that is used in all English-language versions.

giovanni tiso

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:05:56 +1300

Giovanni – you havent read the reviews of one, especially, of my books. A constant complaint is that, basically, I write ANZ english – and a lot of overseas reviewers dont like that.

You mean just American or also British? I've often been puzzled by anglicised/americanised editions that localise the…

Sue

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:05:34 +1300

on the subject of US TV, I'm enjoying episodes but then I'm not sure if it's the writing or than I'm a green wing fangirl, so stephen mangan and Tamsin Greig can do no wrong in my eyes.

can i just make a big note of hooray for bookstores and…

Russell Brown

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:49:38 +1300

I just wish the yanks would get over their need to remake the rest of the world's culture so everyone speaks with their accent – provincial hicks.

Well, it worked with The Office and All in the Family ...

And, really, it's a damn shame that Honest, the US remake…

Islander

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:22:25 +1300

Danielle – I've had numerous personal encounters with USA citizens (especially during the book tours I made during 1985 through to 1995, but also in Hawai'i 1978, and in many dozens of emails/letters throughout that period) questioning
'fortnight'."That's Shakespearean" is the polite response from the literate. The impolite response (mainly…

giovanni tiso

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:57:29 +1300

Yes, I must say that the only pieces of linguistic snobbery I've ever experienced or witnessed have been directed at the American dialect.

Danielle

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:48:55 +1300

a nation that uses 'Fall' but finds our 'fortnight' risible?

I would be quite keen on seeing any examples you can find of Americans finding 'fortnight' 'risible'. In my experience they either have no idea what the word means or calmly accept it as a dialectical difference. Much like, say,…

Islander

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:21:38 +1300

'Sumer is icumen in'

though I actually agree – somewhat- with both Sacha and Giovanni.
I mean, a nation that uses 'Fall' but finds our 'fortnight' risible? A nation that uses non-metric measures in this day & age? (With some local oddities thrown in?) And expects the rest of the world…

recordari

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:02:14 +1300

I wish Shakespeare

Or Chaucer, for that matter. Talk about provincial hick. Not even English.

[Trolley]

giovanni tiso

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:23:27 +1300

I just wish the yanks would get over their need to remake the rest of the world's culture so everyone speaks with their accent – provincial hicks.

Must you? How about this: I wish Shakespeare got over his need to remake the rest of the world's culture so everyone speaks…

Danielle

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:21:18 +1300

Being so annoyed?

Well, the point is that sometimes it works out OK. See the American Office (at least in the first few seasons, it's fallen off a bit now) – I was hugely dubious, and it became its own fantastic thing. So it isn't necessarily that all of them…

artig

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:20:14 +1300

I also appreciate books as objects, except when I have to pack them and move them to a new location, or find room for new ones in the library. So it surprised me that I've hardly opened a paper book since getting the ereader. However visits to bookshops are not…

giovanni tiso

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:18:31 +1300

And quite frankly, any bookshop that doesn't stock Calvino is not a bookshop.

And Tom's so tall and handsome too. *sigh*.

artig

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:13:06 +1300

I'm not your average reader or book buyer. My reading is practically limited to relatively recently published non-fiction. And so far I've found sufficient to satisfy my needs on Whitcoulls, Kobo, Amazon and O'Reilly. Several shops, especially UK ones, will not sell to overseas buyers, and it has been necessary…

Sacha

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:11:48 +1300

Being so annoyed? Cultural imperialism pisses me off, especially when it's done so poorly.

Danielle

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:10:27 +1300

There are ways to phrase that reasonably accurate sentiment without being quite so... whatever that was, Sacha.

Craig Ranapia

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:31:19 +1300

I just wish the yanks would get over their need to remake the rest of the world's culture so everyone speaks with their accent – provincial hicks.

Delicious irony is that the biggest bitch I've seen about Being Human, Skins and the William H Macy-headlined version of Shameless (pilot written…

Lilith __

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:48:33 +1300

I just wish the yanks would get over their need to remake the rest of the world's culture so everyone speaks with their accent – provincial hicks.

Also, does the US Skins trailer look eerily like the ALAC ad with the student party where the guy goes outside and…

Sacha

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:26:04 +1300

I just wish the yanks would get over their need to remake the rest of the world's culture so everyone speaks with their accent – provincial hicks.

Craig Ranapia

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:21:37 +1300

I suspect my relationship with the e-reader is going to be cellphones all over again — late, reluctant and deeply ambiguous. I don't want to be a tiresome luddite about it: They work for plenty of people, and anything that encourages reading is good with me. But I still love…

Tim Michie

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:16:12 +1300

I can't decide whether US Being Human has missed the mark or is just going to be different
And the US producers of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) declare The version we're proposing is quite different in tone and content from the original. We also have a new title in mind…

Russell Brown

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:01:40 +1300

Planning to watch US Skins tonight. Will let you know.

In other news, I can't decide whether US Being Human has missed the mark or is just going to be different.

Tom Beard

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:34:52 +1300

But since getting an ereader almost 6 months ago I haven't bought a single paper book. So far there is a collection of about 50 ebooks instead. Some of them were free, but most were paid for from local and overseas suppliers.

Which suppliers? I had a serious think about…

Sacha

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:04:48 +1300

Is the real problem not that the show is too raunchy, but a shortage of sinners being punished hard and fast enough for American tastes?

Probably NSFW especially in puritan households – the US series reverse party trailer clip (drugs, flesh, snogging, etc):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAZmk4DfIAY

and the UK version (similar content,…

artig

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:40:25 +1300

Bookstores do need love in order to survive. Unfortunately I predict that love is going to be more difficult to find in future. I have spent a great deal of money in bookstores, both new and second-hand, through the years. But since getting an ereader almost 6 months ago I…

Public Address

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:40:25 +1300

Discussion from blog post.