Satellite TV at the Health Club
I was walking on the treadmill at the health club, flipping through various channels and catching glimpses of shows. I wasn't willing to commit to any of them, but a few caught my eye.
On BBC, they were talking about the UK's first female poet laureate. I thought I must have heard that wrong. The first female? In 2009?! You'd think women have poor verbal skills or something, but apparently there still aren't enough women with a room of their own or something.
I came home and looked it up on the Internet, and sure enough, it was true. But the reason she didn't get the post earlier was probably that the UK wasn't ready for a lesbian poet laureate. I also found out that Germaine Greer's explanation was that "most women would have the sense to refuse the chore."
Apparently it's no fun being the poet laureate in the UK. The job lasts ten years, and the one leaving the post now is the first to live through the whole ten years.
A lethal, low-paying job. Well, Carol Ann Duffy, congratulations ... I guess.
On AXN, I caught an episode of The Amazing Race set in Beijing. I laughed out loud right there in the club when the teams were trying to get from Wangfujing to the Bird's Nest. Of course, they didn't know where they were going. And the taxis at Wangfujing pretended they didn't know either. Niao chao? Bu zhi dao!
One team, who had been far behind, got a great taxi driver. "Where was this guy all week?" they asked. And they made it to the Bird's Nest on time.
The Amazing Race seemed normal, like real life to me, and the BBC report seemed surreal.
On BBC, they were talking about the UK's first female poet laureate. I thought I must have heard that wrong. The first female? In 2009?! You'd think women have poor verbal skills or something, but apparently there still aren't enough women with a room of their own or something.
I came home and looked it up on the Internet, and sure enough, it was true. But the reason she didn't get the post earlier was probably that the UK wasn't ready for a lesbian poet laureate. I also found out that Germaine Greer's explanation was that "most women would have the sense to refuse the chore."
Apparently it's no fun being the poet laureate in the UK. The job lasts ten years, and the one leaving the post now is the first to live through the whole ten years.
A lethal, low-paying job. Well, Carol Ann Duffy, congratulations ... I guess.
On AXN, I caught an episode of The Amazing Race set in Beijing. I laughed out loud right there in the club when the teams were trying to get from Wangfujing to the Bird's Nest. Of course, they didn't know where they were going. And the taxis at Wangfujing pretended they didn't know either. Niao chao? Bu zhi dao!
One team, who had been far behind, got a great taxi driver. "Where was this guy all week?" they asked. And they made it to the Bird's Nest on time.
The Amazing Race seemed normal, like real life to me, and the BBC report seemed surreal.