On the one hand, given the presentation I need to give today, I'm rather grateful that my Chinese-English dictionary includes the words for "aircraft carrier" and "minesweeper". (If you're curious, it's 航空母舰 hang2kong1mu3jian3 and 扫雷舰 sao3lei2jian4), respectively.) But I also feel like I should be slightly worried these were included ( Read more... )

I wish that I'd seen this article, on the way that the city of Hohhot (the capital of Inner Mongolia - one of the places I went over the October vacation) is using Mongol ethnic culture to promote itself and redefine its identity, while I was still writing my thesis. Nevertheless, it's still an awesome article - especially since the issue of " ( Read more... )

You know you've been reading too much theory on feminism, spectatorship, and psychoanalysis when you hear the lyric "For I know that I'll never live happily ever after / Till after I'm a bride / Then I'll be happily happy, / Yes, happily happy / And thoroughly satisfied!" (from Once Upon a Mattress) and your first thought is that this is a classic ( Read more... )

I just wrote a response paper in which I compared "Snakes on a Plane" to porn ( Read more... )

"But effects are tamed attractions. Marinetti and Eisenstein understood that they were tapping into a source of energy that would need focusing and intensification to fulfill its revolutionary possibilities. Both Eisenstein and Marinetti planned to exaggerate the impact on the spectators, Marinetti proposing to literally glue them to their seats ( ( Read more... )

This has little to do with anything...

The vast majority of countries have official names that consist of two parts: the "official title" and the "geographical name". For example, with official titles in bold and geographical names in italics:

Federal Republic of Germany
State of Israel
Republic of Angola
People's Republic of China
Federated ( Read more... )

"If one is lazy and negligent or if one has been lackadaisically keeping up with the curriculum but has been careless about everything and has not done things in proper order, the brethren will together expel him."

-Lü Zuqian, Rules for Learning, 1169

"We will kill Croats with rusty spoons because it will hurt more!"

-Vojislav Seselj, far-right Serb nationalist, c. 1990

Because all genocidal lunatics should take their threats from Robin Hood.

Shuo huala, huo huala,
Grand Master Zhang Yimou
Clearly has lots of good
Film tricks to give;

Why, then, does he eschew
Cinematography
In the production of
His film "To live"?

Almost done...

If Alexa can be an EPS nerd, I can be an IR nerd. Comment on this and I'll say what country you are, or more specifically which country's foreign policy reminds me of you. For example, if I commented on this myself, I'd probably write something along the lines of ( Read more... )