Random Thoughts: The Return

[flowersofnight]

I went to see a performance of Handel's "Samson" at Carnegie Hall on Monday night and I was surprised how many little slips there were for a venerable oratorio company performing at the world's premiere venue. Some lines out of order (at least going by the libretto), some missteps like singing "claims" instead of "chains"... but the biggest howler of all was near the very end where Samson's father grieves over his son's death.
Instead of saying he won "eternal fame", it came out as... "eternal flame"
I wonder if anyone else noticed or what. There's one review online but they didn't mention anything one way or the other. https://blogcritics.org/concert-review-oratorio-society-of-new-york-handels-samson/

On the whole it really was a great performance and none of that reviewer's glowing praise is misplaced, but nitpicking is what I do.

 

[sanctum]

Instead of saying he won "eternal fame", it came out as... "eternal flame"

Eternal Flame does have a certain ring to it. :p

In other news, an emergency alert was issued the other day as a wild monkey was sighted prowling the neighbourhood.

 

[flowersofnight]

In other news, an emergency alert was issued the other day as a wild monkey was sighted prowling the neighbourhood.

My heart goes out to all the Japanese speakers who rifled their lexicons in vain grasping for an equivalent of "going bananas".

 

[sanctum]

"going bananas".

Reminds me of the 'GoTo Travel' campaigns that were around during/after the pandemic, and how much that term got on my nerves.
「ゴートゥーTravelしましたか？」
Certainly a term I'd like to 和製英語-away.

 

[sanctum]

I was listening to a podcast and this line popped up in the conversation.

"At the time there was a video game device called the 'Wii', have you heard of it?".

I had to go and check and found out that the Wii came out in 2006, 18 years ago, and we're far enough removed from its release that people might not know what it is.

 

[sanctum]

Word has reached me through the grape vine that Lake Palmer, who you may remember from the Louis Theroux documentary on Thai Brides, has passed away. Let's join together and re-watch it in honour of Lake.

 

[flowersofnight]

Never heard of it but I yt-dlp'ed it and perhaps I'll watch tonight.

 

[sanctum]

The Thai Brides episode is one of the best from the Weird Weekends series, but the whole series is good and definitely worth watching. Also highly recommend watching the Bodybuilding, Swingers, Aliens and Porn episodes.

Also, why are people so dumb, I don't get why people need apps, or trackers, or any number of boondoggles to help them do something as basic as drink water. Why is it so hard to feel thirst -> hydrate. Also people 'watching' YouTube to fall asleep, I'm sure they'd have a much easier time of falling asleep if they did it like a regular functioning organism.

 

[flowersofnight]

Also people 'watching' YouTube to fall asleep, I'm sure they'd have a much easier time of falling asleep if they did it like a regular functioning organism.

Well, that one's just the next evolution of those rednecks who insist on having a TV blaring at all times. We've all known at least one.

 

[sanctum]

something as basic as drink water

Seriously, just drink water. You don’t need to have a ‘hydration journey’.

And I don’t even want to get started on those Stanley cups. I saw that they’re selling them here now too.

 

[flowersofnight]

And I don’t even want to get started on those Stanley cups. I saw that they’re selling them here now too.

A couple of my family members have them and... I dunno, they seem fine for what they are. Maybe not worth the obsessive hype but it looks like they keep stuff cold enough and unspilled, right?

 

[sanctum]

I'm sure they're perfectly functional cups, it's the 'lifestyle' that people are making of out them with ridiculous things like mixing in all manner of syrups and flavourings to 'make water', or putting all sorts of accessories on their cup, or a term like 'hydration journey'. I felt psychological damage the first time I read that.

and while we're on the topic, I'm completely baffled by the asinine comments that people leave after being duped by obvious engagement bait.

 

[sanctum]

You know how tiny dogs, despite moving their legs fast, don’t seem to have much forward speed? I saw the same thing with a human today while watching a basketball game. Two referees, both running, one at a normal speed and the other making some seriously strenuous motions but not seeming to actually move. Looked like a game animation was playing too fast or something.

Just felt like sharing that.

 

[flowersofnight]

I'm more surprised anyone was playing/watching basketball over there. That's one of those things I think of as "ONLY liked by Americans and a handful of ex-Soviets". Well, and Hora.

 

[sanctum]

I'm more surprised anyone was playing/watching basketball over there.

Basketball is absolutely massive over here. Baseball, soccer, basketball and volleyball are probably the most popular sports, especially at the high school level.

Also, teenage girls have been going gaga over the sports series Haikyū (volleyball) and Bluelock (soccer) recently.

While we're on the topic of sports in Japan I'd like to share one of my favourite little pieces of esoteric Japanese history - Japan's sports culture was a creation of Christian missionaries who thought sports was good for building character and spreading the faith.

 

[sanctum]

I don't understand what 'juice' means in Japan. I've heard everything from fruit juice, to milk tea, to coca cola called 'juice'. I don't know if this is a recent phenomenon or if I'm just noticing it.

 

[sanctum]

I saw perhaps the craziest case of gynecomastia on a schlubby middle-aged man today. With diets and lifestyles the way they are these days moobs aren't exactly an uncommon sight, but seeing a frumpy ojisan sporting a gravity defying bust, far above the Japanese average is certainly one of the strangest things I have seen in my life.

 

[flowersofnight]

You never know, this is the '90s - he might have been going through some changes.

 

[sanctum]

Whatever changes he went through seem to have been frozen in time.
Dude was sporting these boobies.

In other news, we don't have many street lights where I live, which can make heading home at night a bit precarious.
Even so, I was surprised to see an exhausted ojisan get off the train and put on a headlamp then wander off down the dark roads.

 

[flowersofnight]

Even so, I was surprised to see an exhausted ojisan get off the train and put on a headlamp then wander off down the dark roads.

I see joggers wearing them every now and then - not particularly many street lights around here either.
Joggers and cyclists are both menaces to public safety, though of course cyclists are infinitely worse.

A couple days ago I went to this "sculpture park": https://www.groundsforsculpture.org/
Extremely disappointing in all the genres it represented - abstract, fantasy, kitsch. At least I got a lot of good shopping done on the way down there.